Heartbreak117
"Alright, look alive, people!" Sergeant Johnson shouts as the Guards disembark their Chimeras.
Ba the Kasr, Elyzabeth, Tsavorae, Tu'shan, and Vel'a spectate the 3rd Ptoon's deploymeh a hilltop through real-time pict feeds, broadcasted by the helmet-mounted pict recorders on some members of the Ptoon. More than that, the Chimeras IFVs deploy a Sensor-skull each from a special partment behind their main turrets. Useful for multi-aspect scouting purposes and infiltration, the Sensor-skulls float about the Guard Ptoon, silently awaiting new inputs.
Being a highly mobile, Ptoon-sized QRF Patrol, the 3rd Ptoon under Sergeant Johnson has 24 men and women. Other than the normal Guards, the Ptoon hosts a Special on Squad of six that carries two grenade unchers and a missile uncher, making the whole unit fit to engage a wide variety of roles. And since Ein is now taking on the rookie Weiss under her wing, Sergeant Johnson proceeds to the pair as the Ptoon's Seam. That leaves the remaining 14 Guardsmen and Guardswomen uhe and of Johnson, though Ein is introduced to be the fallback girl if Johnson is indisposed. Other than that, the Chimeras' are attached under Johnson's and as the Patrol Leader, thus giving the unit additional firepower through their Multi-Laser turrets and hull-mounted Heavy Bolters.
Hearing how Johnson introduces Ein's role ioon to the Rookie actually causes Elyzabeth to be proud.
'Umu, that's my girl!'
They then watch as Johnson starts rolling out some orders with the hill ag as the Sergeant's backdrop.
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Smag his lips, Johnson says. "Righto, boys and girls, up for some hill climbing?" The Cadian Sergeaures his head behind him where a gentle slope of rocks and grass leads to a foige-covered hilltop. "Not you, Snippy girls, you get to pick that rocky outcrop over there. All chill and uhe shade up there, eh?"
Weiss and I look to the left, where a mountainous path, formed by Cadian nature, leads up to an outcrop half-hidden by arees and dirt mounds. The position Johnson indicates is substantially higher than the hill with adequate cover for a two-persoo set up ach there. We're currently standing on the edge of the anomalous site detected by le sensors so that outcrop should have good line-of-sight down on Johnson's advao the target.
I turn to Weiss. "You packed ynocurs?"
Weiss nods while pulling out the Warhammer equivalent of a handheld ser designator. "Since I don't have a feel for my role in the unit just yet, I fit everything I could without encumbering myself."
Both Sergeant Johnson and I nod at her in appreciation, with Johnson adding. "It will take some time, but you will find your spot in the unit soon enough. Now then, sync your o if you have one, and double-check that you have set your micro-bead to the correct frequency. We don't want a repeat of st time when Ein had to shout her lungs off because some of you fot to switch your freq to el 69, hah!"
Some members of the Ptoon shake their heads in amusement, while others ht ugh. Weiss only tilt her head in fusion, being too te to experiehe near Blue-on-Blue i wheoon's Special on Squad nearly lobbed a gre friendlies in an urban flict. I chuckle before expining it to Weiss as a precautionary tale.
Back then, the Squad had retly exged their vox equipment after the previous one was faulty. It only came to light ter on that the new vox sets operate slightly differently. Enough to cause some fusion in their operation that nearly led them to fire on Sergeant Johnsohe Ptoon had to ge their vox frequency due to a potential promise. Hearing that, Weiss gulps befiving her micro-bead a one-over just in case.
I shake my head with a wry smile, letting Sergeant Johnson finish. "Oh, and Ein, take a Sensor-skull with ya."
I nod, as one of the Servo-skull floats near Weiss and me. "Just like the usual then."
Johnsourns the gesture before saying. "Alright people, I hope you all practiced your cardio."
And with that jest, we're off. Johnson leads the sizeable portion of his unit on the hill while Weiss and I travel to the outcrop. The Chimeras hang back with their crews popping out to be vigint until we're doh our red. This style of cautious advance may not be a well-used tacti the Warhammer 40K universe, but it's what got 3rd Ptoon through many hairy situations. Despite my short tenure ioon, I have entered many skirmishes uhe and of Sergeant Johnson, some even before I received Battle Meditation as a skill. Yet, every siime, the Sergeant mao pull us through without any severe casualty. In the Warhammer universe, that's nothing short of a miracle. Still, his feats of leadership are but a footnote in the Imperium, quite unfortunately. It also doesn't help that the man is fully tent with where he's at, leading us roughnecks quite happily.
I am suddenly pulled out of my mulling when Weiss, who is surprisingly not struggling to keep up with me, asks.
"Corporal Ein, have you been doing this a lot?"
I smile while stepping over a jagged piece of rock. "Ever since I left the Whiteshields, which is more than a year ago already, I think? Holy, I don't really keep track of dates and times, given that we're living on Cadia. And just call me Ein, I don't think I deserve to be called by honorifics."
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"Sometimes, she's just too humble for her own good." Elyzabeth ents, earning a nod from Tsavorae while the Samander Space Marines look at the way the 3rd Ptoon ducts themselves with i.
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"Then Ein, how did we get assigned as a Seam, anyway? None of us is fitted with a rifle scope, much less a long-s. I mean, I guess we do re as a two-perso?" Weiss asks, curious to get to know her senior and battle buddy more.
"Well, I am certainly qualified to mount a scope on my srifle. I ig most of the time in favor of an uricted field of view uhe mission requirements call for it. I do carry one in secured ste in my backpack just in case. As for zeroing it on the field, I will cross that bridge when I get there, though I do it by experience alone." I expin nontly. "Oh, and watch your steps over there. Follow my footsteps just in case there's a hidden pitfall." Though I don't think you will , is left unsaid.
Weiss sidesteps where she inteo set her foot down and oblige my instru like a little dug. This girl...
"Anyway," I tier Weiss nods at me in gratefulness. "I seem to i my Mother's skill in marksmanship, it's why I am so good with a rifle. Sergeant Johnson defaults to me for le accuracy most of the time if there is no supp seam around. Other than that, I work re and target designation for friendly units. However, with you here, I offload some of my duties to you. It's not gonna be much, but the Ptoon is ting on you to do your job well so that we all get home."
"I will do my very best." Weiss makes a simple vow.
In the Warhammer verse, that's the best you ask from anyone, so I nod at her with a degree of seriousness. Certainty is a luxury in the grimdark gaxy.
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While Elyzabeth is preening at Ein saying she has ied her skill, Tsavorae only roll her eyes.
"Pretty sure geics don't work that way when it es to adoption."
Tu'shan and Vel'a opt not to ent on that sentence.
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As they steer clear from a husk of a dead tree, with the Sensor-skull straight up floating over it, Weiss tinues her Q&A session.
"Are you nervous, Ein? This is my first deployment as an official Guardswomen, so I 't help but feel this odd feeling."
"Nervous? I am pretty sure in my first outings, I was nervous, even having some fear back then." I reply simply, obviously not much
information but just enough to keep the versation going.
"Fear? Yeah, I guess I uand why. I am fearing that I may stumble somewhere and drag the unit down." Weiss admits. Her demeanor does seem sincere, acc to my instinct.
"Then remember this as my first lesson for you, Weiss." I gnce back at her with a small smirk. "All fears stem from insuffit firepower."
I gesture to the ons on myself. My trusty srifle, surprisingly two spistols, my inseparable yoroi-doshi, three Frag Grenades, and three Ssmoke Grenades. "Not a very standard loadout, I know, but given that I was running solo before half of the time... Well, this is truly needed. I don't carry Krak Grenade because if I am to be the oo lob ohen the 3rd is probably too deep in trouble for a single greo do anything."
Weiss gives me a curious look before nodding to herself. "Yeah, yeah... I probably see why you're pag so much heat now."
I smile at her befazing beyond and seeing the small semi-entrenched position Johnson has made on his hill.
"Chill time is over, Weiss. It's best we set up on that outcrop in the wo minutes before Johnson has the rest of the Ptoon dig their own graves." I urge lightly, though we're already he top.
Weiss jumps slightly before doubling her pace. "O-Oh...! Right! I'm right behind you, Ein!"
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"The Guards sure has a... Unique sense of humor." Vel'a ents, seeing how easy it is for Ein and Weiss to familiarize themselves with one another.
On another s, Sergeant Johnson and the rest of the 3rd Ptooaking out the terrain, though they 't seem to find much of anything even with their Sensor-skull. To stave off the boredom, the group trades tina tales with one another despite their eyes never leaving the horizon.
"Do we even qualify to ent oaste in such fiters, brother?" Tu'shan asks back with a jesting smile on his scarred face.
Elyzabeth also adds. "Even I must admit that normal Space Marines and Sisters of Battle are unfit for humor."
"Normal, you say?" Tsavorae raises an eyebrow at the ess Superior.
To this, the ess shrugs, though all the banters die when Ein and Weiss climb to the top of the outcrop. From their point of view, the pair ys their eyes on very, very iing findings.
"Well, this ges everything." Elyzabeth sighes, knowing that things just got more and more plicated.
Heartbreak117
