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>>5502420
++ PERSONAL DETAILS ++

You are company commander Eli Kuzmuran. Veteran of the 401st Mercian Infantry Regiment.

Your officers are Argya Hotpyre, a woman of strong faith, Elias Qvour, a disciplined man, and Merrante Rottenblade, known for her personal combat skills.

Prepare yourself, death awaits.

Choose your background:
>Feared +1. “I’m not afraid of them, I just know what they’re capable of.” The enemy has heard of your name and you are known as a ruthless operator. Many prefer death to capture, as they know what awaits.
>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.
>Ambush +1. “They won’t see us coming.” You’ve participated in, prepared and sprung many surprise attacks throughout your service and know how efficient they can be in providing grounds to victory.

>>5502421
++ INCOMING TRANSMISSION… ++

++ ORDERS FOR COMPANY COMMANDER ELI KUZMURAN ++

To take and hold the central bridge and communicating corridors between Habs X-14 (Loyalist-controlled) and Refinery G-Y1 (Heretic-controlled.

Expected enemy forces: Superior numbers, lower quality, lack of ranged weaponry.

Equipment provided: Each soldier provided their personal kit, nothing more.

You will depart from the central square of Habs X-14.

++ For the Emperor of Mankind. ++

++ SYSTEM ++

Based on DEGREES OF SUCCESS, each roll that passes (rolls over) the DC is one degree of success.

0 = Blunder. You’ve utterly failed. You have not achieved your goal and much has been lost.
1 = Shallow Success. Your success comes at a great cost.
2 = Passing Success. You’ve achieved your objective at a normal cost.
3 = Good Success. Congratulations! You’ve done the job you were supposed to and have incurred few losses.
4 = Formidable Success. Your ability brought about an outstanding success with almost no losses.

The number of rolls will always be TWO unless you have a FEAT that applies. FEATs are obtained through your background (which you will decide now) and through battle experience if you survive. FEATs start by adding ONE more die, then get better over time.

QM Objective: Write a long update every day, or multiple short updates.

>>5502421
>Feared +1. “I’m not afraid of them, I just know what they’re capable of.” The enemy has heard of your name and you are known as a ruthless operator. Many prefer death to capture, as they know what awaits.
Death upon the Heretic

>>5502421
>Feared +1. “I’m not afraid of them, I just know what they’re capable of.” The enemy has heard of your name and you are known as a ruthless operator. Many prefer death to capture, as they know what awaits.

>>5502421
>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.

>>5502421
>>Feared +1. “I’m not afraid of them, I just know what they’re capable of.” The enemy has heard of your name and you are known as a ruthless operator. Many prefer death to capture, as they know what awaits.
We'd better be like the regiment that fights like ODSTs, OR the stealth/guerrilla specialists.

>>5502421
>Ambush +1. “They won’t see us coming.” You’ve participated in, prepared and sprung many surprise attacks throughout your service and know how efficient they can be in providing grounds to victory.

>>5502421
>>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.

>>5502478
then you want ambush or retreat instead of feared.

>>5502421
>>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were
Changing my vote to this per >>5502517's advice.

>>5502421
>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.

I'm thinking that if we vote properly, we can squeeze two of the options into one. If retreat wins, that would work as the ambush option too since we can retreat to a stealthy position and launch ambushes from it. That's why I change my vote from feared to retreat.

>>5502421
>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.

>>5502421
>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.

>>5502422
+1
Feared

>>5502421
>>Feared +1. “I’m not afraid of them, I just know what they’re capable of.” The enemy has heard of your name and you are known as a ruthless operator. Many prefer death to capture, as they know what awaits.

>>5502421
>Ambush +1. “They won’t see us coming.”

>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.

Becoming a sensing”e person in 40k? Impossible

>>5502421

>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.

Given that the heretics have superior numbers and poor armaments, we should be constantly drawing them into poor terrain, killboxs and other unfavorable conditions where our better supplied troops can punish then. As we level up, we can work on our ambushing skills to further sow chaos and discontent amongst the rebels.

Basically, we gotta bleed em by luring them into attacks on our fortified positions.

>>5502421
>Retreat +1. “Yes, retreats can be tactical.” You don’t say it too often, but knowing how to retreat is as important as knowing how to hold the line. An orderly retreat can save soldier lives and precious equipment from an overwhelming enemy while putting your troops in a better position than they were before.

>>5502420
>Feared +1. “I’m not afraid of them, I just know what they’re capable of.” The enemy has heard of your name and you are known as a ruthless operator. Many prefer death to capture, as they know what awaits.

Ultimately infantry battle is concentration of force. If we have large reinforcements and little room to maneuver given the strategic areas to hold, then shock action and reinforcing morale are our best results.

>>5503992
Exactly.

Tanith/ODST regiment, please.

Man, did QM flake already?
Honestly, I could see myself taking this up if he doesn't show up soon. Not keen on running a quest on GW property knowing their history, but this has some potential.

>>5505881
He didn't flake, I read a headline from rap news that he had been shot to death in chicagos O block as he was chilling with his crew

>>5505881
You dont have to pick up the mantle. Especially if you dont know the world so well, these things happen even though I really liked the premise, alot of quests die before they start.

>>5506265
I know it somewhat, more Ciaphas Cain than Gaunt's Ghosts/ Tanith First and Only, though. Meant more that after last year's policy update on fanmade stuff, I don't really want to use their IP overtly. Not really afraid they'd come looking, just a peeved a their bullshit. Would people still like this quest with the serial numbers filed off? Battlemace 40 Million and all that?

>>5506576
Well if you really want, then I wouldn't mind. Dunno about the rest of the players, if they are even still here that is.

Alright, let's get this show back on the road.

...
[Initiating QM Interface...]
[Compiling available data...]
[Filing serial numbers...]
[Generating battlefield...]
[...]


You fold back the paper containing your orders as you survey your new home for the foreseeable future.
Bridge Junction X-14/G-Y1 was first and foremost a chasm between the two locations, a pit several dozen floors deep now marking the current frontline. On paper, holding a bridge against a technologically inferior but numerically superior foe is about as easy as it gets. Practice and the place's peculiar geometry told a different story. The bridge is, much like the entire structure above it, an old layered mess. The topside pathway only accounting for part of the pre-conflict foot traffic through the Junction, with the rest going through either rickety walkways and footbridges spanning across the drop, anchored to the ceiling created by the junction of other blocks way above your head, or through the inside of the bridge, hollowed over time into a warren of passages in varying states.

While previous fighting and demolition efforts during earlier stages of the conflict ensure nothing remains of the makeshift bridges, the passages running under your feet cannot be destroyed without taking the bridge down with them, which was judged unacceptable by the powers that be. Whether because the bridge could allow armor to deploy faster during a very-much-hypothetical push to drive the enemy out of the Undercity or because the floors directly underneath the bridge hold something of importance is a question far beyond the likes of a jumped-up private told to hold the line.

So here they remain, offering countless opportunities to move past your company and into the habitat unit, or emerge from the side or back and pincer your forces. On top of that, the "communicating corridors" your orders mention offer no shortage of entry points out of view from the main bridge. On paper, holding the bridge and securing the corridors would amount to the simple task of waiting for the hordes of rebellious citizens to funnel into a killzone, with your laser rifle-wielding forces comfortably out of effective range of whatever ramshackle projectile weaponry they could bring to bear. In practice, while a more veteran unit could certainly turn the corridors and tunnels into a killing field using superior tactics and expertise, veterancy is exactly what your "men" lack.

Still, you will hold the line because it is what you were told to do. How you go about it, and if any of you live to tell the tale, is another matter entirely.

(cont)

>>5506680
Speaking of your unit, you aren't much to look at. A handful of veteran privates set to babysit hundreds of fresh recruits. At the very least you were able to secure a few comrades to help you out. Argya, Merrante, and Elias. You would, and have, shared a foxhole with any of them. Argya's tranquil faith always seemed comforting, even under fire. Merrante...quite frankly always concerned you a bit. You all almost always had perfectly good rifles and cover, why was she so eager to engage in melee? But you had to admit that the few times the enemy did reach your line, her skills were supremely useful. And Elias was...average in every way, truth be told. Reliable, a good shot, nothing in the man got in the way of good soldiering.

Beyond them, you were left with a veritable mass of new recruits, most right out from basic. This, as you have already realized, is hardly the best place to train, but they could honestly have landed much, much worse for a first assignment, you remember with a shudder.

It is currently mid-day. You have reached the bridge. The enemy is still pushing through the refinery sections, so you have some time ahead. Furthermore, retreating friendly forces (if any of them make it) should keep you updated on the enemy and their closeness to your position.
You turn to look back at your company taking a break on the middle of the bridge, getting ready to start digging in. In particular, your eyes rest on the one thing you managed to get added to your company before being sent on your way:

>Two light mortars and their teams, equipped with fragmentation and illumination shells. You have about enough overhead space to deploy them, and either shell type will come in handy. They didn’t give you HE due to the bridge’s strategic importance. But those can break a charge quite nicely. No using them out of the bridge. Well, if push comes to shove, you know first-hand that they make nice grenade replacements, but hopefully it doesn’t come to that, yes?
>An extra two heavy machineguns, bringing your total number to four. Two extra pieces to reinforce your line and give you some flexibility. How you distribute them is up to your strategy, but they’re easily set up and can ne the anvil to your troops’ hammer on any part of this battlefield, not matter how claustrophobic.
>A fucking tank. Well, more like an APC repurposed as a command center, but it’s still one hell of a morale boost for the recruits, makes you feel bloody awesome and is a solid point to anchor the line on. But it’s going to be stuck on the bridge, unless you’re willing to risk it (and yourself since this is your HQ) into the few corridors large enough, in which it’ll be very, very static, and vulnerable.
>Write-in.

>>5506682
As well as the one thing you maybe, kind of, absolutely squirreled away with your comrades when the regiment was being retrofitted:
>Extra grenades. Frags. Very effective on targets with little armor. Enough that your men shouldn’t be afraid to use them liberally.
>A whole bunch of antipersonnel mines. They make you feel safe, and you’ve got a lot of them. Proper setup requires a steady hand, completely safe in the hands of a professional. Of which you have four.
>Write-in.

You smile. Maybe you’ll live through this after all. Now, where to begin?


I guess I’m doing this. It’s a spur of the moment kind of thing, so I’m not making any promises apart from not flaking without telling all of you.
Small note for write ins. They’re almost always allowed, but I reserve the right to reject them for any reason if it isn’t something I want to write. I won’t do it just to screw you over, though, no worries! For that matter, clever write-ins may give you roll bonuses, including those for normal options. Don’t be afraid to write a few lines as to how you think we should implement this choice or that, write in dialogue. As with write-ins, it may or may not be used, whether it wins or not, but the extra effort may get you something nice. [/:spoiler]

Also, please roll me, let's say 5d100 for various things.
First three dice are relationship die for your direct superior and the units on either of your flanks. Do they know you, do they like you or not?
Fourth die is how the refinery fight is going.
Fifth is going to be a recurring dice, and tell us how the conflict at large is doing. It's so far removed from you that you won't feel the effects much unless it swings one way or another quite heavily. Be wary that a higher roll isn't necessarily a good thing for you.

Next update will be in around eight hours or later if we don't get too many votes/ I fall asleep.

Rolled 90, 86, 93, 20, 15 = 304 (5d100)

>>5506682
>apc
>mines

>>5506696
My bad for not specifying one roll per anon to share the fun a little, but I'll keep those. They're good for you guys anyway. Well the first three are, the other two are "interesting".
Also, screwed up the spoilers, the first paragraph was supposed to be the only thing spoilered.

Rolled 92, 65, 28, 15, 73 = 273 (5d100)

>>5506684

>An extra two heavy machineguns, bringing your total number to four. Two extra pieces to reinforce your line and give you some flexibility. How you distribute them is up to your strategy, but they’re easily set up and can ne the anvil to your troops’ hammer on any part of this battlefield, not matter how claustrophobic.


>Extra grenades. Frags. Very effective on targets with little armor. Enough that your men shouldn’t be afraid to use them liberally.

Against an opponent that lacks ranged weapons, a machine gun is a game changer.

I'm taking the first set of rolls into account, sorry >>5506777 . Not all of these will see use immediately, your superior and flank buddies will be introduced a bit later most likely, but those last two rolls are going to affect the update.
I'll let votes trickle in some more, check in a bit later.
Next vote is going to start setting up your early defense strategy for this op, so feel free to start thinking on that in the thread.

>>5506682
Double heavy machine guns and personal mines +1

I must say anon you've got quite the story writing skills. Color me impressed.

Rolled 74 (1d100)

Forgot to roll

>>5507085
>>5507029
Oh wait did you need a 5 dice roll or only one? I may have messed up.

>>5506576
Kill yourself 2022, maybe?

>>5507086
Yeah, I failed to mention one roll per anon.
>>5507081
And thanks! Still, my writing's bit rusty, and it's my first time writing military fiction. It feels a bit heavy to me currently, I'll try and lighten it going forward, dialogues should help a little. So will all the chaos and shooting.

Anyway, closing vote and writing!
Extra HMGs and mines win.


>>5507105
Why, though?

The machineguns will make holding this shambling mess a bit easier, and the mines offer you some peace just knowing they’re available. Still, you’re fairly certain none of the new recruits have been taught proper minelaying, especially given that you weren’t officially given any mines. Probably due to safety concerns on the bridge. Oh well, you muse, so long as we don’t accidentally set off a lot at the same time, the bridge should handle itself just fine! It’s just one of the many things you and the other freshly minted officers here will have to teach them. Speaking of which, the topic of organization does come to mind. Three hundred men and women under your command. Three officers you trust, and a lot of unproven ones. Where should you put these proven elements? Have each leading one of the three rifle platoons, in charge of around eighty men, or in charge of one of the fifteen-man squads?
The same can be asked of the machinegun team, really. You have one for each platoon, including your command one, thanks to your requisition, but perhaps you should move one or more around?
Your own command is essentially a rifle platoon in all but name, the sixty soldiers within having barely any experience for the role they’ve been given. Except for your five runners, who are simply the fastest of the bunch who could steadily run under fire. But they’ll all come into their own with time, as you’ve seen it happen a lot. Or they’ll die.

Your thinking of organizational matters is interrupted by the ever-practical Merrante.
“Hey, Eli! Have you seen this rat maze? This bridge’s got more holes than bridge in it! There’s bloody holes the whole length with walkways moving up towards the topside! Walkways! It’s a bloody red carpet for flankers, that’s what it is!”
You sigh. Merrante is right, though maybe something will have to be done with the familiarity now that you’re all officers. Or maybe not. You’ll need people to knock some sense into you now that you’re “technically” an officer.”
“I’m well aware, Mer. I’m guessing you’re itching for a bit of close quarters recon?”
“Yep!”
Gods above and below, she’s smiling. Smiling!
“With whom, the whole section?”
“Uh huh, get some rat catching experience in them, and get them familiar with the terrain. We’ll be spending a lot of time down there, after all!”
So, what’s your answer? And are you going to tell her how to do her job? Merrante seems to have no qualms about leading a platoon and seems to be not so subtly suggesting you stick her whole command underground. That’s something to consider, knowing now that you won’t be able to stick to holding the surface bridge, lest the enemy simply slip past and either scamper off into the habs or come shoot you into the back of the head.

(cont)

>>5507433
>Agree to the section-wide recon. The men need experience, you need intel on what’s going on under your feet and Merrante has what it takes. You know it better than anyone. And if she can get her platoon accustomed to the terrain down there, you can more easily block infiltration, compared to using disconnected squads from each platoon as a reaction force.
>Propose she creates a personal squad for this kind of thing. She can get them up to speed faster, but who will lead her platoon when she’s off “rat-hunting”? Should you consider making someone else the permanent command? How would she take it?
>Refuse the recon. You need all your platoons here, and you haven’t decided how to tackle this part of the defense. The enemy is still far away, and you can’t have a fourth of your force off playing in the tunnel right when you’re setting up camp, headed by one of your more reliable officers to boot!
>Write-in.


I'm not having you vote on where to place your officers and the MG teams just yet, but it should be coming up within a few votes, so start thinking about that. This means that this vote is more about the recon than it is Merrante's role, just to make it clear what you're voting for.
I could probably push two updates a day for the time being, but we could stick to roughly daily depending on what you guys prefer.

>>5507435
>Agree to the section-wide recon. The men need experience, you need intel on what’s going on under your feet and Merrante has what it takes. You know it better than anyone. And if she can get her platoon accustomed to the terrain down there, you can more easily block infiltration, compared to using disconnected squads from each platoon as a reaction force.

>>5507435

>Agree to the section-wide recon. The men need experience, you need intel on what’s going on under your feet and Merrante has what it takes. You know it better than anyone. And if she can get her platoon accustomed to the terrain down there, you can more easily block infiltration, compared to using disconnected squads from each platoon as a reaction force.

In general, we should emphasize to Merrante that her green troops should be actually used for recon purposes here. She should emphasize good comms practice, no heroics and practice good risk mitigation. They should minimize contact with the enemy for now and at best, lure some stragglers back to the line for quiet elimination. If we're lucky, some of her troopers will have a taste for this kind of thing.

>>5507406
For trying to make a mirror expy setting of 40k. Just lean fully into making your own setting and run the quest. No need to ride-but-also-not 40k.

>>5507435
>Agree to the section-wide recon. The men need experience, you need intel on what’s going on under your feet and Merrante has what it takes. You know it better than anyone. And if she can get her platoon accustomed to the terrain down there, you can more easily block infiltration, compared to using disconnected squads from each platoon as a reaction force.

Nothing is set in stone about our defence just yet, we'll plug the intel she gathers back into our decision loop once her recon is complete and update our plans accordingly.

We have a clear majority already, but I might as well let it run a while longer, give other anons like >>5507086 and >>5506777 time to weight in.

In the meantime, I suppose you guys might as well roll me 3d100. One per person this time, please. Or if it's been 6+ hours, then yeah, go ahead.
1st roll is how good a recon Merrante and her guys do on the whole recon thing.

2nd roll is how fucked the layout is downstairs. Lower means more crap like murderholes, unstable sections, really how much crap I can throw in the way of whoever ends down here. It'll help set a potential malus on fights under the bridge, which can change over time.
*cough* careless use of mines *cough*

3rd roll is for contact. Lower means more significant contact, but something in the 90+ range might turn up something useful. Don't expect much, the enemy isn't officially there yet, and nothing in the intel suggested any presence within and around the structure, dating from when the troops currently retreating towards you passed on the bridge and checked a few days ago.
So no, you won't find an enemy position right under your feet unless you roll 1.

Anyway, merry Christmas!

>>5507435
>>Propose she creates a personal squad for this kind of thing. She can get them up to speed faster, but who will lead her platoon when she’s off “rat-hunting”? Should you consider making someone else the permanent command? How would she take it?

Rolled 74, 53, 87 = 214 (3d100)

>>5507688
Reconnaissance, geography of battle, contact.

>>5507504
+1

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>5507688
>>5507951
Sorry I've been busy

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>5507688
contact

>>5507688

Not sure if you meant that each player roll a 3d100 or one d100 per player, but here you go.

Rolled 51, 21, 38 = 110 (3d100)

>>5507997

Derp, here's my roll.

>>5507997
>In the meantime, I suppose you guys might as well roll me 3d100. One per person this time, please

I did mean one dice per person. Well I might as well take the first from >>5507910, so that gives us 74 for recon, 10 for battlefield state (you poor sods), and 49 for contact.
Like the other roll results, this one'll take a bit to show. Up next is Elias and some logistics, most likely. I'll be writing this in-between watching Sharpe, so it'll be posted sometime in the next few hours.

Fortifying is going to be important for this lot.

>>5508243
It already is for our vets, as you'll see. But it's all about priorities.

Also, excuse the wait. Christmas Day business. Also, Sharpe.


“Very well. First Lieutenant Rottenblade, you are to take your platoon on a recon mission into the tunnels running inside the bridge. Mark main travel routes, any flanking routes and side tunnels. Start at the friendly side of the bridge and work your way to the refinery side. Follow any side tunnels leading to the topside or the sides of the structure, I’ll have the other platoons keep an eye out and make notes of where we could be flanked. You may push into the corridors at your discretion, but I forbid you to go any further, even if you spot the enemy. If engaged, send a runner topside. I don’t trust the radio to work under all that stone and earth. What you do then is up to you. I expect you back in four hours tops. I’ll debrief you then, and you’ll write a more comprehensive report for the next morning. And Merrante, remember. Those are green troops. They’re not us.”

You lower your voice from the “order-giving tone” you’ve had to learn to use with that last remark. No need to hurt morale, but you have to be careful how you word things with Merrante. She’s hard to keep pace with even for veterans, and you fear she’ll run off ahead and leave dozens of scared and lost soldiers in the tunnels, which you’ll then have to herd like cats. The sheer potential for blue-on-blue fire incidents is something you’d rather not think about.

Merrante snaps a proper salute, a rather unsettling smile on her face, and walks back towards her platoon. You watch some time to see how she handles them and, satisfied about the lack of Merrante-style newbie-convincing (the kind that uses a sharp knife and very clear threats), you walk towards where you’ve last seen Elias. His platoon and yours are sticking to the middle of the bridge, and you can see his men have already started clearing rubble and assembling it into rough positions. Digging in can’t be taken quite literally on a bridge, so Elias, you and the rest of the veterans have learned to make even the emptiest of civilian environments just that bit more protected. Sure, the enemy has no ranged weapons, and you outrange them anyway. But even you still find it hard to sleep when not inside fortifications.
After questioning a few men, you find Elias. He’s checking the crates of mines you brought along.

(cont)

>>5508255

“Captain!”
“Lieutenant.”

You answer his crisp salute, then quickly motion for his to stand at ease.

“Still can’t get used to doing that Elias.”
“Ranks are ranks sir. Things are going well. Lack of good building materials, but we have enough trash to at least pretend we’re digging in. We should see about sourcing hardier stuff from the bridge itself. If it’s got half the tunnel system we suspect it does, it won’t miss a few stones here and there, and they’d be a welcome addition.”
“That they would. Merrante’s already jumped to it, she’s taking her whole platoon rat-catching. I think she wants to stay down there. More chance for close encounters. Her guys will poke their head out from the sides if they spot any passages that lead into our flanks. Pass it along so no one gets shot.”
“I was about to ask what we should do with the mines, but I suppose that answers that Eli? Mine the flanking points topside on top of the usual layers in front?”
“Maybe, I haven’t decided. I’ll wait on Merrante’s report to see how we’ll be holding onto this. But speaking of mines, how many here know how to lay them?”
“None of the new blood know the first thing about handling mines. Well, not quite, they know enough to not drop the crate with “Explosives” written on it at least!”
“Why, the job’s half done then!”

You two share a laugh before addressing the problem.

“They need teaching, and I need either you, Argya or the both of you to get started on it. I can’t do it alone, and we can’t plant and maintain a minefield with four people.”
“I get that Eli. Many hands make light work, but there’s a lot of work that needs doing still, and this is skilled hands business. The best outcome is everyone knowing how to lay mines on their own position, like we did, but we may not have the time. A smaller, dedicated class of volunteers could be ready faster, and with time, help us teach the rest.”

Once again, the choice comes down to a balance of time and number. Giving catch-up classes on laying mines to everyone will be a lengthy endeavor, and you can forget about getting any minelaying proper done before the frontlines are pushed back onto the bridge. But that isn’t so bad, the first probing attacks should not need mines to drive off and holding that particular ace in your sleeve may very well help you. What may be a problem is the time investments for both leaders and learners. A full afternoon’s work at least, given that the men are already weary from the march. And there’s Merrante’s platoon to consider. Doing some quick calculations, factoring in the fact you had hoped to use the following morning to push into the corridors for extra intel, you realize getting everyone minelaying-ready could very well take until tomorrow evening, with no minefields until then. But after that, you’ll have a much easier time of it.

>>5508257
A small squad can be instructed much faster. They’d be volunteers, eager to learn, and the small group would make teaching less of a slog, and significantly speed up the practical parts. They could be ready by tonight, maybe even lay some mines before the front reaches here. But they’ll still be few in number, and while spreading their knowledge to their fellow soldiers might work, it would take longer than if you did, and they would be hard pressed to maintain the large volume of mines you could deploy on and in the bridge.
Or you could push back the choice, get everyone focused on setting up and settling in. No risk of running out of time before the enemy shows up, and the men would be well-rested after half a day’s march. Mine-laying can wait until you have a clearer picture, no need to rush the choice, right?
Which shall it be?

>You get a mine, and you get a mine, everybody gets a mine! Teach everyone. Could take up to a day, less if you choose to focus on this rather than setting up improvised fortifications. But you have no clue when the enemy will get there. It isn’t a big risk to take and could benefit you rapidly, but do you want to take such a risk in the first place?
>Small squad of volunteers. They’ll be ready by night, and you might even get the option to lay a few mines before you get some sleep. No risk of delays and the rest of the men will be rested, but it’ll keep you officers busy, and given the general competency of your new troops, leaving them idle without guidance may prove to be a bad choice.
>Not today, sorry. Let them do what they’ve been taught before you teach them something else. They’ve earned a rest, you don’t want them half-asleep or disorganized if the enemy shows up. This way, you’ll be ready by the evening, well within schedule, you can keep an eye on everyone, and you can think about teaching them a bit later. It simply isn’t a priority given the circumstances.
>Fine, I’ll do it myself. Make no plans to tech minelaying and restrain yourself to using mines as traps laid by you and your officers rather than large warding minefields like you’re used to. It’ll take a lot of your valuable time, but you just don’t trust the greenhorns not to blow themselves up. At least this way, supply definitely won’t be an issue, and you will know for certain where each and every mine will be on this bloody bridge!
>Write-in.

No dice required this time, in part because the last few have yet to have their results written in. Considering how it's almost certainly going to affect the discussion, having you roll for the forces ahead of you so soon may have been a mistake. Ah well, live and learn. As per usual, if you have questions, ask away!

>>5508259
>Not today, sorry. Let them do what they’ve been taught before you teach them something else. They’ve earned a rest, you don’t want them half-asleep or disorganized if the enemy shows up. This way, you’ll be ready by the evening, well within schedule, you can keep an eye on everyone, and you can think about teaching them a bit later. It simply isn’t a priority given the circumstances.

>>5508259
>>Not today, sorry. Let them do what they’ve been taught before you teach them something else. They’ve earned a rest, you don’t want them half-asleep or disorganized if the enemy shows up. This way, you’ll be ready by the evening, well within schedule, you can keep an eye on everyone, and you can think about teaching them a bit later. It simply isn’t a priority given the circumstances.

Sleep and rest is fucking important.

>>5508278
>>5508323

Backing this for now. Would be smart to at least select our volunteers tonight so that tomorrow we can quickly get them assembled and training. Perhaps best to set their first mines in daylight and under supervision, no?

>>5508259
>>Small squad of volunteers. They’ll be ready by night, and you might even get the option to lay a few mines before you get some sleep. No risk of delays and the rest of the men will be rested, but it’ll keep you officers busy, and given the general competency of your new troops, leaving them idle without guidance may prove to be a bad choice.

This squad will be able to train the others later. If they survive long enough

>>5508338
I'll take the opportunity here.
If you've noticed me avoiding things like day and night, it's on purpose. There's a roof above the bridge. High enough even mortars would work, but you all are quite deep...not even underground, just near the foot of a man-made mountain. I'm keeping the hive logic from 40k, means everything can be a night attack if you want it to be! But I will be keeping a day/night cycle of 24 hours, lining up with the surface's time.

>>5508259
>>Not today, sorry. Let them do what they’ve been taught before you teach them something else. They’ve earned a rest, you don’t want them half-asleep or disorganized if the enemy shows up. This way, you’ll be ready by the evening, well within schedule, you can keep an eye on everyone, and you can think about teaching them a bit later. It simply isn’t a priority given the circumstances.

Mines are only a delaying tactic. Without a machine gun or artillery to kill infantry stuck waiting for minesweepers, they're just useful for early warnings.

>>5508259
>Small squad of volunteers. They’ll be ready by night, and you might even get the option to lay a few mines before you get some sleep. No risk of delays and the rest of the men will be rested, but it’ll keep you officers busy, and given the general competency of your new troops, leaving them idle without guidance may prove to be a bad choice.

I wanna get some people started on learning before the enemy arrives. Once contact is made laying mines will be more troublesome when the enemy can conduct spoiling attacks or observe the mines being laid with scouts. Sure, our enemy is less skilled and may not have a proper scouting force and information distribution system, and sure, sleep is important, but so is pushing our troops when needed to make use of an available capability. Plus, it is only literally a squad of volunteers that will be losing sleep, we are in charge of a whole company of 300 men, a squad burning the midnight oil is no problem.

>>5508278
I'll be backing this

>>5508259
>Not today, sorry. Let them do what they’ve been taught before you teach them something else. They’ve earned a rest, you don’t want them half-asleep or disorganized if the enemy shows up. This way, you’ll be ready by the evening, well within schedule, you can keep an eye on everyone, and you can think about teaching them a bit later. It simply isn’t a priority given the circumstances.

>>5508278
>>5508323
>>5508338
>>5508528
>>5508706
>>5508778
6 votes for focusing on other things for the "evening".

>>5508356
>>5508587
2 votes for training up a small squad.

For a total of eight votes, which is the most I've ever had in a quest. A bloody Australian Christmas miracle! Thank you anons.

Not today wins. No rolls again. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of high-tension rolling soon enough! Next update will introduce our last named officer and will most likely bring up which platoon holds what, and also MG allocation.
Goal for today is to take less than the over 6 hours of yesterday.

Writing, and thank you for your patience!

>>5508824
You ponder the question for a solid minute before making up your mind.
“It can wait. We won’t need mines tonight, or even tomorrow, but we need to oversee our new troops and said troops need to rest after walking all the way here. They may have passed training, but they’re a long way from catching up to us.”
Thinking back, you remember having no trouble with the march to get here but seeing some recruits struggle. Basic training at least meant no one collapsed from exhaustion, but after six hours of marching in full kit with a thirty-minute break in between, they’re less than fresh. They need to take it easy and get proper positions set up more than they need specific training on minelaying. Besides, it’ll bring more results when you can have them practice on positions they’ve built and come to know.
“Oh, very well then. I’ll make sure they’re in fighting shape by the evening, same for their positions. Checking on Argya next?”
“Yep. You two went for the usual double line?”
“Yes, she’s taking the front for now. We had a chat about who would get those extra two machineguns you wrangled from the quartermaster before she set up further ahead.”
“I meant to bring up the subject anyway. I’ll discuss it with her and see how things look like on the first line. If we make a choice, I’ll come tell you or send one of my new runners. I’ll need to get used to that. Having people running for me instead of doing it myself!”
You leave Elias chuckling and walk in front of his platoon’s positions, crossing and mostly empty stretch of bridge before reaching the back of Argya’s line. What little fortifications are there are arranged to have as little protection from the back as possible. Enough to catch shrapnel if an explosive landed in-between the lines, but not enough to offer cover from the second line, which will have slightly elevated positions as well. If you retreat from it, make sure the enemy finds nothing of use. A lesson you’ve learnt with practice, and painful experiences of seeing units routed from their trenches by an enemy who would then happily take potshots at them from the safety of the fallen line, safe from your force’s fire. A lot of things go into a proper retreat, and the majority of them happen before the fight. You’re pulled from your thought as you hear Argya.

(cont)

>>5508915
For being two of the very few women in both your old and new company, Merrante and Argya could not be more different. For one, Argya is usually a lot less scary outside of the fight. Much like Elias, you often wonder how it is you ended up promoted further in the big shuffle that accompanied the wave of off-planet reinforcement. Elias was the better planner and logistician in your opinion, and Argya and Merrante had what it took to lead, albeit in differing styles. Merrante was the kind to lead from the front and inspire with her own examples, while Argya was the calming presence in any line. She had a way of inspiring trust in these next to her, both in themselves and their comrades. You’ve often wondered if it was just very good peoples skill or some type of magic. A remark or compliment at the right time, a reassuring hand on one’s shoulder, it all added up. Lines held when they could have buckled, planned retreats went off without a hitch even when faced with heavy contact and the threat of friendly artillery, enemy pushes were beaten back as soldiers started landing more and more shots, bolstered by her confidence. If it truly is magic, you don’t want to pry. It would cause too much paperwork anyway, and you’d rather keep such a gem close.
As she turns towards you after giving instructions to a pair of new recruits hauling debris, you offhandedly wonder if her pretty face and smile aren’t part of her magic as well.
“Eli! Come to check on the platoon?”
“Yes, I just checked in with Elias, and I okayed Merrante taking her platoon to poke around under the bridge. Could you pass it on to your squads? They may pop out from the side walkways we saw coming in, and I don’t want to start things off with a friendly fire incident.”
“Will do! Davies, please pass it along.”
“Yes Miss!”
A young private that had been hovering near her all but runs off with her order as you listen to her report. No sign of the enemy, or of the expected retreating troops, which you decide is probably a good thing. As Elias said, Argya does bring up the question of the machineguns. Your old unit had diverted from the one-line defense common to rifles units with no attached artillery, and settled on a flexible two line, with one MG nest per line. It allowed for easier retreats, with the enemy landing into a first trench and immediately coming under fire from a set up position, rather than having one or both MG teams run back early to set up and cover the retreat. It made retreats just that little less hectic.

(cont)

>>5508916
While retreats were frowned upon, even strategic ones designed to draw the enemy in a first line turned killbox, yours had gotten enough results that the efficiency and savings in manpower and ammo, as well as the higher numbers of enemy casualties and lessened chance of enemy breakthrough had kept your superiors happy with you, and some parts of your old outfit had switched to two lines as a result. You wonder how the bloated numbers will affect their tactics. And yours.
“So we have one machinegun here, and one with Elias. Standard practice, but now we have four of them, including two with green crews, four very full platoons and the inside of the bridge to account for. Did I get everything?”
You nod, having just finished explaining the situation to Argya.
“I suppose you could simply leave one team per platoon, but there are still a lot of questions. Where is your platoon setting up, for example? Second line, behind it, split between, the two? What about the underbridge? MGs could do wonders down there, but they would be very vulnerable to flanking? How many platoons should be down there? Should we start splitting platoons? If we do, where does the team go? Should we place two MGs up top and two downstairs? Would we need two platoons to hold the underbridge? Given the opposition, we might even have to consider moving up the second line MG, break apart crowds before they reach us? I guess we could split the company in two, with me and Elias holding up the top, and Merrante and you preventing them from flaking us? But can we spare two platoons down there? Or will we need two platoons to make sure we aren’t bypassed and flanked?”
You take a deep breath as Argya calmly goes through the mess you’re dealing with,, making suggestions. It’s nice to get a second pair of eyes to look things over. Makes you a little more confident that you can hold this thing together. And you don’t just mean the bridge. What where they thinking, sticking you with a whole company…
“We’ll only get the answer to that once Merrante come back I’m afraid. But in the meantime…”

>>5508917
>We’ll move my platoon’s green MG team to your first line.

>We’ll move Elias’s team. The regular troops on the second line can cover a retreat. We’re facing untrained civvies; they’ll take the first line and stumble under las fire while trying to find cover. Both teams are vets, they can make it to the second line quickly enough anyway.

>We’ll move both Elias’s and mine. The vets will keep the new guys steady, and three MGs on a bridge against unarmored civvies is a setup I’m confident wil hold just fine.

>I’ll keep things as they are. I don’t trust a green MG team to pull off a retreat, and we may need to keep my platoon as a flexible reaction force.

>Write-in.

Currently, you have two platoons digging in topside, Argya’s in first line and Elias’s in second. You have yet to check your own troops, but you’d given them standing orders to help set up both lines. You’re considering keeping them as a QRF given the double nature of the defense. Merrante’s platoon will probably secure the underbridge, but lack of information doesn’t let you make many plans for that part of the defense.


There we go. Not all that quicker unfortunately. It may be a bit early for this sort of planning, but I wanted to flesh out Argya’s character and why people (and Eli) might trust her.

>>5508921
>>We’ll move both Elias’s and mine. The vets will keep the new guys steady, and three MGs on a bridge against unarmored civvies is a setup I’m confident wil hold just fine.

>>5508921
>I’ll keep things as they are. I don’t trust a green MG team to pull off a retreat, and we may need to keep my platoon as a flexible reaction force.

Elastic defence for an enemy that might have a breakthrough.

>>5508921
>We’ll move both Elias’s and mine. The vets will keep the new guys steady, and three MGs on a bridge against unarmored civvies is a setup I’m confident wil hold just fine.

>>5508942

Backing this.

Once we have Merrante's report - should we start blocking off minor access points, access halls and other points of access in the underbridge? We'd want to leave open the bigger thoroughfares in an effort to reduce ambushes and funnel the enemy into killboxes.

>>5508921
>We’ll move both Elias’s and mine. The vets will keep the new guys steady, and three MGs on a bridge against unarmored civvies is a setup I’m confident wil hold just fine.

>>5508942
>>5509185
>>5509185
>3 MG teams to the front.

>>5508983
>Don't change a thing.

Moving all that gear up it is!
Writing, though I realize Eli would have a Lieutenant as well, one in charge of his platoon since he commands the entire unit, not just the fourth/command platoon. I'm wondering if people would be up for some character crafting options for them? Or I can just give a couple of archetypes.

Phew. Got there in the end!
Currently, you have two platoons digging in topside, Argya’s in first line and Elias’s in second. You have yet to check your own troops, but you’d given them standing orders to help set up both lines. You’re considering keeping them as a QRF given the double nature of the defense. Merrante’s platoon will probably secure the underbridge, but lack of information doesn’t let you make many plans for that part of the defense.

There we go. Not all that quicker unfortunately. It may be a bit early for this sort of planning, but I wanted to flesh out Argya’s character and why people and Eli might trust her.

“…I’ll go tell my new team to move up here, at least for the time being, and send Elias’ guys as well. With his team and yours, we can be sure they pick up the right habits at least. A bit front heavy, but given the opposition…well I trust you’ve brushed up on interlocking fields of fire?”
“Aye aye, sir!”
“Carry on then, Lieutenant.”
You answer her semi-serious salute in kind and move back towards your lines. You’re passing on the flank of Elias’ positions, trying to remember the name of the new Lieutenant they stuck you with, when you see a commotion near the edge of the bridge. You jog closer, a hand on your trusted sidearm.
>a six-shot revolver. Enough to kill anything that moves, or so the saying went in the unit.
>a semi-auto pistol with seven shots. It’s got a…reputation in your old unit. No one wants to touch the damned thing. You can’t deny the fact that it’s effective. Very effective.
>Write-in.
Hopefully both references are still somewhat legible. I would have added Ciaphas Cain’s laspistol but it wouldn’t have been much of a vote then, right?
You spot a Staff Sargeant, one of Elias’s greens, standing near the edge of the commotion. Thre must be twenty men and women crowded up. Bloody greenhorns, gawking like civilians.
“Squad Leader, report! What’s going on?”
Your voice easily cuts through, carried by a veteran’s confidence more than by rank, and you can see the man almost jump out of his skin, before he hurriedly turns towards you and snaps to attention.
“S-Sir! We were tasked to watch the sides of the bridge in case Fourth platoon found a passage into our flank, sir!”
At least your order got passed down, so hopefully these idiots didn’t shoot each other.
“And why are you clumped together like mortar bait, exactly?”
“Fourth Platoon just came out. Um, part of it. They’ve got wounded.”
Shit.
“Clear the way!”
“Form a perimeter! You, you and you, watch the side!”
You enlist the Squad Leader and cut a path through the onlooking soldiers, barking orders and reaching the member of Merrante’s platoon that just came out. Five men, three wounded, two roughed up. Leg, arm, head, and cuts and bruises on all of them. You address the closest of the two mostly intact soldiers, a Corporal.

>>5509798
“Corporal, report. Have we made contact?”
“N-No sir. A passage crumbled on us, so Lieutenant Rottenblade sent us back with the wounded. Permission to speak frankly sir?”
“…Permission given.”
You suspect what he’s going to say. No sense making secrets when the whole camp will know by tonight.
“This place is a deathtrap sir. All this…”
He gestures to the sorry state he and his group are in.
“Isn’t just from the one passage crumbling. We can’t go five meters without a foot going through a rotten plank or thin floor, getting scratched by exposed metal or slipping on something! We hadn’t lost anyone when we left, but…”
“Welcome to tunnel fighting son. Count yourself lucky, it doesn’t look like this place was trapped. Cheer up, it could have been sewers.”
You cut off his increasingly frantic rambling. Things were a bit worse than expected, but you shouldn’t let it show. You would have to wait for Merrante’s report to get a clearer picture, but this was most likely a solid appetizer. And if you were any more of a betting man, you would be putting money on the locals being perfectly capable of traversing the underbridge with none of the difficulties your troops would have. You hope Merrante can find some chokepoints. Moving about down there would be hard on your inexperienced troops, to say nothing of pursuing an enemy who knew the terrain. Static positions were looking more and more appealing, provided you were able to funnel the enemy. That wasn’t certain, especially if this place had as many smuggling routes and caches as you suspected it did.
You motion for the group to follow you back to Elias’ line. The platoon’s field infirmary was always set up slightly behind it. Well, it used to. You’re confident Elias has at least made sure an area has been marked out. A bit of searching thankfully turns up a medical tent in the back of the line, where you drop off your charges, then quickly catch up a curious Elias who had wandered over to investigate who was making a ruckus on his flank. To his knowledge, this group has been the only contact with Merrante ever since she went playing in the tunnels. At least you finally get directions to where your own Lieutenant and direct subordinate was coordinating your squads from, which ends up being the front of the second line since your troops are being split both ways. At least it means they’ll be used to the layout of both lines, and very familiar with how long it takes to walk and run from one to the other (not that long, but it’s going to feel like forever if they do it while getting shot at or shelled). You thank Elias for the directions and bring him up to speed on your plan to bring up two more MG teams to reinforce the first line. He raises an eyebrow at the break in tradition, but makes no other remark.

>>5509801
Finally, you’re going to check on your own platoon. You begrudgingly admit that you do need a Lieutenant, green or not, considering you’ve spent most of your time getting everyone coordinated instead of taking care of “your” soldiers. You approach the mass of vaguely organized rubble that Elias pointed you to, still trying to remember the Lieutenant’s name…
>NPC Creation time!
>Name
>Man/Woman
>Very young (barely looks old enough to enlist)/Young/Not that young/On the older side
>Traits (pick as many as you want, I’ll sort it out!): Clumsy/ Blue-Blood/ Officer school/ Pencil pusher/ Eager/ Jittery/ Bought commission…
>Write-in Traits.
OR
>Archetypes (premade character concepts; May come with name attached!):
>Lucky screw up (Locked in Trait: Clumsy, turns into Lucky Screwup. Hi Rhea!)
>Overly optimistic youth (Must be Very Young. Blue Blood Optional. Red Coat optional)
>Overly rigid (Must be Young/Not that Young, Locked in Trait: Officer school and/or Blue Blood. Pain in the rear guaranteed or your money back!)
>Wizened mentor figures (No extra death flags attached, I swear! Must be On the older side.)
>SAAAAARGE! (Jumped-up Sergeant, not happy about it.)
>Write in Archetype, because the QM didn’t put in the one you wanted.


Okay, hope that’s clear. Either pick traits or pick an archetype if you don’t want to bother or actually like that kind of character. Do provide a name either way.
Today is reference day apparently, there are a few in there. Also, two choices, make sure you don’t forget to vote for the sidearm. It’s for extra narrative, and potential for references. It was about time I started using those rolls, and that 10 you rolled is starting to show up! Also, I started writing late. Blame a sudden urge to boot up TF2 again.

No dices again today, but I'm hopeful we can get more soon. I hope no one's getting the shakes!

>>5509805
>Name Litorius
>Man
>Young
>Traits: Officer school, cautious, must always have a plan.

>>5509805
>Litorius
>Man
>Very young
>Blue-Blood
>Officer school
>Eager
>proud
>Stubborn

>>5509805
I will put a vote in for the lucky screw up.

Not a whole lot of votes so I'm going to let this run a while longer. Also, remember there are TWO choices this time around, since no one's voted on the sidearm so far.

>>5509798
>a semi-auto pistol with seven shots. It’s got a…reputation in your old unit. No one wants to touch the damned thing. You can’t deny the fact that it’s effective. Very effective

>>5509854
+1

Btw QM. You have a schedule for the quest?

>>5510712
I've mostly kept to the same schedule since I took it up. Daily updates, around this time of the day, closing votes about six hours before that. I'll see how long I can keep it up past the New Year's.

>>5510719
Oh hey, that's neat. Daily updates until new years. If you feel that you arent biting enough questers here. You can try on SN or SV. More pool of people there as far as I can see compared to /qst/ these days if you aint some of the more popular ones.

Glory to the Emperor, of course.

>six shot revolver
If it took more than 1 shot you weren't using a Jacob's

>>5510828
Since your IP is new, I'll assume you just jumped in. I'm not the OP, he flaked after the first choice and I decided, why not me? I had wanted to run a quest for a while anyway, and I had the time and some concepts for votes. A year ago I would have kept this a 40k quest. Not anymore. What I do or do not keep will honestly depend on what I feel like writing, but this isn't 40k anymore, at least in name.
As for the other sites, I enjoy how quiet /qst/ feels. What's SN? I know of Space Battles and sufficient velocity, but not that abbreviation.

>>5510890
Oh, original QM flaked. That sucks. Thanks for running the quest then.

Also it was supposed to be SB. Am on phone so got mistyped.

Wasn't expecting this quest to be almost destroyed by side-character creation. Bloody hell.
Okay, vote cancelled. For the gun, at least.
>>5510712
Thank you for giving us a majority at last.
I'm of half a mind to go with the semi-auto just because you're letting me move forward with that support vote. I'll think about it.

I suppose I'll get writing. Not sure when the update will be honestly.

>>5511709
At this point just pick the pistol. Hopefully this quest will pick up soon.

Still writing, don't expect anything until the usual vote closing time.

It’s easy to spot the Lieutenant at least, even as you struggle to remember their name. They’re half a head shorter than just about everyone in the platoon, more fresh-faced than even those here who just came out of basic. Litorius! Litorius, that was it! Living proof that blue bloods buying commissions wasn’t an extinct tradition, no matter what the brass said. Gods below, the kid must’ve been blitzed through officer school. You can’t exactly fault him, it’s not like you went there, but you can fault is attitude. Litorius is every bit the snot-nosed brat he looks to be at first glance. If there’s anything under that androgynous facade, you’ve yet to see it. You’ve been butting heads ever since he was assigned under you. Kid must’ve thought he should be the one to lead the squadron. You believe the kid should be given a crash course in the difference between a killing officer, and a murdering officer, as well as a finely worded and reminder of the main causes and methods of officer fragging. For his own good.
You had every intention to assume command of the platoon when the fighting started. These were soldiers, your men and women, and you’d be damned if you let some prissy fancy-pants wearing twat send them to their deaths because they think they’re the gods’ blessing to the art of war!
Still, a part of you still hopes the kid can be set straight. He’s young, you suspect younger than you were when you enlisted. He’ll have time to grow, and the coming days should provide plenty of occasions for him to reflect on the reality of conflict. A grimmer apart of your brain remarks that, if he cannot learn at least his behavior should lead to him either dying or becoming unfit for duty, likely outcomes for those who try and brave the battlefield without being prepared. You make a note to get to know all of your squad leaders and the rest of your command better, so you know who to put in charge to replace him should that come to pass. Still, you hope the annoying brat makes it. A lot of kids are going to die very soon, and this one, while insufferable, has done nothing to deserve a similar fate, at least for now. But then again, neither did all those who have already died on either side of this revolt. Also, him dying under you would probably earn you quite a bit of ill-will from his family, which probably would come back to bite you in the behind.
“Lieutenant.”
“Captain.”
This exchange is brief compared to the others, and a lot tenser. Litorius’s salute is crisper than your own, something he obviously like reminding you of. You hit him right back, of course.
“Ah, glad to see you’ve turned this position into a proper defensive work.”

(cont)

>>5512685
It’s a pile of rubble, and that’s exactly why you make a show of complimenting him on it, a large smile on your face that doesn’t quite reach your eyes. Litorius couldn’t do much more, and you hadn’t expected him to, but rubbing his head in the fact that his command bunker is a bunch of cobbled together junk is sure to get a rise out of him.
“…Thank you, sir.”
That rictus gives you a bit of joy. He’s probably only ever seen trenches in pictures and video footage, and even then, they must’ve looked better than this.
“I know it’s no palace, but it’ll protect us from incoming fire all the same.”
“Sir, I must remind you that the enemy has no weapons to hit us with! We should be clearing out a line of fire instead! And why split ourselves into two lines?! We’re reducing our firepower!”
“Lieutenant Litorius, what were our orders?”
“…take and hold the bridge sir?”
“That’s brass talk for digging in Litorius. And while the enemy officially doesn’t have rifles or ranged weapons of any kind, I’m still going to assume they do, so half of *my* company doesn’t get lit to Hel and back if those weapons *do* show up into enemy hands.”
The kid treats the orders from the brass like gospel. Another thing he’ll need to learn, the reality of terrain.
“As for the two lines, regimental tradition. Ask around for it if you want. And I was coming here to order our attached machinegun team to move up to the first line. I’ve done the same for Elias’, so we’ll have all the firepower we need up front. As for where our platoon will be, that decision will wait until we have a more accurate picture of the tactical situation.”
Litorius cannot help himself.
“I volunteer to take at least part of the platoon to reinforce the first line, sir!”
He most likely thinks he can cover himself in glory and overshadow you by leading from the front while you sit in the backlines. That line of thought usually lead to stupid heroics like pursuing an enemy outside of a perfectly good trench system, or just ordering your squads to do it for you. Which lead to a lot of good men dying. Yeah, keep dreaming, kid.
“I will keep it in my, but for now, we’re the quick reaction force. The tunnels running inside the bridge will be a constant threat. All platoons are to watch their flanks, but we will deploy against any enemy contact that tries to slip away or flank us.”
The thought that he’ll be able to run towards any sighting of enemy attack on your perimeter seems to placate him for the time being, and the back and forth barbs take a backseat for the rest of the discussion.
He hasn’t mismanaged things that much, stuck as he was between Argya and Elias, each setting up a line and needing hands. Still, your men look fresher than when you left them to go do captain things. It’s a relief, even if you aren’t expecting enemy contact for

*”CRACK!”*.

>>5512686
You duck by force of habit. Las rifle being discharged. Coming from the first line’s direction, but not loud enough to be from them. You’re already running. It’s too soon, it isn’t even evening yet. The retreating troops are here, an it looks like they’re being engaged. Did Litorius follow you? Yes, he’s behind you, slowly losing ground. He isn’t used to this, and his strides are smaller. More discharges, sounding closer. You angle towards Argya’s position and slide to a halt near her.
“Up the line. I’ll go down. Tell’em to watch for friendlies. No shooting until we say so.”
She nods. Maybe the greenhorns don’t need to be told again, but you aren’t taking chances. You move from rubble clump to rubble clump stopping and passing it on.
“Friendlies incoming, hold fire until ordered!”
Finally you reach the end of the line and turn back towards the middle. You can see Litorius moving towards you. The idiot isn’t darting in and out of cover, he’s bloody jogging down the line.You barely stop yourself from shoulder-checking him into cover, and choose to drag him after you.
“Get your gods-damned head down, Lieutenant!”
“B-But, friendlies?”
“Trigger happy blue on blue goes both ways. Do you think these guys know we’re here? I’m not chancing it. Move!”
You start back towards Argya’s command. She’s there, waiting calmly, eyes watching the edge of the bridge.
“Flag?”
She nods towards two soldiers hastily unfurling two of the company’s fresh new flags and setting them up on the rubble. No rebels have these flags, this should tell these men they’ve made it to friendly lines. You unsling your rifle as the sound of shooting gets nearer, then look at Litorius. You’re of half a mind to send him back.
>Send him back. Tell him to bring up the MG team. A good excuse, he won’t be able to criticize or say no to it, since he’s expressed worry about firepower.
>Let him stay. Let him watch.
>Write-in.


Finally, some action! Those bad rolls for the retreating troops, compounded by the one for the global situation are coming in at last! Also, meet Litorius, the kid who almost killed the quest again. I hope I’m writing him well enough, annoying but not too much. I also hope the change of writing pace once the shooting started was done well enough. Eli’s mentality isn’t that of an officer removed from the fight, but still that of a soldier. He can’t just stand there giving orders and reading reports. Thankfully, it means I get to write more exciting stuff for the time being!

Speaking of, please roll me 1d100 three times for no reason in particular!

>>5512687
>Let him stay. Let him watch.

Personally I dont mind the kid, probably has some drama that had him enlist and go through officership. It'll also be a net plus for us if we make him a good officer, he has connections too.

>>5512687
"dice+3d100"

How to find how to roll

>>5512694
dice+3d100

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>5512687
>Let him stay. Let him watch.

>>5512695
>
you have to put it in the options field

>>5512695
>>5512699
Like anon said. Also, please just roll one dice.
At this point it's almost comical that someone does it every time, even when I keep changing the way I say it!

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>5512687
>Let him stay. Let him watch.

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>5512687

>>5512687
>Let him stay. Let him watch.
>Flag down the nearest vox-operator.
Litorius can stay near the vox-operator to act as sniper bait keep aware of communications.

>>5512999
Ill plus one the vox operator

>>5512697
>>5512717
>>5512751
Taking these rolls.

>>5512999
>>5513516
As well as that write-in. Gives me an excuse to get those relationship rolls in even faster, though it may still take an update or two depending on how this encounter goes.

Writing! Schedule may or may be respected today.

You settle on a half measure.
“Argya, where’s your radioman? Litorius, go fetch them and come back, we need to call this in.”
The radio team is a little ways back, enough to get him out of your hair for a moment, but not enough that he’ll miss the show. You focus back onto the entrance of the bridge, finally seeing the red flashes of the las discharges you’d been hearing. You first spot movement near one of the sides of the tunnel that opens up on the bridge. You check and are relieved to find the company’s flags raised high. No chance they’ll miss those.
Then you see several figures step onto the bridge, running full tilt to a clump of debris, taking shelter and using it to brace their rifles as they start laying down cover fire. Another group follows suit, taking a similar position against another pile of rubble, then a third. If they can leapfrog, it’s not a full rout yet, you think, relieved. That particular thought is dashed when you hear Argya inhale sharply net to you, and spot a fourth, much larger group step onto the bridge.
These soldiers aren’t hiding, just trying to move forward. Even at a distance of nearly a kilometer, it’s clear to see most if not all are wounded. The formation starts making a lot more sense to you. They’d detached groups of able-bodied soldiers to counter enemy harassment while they retreated. They must’ve gotten mauled trying to stay in a clump. As you feared, the tunnels work in the insurgents favor, offering reduced lines of sight and plenty of odd angles. Even without ranged weapons, this can be deadly. Not everyone’s Merrante, and a lot of men panic when a bloodthirsty enemy closes in melee, allowing it to do a lot of damage, proportionally to its equipment.

>>5514919
As the main group painfully inches towards your line, you can spot the rearguard groups falling in. They start off like the scouting elements, but the third and fourth appear at a dead sprint. Looks like the enemy is right on their heels.
Argya is tense, obviously wanting to take as many men as she can and rush in to help the wounded get to your lines faster. They’re blocking up part of your line of fire, though the sides of your line and the MG, being raised slightly higher, can still shoot past them. Still, if a mob rushed out of the tunnel after them, it could now easily rush down or past the rearguard and massacre the wounded. Could one machinegun and about forty extra rifles really stop such an attack? For unarmored opponents, at about one kilometer engagement range, the fire rate for your rifles is about two discharges a second. That kills a man without armor or cuts off a limb if it doesn’t hit center mass. If the poor bastard is carrying a metal platin thinking that’ll save him, he’s going to regret it since that shot’ll punch through an inch of metal and melt a few beyond that. That is to you the true power of las weapons over projectiles. Every armor melts if you focus enough rifles at it. And every trainee is drilled in both volley and focused fire.
You can average four shots a second at five hundred meters and lower, giving less time to each discharge to accumulate energy from the battery. Less than a hundred meters, the rifles can go much, much faster. But as maddened screams echo from the tunnel and reach your lines, you realize they won’t get that far before the enemy reaches the bridge. What happens then will depend on a lot of factors. But as you see Argya clenching her free fist, the other hand near her rifle’s trigger, and Litorius comes back running with the radioman, you think of how to tilt the chances towards you, towards these men.

>>5514920
>Prep time!
You are about to engage the enemy. The first line’s flanks, about half the unit, or about forty men, can engage the enemy. The same goes for the MG, near the center but on a slightly elevated pile of rubble. Should these elements fire:
>As soon as the enemy is spotted, pinning them and making sure the rearguard elements of the retreating troop are not engaged.
>Later, ensuring more enemies pour in, meaning more casualties. But when should they start firing? And what of the rearguard elements?
>Write-in.
The center of the line cannot shoot over the bulk of the retreating wounded, as they are still too far away and walking on the middle of the bridge. Should they:
>Take positions at the flanks to be able to hit hostiles? Given how untrained they are, there is no telling how long that would take, but you are doubtful they will be ready by the time the flanks can spot the enemy.
>Be led by Lieutenant Argya to hurry along the retreating wounded? Taking on the more grievously wounded and having Argya inspire the rest should result in a burst of speed, but they would become just as vulnerable.
>Stay put?
>Write-in.
Finally, an idea crosses your mind. The radio. They should have one, and every squad should have a short range to keep in contact. With any luck, you can tap into it and give the approaching men instructions.
>Your write-in has given you access to a special choice, but it is not a guaranteed success!
>(It will require a roll. It is heavily advised that you give a different set of choices in case you fail to communicate with them.)
>Order the rearguard element to stop leapfrogging and bloody book it towards your lines. It will allow your flanks to wait before engaging the enemy without risking the rearguard elements’ safety all that much more.
>Order the main group of wounded to hit the dirt. Clears line of fire for your entire line but slows progress down almost entirely. Friendly fire chances will be greatly reduced, but not zero given your green troops.
>Write-in.

Okay, smaller update than usual and Happy New Year anons! The two are obviously related. This will be our first combat update, so the choices’ list is still a bit of a prototype. Feel free to think outside the box, as you already have. For dice rolls, it does bring up a question. Rolling dice and voting at the same time can be really gamey and allow people to pick the option with the best dice. Asking for rolls after closing votes would double voting time, with an update every two days (which isn’t all that different from what’s currently happening, but shush!). Or I could do the rolls here, publicly, and write. Pro: doesn’t delay the update. Con: you guys don’t get to satisfy your dice rolling addiction.
Not sure about that one yet, so feedback from the primarily interested would be greatly appreciated!

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>5514921
>As soon as the enemy is spotted, pinning them and making sure the rearguard elements of the retreating troop are not engaged.

>Stay put?

>Order the rearguard element to stop leapfrogging and bloody book it towards your lines. It will allow your flanks to wait before engaging the enemy without risking the rearguard elements’ safety all that much more.

I would say we roll while voting but only the first 3 (or how many you want us to roll) so no matter what we vote for the dice are locked in. so their won't be any choosing the option with best dice.

>>5515114
It doesn't entirely solve the problem, especially when there are options with rolls and options without, or with less. This vote is a good example with the radio. I can (and will if it wins) have you roll for communicating on the radio, but if you roll badly, other players will see it and might vote differently, picking a strategy that doesn't rely on the radio. That's what I mean. Technically, the radio here is a bonus way of doing things, and failing won't punish you overmuch unless there's a critfail, but that won't always be the case.

>>5515121
then just have us always roll 3. if the roll requires more than 3 you can just roll any extra dice after the votes locked in. if it's less than 3 you could have a system where if 2 dice are required the first one would take the first 2 rolls (taking the better one) and votes that require just 1 roll would just be best of 3.

>>5515141
so their is risk reward focusing on a few things (K.I.S.S) rewards us with a better chance of succeeding but we miss out on being able to do other things. an opportunity cost.

>>5514921
>As soon as the enemy is spotted, pinning them and making sure the rearguard elements of the retreating troop are not engaged.
>Be led by Lieutenant Argya to hurry along the retreating wounded? Taking on the more grievously wounded and having Argya inspire the rest should result in a burst of speed, but they would become just as vulnerable.
>>5515121
Don't have us roll on a choice we make until it's locked in. A bit more clunky, but it stops metagaming.

Okay, since >>5515554 didn't say anything about the radio, we don't have a clear majority. I'll wait some more, at least until the usual posting time.

>>5515114
Ill plus 1 this

Apologies for not voting fast enough. Just came back from a trip. >>5513516 this me btw

>>5515948
No need to apologize anon, and noting the id change.
Since that gives me a majority, I'll get writing in the morning, so expect the update somewhere between the usual vote closing time and the normal update time.
Though since the stay put option was there mostly as a combo with telling the wounded group to lay down, it would leave your center idle. I'll throw you guys a bone and have the wounded try and clear your center's line of fire. Same for telling the rearguard to run and yet shooting the enemy as soon as they appear. Well, at least you won't have to worry about friendly fire if the radio roll goes through.

In the meantime, roll me 1d100 best of 3 for getting through on the radio. No modifiers, well not visibly. You would get a bonus for this being a write-in action, but these guys aren't in top shape, and may not be too trusting of someone intruding on their comms. You have a radio op, but he's as green as the rest and this isn't exactly by a the books interaction.For simplicity's sake, I'll even it all out, and make it a best of three since it's a proper player action, not environmental stuff, and I do want you guys to make it, even if it maybe won't look that way at time.

I'll also need 4d100 for shooting best of 3 for the flanks, left then right, the MG, and the fourth for the center roll if the radio roll passes. No penalties since your troops are fresh, but they're greehorns and haven't had time to get proper ranging done.

Good rolling, and good night!

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>5516327
Radio roll. We're going to have to discipline this line unit if they didn't call out contact. Someone up the chain of command has to be notified goddammit.

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>5516327
I'm guessing my 66 doesn't count so here you go.

Rolled 59, 84, 60, 28 = 231 (4d100)

>>5516327
and this is for shooting.

Rolled 36, 48, 4 = 88 (3d100)

Shooting roll.

Rolled 93 (1d100)

>>5516327
For the d100 bo3 and 4d100

Rolled 57, 70, 4, 87 = 218 (4d100)

>>5516491

>>5516491
woot

You spring into action and order the radioman to scan frequencies close to your own to try and relay orders to what looks to be a platoon-sized element in front of you. Hopefully they share a frequency, even if they could very well be the remains of several companies, or even different regiments. The radioman nods and gets to work, switching channels seemingly at random. Before you’ve had a chance to wonder what kind of idiot cleared him for radioman, the radio starts picking up comms, and you hear a gruff, yet weary male voice trying to coordinate his troops.
“Mercer, how close?”
“They’ll reach the foot of the bridge in less than a minute sir!”
“Charlie, any signs from those positions up ahead?”
“Yessir, flags up on the rubble, they look like loyalists!”
“Best fucking news I’ve heard all week.”
The voice dims as the man pulls away t shout at those around him.
“Alright, listen up! Those are friendly positions men, we’re nearly there. It ain’t time to keel over now!”
He’s probably inside the wounded pack then. Time for a quick introduction.
“Break, break, break! This is commander Kuzmuran, 401st Mercian, Second Battalion, fourth company, we are manning the positions in front of you. I have a rifle line at the ready, but that big group of wounded you have is right in our line of fire, and at this rate you aren’t going to make it.”
“401st, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Mind lending a hand?”
“I have a plan. Tell your backline skirmishers to start running, my men can hold the flank. Clump together and keep moving, we can funnel the right behind you. You’re going to have to trust us for that last bit. You’re going to keep going until I give the signal, and then you’re all going to lay down. We have enough firepower to scythe through them and an MG set up.”
“…”
You tense. You’re asking a lot of them. Laying down while pursued isn’t a great idea when you plan to stay alive. But their commander isn’t blind and knows just as well as you do that they’ll get ripped to shreds before they reach you. Which does bring the question of why they aren’t returning fire effectively.
“Alright, you heard him. Charlie, keep your heads down and engage hostiles on our flanks. Mercer, Able, Johnson, pull back and run towards us. As for you commander, I’d rather that MG of yours shoot far rather than short.”
No grumbling at you hijacking his command, keeping cool under pressure, and you don’t hear a word of protest from those around him or the squads on the channel as they confirm their new orders. That could have gone a lot worse!

>>5517197
Your squads should have radios too. Should. But you still checked in with them when you heard the shots, because making this kind of assumption gets people killed. It takes one squad not having their short range turned on or on the right frequency, and friendlies get shot at and entire maneuvers get thrown out of whack. They’re always on during a fight, but it’s not unusual to have them off when out of one and around friendly troops. Then your newbie unit comes under fire and there’s a lot to worry about and turning one the radio because a very secondary concern…right until the point where you miss a crucial order. It wasn’t a problem when it was just you vets, but you’ll need to babysit these ones a while.
You watch the rearguard squads fall in toward the main group while the squads ahead of it stop moving up and keep their rifles trained on the flanks of the bridge, kneeling, or even lying down so that your men have a larger firing angle. And less chance of hitting them. That’s when you get your first look at the enemy.
You see a man in ragged clothes run out of the tunnel, carrying what could be a plank of wood. Then another holding a pipe, then two more, then a dozen. They seem to appear out of the darkness of the tunnel, and before you know it you’ve got maybe a hundred hostiles at the far end of the bridge, with more pouring in. And they run. Gods below they run. Right towards the wounded, right towards the squad that were shooting at them. They run, and they scream. They must all be screaming, for you to be able to hear it from there. It doesn’t spell anything, it’s just noise, a noise that makes your hairs stand on end.
A crack and a flash, and you see a laser impact the tide of bodies, originating from the rearguard squad. You don’t see what happens to whoever was hit, but the crowd doesn’t even flinch or stagger. They just run, even as a few more shots strike a couple men down.
You had Argya’s messengers relay your plan, and as the crow starts spreading to cover the entire span of the bridge, your flanks let out a full volley. One squad per flank, with the three others and Argya’s command in the center holding fire. Thirty rifles sound off all at once. At least they can fire a proper volley, you muse. The left flank’s shots only drop a few hostiles, while the right flank’s score a few grazes before impacting, no doubt inflicting burns and setting most clothing ablaze, or even worse, melting in even as the skin peels. For those hit directly, it’s hardly better, and only because it’s a quick kill. They die from overpressure mostly, arteries and organs bursting as the water within is turned to steam in a fraction of a second.

>>5517199
Your rifles fire again and again, with the approaching force only having to ward off a couple runners from the left side of the bridge. Predictably, the crowd wizens up and starts clumping behind the wounded, rapidly closing the gap. You eye Argya, then her MG team. Solid people, led by a woman called Sarah, if memory serves. You trust she won’t have to aim high to avoid friendly fire. You nod at her and her team, and they nod back before you all focus back on the task at hand and you give the order on the radio.
“Now!”
The mounded men in front of you drop to the ground as fast as they can, leaving you with a good view of the front men, barely able to make out a surprised expression as Argya give her own order. It’s her platoon, after all.
“Fire!”
Three regular squads, the MG team and it’s support gunners, Agya’s command squad, Litorius and you all open up on the hostiles who so politely clumped together in the middle of the bridge. Over sixty rifles melt through the first rank right before the MG’s fire, partly visible due to its tracers, scythes through the formation from right to left, then back again. The right flank of the mob is shredded by bullets, but the left fares a bit better as the MG moves back without quite reaching the edge of the formation. Most of the insurgents haven’t realized what’s happening, so the second pass is just as deadly. You rifles have a field day with the survivors, who for most don’t even comprehend what just happened. You count three full volleys before they even start crouching or throwing themselves down, and by that point most of them are dead.
What follows is clean up. With a perfect field of fire and an MG suppressing the remains of the mob, your rifles can simply pick off whoever tries to go after the wounded. It is a bit hard to tell who’s dead and who isn’t at this range, as there are now plenty of twitching bodies on the ground. Out of maybe two hundred hostiles, you only count a few lucky souls who manage to run off and not get a rifle discharge in the back. Less than twenty make it back into the tunnel and out of sight. You wonder about setting up lights there. You could easily shoot them in there, it’s not that far really. You don’t count your own kills. It’s hard to tell usually, anyway.

>>5517200
You finally give Argya the go ahead to take her squads and move up to secure the wounded and finish off the insurgents.
>Do you give her orders to keep one for interrogation? You weren’t ordered to give quarters or take prisoners.
>Yes
>No
>Write-in?

You turn back to the radioman.
“What’s your name son?”
“Murphy, sir.”
“That trick of yours just saved a lot of lives. Where’d you learn that?”
“Older radioman during transit sir. Said I’d need it out there to pick out chatter. Ours or the enemy if they have any.”
>You have a new Notable Character under your command!
>Radioman Murphy Currently attached to Argya Hotpyre’s Command Squad, Third Platoon.
>Bonus of +5 to radio rolls.
>Special ability: Radio scouting. Can attempt a radio roll to locate and even access local short-range comms. Can locate enemy comms but cannot access encrypted comms. Useful for contacting friendly squads or enemy chatter. Discrete. Maluses may apply.

You have a bit of time before Argya and the wounded come back. What to do?
>Talk to Litorius, see how the kid’s holding up. For all you know, that was his first time being in a real battle. Well not like you all got shot at, but it can still be a lot, especially if he was half as pampered as you think he was.
>Follow Argya. Take a look at the retreating troops, chat with that officer you contacted on the radio.
>Have Murphy contact battalion headquarters, then make your report of contact. Let them know the enemy is here early and that they’ve been driven off.
>Write-in.

Phew! Welcome to 4 post updates gentlemen! As per usual, I'd like some feedback on what I write. No rolls needed. Well, maybe just one for the road. 1d100, best of, well, 1. May or may not be used depending on choices.
Ah, we'll also need a 1d100 best of 3 and 1d100 best of 1 for Argya's search of intel, whether she and her squads turns up a live insurgent of finds something good on a dead one. First one is searching, will get used no matter what. Second is finding a live one and is more luck than skill, so I'll leave it up to the dice gods!

Good reading, and good night!

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>5517202
>>Do you give her orders to keep one for interrogation? You weren’t ordered to give quarters or take prisoners.
>Yes

>Have Murphy contact battalion headquarters, then make your report of contact. Let them know the enemy is here early and that they’ve been driven off.

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>5517202
>Do you give her orders to keep one for interrogation? You weren’t ordered to give quarters or take prisoners.
>Yes

>Have Murphy contact battalion headquarters, then make your report of contact. Let them know the enemy is here early and that they’ve been driven off.

Would have gone with checking on the kid or checking on the troops but we can check on the kid once he isnt in a combat scnario and we can verify the retreating troops after they're all set.

For the writing meanwhile. Been good so far though I not the lack of spaces between the lines/paragraphs. Nothing major but just wanted to point it out, aside from that good writing so far.

>>5517480
I'll need to pay greater attention to it and start skipping lines between paragraphs then, that mainly comes from transferring from Word, where there's a small gap between them.

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>5517202
>Yes

>Follow Argya. Take a look at the retreating troops, chat with that officer you contacted on the radio.

Well we don't have much dice, so I'll shuffle what we have around. Reputation roll will be 43, intel roll will be 87, finding a live one will be 33.
Writing, quite a bit later than usual. I'm hoping to have this out soon. Tomorrow's update will be similarly pushed back as well, maybe even skipped entirely depending on how things go.

>>5518263
What does the reputation roll do? Is it personal rep with the battalion or rep as an officer?

>>5518442
I'm using these to determine a person's starting opinion of you.
For example, this update will introduce your current superior and battalion commander. You rolled around 90 for him and those on your flank, so your starting rep is really, really good. Now it's up to me to give a reason why, which will be the fact he was your superior in the past and was thoroughly impressed by your tactics.
This guy got a middling roll, but will get a bonus to opinion for you pulling his ass out of the fire. Also, that good radio roll means you avoided a conflict while giving him orders. So overall, you've been lucking out. As for what those opinions do, well we'll see when they come back to help or haunt you!

You decide to stay with Murphy and make a contact report, especially since you weren’t expecting any retreating forces or insurgent presence for a few hours yet. You haven’t had the chance to talk to the officer in charge of the group you just helped out, but the mere presence of the enemy ahead of schedule must be reported and spread down the line.
“Murphy, get on the battalion frequency, we need to call this in.”
“Sir!”
The kid quickly manipulates the radio and hands you back the receiver. He isn’t your official radioman, but it saves you a trip. The channel is currently silent, so you go right ahead. You also get to use the highest possible level of precedence, Flash, since this is an initial report of enemy contact.
“Second Battalion Command, this is Fourth Company commander Kuzmuran. Precedence Flash, medium enemy contact on Bridge Junction X-14/G-Y1. Acknowledge. Over.”
“A-Acknowledged, wait one, over!”
A shaky female voice. Another newbie radio operator. Could be her first flash message. She’s probably going to go fetch.
“Eli, this is Miller. Solid copy, what’s your current situation, over?”
Captain Miller, now Battalion Commander miller. Your old CO and mentor figure in the army.
“Situation handled sir. Enemy made contact pursuing retreating forces, only about four hours ahead of schedule. Attempted a frontal charge and were driven off with heavy casualties. The bridge junction holds. Over.”
“Fine work Captain. What about the retreating forces, over?”
“Currently being escorted back to our lines. A hundred and fifty men tops. Most wounded. Haven’t had the time to debrief their leader yet. Over.”
“Did you say one hundred and fifty, over?”
“Yes, over.”
You have no clue what their force used to look like, but that question and the solid three seconds it takes Miller to answer tell you it was probably a lot more than that.
“Okay, get whoever’s in charge of them on the line ASAP. I’m passing this down to the other company and First Battalion. What did contact look like? Any other nasty surprises, over?”
“No sir. About two hundred insurgents. Frontal charge. No armor, but kept charging until we lined them up for a volley and the MG. They got to within six hundred meters, but only because the wounded were in the way. No surprises, over.”
“That’s good. Any sign of them in the underbridge? Over.”
“Fourth Platoon is down there on an aggressive recon. No word of contact so far, sir. Over.”
“You keep at it Eli, and get me that CO on the line. Out.”

>>5521299
All throughout this conversation, you could hear the occasional shot ring out, coming from over where Argya’s squad is checking the dead insurgents. It doesn’t concern you; they’re simply making sure the enemy is dead or putting those who aren’t out of their misery. With laser rifles, you either get missed, get grazed, get killed, or find yourself wishing you had gotten killed. You had personally never had the displeasure of experiencing third-degree burns in your career, but you can confidently say that having those on the inside of your internal organs would be a fate worse than death, and that’s without counting the high likelihood of the steam rupturing said organs. Giving a second shot to the poor souls who survived the first is something you have done and consider an act of mercy. A knife works just as well but a shot to the heart or brain is usually pretty instant, even on lower settings, and not that much of an ammo expenditure.
Ammo is another area in which your rifles surpass projectile weapons. At your standard setting, the one you’ve just used, you can normally get around two hundred shots out of the rifle’s battery pack. One hundred seconds of continuous fire, though in practice no one ever holds down the trigger while on this power setting. Counting shots becomes a bit more random if you switch power settings in the middle of a battery pack. The highest safe setting takes several seconds to charge and would take a twentieth of the charge for example, while a short burst of the short-range setting would barely drain more than a normal shot, giving a battery pack, a blocky thing smaller than your forearm, a capacity of upwards of a thousand shots. And each of your men can carry several even without a pack. Just disengage the spent one, toss it, and slide in the new one until you hear a click, check the weapon, and off you go shooting again.
Then there’s the matter of the rechargeable battery packs. You have them packed somewhere, one for each soldier. New tech that allows soldier to recharge the battery on the field. Problem is, they’re apparently pretty expensive and each subsequent recharge isn’t quite as good, and that’s one top of the fact that they have a lower capacity to begin with. You suppose they’d come in handy if you ever got cut off and managed to run out of everything else. But good luck recharging something with the sun all the way down here…
Word is, you could even recharge them by putting them next to a fire! You’re not quite sure you believe that one.

>>5521303
Anyway, Argya should be coming back now, so you leave the trench and walk towards her men, who’ve formed a perimeter around the wounded as they escort them back. Well, most of them are inside the group lending an arm or a shoulder or simply carrying extra equipment, but you have no doubt most if not all of them have their heads on a swivel. It’s not just them being protective of fellow soldiers, you’re willing to bet the expressions the wounded must have had were quite enough to make your greenhorns understand that they shouldn’t let their guard down around the enemy.
With any luck, you’re about to hear that story. Though it does bring up the question of whether you should try and debrief their CO before you have Murphy set him up with Miller. You’d gain some time and could get valuable information, but he may not take it well. He’s been through a lot in these past few days, you don’t doubt that. Maybe just a few questions, making it clear you’re asking out of concern for your men?
>Try and debrief him.
>Only a few short questions about potential incoming enemy elements.
>Leave it all to Miller, you can either eavesdrop or trust Murphy to tell you everything. Even if he doesn’t, Argya should have no problem convincing him.
>…maybe you could just ask him? Or is it something that would look weak coming from an officer? You never got training for that! He could be expecting you to take charge, he’s in your section of the lines and he didn’t mind you taking over his command there. But maybe things are different now that the danger’s past?
>Write-in.

>In all case, write-in questions.

So that took a while longer than expected. A while longer. I’m sorry for leaving you guys in the dark for over two days, I got stuck on the writing a lot on top of the planned interferences. I wasn’t sure what to add after the radio exchange, honestly, so you’re getting the blurb on my take on lasguns now, I guess! Also, I hope I didn’t mangle the radio exchange too bad! I’ll still try and stick to the schedule again, but no promises.

>>5521306
>Leave it all to Miller, you can either eavesdrop or trust Murphy to tell you everything. Even if he doesn’t, Argya should have no problem convincing him.

>>5521321
+1

>>5521321
+1

>>5521321
>Try and debrief him.

as ranking NCO, might as well try

questions I guess would be Unit name and rank, their last position, encountered hostiles, length of retreat, and the state of his men whether they need to head to the backline or they can stay and help man the trenches.

>>5521306
>Try and debrief him.

Alright, closing the vote on a 3-2 for staying out of it and see if we can hear what Miller asks him, or get it through Murphy if needed.
>>5522321
I'll be taking those questions into account, but I can answer that last questions, since your orders stated you would be covering their retreat, it was implied they would be moving back from the front to reorganize. Where they go from there, especially given how badly mauled they seem to have gotten, probably isn't something they know themselves at this point.

Writing, with an update around the usual schedule, hopefully.

Okay so this update has ballooned out of proportion, 1,2k words and it's still nowhere near done or near a vote, I may have to push it back to tomorrow.

>>5523695
2,6k words. I'll polish it in the morning and get it posted at around what used to be the normal time. It went a lot darker than expected, and the expectation was already basically Vietnam. Honestly I'll see if I keep it or change some of it.
Sorry for the many delays, guys.

>>5525134
It's alright my guy. Keep your writing with your pace. We can wait.

Space Vietnam, let's go!

It comes.
Five word pages. 6k words. One partial rewrite. My complete inability to stick to a schedule. A mix of Vietnam War inspirations and another fictional IP. It'll get more apparent as this arc progresses, but I'll say right now that, if you get it right, I am absolutely giving you a bonus to shooting with your sidearm, since the two are from the same place.
Update very, very soon!

You exchange a few nods with Argya’s squads on the way. No one bothers with the salute, least of all the soldiers you’ve just rescued, and you aren’t about to get on their case about it right now, frankly. It does allow you a closer look at the retreating forces, though. As you feared and had surmised from how the man spoke to these squads on the radio, you spot at least two different unit patches on the way, from completely different regiments. You try and think back to your orders but can’t recall anything as to the number of troops that was set to retreat via the bridge junction. Best case scenario, the bigger formations got jumped and separated in the tunnels and you just happened to have one of the most-harassed ones pushed towards you. But even that would imply that the enemy has a strong presence in the industrial sector right on the other side of that bridge. Worst case scenario, these men and women are all that’s left of two entire regiments, maybe more. Four battalions, at least four companies each, most likely bloated with recruits like yours. Four thousand eight hundred soldiers total, reduced to this. Hopefully you’re wrong about this.
You catch sight of Argya, walking and chatting with the CO. He looks like he sounded like, on the older side for a soldier, captain’s insignia on his shoulders, carries himself like a noble would. He reminds you of Miller when you still served under him. It feels strange to think you shared the same rank now. You nod to Argya and salute the captain, who returns it crisply before easing back into a weary walk. You notice he’s favoring his right leg slightly, and that he his left arm is hanging limply by his side. He examines you in turn before speaking.

“Captain Kuzmuran, I presume? I am Sir James of Clovensbury, leading the 58th Mercian’s First company, and you have my thanks for a timely rescue of my men and those of the 96th.”

“We were in the right place at the right time sir. We only arrived a few hours ago. I’ll obviously have what little medical facilities we have see to your wounded. In the meantime, I’ve informed my superiors of your arrival, as well as of the fact the enemy has made contact much earlier than what was anticipated, and they wish to debrief you over the radio at the earliest convenience.”

“Still, this could have ended a lot worse with a greener commander in your place, captain. Speaking of green, I see you’ve been given plenty of fresh recruits as well, though I believe yours got the better assignment. Better to build their mettle in a straight fight than have them fight a moving urban battle first thing out of basic.”

>>5526114
He sighs, and you decide against pushing a little for information.
“They can shoot straight, and I have enough veterans to lead them straight. Those tunnels, however, I’m glad I don’t have to lead them into for now. Well, technically there are quite a few within the bridge but it shouldn’t be such a problem once we’ve got it all reconned out.”
“…you’d best keep on your toes even then. This place is crawling with passages, and the rebels can navigate them much better than we can.”
You offer a silent nod and drop the topic until you make it back to the line, where you motion for Murphy to get Miller on the line again, before giving a quizzical look to the captain who you’re almost certain is a noble of some sort.
“Yes? Ah, right, I wouldn’t make you the offense of excluding you sir! Besides, you do need to hear about this. You’re next in line. And do make the call, son.”
He says that last part to Murphy before sitting down next to him, and again you notice a slight stumble in his movement as he tries to bend his left leg. You nod to Murphy and sit opposite them as you take the receiver in hand once more. Miller wanted a quick update so Routine wouldn’t do.
“Second Battalion Command, this is Fourth Company commander Kuzmuran. Priority Precedence message for Battalion Commander Miller, the CO of the retreating forces is here with me and standing by for debrief. Over.”
The same radio op as before picks up.
“Acknowledged, Fourth Company, wait one.”
It’s a few seconds only before Miller picks up. He must’ve been hovering nearby. He hates being in the dark as much as you do, and this early retreat and contact has trouble written all over it.
“This is Battalion Commander Miller speaking. Good timing Kuzmuran, I have a lot of people waiting on their report. To whom am I speaking to?”
You pass Clovensbury the receiver and let him introduce himself. Miller calls him sir after that. You just sit and listen while Miller asks him to take it from the top. The news aren’t good. The noble is the unofficial commander of the First Battalion of the 58th, in that he’s the sort to lead from the field instead of sitting behind a desk. He was given fresh recruits from the batch just before yours and sent along into the Industrial sector to push the rebels back, along with the other four companies of the 58th, all reinforced with new blood, though he notes the Fifth company was freshly created and staffed with only fresh graduates of the military academy. That was two weeks ago.

>>5526117
The situation deteriorated quickly. The battalion took its place in the advance, between the 96th and the 67th Rifles, but said advance slowed to a crawl over the next few days as the terrain became impracticable, then downright hostile, courtesy of the insurgents. Blocked tunnels, heavy security doors, passages filled with smoke from burned equipment and tires. The industrial system offered plenty of tools for the insurgents to slow down the invading soldiers, and soon enough it offered the ways to get around and behind them. They didn’t have rifles. They didn’t need them. Your armor is light enough due to the logistics of laser rifle warfare that blunt force trauma or improvised blades work quite well. Gigantic foundries offered a perfect cover for insurgents to drop anything from hunks of metal to bottles of fuel with a burning rag shoved in to improvised explosives onto troops marching several floors below. They attacked, then quickly retreated, leaving behind few of theirs, and a lot of ours. They never sought a frontal engagement with rifle lines, and with the local geometry, they didn’t need to. Volleys aren’t very useful indoors, and despite the mind-boggling sizes involved, this is still one giant building clear. As you suspected, they knew every nook and cranny. But they held back. Flanking attacks were rare, at the start, the insurgents content with striking at isolated groups, in tight spaces where they could appear from the sides or ground, closing as fast as possible with melee weapons from different angles. They always paid a heavy price, but that didn’t seem to deter them. Then something broke through their flank. The Fourth company of the 96th to their right side lost all contact with her three sister companies one night about a week ago. Just a big gap in the line. And then they started coming under attack from a wave of insurgents from where the 96th’s line had been. They came from the floors, the ceilings, from hidden doors, striking from loose ceiling panels with sharpened spears, springing up from floor trapdoors in the middle of distracted squads, using tripwires to make retreating groups stumble before descending on them with sharpened blades, and much more besides. The 96th Fourth company retreated throughout the night to reach the 58th. When they arrived, they were down to less than fifty men, with only a few wounded, those who’s wounds didn’t slow them down. Clovensbury says that, upon debriefing the survivors, he immediately realized something “had gone terribly astray” and called HQ, pushing for a retreat You doubt a mere captain would have had enough pull to get an entire multi-regiment offensive cancelled, but you might be looking too hard into it, since as far as Clovensbury knows, the 96th is gone in all but name.

>>5526119
That just doesn’t happen, and could have been enough to spook even the brass. As the 58th made a hasty retreat back towards the neighboring habitation sector, around a week ago, when you first received your orders, they were only able to establish spotty comms with Battalion Command, still within the Habitation section, and no word came down about the fate of the 96th.
Your orders. You’d long known to keep the brass’s boasting at arm’s length, part of why you had opted to get everyone settled in quickly so they could face the unexpected, which they did, but you had assumed the retreating troops would be hardened veterans fighting an orderly retreat as the front moved back while the newer units were slotted in to get some experience in static positions and fresh recruits compensated casualties with ample time given to bring them up to speed. All building up for a push. But that push had already happened, and what’s left of it is currently making its way into your second line and lining up outside your medical tent. Where were the veteran units that were fighting over this sector only a month ago? What pushed the brass to throw in what you learn are five full regiments like your own, made up of almost only greenhorns? You want to ask, but you have a feeling you wouldn’t like the answer, and neither Clovensbury nor Miller would like the interruption. So you listen on, and learn of the disastrous retreat.
It should have been easier going out than in, the road was known. But the insurgents knew the place, and the moment the 58th and the remnants of the 96th pulled back, they started running into nasty surprises. The insurgents had been holding back, goading them in further and further. Now the noose tightened. They appeared from the front, in previously clear sections. Cleared tunnels were blocked again while blocked tunnels were clear. They steered clear of those after the first time, where half of a recon squad was vaporized by an explosive device. There wasn’t enough left to know if that mine was one of yours or something jury-rigged. Just how much equipment the insurgents had was another burning question, especially if they did overwhelm the 96th. Maybe they didn’t, or maybe they’re stockpiling it for later, but either way the retreating troops saw nothing above the insurgents’ usual tech level. But “Gods below, it was enough”. Clovensbury’s leg is bobbing up and down as he continues.

>>5526122
The story is much the same as the 96th’s lone company, only it was a week instead of a night. Every delay brought mounting pressure from the rebels on their heels. With the line broken, flanks were no longer secure. Clovensbury had to expend men and equipment to not be encircled, slowing him down further. Wounded started piling up. The attacks came in wave, day and night. They couldn’t secure enough space to have a calm place to sleep. And with the ever-present risk of an insurgent sliding off a metal cover from the floor and skulking around giving soldiers second smiles at throat level, no one wanted to sleep. The regiment disintegrated around him. And yet things were holding together. They were a day out from your sector and, from their last report to the brass, they should have arrived on time with what you were told. Well over a thousand men, even counting another day of attrition.
Clovensbury makes a small break and gratefully accepts your offered flask of water with an almost imperceptibly shaky hand. Last night, he resumes, he got a taste of what had happened to the 96th. They’d set up on a high rise within a gigantic smelting plant.
“I woke up to laser fire, as per usual. But the screaming was new. It was ours, but also theirs. I saw a sea of them. They were everywhere. Outside, inside, above, below. Screaming. Thousands in every direction. Like hate-filled puppets being birthed from the assembly lines. I…I told everyone to run. We broke through with my First company, some of the wounded and what was left of the 96th’s squad. Threw every last grenade, held down the triggers, guns facing forward. I can’t tell how many joined us, or how many we lost. I don’t know what happened to the others. We ran into the morning…couldn’t reach anyone. It felt like a nightmare. But now we were low on everything. I think that saved us. Made us lighter. Or maybe we weren’t such an appetizing target. We ran like the lords of the depths were after us. Gods above, maybe they were. We kept them off us, and no more appeared to our front. In the end, I think you didn’t even need to tell us to lay down when you did, captain. I don’t think we could have gone another hour like that.”

Miller is dead silent. So is your part of the line. You suspect your old captain is nothing everything down. You…you just don’t know what to say. You expected a tough fight, but nothing like this. And logically…
“Commander Miller…is this happening in other parts of the line?”

Deleted to fix a missing s in parts in the last line.

>>5526133
“Yes. Command wanted to use the fresh troops to break our losing streak, break the insurgents’ advance elements and open the way for a second push using armor. That’s why they put such an emphasis on the bridges.”
So, the enemy pulled in everything they could to break this new offensive, and bloody pulled it off! At least you hope that’s what happened, since the other option is that they didn’t need to throw in everything to push you back this far, which is as much of a terrifying idea as Clovensbury’s entire debrief. And now that they’ve succeeded and looted gods know how much equipment, they find themselves on your doorstep. And you doubt they’ll pass up such an occasion.
“As of now, I have received no word that any part of our line has seen either friendly forces or enemy contact. Officially, this push hasn’t happened yet, and the retreat went as planned.”
“What about the veteran troops that were holding the rearguard a while ago?”
You can’t help but ask, yet it’s Clovensbury who answers, a look of what could be pity in his eyes.
“Captain, we were trying to link up with them after they stopped answering a month ago. The official word down the grapevine was that radio signal within the Industrial sector were being hampered by the factory buildings’ thicker walls. It sounds foolish now, but back then no one doubted they were alive and well and proceeding as planned, keeping the enemy on the backfoot, and ensuring we could ram into them with the new push. But after what I’ve seen.”
So they’re most likely gone as well. You are beyond screwed. You feel almost detached from that fact.
“So now the bastards are going to push us with all they’ve got. Another bunch of greenhorns to trample over.”
“Steady Eli, we have a plan. Well, the brass has a plan.”
You can still be even more screwed, apparently.
The brass’s genius plan is surprisingly simple. Yes, the bulk of the enemy forces could be at your door, but that means opportunity. If you and the regiments holding the limit between the Industrial and Habitation sectors can hold for a few days, the preparations for the next push can be hastened, and armored columns sent into the flanks of this concentration. Supposedly there’s enough bridges like yours and large passages. The good old four F’s. You have Found and Fixed the enemy, time for the armored Flank and Finisher. All of that, of course, while your line of greenhorns weathers the storm and prevents a breakthrough while the enemy exhausts themselves on the line, becoming soft targets for the t. And, in case the madmen at command do manage an encirclement, you would also need to hold against infiltrators and counterattacks until the pocket is closed by the armor, since the trapped enemy is likely to throw itself at the weakest links, which would be you and the back of the encirclement. To Miller’s credit, he almost makes it sound possible.

>>5526136
You nod along and obey, since that’s what you’re supposed to do. Miller says he’ll keep you updated on the gathering for the armor push. You agree and Miller cuts the communication. Poor Murphy is still sitting there, white as a sheet. You frankly doubt you look any better. They made you an officer just in time to get the whole fucking company killed. You can’t hold. Not with these men. Not when the rebels get serious. But Miller made it sound like just a few days, and despite your ingrained distrust for the honeyed words of anyone above the rank of sergeant, you trusted Miller to lead you. If this truly was a suicide mission, you think the old man would have told you, promotion to pencil-pusher or no. Miller was a straight shooter as far as officers went. You can’t imagine it all washing down the drain. You refuse to imagine it. You need to think. Alone.
“Murphy, can I count on you to stay here and not talk about this to anyone? I’ll…need a moment to process all this.”
He offers a weak nod. You leave with Clovensbury and find a runner to take him to the medical tent. You take a seat on the rubble, looking at the corpse and the darkened tunnel beyond the bridge. It’s been over an hour since you contacted Miller again. You sit alone for a time, and are then joined by
>Elias, arriving from the second line after seeing the wounded come in.
>Argya, who sees you sitting by yourself as she comes to check up on you.
>Merrante, who came back from her recon.
>Murphy, who comes out to sit beside you and asks you what was the most afraid you have ever been in the army.
>Clovensbury, who somehow gave the runner the slip and decided you shouldn’t be left alone to brood.
>Litorius, eager for news.
>Write-in?


So, yeah, that's where I've been these past few days, among other things. Going to give everyone a day or two to catch up. I'll admit this choice is both a relationship choice and a past story choice. Pick the person you'd like to see Eli get closer to or who's story you'd like to hear more of. We'll go back to our scheduled soldiering after that. Merrante is back even if you don't pick her, so that and maybe Litorius will be up next, depending on how you guys vote. I'll manage reasonable daily posts eventually! Also, the Word file is 28 pages and 15k words long, so this is officially my longest piece of writing ever. Huzzah!

>>5526142
>Argya, who sees you sitting by yourself as she comes to check up on you.

>>5526142
>Litorius, eager for news
Let's get some character development with our second in command.

>>5526142
>>Merrante, who came back from her recon.

>>5526142
>>Litorius, eager for news.
Junior officer must age out of dumbassery.

>>5526142
I'll change to
>Merrante, who came back from her recon.

We're stuck on a two-way tie, but I'm going to be busy tomorrow anyway, so I don't mind waiting for a tiebreak vote.
I'll obviously be doing my best to not let another update get away from me like that. Seven posts is a bit much, especially big blocks of text like these (Though you haven't seen the worst of it, I made several cuts to fit within the 3k character limit here, so it was even worse before!)

>>5527536
if a tie breaker doesn't come just roll a 1d2

>>5526142
>Merrante, who came back from her recon.

might as well get work done to distract the mc

Alright, locking in Merrante. Means the war stories will have to wait, mostly, in favor of Merrante confirming yet more of your worries about the underbridge.
Writing!

>>5529964
Couldn't write anything yesterday and most of today. Not this, not any of my writing projects. Zilch. Nada. I'm not happy about it but at least I got 600 words down tonight, so we should have a normal size update by tomorrow hopefully. Figuring out an actual layout for the underbridge also proved tricky. The roll was bad enough that I don't mind throwing in a few wrenches, but I still need to give you guys options. And obviously what you've just learned from Clovensbury as well as your early pick of mines will provide special tactics options or easier variants of existing ones. For example, a mine's a lot more efficient of an early warning system than a wire and some cans or a bunch of glass. Also takes care of the opposition for you!
See you all tomorrow with better news if it all works out, then.

“Hey, Eli, what’re you brooding for? Heard you guys got into a scrap? Lucky you!”
Merrante’s voice snaps you out of your grim contemplations moments before she unceremoniously sits onto the rubble next to you. You idly wonder how she hasn’t bruised herself doing that all the time. You may have a clue.
“Yeah...I’ll tell you. I saw one of your squads make its way back up via the side passages. Looks like you guys ran into some trouble as well? Enemy?”
“Nah, no luck. Nasties thing we got attacked by was the bloody ceiling. And some walls. And a buncha floors. Place is a crumbling ruin, I can’t believe those were still in use.”
“How’d you know they are, found an old camp?”
“Nah, tracks and the amount of dust. In the places that didn’t try to kill us, I mean.”
“Could be the rebels sabotaged parts of it on the way out.”
In the beginning of the insurrection, the rebels had come from just about everywhere. Frontlines weren’t a thing during the first few weeks, and when they solidified, it’s not hard to picture a retreating group using their familiarity with the bridge to mess with some passageways. A structure as big as this can’t be crumbled without serious firepower, but knocking out a few wooden supports, uncovering a few sharp pieces of metal, undermining main passages by digging from the myriad crawlspace which abound down here, it’s all doable when you know the place like the back of your hand. And you don’t doubt some of the rebels were frequent smugglers around these parts.
“You think so?”
You explain your reasoning to Merrante, who nods in understanding.
“Anyway, what’ does it all look like down here?”
“Not good. At all. It’s like we thought, riddled with holes. I spotted a few side passages and at least two smuggling routes. One of the passages crumbled on us but there’s still a lot more. Still, I think we’ve gotten a good lay of the land.”
Merrante took out a hand drawn map from her pack. She’d gotten in the habit of making them. While not a scout, her propensity for running forward meant she often got to act like one and sketching out enemy positions was an invaluable skill. Now it would help her set up her own. This map is a top down view of the underbridge. You both pour over the map for a time.

>>5533694
“So yeah, there’s bound to be routes that span the entire length of the bridge. There’s no position I see that couldn’t be flanked in some way, be it from the sides or the floor or the ceiling, and there aren’t good open spaces for good lines and volleys. At most we can go three wide. Two or three lines. A squad per tunnel at most, often less. Then the rebels just have to flank or overwhelm them with enough bodies, since they’ll have a hard time supporting each other. And I don’t see us beating them at using the secret passageways. At least I don’t see my new troops doing that. Still, we have options, just bad ones. Best bet would maybe be to hold the connecting corridors, they’re large enough to get a proper line going, and while it’s not the nice stretch you’ve got there, I don’t think they could punch through.”
You shake your head and veto that, spending a couple more minutes opening up to Merrante about what went down on the line, and then with Clovensbury and Miller.
“Shit.”
“Yep.”
“Who knows?”
“Miller, Clovensbury, me, one of Argya’s radiomen who can keep silent about it. I’m planning on telling this to the Lieutenants and keep it from the troops for now. No need to panic them, and it wouldn’t change much for them. But for us, it means we’ve got to stay within the bridge. At least your passages will lessen the numbers advantage.”
“For a time, Eli. It’s almost guaranteed they’ll push through if there’s that many of them.”
“Collapsing defense? Just spread out strongpoints, add in some mines?”
“You’re the tactical-minded one Captain, not me.”
“We’re in this for the long haul. If we give them a part of the bridge it’ll be hard to get them out. We’d lose the defensive advantage and bleed people we can’t afford to lose right now. Ironic. Hmm, we can set advance positions beyond and under the first line, reinforce them so they can hold until things get serious. Use the time to mark and build fallback positions, then start giving ground when the going gets though, hoping we won’t get overwhelmed before reinforcements arrive.”
“All these mines will come in handy.”
“Still it’ll be slow. I expect we’ll be under constant attack. I doubt they’ll let up at night, too. So, ready to get stuck in down there for gods know how long?”
“My kind of place. If they want to get us in melee, then I’ll be more than happy to oblige. And so will my squads, once I’ve got time to sink my teeth in them properly.”
Merrante seems as excited about the prospect of desperate tunnel fighting as you expected her to be. It would be worrying if it wasn’t such an asset. Her somewhat predatory smile gives you a strange measure of comfort.

Reposting because of the smiled typo at the end.

>>5533697
With the underbridge relatively well scouted out, it appear forming an underground line is impossible. For simplicity’s sake, your three options right now are to hold a set of corridors in one of five points. Relative to topside, these would be in front of the first line, directly below, between the two lines and behind both lines. You do not currently have a third line, though that could be a possibility in the future. Holding the position in front of the first line should prevent most infiltrators from flanking the first line with your mines guaranteeing that they’ll either be spotted or blown to bits but carries a small risk of enemies descending from the bridge into their flanks. Holding the second point would pose some risk but could also reduce the pressure on your troops by goading enemies to exit the underbridge to flank your first line. Any other position would be giving the enemy full freedom to flank your first line. Conceding or losing a position, then trying to reclaim it can be considered a bad idea, as you can be assured the enemy will be waiting for you to come to them, ensuring that you would take heavy losses, unless you can devise a stratagem. Finally, you can set up at one point, then build fallback positions relatively quickly, then retreat. Doing so will take time, though it could be offloaded to second line soldiers.
For that matter, there’s still the question of your own platoon. With the expected increase in number, you doubt a single platoon can hold the first line when the attacks start ramping up, even with the MGs. But perhaps that is your plan? Goad the enemy into an all out assault they think they can win, then pull out your classic retreat move and shred the bastards?
You need to start solidifying your plans, you’re running out of time. They’re already here

>Tell Merrante which point she should set up her squads on. Any points beyond that will be lost and will need to be reclaimed if you want to occupy them. As the enemy presence is still light, you may still succeed in doing so with light casualties tomorrow, on the first day. But after that…
>Start thinking about where to position Litorius and your platoon. You intend to gather all your Lieutenants to share the news and make plans in your improvised command center.

Hope that was clear enough. There were plans at the start to literally have an underbridge line, but the low roll got in the way. This isn’t an ideal situation. It isn’t meant to be. Retreat was made a large part of your character’s fighting style for a reason. Some positions are untenable, and a well-organized retreat can save lives and buy time, which is what you need to do. As for how long, only Miller knows.

Well that didn't go well.
If any of you guys stuck around, would you mind giving some feedback, be it for this choice or the quest in general? Were the open-ended prompts too much of a departure? Was the writing too dry, or hard to understand?

>>5536794
And I drop my trip now of all times. Fantastic.

>>5536794
If you provide some sort of map of the bridge, it might be easier for people to make a decision about where to set up defenses.

File: Rifles quest shitty bridg(...).png (27 KB, 807x614)

27 KB PNG

>>5536983
I had though about doing that, then never found a good way to represent a multi-layered battlefield. I now have rectified that mistake using a secret technique. Behold!
The Shitty Paint.net Drawing!

In all seriousness, I would have preferred something better-looking, but this gets the point across, I hope. Pick a number between 1 and 5 to start in. You can retreat, but advancing will most likely require a nasty tunnel fight. Again, the spots are less a fixed position and more of a semi-loose collection of interconnected passages roughly on the same level.

Again, any more feedback would be greatly appreciated!

>>5537249
Let's go with position 2.

>>5537593
Alright, locking vote for position 2. I'll get it done tomorrow, try to keep it short. Hopefully the weekend bring in a couple anons back! Thanks for the feedback and sticking with the quest anon!

“Best you settle under the first line. Argya’s squads can watch your flanks and vice-versa, mostly.”
“Your mines could make up the difference.”
“I had thought about it, but Elias and I thought prudent to let the men rest and get settled in, just in case It’s paid off since we weren’t caught flat-footed, but it means it’s still only us four who can reliably set these down. And I’m not sure how much training we’ll be able to get in before the insurgents show up in force. Hard to have them practice mine-laying while under fire. Well, maybe not as a first lesson, at least.”
You share a knowing smile with Merrante, having both done exactly that one several occasion. Still, it would most likely require training the troops for minelaying inside the perimeter, taking more time compared to doing it in place. Alternatively, you could try, but would face a much higher risk of an accident should the insurgents attack the squad in training. For that matter, you still haven’t made up your mind on whether to employ specialized squads or have everyone take care of their own stuff. The new need to keep side passages well-defended does give arguments for both While it would be nice t have Argya and Merrante’s squads aware of the mine layout to minimize accidents, a dedicated squad on each flank could be a lot more effective at keeping up the minefields in the myriad potential entry points into the first line’s flanks, though it could mean difficulties for both sides traversing said passages without the minelaying squad, should they ever need to support the other line. You’ll check with Elias, see if anything new has come up since. You’ll be going there anyway. But first, you’d best collect Argya.
“Alright, let’s go grab Argya and Elias, then head to my command post. Eh.”
Fancy name for a pile of rubble, that.
“Aww, how about the kid? Leaving him out?”
“…Maybe. Frankly I’m afraid he’ll stop listening once he understands the undertones of “glorious sacrifice” and start plotting a heroic and costly last stand. He looks just the type.”
“…You know, maybe you’re treating him too harshly. This is his chance, let him have it, see what he does. Excluding him could have even worse consequences, least of all him rebelling against your command.”
That is a lot sharper and nuanced an opinion as you’d expect from Merrante of all people. Maybe you should take her advice to heart? Still, she’s exactly the kind of soldier who enjoys the almost suicidal orders of certain officer types, the kind you can see Litorius becoming.

>>5539476
“I’ll include him, but he’ll be kept on a tight leash. I won’t have him throw lives away for some forlorn hope at recognition, no thank you. And even if I trust you Mer, that does apply to you too. Less for glory and more to get your kicks out of it.”
“Hey now…”
“Please, Mer. It isn’t just you anymore. I know, you look like you’re taking this seriously, I’m just insisting on that so it sticks once this shit gets serious.”
No one calls her Mer but a small circle of people she trusts, and a much large circle of people who immediately regretted it.
“…All right, stop being all worried like that Eli, I’ll rein myself in.”
She pauses, then rolls her eyes as she answers. You know her well enough to be confident she’s taken your worrying into account.

You meet one of Argya’s runners before you see her, and the man, Davies you recall, brings her back in short order. You opt to wait until Elias (and Litorius, yes) are there as well before running through the entire story again. You just tell her Clovensbury and Miller had a long talk and you’re getting the Lieutenants together to keep them in the loop. You mention Murphy and tell her to keep an eye on him, both as a developing asset and because he was a bit shook by the news. You can tell she makes the connection to Clovensbury and the coming meeting, but she doesn’t feel the need to pry.
You leave the two women in your official command pile of rubble and go fetch Elias. You quickly update him on what happened as you bring him back. Returning to your little forward nook, you are surprised to find Litorius sitting there. Looks like that choice has been made for you, though you aren’t sure if he saw you leave or if one of these two sent him a runner while you were gone. Merrante is right, he needs to hear this. You can deal with the consequences later. Speaking of, you still do need to check up on the kid after his first taste of combat. Somehow that’s ended up becoming the less dauting prospect.
“Alright, as you all know, the retreating elements we had been told to watch out for came in several hours ahead of schedule, and brought company. For a first time, I’d say the company did well, especially with friendly units in the line of fire. It gives me hope they’ll be able to pull off our usual retreat tricks with minimal training. And they may need it…that retreating force was lead by a fellow named Sir James of Clovensbury.”
You see Litorius perk up, and decide to put his noble house knowledge to use.
“Lieutenant Litorius, does that name sound familiar?”
“Ah, yes sir! Midling noble house, they have land in the East of the city. Sir James is a pretty well known leader of men. But I thought he’d be leading a newly reinforced unit, in fact I’d hoped to serve under hi-”

>>5539481
Litorius cuts himself off as he realizes he’s disrespecting you. You’re not some prissy noble who’d get offended, but you have to admit it stings a bit. Nevertheless, you ignore it and bounce off his comment.
“And you’d be right, he is. Well, was. He led the First Company of the reinforced 58th Rifles, and the First Battalion of that outfit in all but name.”
“Then what was he doing out there? ...sir!”
“Pushing, Litorius, pushing. As er the brass’s order.”
Elias butts in.
“So, these veteran units that were making a fighting retreat?”
“No contact since last month. But wait, it gets worse. So the brass asks Clovensbury to take the 58th in to link with them. And not just him, but the 96th rifles and about half a dozen other regiments. That big push we’re supposed to be holding the bridge for? It’s already happened.”
“So why send us?”
“And why did the 58th end up on our doorstep like that?”
Argya and Elias make good point. Your eyes meet Merrante’s as you lay down the bad news.
“Because, a week ago, the 96th Rifles all but vanished. Argya, you may have seen some among Clovensbury’s men. That’s whats left of an entire gods-damned regiment. It happened overnight. No one has any clue how the insurgents did it.”
They don’t believe you at first. You didn’t either. But as you relay Clovensbury’s words and give them a clear picture of the sheer knowledge and control the insurgents have over the area, they come around.
“So, as for what the future holds, we have confirmation a large number of insurgents is right in front of us, most likely high on victory from breaking the push, and most likely the veterans as well, maybe using stolen equipment on top of that. What is their logical next step?”
Elias gets it first.
“Break our line.”
“Yep. They’re going to start pouring in and poke at the line. It’ll only get worse. And you haven’t heard the best part.”
Litorius is the only one who appears excited when you tell of the brass’s encirclement plan. Reality catches up with him once you make an analogy with water pressure. You’re the weak point, real or perceived.
“B-But they’re just rebels! They can’t overcome rifles!”
“They can and have, Lieutenant. But I agree this is a better spot to hold than most. Their only real options are to either rush topside or engage us below. We’ll be countering both. And while it sound suicidal, you’ve seen them run just as bloody well as I did, Litorius. They’re crazy enough to do it.”
He slumps back.
“What can we do?”

>>5539485
“Our gods-given duty Litorius. We stand in a line, and deliver volleys until one side breaks. Which brings us to our tactical meeting. First order of business, assigning platoons to areas. Fourth platoon will hold the underbridge, Third Platoon has the first line, Second Platoon the second line. That leaves the first. We have a few options there, but it mainly comes down to splitting it or keeping it whole.”
>The platoon could be easily split in two, one half for Litorius to command and the other to you.
>Alternatively, you can keep it whole, either to be handled by Litorius, freeing you to try and coordinate everyone, as unnecessary as it might appear given your current, pretty static setup. Or you could limit Litorius’s utility and micromanage him, essentially.
Either way, you must pick where to employ this “extra” platoon.

>Pick one or two options, depending on your previous choice.
>The First line. Cut them down before they reach you. It’s the safest best.
>The Second line. Goad them in a false sense of security, let them take the first trench, retreat as you’re used to and have extra firepower ready to welcome them while the first line retreats.
>The Underbridge. They shall not pass. More squads mean more coverage, and new possibilities for maintaining a security cordon or containing breaches. It would almost certainly reduce flanking risks on the first line.

>>5539489
Split them between the first line and the tunnels. Give Litorius the top and take the tunnels for ourselves. Luring the rebels into overextending is a good trump card to have, but let's not overly rely on it when our job is to hold the line at all costs.

>>5539828
+1

>>5539828
Writing. Should be posted either tomorrow or on Monday.

Before deciding, you briefly consider pulling Litorius aside to finally check up on him after the skirmish but decide against it. Singling him out in front of others of the same rank would not help your already fraying working relationship, though you resolve to stay with him here and discuss things after he briefing. What you’re about to say should her you some goodwill, you hope.
“I think our best bet is to go half and half. Litorius can take half the squads and shore up the first line while I take the rest into the tunnel. I’d rather not give ground for as long as possible. If the insurgents believe they can take us, they’ll be more likely to focus on our sector. Let us try and appear stronger than we are. Besides, the extra few days will let the squads get some practice in for pulling back, hopefully. After that, there’s still the problem of mines.”
You nod towards Elias.
“As we’ve discussed, our two main options were one or more specialized squads, or getting everyone up to basic competency. What happened this afternoon changed that somewhat. We can expect to be hit tomorrow, maybe tonight. We can maybe afford to take squads off the first line, and the second line can wait, but it would still be risky. And frankly I’m not sure we can use the training to lay down proper minefields when the greenhorns could get rushed at a moment’s notice. Up here it isn’t too bad, as we’ve seen. But in the underbridge…hmm, Merrante, could we cover a squad laying mines on the walkways into the first line’s flank?”
“Maybe? But it’s got its own problems. Most likely the guarding squad would get little warning of the attack and they might get pushed back. It would give the minelayers a heads up, but we can’t fully protect them. I say it might be best to have everyone get acquainted with mines. Heh, I wouldn’t mind teaching them about wiretraps either. Plenty of ways to rig a tunnel.”
Elias chimes in.
“I’d rather we stick to a single method for everyone. It would be easier to track, and quite frankly I think it would avoid a bit of grumbling from the troops. If we do everyone, we can leave my squads for later. I take the first line with Argya, you and Merrante take those in the underbridge, then whoever has time can come help me on the second line. Or we all pick one squad, or half a squad, from our platoons, and drill them hard. Hopefully we can get them somewhere near basic competency in a day.”
You all turn to Argya, though you keep an eye on Litorius’ reaction, mostly happy to see he isn’t kicking up a fuss at being left out, whether he knows how to use a mine or not. What has you worried is the fact you can’t tell if it is a result from him getting to lead squads away from your maybe overbearing presence, or because he’s still shaken by his first fight. One thing at a time, you tell yourself as you focus back on Argya.

>>5542883
“…hmm, I’ll admit I don’t have a preferred option. Having everyone pitch could lead to a much larger and denser field, but given the opposition and our MGs, we could keep an individual squad covered pretty much indefinitely…ah, speaking of which commander, since First Platoon is splitting up, where does that leave your MG team? I understand the underbrige doesn’t have the best sightlines, but it would effectively lock down any tunnel. Same question for Elias’ guys, really.”
“Yes, we’ll maybe need to shuffle things around.”

As the briefing nears its end, you have several tactical decisions to make.
The first one is to decide on who gets training and access to your mine stash.
>Train everyone. Apply Elia’s plan. Him and Argya on the first line, you and Merrante on the underbridge, second line whenever possible. Everyone should still be qualified within two days, maybe three depending on the number of probing attacks by the insurgents. Would give you a lot of options for minefields, and ensure they are setup as quickly as possible. Everyone would maintain their own sector.
>Train one squad per platoon. Can be done within a day. Setup and maintenance of larger minefields could be an issue. It also means that most of your squads cannot redeploy their minefields on the fly, and may even have problems navigating them, since they won’t know the basics of minefield markings. You can disseminate the knowledge, so the risk should be low, especially with little reasons to go into said minefields, but people are idiots, and sometimes accidents happen…
>Train half a squad per platoon, to be combined into a topside and underbridge squad or not. You could maybe get there within a day, half a day if you rushed things a bit. The quickest and perhaps most thorough training, with two veteran soldiers as instructors. Your minefield options would have to be on a smaller scale, and replenishing field could take up a significant portion of the squads’ time.

Your second decision concerns the assignment of MG squads. Currently, Argya’s Third Platoon has three squads, while Merrante’s Fourth has its own still attached. You may shuffle these around as needed, but keep in mind that, while Argya and Elias’s squads are veterans, yours and Merrante’s are not. This could have a small chance to cause problems, and the squads could grow in skill quicker if paired with veterans that will give them advice.
>Write-in MG Team allocation. (First Platoon MG goes here, Second Platoon MG…)

>>5542886
The last and not-so-tactical decision concerns your upcoming “talk” with Litorius. How do you want to breach the subject of a first fight with a young, somewhat prissy noble who doesn’t like you all that much without stepping on a conversational landmine? What should your attitude be?
>Concerned at his apparent listlessness.
>Appreciative he didn’t ridicule himself. Many do.
>Somewhat paternal congratulations. Awkward given your respective military and social ranks, but you know positive reinforcements like that works wonders on privates fresh from their first firefight.
>Write-in?
For this last vote, even if you select one of the options, write-ins are heavily encouraged, and could give a roll bonus.
Depending on the tactical situation, you may be able to modify these choices in the future.

Shorter update on my end, but a lot of choice on yours.
This may be the last update for this thread, we’re on page 10. Thank you to everyone who voted or lurked on this impromptu overtaking of a quest,or whoever is reading the archive for this! It was very much a spur of the moment thing, but I’m still proud I managed to write over 19k words on 36 pages for something in just a month!
I’m honestly not sure what the future looks like for this quest. It’s not (just) the low voting numbers. Life will be getting pretty busy for me for a while, and these updates can take several hours each. I’m honestly not sure if I can sink that kind of time into something right now.
I will also be creating a trip for this, so you may want to keep an eye for it in the /qtg/ for news.

>>5542897
Thanks for taking over this. Sorry I abandoned voting in this after a while, life got hectic for me, so I had to cull some quests from my reading list. I'll keep an eye out for a second thread.

>>5542897
I appreciate your effort man it's been a good quest, sorry for not voting as much my life has hit rock bottom and I've been too busy to be on 4chan.

>>5542912
It's okay, life happens!
>>5545312
Glad you enjoyed it anon, and that sucks to hear, I hope you get to turn things around soon!