Name: Alexander Atreides Race: Human Position: Imperial Guard Master Sergeant Appearance: [img]http://wh40kart.im/_images/4a7221693f906792bf5301931f215cd6.jpg[/img] Allegiance: 122nd Astryan Airborne Abilities: Upon Wings of Vengeance: As head of the small, elite infantry taskforce maintained by the 122nd, Atreides has dozens of years experience leaping out of just about anything that flies in the Imperial Guard, and Navy, arsenals, and making it to the ground with the rest of his squad and their supporting gear, and making the most of this sudden assault from an unforeseen angle. Fire for Effect: As the platoon leader, it is expected of Master Sergeant Atreides to be able to analyze a situation, pick out the most effective form of ordinance to solve the situation, and call it in. From airstrikes, artillery, and even man portable weapons, Atreides has an eye for picking out what will hurt the most, where, and when to hit with it. From the Frozen Void, to the Hells Below: Stemming from his homeworlds close relationship with the Imperial Navy, all standing soldiers of the 122nd are trained to fight in just about any environment, from void combat and boarding actions, to the vicious street fighting and combat along open plains. For obvious reasons, Atreides is also highly competent in most fields of battle. Bio: To know Master Sergeant Alexander Atreides, one must know his homeworld, his regiment, his upbringing and training. The Astryan system has only one habitable world, and habitable is being stretched in definition. Classified a Death World, Astryan VI orbits a supermassive star, the gravitational forces acting on the planet meaning that it spiraled far faster then a normal Terran day. With far more rapid day/night cycles, generally inhospitable atmosphere and nightmare climate shifts, scarce solid ground to settle on, and ruthless aerial predators make the world lethal to all but a select breed of man. Each Astryan born on the planet learns fast how to fly various vehicles, sometimes before how to walk, from the home built flyers to decommissioned Imperial aircraft, always armed with at least several different automatic weapons. Dogfighting with aerial predators, traitors and criminals, and the odd invasion, every man, woman, and child that survives is already a natural pilot. The Imperial Navy favors drawing upon these natural aces to act as pilots, and much of their tithe to the Imperium is paid in bodies, the best and brightest of each of the plateau cities pilots originally enlisting with the Imperial Navy. But a Guard Regiment was needed with the invasion of nearby systems, and the Imperial Navy had to learn to deal with a reduced number of pilots. To raise such a regiment, the Astryan were equipped with a high number of aerial craft. Vultures and Valkyries were by far the most popular, but they got access to craft normally reserved for Naval use, such as Marauder Bombers and Thunderbolt Heavy Fighters. One suspects their close working relationship with Imperial Navy forces as a reason why, as Astryan work as often as auxiliary marines for the Navy as they do ground forces for the Guard. But as impressive as the firepower and flexibility of the 122nd Airborne was in their air superiority, they still needed boots to put on an objective, as was their purpose to being raised. The core of the 122nd infantry were well trained, equipped, and motivated men and women who normally wouldn't have made the taxing standards required of the Aces assigned to the fliers. Numbering barely 2,000 total troopers, the organizational structure of the infantry aspect of the is odd in the fact that no commissioned officers run the infantry aspect, their highest rank usually being a Master Sergeant. The infantry are split into four divisions, and subdivided from there as necessary, numbers and squads formed as needed rather than formally before hand, promoting flexibility in the field and not relying on command. Normally, the 122nd have to commit three to all four divisions to meet manning requirements in a theater of combat, though, so often times, the four divisions are only used as designators for where they are dropping and objectives. Troopers are issued carapace armor and a choice of either las carbine, shotgun, or auto gun, depending on personal preference. Auto guns and shotguns are more popular, due to many simpler worlds being able to supply the ammo far easier than any sort of las weapon. Any heavy weapons must be man portable, either by a crew or individually, and for the same reason as before when it came to autoguns and shotguns, heavy stubbers and mortars are more popular than their more modern counterparts. Specialist weapons have to be drop friendly, so flamers, grenade launchers (And accompanying specialty payloads, krak being by far the most popular), and high powered hunting rifles from their home world are by far most popular, as they are durable enough to withstand a beating in a hard landing. All troopers are issued grav chutes, and further specialty gear is on an as needed basis prior to deployments. Generally, though, light loads are preferable to being ready for anything, as its expected that a trooper can improvise what he or she needs on the field. Advancement is on merit of survival, as cowards are weeded out at the jump into combat, and survivors are either lucky, talented, or both. Promotion to Master Sergeant requires a board of senior officers of the 122nd Airborne's approval, but otherwise, promotion is left to the judgement of the Master Sergeant. Alexander Atreides is not an uncommon story within the ranks of the 122nd Astryan Airborne's infantry ranks, although his carried on farther than most. A natural flier and hunter back on his homeworld, his practical experience with small craft and man portable gear was not helpful for a pilots life, but made him a natural fit for the infantry aspect. Recruited as part of the founding tithe of the 122nd Astryan Airborne, he was deployed on numerous fronts, and like many raw troopers, expected to either die or do great things. Luckily for the then young man, the latter occurred. Deployed against a chaos held hive world, his first drop was into a heavily held Hive, where it had been reported no other assaults had gotten any footholds. The objectives were deceptively simple. Open the gates, and keep them open for reinforcements to relieve them. Marauder Bomber, and its Colossus variant, bombed much of the outside of the hive into oblivion, days of ceaseless bombings and raids from the massive bombers pounding the hive into supposed submission. The drop still went badly, the green regiment suffering heavy causalities as Chaos AA weapons, hidden from the bombers wrath, opened up on the descending men. Then Corporal Atreides took charge of a group of survivors, fighting to the gates and holding them open long enough to get relieved, only several hundred of the original 2,000 surviving the suicide drop. The 122nd Airborne learned from their mistakes, however, and replenished their numbers before deployment to other theaters of war, the core veterans teaching the rookies how to survive their first drop, and Atreides made a name for always making it out alive, a core group of veterans forming the future for his command squad once he made Master Sergeant. Lacking formal schooling in warfare, tactics, or formality, he often came across as uncultured and brash when dealing with the officers of other infantry regiments in the field. But one look at the results often convinced them to overlook the Master Sergeant's demeanor, and he got along rather well with most enlisted men. The 122nd Astryan Airborne were just finishing restocking when word came for their deployment to a new front. A Forge World, held by Chaos and having an Ork incursion occurring at the same time, and all available help was requested. The 122nd Astryan Airborne were mustered for duty, attached to a Naval patrol heading to support the already entrenched forces, the whole Guard Regiment based out of an old Ironclad, [i]Undaunted Spirit[/i], which had long ferried the flyboys around and was well liked by the Guard serving on it, despite the odd looks it got arriving in a system. So, with the arrival of the [i]Undaunted Spirit[/i] and the accompanying Naval Patrol marked the beginning of the 122nd Astryan Airborne, and Master Sergeant Atreides, involvement in the battle for the Forge World. Gear: Combat Shotgun Stub Revolver Combat Knife x1 Fragmentation Grenade x2 Krak Grenades Grav Chute Carapace Armor Rebreather Mask with Self Contained O2 Unit Regimental Information 2,000 Drop Troopers 6,000 Airmen Experienced Due to Arrive in the Theater of Operations within 24 standard hours Based out of Ironclad Class Vessel, the [i]Undaunted Spirit[/i] 40 Marauder Bombers 10 Marauder Colossus Variants 30 Thunderbolt Heavy Fighters 120 Valkyrie Transports 40 Vulture Gunships 50 Tauros Venators 15 Drop Sentinels