[hider=Sergeant Rojack Cestarn]
[b]Name:[/b] Rojack 'Jackie' Cestarn

[b]Age:[/b] 39

[b]Gender:[/b] Male

[b]Approximate Height & Weight:[/b] 6'4", 229lbs

[B]Former Regiment:[/b] 222nd Edrastian Shock Regiment

[b]Speciality:[/b] Grenadier

[b]Appearance:[/b] The men and women of Edrastia are well built, sturdy, and hardy, and Rojack is of no exception. In spite of the wasteland world's higher gravity, Rojack and other Edrastians remain taller than average humans, while retaining the sturdy, built look a high gravity world might create after generations of life there. A rather noteworthy scar runs along his jawline from a close brush with hostile fire, leaving an off line in the ever present stubble that keeps stubbornly coming in despite daily, sometimes several times daily, attempts to shave it. Said stubble matches the dull red hair that is kept trimmed and short, emerald green eyes peering out at the world, unfortunate circumstances giving him an almost eternally irritated look.

If one were to observe him in any state of undress, one would found countless devotional tattoos intermingling with the scar tissue, the latter a consequence of being part of a shock regiment, the former from the borderline fanaticism that Edrastians have in their service. While normally obscured, the various tattoos recall everything from scripture and prayers to holy iconography and imagery, the transient pain in undertaking these ritualistic measures a blending of old tribal traditions with Ecclesiarchy dogma. Such markings are worn with pride, and a sense of honor, and receiving such markings are seen as a right of passage.

[B]Uniform:[/b] The uniforms of the 222nd Shock Regiment are a dusty color, designed to blend in with barren wastes and built sturdily and thickly enough to weather the elements in such inhospitably barren climates. Sturdy all weather cloaks are issued as well, to aid in protection against the elements and conceal their wearers, though they are not of any sort of special material or manufacture beyond simple foul weather gear. As a shock grenadier, Rojack has been able to survive long enough to realize that flak armor isn't quite good enough, and has salvaged a few pieces of carapace from the dead of other regiments, repainting and marking it to match their own regimental colors. The breastplate, forearms, and upper legs have carapace, the rest having to rely on standard issue Flak armor that is issued to the regimental troops. Regimental markings are on the left shoulder, under the cloak as to prevent identification at significant range by hostile elements.

[B]Armament[/b]: Grenadiers within the 222nd carry the same lasgun as their peers, a local forgeworld copy of the Merovech Pattern Assault Lasgun, and while not quite as sturdy as the real things, they serve well for the sudden lightning strikes the shock troopers are well versed in. Rojack is no different, though he has a cut down shotgun that he carries, and outside of its lack of stock or unnecessary barrel length beyond the magazine tube, is a perfectly standard shotgun. What stands out is the pride and joy of the Edrastians, and a give away of the slowly changing feral world status, a large, borderline two handed sword, modernized with mono edge and blessed by the local Ecclesiarchy prior to each regiment's departure for service in the Emperor's name. Rojack carries a handful of frag grenades, and has a large boot knife as well, rounding out his combat tools and giving him the means to serve in the Emperor's name.

Besides his weapons, Rojack carries a small, well worn book, issued to each Edrastian upon volunteering to serve, and is a Ecclesiarchy prepared book of prayers and the like, something for the faith driven men and women to reference and review if they should ever find either their allies, or even their own, faith wavering. He also has a few hand made regicide pieces, having heard of the game and been fascinated by it, but never having the chance to learn or even play it.

[b]Personality/Demeanour:[/b] Rojack, despite appearances, is a fairly pleasant, easy going man whenever outside of active danger. Jovial and joking, he often was referred to as the squad father figure, being one of the oldest men to volunteer for that tithe cycle, and treats his fellow comrades like a family, as was taught by both his peers and the preachers who aided in the training of the Edrastian regiments. A man of firm faith, he might not be the most overtly disciplined in terms of Guard rules and regulations, but fanatical in the execution of the Emperor's will, no matter where that calling might take him. Often found fiddling with cards or paging through his worn book during off times, he also takes the time to seek out allies having trouble, and has been reprimanded for being too blunt towards officers and senior ranking personnel. 

When on the field of battle, Rojack typifies the Edrastian approach to warfare, getting as close to the enemy as possible without detection before launching the assault with grenades, gratuitous las fire, and a roaring battle cry as the shock troops slam into the enemy position with a fury comparable to religious zealots, and first in are the Grenadiers. Rojack is always moving to the forefront of any attack or combat action, putting his nominally better armor and faith in the Emperor to use protecting his less armored, or more vital, allies. He sees it as his duty to protect and lead those under his command, and took to joint operations rather well, all but adopting men and women from other regiments into his own group, though again, reprimands for not treating officers appropriately were necessary.

[B]Greatest Ambition:[/b] For all the zeal and willingness to go the farthest into harms way, Rojack actually has aspirations to retire and help set up and run a church to guide others to the Emperor's glorious light, with the Ecclesiarchies blessings of course.

[B]Greatest Hatred:[/b] It is a toss up between Orks, who routinely plagued his homeworld, and the traitor forces of Chaos, who are the antithesis of everything that Rojack believes in. Deserters fall into this category as well, even if it wasn't their decision to be Guardsmen, it was their calling in the Emperor's plan.

[b]Skills:[/b] First and foremost, close quarters combat is where Rojack shines the most. Every Edrastian who volunteers is drilled and honed to a razor's edge for fighting close up, and Rojack to a shine to it, fighting with a zeal and capability that earned him further scrutiny and drilling to form the Grenadier core of the 222nd Shock Regiment. Be it city fighting, working through trenches, or just simply being that close to the enemy, Rojack prefers to be within full automatic range of the enemies of Man, and if the chance to use his blade arises, all the better.

Rojack also has a knack for explosives, seeming to have an innate understanding of them, when to throw them, where to aim them, and how to best exploit them. Useful for a man who would lead his squad into the mouth of hell, what better way to soften them up than with some well aimed explosives? The man has also taken to studying approved religious texts when the chance arises, and is surprisingly well versed in Ecclesiarchy dogma, at least well for a borderline feral worlder.

[b]History:[/b] Edrastia is a fringe feral world, unremarkable as far as most who do not live on it are concerned. The only civilized settlers on it were Ecclesiarchal missionaries who saw it as their Emperor given mission to civilize and bring these savages into the folds of the faith. Considering the tribal faith already worshipped a single, central figure who resembled the God Emperor already, this was the easier of the two steps, and countless generations have slowly been bringing the feral tribes together as civilized men and women of the Imperium. Of course, the Ork infestation was thought to be a setback when discovered, but having a common foe united the disparate tribes, and gave a constant source of training for those chosen to fill the tithes placed upon this rock by the Imperium.

Rojack was a man from a smaller tribe, though being the tribe chieftains son gave him status all the same, training under the best warriors within the tribe to one day succeed his father as chieftain. It was when the routine visit by the missionaries of the Imperial Cult that this desire changed. Preaching the belief in the God Emperor, and also quietly selecting those who would do well as servants of his will abroad, the chieftain's son quickly volunteered, at an early age of sixteen, and began undergoing training with soldiers brought in to assist in raising and preparing the most civilized of these feral worlders for war abroad.

The 222nd Edrastian Shock Regiment was raised and armed in a way that would allow them to mimic the tactics they were most used to, creeping as close to enemy positions as possible before a blistering lightning strike, assaults being opened with a barrage of grenades, weapons fire, and savage hand to hand combat. Vehicle use was limited, being predominately an infantry regiment, but were familiarized with the interiors of common transports so they were not in complete shock should the situation arise. Utilizing the ever present Orks as training fodder, the 222nd would train with modern weapons and equipment against a culturally ancient enemy, a hatred all but ingrained into their DNA. Upon his birthday, days before departure, Rojack would receive his family heirloom, the large sword that typified the wasteland ferals, having a two handed grip in case one could not wield it with a single hand, modernized by the forge tasked with arming the Edrastian regiments, and blessed by the very same Ecclesiarchal figure that inspired him to serve in the Guard.

As experienced as the regiment was with orks already, it was decided by the powers that be that, while they were already in transit to another location, to be sent to the crusade for the Vernum system in opposition to the Waaagh of Mug Thrakta. The chance to face their ancestral enemy in the Emperor's name was like a dream come true for the soldiers, and they eagerly awaited for the strange, uncomfortable transports to arrive at the Vernum system. Transit took nearly a year in real space, though once they arrived the command staff the regiment was assigned to was skeptical of these barely civilized Guardsman, though assigned them to lead assault operations in offensives against the Ork threat. They feral worlders would quickly prove themselves when leading assault operations or blunting attacks with counter assaults of their own, the ferocity and savagery they fought with garnering a reputation among the Orks, these "Wastah Gits" being right proper fightey when they showed up.

Near the end of the Crusade, The 222nd were tasked with taking a vital position that had been overlooking several avenues of approach and had been instrumental in Orkish counter attacks, being a common regrouping point for the routed greenskins that were threatening to break the outer encirclement. In the early hours, just as the sun was about to begin rising, the 222nd had begun their creeping approach. Clad in the colors of their homeworld, the blasted no mans land approaching the hill was natural terrain, Sgt. Rojack leading the Grenadier detachment he had been put in charge of by the command staff after observing the man's routine rallying of his comrades during assaults when other leadership positions had been killed. By this point the 222nd were dangerously close to being under strength, but every last guardsmen in the regiment had been gathered for this operation.

Just as the sun crested behind them, the orks would be alerted to the assaulting Guardsmen by the sound of fragmentation grenades, blistering levels of indiscriminate las fire, and a unified, bellowing war cry that shook the ground as the Grenadiers led the charge, Sgt. Rojack holding his tribal sword in one hand, and the Merovach lasgun in the other, using the sling to loosely aim towards the Orks as they descended in a hatred that comes from generations of fighting such a foe. The salvaged carapace the Grenadiers wore, and was really the best indicator of who was such an elite among the troops, gave them the staying power to hold the line and route the Ork menace from the hill. With that task done, it fell to them to dig in and hold the hill long enough for other allied elements to advance.

Assaults in other sectors would begin, and Orks surged forward towards the hill that they always gathered on to attack from, only to see the standard of the 222nd planted firmly where their effigies to Gork, or Mork, would have been. Enraged, they came as a tide, and rather than sit and wait, the 222nd counterassaulted, as was their tactic, volleys of grenades staggering the approaching assault with sheer volume, clashing melee being brutal and bloody. Several times this pattern would play out throughout the day, and when relief forces arrived, they found a shattered, but still standing, 222nd having just repulsed the latest, and as history would show, last assault on the hill. 

With not even a full platoon left, the 222nd would have to be disbanded and folded into other regiments, Sgt. Rojack solemnly swearing that he would continue to serve no matter where the Emperor would send him, though it was noted he spent some time in the company of Priests attached to the regiment before the dissolution and merging into other regiments would begin. Whether seeking consolation and guidance in the face of such loss of friends and comrades, or perhaps praying for the fallen, Rojack remained tight lipped on the matter. No matter where he was called, he would answer, even if he was no longer among those he knew. They would report and muster with their remaining command staff and troopers, as ordered, to meet the future one more time as a regiment.

[b]Miscellaneous:[/b] Rojack enjoys carving Regicide figures out of whatever materials he can find, and would love to learn the game sometime, even if he doesn't precisely have a brain for the complex strategies it might entail. He is also a scavenger, of sorts, picking through battlefields after the fighting is done, looking to improve his kit wherever possible.
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