Sergeant Ninke was visibly taken by surprise by the new arrival of the beastman, much like Marcus, but managed to stammer out a response asking for the soldier’s name.

[color=f26522]"My name is Khaz. What is yours?"[/color] The beastman responded. Marcus thought it was an odd name, but then again, if he came from a planet of abhumans then odd customs were to be expected.

Ninke stammered out a response. [color=palevioletred]"Ehm... I am N-ninke Ingran, uh Sergeant Ninke Ingran. P-pleasure to meet you"[/color] She said. Marcus decided to introduce himself as well, since he had greeted the beastman too, it was only polite. {color=darkgoldenrod]"Err... My name's Marcus Gruber. But my friends call me Mudfish."[/color] He said.

Before their conversations could get anywhere though, Marcus heard Dace’s voice shout from further away in the crowd. [b]“Hey Mudfish! Come on, our transports are loading up! Or would you rather stay in this shithole of a planet?!”[/b] He cried. [b][color=darkgoldenrod]“Alright, cool your promethium! I’m coming! Tell Bertie not to leave without me!”[/color][/b] Marcus shouted back, before turning back to the others.

[color=darkgoldenrod]“Well lads, see you in orbit!”[/color] Marcus said as he waved goodbye at the strange group he had gathered alongside with.

[hr]

On board their Regiment’s frigate called [i]The Castellan[/i] it had not taken long for Marcus to organize his items and equipment underneath his cot. He then got up from his kneeling position in order to take in the area around him.. The 87th Combined Regiment's living quarters was so large it took an entire deck of the ship, and yet it was clear that all that space was necessary to fit in the men, women, and abhumans that composed their combined Company and Regiment. The deck also housed a mess hall with several tables, and a shooting range on one of the walls.

Marcus' cot was in between the area his old squadmates occupied. On his left was a cot that belonged to Bertolt, and on his right was the one of the beds owned by those strange Deathworlders who called themselves the 3rd Wisps of Settler’s Bane. Being the 3rd Regiment either meant they were really good at what they did, or their planet didn’t have that much to give (the name made the latter more likely as well). [i][color=darkgoldenrod]Hell, it could even be both…[/color][/i] Marcus mused. They seem occupied however, so Marcus decided to get to know them better later. Though he was amused over how the female of their group basically coerced the men into sharing a bed, despite their visible misgivings. He decided to pass time productively by getting used to his new Lasgun, so he took it to the shooting range for some test firing.

Walking through the thick crowd of gray Guardsmen, he noticed several of them passing time through gambling and other card games. While the beastman who introduced himself as "Khaz" was playing what appeared to be some strange board game using wooden tokens and a die. [i][color=darkgoldenrod]Is that some kind of local variation of Regicide...?[/color][/i] Marcus wondered. Though he didn't get a clear look as to how their game played out. He arrived fairly quickly at the shooting range where several men and women were firing at the stationary targets.

[i][color=darkgoldenrod]Seems like I'm not the only one who's not used to our new weapons[/color][/i] Marcus thought. He took up an empty slot, quickly loaded his Lasgun, took aim, and pulled the trigger.

[@mackielars][@Bright_Ops]
[hr]

It was not long after their company had settled in, that a booming, yet smooth baritone voice called out to all the Guardsmen. He called himself Captain Rochus, and said that he was assuming command of the company instead of Captain Weiss being their head. Marcus had managed to adjust somewhat to the recoil and rate of fire of the Kantrael-pattern Lasgun, but stopped his practice short in case all the Guardsmen were expected to stand at attention for every word their new CO uttered. After he had finished speaking, Marcus and his old squadmates clapped their hands in response. Obviously the part of being the [i]“most formidable mechanized formation this side of Holy Terra”[/i] was all talk, but at least it showed that their new CO had spirit and determination. [i][color=darkgoldenrod]Not to mention he’s from the Armageddon Steel Legions? We couldn’t have picked a better commander for a Mechanized Infantry unit[/color][/i] Marcus thought, remembering the feats of skill and heroism he heard about Armageddon’s regiments, especially during the battles against Warboss Ghazgkull.

He was surprised to hear that the Wisps were being called up to the Colonel’s office however, and hoped that they weren’t too high off their asses yet from the lho sticks. The captain then asked them to field questions towards him, if there were any.

Khaz, the beastman was the first to ask, and was straight to the point [color=f26522]”When are we getting to where we're going and what's the best way to kill what we're fighting when we get there?”[/color] He asked.

Ninke was the next to ask one, struggling to be heard over the mumbling and talking among the crowd. [color=palevioletred]” Ehm... v-vhat huppened too Captain Weiss? Und... ehm vill our positons be avvected by the change in leadership?”[/color] She asked, clearly concerned to know whether she was still a sergeant or not.

[@agentmanatee]

Third, the feline abhuman Meris asked a question. [color=lightsalmon]”Captain, can we expect less chances of friendly fire happening to us”[/color] She asked. Marcus could not tell whether it was a legitimate question, or a passive aggressive voicing of her concerns due to past experiences. In any case, he hoped they did not have any racist officers who would let such a thing happen. They were short-staffed as it is (being a combined regiment) and additional losses would be tantamount to betrayal against the God Emperor and The Imperium.

[@NecroKnight]

Marcus decided to ask his own question after Meris finished hers. He moved closer to the Captain, pushing slightly through the crowd before voicing his question. [color=darkgoldenrod]”Sir! How will we divide the roles in the Company? How will we be divided into support units, shock troopers, or standard infantry detail?”[/color] Marcus shouted over the crowd. It seemed important enough to ask, being a combined regiment, not a single Guardsman had a clear role yet. They performed no training drills together yet, nor any teachings of uniform combat doctrines. Everyone would still be used to their old regiment’s style of combat, and he wondered how all those different combat tactics would be assigned and combined in the 87th.