Laduguer

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

Sorry for taking such a long time, I've been daaaamn busy.

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

Gate was quickly lost in the crowd again, and carried on its current towards the administrative personnel. Amidst all the chaos and noise, Gate was most struck when the official asked him his name along with other demographic details. His name. When you were a prisoner, you lost your name unless you made an effort to hang onto it. All you needed was an ID. It communicated everything that needed to be said about someone with no rights, no future and no purpose. But as a soldier, you earned a name. Even soldiers couldn't just be numbers -
they had a function, they had responsibilities, they had a life. It felt profoundly odd to hear another person say it to him once more.

The following shower in the water like ice washed this uplifting feeling out of him for the time being, along with the distraction of seeing a naked woman for the first time in years - another uplifting feeling somewhat mitigated by the cold water.

The next events passed as a blur. The weight of a flak jacket over his chest, bulking out his malnourished torso into something resembling its old girth. The collar on his neck; he hated that, it felt like an anchor weighing him down from being taken seriously as a man of better society. The lascarbine in his hands, unfamiliar and--

BOOM!

... unfamiliar and possessed with the power to permanently end this opportunity for escape, as it just had for whatever fool blew up at the front of the line. He hoped he wouldn't have to see that mess. He kept the lascarbine pointed firmly at the floor.

Before he knew it, he was stood amongst the assembled legionnaires being reviewed by the officers. He was alarmed but elated to see that the legion was being commanded by Arbites officials - something he had not considered until now. Whilst he knew Arbites officers hated nothing more than disgraced rats from Enforcer cadres, he also knew how they thought and could play that to his advantage. Indeed, even when the officer in white passed him and read out his name and past with obvious contempt, he knew that he had at least earned the officer's interest in a way the rank-and-file penal scum would not.

To his left, a group of convicts made noise in the ranks as two of them seemed to collapse, and a third offered aid. It made him feel a malicious sort of glee, and he thought to himself; "I feel sorry for whoever gets stuck fighting with those fools."

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

Sorry for the radio silence! Been away from my PC for a few days. Will post the evening of the 31st.

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

I'm still in! I haven't posted again as it felt like this stage in the movement of the story was more dependent on a DM post than the interactions between our characters. My bad!

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

As Gate fell into rumination, the blaring sound of report made by the tray rebounding off the force field snapped him back to focus with an alarming suddenness. He buried his head low as several enforcers sallied forward to beat down the offending prisoner, and cursed whatever fool had thrown it for squandering this one, dim light of freedom that had presented itself.

Suddenly, the Captain began to speak, and Gate realised that there was yet hope. He felt an unfamiliar and not altogether pleasant sensation of rising trepidation and excitement as the nature of the situation gradually fell into place -- a penal legion! As an enforcer, Gate was familiar with those lucky convicts that won the lottery of fates and were spared death to be enlisted into the infamous 'expendable' regiments amongst the PDF. Gate had often considered this fate to be overly kind; a lucky break for undeserving rats too stupid to make it in the hive. He felt a mirthless sort of humour that he might be spared by the same fate.

If ever there was an opportunity for escape, this was surely it. All he needed to do was make it into the legion, and then his natural acumen and better breeding would surely differentiate him from the other scavs he'd be thrown in with. He might even be promoted out of the legion. He might even make it to officer.

The Captain finished speaking, and Gate was rising. He was striding towards the group of penal enforcers that had delivered the beating to the lunatic. He saw a rough looking woman had already made it to them and was obviously enlisting. A profound sense of urgency overtook him; what if there was a limit? What if he didn't attract the attention of a guard at precisely this moment, he'd lose their attention forever?

Perhaps mercifully, Gate was not allowed to experience this doubt for long. Before he could reach the group of enforcers, a surge of prisoners had risen and were making for the exit to the Eastern Wing with a clamour of activity. Enforcers were swinging, shoving, and corralling the horde of hopefuls, and Gate could do little but be buffeted along on the tide.

After what seemed like far too long unable to know or control where he was going, he found himself within the cavernous interior of the cell-cum-conscription hall. Pushing himself out of the mass, he found himself in a less crowded spot where several convicts were sitting.

Gate always found it severely troubling how difficult he found it to recognise faces amongst the convicts. When he had been an enforcer, he knew hundreds of faces. Bounty hunters, spies, merchants. Out of a hive of tens of millions, he was able to remember them and keep a beat. Here, he felt as though his brain was slowly wearing away. Everyone looked the same. He could barely tell his own reflection apart.

Uncertain of whether one of the convicts here was an acquaintance, Gate leaned against the wall and wiped the sweat from his dirty brow.

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

I was away for a few days, so I'll get on with my post this evening or tomorrow.

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

Life as a penal convict was one of contradictions. Gate hated the food - Emperor could only know what went into it - and yet he ate it anyway. Gate hated the water - he heard that they put things in it, the sort of things that made you behave like the screaming lunatic gesticulating down the table - and yet he drank it anyway. Gate hated the air - it was dry and stale and stung your eyes, making it hard to think - but he kept breathing anyway. Gate hated his superiors and yet he lived his life at their beck and call.

He stared into the slick grey surface of his gruel and begin to slip into thought, until something out of the ordinary caught his eye; new officers arriving into the mess hall. Normally they didn't change the guard so regularly, so he wagered something unusual must have been occurring. From his appearance and demeanour, the Captain reminded Gate of the private enforcers of the noble houses that ruled his hive homeworld; arrogant, overpaid and concerned only with pursuing their own personal power fantasies. Gate respected that. He couldn't imagine why one would come here, and part of him didn't want to know; sometimes prisoners he had known had disappeared one day, and never came back. Who would miss them? What better place for a bored noble or adept to collect human fodder from? As badly as Gate wanted to leave, he didn't wish to leave only to become a plaything or a human lab animal.

And yet... Gate did badly want to leave. So badly that any opportunity, even one that proved fatal, was worth taking; because in that opportunity lay the faintest glimmer of hope. Hope. Gate considered hope to be of deep significance to life on the penal world. Hope is what men of ambition had. Hope is what survivors had. It was only those who were broken - little better than animals, waiting to die here - that didn't have hope. Gate dearly wished to keep hope.

He shook himself out introspection. He was still staring at the Captain, who seemed to be observing the massed rabble in the canteen. Gate sensed the need to attract his attention, as though he was looking for something. But how? How was he different to this man from the hordes of grey-clad souls surrounding him?

Despair gradually sunk in as Gate realised... he wasn't.

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

Should have my post up today, sorry for the delay!

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

Gate Kurman

Name: Gate Kurman

Gender: Male

Age: 29

Former Occupation: Adeptus Arbites (Local Planetary Division)

Former Rank/Position: Enforcer

Mental and Physical Traits: Overtly, Gate's demeanour carries an unmistakable edge of order that sets him apart from penal legionnaires who led former lives that were less regimented. This is betrayed by occasional uncontrollable bureaucratic obsessions, such as wanting to stick rigorously to an intinerary or a trained routine, or some arbitrary neatness in his possessions, such as enforcing a strict policy of categorizing his baggage or arranging his bedding in a specific way. Inwardly, Gate is a conflicted individual; he despises being mixed amongst the rabble he once hunted and is firmly convinced of his own superiority relative to his fellow penal legionnaires. However, this hate does not arise from any belief in a moral high-ground - Gate is quite comfortable with his identity as a criminal and a cut-throat - but instead arises from the feeling that by losing his status he has lost all his power to do anything worthy with his life, and is instead now no different from the millions of faceless souls that churn in the Imperial machine. He is regularly reminded of this by the many officials that now threaten him, punish him and regiment his life, who have become objects of both admiration and utter resentment for Gate. As a result of the above, he regularly fluctuates between moods of nihilism and despair, and moods of violent cut-throat ambition and determination.

Appearance: Gate has a stocky build, standing shorter than most but compensating for it with a natural muscular girth. He has dark brown eyes and dark, razor-cropped hair that flows into a bushy and unkempt beard. His overall appearance bears a rough, dirty look unremarkable amongst the hordes of downtrodden scum found amongst the convicted occupants of a penal world.

Wargear:

Lascarbine
Explosive Collar
2 Mono Knives
3 Frag Grenades
3 Krak Grenades
1 Flak Vest & Flak Helmet
Imperial Guard Penal Legion Prisoner Uniform
1 Inhaler
1 Gas Mask
Poor Weather Gear
Rucksack
Basic Tool Kit
Mess Kit & Water Canteen
1 Weeks' Rations
Blanket & Sleep Bag
Rechargeable Lamp-Pack
Micro-Bead
Ident Tags ("Dog Tags")
Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer

History: Gate was born on the hive world Taranis, as the son to one of the many multitudes of middle-houses that exist in society between the underhive and the upper houses, which exist mostly to act as a social buffer zone and perform jobs bridging the two economic extremes. The Kurman family line was one of law enforcement, with many generations of sons and daughters finding themselves in the employ of the hive enforcer cadres that maintained order on Taranis under the occasional discretion of the Adeptus Arbites.

Gate was no exception, and upon coming of age joined the enforcer cadres along with this three brothers and two sisters with little other thought. Gate, however, was different from his siblings. He had difficulty adjusting to the idea of a life of selfless duty, concerned only with meeting the details of his superiors. An attitude such as that - within the relatively oversight-free enforcer cadres - meant that Gate was able to avoid his official duties and instead pursue his own agenda. For the most part, his agenda coincided with that of the law; he loved nothing more than satisfying his personal vendettas against criminals and orchestrating their downfall. But his pride and willingness to bend the rules put him at increasing risk and increasingly close to betraying the laws he was intended to enforce.

His fall came as the result of a particularly elaborate sting, in which he began his own smuggling ring in order to attract an affluent black market buyer with a large bounty on his head. However, his plan failed; the black market buyer he had been hoping to attract was captured by another bounty hunter on the day he was planning to make the transaction and perform the sting. As a result, he was left with a large amount of smuggled goods and no bargaining chip to justify his actions in the form of the black market buyer.

His attempts to cover his tracks failed, and he was promptly identified as a smuggler, discharged from the enforcer cadre and a bounty put on his head. Ever proud and ever an optimist, Gate decided that this was for the best; he was getting bored of operating from within the cadre and he was making more hive credits from the smuggling business than he ever did as an enforcer. Robbing everything he could from his poorly supplied office in the neighbourhood, he left to disappear into the shifting lawless crowds of the underhive and make a new life. Unfortunately, Gate found that he had greatly underestimated just how hard it was to operate as a criminal without the benefit of his status as an Enforcer, and it was only two months before a gang of underhive bounty hunters captured him and turned him over to the local authorities. Gate ran the lottery of justice, and - perhaps due to his former status, connections or simply luck - avoided execution, and was instead sent to join the massive pool of convicts billed for relocation to a penal world, and eventual conscription into a penal legion.

Warhammer 40k: The Eternal Fight for Freedom - Penal Legion RP (Looking for cannon fodder!)

Hey guys. My first contribution to these forums after arriving from foreign RP-lands. Hope it checks out!

Gate Kurman

Name: Gate Kurman

Gender: Male

Age: 29

Former Occupation: Adeptus Arbites (Local Planetary Division)

Former Rank/Position: Enforcer

Mental and Physical Traits: Overtly, Gate's demeanour carries an unmistakable edge of order that sets him apart from penal legionnaires who led former lives that were less regimented. This is betrayed by occasional uncontrollable bureaucratic obsessions, such as wanting to stick rigorously to an intinerary or a trained routine, or some arbitrary neatness in his possessions, such as enforcing a strict policy of categorizing his baggage or arranging his bedding in a specific way. Inwardly, Gate is a conflicted individual; he despises being mixed amongst the rabble he once hunted and is firmly convinced of his own superiority relative to his fellow penal legionnaires. However, this hate does not arise from any belief in a moral high-ground - Gate is quite comfortable with his identity as a criminal and a cut-throat - but instead arises from the feeling that by losing his status he has lost all his power to do anything worthy with his life, and is instead now no different from the millions of faceless souls that churn in the Imperial machine. He is regularly reminded of this by the many officials that now threaten him, punish him and regiment his life, who have become objects of both admiration and utter resentment for Gate. As a result of the above, he regularly fluctuates between moods of nihilism and despair, and moods of violent cut-throat ambition and determination.

Appearance: Gate has a stocky build, standing shorter than most but compensating for it with a natural muscular girth. He has dark brown eyes and dark, razor-cropped hair that flows into a bushy and unkempt beard. His overall appearance bears a rough, dirty look unremarkable amongst the hordes of downtrodden scum found amongst the convicted occupants of a penal world.

Wargear:

Lascarbine
Explosive Collar
2 Mono Knives
3 Frag Grenades
3 Krak Grenades
1 Flak Vest & Flak Helmet
Imperial Guard Penal Legion Prisoner Uniform
1 Inhaler
1 Gas Mask
Poor Weather Gear
Rucksack
Basic Tool Kit
Mess Kit & Water Canteen
1 Weeks' Rations
Blanket & Sleep Bag
Rechargeable Lamp-Pack
Micro-Bead
Ident Tags ("Dog Tags")
Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer

History: Gate was born on the hive world Taranis, as the son to one of the many multitudes of middle-houses that exist in society between the underhive and the upper houses, which exist mostly to act as a social buffer zone and perform jobs bridging the two economic extremes. The Kurman family line was one of law enforcement, with many generations of sons and daughters finding themselves in the employ of the hive enforcer cadres that maintained order on Taranis under the occasional discretion of the Adeptus Arbites.

Gate was no exception, and upon coming of age joined the enforcer cadres along with this three brothers and two sisters with little other thought. Gate, however, was different from his siblings. He had difficulty adjusting to the idea of a life of selfless duty, concerned only with meeting the details of his superiors. An attitude such as that - within the relatively oversight-free enforcer cadres - meant that Gate was able to avoid his official duties and instead pursue his own agenda. For the most part, his agenda coincided with that of the law; he loved nothing more than satisfying his personal vendettas against criminals and orchestrating their downfall. But his pride and willingness to bend the rules put him at increasing risk and increasingly close to betraying the laws he was intended to enforce.

His fall came as the result of a particularly elaborate sting, in which he began his own smuggling ring in order to attract an affluent black market buyer with a large bounty on his head. However, his plan failed; the black market buyer he had been hoping to attract was captured by another bounty hunter on the day he was planning to make the transaction and perform the sting. As a result, he was left with a large amount of smuggled goods and no bargaining chip to justify his actions in the form of the black market buyer.

His attempts to cover his tracks failed, and he was promptly identified as a smuggler, discharged from the enforcer cadre and a bounty put on his head. Ever proud and ever an optimist, Gate decided that this was for the best; he was getting bored of operating from within the cadre and he was making more hive credits from the smuggling business than he ever did as an enforcer. Robbing everything he could from his poorly supplied office in the neighbourhood, he left to disappear into the shifting lawless crowds of the underhive and make a new life. Unfortunately, Gate found that he had greatly underestimated just how hard it was to operate as a criminal without the benefit of his status as an Enforcer, and it was only two months before a gang of underhive bounty hunters captured him and turned him over to the local authorities. Gate ran the lottery of justice, and - perhaps due to his former status, connections or simply luck - avoided execution, and was instead sent to join the massive pool of convicts billed for relocation to a penal world, and eventual conscription into a penal legion.