Hanna Skarborovicha

Hanna’s characteristic appearance, wielding her power sword, *Frost*.

**Hanna Skarborovicha** (born 432.970.M41) is the current commanding officer of the Astra Militarum’s 203rd Combined Siege Regiment and one of the few surviving members of the officer corps of the now-disbanded 203rd Valhallan Mechanized Infantry. A freshly promoted lieutenant at the start of the Taiga Worlds Campaign, Hanna earned her rank through attrition during the Siege of Onyxburg in which many of her senior commanders and peers were killed. Since receiving the responsibility of command, Hanna has been characterized by her stoic and pragmatic personality while also being criticized as a result of her young age.

## General Information

Hanna is the serving CO of the 203rd Combined regiment which is currently assigned to the 1253rd Astra Militarum Siege Army, assembled in response to the Tau offensive during the Prefectia Campaign. The elite status of her troopers and their nature as a combined regiment consisting of differing battle doctrines has resulted in Hanna’s development of a number of varying tactics that utilizes the strengths of her diverse men and women.

Her time as a member of her local security militia and later the Valhallan PDF made Hanna an adept user of the power maul, a weapon she adopted as her primary close combat armament until inheriting her superior’s power sword during the Siege of Onyxburg. Although skilled with a blade and bolt pistol, Hanna’s retinue of personal grenadiers—deeming her too valuable to lose—often insist on keeping her from commanding on the frontline. If she does so, they ensure that its from nothing less than the cupola of a Macharius or Hellhammer. Hanna often commands from a Vendetta gunship as a direct result of her bodyguards’ protective proclivities.

## History

### Early Life

Born on the ice world of Valhalla in the massive subterranean city of Riazan, Hanna was brought into a life focused on practicality and survival, living deep beneath the glaciers of her homeworld and rarely beholding the sight of natural light. There was no true escape but the Guard and, at an early age, the young woman began training with the local militia forces in the eventual hopes of leaving behind her family’s small Tanna farm. When she was drafted for service at the age of 20, Hanna had served with Valhalla’s PDF forces for two years. She was later deemed suitable for a leadership position and assigned as a lieutenant within the newly mustered 203rd Valhallan Mechanized Infantry Regiment.

## Personality and Appearance

As a lieutenant, Hanna was often described as personable, but also rather stern. Her superiors appreciated the balance she maintained between her ability to project a commanding presence alongside the rapport she possessed with her troops. Hanna’s 4th Mechanized Infantry Platoon had been noted for possessing some of the highest morale levels as cited by their assigned Commissar Radfael Invauth. By the end of the Taiga Worlds Campaign, however, much of her infantry platoon had been decimated and Hanna, who had been field promoted to Captain, left in command of the remainder of the 203rd Valhallan Mechanized. Following the regiment’s reorganization, Hanna was once again promoted—skipping the rank of Major entirely—to Colonel.

Although officially a Colonel, many of her officers affectionately continue to call her Captain Hanna in light of her service commanding the regiment during the Taiga Worlds Campaign. She has proven to be an effective strategist during the Hephastion Campaign and later the Siege of Stradiff, proving crucial in maintaining the Imperial line following a counter-attack that broke several regiments. Over the course of the last several years, Hanna has been noted for her increasing stoicism, pragmatism, and independence.

Hanna has a particular hatred for officers and regiments hailing from the planet of Scintilla, seeing Scintillans as brash, undisciplined, and self-centered. She often cites the complete route of the 925th Scintillan Fusiliers during the Siege of Stradiff, which had forced her to move reserve elements of her regiment to plug the hole in the line, as the main source of her severe animosity.

## Abilities and Traits

Hanna, over the past several years fighting for the Imperium, has become well-known among the officers and soldiers of her regiment as an adept swordswoman. She often attributes her skill to luck, stating that it was important to quickly learn to fight or be killed in the perpetual meatgrinder that was service in the Imperial Guard, specifically talking about her time at Onyxburg and how she had picked up her Captain’s sword to defend herself. Hanna also mentions that her time in the Planetary Defense Force and subsequent experience with varying stun-based weaponry helped hone her initial skill.

Although she does not consider herself a crack-shot by any means, Hanna possesses above average skill in handling various firearms of the Imperium and is commonly seen handling pistols in her position as an officer. She was originally armed with a standard laspistol as a lieutenant of the 203rd Valhallan Mechanized and later a bolt pistol following her battlefield promotions to captain and then later to colonel. Despite the stopping power of the bolt pistol, Hanna considered it heavy and unwieldy; she later adopted an autopistol as her main sidearm for its ease of maintenance, simple operation, and light weight.

Given the importance of her position and status, Hanna—to her chagrin—is often kept away from the frontlines behind ranks of elite grenadier and Kasrkin bodyguards. Despite these extensive measures, however, Hanna will sometimes command alongside her troops in the trenches where her presence can often lift the morale and fighting spirit of her soldiers.

## Equipment

As Hanna serves in the role of regimental commander, the Departmento Munitorum has outfitted her with a set of carapace armour for improved survivability and a refractor field generator for additional protection. Hanna is a proud Valhallan and continues to wear her originally issued greatcoat to signify her lifelong connection with her homeworld. She is armed with a Riazan Pattern power sword, a blade forged in her home hive and which she inherited from her deceased superior during the Siege of Onyxburg. Unlike other comparative officers of her rank who arm themselves with bolt pistols or plasma pistols, Hanna wields a customized high-cycle Voss Pattern Mark 10 autopistol as her primary sidearm.

### By

"*I don’t give a damn if they say they can last a hundred years behind their walls. I’ll give them a week and then we’ll ask them again if they want to surrender.*"
—Colonel Hanna Skarborovicha during the Siege of Stradiff
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