Twightlight
2000
By
The Dawn’s Early Light Campaign
Game Turn Five Motorized Group
“One more thing, Captain. like I said, I'm sorry about the incident with Casewell. The whole thing has me wondering what CNN teaches their foreign correspondents."
Captain O'Grady
walked up to Harriet Caswell, after making sure that no one was looking.
"Ms. Caswell, Corporal Carmine found these documents underneath the
UAZ-469, along with a grenade attached to the gas tank. Since they are in
Latin, I assume they have something to do with the Black Madonna. I'd
like you to translate, and tell me what they say. If they were willing to booby
trap the vehicle, they must really want to this stuff kept quiet. "Its
instructions to a Spetnatz Officer Major Gregon, commanding the 1109th Signals
Company; it directs him to abort all other activities "My Catholic, School
Girl Latin is long rusty but combined with other languages I know The Black
Madonna is located in Czestochowa in a leveled monastary. She continues,
" it gives pretty detailed instructions how to find it, but there's
more"....she hesitates...It also states a Colonel Illyia Romanov plans to
use it to help legitimize his claim as Czar after he gets the launch codes.
"Captain my partner was tortured
and killed, after what they did to her...the gloves are off . , What went on
with you and Sgt. Schwartz? Inquiring minds would like to know. "I'll be straight up I need
muscle loyal to CIVGOV and figured a big dumb jarhead who could shoot straight
might prove useful. However there are limits on what I'll do to recruit"
Captain O'Grady pulled a map out of his cargo pocket, and studied it for few moments. "I see a big problem, Ms. Caswell. Czestochowa is over 100 kilometers to the southeast. At the rate we've been traveling, it will take us weeks to get there. And that's not even our biggest obstacle. Our plan has always been to head west, to try and find friendly units, and eventually find a way home. Like I've said before, I don't think there is a way home, but it gives the men something to hold onto. It's the only thing keeping some of them going. I had been thinking that I might be able to sell them on the idea that we had been directed to the whereabouts of the Black Madonna by Father Gankowitz, like a modern day Underground Railroad, being passed from church to church as safe house. But the men will never buy that it's safer 100 klicks closer to Moscow, and frankly neither will I. If we try for Czestochowa, we may very well find we have a mutiny on our hands. If you
have an idea on how to make it more palatable to the men, I'm all ears. The only thing I can think of is to tell them the truth. We might be able to find a way to do it without blowing your cover, but I doubt it"
"Then my cover be damned,
Captain," she places her hands on hips and in a loud voice says, "all
right guys gather round, Harriet Caswell is CIVGOV CIA; MILGOV is pulling USEUR
out of Europe, in exchange for every merchant ship Germany can scrape up, the
US Army will turn over all your equipment that isn't man portable. The goal is
to get as many Americans out as possible. Task Force 34 is whats left of the US
Navy's Atlantic Fleet, a half dozen ships at best and 30 or 40 merchant ships
Germany has scraped together. All to rendezvous at Bremerhaven during August
and sail September 1st. You want a ride home there it is. Here's the catch
MILGOV has a leak and the would be Czar found out about it. He knows where
there is a boomer with three servicable missiles. Get the picture, in one swoop
he eliminates the US Army Forces in Europe, the remnants of the Atlantic Fleet,
and the European Merchant Marine for good measure. Fortunately Ivan has his
problems as well. Our info says a die
hard Communist who opposes the restoration of the Czar stole the launch codes.
Those codes are on microfilm and hidden with the Black Madonna. Cracking
those codes are next to impossible without fully operational computers.
Additional good news the rest of NATO isn't to happy about Germany getting all
the toys. "
Captain
O’Grady was a bit surprised to be hearing all this...
"You have truly impressed
me, Ms. Caswell. It took a lot of guts to tell the men the truth. You have put
yourself at grave personal risk, for the good of all the soldiers who want to
go home. It shows me what your character is all about." He turned his
head, and called ,"Sgt. Gondorenko, come here for a moment." The
Sergeant walked up to them, "Sgt, do you remember the order I gave you
concerning Ms. Caswell? Sgt. Gondorenko looked over at Harriet and nodded slowly.
"That order is hereby rescinded. You are to forget I ever mentioned it.
Ms. Caswell is one of us, and you will show her the same respect that you have
shown me. Do you understand?" Sgt. Gondorenko grinned at Harriet,and said,
"Da, Captain, I understand. She is too pretty to kill." He laughed,
and walked off. He turned back to Harriet, "I believe that one good
gesture deserves another." "Fair enough Captain, but I like to think
I play a good hand of poker, I approached your SEAL and your Snipers about
helping me, neither would, but I never asked anyone to take you out. To be
perfectly honest, Ms. Caswell, I wasn't really worried about that. When I give
my word, I stand by it. I never had any intention of double crossing you. There
might be a lot of soldiers running around these days that are nothing more than
marauding thugs, but some of us still believe in a code of honor."
Captain O'Grady stepped into the middle of the group. "Men, we obviously have a big decision to make. For the first time in years, we have a real chance to get home. I personally had given up any chance of seeing the good old US of A again, but this information changes things. But now we have to make a choice. If we head straight for
Bremerhaven, we could quite possibly be blown out of the water before we clear the North Sea. And if we try for the microfilm, we could end up getting killed, or miss the boat ride. I won't just order you on this one, the stakes are too high. Each man will have to decide for himself what choice he wants to make. As for myself, well, I'm from Chicago. It was hit by two nukes. My parents died when I was two. I have no brothers or sisters, just some cousins who I rarely saw even before the war. I don't have a home or a
family to go back to. If I can help someone else get the chance to go home, someone who does have a family, then I'm willing to make the attempt. But that's MY choice as a member of this unit, not an order from the CO."
Sgt. Gondorenko spoke up,"I am like Captain. Russians killed my wife, my son. Russians burn my home, they destroy my village, turn people into slaves. I too have nothing left. I will not let them win. Americans are good to me, better than Russians. I help all Yankees go home. I vote get film, and kill Russians. Then I go America, and see
Statue of Liberty."
Cpt. O'Grady spoke up again, "I won't lie to you men, this will be a dangerous mission. To get the film, we'll have to go over a hundred klicks deeper into Poland. That's over a hundred kilometers further away from Bremerhaven. I won't force any man to go against his will. I know how badly you all want to go home. The decision is yours."
Sergeant Schwartz, "Well, @%$#*, Ms. Casewell! Why didn't you say so before? And here I thought you had a special place in your heart for me! [grins then gets serious]. Sorry, I've never been good at being politically correct. And about the attempt to blow your cover, [shrugs] I couldn't be certain you were telling the truth. If what you say is true, I for one, would like to go home, but I'm not going to get my @#$^ blown just when I get a ride. I guess if we want to make sure we have a chance at going home to the states, we should get those codes and destroy them. It would be our #$^* luck that some Ruskie has a working computer."
Sergeant Snowden, “Guys my brother was killed just after the Gulf War, my parents had moved near Minot Air Force Base where my brother was stationed when he was stateside...the report I got was a 1.5 combined air and ground burst that eliminated the base, the surrounding countryside and any reason for me to go home. Captain for the past few days you've steered us straight...we have a chance to make sure that the people who want to go home, make it. I don't think of it as being heroes, just a few making a sacrifice for the greater good. Let's get those launch codes, and make sure our brothers get home.”
Corporal Carmine, "Sir, what's the talk about going home I've heard? I mean, don't take me wrong, but isn't that kinda crazy? What's there that's left to go home to? Like, I've got no folks, you know, and I heard the Ivans slagged Philly real good anyway. At least the Naval Yard probably got hit, and the oil facilities and stuff. Jersey and Delaware can't be any better. And there's that little puddle called the Atlantic Ocean in the way, if we can break out of whatever Ocean that’s what's north of Poland. Hey I forget what it's called. I wasn't in school that year for Geography." Corporal Carmine looked embarrassed when mentioning that part of his past. He really hadn't said much about it up to this point. He was on a roll, however, and continued his growing monologue..."Personally, I hope my last 3 foster families got charred like barbeque briquettes. At least here we have, ah how would you say it, sir, accurate human intel -- we can see with our own eyes just what kind of s---sandwich we're in. Back in the States, it's anyone's guess what's things are like.”
One last thing sir, I was at the Battle of Czestochowa. we heard about the Black Madonna Those Polish Paras don’t know when to quit and that thing fired them up even more. We got hit hard but the Germans got an even bloodier nose. Ivan even through cadets in old T-55’s at us. Carmine was surprised at his own outburst but he had seen a lot of people go into that battle and not come back.
Captain O'Grady looked around, and said "Follow me, Corporal." They walked a small distance away from the rest of the group. Cpt. O'Grady sat down on the ground, and said "Have a seat. We have a lot in common, you and I. My parents were killed when I
was two by a drunk driver. I was fortunate enough to be raised by my grandparents, instead of a foster home, but I know what it feels like to be an orphan. Chicago, my hometown, was hit almost as hard as Philly was. As far as I know, I have no family left, and no home to go back to. Maybe a distant cousin survived, but I wouldn't know where to start looking for them." He pulled his helmet off, and ran his hand over his head. "The
reason I'm telling you this, is because I understand how
you feel. What's the point in trying to go back? I've asked myself that
question time and again. Until now, I had almost forgotten about home, and had
believed I would never see America again. I've done my job, buried myself in my
work, and watched as the world slowly died." He sighed, "I think a
part of all of us died along with it, I know a part of me did. Until now, I
couldn't have told you what it was, or put a name to it, but now I can. Hope.
Hope is what died inside me, after all, look around, what is there to be
hopeful for?" He gestured toward the group, "Look at them. For the
first time in a very long time, they feel the glimmer of hope again. Even
though the odds are stacked against us, there is still a chance, a chance to go
home. Some of them still have families left, and homes to go back to. And yet,
they're willing to risk their only real chance to get home, and their very
lives, to try to ensure that the rescue ships aren't nuked out of the water. Hope
is a very powerful thing, but it is also a very fragile thing. It doesn't take
much to kill it." He stood up, "What I said before, about not
ordering anyone about this decision still stands. You will have to make up your
own mind on what you want to do. But, I hope you'll think about what I've said,
before you make your choice"
Agent Caswell, "Captain, I
can offer your men a third option, those who have no reason to go back to the
states. Its called the SHIEKDOM of RDF US Forces in the Mideast actually
have gas and limited air support. Mostly under MILGOV control, replacements to
CIVGOV units have been been few and far between and Combat Veterans would be a
Godsend."
Sergeant Schwartz "Captain, s-sir! I haven't s-seen my
family in y-years and I h-haven't heard from them-m in over n-nine m-m-months.
I have k-k-kids, sir and I want to go home." "Are you @#$^*^? You
really expect any real American to abandon his country and skip-out to some
%$#&* shake-country just because
they have gas? I say we have to help these people get home! These are Americans
and I gave my word when I joined the Marines that I'd give my life for my
counrty. Come on Szymas, we have a mission to get ready for. @#$%^&*!!
[storms off] "I g-guess you hit a n-nerve C-casewell. He d-doesn't m-mean
it, m-much. [turns to Cpt.] I want to see my family again, Captain. [you notice
he didn't stutter] I have to g-g-go help Sch-sch-wartz."
Corporal Carmine said, “I’m no hired gunslinger for some dang smelly tenthead cameljockeys. We always end up fightin their wars for em, but they always manage to give us the old magic carpet up the @#$ when it came to gasoline prices. Sorry sir, I'm a
mechanic. I love vehicles and driving them. How could I feel any differently about those #$@#% extortionists...But sir, I'll stick with the group, and do whatever you say."
The big man looks at he CPT with apologetic eyes, almost seeming embarrassed that he said so much again.
Sergeant Snowden said, “My brother sent me stories about when he was stationed in Saudi...no booze, no women, sand in everything, so hot going outside hurt....I'm from Minnesota, I like snow, and hockey, and fall days. This radio message I picked up the other day, if the 10th tank is heading our way, we go southeast, they'll bypass us. Where's this Black Madonna thing? Hell what's this Black Madonna thing? Chestashova, Chestachowa whatever, that cities due SE about 120 kilcks. I've heard rumors that Poland's old capitol Krakow has declared itself neutral "free" any nationallity even Americans can come and go as they like, it's another 100 klicks past Chestawhatever. Let's get those codes and make sure other's get home, we can rest in Krakow...if the rumor's are true then decide how to get home from there.
Cpt. O'Grady watched the Marines storm off. "I think, Ms. Caswell, you will probably get a similar reaction from the rest of the men about your "Third Option". I personally don't see a benefit in trading fighting in Europe to fighting in the Middle East. Although the winters are a lot warmer. Even though I don't think anyone will go for it, I do thank you personally for giving them another choice."
Ensign Wilkens said "Sir? Speaking for myself, it sure would be good to see the ole' USA and stars and Stripes again. But...well Sir, maybe we could do it a different way. What if we find this boomer and sail her home? It'll give our fleet and the rest of our brothers that added chance to get home?"
Agent Caswell, saw a lot of backsides as she mentioned how critical the little trickle of Mideast oil was heating fuel and to get the crops harvested and distributed.
{Later}
Schwartz and Szymas approach the Cpt and Ms. Casewell with their gear for the mission, dressed in their ghille suits and in cammo paint]"Mizz Casewell, let's set a few things straight before we go out. One, I don't like your politics, but I will help you keep those codes out of enemy hands. That means, if you try and keep those codes for your government to use to destroy the remains of the military, I will personally hunt you down and send you to hell. Second, I will always obey my commanding officer and that is Cpt O'Grady. None of us will make it on our own and the Cap here has seen fit to allow us to join his little band of merry men, for which I'm grateful.
At this point
Caswell interrupts, and with a lightning quick draw pulls her PPK clicking off
the safety at the same time. "Now you hear me Marine. If I wanted MILGOV
troops wiped out. I would have kept my mouth shut. Let them board the boat and
boom. I do intend to keep those codes for the rightful government of the United
States. CIVGOV! Only President Ryan has the authority to authorize the use of
nuclear weapons. Not your Joint Chiefs of staff who've declared Martial Law
illegally and got a lot of good people killed, or any other would be Caesar. My
partner died gaining most of the information we now have and after what the
boys in DIA, working for MILGOV, did to her. Don't think for a moment that I
won't shoot it out right here and now.
{In WWI they called it Shell Shock, WWII Battle Fatigue, and now PTSD / The
premed troops have a pretty good idea Caswell has been pushed over the edge}
S^%#t (! Whoa now Casewell! No need
to start shooting friends! We've all had our share of @#$^ happen to us and our
friends and I'd like to keep my head where it is a little longer. Please accept
my apologies. I lost my temper, that's all and I don't do it often. You just
hit a hot button with me and...well...I'm truly sorry about your friend. The
spook #$%& is nasty business. [sighs a deep sigh] $#^%*!! [ shakes head and
looks visibly upset] I am sorry, Miss Casewell. [slowly offers hand with genuine
look of appology, Is that a tear? {OOC: It should be obvious to anyone looking
at Schwartz that he is sorry}
"Ya see, Miss Casewell, you couldn't have known this, but my parents were killed in the riots when the CIVGOV attempted to move a bunch of folks around. They were all I had in the world. I don't have any brothers or sisters, no girlfriend, [wry smile] big surprise there huh?, and I've pretty much given my entire adult life to the USMC. I heard all about how the CIVGOV elected Ryan and how the Joint Chiefs took control of a situation that the civies couldn't handle. &*^%$! Now I don't know what to believe...We have to stick together to survive, Miss, and I will help you and the rest.
"All right all right. Hey
Caswell that's still a nice gun but I've seen it before... Caswelll replied,
“It sure is and I know how to use.
Sarge please stay where you are. Left or right ball Marine!” Snowman continued
Shwartz! Szymas! Troop the Captain has given you a mission, Let's get on it!
There's Pact troopers you can take out those frustrations on, we don't need to
be fighting each other. Caswell let's get you over by the still, As the medic
I'm prescribing you some medicine...YOU HEARD ME, NOW!" Caswell answered,
“Sandy? Sandy?”
Captain O'Grady let Sergeant Snowden
take the lead since he was closer. Sgt. Gondorenko attempted to drop back and
circle behind Caswell, and get a bead on her without being spotted by her. She
said, “Not one more step Ukraine.” The former Warsaw Pact trooper halted. He
new the look, it had been in his own eyes often enough, she would kill without
hesitation, she was past caring about her own fate. Plus she hadn’t called him
Ivan, Ruskie or Pact, how did she know where he was from…puzzling. Captain
O’Grady took advantage of the pause and stepped between Caswell and the
Marines; "Ms. Caswell, I understand how you must feel, we have all lost
friends and comrades. She look at him, “Do you Captain... oh god... Sandy???.”
He continued, “We all need to work together as a team, if we are to recover the
codes. I'll talk to Sgt. Schwartz, and tell him to keep his politics to
himself. I want you to get some rest tonight, the rest of us will cover guard
duty.” With a reverse spin that would have done credit to Wild Bill Hickock she
holstered her weapon and said, “Sergeant Snow I hope that prescription is 180
proof.”
Captain O’Grady shook his head and said, “MARINE in my office, indicating the side of the truck. Schwartz: "Sir! Yes Sir! We are ready to move out! [snaps to attention and salutes then hauls his butt over to the 5-tonner to follow the Captain's orders EXACTLY] YES SIR! [snaps to attention and salutes then scurries after Schwartz. What is he, Schwart's dog?] Cpt. O'Grady went over to the two Marines. "Sgt. Schwartz, I understand your feelings toward CIVGOV, I may even share some of them. But this whole unit needs to be able to function as a team, so I suggest that in the future, you keep your feelings about politics to yourself, especially where Ms. Caswell is concerned. She has access to resources that we need, so for the moment, we have a marriage of convenience. DON’T EVER SALUTE ME IN THE FIELD AGAIN! I don't much care to be a sniper's target because he realized I was the superior officer. As a sniper yourself, you should be able to appreciate that. That goes for you too, Szymas. Are we clear on this?”
In unison, “SIR, YES, SIR!!! O’Grady said with a smile, “A little louder I’m not sure Warsaw heard that.”
Sergeant Snow got Caswell a stiff shot and pointed her toward a sleeping bag in the back of the five ton. 2401-0400 sleep; he finds a tree and sacks out at it’s base,
0401-0800 eat, make final prep for departure; boards 5 tonner and tries to talk to Casewell, if she’s driving and he gets to ride shotgun
Schwartzenkempf couldn’t believe he’d let things go so far with Casewell. After loading the gear, standing guard and following the Officers’ orders to the letter, he found himself alone in the back of the Brewery. Szymas found Schwartz crying into his hands, the grease paint smeared on Schwartz’s gloves and shirt. “I don’t know what to believe anymore, Szymas. What does your God have to say in a situation like this?” Szymas put a hand onto his friend’s shaking shoulders and said, “He says have faith. Reconcile with your brothers and sisters. He is with us, always.” Szymas just stood there while the big man cried it out. After sometime, Schwartzenkempf wiped his eyes and nose on the backs of his gloves and swore, “%$^&! I’m all right now. I wonder if I have time to get myself cleaned up before the Captain orders us out?” Szymas just smiled. The only other time he’d ever seen his
best friend do this was about nine months ago when Schwartzenkampf finally learned of his parent’s death. Schwartz would be ok. “War is Hell”, said Szymas, But we’re in God’s Army!”Schwartz reported to the Captain, saying, “Sir, I suggest that we use the
radio protocols and call signs that I described to you before. I don’t think I had a chance to give you my guard duty roster for your final approval. I have Szymas in the back of the Brewery making all the gear there secure for travel. If you need a translator, sir, Szymas speaks Polish like a native. [looks uncomfortable] If it’s ok with you, sir, I’d like to ride shot gun in the Brewery. I need to talk with Miss Casewell and try to make things right. I have acted unprofessionally, sir, and I submit myself to your discipline. It will not happen again; [snaps to attention] Sir!” [Schwartz accept the discipline like a man. "Cpt! We need to get together with Wilkins and plan the little snoop and poop, establish a regular schedule for guard duty and decide what we're going to do in the long term. I want to thank you for allowing us to rest; we'd been on the move for the past three days and I was beginning to see double. Sorry there isn't more detail in our books about contacts, but under the circumstance, I'm happy we were awake to make those observations. I'm planning to pull my own weight a bit more and carry out my duty as Chief of Security. I've told Szymas to get with Wilkins and prep the gear. I'd like to use your radios because ours were lost. If we move out soon, we'll have the advantage of moving under the cover of darkness, so let's get the radio protocol established and by the time the plans are finallized, Szymas will have our gear ready. “Sir, since you want the ridge checked out, may I suggest we move along it using the cover and concealment available to us and making certain we aren’t silhouetted against the sky. We’ll move along the road side of the ridge through grid squares EE7, DD6, CC6, BB5, AA5 and Z4 then establish our op here in grid Y4. Szymas will go on point, I’ll follow and Wilkins will be rear guard. We’ll maintain line of sight intervals and if one guy goes down, we all go down, etc. I think we should pause outside of camp and check it out. We might be able to improve the camouflage and see if everyone is following noise and light discipline properly. I suggest that we maintain radio silence until we’re in position or we make contact with a boggie. Since our radios aren’t secure, I suggest we establish a code for reporting. I’ll write it out and post it by the radio here so anyone monitoring can understand. We’ll either need a radio with a longer range than the hand-held ones, or a radio relay. I’m a bit concerned with the transmission from the other side of that hill. We could take two sets and station someone mid way if we don’t have a manpack. “Once we’re at the op, we’ll keep detailed written records of our observations and activities. As far as the op goes, I’d like to make a hasty scrape and belly-down behind a couple of sandbags. We’ll do it nice and neat like, and maybe we’ll get lucky and mother nature will have made us a good hide. Once we’re in position, we’ll observe without optics for 15 min then scan the area with optics for another 15 min. If we see anything interesting, we’ll immediately check it out with the optics and report back once we get a positive id. We’ll then take turns on the optics, one with the scope, one doing visual scanning and one serving as security. We’ll rotate every 15 min. so none of us gets too tired looking through the scopes. We’ll
keep this up until told to do otherwise, sir. If we make contact on the way to the op, we’ll first try to hide, but if they see us, sir, Szymas will light ‘em up with his 203 and M16, I’ll pop smoke then we’ll haul a$$ to break contact. We’ll go on individual e and e and rendezvous back at camp. Hopefully, we won’t lead the wolves to our doorstep
Captain, I have posted the commo formats by the radio, sir, and here is a duty roster for the watch. I've tried to give Snowden and Carmine daylight to work on the still and vehicles and give Whitherspoon a chance to r&r. I've also tried to keep you free to be the commander. As far as I go, sir, I am making myself available 24 hrs a day to fill in and supplement the watch as you see fit. I plan to do a walk around when I'm not sleeping or tending to any other duties which you give me. I submit this for your final approval, sir. Now, if we can just get a radio or two, we'll be on our way. Is Wilkins going to be joining us? I thought you put him in charge of this little shin-dig?
{OOC}
Cool thing about call signs is that they should be changed frequently to help with security.
Call Signs
HQ/Camp Mother Goose or Mike Golf followed by letter call sign
OP/ Relay Grimm Golf followed by letter call sign
Schwartzenkempf: Blackie or Omega
Szymas: Preacher or Alpha
O’Grady: Irish or India
Snowden: Doc o Delta
Wilkins: Selkie or Sierra
Carmine: Wheels or Zulu
Gondorenko: Ruzhyo or Romeo
Whitherspoon: Tank or Tango
Casewell: Lips or Lima
Vehicles
5 tonner brewery or bravo
UAZ uzi or Uncle
FSV Fist or Foxtrot
{OOC / interesting and useful, keep things simple, but have fun}
Schwartzenkemp, I had proposed using communications formats to limit the ability of eaves droppers to understand the info being transmitted on non-secure channels. The format involves a report that gives answers to questions designated as Lines. For example, if Schwartz spotted a three man sniper team from the Polish 10th and was giving a SPOTREP on this single event, he would use the SALUTE format to give his report. The radio transmission would sound something like this: ‘MOTHER GOOSE, THIS IS GRIMM OMEGA, SPOTREP, OVER’. ‘GRIMM OMEGA THIS IS MIKE GOLF INDIA SEND MESSAGE, OVER.’’MIKE GOLF INDIA THIS IS GOLF OMEGA LINE 1: 3 LINE 2: MOVING IN A WESTERLY DIRECTION, LINE 3: GOLF SIERRA (grid square) EE5. LINE 4: UNKNOWN. LINE 5: POL 10TH (or code for Pol 10th) LINE 6: 1-SVD WITH PSO-1 TELESCOPE. CAMOUFLAGED OVERGARMENT AND RUCKSACK. TWO INDIVIDUALS CARRYING AKM-74
RIFLES. 9MM MAKARAVO PISTOLS WITH SHOULDER HOLSTERS AND RUCKSACKS.’
Since none of us talk that way in real life, it is easier to say three guys from the 10th Polish looking like a sniper team armed with... If someone wants to get fancy, they can give their reports in the true SALUTE format, but, they should make sure they send everyone chapter seven of FM23-10 Sniper Training Manual. Then we could also use the other formats for reporting listed in chapter seven... or we could assume Schwartz has written
out the formats and anyone minding the radio can look at the report format and record the conversation. Just a little input from your Chief of Security...*grin*
{GM note as Shawn says we don’t need to use this but it adds to the game to see how its done in real life} {BIC}
Sergeant Schartz grabs his rifle, pistol, ALICE gear, daypack and an MRE then boards the 5 tonner for the trip out. Szymas finishes securing the gear in the back of the 5 tonner, clipping the sniper’s rucks to the side with a snaplink. He grabs his M16, pistol, daypack and dons his ALICE webbing then hops into the back of the Brewery for the ride out. Looking up at the gunner manning the M2HB he says, “I’ll c-cover the r-r-rear, ’k?” and sits facing out the back of the truck. He tears open the pack of the MRE and starts to eat with his free hand as the trucks roll. [Traveling Music] Over the roar of the 5 ton’s motor, a strong, resonant bass voice sings out, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord...” If no one objects, Szymas finishes the entire hymn. What a beautiful set of pipes this ugly man has! If prompted, he will sing “Onward, Christian Soldiers” and finish with “Amazing Grace”. He blushes when he is finished singing and passes off all compliments with a shrug saying, “It’s God’s gift, not m-m-mine.”
{OOC}Carmine will do a quick check of the M151, to determine if it works, how much and what type of fuel, any additional equipment aboard, etc.
{BIC}
Cpt. O'Grady walked over to the UAZ, and peered underneath. He slowly stood up, and turned to Cpl. Carmine. Jesus Christ, he thought, if we hadn't stopped when we did... He'd seen a man burn to death once, not too long after they had crossed the Polish frontier. A track had been hit by an RPG, and had gone up like a Roman candle. The commander
struggled to get out, but the flames had engulfed him. The intense heat drove back the would-be rescuers, who were forced to stand and watch him burn. Finally, a shot rang out, putting the poor bastard out of his misery, but whether it was for mercy, or to stop that horrible, awful screaming...he shuddered at the memory. Cpt. O'Grady realized that Cpl. Carmine was still standing there, and struggled to regain his composure. "You've done an outstanding job in finding these documents and booby trap, Corporal. I'll take a look at
them, and see if I can't make some sense of them. It's Latin, I'm sure. The papers, that is. As for the grenade, not my expertise, I asked the Ensign if he'd mind deactivating the thing. But back to the papers my Latin's rusty. Heck it's been a good 7-8 years since I went to Mass regularly, and my last confession was... well, awhile ago. Ya want I should have a goat reading it? After a few minutes he thinks there is something about a Russian Commo Unit. I'll see what Ensign Wilkins thinks about disarming the grenade. If he thinks it can be done safely, I'll let him take a crack at it. If not, I'll leave the damn thing behind rather than expose any one to that kind of danger. He turned to leave, then stopped and turned back. "Thank you," he said huskily, before leaving to find Ensign Wilkins.
Sergeant Snowden said, “Captain...Captain. I was polishing the M2 on the 5 tonner when I heard the radio...It was a Polish transmission, it's kind of open to interpretation,
but I thought you'd like to hear it.”
‘Warta bridge repair proceeding....Captured engineers working under coercion....10th Tank Div. regroup proceeding and will cross at completion...out’
“The 10th Polish hit us from the west going east into Kalisz, least I'm pretty sure, they rolled through us from the left flank, this transmission would seem to indicate that they kept going back east. The nearest crossing, is either directly east at Sieradz about 50 klicks where we've had reports of the 124th MRD remenants and 110th Combat Engineer
Battalion. Or they've turned north, where there are crossings at Konin and Kolo.
Konin is reported to have an intact bridge defended by guerillas with a couple tanks. Those two crossings and a northwest crossing at Uniejow are all also about 50 klicks distant. If we believe this transmission a big bad guy is moving away from us...We
either hurt em' bad and they are retreating after kickin' our butts as well or somebody's playing some games on the radio. I would think they'd turn south to follow, mop up, 5th remnants. Unless they made great time, we've found a few vehicles this jeep included running on diesel so it's possible, smashed through us, crossed one of these bridges, bridge got blown and now they are regrouping to come after us, in which case that big bad guy will be on our tails. Depending on how quick that bridge gets built...and assuming they are coming our way, they could be rolling through here tomorrow afternoon. “Incidently there are elements of the 14th Air Assult reported to be Ostrow (town where we are just north of) Just want to make sure everyone's aware.”
Cpt. O'Grady walked up to Ensign Wilkins, "Ensign, I know that Cpl.Carmine has already spoken to you about the booby trap on the UAZ-469. I'd like you to take a look at it. But if it looks like something that is out of your area of expertise, leave it alone. I'd rather leave the whole damn vehicle behind than expose anyone to any unnecessary risk."
It really hurt. Carmine hadn’t wanted to ask an officer for help. It grated on him as if he had sunk his teeth into a nice, thick, cut of prime rib, done medium rare, Kennet Square mushrooms on top, only to hear the sickening crackle of ground glass between his molars...Yet he had no choice. He approached the SEAL Officer."Ensign Wilkins, sir, could I get some help from you? I found a thermite grenade wired to the bottom of that Russkie jeep. It has a reel of fishing line attached to it, and then the axle. Coupla klicks of driving, then sayonara, baby. Anyway, if I found *that* I'd hate to learn that I had missed anything else. You're a SEAL, sir, right? You guys are right at home with explosives and booby traps and $%!# like that, right? wouldjya mind goin' over the thing once before I do anything else to it?" Corporal Carmine's right cheek twitched ever so slightly.
“Sure Carmine no problem...ya see...the trick is to not think of it as anything other than another piece of whatever yer lookin' at. Wilkins heads over to the car and peers underneath...noticibly not touching the car."As you say, sir. All the same, Ensign, don't be offended if I put a little distance between me and that ugly thing. I'll just go stand behind that tree over there. You're free to use any-a my tools ya need." Ensign Wilkins walked around the entire vehicle, looking at the wheels, doorhandles, windshield wipers, exhaust pipe and bumpers before he even touches the car. Slowly he will examine each axle, door mechanism, ignition wires, hood release lever, trunk levers and the like. Gear box (stick shift) and rotating parts. I figure a period of 2-3 hours spent on the vehicle. I'll take out my frag grenade and hand it to Carmine. "Here, hold this. Grab the handle...that's it." Then, when he has a hold of it, pull the pin and disappear under the car. Utilizing the new pin to hold the thermite grenade's handle in place, I'll cut the line;
Suddenly he realized the Thermite Grenade was only a decoy and he had tripped a Fulmite of Mercury Pressure Detonator Switch by inserting the pin...
Sergeant Snowden took a moment to reflect. We'd actually had a day of
piece, we'd been going nonstop for days now. I really don't think I slept at
all. We moved the vehicle off the road aways and I did an attempt to obscure
the tracks.{OOC RCN 50 conceal movement and vehicals}
Thrown up the camo netting over them and in a few hours I had curled up under
the 5 tonner and it was lights out. I haven't slept that well in years. I had
this great dream, about my brother and I when we were kids. We always 'played'
army and the circus had just been through town. They left behind a trailer with
a helicopter ride on it. The copter was bright
yellow with goofy stickers, but to the imaginative mind of a 8 and 10 year old,
it was a dark grey Cobra attack helo, spitting fire from it's nose gun. We'd
take turns flying it, the controls felt real, and the other would hang out the
door with a plastic tommy gun.
That was real weird, the dream was a rememberance of what actually happened,
I'd never had one like it before. Suddenly I was waking, grogy, I smelled oil
and damp grass. Oh yeah I was sleeping under a truck, back to reality. I had
only slept four hours, I saw O'Grady approaching and I was hauling myself out
from under the truck. Must have been my Sergeant's intuition that woke me up.
I've been in this army long enough to know when an officer wants you, even
while asleep.
Captain o’Grady "Snowden get
that still warmed up and go over the medical supplies" he says "and
keep your eyes peeled, don't get caught up in this comfy place, the bad guys
could be sneaking up on us right now"
‘As good as done, sir" I replied with a smile. I was beginning to
like this O'Grady guy. He seemed to be doing a good job with the task at hand.
I started the fire for the still, the thing originally had an electric heating
element in it, that had burned out long ago, and most stills now had a furnace
like area underneath them for burning material. When we used to cook fuel we
had a good supply of charcol, coal, and other compact long burnning flammable
items. We had a little of that left, I'd use it
sparingly along with wood scrounged up by other team members.{OOC CHM 50
distilling}'Shwartz' the more personable of the two 'snipes' wandered by and
made
sure I didn't need any help. I thanked him, said no, and he wandered off. I was
getting to like that guy too. We'd conversed and he's got an almost identical
background to mine.
When I could look away from the still I did a quick scout of the area
"keeping my eyes peeled" like the Captain had said
{OOC RCN 50 look for any movement outside camp, make sure everything in camp
is as concealed as possible}
The still was running fine so I got myself cleaned up. Changed my socks and
skiveys, grabbed a MRE. Then I did a round of the troops. I knew O'Grady had
his hands full deciding what to do next and wouldn't have time to make sure his
troopers were watching out for themselves, that's a Sergeant's duties anyway,
and if we were to survive I wanted to make sure there were no weak links.
I had shown Whitherspoon how to go over the AK series rifle, those were
marvelous weapons, fire em' with a barrel full of sand, tear em' down with a
push of a button, a real infantry weapon. For a Treadhead Grunt he
learned pretty quick, seemed to know the basics already. Of course I was pretty
particular to my CAW up close, combat shotguns had been outlawed by the Genevea
Convention, but I don't think there was any one left there to go after the US
Army, heck I wasn't sure if there was a US Army left.
Whitherspoon was a little clunlky with the rifle, "You'll get it" I
said "tell you what, you show me around that 25 atop the FSV a little
later and then you can see me fumble with unfamilier equiptment...deal?"
Witherspoon replied, “Works for me.” His head
wound looked good, I told him to keep it clean.
{OOC GS 50 clean AK with Whitherspoon again, MED 70 head wound}
The majority of the party had gathered near the middle of our encampment, and I
walk into more info than I'm ready for. Caswell's a CIVGOV agent, Carmine finds
a thermite grenade on the jeep, and some latin manuscript. Caswell wants us to
go after a piece of art with something about launch codes for nuclear missiles
aimed at fleeing US servicemen. Then she suggests we go to the Middle
East...Boy was this gonna take some sorting
out. After a bunch of arguing we figured to be heroes and save the day. Sounds
good to me, I'm beginning to look at this like an adventure...If only there
wern't so many people shooting at us.
Whitherspoon showed me the chaingun
atop the FSV around dusk. That was a
beauty. The thing was basically a poor man's attack helocopter, helocopter hey
just like my dream. The cannon's controls were like a video game, even the
aiming was done on a TV monitor. A child could learn to fire this thing. It
seems so long ago that I sat in this seat as we fled rally Omega. I remembered
the RPG team, they were so close to us, I could see the loader yelling 'clear'
just as I went rock and roll with the HK, about 20 metersout, heck the RPG
probably wouldn't have even armed itself in 20meters...either way at that range
shotguns make a mess out of humans, that was less than a day ago, one of my
brass was still on the floor.Whitherspoon really loved the opportunity to get
back on something with a big gun, he really missed his track "the
Devers" he called it. “Top thats a Bradly that’s been promoted from
Infantry to Cavalry, drop the crew from a squad to a Fire Team and you can
actually stretch your legs without bumping someone. Even allowing for all the
extra TOW Missiles we carry. Although that hasn’t been a problem in awhile.” He
Sighed and pulled out two sets of dog tags he had around his neck. "The
Devers" didn't make it and I miss her but neither did 'Johny' and 'Smithy'
rest easy boys....I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed...all of us had
lost commrades...I begin to see the faces in my squad...I wondered if any of
them had made it. I left Whitherspoon in the FSV niether of us felt very good
right now...I knew what would take my mind off it, I wandered to the UAZ and
clambored up to the gunners position, let's give a polish to this PK {OOC GS 50
service the PK} It was getting dark and I had another shot at sleep coming up.
I checked the still, shut it down, just as the Captain came over. "Snowden
get some shut eye" I said with a smile trying to immitate his voice
"Not funny Sergeant, but that's what you will be doing" he replied,
"First light I'll pull everyone together and we'll make plans, your watch
comes up in 4 hours, you'll relieve Shwartz, I have some overlapping watches so
we have two pairs of eyes looking out most of the time, but that doesn't mean
you're not vigilant" "Yes sir, I'll be under the brewery if you need
me" I sat down and gave a quick polish of my HK CAW, topped off all my
magazines, checked my 9mm Beretta, god how long has it been since I fired this?
It still smelled like the bannanna oil I liked to keep guns clean.
{OOC Quick GS 50 of my weapons}
I was hungry so I ate another MRE and drifted to sleep again, I dreamed again
this time it wasn't so nice...all of my squad around me holding hands in a
circle...all of them had wounds and looked like they'd been dead for a few days
"You let us down Snowden" they chanted in unison "We just wanted
to go home" I heard a twig snap and awoke from my nightmare, grabbed my HK
then realised it was Shwartz...he'd snapped the twig in his fingers and if he
was a Russian...It'd been my neck. "Funny Shwartz, I guess it's my watch
eh?" "Yea" he said
" And I got a date with some shut eye" He flipped me some night
vision goggles and I moved off to my watch station. I thought back to my
dream...I was gonna make sure this group gets to wherever it wants to go, and
do my damnedest to make sure we all make it there alive.
{OOC RCN 50 concealment for myself/spot enemy approach}
An uneventful watch followed, with only an occasional ghost from the past to
disturb him.
Whitherspoon relieved me at 0400 I knew the Captain had Wilkins and Szymas out
on watch and they should have had a switch, at 0200. I never saw them, somehow I knew they saw me
though, I knew those guys were that good, good thing they are with us. I made
my way back to the 5 tonner and grabbed a quick nap. I woke just as the fist
rays of light painted into the morning sky. I got out my tac and general maps
wanted to make sure we knew where we were. Contemplated where we were
going...Chestachowa...there it is....100 klicks away through hostile territory.
The Captain was waking as well. "Captain,
Captain what are the plans for the day?"And the plans for this art hunt of
ours?"
Corporal Carmine debated life as he went about his duties, although he
would probabily just considered himself daydreaming. Johnny had put in
plenty of time on the 5 Tonner and the HUMVEE FSV to keep them running, but he
wanted to do more. The others in this ragtag little group seemed very
professional about what they were doing, and Johnny wasn't about to let them
down. So in this frame of mind he went over the vehicles once more. Except for
the UAZ -- the CPT said to hold up on that until Ensign Wilkens had a chance to
look over the booby trap. Maybe he'd gain a little respect for finding that
hunk of paper with the Latin written on it. Seemed an odd thing to hide on a
Russkie jeep, especially it being wired to explode. Well, solving puzzles like
that was way above my pay grade, thought Carmine. Maybe the CPT had some ideas
about it. Anyway, when was the last time we got paid? Carmine laughed to
himself. Laughing was much better than
shaking, like he did in front of the CPT right after he found the thermite
grenade under that Russian Jeep. CPT
O'Grady's talk with Carmine was interesting. It might've helped Johnny
straighten a thing or two out in his thick head. It all had been bothering him
for some time now, even before the little group had banded together. There was
not much of anywhere to run to, and not much of anything left to go home to,
Carmine's lack of family aside. So why bother? Why not surrender? Least there'd
be food and no one shooting at you. But the mist started to clear in Carmine's
mind. Maybe we could give someone else a better chance at it, even if we're
screwed. The Milgov - Civgov issue raised it's ugly head once again with the
revelation of Ms. Caswell's background. But Carmine still felt the way he
always had about the government -- they shanghaied him and sent him here, and
were doing oh so much for his current state of well being. He really didn't see
a distinction between Civ and Mil, whichever was in legitimately in power, they
were the "directors" in this surrealistic puppet show, and Carmine,
and Ms. Caswell, and the SEAL, and the Gyrene, and the Rus... uh, the Ukranian,
and the CPT, well, they were all just little extras, playing bit parts, on the
end of the directors' strings. So, the lady is CIA. Well, BFD -- Carmine never
thought he even had a whisper of a chance with her anyway. It's all for the
better...Carmine realized what the others had been doing, giving him daylight
to work on the vehicles. He really hadn't gotten to know them all yet, but he'd
make a point of going around to everyone in the group, and offering some food
or water, extras from him stash of trade goods, or whatever, just to be
friendly. But he'd also pull his share of watches at the oh-dark-hundred shift
nobody seemed to like.2000 - 2200 Checks vehicles one more time. Fixes anything
needing it. Checks fuel levels all vehicles. Writes maint. log. Inform CPT of vehicle status. Report condition of
M151 jeep to CPT -- wear value 10, several break downs. Will strip for parts if
time allows. 2200 - 0000 Check charges of NV goggles and 25 x Image
intensifier, and recharges using generator if needed. cleans Sweetheart M60E3,
Colt .45 Auto, and Honey 12 gauge pump. 0000 - 0400 Pulls watch (assuming a
2-hour watch, will also pick up the next 2 hours if needed.) Uses Sweetheart
and
NVG. Keeps alert. Lives are at stake here. Very uneventful tour of duty,
everything was so quiet he could hear the snoring of those few lucky enough to
have the time and ability to fall asleep.0400 - 0800 SLEEPS......
Captain O’Grady was a little
uncomfortable but he had made a decision "Whitherspoon I know you would
outrank Snowden had this not gotten so screwed up...but our group has been
running good with our chain of command with Snowden as my top...We're trying to
put some sense of order to this mess, I'm not trying to undermine your
achievements in the military, just for right now, I'm basically giving Snowden
a battlefield promotion." The Armored Cav Staff Sergeant looked thoughtful
for a moment, before answering. “I owe you guys big time, sir, and I’m not
looking to upset the apple cart.” SSG Snowden continued, "Carmine you just
keep those vehicles running, I'll make sure you get every opportunity to safely
work on them" "You jar heads (Shwartz and Szymas)and Wilkins are
going to be our 'eyes and ears' you're gonna be pulling alot of night duties
you guys are the best trained for this. I'll try to make sure you guys rotate
around enough to get some regular sleep once in a while"
"Caswell I know you have a
slightly different agenda then some of us, but our big thing is staying alive.
As a soldier I want to make sure that the Russians don't do anything to hurt
fellow soldiers, so we'll get those command codes, with a smile on our
faces"
"Whitherspoon, I know I'm young, but soldiering is all I've really fit
into, you've been in this army longer than me, chains of command can't have any
weak links you know that. My job is to keep all you guys alive, I'm taking
orders from O'Grady and putting tasks to you guys, I hope you can see that I
have YOUR best interests in mind" The Cav Trooper looked at Snowden and
said, “ I could taking orders from a Second Lieutenant, nothing personal
Ensign, sir. Top I have an auto cannon to tend.”"Gondorenko"
In Russian "Your Kapitan is my Kapitan I hope you will see my loyalty, and
I hope it can approach the level that I see you hold for O'Grady.
Staff Sergeant Witherspoon walked back to the Chain Gun Hummer, checked the safety on his AK and placed it within convenient reach. He ran a quick systems check on the auto cannon, checked the traverse, elevation and depression of the gun. then he checked the belt feed and noted an almost 80% ammo load with a good shell mix. Somebody had connections he thought. Then slowly with great reverance he took a battered, dog eared picture out of his wallet of a young female officer in fatigues standing in front of a M3 Armored Cav Platoon. He carefully positioned the photo near the fire control monitor; “3rd Platoon present or accounted for ma’m.” he wispered softly.
That's 8 different sets of eyes, so I just thought we'd only need one in
daylight...
08-10 Caswell
10-12 Whitherspoon
12-02 Gondorenko
02-04 Caswell
04-06 Whitherspoon
06-08 Gondorenko
That leaves plenty of time to forage in between.
Players all get period of sleep
Then all three get 2 periods over night
08-12 Wilkins/Shwartz/Szymas period of sleep
12-16 open
16-20 open
20-24 wilkins watch
24-04 Shwartz watch
04-08 Szymas watch
When not watching get period of sleep at least 2 periods sleep each of these
guys
08-12 O'Grady watch
12-04 Snowden watch
04-06 Whitherspoon
Captain O'Grady looked at the men as they, one by one, agreed to try for the Black Madonna. They all knew the risks involved, that doing so could jeopardize their one real chance to get home, and yet they still volunteered. A surge of emotion swept over him, he had never felt so humbled in his life. "Men, I am honored to serve with all of you. I have never seen such courage in my entire career. That each of you is willing to take this enormous gamble, to help our brothers in arms get home safely, is the most moving display of self-sacrifice that I have ever witnessed. Winston Churchill said something during the Battle of Britain that sums up how I feel, 'Never have so many, owed so much, to so few'. He lowered his head, to get himself under control, and choose his next
words. When he looked up again, there was a fire in his eyes, and a grim determination in his voice that they had not seen before. "I swear to you all, this sacrifice that you have made will NOT be in vain. Today is July 21st. The boat leaves on Sept. 1st. That gives us just under a month and a half. As God is my witness, we will be on that boat, or die
trying. We have been moving slowly up til now, for safety and security. We have been cautious, because we have been planning for the long haul. That ends now. We'll moving as fast as we can. If we can't move around an obstacle, we'll punch straight through it. Fuel will be our major concern, so obtaining it will be our first priority, in any way possible. If we lose a vehicle, it gets pushed to the side, and we keep moving. If we show up at Bremerhaven on September 1st with nothing but the clothes on our back, and clubs for weapons, I will consider that a victory."
He turned, and started firing off orders like a machinegun, "I want everyone ready to move out at first light, and I mean everyone. The patrol to scout out ahead is hereby cancelled. We'll head straight down the road, and God help anyone who gets in our way. Snowden, I want that still running 24-7. Carmine, keep those vehicles running and the tanks topped off at all cost. Wilkins, if that horse of yours can't keep up, it will be on
our dinner menu. Caswell, I want that list of cache points, and I want it yesterday. The rest of you get your weapons and personal gear ready." He paused, and started breathing normally again, "Everyone, get as much rest as you can tonight. It's likely to be the last time you'll get a good night's sleep for some time. We'll head out just before dawn to Ostrow, and touch bases with the priest. Since the Black Madonna is such a great religious icon to the Poles, I think we can count on his help. Besides, we're going to need a little help from above to make this work. May God be with us all, the clock is ticking
Captain O'Grady tells the
group, change 5000, "Men, the guard duty roster is as
follows;
2000-2200: Sgt. Schwartz & Cpl. Szymas
2200-0000: Ens. Wilkins & SSgt. Witherspoon
0000-0200: Cpt. O'Grady & Sgt. Gondorenko
0200-0400: Sgt. Snowden & Cpl. Carmine
At 0400, everyone will get up and get ready to move out at first light. We'll
be heading towards Ostrow. We will pull off of the road before we reach the
farmhouse. Ens. Wilkins, Sgt. Schwartz, and Cpl. Szymas will recon the house to
determine if it is safe to move on to the church. If it is, we will continue to
the church, and make contact with FatherGankowitz. Sgt. Gondorenko has managed
get a wild boar for our supper
tonight, so eat hearty."
Ensign Wilkins heard that tiny sounding click and yelled, “Oh crap, Corporal Haul &$$......
Combat Experience, SEAL Reflexes, or maybe Dumb Luck; He had barely rolled clear when the strange sensation of a flying jeep filled his thoughts as he was knocked unconscious...
BABOOM!!! . The whole camp thought they were under attack again and a lot shots rang out (five rounds each) {OOC/GM Note no one made their coolness under fire check} before they realized there was nothing to shoot at. A few minutes later Wilkins regained consciousness and reported to Captain O’Grady that the commie jeep was no longer needed to be repaired. O’Grady chalked it up to stress of the moment “You think; get some rest Ensign.”
Ensign Wilkins had caught what rest he could between guard duty and getting ready for patrol. Now that was cancelled and everyone had settled down to a dinner of excellent roast pork. To everyones surprise the Armored Cav Sergeant; Witherspoon’s family was in the restaurant business. Not only was he an excellent meat cutter but a quite accomplished chef. Everyone got into the spirit and contributed some spices, seasonings ect... Soon spare ribs and pork chops were sizzling on a make shift grill of a 50 gallon fuel drum sliced in half long ways and a heavy wire mesh. Both found on the five ton left by their previous owners. Wilkins suddenly remembered the map case he had recovered from the wiped out Marine Force Recon Patrol. Several pages of parchment in a language he couldn’t read and a map of Norway specifically Narvik. The map had several notations in Russian “Barrikada, Chief Hall ST3, Artika, and Haakon Puzzled he put everything away back in the map case.
The camp was up and awake at 0430
with daybreak less than an hour away. The Hummer was to be in the lead followed
by the five ton, with M151 bringing up the rear. Through some miracle Carmine
had got the recaptured jeep running and
Captain O’ Grady took it in place of his lost Russkie Rolls. Commenting, “maybe
we can trade it to the good Father for something useful.” Out on point was
Ensign Wilkins mounted and muttering, ‘on the dinner table, yeh right, see if
you guys can keep up with me.’
She’s got legs. Several wistles and cat calls shook cob webs out of everyones brain as Caswell emerged from the back of the five ton wearing a well worn low cut peasant blouse and long gypsy style skirt. As the short brunette hopped off the truck tail gate she landed with a fluid bounce that would have done any dancer credit, twirled around in a graceful piroet “I take you gentlemen approve” she said with a smile. Gone were the combat boots replaced with beat up sandals, her shoulder length hair was loose instead of tied up in a tight bun under a military baseball cap. Could this be the same b$%& who was ready to shoot out with all of them only a few hours earlier. Witherspoon opened the door of the five ton and helped her up to the driver’s seat like she was a queen. Then proceeded up the line to the Hummer. Around 0515 just as the sun was starting to peek out a sound not heard by any of O’Grady’s Irregulers in a long time. The wop,wop,wop,wop,wop,wop of a helicopter...Flying low only 300-400 feet above ground and sounding like it was straining to stay in the air. O’Grady quickly ordered everyone to take cover and hold their fire. Fortunately while everything was packed up they hadn’t broke camp totally or struck down the camo nets. To everyone’s amazement a battered Mi-17 Hip with Soviet markings flew overhead and disappeared to southeast. As soon as it was out of earshot camo nets came down and engines were cranked. Soon they were on their way. Several times Ensign Wilkins waved them around hasty minefields emplaced in or near the road. After eight hours of cross country it seemed liked they were flying along the Polish excuse for a road and arrived within a klick of the Church/Monastary in little over an hour. The five ton was still a fuel hogging snail with its trailer and heavy load but they still had covered as much ground in an hour as they had in eight previously. Ensign Wilkins, Sgt. Schwartz & Cpl. Szymas did a hasty recon. The saw a large European style Catholic Church and several buildings as well as large barn. After about 30 minutes they were satisfied that their were no miltary forces present. Two dozen monks in brown robes tending livestock and working in the fields. Wilkins left the two Marine Scout/Snipers to watch and provide cover while he reported to Captain O’ Grady. He would preferred to remain at the ad hoc observation post, but he knew he would be in command while the Captain and the CIA Agent went to made contact with priest.
Captain O’Grady and Agent Caswell made their way on foot to the church/monastary as the Marines watched from their OP. About a klick back the vehicles were off the road deployed in a defensive lager.
At first there was quite a commotion when the monks saw O’Grady, but when they saw Caswell they seemed less apprehensive. She had wanted to go in alone, but O’Grady wasn’t having any of that. She spoke to them in very fluent Polish without any hint of a foreign accent. He easily followed the conversation as she asked to speak to Father Gankowitz. Two of the monks Brother Gabrial and Brother Amos escorted them to a small chapel near the main church wear they saw a very old man (70 or 80) in priest robes. He looked suspiciously at Captain O’Grady, but smiled at Caswell and said in Polish, “Harriet it has been a long time, how is your sister Sandy.” Caswell bit her lip and choked back a sob. The priest placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said “I’m sorry and then recited a short prayer” Captain O’ Grady introduced himself and told the priest about The Black Madonna. The priest was curious why a soldier would interest himself in a religious icon of no military value. The old man was also quited surprised when the soldier addressed him not only in Polish but spoken with the ease of some long accustomed to doing so. The priest wasted little time on pleasantries as he seemed to know the good captain was not here for confession. As for military info he knew that Ostrow was crawling with Russian Maintenance and Medical personnel screened by about 100 combat troops from the 14th Air Assault Brigade, two platoons and a small HQ with half a dozen BMD’s and one ASU-85. I can direct you as far as Kluczbork. At Kluczbork you will meet and receive assistance from Father Aramis a fiesty French Jesuit who claims to be a descendent of the Musketeer of the same name. I’ll give you a letter of introduction. When asked about supplies especially fuel he shook his head. “Other than that I cannot help you.” At this point Caswell pulls herself together. “Father Gankowitz is Captain Giles’ stockpile still here?” He looked sad and said, “ yes but I must save that to trade for food for the children” They were interupted by the clanking of an armored vehicle and a loud roaring engine sadly in need of maintenance...
From the Observation Post , Sgt. Schwartz & Cpl. Szymas saw half a dozen Russian Paras atop a BMD light APC come up the road from Ostrow heading straight for the church/monastery. Current range 500 meters from the chapel, approx 800 meters from the OP and closing slowly.
The convoy had settled into defensive positions when Sergeant Gondorenko covering the rear keyed his hand radio and said, in Russian, “Snow-den, Small convoy coming down road UAZ gun jeep, two American Duece Halfs with Russian walking wounded, one deuce towing a Hummer, another gun jeep, a HMMWV Ambulance with American markings but a Soviet Flag across the hood, and a T-55 with a well ventilated turret. Your position in five minutes...”
{OOC: 1st Sgt Note which seems to catch the spirit of the game}
Personally, I'd rather our characters stayed in Poland, dodging Russians at every turn. It sounds like a blast. But sometimes, after you've spent a lot of time creating your character, coming up with a history and a personality, they start taking on a life of their own, and start telling you what THEY want to do. That's what's going on here. O'Grady has gone from hating the idea of being in command to taking the welfare of his men very seriously. I haven't heard from Wilkins or Witherspoon about their feelings on the subject yet, so I may have jumped the gun. If so, I'll try to figure out some way of making everybody happy.
{OOC
GM Note}
Ok I get the drift no one really wants
to go to the Mideast and the Shiekdom of RDF. So we'll be adventuring in
Poland and maybe back in the States. Gives me an idea what to prepare.
Gunther
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Next turn covers from 0800 to 2000, temperature is 78 degrees no breeze at all, and clear skies. Turn Six is due Sunday Noon EST November 19th.