Clarence grips the section of carrying handle on his side of the raft, remembering the rather bumpy ride to shore earlier in the day. Snowy, though, seemed like an expert at small boat handling.

"Yeah. Too bad 'bout the UAZ. I bet we could still get that ZU on board, though- looks like it would fit real nice in that assault boat. We gonna start ferrying stuff over now?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:07, Wed 12 Sept 2007.

Snowy nods in agreement to Tuck and adds "a pity that S-60 was no good. The S-60 is basically a copy of the Bofors forty millimetre which I trained with and used back in Oz. Takes a few guys to run, but you generally only need a few shells to get the point across that you're displeased."

Snowy runs under the lee of the barge and beside the aft port bollards. "Okay everyone, river cruise is over. The managament would lie to request that the passengers who offended the waitress please remain behind; the engineering staff wish to speak to you."
As he ties off, he waves to the guys who stood the guns on the tug and thanks Tadeusz and Walter in his incredubly poor Polish. Shouting up to Konrad and Adam, he says "We'll have the zodiac onboard in a jiffy, then we'll see about getting the ZOO loaded. We'll probably have to mount the stern derrick and swing her up onto the aft cargo hatch. If we dump it on the barge it'll be your classic Fort Zinderneuf post - you'd get shot up manning the gun."

John will look over at the gunny and motion for then to set up a hide cover position so the group can load and do its tasks with a secuirty element in place. ready to cover they move to the tree line and place themself's in a place that has cover and concealment with the best fields of fire...



"Tug this is guns...security element in place for recovery op's..standing by for orders.."



John
setting into hide
ak-47 ready position

Konrad, still at the machinegun position, keys the handset "Tug, roger. Cover the shore party's move and withdraw yourself one tactical bound behind them. Move at your discretion. Out."

OOC - Bayer is leaving Guns' withdraw up to them, due to a lack of info of the ground and people's locations. He's saying pull back as they see fit as long as the rear is covered.

After a moment he once again gets on the radio "All units this is Tug. Give us warning before you make your final approach to my position. Over."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:30, Thu 13 Sept 2007.

As the boats approach the tug, Tucker keys the handset on the radio for the final time this mission.  "Tug, Tucker.  All waterborne assets returning to base.  Request permission to tie-off and come aboard, Over."

"snow this is guns...we are your last group out... come and pick us up at you leasure.."


John will stay in place and cover the teams withdrawl out of the area..they will wait for snow to return and pick them up....


John
holding hide to cover withdrawl
AK-47 ready position

Griet addresses those gathering around the corpse of the UAZ in her rudimentary english.

"We need to... organize how to get back to Krolowa. The small boat is near, no? Begin removing boxes from UAZ please. I go to use sniper's radio to call Krolowa."

With that, Griet moves towards the snipers' hide. It's only a few meters away but they've concealed themselves so cunningly, it takes a bit longer to link up with them than it would have otherwise.

"I'm sorry. I do not remember your name..." she says, addressing Yazzie. "May I use your radio? I need to call Krolowa to organize... withdrawing."

Blue watches snow pilot the zodiac back and gives a wry grin.  "About time." he muttered to himself as he turned his eyes once more to the island.

The UAZ sits, entrenched and smoking, in it's death throes. The ZU-23-2 is still attached to the jeep by its tow bar. The lock team stands around, contemplating a method for safely ferrying as much of the looted weapons, ammunition, food, and other supplies back to the tug as possible while the snipers provide overwatch on the landward side. The easternmost point of the island is directly to the south of you, on the other side of the widening river chanel.

Snow successfully manouvers the inflatable up to the port quarter of the Krolowa (the assault boat is fastened to the starboard quarter) and secures it to one of the davits along the old tug's low, battered rail.

OOC: Folks, it's going to take some teamwork and coordination to load your loot aboard the Krolowa. Let's get cracking...

Actions?

BEfore they move off of the raft onto the tug's deck, Tucker makes a suggestion to Snowy and Clarence.  "Let's drop what we have to and get out there and give them a hand getting the supplies back on board so we can shove off.  Personally, I don't rightly care much about the big gun but, the rest of the stuff in crates we got is our second priority.  The first being making sure everyone else on shore is back with us too!"

Bayer acknowledges with a simple "Tug, roger." and calls down to the rest of the crew aboard the tug "Friendly returning! Sergeant Thompson cover the portside machinegun." Leaving the upper deck he moves down to the main deck side as Tucker's boats approach.

He'll look for a rope to pass down to the inflatable or take one if passed up to him. Bayer is somewhat uncomfortable handling things on the tug but tries his best to assist the men in the small boats.

"Things are a damn mess. How about the others? You see them on their way back?" he asks to nobody in particular.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:05, Fri 14 Sept 2007.

"Roger that Major.  We caught them coming back to your area around here and it looks like they've broken down in the UAZ that Dawid fixed up.  I think they've got most of the supplies from the lock house we were able to acquire after the marauders were so kind to vacate the premesis.  There were some small arms and ammo, the motorcycle and sidecar we saw before, an AA gun and some ammo, and crates of food and medical supplies!

I think the crated goods and the bike should be our priority right now.  If we can get the other stuff, then great.  I'd like to take Snowy and Clarence back out to give a hand with the loading of supplies and our people getting back here, if they don't mind?  Also, once we're back on board, I'll debrief you on the problem we had with standing orders.  We'll need to get some things straight before land another shore party.  You guys got anything to add?" Tucker turns back and asks Snowy and Clarence.

If nobody else has anything to add or any objections, Bayer nods in agreement "Ok. I'll raise them on the radio and see what is happening. We'll go with your idea and take Snowy and Clarence to help them. I'll keep the tug crew here. (indicating to the two Poles) We've also have the marines out there too and I'm worried about their extraction. Seems our coordinating is a bit off... I'm not too sure exactly about their situation. Ok... make haste... we've been here too long as it is."

With that he helps the two Polish crewmen aboard the tug. Once everybody is either aboard or heading off in the inflatable Bayer calls the marines "Guns, Tug. Send SITREP... how is your withdrawl? Over?"

[Private to Max Fosters: Hey, you guys have any ideas on how to speed this up? Or any way to involve you guys more into the game instead of just on watch? Not really fair/interesting right now I know.]

[Private to Bruce 'Bluey' Thompson: Hey, you guys have any ideas on how to speed this up? Or any way to involve you guys more into the game instead of just on watch? Not really fair/interesting right now I know.]

" to the pole woman....


"are you just a dumb bitch or are you just acting like one???...when has it been ever smart to come and walk up to a hide and talk to the people there??? now we must move and not be able to cover the teams for the next 10 min while i find a new hide and set in..because everyone now knows where we are at and that makes us worthless a a sniper team...and there are no radios with the other people down there???go find another radio and leave me the fuck alone...."

"next time i wont be so nice stupid....."

"well guns lets move and set in to another hide"
with that john and the gunny move 100 meters to another pos to cover the group and be well hiddin .once in place they go over the same cover and conceal routine that is now becoming SOP...


"tug this is guns...we were set in and ready to cover but peter pan just walked up to us to use the radio and blew our cover having to move wont be ready to cover for another 5 mikes....some one has to keep these dumb women in line hope your the man to do it..."

"tug this is guns now moving..."



John
getting up to move
AK_47 at ready

"Yeah, thinking about the time here." Snowy says as they bob on the zodiac by the tug's rusty hull. "Getting all the crap into the barge will take thirty minutes, and that's our timeframe for the engine repair." Snowy looks at both the guys, but also speaks loud enough to be heard on the tug. "Why don't we just rig the aft crane up in that half hour, and then motor back to the site in the tug. The guys on the shore can get ready to shift over and secure their position, and we can do most of the work before we get there and minimise our time loading. We can even winch that piece of shit UAZ into the barge and Bluey and I can strip it for stock metal in our off time, if we've got the time. This way is actually faster, smarter and means less running back and forth in the zodiacs."

"Sgt Tucker? Milk? It sounds good to me. This is Mr. White's trade anyways, I'm sure he knows what is best. If it's agreed I'll go tell Adam the plan to make sure it fits with him." After the discussion is over, he'll make his way to find Adam.

On the way Yazzie's report comes over the radio. Despite the unfortunate events which have occurred on land, Bayer can't help but let slip a small, quick laugh at the explanation of Peter Pan blowing the Marine's cover. "Tug. Err Roger... Stick to it for a bit longer and we'll get this whole mess sorted out and everyone back aboard. Out."

Finding Adam he explains Snowy's plan and awaits for a go ahead.

"I'll go with the expert then Major.  Seems like our best choice to get most of the stuff on board anyway," Tucker says handing his gear out of the raft an onboard the tug.  Once he's out of the raft, he'll help the others off.

Dawid watched Griet walk over to the Marines and ask for a radio because when Clarence walked away, they didn't leave one. He got to taking the AA gun off the tow hitch of the dead jeep.

"My friends, let's get this stuff unloaded. After Griet calls the tug, we'll need to get it all on the boat."

Never afraid of a little hard work, Maddock slings his L86A1, and gets down to the sweaty task of unloading the various goods and supplies from the UAZ. He either carries them in armloads himself, or helps set-up a carrying ladder with the others to ferry the goods closer to the shore.

If Dawid gets to work on the Zu, Maddock follows his lead as the evident crewed weapons specialist.


Working Near UAZ
L86A1 LSW
Unloading the Booty

Gunny eases down into the foliage, making sure not to displace any of the natural vegetation or create any other tell-tale sign of sniper team's presence. He surveys the group's back-trail and the open ground to the north before addressing Yazzie in a calm but stern tone,

 "Corporal, you didn't have to be so hard on the Chief. Yeah, it was a dumb move but she's just a sailor trying to do a job she's not trained for."

He leaves it that, and continues to do his job with quiet professionalism.

[Private to John Yazzie: Hey, Law. That was me playing Griet. I knew what she was doing was silly but she's not infantry trained and the radio is needed to help coordinate the loading/recovery op. Anyway, I wasn't offended by Yazzie's IC reaction but I did receive a couple of PMs from players who thought it was a bit over the line. Just remember, this is a game about teamwork. You can play a loner if you like, but other players may not want to risk talking to Yazzie IG if they think he's going to go off. Just something to think about. Like I said, I wasn't bothered by it but I know you.]

As Konrad relays Snow's plan to back the tug up to shore for the loading and recovery operation, Adam's furrows his brow, mulling it over briefly before responding.

"No, no... We can not back up that close to shore without great danger to the screws. Without the barge and in slower waters, maybe, but here, no. What of the Russian boat I heard mention of? Could that not be used to bring supplies back? Perhaps I should speak to Mr. Snow as well. Come."

Adam descends the various steps and ladders to the main deck (presumably followed by Konrad) towards where Snow, Tuck, and Clarence wait. Adam makes his concerns known to Snowy and suggests a relay using the two zodiacs and the assault boat. He offers Tadeuz' as coxain of the unpowered assault boat.

Clarence realizes that he may be more of a nuisance than a help in the upcoming ferrying op so he attemtps to excuse himself as diplomatically as possible. He wants to help, but he just thinks he'd be of more use out of the way of the experts.

"I ain't much good with boats and it sounds like you're gonna need extra space for cargo. I'll sit this one out if it's OK with ya'll. If you need me though, I'm right there."

He adds an aside to Tucker,

"You gonna need my radio? If you do, that's cool- just take good care of it for me. It's more..." Clarence abruptly cuts himself off, saying nothing further on the matter of the radio.

Max makes his way to the far side of hte boat, away from the island and all the commotion.  He looks wisfully downstream, AK-74 over his shoulder.

He then turns, walks up to Konrad Bayer and stands looking out up river.  They stand shoulder to shoulder, saying nothing as the rest of the team goes about its business up river, scavenging and scurrying about before heading back to the Queen.  After a silence max talks
All we can do is wait.  Its the new way, we fight and pick over the bread crumbs.
There is a small shake of max's head, buy Bayer cannot be sure.

Still, we must all play our part
With that, Max begins another slow walk around the boat, scanning the horison for any signs of life.

Waiting for the boats to arrive, Dawid deployed the AA gun for lack of anything better to do. His head wound made doing a lot of heavy lifting out of the question.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:30, Sun 16 Sept 2007.

On board the Krolowa, Walter, Adam, Clarence, and Max unpacked and erected the aft cargo crane. Snow shoved off in the zodiac with Tucker and circled to the starboard side of the tug, pulling up alongside the assault boat. Tadeuz awaited him there, and the pair connected the two tiny vessels bobbing like goslings alongside their black-and-white plumed mother goose. The zodiac hauled the assault boat out into the current, sweeping in a wide arc around the nose of the Krolowa to gain momentum, then turning into the current and heading back to the shore party’s original landing site. Snow was really getting a feel for the river here, and the short trip was the smoothest and most efficient so far.

On shore, Griet, stung by Yazzie’s bile-filled tirade, returned to the jeep. Anneka, so vociferous earlier, had gone silent. Dawid was working diligently to unfasten the AA gun from the jeep’s tow hook. Smoke continued to blow out of the tired, old vehicles hood and the possibility of an engine fire was not out of the realm of possibility. Maddock seemed quietly deferential, almost aloof- perhaps he was still sussing out the dynamics of the group and his place in it. Someone had to give the group direction, Griet decided, and in the absence of any other takers, she would have to step up and do so. She directed Maddock and Anneka to load half of the captured weapons and half of the foodstuffs into the beached inflatable. That way, if the worst should happen and the boat capsize, neither all of the weapons nor all of the food would be lost. Griet considered whether to leave the party temporarily to ferry the gear to the tug or remain behind to continue to offer direction. Maddock is a Royal Marine, right? He should be able to handle a boat as well, if not better, than I. Griet thought.

With that, the second zodiac, with the large, green assault boat in tow, pulled up to the shore. She descended the low, sandy bank and helped haul the boats ashore. The loading of the first zodiac was complete. She trudged back up to the bank to help Dawid and Maddock roll the ZU down the bank and into the assault boat. Others pitched in, maneuvering the big gun up and over the assault boat’s gunwhale and setting it down heavily in the the flat bottom. A quick consultation with Snow and Maddock followed and it was decided to load the remaining gear into the assault boat. Snow and Tucker would crew the zodiac as it towed the heavily laden WTO boat back to the Krolowa. Griet, would captain the second Zodiac, bringing Anneka, Dawid, and the remaining portion of loot back to the tug.  Maddock would remain behind to cover the sniper team’s withdrawal to the riverbank. Once the two boat teams had unloaded their cargo, they would both return to pick the land-bound trio up. Dawid and Maddock helped to shove off the heavily laden assault boat and Snow accelerated to remove slack from the tow line.

Snow gave the outboard a little more gas as the zodiac tugged the assault boat out into the current. Once the current took hold, it would do most of the work for them. The outboard would simply provide steerage as they guided the bigger, heavier, and unpowered boat alongside the tug. The crane was up and Walter stood by the low gunwhale on the port side with a boathook in one hand and a length of rope in the other. Stopping the assault boat would be the trickiest part of the operation.

As the boats approached the Krolowa, Snow swung the nose of the zodiac towards the shore to slow their forward momentum and direct the starboard quarter of the assault boat towards the side of the tug where Walter, Adam, and Konrad waited. Walter tossed the rope to the approaching assault boat where Tadeuz made it fast. Snow cut power to the outboard while Walter reached out with the boathook to pull the assault boat tightly against the tug’s side. With the combined muscle power of the three Poles and the German, the forward momentum of the assault boat was stopped and it was securely tucked against the Krolowa’s port quarter. Meanwhile, Griet successfully brought the second zodiac along the Krolowa’s starboard quarter. Anneka climbed out and Dawid handed the weapons and boxes of food up to Max, Blue and the Israeli nurse before debarking himself. As the tug crew began to transfer the ZU to the tug’s stern hatch with the aft crane, Snow and Griet returned to shore in the two zodiacs to where Maddock and the sniper team awaited.

The last leg was completed uneventfully. Almost. While climbing aboard the Krolowa, Gunny Parks slipped on the wet deck and went down hard, screaming in pain and clutching at his left knee. Those standing nearby could hear a pop. One didn’t need any formal medical training to know that Parks’ injury was much more than a sprain.

Anneka knelt next to the fallen Marine and began a cursory examination of his knee. Gunny, tough as nails, gritted his teeth in obvious pain. It must be bad…

As the inflatables are loaded, the teenaged deckhand, pride etched on his filthy, youthful face, returns and speaks briefly with Adam. The old man smiles broadly as he announces, ”She is ready!” Sparing seconds for a reassuring pat on the injured sniper’s shoulder, Adam nimbly ascends the ladders to the bridge.

In a few moments, with white smoke once again billowing from its stack, the Krolowa begins to make way. The journey has resumed.

End of Chapter