The Death Angel
On the western shore, Switek and Hicks hastily remount the Mk-19 on the URAL's sidecar and turn north to complete the overland journey to Sandomiera.
On board the Krolowa, those that make their way forward to the barge find Viktor Ritter half-slumped out of the gunner's seat of the ZU-23-2. Small but ugly wounds mar his face, throat, arms- every part of his body, it seems, has been sliced or punctured to some degree. Blood is everywhere- on the seat, on the firing and sighting mechanisms, pooling on the wooden barge decking at the base of the gun. The thought offers slight consolation, but, from the condition of his body, he probably died quickly. The gun itself has suffered damage as well. One of the ready ammo boxes sustained a direct hit from an 40mm HE grenade and several of the API rounds it countained appear to have detonated from the impact, damaging the weapon's action (and further mangling poor Ritter). Both man and gun have fought their last battle.
Snowy, meanwhile, crams both of the IPAT prisoners into the head. The Czech is still coughing and sputtering miserably, mucus running down around his thin-lipped mouth to hang in long, translucent tendrils from his chin. Snowy feels some of the burn in his eyes, nose, and throat as well. Artur, between concerned glances at his superior, shoots angry, squint-eyed looks at the Australian but offers no other resistance.
The stinging aroma of capsacin lingers on the bridge. Adam sits down for a few moments, to gather his strength for the final push north to Sandomierz, while Walter continues to push the Krolowa to her limits. Konrad does his best to monitor and direct the activities of the ship's crew, peering through gaps and oddly-angled vision ports in the MTLB armor that Snowy fitted around the bridge. The protection they offer is comforting, but that comfort comes at the expense of losing unobstructed visibility to port and starboard.
Having saluted the enemy with a parting barrage of MG fire, those aft of the Krolowa's stack watch the smoke-choked eastern shore recede slowly towards the southern horizon, serenaded by the sharp staccato tattoo of secondary explosions from the buring IPAT Humvee. Those on shore appear to have abolished thoughts of a pursuit of the tug by land.
Smoke has crawled down over the river, hanging heavy and low over the dark water. Suddenly, the smoke parts like some large circular valve has been opened, arcing gracefully up and over the water, forming a tunnel. Through the tunnel skims a broad, squat vessel, racing effortlessly towards the tug. A pair of slant eyes has been painted on the green and brown camouflaged bow just above a patched, low, black rubber skirt. Atop this unconventional vessel, just aft of what appears to be a gun turret- probably housing a 30mm autocannon- is a tall, feathered standard, somewhat resembling an eagle's wing held vertically. Machinegun or AGL barrels protrude from either side of the bow mounted clamshell doors. The vessel moves quickly towards the fleeing Krolowa, closing the range from 500m to 300m in a matter of seconds.
Actions?
OOC: Next poster gets 5000!
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:34, Tue 01 Apr 2008.