William looked up a moment to take in what he heard Major Finnegan call out to him. After he was finished he turned back to the Estonians again.

--- Exact words as translated from Estonian into English ----

“We are going Krakow..”
“You know about Krakow, yes? You have good info on Krakow? we give you good food for information...If your info good you may also come with us to Krakow, when like”

“After we go Krakow, we plan head South to West. You come from South to west, yes. You can tell us about that.... have good information about there?"

---

Brown looked from one Horseman to the other, hoping they had understand what he was asking.

Tanya remains in her position keeping security in her assigned sector while the others barter for information about Krakow.

A proper sniper suit covered with strips of hessian and other rags was something that Virgil could only wish for as he settled in with the precision rifle he'd acquired from Dettinger a few days before. As soon as he had the time he'd start work on one probably using a spare shirt or two as the base. It would probably take him a while but it would give him something to do.
The powerful scope drifted from one Estonian head to another, watching for danger and prepared to instantly solve a potential problem with a 7.62mm bullet.

Cam took a slow breath and glanced toward Finnegan, then Smith, her back still to the rock..  She had an unreadable expression at the time, pale lips tugged into a light frown.. “We need finish Sweep?”, She asked in her broken English, then tilted a glance over one shoulder past the corner, eyeing the situation beyond.

Her borrowed uniform had already seen better days, concrete dust, grit, and just general wear, but she was more concerned about the rifle and the possibility of developments.. -They had covered how much of the town before turning back?..  Ashton thought the negotiations was a good thing obviously, but was simply troubled by the continued unknowns..

The Estonians have lowered the guard somewhat and so haven't yet seen Sergio even though he is in the the open. It it therefore a complete supprise to them when Sergio appears amongst them. Cautiously they peer about them trying to see if there is anyone else in hiding but apparently are unable to spot anyone.
And so they are suprised once more by Major Finnegan speaking up.
Brown addressing them again in his very broken Estonian brings their attention back to the matter at hand. One replies...
[Private to WO1 William Brown: "Yes, we know of it, we come from there few days ago. Came from further south east before that, I don't think we can tell you much of where you are heading after Krakow."
Krakow is full of everyone. Russians, Poles, Americans, British, Canadians, Germans..., just about anybody you can think of. You must have something to trade in Krakow or you not get in. Must not ever leave roads either, mines everywhere."
"Now we talk about trade. Will tell you about between here and there for the right price."]
He stops speaking and looks at Brown for a response.

Bernhard nods to Lt. Ashton and lowers his voice,"_{Lt. Ashton, You and Sgt. Smith regroup with Sgt. Redgrave and Major D'ammond, and finish the sweep, I am going to stay here and help interrogate the Cavalry.}"He looks back at the horses and vehicles, then back at Smith,"_{Take the radio, and keep in touch. Holler if you need help.}"

Marcus quietly shakes his head to himself, knowing that the Estonians wouldn't and seemed to not like the idea that they were being overwatched.  With a shrug mostly to himself he figures too late now as he turns to address Maj Finnegan with a curt, _"Sir" in response to his proposed plan of action as he takes the offered radio.  He looks to Lt Ashton expectantly, _{"Shall we?"}

Her grasp of the English language made her questions come out weird… One of these day‘s she‘d get things right.. But until then..

“Mmm”, Was her response with the barest dip of her chin to the Sergeant.  Though collecting Sergio seemed a little problematic.  Camilla would have liked to let him remain where he had planted himself, but that wasn’t in the cards..  A low hiss, and gesture to RedGrave, Cam inclined her head toward Smith, before shifting to the edge of her cover to try and catch the wayward Frenchman’s attention and flag him in.

Then she’d shift back to where she’d estimate Tanya and Marcus would wait.. “Suggestions?.”  Yet another question. Her features were impassive, blue eyes trailing over each NCO in turn..  She felt most comfortable on the move anyway, and preferred to let her people do their jobs.. Which they often knew more about than she did.  The team knew up to a certain point had been cleared earlier, but without completing the sweep they could have easily been compromised..  Of course they could have been even if the sweep was completed since the entire area wasn’t secure.

It was a give me choices look, a faint smile came and went, though directed at who, was anyone's guess.

Tanya lifted her head when she heard Cam 'hiss' for her attention.  Her whole attitude perked up when she saw that something was goin on or about to go on.  She had made her way over to Marcus and knelt down next to him as Camila made her way over to them.  Why don't we finish up where we left off Lootenant?  Makes the most sense to me right now.  Beats sitting around here while the others smoke and joke.  Don't get me wrong, the down time is nice but, well, a little too boring.  I hope I just didn't jinx us!

Brown listened, one of the Estonians tried responding to his deal. As the men tried to communicate he translated the words out loud into English, loud enough for the others to hear.

"Yes, we know of it, we come from there few days ago. Came from further south east before that, I don't think we can tell you much of where you are heading after Krakow."
Krakow is full of everyone. Russians, Poles, Americans, British, Canadians, Germans..., just about anybody you can think of. You must have something to trade in Krakow or you not get in. Must not ever leave roads either, mines everywhere."
"Now we talk about trade. Will tell you about between here and there for the right price."


Yes, now we trade, but before we trade you need to tell, how long since you have been on the route between here and there?

Brown continues to translate, stopping every so often to clarify a point.
The Estonians left Krakow four days ago and have been riding fairly steadily since. Passing through the Ojcow National Park they had intended to stop and ask for shelter at the castle Pieskowa Skala, but as they were approaching somebdoy inside yelled at them to go away and a few shots sprayed dirt around them.
One produces a few old postcards.
"This is the place, Stay clear unless you have a few tanks. Even then it'd be a hard spot to break into."


"Before that we ran into trouble. Plenty of partisans who are more than happy to shoot first at Soviet soldiers. We lost three before we could even call out to them. Be very careful if you go through there."
"They live in the caves scattered through the valleys but I think they have their HQ in an old ruined stone tower. You should be ok if you stay inside your vehicles. We saw no evidence of heavy weapons."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:11, Mon 04 Dec 2006.

"Brown, thank them for the info, and get with Lt. Don to give them some of our food stores. See if you can get a bit more info from them and them send them on their way." Bernhard stands from his hidden position, and looks around the deserted village they have stopped in,"We will take a short break here for lunch, and then be on our way again. When the recon party gets back, we can take turns in the turrets while you guys get a chance to stretch." Finnegan moves around to where the food is stored and begins sorting through it to find himself some lunch.

After looking at them, Brown gives back the postcards to the Estonians the moment he hears Major Finnegan call out. With the same guesture he puts his hand on the shoulder of his spokespartner.

“You give good information. Now we give you good food for you trip north”

Calling out to Donnachaidh.

“LT, do we have something for these fine people? “

"Aye, Will... Let's begin sealing the trade with a glass. Or rather, a few mouthfuls! Hehehe!"

Don walks toward the group, taking a small mouth of the spirit before handing over the bottle to one of the Estonians.

"Cheers!"

After smiling with the Estonians, he walks back again, hoping Brown can handle them while he checks what can be spared for the little information they gave. With some alcohol their tongues might loosen up a little.

After cutting the ex-slaves loose and supplying them with two days food, it appears you have very limited resources. No more than three days rations remain (84kgs, 3kg per person per day, 10 people).
It is possible to stretch it out by going on short rations but it's not recommended for any length of time.
Other trade items are in extremely short supply after Dettinger and his group took them off westwards from the warehouse several days previously and haven't been heard from since.

The "vodka" burns Don's throat as it claws it's way down towards his stomach. Fighting back tears, he hands it over to the Estonians who manage, somehow, to take several swallows each before passing it on. Then it's Browns turn as the bottle is thrust towards him with a smile.
"Good stuff", one says, smoke coming from his mouth as he speaks (or is it just imagination?). "Must be what, two, three weeks old?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:29, Wed 22 Feb 2006.

"Aye"

cough, cough

The information we got wasn't worth THAT much, that's for sure.

Don hasn't understood what the Estonian said, but given the thumbs up made him understand that they liked the drink.

Since they liked the drink, Brown hopefully can get some more info out of them.

A minute or so later...

Bernhard looks to Lt Don,"Give them 2 days food, and then send them on their way." He moves inside the vehicle and picks up one of the headsets,"Romeo Papa this is Homebase, Will bring chemsniffer, whats your location? Over." He digs through the equipment and pulls out the chemsniffer, awaiting the response from the recon team before heading out.

Brown, still chattering with the Estonians, tries to see if they have some more info they like to share with a drinking buddie. He makes sure he only takes little sipps from the bottle. He doesn’t want to cloud his mind.

After hearing the Major call out to Lt. Don he tells the Estonians they will get two days of rations for their trip home. After that he waits for Lt. Don to bring it over. The same time he tells the Estonians they better move on along the road.

It going to be dark soon. You better make sure you get to secure place to rest, you don’t think?

Don digs through the already small supplies, but gets up enough food to let the Estonians survive for a few days.

"Da svedanja!"

Anyone knows SOME russian, so he greets them after giving the food. Going back to the vehicles.

Winters mulls to himself, "I guess if this were any other time I would be worried about mortars...but it's strange times these days, oh so strange." As he adjusts himself sitting in the gunner's seat just trying to stay alert.

"Roger that Romeo Papa, we will be on the lookout for them." Major Finnegan puts the radio down and climbs out of the vehicle with the chemsniffer. Watching in the direction he believes the patrol should be coming from as climbs out, the Major calls out to those around him,"The patrol is sending two back to pick up the chemsniffer. Keep an eye out for them, we don't need any friendly fire accidents."

Bernhard walks over too Don,"What do you make of the intel the Estonians gave us? I think we might try to get ourselves ambushed by whatever small group attacked them. See if we can acquire more weapons to trade when we get to Krakow. The news that Krakow is only letting folks in that have stuff to trade is a bit disconcerting. Most of what we have is our skills and a couple extra weapons. Although I have been mulling over offering them the BRDM, get rid of the dependence on the still, and the need to stop as often as we do for refueling. Other than that I don't know what else we can offer them."

"Aye. As the group get thinner, we might fit into only one vehicle anyway. We'd better be careful to the fact that they shoot on anything looking even slightly as russkies."

"If I can get back home, I don't care a lot on WHAT sacrifices we need to make, unless it's human... I can handle the discussions with the Krakowians, it just takes some time to get there. Especially with these small ambushers all over the place. Keep away from the main roads are probably the best way, in the future as well. For a BRDM, we can hopefully get new, valuable information to take us back west, to Scotland, or whatever country you guys want to go to."