See message #17 of this thread.
The main, long term goal of the group is to get back to friendly (preferably NATO) lines. With that in mind, and also to avoid probable (re)capture, the group headed south from it's starting point of Zudunska Wola - a little to the east of Kaliz.
Out of the original eight who escaped imprisonment, only Don, Cam, Tanya, Brown and Andy remain although Andy, and probably Cam will remain in the village due to players dropping out or disappearing.
Along the way several vehicles were captured including the BTR-80 and BRDM. Others included a UAZ-469, 2 1/2 tonne truck and an M2 Bradley. These extra vehicles were left behind with characters as they dropped by the wayside - the M2 was mainly left due to extensive damage that required repair and it's hideous fuel consuption compared to the other vehicles.
Just outside Czestochowa and shortly after rescuing a number of PCs (Maj Finnegan, Smith & Virgil amongst them), a recon patrol heard an ambush trigger just a kilometre or two from it's position. The decision was made to investigate and half an hour later the patrol discovered the ambush site - a US Special Forces unit had been attacked and wiped out to a man. Only one survived the onslaught but died of his wounds soon after being found.
quote:
Once the man has been located and tools retrieved from the BTR, it only takes a minute or two to clear a path through the scrub for a medic. Michelle is natually the best person for the job and so scrambles in as soon as possible. It's immediately evident that he is not likely to survive more than an hour or two.
“Schaeffer, Frederick L... Lieutenant,” the man manages to say. “Mission ... mission accomplished... almost. Operation ... R-Reset. Got that? Reset. Got to get them through...”
The Lieutenant's story comes out in bits and pieces. He frequently lapses into delirium, but is better able to speak as he is made more comfortable, and especially if a character with Medical skill is able to treat him for shock (stop his bleeding, keep him warm and his feet elevated, and give him him IV fluids, if any are available) and pain (administer pain reliever, if available).
His unit is, or rather was, a B team of the US 20th Special Forces Group. At first, all that the characters are able to understand is that Schaeffer's unit was carrying something of vital importance, that their unit immediate destination was Krakow, and that they were ambushed by marauders with the aid of a traitor.
“It was that damned Cutler,” Schaeffer says. “Sergeant Cutler. He ... he led us ... right into a trap. He was with the Captain in the lead Hum-Vee, and they didn't fire on him. He was with them when they rounded up the prisoners. Like he was in charge. He was with them when they marched us over to the woods...”
Schaeffer had been among those captured by the marauders, who he says numbered between 50 and 100. The prisoners had been led to the edge of the woods, herded together, then machinegunned. Schaeffer had been hit, but managed to crawl into the underbrush, his escape concealed by the fall of his comrades. He'd lain hidden in the underbrush while his friends were massacred, stayed hidden while the vehicles were stripped and the bodies looted. He'd lain there, his wounds draining him, until he'd seen the characters' arrival and managed to get their attention.
“Listen to me," he says with a desperate, burning intensity. “This is Operation Reset. Got it? Reset. We were carrying vital plans. Blueprints. Films. All the way from Lodz. They're all there ... I don't think they got them. Can't let them get lost. DIA needs that stuff ... bad ... real bad...”
It's probably best for all concerned to read this thread in it's entirety:
link to a message in "Twilight:2000"
