0025hrs, December 17th, 2000
Sienna Grobla District, Gdansk
Mixed Precipitation, 1^oC

The meeting set for the little mess hall gets moved to the gymnasium on account of the space needed for everyone who'll be in attendance. It's also delayed by ten minutes, due to the negligent discharge incident and simply getting everyone involved settled in place. The gym is larger but it's still cluttered with sleeping cots, people's kit, and the infirmary.

Present:

Jake Ward
Krzysztof Kaminski
Michal Jankowski
Mary Tymoshenko (plus other medical staff in background)
Jerzy Brzęczek (plus Anna Kowalska and Dipesh in background)
Karolina Schleicher (by invite)
Lukas Fischer and all other Mad Dogs who're currently not on sentry, unconscious, etc

Much better. Hopefully that's the last time Ferro needs to stand to half dressed. And dry boots are welcome too.

As she sits on the end of Walsh's cot and awaits the briefing she can feel the draft coming in from the blown open shutters. She makes a mental note to talk to someone about nailing them shut with some scrap wood or whatever. It just needs a bandaid fix until at least daybreak. Proper repairs later on could be a job that Grzegorz might be well suited for. Supposedly he's a builder of sorts.

Still waiting, Ferro leans towards Chris to get his attention. "See him..." she whispers with a subtle motion to Jerzy across the room. "I blasted him good with a flash bang." A quiet chuckle is made as a weak explanation is given afterward. "Had to though. It was tough in the sewer like that. He's fine now."

Kessler feels as though he needs a new notebook to jot down all of the things that need his attention. He also needs a Civil Affairs officer to deal with….well, civil affairs. Then he remembers that he has a Civil Affairs officer, Gustek having been voluntold into the position. Oh, wait, someone wants to report the Civil Affairs officer for harassment.

Seriously, why the fuck do people want to go into politics?

Then again, most Politicians can get on with governing, not have to worry about being one of the ringleaders of a military coup.

The German looks at his watch. He’s already behind schedule. And ideally he wants to speak to Nowak before he speaks to Monolith again. Although he’s already thinking about Plan B as far as that’s concerned, which is to tell Monolith the exchange is on whether Nowak has green lit or not. He then has three hours to deal with that particular problem. And ask for some medical supplies.

He’s going to be busy. It’s just as well he got some sleep after he came back from the LOD safehouse. His usual mug, the one showing John Paul II blessing the masses at Chestawhatsit is held in both hands, as much for heat as for any other benefit the ersatz coffee that it contains might provide.

”Right, good evening ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for your sleep being disturbed. Our early morning wake up call was courtesy of Monolith. Some of you may remember we fought with them at the Twins, against Warmia.”

He pauses, takes a sip of coffee. ”Captain Nowak is holding some of their men prisoner. They want an exchange. Their people for some prisoners the Merchants have, including Lukasz Piszcek. The exchange is scheduled to take place at zero four hundred at the cemetery for the Soviet Liberators. Their commander wants his people only, no Merchant Union troops.

I’ve agreed. And no, I haven’t spoken with Nowak about it yet. This meeting is an open forum to give everyone a chance to have their say, then I'll speak to her. So, let’s hear it - any comments, questions? Concerns?”

"Yes, sir- Varis has comments, questions, and concerns," the Latvian begins with a calm that belies the rising rage inside.

"First of all, @&%* Monolith! What if they killed you with mortar bomb? How did they plan to negotiate with dead man? Idiots! They're just a bad as the !@#$%^& MU! Second, why do Mad Dogs have to be middle man? Why do they not talk to Nowak directly! They are her prisoners, not ours! This whole situation is @#$%^&* ridiculous!"

By the end of this tirade, Varis is practically yelling. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath, exhales slowly. When he resumes, his tone is much more even, measured, but with an expectant quaver.

"So, surely, we are planning to ambush Monolith at prisoner exchange, yes?"

-
This message was last edited by a game editor at 23:45, Thu 04 May 2023.

Ferro stares down at the floor by the bunk ahead of her as she gives everything some thought. She glances over at Varis when he speaks but shakes her head 'no' a little when he refers to Monolith as idiots. She felt their ongoing war record shows the opposite. And that's what worries her. A few other details start piling on top of her thoughts. None of them made things any better about what Brozek proposed.

"I think it might be a bad idea to go along with it." Ferro finally answers Kessler. "I believe this is some kind of deception effort or a trap." Now that it's been said aloud and not just a feeling, Ferro felt even stronger about it. It was no secret that Kessler had a bond with Piszcek. He might not like hearing this from her. She opens her hands a little, almost apologetically, and tells the Captain "I really do."

Ferro expects Kessler to want something more. "Brozek is not going to telegraph when and where her is going to be in the middle of a losing war. And if his men mean that much to him, then he's not going to do the same for them even if he isn't planning on being at the meet in person. And it's basically a hostage deal. Hostage deals don't usually involve giving the recipient literally hours advance notice of the exchange location. Not in my experience." Something else Varis yelled about. "We're made to be involved, middle men, and that's on purpose. So... why? Brozek was with us at the Twins. You just said it. And it isn't a secret that Piszcek saved your life and there's something there between you because of that. I don't dismiss that as being irrelevant. It's too... I don't know... it's something." Ferro pauses and then continues. "Monolith is still active, unaccounted for, and by Lutz's account they are causing serious problems. I think this prisoner swap is just part of another problem they are trying to cause." She didn't know what kind of problem but that's besides the point.

"We also know from our experience with Forest City that Monolith uses deception and trickery. And playing the part of cooperation. So yeah, I really think there is no prisoner exchange to be. It's something else." Ferro concludes.

Per listens thoughtfully to Ferro's analysis. It's a refreshing change of pace from Babicev's angry rant.

"I think Ferro's got the right of it. None of this really adds up. It smells like a trap. What did Brozek threaten to do if we declined his offer?"

If it's another mortaring, the Mad Dogs could use the interval to locate the mortar position, set an ambush.

-
This message was last edited by the player at 23:44, Thu 04 May 2023.

”Technically Brozek didn’t threaten to do anything to us.” Kessler replies to Kolstrup. ”He claims that Kowalczyk plans to execute the men that he’s holding prisoner. Including Piszcek. But he tried to distance himself from that. That said, if we don’t show up at zero four hundred they may decide to mortar us again. If I was Brozek I’d certainly keep us under observation. And keep my mortar zeroed in.”

“As to why us, perhaps it was because he had a way of getting in touch with us directly. I was thinking about this after I spoke with him. We exchanged radio frequencies when we were operating together at the Twins. I remember now. And we haven’t changed ours. So I need everyone to change their radios to xxx* frequency right away.” He looks over at Fischer. ”Oberstaber, can you set up a comms plan for us. I want to change frequencies every twenty four hours until everything settles down.”

He takes another drink of the rapidly cooling coffee, sits back in his chair, one Polish came clad leg crossing over the other. ”All right, let’s consider options. Maybe it is a trap. Maybe they want to get us to this cemetery and ambush us. Although Brozek has to know that probably end well for his men. Presuming Nowak hands them over. He doesn’t strike me as the sort that would throw away the lives of his men like that.” He’s not actually disagreeing with anything that’s been said, just throwing things out.

”Could be they just want us away from FOB McCarthy. Brozek said he had an exit plan. Half of Danzig probably knows about our…the stuff that we brought back from the East.” He’d been about to say oil, decides to be more circumspect given the amount of people present. ”Maybe he wants to steal that.”

Or maybe they just want to create some friction between the Mad Dogs and Nowak. Kessler shrugs. At the moment he’s guessing. He turns towards Babicevs. ”Regardless of their intentions, we have to assume that they already have the Cemetery under observation, will probably see us if we even try to move into ambush positions. They’ve chosen the ground and I can’t imagine they’ll be willing to change it.”

The German Captain uncrosses his leg, leans forward, rubs a hand across his eyes. He could just be tired. They all are. But feeling as though you’re holding the fate of the man who saved your life in your hands adds a bit of strain, of stress. ”Whatever we do, we need to do something. I wouldn’t abandon anyone here, and I’m not abandoning Piszcek.”

* Insert something appropriate here
This message was lightly edited by the player at 00:57, Fri 05 May 2023.

Ward returned inside with the others after the shelling stopped.  He hadn't had much luck in locating whoever was calling the fire earlier.  Hell, he'd made it outside, found some cover, donned his PVS-5s, and trotted over to these friendlies; just in time to hear the all clear.

Maybe next time..

Back indoors, Jake sat quietly in the meeting.  He didn't have much of a background with the people, units, and groups being discussed.  He was quickly getting the impression though that these 'Mad Dogs' were some kind of trouble magnet.  They had fought beside the unit that had just mortared them?  Jake was sure he was missing something there, but figured it best not to ask.

Maybe not...

Ward didn't have a radio, so it wasn't awkward when he didn't make note of the frequency.  He didn't want to copy down this units info anyway.  He'd only stumbled in a few hours ago, and while they were hospitable enough, he didn't want to overstay his welcome.

"Uh, so, if I'm not needed, I can just head back to Nowe Ogrody at 04:00 also.  That way I'm out of your hair while you all handle your business with this other group."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Fri 05 May 2023.

Hank throws in, "Why you sir?  Why us?  Didn't we fight with these guys?

Maybe they found a better type of Mad Dog other than the originals?"

"We can relocate non-combatants and wounded through the back door... the hole under the bridge. From there people can move downriver and take shelter at the fire station. Or maybe Valeska can pick them up in that area." Ferro says when Kessler mentions the possibility of getting shelled again. "A caretaker security team who stay behind will have the trench and CP for shelter."

Ferro then rotates the frequency dials on her radio to the specified channel.

On the issue of "Presuming Nowak hands them over. He doesn’t strike me as the sort that would throw away the lives of his men like that.” Ferro replies. "I don't either. But maybe he isn't. We don't know his plan. He could still pull something and keep his men entirely safe."

Then after ”Could be they just want us away from FOB McCarthy." Ferro says "Definitely. Yeah. He wants us on the complete other side of the city." She mentioned before that Brozek is (maybe) setting either is a trap or a distraction. Getting the Mad Dogs far from the action would be the distraction she talked about.

Ferro ends her piece without offering a concrete response to Brozek's proposal. She felt it wasn't genuine but wasn't sure how to deal with it. Not without more information or INTEL. "I think maybe you tell Brozek yes, just to keep him off our back and keep him thinking we're going to be there in the morning. But really we need to quietly gather INTEL so we can work a plan." She then makes another apologetic gesture. If they learn that it is a legit prisoner swap then they'll need to get Piszcek back safely. No question about it. But right now she doesn't even think a swap is a real option.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:16, Sat 06 May 2023.

”Dude? You serious?” Walsh asks Ward. The OG Pennsylvanian is sitting up on his cot, having shifted to make room so that Ferro could perch on the end of it, looks over at the FNG Pennsylvanian. ”There’s a fucking coup going on. You might get your ass shot off wandering around on your own.” He shrugs. He’s not actually going to stop the guy. In fact he’s thinking that Ward’s girl must be kinda hot if he’s prepared to wander about the City in the middle of the night.

”Your girl got any friends?” he asks, nodding over towards Varis, who seems to have calmed down. ”Asking for a buddy...”
This message was last edited by the player at 13:53, Sun 07 May 2023.

Jake considered's Chris's words for a moment, before speaking.

"Yeah, it's not ideal," he said with a resigned shrug.  He let that sit in the air for a bit as he walked over to Chris.  Ward spoke in low tones his fellow Keystone State-er

"She's expecting. A few weeks along at this point. I gotta go take care of her right?" Jake said, the last part almost a question.

Varis is still agitated, but he's doing a slightly better job not getting carried away with it now.

"This is double cross for sure. Brozek is son-of-a-bitch. He did not have to mortar the compound. He could have just called on radio. He could have killed someone trying to..." Varis frames the next three words with air-quotes, "Get our attention. How can we trust a man who acts like that? He is snake. Sir, call Nowak, give her the information, and leave it up to her to do this exchange. If Monolith really just wants their people back, they should not care who shows up to do this exchange. If the Mad Dogs not being there angers them, then this whole thing wasn't really about the prisoners."

-
This message was last edited by a game editor at 19:10, Sun 07 May 2023.

"While we hash this out, I could go up to the roof, take the NODLR, look for the mortar position. If we can find it, we could try to capture a prisoner, see what he can tell us about what Brozek is really up to."

-
This message was last edited by the player at 19:14, Mon 08 May 2023.

”Right.” Kessler announces. They haven’t reached any concrete decisions but enough has been floated to give him something to work with. And time is something that he doesn’t have an infinite amount of.

”Unless Nowak refuses point blank to hand over the prisoners she’s holding I’m going to tell Brozek that the exchange is on. If circumstances change between now and dawn so be it. But that buys us time to try and find out what’s going on. a lot of time, relatively speaking.”

“Varis, your points are well taken. I am not trusting Brozek. However whether I like it or not I cannot just hand this over to Nowak and make it her problem.” Letting Nowak deal with Barkas is one thing. But asking her to handle this as well is not something that sits well with Kessler.  ‘Hey, we think this may be a trap, so can you deal with it?’ isn’t a good optic. ”However I will ask her to make it a joint operation and give us some troops.” They’d need them if they had to wrangle eleven prisoners as well as deal with all that went in to making the site as secure as possible.

”Per, sure, you can use the NODLR to sweep the ground. Take Marta with you as another pair of eyes. There’s a lot of places that they could have put it though. And it doesn’t have to have line of sight of the kaserne. But the spotter does. And he needs to be in radio contact with the mortar team to call the fire.

So, logically, even if the mortar is a couple of klicks away there has to be someone nearby watching us. And someone using a radio is going to stand out. Ferro, Babicevs, Voight, I want the three of you to take a walk outside the wire. Take Aleksandar and Auttenberg as well. They know the ground.”

Use the back door that Ferro mentioned to slip out and check the ground around the compound. If you see anyone ask them if they’ve seen anything suspicious, a man with a radio. Take some of the canned food that we have in stores. We’ll pay for information with food. I’ll any with gold for anyone that gives us solid intel on the spotter or the mortar. Take a gold bullet with you so they know it’s not bullshit.

Per, Ferro, stay in touch with each other. Per, you can give them overwatch when you have eyes on them.”

He tosses back the last of the coffee in the Papal mug, makes a face for its stone cold. ”Mr Ward, if you don’t mind I’d prefer you stayed with us for the moment.” That’s not really a request. Maybe Kessler should have restricted access to this meeting. Put it down to sleep deprivation. But stable doors and all that…”Once all of this has been dealt with we can give you a ride to wherever you need to go in the morning. Mr Walsh can help you with anything that you need.”

Putting the mug down he looks over at Rodriguez. ”Jose, do you need to rest or can you handle light duties? Everyone else, any questions before I go speak with Captain Nowak?”
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Mon 08 May 2023.

Jose sits quietly through most of the meeting, considering the group's options and possible outcomes. It can be a little tough to hear out of his left ear at the moment due to the layers of gauze packed in and around it. For a moment, his mind goes to a movie that had come out when he was just a little kid. The Warriors. He always loved that one. He kept thinking about how if the Mad Dogs went to this cemetery, would they have to fight their way back to their home turf? Across a whole city of people looking to kill them? Even though it didn't make sense given the tide of the ongoing civil war in the city, he couldn't shake the thought. He decides to take the intrusive thought as a bad omen.

"I agree with what's been said already. Everything about this trade feels off to me. Brozek didn't have to mortar us but he did, even given the shared history there. He's trying to antagonize us. And we are the 'Mad Dogs' after all. Maybe he figures that we'll go chasing after him, when getting us away from the compound is exactly what he wants."



Jose's initially almost offended by Kessler's suggestion that he's out of the fight, his machismo instinctually rising to the surface, before he tamps it back down, knowing the Captain was only looking out for his well-being. "I can manage light duties for now sir. I ain't no punk. Maybe I can help look after the compound and the civvies."

Walsh doesn’t offer any verbal response to Ward’s quietly spoken revelation, figuring that it was the dude’s private business so he might not want it advertised, instead simply nods, offers the guy a fist bump.

Any further discussion on the matter can wait until a more appropriate time and place, for the briefing is still going on, and when Kessler mentions Ward hanging around the American can’t resist looking over at his countryman and grinning. ”Welcome to the Hotel California.” He’s sure Ward will get the joke.

Once the meeting breaks up, Per makes eye contact with Marta, cocks his head towards the door to invite her along. The pair makes its way to the armory, where the NODLR is stored when not in use.

"Have you used this thing before?" the Dane asks, poking at a vague recollection to see if it has any life.

"When we get up to the roof, we need to keep low as we can, try not to be seen. Brozek probably has people watching the compound; hopefully, they don't have night vision devices."

When they reach the hatch opening on to the roof, Per warns, "The roof is probably damaged from the mortaring so we'll move slowly, feel our way to a safe spot- no lights. I've got a feeling the Monolith OP- observation post- is across the river, on the north bank, so we'll start there." He doesn't want the Polish woman to feel like he's being pedantic or bossing her around. He's not sure what to say, though, so he awkwardly asks, "How does that all sound?"

-
This message was last edited by the player at 19:38, Tue 09 May 2023.

As the briefing comes to a close, Jose goes and sits down on a cot close to Walsh. It's only been a few weeks since he joined the Mad Dogs, but given everything that had happened it felt like years. Out of everyone in the unit, Walsh was one of the members he felt like he knew the least; surprising, given their shared country of origin. Walsh had always struck him as that smart veteran that units always had, the guy that always had some kind of side hustle going on. He felt terrible about Walsh's injuries, but he was happy to see him moving around again. Even still, this is one of the first chances he's had to check in since the engagement at the firehouse a few days earlier.

"Hey, Walsh. Good to see you up and about, dude. I was worried those asshole Germans had punched your ticket. How are you feeling?"

Jose then introduces himself to Ward, a slight Mexican accent coloring his words.

"Another American, ehh? Welcome. Happy to have you join us, even if it's only til you cut loose. Where you from, man?"

After the meeting breaks and has no questions, Hank will walk over to Ferro & Varis, "What do you need me to get ready?"

Ward was still conflicted about trying to make it back across town at o'dark thirty, even after the somewhat cathartic act of getting it off his chest and the ensuing fist bump.  That feeling didn't last however, because the German leader of the Mad Dogs's tone told him it was no longer as decision point for him.

"Solid copy, thanks," Jake replied in an inscrutable tone.  The medic turned his attention back to Walsh after the briefing.

"Very funny.  You know I saw them back in '94 in Hersheypark while on leave.  We need more of that shit in this world and less of whatever the hell is happening tonight."

Ward was just about to say some very disparaging things about the city of Gdańsk, Poland and it's worthiness in respect to the current conflict, when Jose introduced himself.

"Thanks, Jake Ward," the medic said, offering a hand.  "From, Pittsburg, PA originally.  Nowe Ogrody of late, though not for long.  It's kind of ironic, but I was out on ulica Długa street looking for a guest room when all this shit started," Jake just shook his head at the last part.

"Anyway, I appreciate your team's hospitality.  Especially since we survived that spate of incoming..."

”Tak. Is OK.” Marta replies to Per’s instructions with a nod. Her newly acquired AK is slung over her shoulder. ”I mean, sounds good. Apart from part about keeping low and not being seen. You think this Monolith have snipers watching us?”

She looks at the hatch. ”I remember before the bombs. When we still had TV, the news did story about NATO snipers. How they would shoot old women and kids.” Her tone is almost indifferent. The fact that the man that she is talking to is a NATO sniper doesn’t seem to be of any great significance to her, it’s just something that she was on TV. A lifetime ago. ”Did I tell you that my friend is sniper now? Oliwia? My neighbour from Mikoszewo. She fights for Nowak. Maybe we work together. That would be good, yes?”

There’s a shake of the head then as she looks at the NODLR. ”I never used that thing. I watched the American use it. The one that got killed the other night. Don’t know his name.”

“So we look for someone that is looking at us? What do we do if we see them? Kill them?”