Max is standing off to the side of the group, listening to the run down of each member of the party.  He has steel cap work boots rather than army issue, and the rank tabs and name tags have been ripped off his shirt.

After all are done, he speaks up.

"Max" - some are left with the impression this may not be his real name.

"5th D also.  Night security on the trucks.  That's about it.  Yeah, I can shoot.  Work a grenade launcher.  The mortar.

This'll be my first time on water."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:07, Tue 19 June 2007.

FLASHBACK TO THE GRAVE DIGGING EPISODE...



Clarence almost laughs. "Sure kid. My life story ain't too exciting, though. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Managed to stay outta trouble, mostly, as a kid. Joined the army right outta high school. I'm what's called a 'lifer' since I pretty much been a soldier my whole life. I retired from active duty a few years back; started a construction company with my an ex-army buddy. When the war got going, I was recalled to active duty. I got stuck with the 'Black Diamond'. At Kalisz, my platoon pretty much got wiped out. Me and some others drove our Humvee night and day to get outta there. We met some folks that told us about Krakow. At a town just east of there we got ambushed. I was separated from the others but I managed to leg it the rest of the way by myself. I met some people in Krakow who took me in. Hey, Krakow's a nice place to visit but it's not he most diverse city in the world. I heard old Adam's story at the bar and decided it was time to leave. Here I am!"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:19, Tue 19 June 2007.

Tucker nods to Milks, "I'm sure we're gunna have plenty of time Clarence to swap some stories," he says returning to the conversation around him on deck.

To the group,


"Well, I guess I am next here for the family reunion. Cpl Yazzie, USMC. Ive done a lot of shit, just like the rest of you. I'am no better, no worse. I don't like to talk a lot but when I do, it's the truth and its for the betterment of the group. I have done a lot of ship-board stuff for the Marines and Navy and I'am about to rain on all of your's parade. First thing we need to do is set up a battle chain of command- something we can follow when shit hits the fan. Outside of battl,e we can set up these pow-wow's and make choices as a group. This is my opinion on the battle field command."

"Officer in Charge: the German Captain Bayer.
Staff NCOIC: Tucker
Doc: Anneka
They will form our HQ Section. On ship, the Doc will man sick bay, the German controls fires on the Upper deck, and the Sergeant controls fires on the main deck.

Team number 1. Its leader is Milk- they control the main deck's guns. Joost on the forward AGS-17 and David and Milk man the Mortar on the main back deck.

Team number 2. Its leader is Bluey- he mans the rear facing DSHK. Max and Snow man the side mounted DSHK's they will man the guns mounted on the upper deck as a team.

Team 3 will be lead by the Gunny. I will be his spotter. We will be in place above the bridge. We will be a Spotter/Killer team. I can call for fires and spot for any weapon from there."

"Now lets talk about weapons and their emplacement. We should not mount anything on the barge we should not be able to part with. If we make contact, we should be able to cut free and move faster and turn sharper. We can't mount the mortar  on the front due to the hold opening being there. The recoil of the weapon will send the weapon down about 2 decks. Also there is not alot of room up there. So we must mount it on the back. Remember, this is a tug- it can turn on a dime so bearing the rear weapon should not be a problem in a fight. Also back there the deck is stronger and it also gives us about 280 deg's of fire to the front's 160 degs. Now here is my ideas on weapons. On the main deck forward, the AGS-17 manned by Joost. This will be our front-firing weapon. It can blow us through any job. We must make him an armored shield to protect him against small arms. On the back main deck the Mortar manned by David and Milk the team leader. On the upper deck, we should man the 3 Dshk's- one on the port and one on the starboard side; we should also make gun shields here to protect aginst small arms. Rear on the upper deck should be the last Dshk with a gun shield- this protects our rear. We should keep the RPK in the hand-held mode. This will be used by the German officer to act as a clean-up on the upper deck. He can move to whatever side needs him the most. Our personal weapons should be used as a last resort due to range and firepower limitations."

"These would be our General quarters positions on ship."

"Now to talk about work and a schedule. we must get orginized and fast so here are my opinions. First thing, a schedule."

"0600-0800 Revele and personal cleanup and actions.
0800-1100 work and fortification of tug.
1100-1200 Chow
1200-1600 work and fortification of tug.
1600-1800 Classes on the weapon systems that we have that we arnt skilled with.
1800-Revele Personal actions."

"Orginization of work.
Bayer and Tucker supervise and help where needed.
Doc set up sick bay
Team one work on main decks emplacement of weapons and fortifications.
Team two work on upper decks fortifications and weapons.
Team 3 assists team one -for they have the bigger job- and build crow's nest over bridge with sand bags."

"Now my opinions for you Adam. You and your crew already have positions to man as we see now. But in a fight this would help us help you."

"Adam, you command the ship and stay in the pilot house which we will armor the windows and walls. Uller Pilots the ship. Grzyech and Luboslaw stay below and man engines and do below deck damage control. Tadevz and Walter do above deck damage control. This will help us knowing were you will be when we are fighting."

"Remember guys, this is just me trying to help and I don't want to take over or be in charge. I have been to school for this in the Marines so my opinions should help. I will follow whatever the Group's rules are and will place myself in your charge and care. I will follow your orders as if they were the white man's god talking."

OOC: John will use all of his Leadership and Persuasion skills to the max here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:20, Tue 19 June 2007.

John will move over to the Gunny and hand him back his spotting scope.

"Here you go Guns- good as you gave it to me."

To the group,

"Also guys, I am a gunsmith. If you have any weapons problems or issue's that you need fixed, come to me at night and I will help you. I.E., I can do trigger and action jobs on western weapons. Eastern weapons, well, it's a waste of time due to how solid they are built and with their open tolerences. I can work on Eastern sniper weapons, though."

With that, John wait for what the other have to say.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:22, Tue 19 June 2007.

Adam briefly raises his hand and commences to speak to the assembly,

"If I may answer a few of your questions before we continue. Unfortunately for us, there are very few wrecks of armored vehicles on this side of Krakow. We passed a few right outside the city but they are old and terribly rusted. And, they are on government farmland. There really was not much ground fighting here. There is though, an abundance of boiler plate, sheet metal, and other such things in Nowy Huta. The problem with getting it, of course, is the radiation there. There are people who make a living by going into the city and removing useful items for the factories in Krakow. Perhaps we could make a deal with them.

"If the hatch is a problem for mounting the mortar in the bow, it will be a problem on the afterdeck also because there is another hold hatch there. Since most of our cargo will be carried in the barge, we don't need to be able to open both hold hatches. Perhaps we could seal one and strengthen it to hold the Vasilek. If we need to, we can remove the boom crane after the Vasilek is loaded.

"Mr. Parks, the refugees will probably be glad of help- thank you for your offer. There are five or six men with military training and two women who can handle a Kalashnikov defending the abbey. They have done well for themselves.  Also, the ZOMO marauders are now fewer in number by at least three -er, four-" he adds, a bit uncomfortably, "thanks to you. But, you raise a good point. The weapons you brought here are a large prize. It is possible that someone could follow them here.

"Mr. Yazzie, it is if you read my duty list! My crew will act as you suggest. They have already made steel gun shields for the two Dushkas but they have not been mounted yet. Unfortunately, I don't have any more sheet steel for more such shields.

"There are several other matters we will need to discuss before we shove off, but I should not delay your discussion any longer. Please, continue."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Wed 20 June 2007.

"Adam mentioned radiation hazards.  A Russian in a radiological reconnaissance unit traded me some rations for a spare Geiger counter he had.  We can check any materials for contamination.  That should help, yes?  Also, he traded me a pair of night-vision goggles."

"Overall I agree with Sergeant...(?) Yazzie's suggestions regarding command, teams, watches and weapons placement.  I have some suggestions of my own, but I will wait for others to speak.  Bear in mind that the Vasilek has a traverse limited to 30 degrees."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:03, Thu 21 June 2007.

Snowy adds "You're almost right mate, but this is a pusher tug. While she's got a strong rear deck for towing, she's also got a reinforced bow. That mortar'll be no problem up forward- that cargo hatch is five mill steel. The reason I'm saying this is that the tug can't turn easily, not with that barge. It's a serious job removing those lines; it's not something you can do in combat, and if you cut them they're pretty mush stuffed if you ever want to use them again. So, if you nose into trouble and you want to direct fire the vasilek, it's either on the front deck or the barge."
"Also guys, try and keep your weight down on the upper decks in your calculations. This tug has about as much keel as a running shoe. If we do pull a sharp turn with a couple of ton of sandbags up top, she'll roll over and we can merrily drown until the cold water hits the boiler. So think wood and steel up top, sand down on the main deck."
"Finally, as I said before, the AGS only weighs eighteen kilos. I can make positions for it fore and aft. That way it can be moved to where it's needed. Same with the GPMG. If we get a few more, I can spend the time to make wizz-bang multiple emplacements but until then we can have positions bult for it at various points and the weapon moved as required."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:26, Wed 20 June 2007.

FLASHBACK TO THE GRAVE DIGGING EPISODE...



Dawid stopped and looked at him in mock incomprehension.  "No diwersity?  Nonsense!  In Krakow there are Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, Catholics..."  I can see your point.  Well, wherever you go, know that there will be much to rebuild.  Just like I am farmer, and people will always need food to eat."

He stopped again and looked around.  "You are right, this is a good view here.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:01, Wed 20 June 2007.

Konrad has stood quietly watching the groups interaction after Adams speech. Some of the tension that had been developing seems to have dissipated.

Once there is a pause he will speak up.

"Guys, as you all know I am a Hauptmann in the Bundeswehr. I served as a company commander in the 6th Panzergrenadier Division until the division was reorganised in 1998 and I was assigned to a liason position with the U.S. 5th Mechanised."

"I am rated marksman level with rifle and am better than fair with my grenade launcher. I am also a trained forward observer along with a few other skills."

He stops and looks at the group.

"With the weapon placement I definitely think that we need the mortar up forward so we can use it in the direct fire role as well as indirect. I like Snowy's suggestion about multiple positions for the grenade launcher and GPMG."


"Yazzie, looks like you have put a fair amount of thought into organisation and I couldn't have put it better myself. Anyone have any objections or suggestions to add to it ?"

This message was last edited by the GM at 14:15, Wed 20 June 2007.

Tucker will raise his hand when Bayer asks for suggestions or comments, "I'll agree on the points that Yazzie and Snowy made sir, they're right on the money.  I don't have any maritime experience so I would automatically defer to those who did!  The schedule and weapons positions are excellent as well as the schedule and the duty stations.  My only thing is that am I the ranking NCOIC on the ship right now?  I don't mind taking it and look, I'm a team player so if you want to go by ranks, am I the one for this spot?  Maybe Bayer should make the decision on who he wants?

"One last thing, can we establish a chain of command without saluting and being so proper when it comes to ranks?  It shouldn't be as formal- maybe like in the Israeli military, right Anneka?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:17, Wed 20 June 2007.

Old Adam interjects again to clarify a point raised by Snow.

"Yes, I'm embarrassed that I did not mention that, Mr. Snow. The Krolowa is indeed a pusher tug. She can turn quite easily but with the barge attached, this will not be possible. We are likely to approach the greatest dangers ahead of us, so it makes much sense to place the mortar in the bows. It should not be a problem to do so.

"As for construction materials, we have helped the refugees assemble a large supply of wooden beams, nails, wire, and other simple building materials. The boys have filled over one hundred sandbags and we have more empty bags as well. Metal, as I mentioned, is not available at the moment but could be acquired by, or from, anyone willing to brave the radiation in Nowy Huta.

"We have many tools. Jozef has finished with the boiler so they should be available to you. Just ask if you can't find a tool you need." OOC: a fairly complete tool list can be found in the Vistula Queen notice.

"There is one more matter to add to your consideration. The river is not safe for travel at night. Since it has been unkept for several years, there are many obstacles- sandbars, mudbanks, floating and submerged debris- to beware of. These are difficult to see at night. Travelling with the spotlight on only invites attention. I have found that people will shoot at a spotlight for no other reason than it is on! So, we must stop the boat when the sun goes down. There should be a night guard duty schedule as well, no Mr. Yazzie? Also, there is not enough space for quarters inside the boat. So, you may have to sleep outside on deck. I have extra tents and blankets if you need them. I apologize for this inconvenience."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:53, Wed 20 June 2007.

FLASHBACK TO THE GRAVE DIGGING EPISODE...



Clarence laughed, "I hear ya, kid. I meant no disrespect. Krakow's still a nice city- what I saw of it, at least- especially compared to what's become of a lot of your other cities 'round here. I saw some of what happened to Kalisz..." A guilty look spreads quickly across his face to be just as quickly replaced by Clarence's easy smile.

"Anyway, I'll see your Poles, Russians, Ukranians, Jews, and Catholics and raise you Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Arabs, Hindus, Sikhs, Mexicans, Columbians, Dominicans, and all kindsa Africans. Chicago had a different 'color' to it, if ya know what I mean. I mean, you can't exactly pick out a Ukranian walking down the street from a block away in Krakow. I couldn't quite blend in there. That's what I meant. It started to become a problem so I decided I'd seen enough. Adam came along at the right time.

"Speaking of food, all this watching you two dig is making me hungry. Hurry up and let's get back to the boat, see what kinda chow Adam's got for us."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:15, Wed 20 June 2007.

To the Group,

"Snow, I did not know about the front hatch being so strong! If Adam lets us take down the arm, then that settles the issue on traverse. So I vote to mount it up front. We can mount the AGS and GPMG upon the back quarters to give weapons back there. For a guard schedule we will work by teams doing 4 hours on and 8 hours off- this is standard in the Marines. You will always be up with your team. This also allows the tug's crew to sleep. They will work hard during the day so this will keep them fresh. The OIC and SNCOIC will not stand watch but be a react force at night that is ready to aid us."

"So the vote is in for the teams and duty for guard during movement and in the rear schedule is good also?"

"And, we will set up weapons as follows as a group:

Main deck
Position #1 Bow mounted Mortar
Position #2 Aft port mounted AGS-17
Position #3 Aft Starboard mounted GPMG (Davids gun)

Upper Deck
Position #4 Port mounted DSHK
Position #5 Starboard mounted DSHK
Position #6 Aft mounted DSHK

Roof of Pilot house
Position # 7 crow's nest sniper/spotter position.

"All positions will be reinforced with sheet metal, plus pilot house walls/windows I.E. Sand Pebbles movie type flip up and down windows for general quarters. All lower positions will also have sand bags.

For sleeping, we should sleep outside near our general quarters positions in whatever we have. Let the crew stay in their areas. The upper deck guys have a awning and the main deck guys can set up poncho hootches."

"Also the informal command type is good- you salute, you make yourself and the other a target- but we must go with a good combat command chain."

"As for a boarding party, we should use team OZ! they have the experience and the training. Their weapons could be manned by the HQ cell when they do their missions."


"One last thing- if I have no weapons work (gun plumbing), I will work out at night. A little hand-to-hand and kinfe fighting. If your skills are lacking, I can and will help you. You being better means the group is better and I get home.

"So what do you say Men shall we begin to work?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:59, Wed 20 June 2007.

"That sounds excellent!" Dawid exclaimed.  "May I congratulate you on a sound plan, and again I concur with your suggested posting and schedules.  Adam is lending us blankets and pillows, so even out-of-doors we will be comfortable indeed.  I will leave the RPG-76 rocket in the stern so that there is a heavy weapon there.  Whoever is going to look for sheet metal, feel free to borrow my Geiger Counter."

"I will take you up on the offer of instruction when we are at anchor.  For now, I am ready to get to work."

"However, I would ask Adam that if he has any knowledge of conditions or threats upriver, that he share them with us, or at least Hauptmann Bayer.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:04, Thu 21 June 2007.

When convenient, Dawid rummaged through his gear and pulled out the Geiger counter for anyone to use if needed.  It was basically a black metal box the size of a shoebox with a carry handle, a speaker grille, headphone jack (headphones missing), red warning LED and a back-lit colour-coded analogue dial (Green-Yellow-Red ranges) and small LED dosimeter readout (continual cumulative dose after 60 second warmup time).  There were two selector switches (one marked with a Beta and Gamma symbols and the other for two different levels of sensitivity: x10 and x100), a "dump" switch for the dosimeter, speaker mute switch and an on-off switch.  The unit had various Cyrillic markings, some obvious, some inscrutable.  The brand was "KVARTS" although in Cyrillic lettering it looked like "KRAPU".

When switched on, the speaker clicked, the LED flashed and the needle twitched a couple times a second due to the normal background radiation count.  It looked like it might date back to Chernobyl, but well-made.

He also pulled out the RPG-76 Komar, a one-shot rocket that for all the world looked like a slimmed-down WWII-era German Panzerfaust with a flimsy-looking wire stock attached.  This similarity was natural, given the RPG-76 was developed from the RPG-2, itself based on the Panzerfaust.  In a sense, the design had simply come full circle.  He placed this by the proposed stern weapons stations, in case there was something that the Plamya and MGs couldn't handle.

Also, when getting out his other gear, he placed 4 metal ammo cans (each with a 100-round non-disintegrating link belt) and a case of 600 7.62x54mm rimmed rounds for the PKM/Dragunov in the ammo stores.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:59, Thu 21 June 2007.

"I'm down with your plan, Yazz-man. I do still think the PK would work best on top of the bridge. It can fire over high banks if we need it to and there may be times that an SVD and an AK just won't get the job done up there. Otherwise, I'd say it's a solid plan."

Clarence looks around the assembled group, picking out the folks who have yet to weigh in.

"Joost, Anneka- you all been quiet. What do you two think 'bout all this?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:39, Wed 20 June 2007.

Snowy nodded grimly. "It's gonna be more like scrambling up a climbing track than walking up a road, I'd say we'll be going sideways a lot of the time. Every metric ton of shipping on the river at the start of the way is still there, either on the bottom, sticking out of the water or rusting on the banks. This was the WTO's main line of defence, and we're travelling down the old front lines. There must have been over twenty bridges before the war, big buggers, and they'll all have been hit at some point or another so there'll be thousands of tons of crap in the water." He speculatively looks down at the river, "we'll probably be in small boats most of the time, scouting stuff out and blasting or cutting our way through. Who knows? The river may be blocked at some of the barrages* and we'll have to turn back, or hold them and try and repair the locks which could take weeks. If a large enough ship was hit and turned sideways before sinking, it could block the channel entirely. The Vistula flows through flood plains for much of its way, and all the levees were subject to serious artillery. We may find ourselves sailing down the streets of flooded towns or through flooded factory complexes. Yeah, we'd better work out some combat drills for boarding vessels, clearing lock stations and manning boats in a hurry."

"Do you have a map or a general idea of where these obstacles are Cap'n?  It would sure help out if we knew what we could possibly expect when we get to certain areas.

Hitting the nails on the head here today, aren't we?  Just think a few hours ago," Tucker stops in mid-sentence and decides to take the conversation away from what transpired with the bandit EPW just a short time ago.  He continues, "We need to establish our crews for the weapons, battle stations, boarding and repelling boarders, shore parties, and clearing obstacles to start with.  Like I said, I'm a ground pounder so I'm going to have to learn some new shit about crewing a ship here.  If we're going to be successful, I'll learn and help out anyway I can.  I might be be better used as a shore party or boarder but, I need to learn other aspects of the game!"

"One final thing before we start off, although I'v gotta see to my weapon before I get into it, is about the sniper. I agree we should have a spotter aloft, but he's going to have about a foot's sideways movement under way normally and about a metre if we manouvre. It's going to be very hard to aquire and engage with all that swinging around up there. I think having a sharpshooter is going to be vital to the mission, but he'd be better off down on the deck near the centre of gravity."

FLASHBACK TO THE GRAVE DIGGING EPISODE...



"I understand.  Not just Kalisz, but Krakow and Warsaw, and of course Nowa Huta and a hundred other towns and cities.

"Your presence here is... complicated.  If it makes you feel better, individual western soldiers, even the Germans, seem to treat people well and are humane.  But once again our cities have been destroyed and our people slaughtered  for reasons that no one seems wery clear about.  For too long we Poles have been the battleground for other peoples' ambitions, even if those ambitions have been to "free" us from communism or capitalism or Nazism.  Rather like repeatedly destroying a village to save it, I should think."



"Surely You are joking!  You can tell an Ukrainian a mile away from the smell alone."  He grinned to show he was kidding.  "Not really, my mother's family comes from the Ukraine.  But you can tell from the accent, they tend to blend their "w" with their "v" sounds.  Again, Clarence couldn't tell if he were joking or not, because to his ear it sounded like Dawid was doing the same thing.


Perhaps it is well you are thinking of moving on.  It is said that once a man of your race sexually pleasures a woman, they cannot be satisfied by anyone less!  I have no idea if this is true or not, for I have never seen someone of your colour before now.  Not that I want to find out personally, you will understand."



"I know, I know, less talk, more dig.  Say, I wonder if that Tuck person will return my pistol?  Or perhaps I may ask him."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:44, Thu 21 June 2007.

FLASHBACK TO THE GRAVE DIGGING EPISODE...



Clarence responds with a sincere belly laugh. After a few moments, he recovers his composure enough to respond, "Man, kid, you crazy. I just wish you could dig as good as you talk!"



Clarence is suddenly serious again, "I wouldn't push my luck with that if I were you kid. I don't even think I'd want to see that pistol again. Now just dig."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:52, Thu 21 June 2007.

"And, at least with the shore parties, we're going to have to come up with some immediate action drills so everyone knows what they're supposed to be doing, or at least have the knowledge, of what they're supposed to be doing when the shit goes down!  We've got a lot of different people here from different armies and branches that teach different things.  We'll need to pull the best from all and use them how we want or how we see fit," Tucker says.

[NPCed]

Anneka, at Clarence's prompting, finally speaks up, smiling somewhat sheepishly,

"I've been quiet because I don't really know much about these things and it sounds like to me that you guys have already come up with a good plan. If you really want my input, the only thing I can think of is to add a machine gun set up to fire forward. There may be some jobs up front for which the Vasilek would be overkill. We could stick the PK up on the bridge as Clarence suggested. It could almost cover the whole boat from there."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:15, Thu 21 June 2007.

Dawid looked like there was something bothering him.  He added some numbers in his head,

"So, Clarence and I will be manning the Vasilek in the bow.  Although on the roof would be the best place for the PKM, I think we should place it near the bow so that we can man it when the Vasilek would be... overkill? Is that the word?  At any rate, placing the PKM on the roof means either pulling a gunner off Team 1 or Team 2 to crew it, or leaving it to, uh..." he struggled to remember the names, "Gunner and... Yazzie to use it when they should be engaging targets with long-range precision."

"We don't have enough people that we can afford to let skilled gunners go idle.  I say mount the PKM on a pintle with a gunshield near the bow.  Probably on he starboard side opposite where the barge is secured."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:02, Thu 21 June 2007.