"I know this man. We must help!" replies Adam hurriedly, before issuing further orders to Uller in rapid-fire Polish
This message was last edited by the player at 01:39, Thu 20 Sept 2007.

A long stream of green tracers spews forth from the aft Dushka. Through the strobe-like fire blooms of the weapon's muzzle flash, Blue watches the tracers pass a few meters behind the mounted men. The effect on the riders is immediate. They wheel sharply- one horse nearly losing its footing on the damp ground- and retreat from the river at breakneck speed.

The man on shore tumbles headlong over the lip of the riverbank (whether he does so intentionally or by accident is not clear) and half-rolls, half-slides down the river bank before regaining his footing near the water's edge. He waves feebly after the tug with one arm, his other fumbling desperately for a hand-hold on the slick bank.

John wakes up with a start and looks up in shock....

"what the fucks going on????"

"I dont have a long gun I can only spot targets>>>"

"I dont know what you want done give me an order???"



John will move to the rail and lay down and look toward the shore line with the spotting scope.


John
Spotting targets
AK-47 next to side

"That man? Alright." Bayer calls out to the gunners... "Cease Fire! Friendly on the shore." There was too much potential for confusion and mistakes at this point. Better to just hold off the shooting at anyone right now before someone thinks the man on the shore is a target. Seeing how those horsemen have played it smart and booked off as well.

Bayer runs out to where he can have eye contact with Milk. "Clarence! Two men, two men only! Prep an inflatable to bring that man aboard!

Calling over his shoulder... "RSM Maddock, I need a man who can handle a small boat, I assume you can ja?" He moves again to where he can communicate with the rest of the team. "Remainder maintain your posts and watch for targets. Small boat heading out... provide cover."

OOC - Yazzie you want to take Park's rifle if he is incapacitated? Were short sniper support otherwise.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:13, Thu 20 Sept 2007.

"SPOT US SOME TARGETS THEN YAZZIE!  LOOKS LIKE WE GOT SOME TANGO'S OUT THERE PAST THE PERSON ON THE SHORE," Tucker yells up to Yazzie while he tries to keep his attention back to the shoreline.

Snowy braces himself as Bluey grabs the handles of the big fifty. Disregarding his M4, Snowy readies his binoculars and focusses on the two horsemen. Then scanning the riverside for more targets.

"I have no other targets mate, can you get those two bastards? They're getting away."

Binoculars, M4 carbine (slung)
Acting as observer for rear DShKM
Rear DShKM

Acknowledging she wasn't the greatest of shots and not willing to expend valuable ammunition for the RPD, Anneka watched their other flank. It wouldn't be the first time diversionary tactics had been used on an otherwise extremely defensible position - she'd treated enough of the results to know that much.
Besides, at this point the true combat specialists appeared to have everything in hand, even if they were a little gun happy. There was little need for her input at this stage...

Max takes "his" starboard side Dushka, but refrains from firing.  It seems Blue has done the job.  He looks up at the bridge, that Bayer fellow seems happy enough to talk to the Captain, and begin issuing orders.

Must be ok, i guess.  Max is relieved his single shot to raise attention was the right thing to do.

Max turns to scan in the direction the riders have ridden off in.  They may have friends reinforce them now they have been chased off.


Max
Watching for reinforcements

"we have two riders range 300 meters and moving away"

"pact cammo uniforms"

"pact small arms"

"one unknown on the beach"

"he is down with no present wounds"


John returns to the spotting scope looking for more information.



John
spotting scope
ak-47 at side

Just before taking a smoke break after all the running around, the shooting and mayhem started again. Sighing, Dawid left the dis-assembled Tantals and PKM on the deck and heaved himself up. He then jogged forward to his duty station, picking up his AK74 when he arrived.

After chambering a round and setting to to full-auto, he asked Milk, "what's the matter now? Well, let's get ready for action, I'm sure they'll tell us."


Dawid Piotrowski
AK-74 (6 spare mags)
Manning the Vasilek (5 rds HE),
[Private to GM: I guess we've not had a chance to zero the rifles, because that would mean a trip to shore. The PKM's ammo is updated; the last 10 rounds have been linked to a new belt of 100, so with the one the went into the water there are 2 more spare 100-rd belts and a case of 600 left. Note re: the 23mm ammo, there should actually be 2x 50-rd boxes with 33 rounds total remaining (which won't last long with an ROF of 10!). Also, how many spare mags for the Stechkin, and is the stock present?]
This message was last edited by the player at 16:50, Thu 20 Sept 2007.

Maddock snaps a sharp nod at Bayer's question. He then turns and calls out crisply, "One more boat-man on me, sharply now! Let's go!"

He turns and heads for the small launch he arrived on earlier, snatching for his gear and firearm.


Prepping boat party
L86A1 LSW

In response, Clarence flashes a thumbs-up at the German. Not yet having had a chance to zero his "new" AK-74M, Clarence grabs his AKSU and throws it over his shoulder, briefing Dawid as he hastily readies his gear.

"Well D.P., seems that civie on the beach wants our attention pretty bad. He's been trying to chase us down and wavin' like he's touched in the head. Someone started shootin' the aft Dushka and I caught a glimpse of two horse riders heading away from the river. That's all I know. I'm gonna go prep the dingy. Oh, there's some chicken for ya." he adds, pointing at the brown paper package on a sandbag next to the mortar.

With that, Clarence heads quickly back to where the inflatables are stowed, presumably meeting up with the new Brit, Maddock somewhere along the way.

"You look like you know how to handle a boat." Clarence says to the RM. "I'll follow your lead."

If Mad has someone else to ride shotgun, Clarence will happily defer. If not, he'll go along, just to speed things up.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:14, Fri 21 Sept 2007.

Bayer watches from the top deck as Clarence and Maddock rush off to launch an inflatable. He figures they'd need another man but leaves it up to Clarence.

Turning about he moves towards to Adam, on the way he notices Soleblume had taken up to watching the opposite side the action was on. Her back is to him but he nods in agreement anyways. Bayer sides up along next to Adam and asks him politely "You know this man ja? Who may he be?"

After Adam has told him he remembers something and approaches Soleblume. "I had forgotten. We need a replacement on the auto grenade launcher, as well as the need to deal with Joost's body. Remind me later ok? Or perhaps you'd take care of it."

"Sure," she replied, not taking her eyes from her self appointed arc of responsibility.
"I'm probably best suited to it anyway," she continued with a grimace. Despite most on the tug having had extensive combat experience, Anneka was sure she'd seen more dead and wounded that the rest combined over the past few years. Especially back in the dark days of November 97 when the nukes were raining destruction across the planet.
"Hey Dawid," she called down to the foredeck. How about you take over the AGS for the moment? You're the expert aren't you?"
With the ZSU on the aft deck, the lighter autogrenade launcher was quite superfluous. Far better it be moved up and take the pressure off the mortars extremely limited ammunition supply.
"That'd be ok with you wouldn't it Hauptman Bayer?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:55, Fri 21 Sept 2007.

"Oh, with pleasure!" Still sitting at the gun, he sealed the brown pouch and stuck it in a tunic pocket for later. You could fault the western powers for many things, but their field rations were light years ahead of anything similarly offered by the Polish army or, heavens forbid, the Russians.



Assuming Bayer doesn't have a problem:

He called back and up, "yes ma'am, I will be there in one moment." Picking up his rifle he trotted aft towards the ZU and the AGS-17 Plamya. He was really starting to feel tired from all the day's activities, and his stitched-up head head started to throb again.

"Nothing to see up front, anyway." He squatted down to man the low-slung weapon, covering the shoreline. He would rather man the ZU, but with only 33 rounds remaining a few good bursts would exhaust its ammunition supply.

OOC: if he sees a target he gives it a couple of bursts. He's looking for a couple of horsemen, as per Clarence.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:12, Fri 21 Sept 2007.

"No worries mate." Blue replies sending another series of short burts after the fleeing horsemen.

Blue
DSHK
Sending the horsemen away.

Blue sends two more arcing, hopeful bursts after the riders. Neither appear to find their mark (but odds are good that the riders at least soiled themselves). In a few seconds, the riders are out of range, and soon thereafter, out of sight.

After allowing the Krolowa to drift a few meters closer to shore, Adam orders Walter and Tadeuz to drop the stern anchor. The inflatable sets off towards the shore, with Maddock at the tiller and Milk in the bows. During the short approach, Clarence keeps his AKSU trained on the man clutching to the steep bank. The man makes no move towards his weapon; instead, he leans back and raises both hands, relief mixed with exhaustion and apprehension etched on his face. The boat glides into shore and Milk, with hand gestures and a mash-up of phrase book Polish beckons the man aboard. He obliges wearily but promptly and without incident, willingly relinquishes his weapon (a well used, bolt-action hunting rifle) to Clarence. Their guest secure, the boat team swings the prow of the zodiac back towards the Krolowa. Safely alongside, the man is escorted from the boat to the bridge. Adam awaits his arrival at the threshold of the bridge’s exterior doorway. The two men shake hands, and then embrace. Adam, arm around his guest’s shoulder, guides the man into the bridge, offering him a blanket and sending the muttering Uller limping off to fetch some hot tea. As soon as the he is seated (in the captain’s own chair, no less), the man introduced by Adam as one Marcin Bosacki, opens up immediately, his relief at the relative safety of the tug quickly giving way to the same urgency that had fueled his headlong scramble along the shoreline after it. He speaks at length and Adam listens, concern written all over his ruddy, weather-beaten, white-whiskered face.

(OOC: Those with adequate Polish skill follow along themselves. The rest of you receive the following report, second hand and after the fact, but in time to post a response/reaction during the next turn.)

“We’ve been under siege for almost a month. They’re Russians, I think- or Ukranians. I don’t give a fuck which anymore; they act like fucking Huns, the lot of them! They don’t have enough men to completely surround the village, but with the horses, they don’t need an unbroken cordon. They post a constant watch and ride down anyone who tries to escape- you saw them!. We’ve lost a half-dozen fighters trying to leave to find help. Anyway, the riders tried to break into the village directly a couple of times early on, but we managed to fight them off pretty well. For the last few weeks, they’ve just launched probes- almost every day and sometimes at night. I don’t think they’re really looking for a way in anymore; they’re just trying to wear us down and get us to spend the last of our ammunition. They know we’re running low. They came to town about two months ago looking to trade for food. One of our less cautious militiamen let slip our need for more ammunition. They agreed to exchange it for provisions. Of course, they never intended to make a fair trade. It was a double cross, and our envoy was murdered. Our people managed to take a couple of them out during the transaction, though, and they rode off. We thought we were done with them and vowed to be more careful with armed strangers. Ha! Then, a month ago, they returned, and they haven’t left us alone since."

Bosacki pauses just long enough to sip at the mug of tea almost dropped in his lap by the ever put-upon Uller,

"We’re down to about half strength- the village militia, that is. We’ve got only a dozen defenders now plus four wounded who aren’t quite mobile but can still manage to use a weapon. We’ve gotten our defensive tactics down to a science- the American woman has helped us with that- but it’s fucking exhausting. Our real problem at the moment is our ammunition- or a lack of it. We’re down to only a magazine a piece for the Kalashnikovs and a handful of rounds for the rifles and shotguns. At the rate we’re using it, it’ll only be a few days before we’re forced to fight with axes and spades- maybe less if they attack in force. Surrender is not an option- we've all heard what we can expect from the likes of those bastards if we do. I am  it- our last chance- making a final try to get to Krakow and bring back help... Or at least more bullets!” He pauses, seemingly at a loss for words for the first time in the last several minutes. Then, he continues, his voice cracking, “Thank the Virgin of Czestochowa that we stumbled across one another. It is truly a miracle.” He chokes back a flood of tears so that only a trickle escape down his sweat-beaded face.

Adam gravely addresses those present.

“I must help these people. They helped me once, when I had nothing to offer in return. This is a debt… a debt of honor."

You’ve never seen Adam more earnest or determined in the time you’ve known him. You get the distinct impression that he'd go back to Nieplomice alone, if you let him.

Actions?
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:48, Fri 21 Sept 2007.

Before john talks he pulls the captian to the side with a wink and nod and talks into his ear...

"Herr Hauptman I want that rifle I can use it to snipe..IT has a scope and it looks like an old M98 Kar...a great sniping weapon...I'm and armorer as stated before and I can fix and maintian It...we should use this as a time to kill some maurders, gain some friends and some gear...we give them the extra AK's and some ammo and we have friends for life...our good will spreads down the river and it will help us."


with that quick and low use of words john looks at the Hauptman with a what do you think look....


John
talking into Hauptmans ear
ak-47 slung

"Ja, I agree best choice."

Once the man from the shore had been brought to the bridge, Bayer did his best to understand his story but had to wait until a translation could be made to make sense out of any of it.



Bayer nods at the Adam... he didn't like diverting from the mission and placing the men in a position where they could be unnecessarily killed. However he knew he had no choice but to go along. Adam was the boss anyways. "Alright Adam, we'll need to get some things together first. Where is the closest you can anchor the tug to the town? Here? And how far is it from the river?"

As soon as Bayer was done speaking with Adam, Yazzie grabbed his attention and
discreetly asked him for acquiring Marcin Bosacki's rifle. "Ok, I'll try to get it for you. Fair trade I would say, rifle for their survival."

When Yazzie offers his opinion on helping out the villagers, Bayer starts to feel less convinced that its a bad idea to help. "Good will... ja..." he says deep in though.

Bayer unbuckles his helmet and attached it to his webbing. He places his G36 in the corner (on the floor so it doesn't fall over with the gentle heaving of the tug) and approaches Anneka...

"Major, I'm going to make up a quick plan for a land operation. Ve'll gather the men in the galley in 25 minutes for a quick set of frag orders*. Meantime... could you identify what weapons and ammo we can part with that would be good to equip the village hauptschutz with? After that, distribute the arms to be carried to the men and inform them of our task. Anything else you can think of that needs to be done?"

*Quick and informal, opposed to standardized NATO mission orders.

After coordinating with Anneka, Bayer looks to Adam once again. "Adam, I need this man to tell me some more about the bandits. Do they have heavy support weapons? Does he know where they are camped? Can he offer any other info on them? Oh yes... Yazzie can do more damage with his rifle... may he exchange it for one of our spares?"

OOC - What time of day is it? How soon until nightfall.

Konrad Bayer
Tug Bridge
P7 Pistol
Conferring with Anneka and asking Adam a lot of questions.

This message was last edited by the player at 11:51, Sat 22 Sept 2007.

Once the small boat is secure, and the messenger has been conveyed to the bridge, Maddock scares-up a cup of water and some food for the exhausted Pole. Stumping into the fringes of the gathering, he presents the refreshments, with a murmured injunction to, "Have some kip," before taking his place along the wall.

Maddock's grasp of Polish is insufficient for the task, so he nods along as the words are relayed around.

Adam replies, "Of course." and conveys Konrad's questions to the unexpected guest. He replies at length and Adam translates,

"He says there are about two dozen bandits. They have automatic rifles and one or two light machine guns. They had an RPG but they have not used it for for the last couple of weeks so they are probably out of rockets for it. They have nothing bigger. They all have horses, and probably two or three spare ones, thanks to the militia's good shooting. He does not know where they are camped but he suspects it is in a small wood to the north of the village.

"We are anchored almost directly south of the village. It is about 2km from here."

 [Private to John Yazzie; Konrad Bayer: Anneka Soleblume: Nice try. The militaman's rifle does not have a scope. We'll go ahead and say it's an old K98k with six rounds of ammo. A scope can be mounted, though, with Yazzie's gunsmithing skills. I've updated the swag list as best as I can (not everyone has replied regarding their intentions to keep their old weapons)- please note the box of 500 7.62 x 39mm reloads picked up at the locks. That alone would really help the militia's cause.]
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Sat 22 Sept 2007.

"Major I will work with you on the weapons if you like ..i have experiance in working on them ,,,"


"what i would take is 3 AK-74's with 15 mag's. Thats 5 per weapon."

"we also need to take 3 of the AKM's with 3 mag's a weapon. that's 9 total."

"we should also take the 500 reloads to fill what they have now."

"the 5 frags would also be useful to them.."

"all this gear we can part with and it wont hurt us."


"hey buddy i would like to talk to you. how's the rifle shot. what kind of shape is it in.Can i look at it?"

If the pole allows him to inspect it he will use his skill to asses if the weapon is worth a darn.If it is he will put the next conversation to him.

"do you have more ammo for this back at your camp? i would like to trade you for a AK-74 and some magazines? what do you think."

If he is up for the trade john and the major will start to work on drawing the weapons and ammo for the camp. they will draw the 6 rifles and grenades and the spare ammo. he will also draw a 7th rifle and mags for the Pole.

Once this is done John will work on the rifle to mount the scope from the Damaged RPK-74 to it.

OOC:: mounting a scope to a rifle is easy skill. It can be done by an unskilled man in a half hour and a skilled gunsmith with basic tools in 15 miniutes.

John
working with the Major

After the informal meeting got underway, Dawid (cigarette in hand) smiled and said, "not that this is debated now, but I am in agreement with Adam that we should help these people. In fact, I would probably do it anyway, for they are fellow Poles, and I am a son of Poland. We should act as more than just travelers and mercenaries."

"Be that as it may, I can think of two plans. One would be to again basically bombard the camp from afar, with a team possessing the PKM and AGS-17 mop up the survivors. On the other hand, we could do the job with just the Plamya and PKM supporting a foot assault on the enemy encampment, keeping the Vasilek in reserve. Either way, I would suggest that the tug be temporarily freed from the barge to allow for tactical mobility."

"Although it is difficult to pull off, a night attack would be good."

Hearing the suggestion for duty stations, Dawid added,

"I would like to suggest some changes, if that's all right. There is no room on the bow for the AGS-17, unless it's in front of the Vasilek, which would be unhealthy for anyone manning it and foul the gun's arc of fire, so perhaps the pilot-house roof would be a better position for that."

"Also, while I am unfamilliar with NATO ranks but Thompson and Foster seem to take direction from White. I would rearrange them so that Mr. White is at the rear Dushka (as it's generally a superfluous weapon unless someone is attacking from aft!), leaving him to consult with the Captain about nautical matters."


Main deck (Team 1):
Position #1 Bow mounted Mortar (Clarence Milk/Piotrowski)
Position #2 Aft mounted ZU-23 (Robert Tucker)
(Team leader: Milk)

Upper Deck (Team 2):
Position #3 Forward mounted PKM (Griet Neiwandomska)
Position #4 Port mounted DSHK (Bruce Thompson)
Position #5 Starboard mounted DSHK (Max Foster)
Position #6 Aft mounted DSHK (Trevor White)
(Team Leader: White)

Roof of Pilot house (Team 3):
Position # 7 crow's nest sniper/spotter position. (Rick "Gunny" Parks/John Yazzie)
Position # 8 Pilot House roof mounted AGS-17 (Maddock)

Bridge (Command Group):
Hauptmann Bayer
Major Soleblum, Medic/"advisor"
Griet Niewiadomska, government liaison
This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Sat 22 Sept 2007.

Clarence slaps Dawid on the back and quips, "Hey, kid, you mind smokin' that thing outside? There's already enough shit flying around here that could kill me."

Clarence then addresses the entire assembled security team,

"If nobody objects, I'd like to volunteer to stay here on the tug. We need to consider them marauders circlin' back here once the shore party is out of sight and we don't want to leave our sailor friends on the boat unprotected. Dawid's done a good job showin' me how to operate the Vasilek so I can also provide fire support if you folks need it."

"As for the weapons we're gonna 'donate', I say we keep the 74s and the 5.45mm ammo since quite a few of us carry weapons that use it. We found a box of Pact 7.62mm back at the locks that looks like reloaded brass. We also got a half-dozen or so AKMs that can fire the stuff. We could easily part with a couple of those and that whole box of rounds. The German G-3s we found- they fire NATO 7.62mm and we don't got any more of that so it wouldn't hurt us none to give those up either."

"Sounds like those villagers have some wounded. They need meds too?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Sun 23 Sept 2007.

Robert Tucker lights up one of his cigars as he sits back and listens to the Poles story about his town, damn sad story indeed.  What makes it interesting is that Adam owes this town for past actions where they helped him, you don't see someone of that character in this world in these miserable days.

Tucker winces a bit as he shifts his weight to his other leg remembering the fresh GSW he got to his buttocks the day before.  He knew he shouldn't be trouncing around the Polish countryside trying to help a group of desperate villagers but, at least it is for a good cause.

Respecting Adam's dedication to the villagers, Tucker will step up when the briefing was over, "I want to lend a hand here Major Bayer.  If Adam feels they're worth helping, then it's wirth my effort to try and help good people from these scumbags!  How long do we have before we shove off?  Before we leave the tug Cap'n, I believe we should be tending to Joost's body properly!"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:43, Sun 23 Sept 2007.