“If you're going to live by the river, make friends with the crocodile.”

- Indian Proverb

Wednesday, October 4th, 2000
-0800hrs.
Vistula river, approx. 30km downriver from Krakow, Poland
50 F
Light overcast

The tug steams along at just under 10 knots, passing through open, tree-studded farming country broken up periodically by patches of wild woods. You've seen no sign of active human habitation since leaving Niepolomice. Despite the absense of humanity, unimaginable only a few years ago, the trip takes on a peaceful, almost leisurely complexion.

Actions?
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:50, Wed 17 Oct 2007.

0800 John will take a well earned rest..Doing one man LP/OP all night long takes its toll...When john wakes in the morning he will clean weapons and sharpen knifes...He will not talk alot and once his gear work has been done he will eat a light breakfast and drink alot of water...




John
Taking care of his own mission
G3 on person
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:57, Wed 17 Oct 2007.

It was cool and pleasant fall day, the trees along the bank having long turned colour but not yet shed their somewhat tattered leaves.

Dawid's head finally felt fine, the stitching still a little tender and itchy. There would probably be a pretty nasty scar there once it healed fully.

Mixing a couple of chipped enamel mugs of tea with lemon ("borrowed" from the crates they salvaged back at the locks) Dawid sought out the new arrival, the American woman, and introduced himself.

"Hello, I am David Walduś Piotrowski, at your service. Formerly serving in the Polish army as an artilleryman. If I may say, you did very well in protecting those people back there. They owe their lives to you."

His English was quite good, but accented. Dawid has short dark hair swathed in a bandage, dressed in modern Polish Army camouflage fatigues, with an open fresh face and corn-fed looks of a farm-boy.

Max is pleased to be back on board the Queen, but immeadiatly feels unease at being on the water again.  He seeks out Bayer

Good job back there, getting in and out quick like.  I think it was the right call, though i would have preferred to have been back before sunup.

Max walks the boat, slapping Snow on the back
Good job back their with the house clearing

There is a good feeling all around, resulting from the success of the mission for the guys who where in battle for the first time as a team.

He seeks out Tucker
You had the second floor, right?  I thought you had eyes on that contact also.


Max
making friends
not looking to sleep, finds his way back to starboard dushka

Maddock's first order of business is to attend to his gear. Weathered and well-used though it is, he makes a determined effort to keep it in good working order. Both the heavy automatic rifle and the stubby Sterling get a good cleaning, the magazines checked and refilled, and all the working parts serviced. A check of his walkie, NVGs and load-bearing gear follow. He seems skeptical of the new Soviet-issue grenade, and buries it in his pack.

Some food, water, and a quick scrub have him feeling half-way human, and a change of fatigues accomplishes the rest.

Maddock then seeks out the Hauptman, and asks for a moment of his time. "Begging your pardon, sir, but I was wondering if I might know the why of this jaunt upriver. Being the new man aboard and all. And you'd said some'it about sorting out who does what on who's say-so before we moved-out. Might be that this is the time for it, sir?"

Quyen emerges from the galley. She still wears her US issue pants but is now sporting a green Adidas track suit top, the hood pulled up and over her black hair. She dumps her gear in a corner, unsure of where "her spot" really is. She's pleased she got the ticket out of the village. It was hard to leave, but was the best thing for her... she was lucky to get out alive anyways.

"I'm Minh Quyen. I was with the 8th Mech before me and some other fellows got lost and ended up back there." she jabs a thumb over her shoulder towards the village. "I appreciate the compliment Dawid. Its obvious though they and I would be dead if you and your friends didn't show." Her own English was similar to Dawids'... good but accented.

She decides to sit out the first couple of hours while everyone gets on with their responsibilities. She'd seek out Captain Bayer later. She returns to her corner and falls asleep.

"I am very pleased to meet you... Minh. Minh? Minh." He seemed a little unsure of how to pronounce her unfamiliar-sounding name, rolling it around in his mouth, getting a feel for the sound of it. Satisfied he got it right, he smiled and sipped his tea.

"Such is the fortunes of war you know, and we must give thanks to God for our safety. I guess you're glad to be reunited with some of your fellow yanks?"

He pulled a cigarette out of a plain cardboard packet, offering her the last one, then lit up with a wooden match. The loosely-packed tobacco was harsh and most likely cut with sawdust or worse, the cigarette paper pulpy and grey.

Snowy is leaning against the gunwale, his UN cap back on and his helmet on the deck next to him. He's carefully stripping rounds out of one used mag and topping up another one. When Max slaps him he grins and says "You're not that bad either mate. Houseclearing gets the old adrenalin going, doesn't? And I thought for sure that we'd get back to the tug and see it keel up, and then have to walk home. Anyway, all's well that end's well." He rises to his feet and recovers his helmet, hanging it on his waterbottle. "I think this carbine needs a bit of a clean. I might run it over to Yazzie to have a look at too, while I'm a fair machinist I've got to hand it to him on the shooting tools, he's got a steel thumb. Did you see the sharpshooter G3 he made? Anyway mate, that's where I'll be if anyone wants me."

Snowy seeks out Yazzie and sits down while he's finishing his tasks. "Yazz, I thought I'd bring my carbine over to you. It felt kinda funny last night when I cocked it, like it was catching or something. It seems okay now but, you know, better safe than sorry. It's still dirty from last night's shoot though, I haven't had a chance to clean it."
Snowy plumps down the M4, careful not to jar the sighting gear. He unslings his tactical shotgun to have a weapon at hand, should the need suddenly arise.

John will take the M4 like a new born baby or crown jewels.."I know much about this my friend...will do a clean and and a bur job on it if you want...also can lightin up and smooth the trigger with the tools I have but after that thats all I can do..."

OOC(doing a bur job is taking the bolt out and inspecting it for metal burs that are there from use.He will take a small stone and file the bur off and smooth it over a rather easy job. He will then inspect the chamber and reciever and see if there are any burs there and do the same to them. This action will take up to an hour.Once done he will relube the weapon and perform a functions check. The trigger work is rather easy also. He will inspect the trigger group to see if the sear and cam are matching up and the areas of contact are smooth. Most guns come from the factory with a rough trigger and they need to be smoothed out. The best way to improve a weapon is a trigger job. The acuracey will go up by about 15 to 20 percent due to a smooth trigger pull.)


John
doing weapons work

Blaring out from atop the bridge roof, Gunny Parks' booming voice interupts your thoughts,

"Small boat, 300m off the starboard bow, coming in fast!"

You look up to see, coming towards you, a long, low boat, cutting an impressive bow-wave as it rounds a bend in the river ahead. It appears to be a pleasure cruiser of some sort– the kind used to shuttle sight-seeing tourists to and fro on the river back in the days before most of the sights worth seeing around these parts were blasted to bits by airstrikes, artillery, and tac-nukes.

Actions?

Snowy takes back the M4 and smiles as he works the bolt. "Cheers Yaz, I owe you one. I'll . . ."
He cocks his head when the warning is called, and says "Shit! Back to work!"

Snowy bolts out and along the deck, up to the DShKM where he puts his helmet back on. He laughs when her remembers he's carrying two shoulder arms; a carbine and shotgun. "I look like bloody Rambo!"

Taking the handles of the machinegun, Snowy releases the friction lock ready for action.

"Minh, come with me now!" Bolting for the bow gun, he let the mug drop to the deck planks with a clang, spilling out the last dregs.

When he reached his action station at the 82mm Vaslik, he sat down and instructed Clarence to load a clip of HEAT rounds into the magazine. When that was done, he pulled the charging handle to load a shell into the breach and called out, "Anti-Armour Loaded!".

Using an anti-armour shell was overkill for this target; one fragmentation (HE) round would likely annihilate the flimsy pleasure craft. However, they had more HEAT rounds at the moment than HE, and one shot either way would probably do the trick with the round's explosive characteristics.

Up in her usual position in front of the bridge, Anneka took cover behind the sandbag wall next to Griet and tucked the RPD butt into her shoulder. Eventually she'd have to arrange for one of the more mechanicallly minded men to fabricate a mount for the machinegun but for now it's bipod would suffice.
"Where'd the AGS end up Dawid?" she called down to where he worked feverishly with the new woman.
"You ok with the PK Griet?" she asked without waiting for Dawids reply.

Back aboard the tug, Bayer seeks out Clarence. After listening to the nights events for the tug he gives the American a short after-action report for the shore party. He finishes with, "Considering all... I think we pulled through quite well. Especially throwing a dozen people, strangers to each other, from different Armies and trades into this... umm mission."



"Ja, everyone did well. I am quite happy with it and agree... back a bit sooner would have been better. However Adam..." Bayer trails off the sentence, unsure how to finish it.

As the men and women began to disperse from the deck to get on with their after-action routines, Bayer goes inside and grabs a clean uniform. Returning outside he changes on the deck, appreciating the cool October morning air. Maddock finds him as he finishes lacing up his boots.



Standing up he nods, "Ja, ok. I'll grab the other new passenger and inform her as well ok?" Freshly dressed he finds Quyen talking to Dawid and brings her back to his gear and an awaiting Maddock. Bayer looks at Maddock and Minh...

"I'll put this quite simple. The tug is part of a trade mission from Krakow to Warsaw. Adam has hired us as security. Keep the tug, its cargo and crew protected... for as you know its a dangerous route. Until last night, (he raises one eyebrow) thats all we were.

Konrad thinks for a moment about what else to say. "So, as you can guess... your passage in exchange for enlistment into our group... we can all help each other. Ok?" he asks. "If so, we'll be sorting out ourselves a bit more later this afternoon I will guess. Most are off dealing with their gear or sleeping right now."

After their conversation ends, Bayer picks up his dirty uniform and gear and stows it away into his rucksack. He then heads to the galley to try to find something to eat. When Parks' warning about the approaching boat is given, he curses in German and runs to the bridge, stuffing the rest of his sandwich into his mouth.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:41, Thu 18 Oct 2007.

Talking with Dawid, Minh continues - "It's good to actually be able to talk to someone... I'm no 'Yank' though... but yeah, good anyways."

When Dawid offers her the cigarette she looks at him. She wonders if he caught her eye'ing them? "Cool." she says taking the last one, "You sure?" She politely waves off Dawid's attempt to light it though... instead resting it on her upper lip, tucked under her nose. I don't care how silly I look.

When Captain Bayer approaches however she quickly tucks it away, careful not to break it. After being spoken to with Sergeant Major Maddock she speaks up - "You'll get no trouble from me. This is just what I've been waiting for. It would be good for me to sorta pay you guys back for backing me up last night. Just tell me where I should be on the boat."

Minh returns back to Dawid once her meeting with Konrad is done... the cigarette, returned to its previous position. "You know. My dad told me that a lot of people who fought for Saigon during the American War were punished for years after it was over. Don't you worry when all of this is over, your country will hold it against you? Helping Americans?"



She rushes after him, unsure of what was happening. At the mortar she kneels down beside him... distant though as she is not sure what would be too close to get int the way. "What do you want me to do?" she asks, "I don't know anything about this thing!"

Minh Quyen
Ak-74
Next to mortar
Awaiting instruction

The new girl seemed a little out of her depth, but then weren't they all really? Thrown into a hostile country, far, far from anywhere that could possibly be called home and into a situation few of them had any prior training for.
"Hey, you," she called down from her sandbagged nest.
"Specialist. What can you do?"
It was good to see another woman aboard, especially one who wore the same uniform. It was even more comforting to see that, like her, she wasn't exactly a "normal" American soldier...
This message was last edited by the player at 12:20, Thu 18 Oct 2007.

"Yankee, Ivan, Tommy, Fritz... what's in a name? It may not be an accurate name to you, but to us it's all the same. It's nothing personal" he replied.



Dawid smiled at this eccentricity, accepting it without comment, after all, the ways of all foreigners were strange indeed. He waited, smoking and sipping his tea.



He laughed. "Ha! Even worse, working for a German! Americans aren't too bad, the British we quite like, actually. At least it's not Russians. No, if anyone asks, I'm really working for this boat's captain, Adam, a true son of Poland!"

"But I'm really just a deserter trying to get home, back to the farm. No one cares who I work for."



"Do not worry! Help Clarence with loading."

He replied to Anneka, calling up, "I left the Plamya at the stern, unless someone moved it! We probably won't be firing the 23mm anyways, so it's safe enough there!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:18, Thu 18 Oct 2007.