Bullets zipped around them. The forest opened up with muzzle flashes scarcely dimmed by the coming dawn overhead.

Shit, they already got our number, Dawid thought, a stand-up fight is a good way to die.

"Down! Follow me!" He pulled Mariusz down. Once out of sight, he commenced low-crawling to a position away from where they were last seen, so that they could get set up in concealment without getting nailed.


PKM GPMG (100/100 + 150 spare rounds)
Moving via low crawl to different covered position. Edit Added: When arriving at a different and more concealed position, the plan is the same: fire 3x5-round bursts per turn to suppress/kill their opponents.
East of the Road.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:43, Tue 27 Jan 2009.

Mariusz hugged the ground and started crawling slowly after Dawid.

As the plume of purple smoke to his right thickens, and the fire from his left fades, Ondar sees an opportunity to turn the battle.

"Move west now!" he hollers down the ambush line. "Before get flank."

He then flips the selector on his rifle to automatic fire as he rolls over the downed tree in front of him, and rips off a five round suppressive burst to the west.  He darts toward Milk, grabs the American by the drag handle of his armor plate carrier and begins to pull him back to the relative saftey of the dead log.

"Go!" the defector again encourages his team to maximize their present tactical advantage.  "I cover!"

The warrior ethic of "no man left behind" runs deep through Ondar's veins.  He loads a fresh magazine into his weapon then begins to herc Milk up over his left shoulder in a fireman's carry.   Though small of stature, the American's muscular frame was unnervingly dead weight and the fresh wound to Ondar's shooting arm was no help.  The Soviet operator musters every ounce of his remaining strength and will in order to recover the fallen American and provide overwatch to the team's bounding westward advance.  He digs deep.  Failure is not an option.



[Ondar]
Left flank of ambush line
SVU-AS (10/10)
Rallying

Dave shifts his fire to the enemy trying to flank them. "Tangoes moving at 2 o'clock! They're working on flanking us!" Dave yells out to the others, in case they haven't noticed.

He'll keep firing until the MG runs out of ammo, then switch to his AK/BG and use the grenade launcher first. (Note that he's had his rifle beside him ready to go since the fight started.)

Dave
firing at enemy
M240 ??? ammo
AK-74/BG
Aid bag
in the ditch

"Wait!" Bayer yells, "One foot on the ground! Wait for cover."

"Quyen, Ondar move."

"Stoner, cover with me."

(Then alternate)

Pulling his other smoke, he hurls it in between the larger flanking force and their own position.

Bayer
Throwing HC
Middle Assault

Ambush Team

Ondar breaks cover and fires a burst, wounding an enemy rifleman. He leaps to his feet and rushes towards Milk. At least two riflemen target Ondar, saturating the air around him with supersonic metal. One bullet slams into Ondar's midsection, pancaking just a centimeter above the bottom edge of the ceramic plate in his third generation Soviet body armor. The gut punch literally stops him in his tracks, knocking him down, gasping for breath. Despite the pain of the impact, Ondar knows that the bullet has been stopped short of his tender belly.

Minh reloads and cautiously surveys the battlefield. A panorama of death and destruction unfolds in front of her during the three or four seconds Minh risks to raise her head. Ondar is down but moving a few meters away and Milk, a few meters beyond that, is most likely dead. Only two muzzle flashes (the sound of the firing suggests AK-74s) are visible to the north. Another enemy soldier, partially concealed behind a scrawny tree, appears to be struggling frantically to clear a jam. Two of three soldiers squirm and wriggle in the leaf litter, clearly wounded. The soles of several pairs of boots pointing skyward indicate likely KIAs.

Stoner burns through the remainder of the belted 7.62mm for the M240, sending winding strings of red tracers towards the flanking force to the east. Most of the enemy troops drop out of sight and the SEAL medic can only hope that at least some of them have fallen to his fire. Konrad, meanwhile, tosses another smoke towards the road. The canister bounces onto the dirt tracks and begins belching forth red smoke. Drifts of violet and crimson intermingle on the ambush team's right (east) flank, embellishing the battlefield with garrish curtains of shifting color.

Rescue Team

About 200m north of the ambush team's precarious position, Dawid leaves the cover of the fallen tree and attempts to crawl towards a new position a few meters to the east. Bullets impact against the ground nearby, throwing up tiny geysers of earth, leaves, and wood splinters. A bullet tears through the back of his right thigh, exiting in a spray of blood. A second round punches through a full canteen at Dawid's waist but fails to carry through. He hurriedly scoots backwards, inadvertently kicking Mariusz in the head as he returns to the relative safety of the thick, dead wood.

T-H

The Tarpan-Honker is now in a position to engage either the enemy squad that has Dawid and Mariusz pinned down or the troops lingering in the vicinity of both armored trucks with direct fire (it does not, however, have LOS to the force attempting to flank the ambush team on the eastern side of the road). During the shift into the current firing position, Tucker reloaded the AGS with a full canister of 30mm grenades (linking belts would take too long). The enemy infantry will no doubt soon take note of the T-H.

Second Rescue Force

Anneka urges the others on, picking up the pace despite her own exhaustion. Griet struggles to keep up. Sam, despite his ugly wound, forges ahead of the diminutive Israeli doctor while the understandibly reluctant Walter follows up at the rear.

Actions?
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:36, Thu 29 Jan 2009.

"Adam, how about pulling across the road at an angle so I can cover both north and south if necessary?" Jason asks the old captain.  "Leave some space so you can pull back onto the road in a hurry.  You watch to the north in case the soldiers from this Tarpan-Honker come back."  Jason sits behind the Mk-19, concentrating on looking to the south, but occasionally glancing to the north as well.

Jason K.
Star 6x6 bed
Mk-19 [50/50 HVHEDP]
F88 AGL [30/30; HE]
Keeping watch

Dawid said, "well, that's not good at all. Better the leg than the head! Let's withdraw, before we get flanked ourselves."

Keeping low behind cover and taking care to keep something in between him and the attackers, he withdrew to the north.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:21, Thu 29 Jan 2009.

As the smoke from the pair of HC grenades mask them from some of the enemy, Bayer repeats himself, "Ondar! Quyen! Move!"

He then lays the sights onto one of the visible enemy (the one clearing the jam)... squeezing off 3 rounds.

Bayer
Firing 3 rounds at enemy (covering moving troops)
G36 (20/30)

Dave sees the last of the ammo belt feed and hears the dry click of the weapon running out of ammo. Yep, perfect fucking timing, the thinks to himself. He grabs his rifle from beside him and lets loose with a HE grenade, then switches to the rifle.


Dave
firing at enemy
M240 no ammo
AK-74, 6 magazines
BG 15, 6 he, 1 illum
Aid bag
in the ditch

Mariusz heard Dawid's instructions and shrugged, they'd stuck their balls in the vice to help their comrades, he didn't want to give up without a try. He looked around quickly to determine if there was a safe line of retreat and then pulled his frag grenades out of a pouch and lay them on the ground. He swopped out the partially full 40 round mag for a full 30 round one.

As he did so, he spoke to Dawid, "I'll hold here and give you time to pull back. Once you're in a safer position, call me and I'll come to you."

Mariusz
RPK-74 (31/30)
2 frag grenades
Preparing to engage flankers

Griet kept grinding on through the chilly dawn air, her breath making her look like a miniature steam tug as each breath rattled harshly through her throat and chest. Everything burned as she tried to keep up with the others. She hoped they'd get there soon, after any more of this, combat and potential death would seem a blessing.

In reply to Mariusz Tokarski (msg #378):

Dawid appreciated his comrade's spirit and couldn't help smiling. "One versus seven isn't good odds. We have been brave enough, Mariusz, now let's live to fight another day." His leg wasn't hurting too badly yet, but he knew it would, and soon.

With that, he popped one of his smoke grenades in front of their position to cover a withdrawal.

"Come on, there's nothing more we can do here. Besides, you need to take the machinegun, I may be too weak to carry it soon!"

He started to withdraw at that point (as before) with a crouching limp, urging Mariusz to follow.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:26, Fri 30 Jan 2009.

Adam surveys the area and does some quick calculations in his head before answering with confidence,

"Yes, I can do that. Good idea Mr. Kasparov."

The old man climbs back into the cab and starts the big STAR. Backing and filling a couple of times, he angles the truck to allow Jason to engage targets both to the south and to the north and northeast- the direction in which the enemy squad had retreated earlier. The cab cuts off the angle to the northwest. Jason will have to heave the Mk-19 about a bit in order to point it to the north. Adam parks the STAR so that he can quickly and easily pull back onto the road for a quick getaway.

Chemical-electrical impulses flicker along the neural pathways and synapses in Clarence Milk's shattered brain.

A sense of regret. Something called RESET. Duty unfulfilled. Darkness. Loss.

A tiny, faint light appears, growing slowly but steadily, filling his vision, reaching out, surrounding him. It is warm, welcoming, comforting. He sees his daughters sitting on the steps of his Chicago Brownstone, feels the cool wind coming off of lake Michigan, smells the hotdogs at Wrigley Field.

He feels safe. Content. Home.

And then, Clarence Milk is gone.

Once Tucker has the new belt of ammo in place he keys the readio and calls out, "Sunray, Knife!  Rounds out, Danger Close!  I say again, Rounds Out, Danger Close!  How copy over?"  Tucker takes hold of the grips and lays loose with the AGS-17, firing [5] HE rounds down towards their pursuers.

Tucker
AGS-17 [30/30 HE]
Firing [5] HE rounds to cover the ground ambush team

Snapping the fresh magazine into her rifle, Quyen yells, "Moving now!" Despite the incoming small arms fire, she was confident in Bayer and Stoner's cover fire (and the smoke).

Rising, she glances for her teammate - Ondar. Realizing he'd been knocked down, she tries to scoop him up with a free hand grasped around his webbing. Not stopping, she used her own momentum to gather the force necessary to (partially) lift him. Quyen hoped he had enough strength to do at least some of the lifting.

"C'mon!" she says in mid lift.

If she was successful at helping Ondar up, Quyen will keep sprinting along the group's intended withdraw route. Quyen's small frame was quick and agile... hopefully enough to keep out of the path of a bullet or fragment.

Quyen
AK74 (30/30)
Left Flank
Taking a bound
This message was last edited by the player at 11:17, Fri 30 Jan 2009.

Ondar was not sure which hit him in the gut harder, the impact of the enemy rifle bullet pancaked on his body armor or watching the last remaining life drain from Clarence Milk's eyes.  Unfortunately, although stunned and winded, there was no time for further consideration.  Rolling with Minh's attempt to lift him, he returns to his feet.

"Right behind you," the paratrooper gasps.

He raises his rifle to his shoulder and locates one of the remaining antagontists still blocking their withdrawl.  Target acquired, Ondar rips off a five round burst to cover their charge to the west.



[Ondar]
Left flank of ambush line
SVU-AS (5/10)
Withdrawing

Mariusz saw the first skeins of the smoke grenade start to swirl and said, "That's why I want you to pull back first. Take the RPK and find somewhere safe, I'll cover your move and then you can cover mine. If we move together and the flankers catch us in the open, we're screwed. This way we'll be able to cover each other."

He looked at the injured Pole, "Take the RPK and start crawling, I won't be far behind."

Never again Anneka thought to herself as lungs burnt and legs rebelled.
Never again should we allow ourselves to become so spread out.
She understood the need to ensure the enemy T-H had been dealt with, but their own truck certainly didn't need to have moved up to join it. On the other hand, the two they had sent on the bike along may not have faired as well as they had if they didn't....

Ambush Team

Konrad draws a bead on the enemy rifleman who appears to be clearing a jam. Rounds blast splinters of wood from the tree behind which the soldier is partially sheltered. Sensing the danger, the man shrinks further behind the narrow barrier.

Minh pops up and runs to Ondar, grabbing him by his webbing and helping the solidly built Tuvan rise quickly to his knees. Something sizzles across her belly, drawing a stinging streak through the top layers of skin on her stomach. Her adrenaline-saturated body briefly acknowledges the wound but the pain is gone almost as soon as it appears.

From his knees, Ondar snaps off a burst of fire at a prone, firing rifleman, shattering the man's right leg and eliminating another source of enemy fire.

Stoner, firing blind, launches a 40mm grenade east through the spreading violet smoke, then rises and hefting both the M240 and his AK/GL combo, begins running west towards Minh and Ondar. A bullet from the east passes through his trousers and grazes the inside of his left calf. He barely notices it.

Rescue Team

As Dawid's green smoke begins to spread, the wounded Polish artillerist begins crawling back the way he'd come, keeping the falling log between himself and the enemy squad. Mariusz crawls to his right along the tree and finds a loophole created by a fork near what used to be the top of the old tree. From this position, Mariusz can fire directly south and to the southwest, along the road. He won't, however, be able to cover the southeastern quadrant without exposing more of his own body to enemy fire.

T-H

Selflessly, Tucker targets the enemy force assailing the ambush team, just beyond visual range due to the intervening trees. As he unleashed yet another five-round burst from the AGS, he's targetted by two members of the enemy squad 75m to the south (the same squad who've got Mari and Dawid pinned). As soon as the fifth grenade is away, Tucker feels a hammer blow against his upper, left arm. Releasing the firing handles of the Plamya, he knows instantly that this wound is much worse than the grazing wound on his right forearm. Dawid's green smoke soon conceals both groups, making aimed fire in either direction impossible. Enemy bullets, although blind, can still kill.

Ambush Team

As the four surviving members of the ambush team begin to break to the west, two enemy riflemen prepare to shoot the easy targets now presenting themselves. They are preempted as five sharp explosions rock* the area, two of which are close enough to riddle the enemy pair with shrapnel (as well as a couple of wounded enemy and the soldier with the bad jam). It's just the break the ambush team needed. There is now no incoming fire from the western side of the road. Unaimed (due to the smoke), long-range fire continues to streak in from the large flanking force on the eastern side of the road. It will continue to pose a danger until the ambush team either continues further to the west or cuts directly north through the now silent enemy positions.

Relief Force

Sam rounds a slight curve in the road and sees, about 200m up ahead of him, the front of the party's Tarpan-Honker. Green smoke blankers the road to the south of the T-H. Bullets buzz high overhead. Anneka and Griet, both exhausted, soon come up behind him, followed by Walter.

Actions?

* Tucker's 30mm HE burst
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:34, Sat 31 Jan 2009.

Sam will move to the vehicle to assess casualties and the vehicle's ablity to move. He will try to stay tactical when he moves, trying not to expose himself to enemy fire.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:46, Sat 31 Jan 2009.

Jason continues to keep watch, swiveling his head to check both north and south while the sound of gunfire and explosions still comes from down the road.  He silently curses the luck that has him out of action while his comrades are in danger.  I wish I were at the controls of an Apache, or a Blackhawk with a doorgunner.  Hell, even an old Huey would do.  Anything to help out.  Damn it, I've got to get back into the air!

Jason K.
Star 6x6 bed
Mk-19 [50/50 HVHEDP]
F88 AGL [30/30; HE]
"He also serves who stands (sits?) and waits."

"Tucker!"

Jan [NPC'ed], clambers over the front seats of the Tarpan-Honker, gritting his teeth at the pain and stiffness in his bloody left knee. He's positioning himself to either aid Tucker or to take over the AGS.

Mariusz  fired blindly into the growing smoke cloud, hoping that his fire would keep the enemy's heads down and buy Dawid time to find a safer spot. He hoped the older man could find something quickly before the flankers regrouped and outflanked him.

Mariusz
Long Burst 25 rounds
PKMG 100/100