Craig tried to stay as low as possible when the BTR was moving using the destroyed turret as partial cover from both the enemy and the cold. When the APC stopped to change drivers or the scouts he would get down and move around it was a bit of an arse, but but it kept stuff circulating.

He did not use his NVG's relying on the others to announce any threats only then would he drop them down.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:03, Wed 12 Jan 2011.

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #625):

Dawid's head was pounding now. Even rubbing his eyes didn't help at all.

"Ahhh, shit. Sorry sir."

Slowly bringing the damaged behemoth to a stop with a squeal of brakes, he flipped up his goggles and sighed.

"Monika, my sister I plead that you relieve me at the wheel! I can go no further. I would imagine the battery is getting low on these goggles but they still work. We may be able to use hand torches. Or the headlamps but I don't know if they work or not."

Gritting his teeth, Dawid got up from the driver's seat, slowly maneuvering to change places with Monika when she gets up.

"Right. Now is a good time." Bayer replies.

"This will just take a minute." Jeff nods, and grabs his radio, as well as some additional wire and antenna to rig a booster.  He hops out of the BTR and heads to a nearby building.  He kicks the door in, and disappears inside.  A few moments later he reappears on the buildings roof, and sets up the antenna, and proceeds to talk into the Radio.

"Moon up in four hour," Thor muttered to Tucker, his radio picking up his words and sending them back to the BTR.
"Maybe rest now, move then?"
Although personally able to keep going, there were others in the group that had to be on the edge of exhaustion. With the moonrise their reliance on technology would be reduced, even though the moon would only be showing a small sliver of itself.

"Fuck, eleven  more klicks!," Tucker thought when he heard Konrad mention how much further he wanted to go.  He looked over at Thor and waved him to the back of the vehicle as he called out for two more scouts/walkers.  Mariusz!  Dieter!  You guys are up.  Minh & Warren, you're up after them!"

Tuck limped his way back to the BTR to try and fit himself in somewhere and tried to rest and get some kind of warmth on his body.

"Got it. I'll be ready." Quyen answers. Until her round at scouting ahead, Quyen will close her eyes and rest, allowing sleep to come, that is if it can under the circumstances.

Despite the conditions inside the BTR Jan tried his best to get some sleep.  It wasn't much as the moment he dropped off the vehicle would jolt and his wounded arm would bang against something solid, frequently the person he was pushed up against, and a shot of pain would wake him up.

When it came to his turn walking scout ahead of the slowly moving APC he did his share without comment, alert but badly fatigued like almost everyone present.

When back inside the BTR Jan called forward to Konrad, speaking English.

"Capitaine.  I assume that you want to leave meeting up with that potential contact of mine for the moment?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:00, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

As the group changes horses (so to speak), Warren contacts his CIA superior.

"Fuck, Renegade, where the hell have you been? I was starting to think you'd shacked up with some little Polish slut and forgotten all about us.

"We're here at a little town just north of grid reference BB-17 [Wyzskow]. The folks here aren't too happy about us being here and they've been pretty stingy with the food. They don't seem to like this Baron clown, though, so we're trying to be extra nice and friendly like. Our Kazhaks are getting a bit restless, though. They got a bad case of the hungries, I guess. We met some of your Baron's men at another town a few klicks back [probably Ostro Mazowiecka]. Hadda shoot a few of 'em; lost a couple men ourselves. He's gotta know we're on our way, now. He hasn't sent anybody else up to properly welcome us yet, though. What's the 411 on you and your new Cub Scout pack?"

After Warren reports the combined units' recent success in thinning out the Baron's AFV fleet, Johnstone responds a little more warmly.

"Outstanding, Renegade. That almost makes up for you not returning my calls. Report in as soon as you reach your next objective. We're calling it a night now but we'll be ready to move again if the objective is clear. I'll be waiting up for you. Salesman, OUT."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:00, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

"Gah. Stop hitting me with that stump of an arm Jan." Quyen grumbles without opening her eyes. Then before he could reply she says, "Here. You rest your arm on me, and I rest my head on you. Keep ourselves steady."

Jeff emerges from the building and hops back into the BTR.

After bumping his head on the roof, he grumbles and finds Konrad, pulling out his map"You'll  be happy to know that the 10th is making good progress on the way here.  They are currently holed up for the night here [jabs at Wyzskow] but will keep moving in the morning.  Food is becoming an issue, so they're not wasting time.

Unfortunately they believe a patrol from the Baron managed to report on them, so the element of surprise is lost.  Realistically though that was to be expected.  Anyway, they have a full day of traveling at least to get to the bridge you want.  If you want to hold up and hide our tracks, that wouldn't be unreasonable."  he gestures to the back of the BTR.

"Your men could use the break.  However if you decide to press on I support the decision."

When he gets the opportunity, Jeff will do whatever it takes to get some sleep.  Cracking a rare smile at the site of the bloody Jan taking a nap on Minh.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

Bayer folds up his map and after a lengthy moment, he says just loud enough for Jeff to hear him over the idling engine, "A full day. Well. That changes things a little." Then after another pause, he submits, "No... not unreasonable."

"Ok." Bayer says to himself as he opens up the commander's hatch and rises up through the narrow opening. To the scouts he says, "Bring it in." Then pointing, he addresses them, "Guide us over and in between those residential buildings out of view of the road."

Then before anyone might expect him to turn off the "tactical switch", Bayer turns and says to the exhausted faces, "Nobody drops their gear just yet. Keep alert. Sergeant Tucker... Organize a sweep through these buildings."

After climbing out and inspecting the hide for concealment and defensibility, he pulls aside Jan and Dawid, "Jan prep a sentry roster. Dawid, before bunking down, try to get another assessment on the BTR. I'd like to know now - not in a couple hours when we're about to leave - if we're going to be walking or riding."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:02, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

As soon as the BTR stops, Warren elects instead to aid in camouflaging the trail to the parked vehicle.  "Thor! Come help me hide our tracks!"

Hopefully enlisting the big man's aid, Jeff uses his intricate knowledge of concealment to make it seem as if the BTR had never turned off the road.  It's not easy as he takes the tracks as far back as he can.  Given more time and better lighting he'd probably be able to make some decent looking fake ones too.

"Need snow," was Thor's only comment as he worked on the trail, his skills up to the job but the lack of adequate equipment hindering the effort.

    Monika waited for the word to sweep through the buildings.  She checked to insure that there was a round chambered in her suppressed PB/6P9.  Even though the weapon had not left her possession, she wanted to make sure that it was ready for use.

Craig changed position slightly to be able to cover the team sweeping the buildings. He moved his toes in his boots to try and keep them warm.

Once it looked like they where staying Craig climbed down from the BTR and found a better place to set up with the RPK. He may take the optionality to gain some elevation but his main objective was to be able to cover the approach to their temporary camp site.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:22, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #639):

Sighing, Dawid stopped his rearward maneuvering and started negotiating his way back forward to the driver's seat to carry out his instructions.

"Yes sir, I'll park the BTR some place out of sight and then have a better look at what we got. I think Vita should be of assistance, I think she's a mechanic too, or some sort."

Jan dozed with a slight smile on his face, his arm around Quyen and her head resting against his chest.  Unfortunately for Quyen Jan wasn’t the most comfortable person to lean against as he was wearing a grenade vest and webbing - she probably ended up with a 40mm grenade leaving an imprint on her cheek!

---

“Oui Capitaine,” replied Jan as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.  He started a count of the number of people they now had, refreshing his memory, and then glanced at his watch, working out how much time they were hoping to be able to sleep for.  He then started to work out the roster that Konrad wanted, ensuring the Craig and he, as the two most seriously wounded, both got an unbroken period of sleep.  It was a little thing but it might help a little.

Once Tuck started organising the sweep of the buildings Jan helped, either participating in the sweep or covering those conducting it.

Tucker steps out of the gathering and calls out, "Minh, Lech, Teo, Monika, and Mariusz on me!  We're clearing the buildings before we do anything else," he tells them before gathering just them before they move.

"Minh, you've got Lech and Teo with you,  Mariusz and Monika, you're with me.  One team will do the sweep while the others cover and we'll flip-flop between buildings so one group isn't doing the same job.  A fresh set of eyes in every other building will be good operating the way we have been non-stop.  Be sure of your threats, if any, before you engage.  Questions?  Let's do it then.  I'll take the first sweep.  Minh, you post up for support."

Mariusz readied his rifle and scrambled out of the BTR. He checked his kit was all in order and then he waited to head out with his clearing patrol.

The small, abandoned crossroads neighborhood is swept and cleared. It appears to have been unoccupied for quite some time, although one or two run-down houses show signs of recent temporary habitation. Most of the settlement's buildings show obvious signs of heavy battle damage. Those structures not completely destroyed by shell fire have been stripped of almost anything that could be burned or put to any kind of practical use. Minh's squad finds the rusting remains of an old German Wiesel AFV under a partially collapsed building. The Bundeswehr must have been in charge of this particular section of the ring of steel around besieged Warsaw.

Craig sets up the RPK in a relatively intact attic crawl space with a view of the BTR's back-trail. It's damp and it smells like mildew but what's left of the slate roof offers some shelter from the cold breeze, as well as a modicum of cover and concealment.

Dawid parks the BTR between two buildings well off of the road. Reluctantly, he shuts it down, hoping against hope that he'll be able to start it up again in the morning.

Try as they might, Jeff and Thor are not able to conceal the BTR's tracks. In fact, in attempting to do so, they just leave more tracks of their own. Still, in moonless dark, the tire tracks will be difficult to follow by any but the most experienced and sharp-eyed of trackers.

When the village is declared secure, the party risks a measured lapse in light discipline in order to determine the BTR's condition. Vita [NPCed] crawls under the BTR with her flashlight and starts poking around. The prognosis is hopeful, but uncertain.

"Brakes is dead. Uh, brake oil is gone. No pressure. Steering is bad too. I cannot fix without the right kind of oil. Not oil, but... I don't know what is called in English. I can't fix. The engine is OK, though. I think it work in morning but not sure. Depend on battery. We shall see, eh? This thing is, er, how do you say- piece of shit."

The group splits up and racks out in two adjacent homes, one of which backs up to the alley where the BTR is parked. Sentries are posted and people start to drop off to sleep. The captured blankets and groundsheets help, but it's still really cold. Those not on watch lapse in and out of consciousness, unable to drift deeper into sleep because of the bitter cold. Still, a little sleep is better than none.

Dawn breaks over the small camp. Once again, the sky is relatively clear, promising another day of sunshine and relative warmth. There's been no sign of the Baron's forces during the night.

Wednesday, October 25th, 2000
0630 hrs.
32F
light clouds; slight breeze from the west
Small neighborhood near crossroads north of Warsaw (East bank)


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:48, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

Once the party is up and about, Jeff climbs up on top of the building for another radio call-in.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Fri 14 Jan 2011.

After a good solid sleep, Thor was refreshed and bounding with energy. The idea of Mariusz whipping up something amazing from the collection of foodstuffs they'd salvaged from the ambush was a welcome prospect, tempting him to grab Dawid and Vita to scrounge anything left on the rusted Wiesel. It might not be operational, but even a handful of small parts would be more than they already had...

Trying to concentrate on the task at hand Craig takes out the ten 30 round 7.62mmS magazine from his jacket and places them within easy reach next to the RPK. He made sure he informed either Dawid or Konrad where he was so they could include him in the hastily constructed defence plan for the camp.

Once he was relieved he made his way down to where the other had set up a sleeping area. Looking to see if anyone else was awake he pulled out his sleeping bag, the only thing he was able to keep from their sewer escape. This arctic rated bag had been a expensive purchase but after two weeks of freezing his arse off on exercise in Dartmoor or the Falklands he had learnt his lesson. Taking off his para smock, Craig tried to get as much sleep as possible before he was required to get back on the BTR.

Despite his exhaustion, Dieter didn't sleep well. When he eventually awoke it was still before dawn, so he gathered himself up and went for a walk. He should of stayed inside the perimeter, but he needed some space. Solitude was his friend.

After a few minutes wandering he found a quiet corner to relieve himself. He squatted on the rough terrain and did his business, curing the lack of proper facilities. He was used to roughing it, but he would pay a king's ransom right now for some soft toilet paper, a warm shower and a bottle of shower gel.

Once done he drew himself and rearranged his clothing, and continued on his meandering course. He had no real target, but just wanted to do a rough circuit of their current home. As he wandered he kept his eyes open for any signs of activity, be it enemy or civilian, as well as browsing for anything of interest.