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11:35, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Ch. 17: The Battle of Warsaw (Part II)

Posted by Cap'n RaeFor group 0
Mrityunjay Byanjankar
player, 264 posts
Naik (Corporal)
Gurkha Rifles
Sun 8 Apr 2012
at 07:00
  • msg #407

Re: Victory!

Now that the battle was over, Jay quickly located his RPG before joining up with the others. He wanted to rest, but first headed to the Baron's armoury with some of the others to see what he could find.
Mariusz Tokarski
player, 1020 posts
Polish
Teenaged Partisan
Sun 8 Apr 2012
at 10:06
  • msg #408

Re: Victory!

Mariusz checked in with the others and then headed with Bayer to the Baron's HQ. Once the Kaptain was ensconsed in the main office, Mariusz headed down to the kitchens in the hope of scoring some interesting herbs and spices as well as some live yeast and any other interesting ingredients he could find.
Griet Niewiadomska
player, 603 posts
Polish Navy - CPO
Krakow ORMO
Sun 8 Apr 2012
at 10:10
  • msg #409

Re: Victory!

Griet spat on the floor of the ruined apartment block as she saw to the recovery of her dead crew. More men dead and more equipment lost, she regretted the loss of the American grenade launcher but there wasn't time to sulk or brood.

As soon as she had arranged for the retrieval of the dead she headed over to the armoury. When she saw the others searching she said, "I doubt you'll find any, but 100mm shells would be useful. Also look for any mortar rounds of 82mm or below, we can rig them up for our mortar to fire. The Queen needs some serious re-arming if we're going to use her as a gunboat any more."
Minh Quyen
player, 613 posts
Spec-4
U.S. Army Military Police
Mon 9 Apr 2012
at 11:48
  • msg #410

Re: Victory!

Quyen drops her gear and lazily slumps into a chair next to Robert. Slouching until she is more horizontal then vertical, she raises her eyebrows when he offers up some of his tobacco. "Aaahhyeah Sergeant." she grins.

While lounging in her seat and making smoke rings in the air, Quyen asks "So... Sergeant... our purpose is complete. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to stick around the Hauptmann... even if that means saying goodbye to Adam for good."
She felt both men saved her from a horrible fate when they hired her, but she knew the day would eventually come that she would have to decide which of the two her loyalty was strongest. "You should come too you know. This place sucks... and you will need me to save your ass."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:12, Mon 09 Apr 2012.
Robert 'Tuck' Tucker
player, 1225 posts
Platoon Sergeant
10th Mountain Division
Mon 9 Apr 2012
at 12:06
  • msg #411

Re: Victory!

Minh Quyen:
Quyen drops her gear and lazily slumps into a chair next to Frank. Slouching until she is more horizontal then vertical, she raises her eyebrows when he offers up some of his tobacco. "Aaahhyeah Sergeant." she grins.

While lounging in her seat and making smoke rings in the air, Quyen asks "So... Sergeant... our purpose is complete. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to stick around the Hauptmann... even if that means saying goodbye to Adam for good."
She felt both men saved her from a horrible fate when they hired her, but she knew the day would eventually come that she would have to decide which of the two her loyalty was strongest. "You should come too you know. This place sucks... and you will need me to save your ass."

OOC: LOL!  I know I'm going to change this characters name to Frank Benucci soon!

BIC: Frank,  Robert looks over next to Minh sitting near him, "Yeah, this place is ass Minh.  Adam's a good dude.  I think he gave us all another chance at life.  I really don't see any other reason to go anywhere else right now other than sticking with Konrad.  We have a ship and a crew that can actually get places without walking and a roof over our heads, I mean that is, if YOU'LL have me along?  You know, someone's got to look after my ass and all.  Who better than the best looking MP I know?"
Daniel Larue
player, 46 posts
Technical Sergeant
USAF Pararescueman
Thu 12 Apr 2012
at 01:28
  • msg #412

Re: Victory!

It's one of the 10th TD's officers who finally points Danny in the direction of the former Egyptian embassy.  The short walk is pleasantly undisturbed by gunfire or cries for a medic.  A couple of G-K militiamen, freshly arrived from the Queen's complement of defenders, are on security duty at the door.  They recognize the PJ and wave him through.

Upstairs, Danny leans around the doorjamb of the Baron's former office and encounters Hauptmann Bayer, who's apparently asleep in a recently-conquered leather executive chair.  He mentally shrugs – dude's had a hell of a week – and wanders off down the hall.  He knows where the commander is, so he's probably not going to get left behind when the unit pulls out.

The sound of anglophone banter catches Danny's ear.  After a couple of wrong turns, he locates the embassy's former library.  The Army NCO he met in passing a few hours before is sprawled in a chair across from a similarly-arrayed Vietnamese woman.  Danny digs through his head for Griet's verbal sketches of the team – Tucker and Quyen, that's it.  He raps a knuckle on the door to attract their attention.  "Hey, guys," he says, taking a couple of steps into the room and offering his hand and a wry grin, "I'm lookin' for the lost American storage room..."

(Danny, for those just meeting him, looks pretty much as described in post #298, now with a few more spots of other people's blood.)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 01:29, Thu 12 Apr 2012.
Jeff D. Warren
player, 398 posts
American - CIA
Special Operations Group
Thu 12 Apr 2012
at 06:20
  • msg #413

Re: Victory!

Jeff as the only Russian speaker finds himself the only sort of liaison between the 10th and his recent companions.  Once they had secured the embassy, he commandeers a handful of the 10ths men to ransack the place.  In full battle rattle he leads these men room to room, searching for valuable intelligence, especially if it relates to any sort of government, Blue or Red.  He also looks for the men captured from his recon team earlier.

Any of the Barons men, even if they have surrendered, will be sharply interrogated.  Resistance or hesitance of any kind will be met by a 5.45mm round to the forehead.
Robert 'Tuck' Tucker
player, 1227 posts
Platoon Sergeant
10th Mountain Division
Thu 12 Apr 2012
at 08:33
  • msg #414

Re: Victory!

Daniel Larue:
It's one of the 10th TD's officers who finally points Danny in the direction of the former Egyptian embassy.  The short walk is pleasantly undisturbed by gunfire or cries for a medic.  A couple of G-K militiamen, freshly arrived from the Queen's complement of defenders, are on security duty at the door.  They recognize the PJ and wave him through.

Upstairs, Danny leans around the doorjamb of the Baron's former office and encounters Hauptmann Bayer, who's apparently asleep in a recently-conquered leather executive chair.  He mentally shrugs – dude's had a hell of a week – and wanders off down the hall.  He knows where the commander is, so he's probably not going to get left behind when the unit pulls out.

The sound of anglophone banter catches Danny's ear.  After a couple of wrong turns, he locates the embassy's former library.  The Army NCO he met in passing a few hours before is sprawled in a chair across from a similarly-arrayed Vietnamese woman.  Danny digs through his head for Griet's verbal sketches of the team – Tucker and Quyen, that's it.  He raps a knuckle on the door to attract their attention.  "Hey, guys," he says, taking a couple of steps into the room and offering his hand and a wry grin, "I'm lookin' for the lost American storage room..."

(Danny, for those just meeting him, looks pretty much as described in post #298, now with a few more spots of other people's blood.)

Tucker sits up in his seat and exhales a cloud of smoke away from the new guy as he waves him into the room.  He extends his hand to greet him when Daniel walks up to him and Minh, "Closest yer gonna get for now new guy.  Larue, right?"
Cap'n Rae
GM, 2489 posts
Long-time T2K Fan
First-time GM
Fri 13 Apr 2012
at 00:54
  • msg #415

Last Goodbyes


The Kommando initially enjoys their new roll as victorious liberators. First of all, they have first crack at a wide variety of war booty in the Baron's palace. Mariusz is able to significantly increase his stock of herbs and spices- the Baron's personal pantry was very well appointed. Aside from the relatively abundant standard WTO weaponry recovered, the fruits of the Baron's personal armory includes a .44 Automag pistol, a ultra-modern G11 assault rifle (sans any ammunition), and a Lapua sniper rifle. Although the Kommando makes out fairly well when it comes to small arms and ammunition*, it doesn't do so well when it comes to heavy weapons. No 100mm ammo can be found for the Queen's Rapira AT gun and no one is quite sure where the Baron's surviving 122mm D30 has wandered off to. The two exceptions here are 82mm mortar ammunition and Soviet-made 40mm grenades. The Kommando takes possession of 11 mortar rounds of HE, 4 rounds of WP, and 3 of relatively scarce HEDP; they also scrounge 28 40mmS HE grenades (only 3 additional 40mmN HE grenades are found).

At Jan's behest, Butterfly examines the Black Madonna painting hanging in the Baron's office. She determines it to be an expertly crafted fake. Two more incomplete facsimiles are located in another room in the palace. Apparently, the Baron wasn't quite satisfied with the copy adorning his wall. His plans for the forgeries remain subject to speculation.

*Enough small arms ammunition is recovered for everyone to top off their personal stockpiles. You'll need to do this on your PC's char-sheet. Please divide the 40mm grenades, NATO and Soviet, among yourselves OOC or IC.

The next week of occupation duty is a little less pleasurable. There's the much anticipated political restructuring of Warsaw. The residents of Warsaw are weary of handing the reigns of power to the newly arrived 10th TD. Some of the 10th's rank and file were not very well behaved during the first few hours of their arrival in the city and many of the Warsovians assume they are simply trading one tyrant for another, this one not even a fellow Pole. General Kolarev quickly shatters this assumption by having half-a-dozen of the worst offenders hung in public. His men quickly straighten up, and he makes it known that, as long as his men are fed, he will recognize the authority of whatever civil government the residents of Warsaw decide to establish (within reason). For their part, the leading civilian leaders of Warsaw establish a ruling counseling of elected representatives from each of the major neighborhoods from both banks. With a local government established, and a tentative partnership between it and the 10th TD, the Kommando boards the Wisla Krolowa for the return trip to Gora Kalwaria. Only 19 Warsaw civilians, aside from Adam's family, elect to leave their city on board the tug and accompany its crew back to Gora Kalwaria.

In Gora Kalwaria, LaRue introduces the Kommando to his fellow helicopter crewmen. All of them seem like decent people and each brings a valuable skill-set to the table.

While the Kommando was in Warsaw, the Gypsy managed to trade the ammo-less 120mm mortar for a substantial ammount of ammunition for the militia's AKMs and RPD LMGs. With the additional weapons and ammunition taken from Warsaw, the G-K militia now has more firepower than ever. The Kommando can leave the town satisfied that it now has the wherewithall to defend itself.

The Kommando spends another two weeks in Gora Kalwaria, healing its wounds, enjoying the hosptitality of the townsfolk, and preparing to continue its journey down the Vistula. The Wisla Krolowa is stocked with food, fuel, and other supplies. Wherever possible, repairs are made. Its entire crew, save young Luboslaw, the junior deckhand, decides to remain on board. He has apparently met someone in the town worth staying for.

Dawid struggles with a difficult decision- remain a Kommando and continue on down the river on board the Wisla Krolowa or stay in Warsaw and help its very young government forge its future. His primary mission accomplished, Warren is released by Johnstone to continue down the river towards the the CIA-backed XI Corps enclave in northwest Poland. Robert Flemming, however, is ordered to remain behind. His coms skills are too important for Johnstone to do without. Monika Sawicki and Piotr Pawlowksi decide to remain behind to help their fellow Poles rebuild a better society.

After two weeks of treatment, rest, and light duty, the wounded Kommandos are back to full fighting fitness.

It's the day of departure. You're as ready as you'll ever be. The tug's crew and the core group of Kommandos have been joined by the rest of LaRue's crew. It's time to handle any last-minutes items of business and say your final farewells. Adam weeps openly. He's not only saying goodbye to his beloved river tug, he's saying goodbye to his illegitimate daughter and a group of tried-and-true friends.

Next Moves?

If there's anything else you wanted your PC to do in the three weeks of downtime between the climax of the battle and his/her final departure from Gora Kalwaria, speak up now.



*I will be cleaning up some of the notices to make the game site a little less cluttered. All surplus weapons will be handed over to the G-K militia, 10th TD, or Warsaw militia. I'll take care of adding your crew-served weapons ammo.
Mrityunjay Byanjankar
player, 268 posts
Naik (Corporal)
Gurkha Rifles
Fri 13 Apr 2012
at 14:41
  • msg #416

Re: Last Goodbyes

During the downtime, Jay made an effort to greet all of the new arrivals. He was still relatively new to the group, but hoped he had done enough to be accepted.

After the liberation of the Baron's armoury he topped up his magazines and claimed some Makarov ammo, then deposited a lot of his spare gear into team stores so that others could help themselves (see OOC for details). He was hoping that some trades could be made for some other gear as well, but would leave others to the trading.

As other rested he found a quiet corner to pray, offering thanks to Buddha for his safe passage so far, for the lives of his fallen comrades, and for the health of his wife and son back home.

Overhearing Mariusz, he realised the young man had a supply of herbs and spices. He made some enquiries, hoping that he might be allowed to borrow some to make a Nepalese curry, or at least the closest he could manage given the ingredients available.

Later on he was spotted pulling an old book out of his pack. It was an adventure story, called "The Viking Symbol Mystery, a Hardy Boys Mystery." It was battered, and well-thumbed, as he had read it many, many times. He followed the text with his finger, mouthing the words silently as he read slowly. He still struggled with some of the longer words, but was slowly getting better. Maybe one day he would get a new book, as this was the only English book he had ever owned!

Other than that he kept away from the 10th, having not enjoyed their company the first time. He checked out the Queen, apprehensive about travelling on it as boats were still pretty alien to him. He had travelled on small boats, but the last time he lived on one he was travelling to the Falkland Islands, and that was nearly 20 years ago...
Minh Quyen
player, 616 posts
Spec-4
U.S. Army Military Police
Fri 13 Apr 2012
at 15:22
  • msg #417

Re: Last Goodbyes

Quyen was relieved to be back with the Queen. The last days of trekking across Poland on foot, cold and wet, and never having a decent place to sleep was awful compared to the luxuries the boat offered. While sitting by the river she reminisced about the memories. Of the Hauptmann driving them on though the night in that miserable cold, huddled on the floor of a ruin like animals, cutting lose that crazy guy from Norway, getting chased through the zoo by the Baron's men. So many memories... but at least we can laugh about it now.

Realizing with horror that she was down to under half a dozen smokes she sought out Jan (who she knew was actively seeking out a new supply). The others might be concerned about guns and ammo but Quyen only needed two things to be effective - explosives and cigarettes. Well... that was not true but she need them nonetheless."What about tocacco Jan? Find any?" Then before he can answer she points at him accusingly and says in pretend seriousness "YOU LIE!"

If Jan found any smokes Quyen will ask for no less than half and will challenge him to a fight if he refuses.

Oh, and she swapped rifles for a cool one with a folding stock.
Mariusz Tokarski
player, 1026 posts
Polish
Teenaged Partisan
Fri 13 Apr 2012
at 15:55
  • msg #418

Re: Last Goodbyes

Mariusz was initially horrified about giving up some of his ingredients but when Jay mentioned using them in a new cuisine, he became fascinated and said, "No problem but may I ask if I can watch you cooking it? A new dish is always worth discovering."
Griet Niewiadomska
player, 608 posts
Polish Navy - CPO
Krakow ORMO
Fri 13 Apr 2012
at 15:58
  • msg #419

Re: Last Goodbyes

Griet had spent as much time as she could with her father before their parting. Much of the time was spent going over old charts and benefiting from the old man's knowledge of the river but some of the time was spent reminiscing about happier days.

On the day of their departure, she hugged his hard and kissed him on the cheek, "Don't say goodbye, just bon voyage. I'll be back one day with tales of new adventures of the Queen."
Jan Cerny
NPC, 1266 posts
Czech/French
FFL
Fri 13 Apr 2012
at 16:53
  • msg #420

Re: Last Goodbyes

Jan had done a couple of things before leaving Warsaw.  Firstly he had taken one of the partly completed copies of the Black Madonna and had stowed it in his pack, unsure whether it was a memento or part of an explanation to give his superiors should he ever return to France.

He had also taken time to sit down with Butterfly and explain, over the half full bottle of vodka he had, what had happened to her husband and how he had been killed.  She hadn't really asked him for any details on their initial meetings so Jan suspected that she had already presumed the worst but he felt that it was the right thing to do to give her a relatively full account.  He'd left out the details of finding the bodies of the DGSE agent and the rest of his FFL team strung up in trees where their killers had left them to make an example.  She didn't need to know that and the memory still made him shudder, particularly as he'd been unable to bury their bodies.



Back in Gora Kalwaria Jan had enjoyed spending as much time as possible inactive, letting his wounded arm heal up and exercising it at points to make sure that he regained all of his strength in it.  He hadn't had the opportunity to really rest in a long time and sleeping on the boat was particularly enjoyable.  He had made it to Church several times however and he hadn't been completely idle.  He had used those days when the weather was clear and dry to re-charge the batteries of his and anyone else's radios and NVGs using his solar generator.  Setting it up on the deck had initially attracted quite a bit of attention from Griet's crew but very quickly it became routine.  Jan made sure he packed it up carefully each time however and returned it to his backpack.

Jan also spent some time getting to know Danny and his fellow crew members, Mac, Kel and a Major who went by the name of "Boots", having gathered that they would be joining the Queen on her continuing trip down river.  They told him the story of being shot down and how they came to be in Gora Kalwaria and he was impressed with their survival skills as they had crossed quite a bit of hostile territory.  Jan was particularly interested to discover that Boots spoke some French and he took the opportunity to speak to her, in what had become his native tongue, whenever he could.  It was a much more cultured language than English in Jan's opinion, even though he wasn't really a man of culture.

He'd also said his goodbyes to Robert, Monika and Piotr, leaving it to Anneka to decide whether she wanted to get back any of the medical supplies she had given to Jan, which he had subsequently passed on to Monika.  They were good people and it was sad to see them go in certain ways but good that some were leaving their group alive for once.  Far too many had died over the last couple of weeks!

A veritable market had broken out amongst the Kommandos as they reorganised gear and passed things amongst themselves.  They had accumulated quite a number of spare weapons between them and the Queen presented an opportunity to deposit lots of them into the weapons locker, potentially for use at a later date.  They were getting short of NATO grenade launcher rounds and had plenty of PACT ones so Jan decided to switch to an AK-74/BG-15 combo to free up his rounds for Konrad and Tuck.  They Steyr couldn't share mags with either Konrad or Tuck's rifles so it was the logical one to ditch.

The end result was that Jan looked slightly different than before, now dressed in a customised Lifchik chest harness, thanks to the needlework one of the women in Gora Kalwaria who had stitched a PMK pouch and a radio pouch to the normal set up, with a grenade belt attached below and carrying an AK.  Apart from his NATO issue Kevlar vest and helmet he looked very much like an Eastern European mercenary, fighting for whatever cause would pay him the most.

With the steadily filling weapons locker Jan also took it upon himself to offer Mac, Kel and Boots some of the spare firearms they had.  They were effectively infantry now whether they liked it or not and there were weapons to spare so, in Jan's opinion, they should be appropriately armed.



When they were finally getting ready to get underway and leave Gora Kalwaria, Quyen had spotted Jan smoking and had come storming over to speak to him.

Minh Quyen:
Realizing with horror that she was down to under half a dozen smokes she sought out Jan (who she knew was actively seeking out a new supply). The others might be concerned about guns and ammo but Quyen only needed two things to be effective - explosives and cigarettes. Well... that was not true but she need them nonetheless."What about tocacco Jan? Find any?" Then before he can answer she points at him accusingly and says in pretend seriousness "YOU LIE!"

If Jan found any smokes Quyen will ask for no less than half and will challenge him to a fight if he refuses.

Initially he had just grinned back at her and blown smoke in her direction while deciding whether to remind her that he had been a Savate and unarmed combat instructor in the Legion at one point.  He had relented however and had delved deep into his pack, pulling out single Gitanes cigarette which he offered to her.  Quyen knew that Jan usually kept his French cigarettes for himself and for special occasions.

"We will talk about other cigarettes later," he replied as Quyen took the cigarette and Jan lit it for her, "but for the moment have one of these to mark our leaving of Gora Kalwaria and the next stage of our journey together.  I hope that Mariusz has found some good coffee.  That would make today a very good day."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:59, Sun 15 Apr 2012.
Mrityunjay Byanjankar
player, 270 posts
Naik (Corporal)
Gurkha Rifles
Fri 13 Apr 2012
at 18:10
  • msg #421

Re: Last Goodbyes

Mariusz Tokarski:
Mariusz was initially horrified about giving up some of his ingredients but when Jay mentioned using them in a new cuisine, he became fascinated and said, "No problem but may I ask if I can watch you cooking it? A new dish is always worth discovering."


Jay grinned. "You no watch, you help if you like!"

Jay was no Michelin-star winner, but he made a damn fine curry...
Mariusz Tokarski
player, 1028 posts
Polish
Teenaged Partisan
Fri 13 Apr 2012
at 21:10
  • msg #422

Re: Last Goodbyes

Mariusz's grin matched the one of the Gurkha, "That would be fantastic! Thank you."
Daniel Larue
player, 53 posts
Technical Sergeant
USAF Pararescueman
Sat 14 Apr 2012
at 01:53
  • msg #423

Re: Last Goodbyes

Danny finds himself down by the snaggletoothed remains of a collapsed pier, staring out across the ice-speckled Vistula while the long-term members of the Queen's crew say their goodbyes to Adam, their other comrades who are staying behind, and the people of Gora Kalwaria.  He's heard the stories of the hellish month before he joined up with this unit - officially constituted or not, it is a unit by now - and he understands their ties, though he doesn't share them yet.  These are farewells for the "old" crew and he doesn't want to intrude.

"That's an opsec violation, airman," Connolly tells him.

Startled, Danny looks down at the squadron patch he's twirling between his fingers.  "Major, with respect... fuck a whole bunch of opsec."  He takes off his hat and defiantly slaps the scrap of Velcro-backed embroidery against the matching space on the front of the cap, where it sticks at a slight angle.  The breeze off the river drags icicles through his freshly-shorn hair.  He winces and tugs the hat back onto his head.

Connolly leans against him for both physical and immaterial support and a shard of residual guilt jabs Danny beneath his conscience.  She finally threw away her crutches last week, but one leg will always be an inch shorter than it was six months ago.  "It is kind of pointless now, isn't it?"  She glances up at the patch.  "We're probably the last of the Thirty-First, unless the support guys back at Kadena made it."

Danny shrugs.  "There's a lot of 'last ones' out here."  He wraps an arm around her to share warmth as they shiver in self-imposed exile.  "You still on board with this plan?"

"Up the Congo with Captain Blackbraid and her Merry Men?"  Connolly chuckles.  "Yeah, I'm in.  It's hot showers and no walking, and I get a comfy chair befitting my lofty station at the chart table.  Why?"

"Just checking."  Danny shrugs and realizes he seems to be substituting that for punctuation today.  "I know you're lookin' to me for direction on this, and I think Griet and Konrad are good folks, but we don't have to do it this way if you've got issues.  We can still go talk to the Agency guys."

The pilot shakes her head and glances longingly over her shoulder at the barn where the repaired Sokol crouches.  "No.  If we link up with them, we'll never get a ride back to the States.  It'll always be 'one more job, just do this last thing for us,' and they'll use us up one by one.  We may regret doing it this way but at least it's a step forward.  And we won't be on a leash."  She looks back at the village again and lets her breath hiss between her teeth.  "Aw, screw it.  Party's breaking up."

"Okay."  Danny nods and pulls his hat a little lower.  "Let's go home."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:15, Fri 20 Apr 2012.
Robert 'Tuck' Tucker
player, 1232 posts
Platoon Sergeant
10th Mountain Division
Sat 14 Apr 2012
at 02:01
  • msg #424

Re: Last Goodbyes

Once the initial celebration is over and it is time to let the 10th TD to have whatever they were promised, Tuck figures it is time to leave the embassy and let someone else clean up the place and his cigar ashes he left sitting in one of the comfortable chairs in an office.  He takes the time to help the others go through some of the other rooms of the Barons' former residence to see what they can liberate for themselves for their efforts in this attack.  Tucker comes across and looks at the huge .44 Automag in the armory and it feels really good in his hand as he looks to see if there are any spare magazines or ammo for it (or ANY accessories for it).  Robert takes what he can find and stuffs it into his rucksack where there is plenty of room since he had to dump most of it out when they went into the sewers and also takes 5.56N ammo to refill his depleted magazines and some extra as a parting gift.

The next couple of weeks, Tucker tries to take it easy and catch up on some much needed rest and sleep.  His mind and body had been worn down over the past couple of weeks and he could quickly feel himself drifting into a bad place and becoming combat ineffective.  There wasn't too many places that the Kommano's were able to go that he could find a decent place to sleep until he got back on the Queen and his personal space he had been afforded by Adam.  If someone needed to find him, nine out of ten times, he would be relaxing somewhere on the Queen or on shore near it catching up on personal grromin, maintenance, etc..
Craig Sutherland
player, 493 posts
Lieutenant
42 Commando Royal Marines
Mon 16 Apr 2012
at 07:39
  • msg #425

Re: Last Goodbyes


Once his head and leg was cleaned and stitched Craig also helped with the looting. He was able to full up all his magazines and with what Mariusz offered with his G3 he was sorted for ammunition for now.

When he had picked up his weapons from the armoury he had spied a couple of belts of 7.62mmN but decided to leave them in case a MG that required them turned up. When he had a chance he went looking for the M240 they had stashed and then if it was there he walked back to where the spring had been lost. He gathered some of the local kids to help look offering a couple of hard boiled lollies he had stashed from his MRE's if they found the spring.

On his way back he walked past the sewer entrance to have a look around for signs of what had happened after they descended. He didn't expect to find any of their gear but was curious as to what went on.

During the down time Craig concentrated on getting well but when the idea of instruction was put forward he was keen to help. He was happy to give some training in the following if anyone asks;

Combat Engineer
Forward Observer
Observation
Survival
Stealth
Unarmed Martial Arts
Autogun
Grenade Launcher
Small Arms (Rifle)
Small Arms (Pistol)
Dawid Waldus Piotrowski
player, 2713 posts
Ex-Sergeant
Polish Artillerist
Mon 16 Apr 2012
at 11:20
  • msg #426

Re: Last Goodbyes

Immediately after the battle, Dawid set out to recover Orso's body.

He couldn't stand him in life, but he'd sacrificed his life to help Warren and Craig escape the Baron's wrath. For that, he deserved a hero's funeral.

Going to where he left the body, he checked for booby traps. Even if the grenade he'd left under the body went off, the ammo might not be damaged and he could salvage it.

At least, Dawid wanted to recover the body in order to give it a Catholic burial.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:26, Tue 17 Apr 2012.
Mrityunjay Byanjankar
player, 283 posts
Naik (Corporal)
Gurkha Rifles
Tue 17 Apr 2012
at 18:20
  • msg #427

Re: Last Goodbyes

During the downtime before setting off on the boat, Jay used his time productively to help with menial chores around the unit, as well as helping to sort the kit and re-arm new team members. Once these tasks were done he indulged in a bit of exploring to see what he could find in the ruined buildings not far from the camp. They had probably already been searched, but another new set of eyes couldn't hurt.

As training took place he was keen to learn new skills, and was happy to teach others, although his lack of tuition experience and poor English would make lessons "interesting" to say the least.
Cap'n Rae
GM, 2503 posts
Long-time T2K Fan
First-time GM
Wed 18 Apr 2012
at 00:21
  • msg #428

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems


Shortly after the battle for the granary is concluded, Dawid returns to the scene of the group's first ambush of the Baron's armored relief force to recover Orso's body. He finds the burly Italian's body where he left it. The booby trap left beneath the body was apparently triggered, turning Orso's remains into so much ground human beef. Dawid searches the mess and recovers one undamaged magazine of 12-gauge ammunition. He places Orso's body in a shelter-half and drags it back towards the granary. On the way, he auspiciously crosses path with a civilian burial detail. They are sweeping the battle zones for dead to dispose of so that mortifying corpses don't spread disease within the city limits. Dawid requests that Orso be burried apart from the Black Legionairres, in a place of honor, and the civilians agree to inter his body with other Polish patriots and freedom fighters. Satisfied, Dawid consigns Orso's remains to the locals, takes his spare SPAS-15 magazine, and rejoins the rest of his group.

Almost as soon as it is discovered, the gold found in the basement of the Egytpian embassy becomes somewhat of a burden. The quickest/most efficient way to get the gold out of the Baron's palace is to "hire" Butterfly's Zil cargo truck to move it. With her assistance, most of the gold is smuggled out of the city and on to the river tug. For her efforts, Butterfly and her crew receives one of the 10 bars. Despite your best efforts at secrecy, men of the 10th TD find out about the gold. In order to avoid any elements of the 10th's attempting to to hinder the transfer of the bulk of the gold to the Queen, the division HQ staff is given three bars to secure their continued support and cooperation. Considering that the 10th has the strength to simply take the gold from you, you consider the transaction acceptable. Johnstone graciously brokers the deal- he will no doubt pocket some of the gold for himself.

You transport the remaining six bars back to Gora-Kalwaria. One of those bars is offered as payment to the tug's crew for their commitment to remain aboard the tug for the duration of the journey to the Baltic. After asking around, a G-K resident with experience in metalurgy is located. In exchange for one gold bar, this man melts down the remaining gold into smaller parcels. At X's suggestion, a mold is created from a 7.62mmS round, and the Kommando's remaining four gold bars are turned into "bullets". These golden rounds can be stored in empty AK mags, making them more transportable, concealable and, practical.

With the awkward gold siutation taken care of, the Kommando can focus on other important things. In the two weeks prior to departure, the Kommando spends some of its substantial down-time in cross training one another in various skills that will likely be handy during the course of the coming journey. After a great deal of thought and soul-searching, Dawid decides to remain a Kommando. For or better or for worse, these people are his brothers and sisters his arms, and his sister may still be alive and held somewhere down the river.
Jan Cerny
NPC, 1292 posts
Czech/French
FFL
Fri 20 Apr 2012
at 13:58
  • msg #429

The Federation of Smokers

Quyen hadn't been interested in the cigar Jan had offered her and had simply given him the hard stare of a nicotine addict who wanted a cigarette and knew someone who more than one to spare.  Jan continued puffing on his own cigar and stared back at her, grinning around the Cuban.

<img src="http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/3501/klubowe.jpg"align="left">"OK, you are not going to let this drop are you?" Jan said between puffs with a smile.  "I have been giving you cigarettes for the last three weeks.  We have smoked all of those horrible Klubowe cigarettes that I took off one of the Black Guard and a further four packs of the ones I found in the Palace."  The truth was that Dawid had joined in as well, smoking his fair share.  Jan had even given a few to some of the Gora-Kalwaria militia who he got on particularly well with, mainly those who had served under his command at various points.

"However I think that it is time that I shared some out as you asked," he continued to Quyen, pushing himself up from where he'd been sitting and heading towards the cramped cabin where they slept and his pack was stowed.  "Otherwise you will always be nagging me for more!"

He could hear her smiling behind him and it brought a grin to his face.

He stubbed the cigar out before entering the cabin, intending on finishing it off later and conscious that he'd had enough lectures from Anneka about the dangers of smoking.  She was a Doctor though so it was fair enough, even though the Legion Doctor who'd given him some jabs before coming to Poland had chain smoked.  That was typical of the medical profession though - forever giving you advice and scolding you for not following it even though they didn't do so themselves.

Anyway, if he was honest with himself he wasn't that big a fan of the Cuban cigars he'd found.  He preferred the simple pleasure of a cigarette given the choice and cigars were wasted on him a little.  Puffing on a big cigar just didn't feel right to him.  It was ok if you were a Texan oil baron like JR or a an elite soldier of fortune like Hannibal Smith, even though they were just TV characters, but if you were French then a cigar just looked out of place, particularly a big Cuban one!

"Tuck.  Dawid," he called to the other two smokers in the unit as he made his way across the deck.  "Come here for a few minutes my friends.  I have something for you."

<img src="http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/1128/carou.jpg"align="right">The four of them crouched round Jan's backpack, the one that he'd taken from Alexei Ondar shortly after he'd died.  "OK," he said firstly to Quyen and Dawid as he started pulling out red, unopened packets of cigarettes.  "These Caros seem a lot better than the Klubowe so if you find any more cigarettes remember who gave you these.  Also if you find any coffee or books they would be good as well.  I have seen Jay reading that old book of his and I think that reading would be fun to do again."

He then handed over eight packets of cigarettes each to Quyen and Dawid with a certain degree of ceremony.  Before they could comment in response to his gift Jan turned to Tuck and their eyes followed expectantly.

"Tuck, for you my friend I have some cigars.  The few we smoked the day we beat the Baron were not the only ones I found."  Jan pulled a wooden cigar presentation box from his pack and opened it.  Of the seventeen cigars they had found there were eleven left in the box, not counting the one he'd started as they'd left Gora-Kalwaria.  He removed two for himself and then handed the box with the other nine across to Tuck.  "Enjoy them Tuck, I do not know when we will be lucky and find more!"


Rae, just in case you want to know the details of this:
  • Of the 800 cigarettes Jan found I've assumed that over the 3 weeks of downtime he's smoked all his remaining Polish cigarettes (but not his French ones) and 80 of the ones he found.  Of the 720 remaining he's given 160 (8 packs) each to Quyen and Dawid, leaving himself with 360 (18 packs)
  • Of the 17 Cuban cigars I've assumed that 5 were smoked on the day we beat the Baron (Tuck will have had one of these) and that Jan smoked another one on the day the Queen left GK.  That leaves 11 cigars and 9 have been given to Tuck and jan has kept 2.

This message was last edited by the player at 14:15, Fri 20 Apr 2012.
Robert 'Tuck' Tucker
player, 1262 posts
Platoon Sergeant
10th Mountain Division
Sat 21 Apr 2012
at 00:46
  • msg #430

Re: The Federation of Smokers

In reply to Jan Cerny (msg #429):

Tucker just looks at Jan and smiles taking the box that he hands them and taking a couple of seconds to take in the smells of real Cuban cigars.  "Jan my man, I haven't smelt let alone seen, a Cuban cigar in years.  You have made my day mon ami!"
Dawid Waldus Piotrowski
player, 2734 posts
Ex-Sergeant
Polish Artillerist
Mon 23 Apr 2012
at 22:59
  • msg #431

Re: The Federation of Smokers

In the weeks before leaving, Dawid practiced his marksmanship.

As well, he asked around about his sister Urzula's alleged whereabouts. Many knew of her due to her work in the city as a Doctor, few knew her fate. Evidence suggested the Baron had traded her away like a slave to a warlord for some 12mm ammunition. Location unknown.

Dawid checked with any traders who'd been down river (north, towards the sea) or if anyone knew of any warlords.

Further, he sought out anything that looked like a council for the city. If there wasn't one, he tried to organise something along those lines. After all, the only way the people of the city would remain free of tyrants was if they were to stand united. They had a lot to gain and everything to lose if they didn't.

Once that was arranged, he informed them he would be travelling north and his plans to find his sister. Should they run into any communities he would inform them the city was free from the Baron's control and they should send some kind of envoy or trade representative.
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