A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.

John Steinbeck

-

Monday, November 20, 2000
0900 hrs.
44F
Slightly cloudy skies; slight breeze from the northeast
Vistula River, 10km north of Warsaw, Poland


For the first time in quite a while, the entire Kommando is aboard the Wisla Krolowa. For the first time since you first boarded the tough old river tug, her master, Old Adam Rataj is not sitting in the captain's seat. In fact, he's not aboard at all. Griet Niewiadomska, Adam's daughter from an extra-marital affair, is now in command of the vessel, charged with taking the Kommando at least as far as the Vistula Estuary, where the river meets the Baltic Sea.

It takes you a while to get used to the motion of the river tug. It's not marked enough to cause sea sickness, but it is a bit unsettling after so long on dry land.

The tug is looking ship-shape. The crew, with the assistance of a handful of Gora-Kalwaria townsfolk, spent quite a few hours making repairs and cleaning her from stem-to-stern. Her dozens of battle scars have been erased by fresh paint. The mighty Vasilek auto-mortar is once again on the Krolowa's foredeck. In place of the Mk-19 AGL (lost in Warsaw), formerly mounted on the raised quarterdeck aft of the main stack, the tug sports an AGS-17 AGL and a PKM for rear defense. The quarterdeck's old awning, shredded by shrapnel from a helicopter-fired aerial rocket, has been replaced by a new awning custom-made by the people of Gora Kalwaria.

The tug steams slowly down the river. The temperature is not yet below freezing again, but with the wind chill, it sure feels like it is. The river is relatively narrow here, and the countryside is wild and empty on both banks, the tragic legacy of the Baron's river corsairs. All of the riverside settlements you pass immediately downriver of Warsaw are either entirely bereft of human habitation or razed to the ground. Local fauna appear to have reclaimed much of this land. In the streets of one small abandoned hamlet not far from the east bank of the river, you watch a herd of large deer loiter, seemingly unconcerned by your passage. A few kilometers on, over on the west bank, you witness a small wolf pack gorging on a large prey animal in a clearing by the mouth of a small tributary.

This first day of the next leg of your journey down the Vistula is one for reestablishing on-board routines and relationships. There are watch and duty schedules to iron out, various weapons and mechanical systems to refamiliarize yourself with, and a multitude of dangers to be on guard for.


Next Moves?

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:40, Fri 20 Apr 2012.

Once the tug was underway, Bayer had Lt.Sutherland muster the platoon on the deck. Getting back into old habits, it was time once again for everyone to be assigned to the various heavy weapons. Unlike previous times on the Queen, Bayer decided to change things up a little, creating two battle station rotations. This was to keep everyone familiar with the different types of weaponry aboard... and to a lesser extent, switch up those who would otherwise end up in the usually more passive and safer aft positions. For those few Kommandos with specialized skills, such as Dawid however, their placement was pretty much guaranteed to be in one place.



"The rotation taskings will change daily... Roto One for odd days and Roto Two will be on even days. Excluding the bridge crew, the order listed will also be the sentry roster, with one on duty during daylight hours and doubled up during the evening." Bayer explains.

Then with previous memories still fresh in his mind regarding the inevitable shore parties and realizing he had an disproportionate number of NCOs and officers to the men, Bayer says simply, "Shore parties will be on an ad-hoc basis, with senior squad leaders, usually two at a time, rotating between Robert, Jan, Dawid, and Lt.Sutherland."

"On ship, as just a reminder since it's been a while, Griet is chief of the boat." he adds.

Bayer then looks around and asks, "Any issues with anything I said?"

Anneka raises her hand and adds, "I still haven't received skills lists from all of the new personnel."

Danny's expression goes carefully blank as he heroically avoids making eye contact with Anneka.  At least she's not still going on about having me inflict full flight physicals on everyone.

Danny
Winona [30/30] w/ 6 magazines - slung
CZ 75 [15/15] w/ 2 magazines - holstered
AN-M8 HC smoke grenade x2 - on vest
AN-M18 red smoke grenade x1 - on vest
This message was last edited by the player at 12:39, Fri 20 Apr 2012.

Jan couldn't stop himself from snorting in derision and asking a question of his own.  Anneka was already trying to play her who's in charge games and they'd only been away from Gora Kalwaria for one night!  Jan's dislike of the woman, that had dwindled while he was away from her, was quickly rekindled.

"More importantly Capitaine," he said to Konrad.  "What do we know about the river ahead?  Everything has been abandoned so far but do we know of any towns or villages further down river that are still occupied?  Do we have any idea how far north the Baron’s influence spread?"


Jan
AK-74 (30/30 - 30rnd mag x11) - carried
BG-15 (1/1 HE - HE x19) - underslung on AK-74
Sig Sauer P226 (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
M72A4 LAW - slung on strap
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
This message was last edited by the player at 15:35, Fri 20 Apr 2012.

Griet sat on her chair during the conference and nodded as Bayer acknowledged her command of the boat, "The Queen will be under Kaptain Bayer's overall command at all times. I'll have ultimate responsibility for the safety of the boat, but the aim is to get you all safely to Germany or wherever else we can get you. Obviously, Gdansk is our first main target. After that, we'll see where we need to go from there."

She fingered the silver chain with the gifts that her father had left her, the saint's medal for St. Jude, a missionary's ship and St. Brendan's Dolphin tailed cross. Most precious of all was the silver locket with a photo-booth picture of Adam and her mother mugging it up for the camera in one compartment and a picture of herself at about three. She was scowling bad-temperedly at the photographer, a scowl that had rarely left her face for years. Now she was alone again, just her and the Queen.

She felt the engine thrum below her and the boat roll along in the current. She was home at last.

Griet
Tantal 30/30 (+6 mags in vest)
BG-1 1/1 HE (+14 HE in Vest)
Makarov 7/7 (+2 mags)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

As the boat chugged down river, Jay settled into the rotation. Following the training from Dawid, he spent much of his time practising with the heavy weapons, mouthing the firing noises like a child playing with a stick, but pretty soon he was familiar with their workings.

The Jewish doctor lady had annoyed him. She seemed intent on grilling everyone about their capabilities. The normally affable Gurkha had decided to play dumb though, and deliberately played down his English skills, using lots of pantomime actions to describe his abilities with RPGs, hand to hand combat and stealth. Those watching who had gotten to know him couldn't help but laugh at his performance.

As he walked away from his interrogation he tipped a wink at those watching, allowing a big grin to spread across his face.

Mariusz smiled at Jay's antics with Soleblume. He had helped the Gurkha with his curry and knew full well that whilst he wasn't fluent in English, he was more than capable of communicating effectively.

When the man finished with the Doctor Marisuz popped his head through the door and said, "He also cooks."

Mariusz
AK-74 30/30 (+6 mags in vest)
BG-1 1/1 HE (+12 HE in vest)
M1911A1 7/7 (+2 mags on belt)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:13, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

In reply to Mrityunjay Byanjankar (msg #9):

Dawid returned "It's good that Anneka makes a point of knowing what we can do." He added, quietly, "at least that's something."

He fingered his own rosary.

"Kaptain, that schedule looks good. Just so you know... I've got things I need to do. I will travel with you as far as I can, and I may well come as far as Gdansk. Leave Poland? This is my home, she needs me."

About 40km downriver of Warsaw, the Wisla Krolowa slows markedly and unexpectedly after having experienced a loss of power in one of her engines. Seconds later, Jozef Grzyech's muffled growl sounds through the speaking tube from the engine room.

"Engine two just went down. I'll have to shut down the boilers."

Griet shouts back down the tube. "Alright, Chief, give me two minutes and then go ahead and shut them down."  Then she turns to Y and says, "Once we come about, drop the anchors."

"Aye, captain." Walter Matuziak answers. It's clear that he harbors romantic feelings for the new captain. He would have stayed aboard the tug even without the gold.

Griet spins the wheel and reverses thrust on the port side screw, bringing the tug's pug nose about to face upriver. She increases speed to hold station against the current until the anchors are deployed. She reduces power until it is clear that the anchors have taken hold, then she cuts the throttle altogether.

Considering his gruff and territorial personality, and a rather substantial language barrier, the grizzled chief engineer Josef Grzyech and the middle-aged American helicopter mechanic Adam Kellerman get along rather well. They both speak the language of gauges, levers, and wrenches and that appears to be enough. They two men work on the engine systems for about two hours before discovering the source of the problem. It takes another two hours to make the needed repairs. It was a relatively straightforward problem with a fairly easy, albeit time-consuming fix, and the chances of a reccurance are pretty low. However, by the time engine #2 is back on line, the sun is just above the western horizon. Since the tug is in no hurry, it was decided before final departure that, as SOP, the tug would not travel during hours of darkness. So, with no steam pressure and the firebox going cold, its decided to spend the night in situ. It will take at least 30 minutes to get a head of steam up and get underway again.

You settle in for your first night aboard the tug in some time. Those not on watch duty are greatful for the warm and sheltered crew accomodations below decks.

Next Moves?

Craig decided to check both positions he would now be occupying. He moved the large DShK machine gun on its mount checking the extreme of its traverse and travel. He then familiarised himself with blockage and clearing procedures and where extra ammunition was kept.

Once satisfied he moved onto the grenade launcher. Here he had made some modifications to the protection around the position, raising the height of the sand bags while not impeding its movement.

One of the final things he attended to before leaving was to swap the handguard on his G3 for the one on Mariusz's rifle. Even thought his G3 was the sniper version of the series for some reason it did not have the handguard and bipod combination, but now it did.

When the time for his watch comes about Craig takes up the sniper position on top of the wheel house. He changes out the HE 40mm grenade for one of the illumination rounds before settling in under his scrim.

Top of wheel house.

HK G3SG/1 (w/ Zeiss 1.5-6 x 42 mm Telescopic Sight)[20/20] w/14 magazines - at his shoulder bipod deployed
Hk-69 [1/1] HE 40mmN - within arms reach
L32A1 (Browning A5) 10" Barrel [4/3] 00 Buckshot - carried
Browning HP-35 (w/ silencer) [20/20] w/2 magazines - holstered
Smoke grenade x1
Frag Grenade F1 x6
Kukri
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

Dawid pulled Konrad aside.

"Kaptain, a word with you?"

"The NATO personnel wish to return home, which is of course understandable, and the Queen will be of service in this. As you know, this is my home. You're also aware I'm looking for my sister, and I heard she was downstream from Warszawa."


Dawid Waldus Piotrowski
PKM GPMG (100/100 + 2 spare ammo cans)
Stechkin + 2 magazines, 2x Smoke, 2x Fragmentation, 2x Flare
WK's bridge
Talking to Bayer

Danny spends the first day learning the tug - her sounds, the rhythms of her crew, the subliminal feel of the deck when she's moving under power.  He's been aboard before, but the trip from Gora Kalwaria to Warsaw was full of preparations for a fight and the return voyage was full of patients.  It's a different experience to be on the bridge without an impending crisis, free to watch the Polish countryside slide by and observe Griet in her element.  The bridge is a bit cramped with its current complement, though, so after the second time he trips over Boots, he gives Bayer a heads-up and slips outside to begin prowling the weather deck.  He stays out there for most of the morning, occasionally exchanging conversation with the guys he can't help thinking of as door gunners.

After assisting Mariusz with lunch, a quick check with Jan yields an unclaimed pair of binoculars from the team's stores.  Danny retreats to the forward weather deck and does some thinking while he periodically scans the land around the tug.

Once the decision is made to settle in for the night, Danny seeks out Bayer and finds the CO in conversation with Dawid.  He stands off at a polite distance until the big Pole is done, then catches Bayer's attention.  "Captain... a moment, please?  Two things."

"First, when we were in G-K, Major Soleblume brought up the idea of doing a round of full physicals."  He frowns.  "I don't know if she's approached you on that yet, but I would at least like your permission to do a quick medical survey of the unit - and Griet's crew, if she doesn't object.  Knowing things like drug allergies and blood types is gonna help me later."  Help me not make mistakes that kill people later, he mentally adds.

"Second thing, Sir... you said bridge crew is off sentry duty, but I'd appreciate it if you'd put me in the rotation.  I can catch up with combat naps while we're under way, and," he colors slightly but looks Bayer straight in the eye, "I don't want any of the other shooters to think I'm not pulling my weight."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Sun 22 Apr 2012.

Although he had failed to remember to include one of Daniel's companions on the duty roster, Bayer was pleased there were no real objections or issues with it. Later that night, he'd have to adjust the list and make use of the overlooked American gunner. Hopefully soon enough, everyone would find it easy to fall back into their old routine and things would be running as they were before they departed the Queen for Warsaw.

Bayer remaines expressionless when Solemblume spoke up, not wanting to show his annoyance with her, but at the same time he does nothing about any of the unrestrained negativity that is displayed by the men. Either she got the hint now or he'd have to talk with her quietly later.

Unfortunately Bayer had nothing of value to say to Jan's query either, not at this time anyways, but hoped that perhaps some of those from Warsaw might have something to add. He then gave a look to Daniel and the female pilot, looking for any input they might have. If not, they just have to deal with whatever the Vistula could throw at them when it happened. It wasn't the best way to going about heading downstream... but they did manage to get this far.

Bayer then nods slowly at Griet, thankful for her support, and dismisses the group, not wanting to take up any more of their time. If anyways wanted to continue speaking with him, they could do privately. Then on his way back up to the bridge, Dawid is the first to do so...



Bayer scratches the stubble on his chin and replies, "I can promise that we will do our best to collect any information that we can from settlements or other boats that we come across Dawid. If we can discover her whereabouts, or even rumor, then we will most certainly investigate... and do what needs to be done." He then looks at the man for a reaction on his sincere promise and asks, "Acceptable?"

Then shortly afterwards, Bayer turns his attention to Daniel...



"No... no she hasn't." Bayer replies quietly about the doctor. Then impressed with the American's professional concern, he agrees without hesitation, "Of course. That's a good suggestion and uhh... I think it would be better received by the unit if it was conducted by you anyways." Bayer then adds, "You might also want to canvas the unit and see what other medical supplies are floating around. We had an old SOP for everyone to carry at least one field dressing for self aid, but some of the group might need to be reissued any that were used up in Warsaw."



On this Bayer thinks for a moment, mulling things over, before saying, "That should be fine. The bridge crew was excluded since they'd be on duty whenever the boat was traveling, but that doesn't necessarily apply to you specifically." He then nods and says, "Sure. Not a problem."

Dawid came to attention and, seeing they were inside, saluted.

"Yes, sir. Apologies, I don't mean to take up any more time." It looked like others needed the Kaptain's attention and he had no further requests.

After, he sought Jan out.

"Thank you, my friend, for the cigarettes. You are a Godsend! I can't imagine my good-for-nothing brother doing such a thing for me. That's it, he's out of the will and you're in."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:47, Sun 22 Apr 2012.

Mariusz looked affectionately at the bright light of the electric bulb that illuminated the galley as he picked through the food and ingredients that he'd accumulated from the granary and the Baron's personal kitchen. The herbs and spices were kept under lock and key, probably being more valuable now than the gold coins he'd been given but many people wouldn't have realised the value of one of the strains of wheat grain that he had discovered in the battle for the food store.

He placed the sack of grain on the table and opened it up before letting the amber grains run through his hands. He smiled as he remembered the instructions his mother had given him about the secrets of preparing food from the most basic of ingredients. He placed one of the looted plastic buckets under the stainless steel grinder bolted to the preparation table and then set the blades of the grinder to a precise setting only a little narrower than the grains themselves.

After some experimentation, he soon had bright yellow powder sifting from the grain as the blades ground the husks and coverings of the grains whilst leaving the bulk of the germ intact. Slowly the bucket filled with the yellow powder and after a few hours, he had a bucketful of several kilograms of the powder and a pile of white germs ready for grinding into flour. The yellow powder could be used to fortify soups as semolina or as cous-cous and polenta. He sealed the bucket and then set the blades closer together.

Now it was time for the real magic, the wheat strain was high in protein but low in gluten which made it a poor ingredient for making bread, but perfect for pasta. He hummed tunelessly to himself, imagining the pleasure the others would take from eating home made pasta rather than heavy bread and potatoes.

"Yessir."  Ah ha.  So he's not immune to Doctor Feelgood's... charms... either.



"I'll see to that.  Tourniquets all around, too.  I may also have some recommendations on medical SOPs once I assess the overall level of training."



"Thank you, Sir."  Realizing he should probably take a cue from Dawid, Danny comes to attention and snaps Bayer a salute.  Once dismissed, he heads up the ladder in search of his first victim.  May as well get started before we get hit.  I shoulda done this last week...

OOC: Rubber gloves and intrusive questions to come in PMs!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:58, Sun 22 Apr 2012.

Once the Queen was stable in the current and the guards were set up, Griet clambered down into the engine room. She checked in with Josef and after discussing the maintenance needed to get the boat running again she said, "Whilst the fires are out we might as well work on the fire box. I'll catch a nap now and once the box is cool enough to work in call me and I'll clean out the soot and residues."

Griet hated the dirty cramped job, but Josef was nearly three times her age and not nearly so supple, she could perform the routine task far more efficiently, she turned to the American and said, "If you want I'll talk you through the process as I do it, it'll be the sort of thing you may not have encountered before. I certainly hadn't and I'd been working on ships for years."

It didn’t overly surprise Jan that Konrad didn’t have much information about what the situation was downriver from Warsaw.  The Baron had effectively blocked traffic up and down the river so information was bound to be in short supply and they would have no option but to find out for themselves and deal with things as they occurred.


Jan smiled in reply.  “I am most grateful my friend.  If only you had something of value to leave me!  Something tasteful at least!”

---

Once the Queen had settled on its anchors Jan studied the river bank on either side with his binoculars in the fading light, judging the distance to each and any particularly good vantage points that could be used to attack the boat.  He knew next to nothing about engines so he stayed out of Griet and the other mechanics way and waited for them to fix it.  It didn't bode well that they had travelled only a few kilometres and they were already having trouble with the Queen but he was sure that they could fix it.

He knew that she had taken quite a pounding though, despite the recent coat of paint that hid most of the repairs, and Griet and her crew knew their boat well.  Jan just hoped that not having Adam on board wouldn't pose a problem - it wasn't that he lacked confidence in Griet, in fact it was quite the reverse, it was just that it felt different without the original Captain on board.

Before darkness finally settled in Jan pointed out any vantage points that he had spotted to the other guards on watch before setting in to his own position.  He had had quite a restful time over the last couple of weeks and now it was time to do some proper soldiering again.  He felt a tinge of desire for a cigarette but resisted it, smoking on duty in the dark was a bad idea, even what he was sat on a boat in the middle of a wide river.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:02, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

"Don't worry Chief, we cleaned out the firebox right before we left Gora Kalwaria- no sense in getting yourself all dirty again so soon. We can handle it."

Mac just smiles and nods, unsure of quite what's just transpired. "Thanks, Skipper."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:15, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

After a particular tasty dinner served up by young chef Mariusz, the Krolowa's crew and her Kommando settle into their night routines. The night is particularly dark. The moon and stars are hiding behind thick clouds. Looking aft, downriver, you can see lights in the distance. When consulted, first mate Walter Matusiak opines, "That should be Plock." It's probably no more than a hour's journey at the tug's top speed.

As the tug is no longer underway, it doesn't feel quite as cold as it did earlier in the day, although the actual temperature has gone down. Those not on watch enjoy the relative warmth of the Krolowa's interior.

The tug's crew and security force/passengers are still getting used to life on board a ship. Light discipline is inadvertently breached several times, prompting Konrad to make the rounds of the Queen to remind everyone to maintain blackout conditions at all times. Those with NODs make good use of them, periodically turning them on for a few minutes to sweep their assigned defensive sectors before switching them back off again to conserve battery life. Although the tug has a fairly effective charger, batteries, even rechargable ones, have a finite lifespan and the prospects of acquiring more are extremely thin. Even with NODs, it's hard to see very far in the near pitch black darkness. The constant motion of the steadily flowing river plays tricks on the eyes, making scanning for riverine threats that much more difficult in the dark.



Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:45, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

After sneaking a after dinner smoke in the galley Quyen dug out her wool army sweater and threw it on over her Aidas track hoodie. It was getting colder as each day passed and she knew sooner than later that would start to be a serious issue, so she then sought out Konrad to see if he could help out. "Hauptmann. Sorry... but because of the winter there is an issue that may become a problem for me. I only have a sweater. No jacket. I almost froze in Warsaw."

Bayer glances down at her sweater and nods, "Hmmm... don't worry. I promised Dawid we would try to gather information as we travel downriver. We'll trade for a jacket the first opportunity. In the meantime, you may use my parka when you are outside on sentry and I will also ask the others if they have a spare. Sound good for now?"

---

Before bunking down for the night, Bayer went around reminding the night sentries to preserve their night optics as much as possible. Same too for radios which didn't need to be on at all while on board the Queen. During his rounds, he also witnessed a few incidents of poor light discipline, which surprised him, so he firmly reminded everyone that while life aboard the tug was different than being in the field - night routine SOPs were basically the same.

Later in the night, he was awoken in his sleeping bag by the sound of a dull bump sound. Opening his eyes, he reaches for his sidearm nearby and listens, hearing the same sound again. There was no mistake this time and something was wrong. The night sentries were posted, but he new well enough that those sounds were something foreign hitting the hull.

Bayer then rose and still half dressed, crept out to the doorway and peered out into the cold night. He spotted the men in one of the boats, little more than shadows, and pushed himself up against the side of the Queen for cover. Then not willing to challenge the men he aims his P7, steadying it with both hands, at the first figure clambering over the gunwhale and squeezes off two shots.

"ALARM!" he shouts before the last shell casing hits the floor. "Stand to stand to! Prepare to repell boarders!"

Bayer will then hold fire and gauge the reaction of the unknown party.

Bayer
P7 9mmP (11/13)
Half-dressed in the doorway
Firing 2 aimed shots at closest boarder
This message was last edited by the player at 02:33, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

Thoroughly unqualified to be behind a machine gun, Danny finds himself splitting a bridge watch shift with Bayer.  He takes care of the hauptmann's medical interview, then passes the time with a few quiet inquiries about the unit and some relatively safe personal questions.  Their paths didn't cross a lot in Warsaw or G-K and this is the first chance Danny's really had to get a good read on his new CO.  If Danny discovers Bayer was also a marathoner, the inevitable comparison of courses and times will no doubt occur.

After Bayer turns in, Danny restlessly prowls the bridge, occasionally stepping outside to converse with Sutherland and Tuck and relieve them so they can warm up.  He's just finished logging his 0200 weather observations when he catches motion out of the corner of his eye.  Flipping down his NVGs, he sees the boarders coming alongside.  For a moment, he's too croggled to do anything but give Craig an incredulous, almost offended look.  Are you shittin' me?

Bayer's first shot breaks Danny's paralysis.  He turns, scattering his logbook on the floor, and swipes a hand across the bank of switches that controls the work lamps for the main deck.  As the powerful lights come up, he grabs the microphone for the public address system.  "Drop your weapons, drop your fucking weapons!"

Danny
Lights and speakers that go to eleven
Winona [30/30 + 6 magazines] - laid across an adjacent seat
CZ 75 [15/15 + 2 magazines] - holstered
AN-M8 HC smoke grenade x2 - on vest
AN-M18 red smoke grenade x1 - on vest

OOC: I am assuming the Queen has lights and PA as I just described (respectively, for night operations and for passing orders from the wheelhouse to the deck crew and/or other vessels).  Danny's intent is to blind and disorient the boarders more than he blinds and disorients the other PCs, hoping to defuse the fight - or at least rupture some OODA loops.  If the vessel does not, in fact, have the systems necessary for this questionable tactic, he'll waste an action remembering that fact.  Regardless, though, Danny is staying low, as the bridge is an obvious target for suppressive fire.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:58, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #25):

Understanding and agreeing with Konrad's concern, Dawid went around himself and double-checked to make sure everyone was practicing light discipline. It wasn't so much the members of the Kommando; they were all used to trying to remain unseen in the field.

When the alarm was sounded he grabbed the PKM and his NVGs, headed to the main weapon at the bow.

"What side? Where?"

Reaching the bow he chambered a round into the GP-gun. Then he checked both sides. Just because they were coming up one side didn't mean they couldn't be at the other as well.

Dawid Piotrowski
PKM 100/100
Bow Vasilek Fighting Position
Checking both sides with NVGs.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:49, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

From his vantage point on top of the wheel house, Craig had to blink a couple of times to make sure he was not making things up.

He then grabbed one of his FRAG grenades before throwing it towards the boat on the right side, he did the same with a second grenade to the one on the left.

Throwing grenades at the boarders boats.
Top of wheel house.

HK G3SG/1 (w/ Zeiss 1.5-6 x 42 mm Telescopic Sight)[20/20] w/14 magazines
L32A1 (Browning A5) 10" Barrel [4/3]
Browning HP-35 (w/ silencer)[20/20] w/2 magazines
Smoke grenade x1
FRAG Grenade F1 x6
Kukri

Jan was quietly snoring to himself and happy in a dream about meeting Vanessa Paradis for coffee in an old fashioned café called Bar de la Marine.  It was a place he knew well on the harbour in Marseilles and they were having a very good time.  She was laughing at his jokes and kept touching his knee when she smiled at him and he had just suggested that they switch from coffee to Pastis, or Pastaga as he preferred to call it, and she had agreed.  He was hoping that their date was going to go somewhere more interesting than a café when he was rudely awoken by the sound of someone shooting, quickly followed by someone yelling something about repelling borders!

He quickly rolled out of his sleeping bag, slung his webbing over his shoulder, grabbed his rifle and ran out of the cabin and on the deck to find out what was happening.  He was sleeping in a clean pair of combat trousers and a dark grey hooded sweatshirt so the chill of the night didn’t shock him too much, though that was partly due to the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins, but he could really feel the cold deck as he went to find out what was going on.  Though he had a pair of socks on he hadn’t had time to put on his boots, let alone his body armour or helmet.

“Where are they?” he yelled in English while standing just outside the doorway to the cabin.  He scanned around trying to work out what was going on, conscious that this was just the kind of situation where people could easily end up shooting their comrades!


Jan
Grabbing weapon and ammo, exiting the cabin and trying to work out what is going on
AK-74 (30/30 - 30rnd mag x7) - carried
BG-15 (1/1 HE - HE x11) - underslung on AK-74
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Note – webbing not currently worn but is looped over shoulder

Mariusz wriggled out of his sleeping bag and thrust his feet into his open boots. He grabbed his rifle and vest and headed as quickly as he could for his position on deck, at some point a thought about what was going on entered his head but he thrust it away. Time to find that out after he knew if the boat was secure or not.

Griet had been glad not to have to crawl into the firebox. The girder that had broken her leg had pinned her in a pocket of rubble for thirty-six hours before a search party had dug her out and even now she felt uncomfortable in tight spaces.

The noise of the alarm woke her from her sleep and she sat upright and grabbed her gun. She stood and dashed out into the corridor heading to the bridge to assess the nature of the emergency.

In reply to Craig Sutherland (msg #28):

Seeing Craig chuck 2 grenades over the side (where it's likely friendlies would be leaning over to look) without any kind of warning, Dawid yelled out, "GRENADES!"

Tucker had gotten back to his rack are fairly quickly when he heard there was an alarm of 'repel boarders' being yelled out by what sounded like Konrad and seeing for himself.  He had wanted that damn M-14K so bad for CQB actions and it was time to see if it was worth the wait.  Robert chambered a round in it and put an extra mag in his cargo pocket and then put his kevlar vest on over his gun belt holding the H&K SOCOM pistol.

He tried to get to an outside position so he could get eyes on some threats and made himself real small on a corner when he heard 'grenade' being yelled out by Dawid.  He is going to make [1] well placed shot on one of te first boarders he sees with the M-14K on semi-automatic.

OOC: Being that Tucker was up, he would've had his pistol and spare mags on?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:21, Thu 26 Apr 2012.

The peace of the night is instantly shattered as all hell breaks loose aboard the Wilsa Krolowa.

Konrad is the first to react, firing two pistol shots at the first boarder (port side, amidships) before ducking back down behind cover. He's fairly certain that both shots missed. (Konrad -2 rounds 9mm)

Daniel LaRue hits the lights, attempting to blind or at least disorient the attackers. The tug's lights illuminate the water ahead of the tug, leaving the sides of the ship in shadow. If anyone managed to sleep through Konrad's two gunshots, the tug's PA/loudspeaker certainly wakes them up. If the attackers understand LaRue's amplified command to surrender, they certainly give no indication.

Craig, in the sniper's eerie above the bridge, believes that high explosives are the key to repelling the surprise boarding attack. He tosses one frag to port and then, without waiting for a result, tosses a second to starboard. The port grenade bounces off the rubber hull of the first boat and lands in the Vistula where it explodes harmlessly. The second grenade falls into the mastless, wooden sailboat and lodges under a bench. It explodes in a shower of metal fragments and wooden splinters, knocking down three or four of the starboard-side boarding party and showering the Krolowa's superstructure with bits of dangerous debris. (Craig -2 frags)

Tucker emerges on the Tug's raised quarterdeck, M-14K in hand. He fires at one of the boarders to port. The man's leg buckles as the bullet shatters his right femur and he falls to the deck screaming in pain. (Tucker -1 round)

Several of the boarders open fire on the tug's obvious/visible defensive positions on full automatic, spraying bullets at the surprised defenders. Bullets' ricochet loudly off of the tug's thick hide, zinging off in unpredictable directions. The attackers' attention is focussed on the superstructure above them, so Dawid'd approach from forward is not immendiately noticed.


Next Moves?

With everyone alerted now, Bayer edges away from the doorway and encourages the team to pour it on, "Keep firing keep firing! Maximum aggression... take dem'out!" Once someone has taken his position at the doorway he rushes back to his bunk and grabs his G36 and his tac vest as the 9mm just won't suffice tonight.

Then as he moves back towards the firefight, he inserts a buckshot round into his 40mm launcher.

Crap.  Not exactly the lights I wanted.  Danny quickly glances around for the switches that should control the work lights on the deck - forward navigation isn't exactly a priority at the moment.  His search is interrupted by wayward shrapnel rattling against the bridge windows.  The safety glass holds but there are a few new cracks and divots.  Griet's gonna be pissed.  Okay, fuck 'em.

Still kneeling below the level of the windows and staying in the unlit bridge's interior shadows, Danny makes a long arm and grabs Winona from her chair, flipping her selector to SEMI.  He eases around the corner to the bridge's aft door and trips the latch to let it swing open.  Through his NVGs, he scans the knot of boarders for anyone who looks like he's trying to organize the assault.  Winona's barrel swings up and spits out a controlled pair, then one more for good measure...

Danny
Three quick shots to the guy acting like he's in charge (check fire if Griet is in the line of fire on her way to the bridge)
Winona [30/30 + 6 magazines] - up, on SEMI
CZ 75 [15/15 + 2 magazines] - holstered, cocked and locked
AN-M8 HC smoke grenade x2 - on vest
AN-M18 red smoke grenade x1 - on vest
This message was last edited by the player at 02:05, Fri 27 Apr 2012.

Tucker already likes this weapon!  He knows it's only one round from it but,the damage that it deals is quite impressive and it is handy to have in such a small space to work in.  If there are two [2] threats to fire at with single-shots at each one he will do so.  If not, he will double-tap the next closest and agressive threat nearest to him.

TUCKER
M-14K [19/20] {Set on S/S}
[+1] MAG 20 in cargo pocket
H&K SOCOM (.45 acp) [12/12] SAFETY 'ON & HOLSTERED'
[+2] MAG 12 in mag pouch
Kevlar Vest/Helmet

[2] single-shots to [2] threats or [1] double-tap to [1] threat

With his new orders from Johnston eating at him coupled long hours in the crows nest, Jeff had lost some focus, and it had let the attackers get the best of him.  He intended to make up for this mistake quickly.  At the first opportunity he had, he took aim and fired rright at the chest of the arrogant pirate with the sword.


Jeff Warren
Crows Nest
Quick shot on sword pirate.
SAKO TRG-21 [10/10]

As he rolled back from throwing the last grenade Craig has his shotgun in hand. He waits for the denotation before rolling towards the sandbag lip of his position.

Shotgun at his shoulder lying on his side, he fires the four rounds of Buckshot in the magazine into the port attackers while trying to not expose more of himself then necessary.

Above Bridge

L32A1 (Browning A5) 10" Barrel [4/3]

Jay had been caught unaware by all the commotion. He had been busy trying out his new IR goggles, and not maintaining a proper watch. Cursing himself, he dropped to his knee and raised his rifle to his shoulder. He flipped the selector to FULL AUTO and scanned for targets. Once located he intended to put a full burst into them and make they pay for his lapse.

As he looked around he glanced over the side of the boat of there were more attackers coming aboard. If he sees multiple targets he will spray the area, intended to cause damage as well as suppress.


Jay Biyanjankar
In a crouch, looking for targets and then firing on full auto
AK74 30/30

Griet reached the bridge and looked around to assess the situation. There were boarders to port and starboard and several men already seemed to have gained a foothold on the boat.

She exited from the port side of the wheelhouse and moved to cover the stairs down to the deck. She crouched down and readied her rifle, waiting to see what was going on before firing and potentially hitting one of her comrades. She saw Mariusz appearing from a doorway and said, "Boarders! Cover the starboard stairs. Don't shoot until we've seen what side people are on."

Griet
AK-74 30/30
BG-1 1/1HE
Crouched at port stairs
Overwatch

As Mariusz exited onto the upper deck he saw Griet crouched down. She hissed him and order and he nodded. He dropped to a crouch and scrambled around to the opposite side of the boat. He shouldered his rifle and scanned the darkness for targets.

Mariusz
AK-74 30/30
BG-1 1/1HE
Covering starboard steps

The debris from the explosion to starboard indicated that the boat there was destroyed.

Therefore, the port probably had more boarders.

"Firing!"

Propping the GPMG on the port rail, he began firing down the side hull of the tug, raking any boards in the act of climbing up and anyone remaining in the rubber raft.


Dawid Piotrowski
PKM 100/100
Port Bow railing
Firing long burst down side of boat. Attempting to avoid friendly casualties by shooting down the side of the hull, not across the deck.

Someone, Jan didn't know who but Dawid had yelled a warning, had thrown a grenade either side of the boat.  The explosion on the starboard side had been much louder so Jan raced to the port side with his rifle to his shoulder.  As he moved he looked for targets and if he spotted any he fired a double tap at them.

Konrad's orders were right.  They needed to establish control of the boat as quickly as possible!  Maximum speed and aggression were required!


Jan
Going to the port side of the boat and firing a double tap at any target that he spots.  If he spots a second target he will also fire a double tap at that one for a total of four shots.
AK-74 (30/30 - 30rnd mag x7) - carried
BG-15 (1/1 HE - HE x11) - underslung on AK-74
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Note – webbing not currently worn but is looped over shoulder

On the quarterdeck, Tuck attempts to create more carnage with his new toy. A burst of automatic fire brushes him back, one round glancing off the crown of his K-pot. He stumbles backwards, loses his balance, and falls on his ass. The only thing hurting, though, is his pride. Fortunately, everyone else is currently too busy to have witnessed his short trip. As he starts to regain his feet, he senses something behind him, at the back railing of the quarterdeck, just out of sight in front of the AGS/PKM position.

Griet is waiting at the top of the stairs when a dark-clad man wielding a sword in his right hand and a pistol in his left pops up just in front of her. She squeezes off a burst, hitting the boarder in the stomach. He doubles over in pain, pauses for a moment, and then starts crawling towards Griet, his sword clanging off the last couple of metal stairs to the starboard waste HMG position. (Griet -3 rounds)

One of the boarders on the starboard side tosses a frag up towards the HMG mount beneath the bridge. The grenade clangs off the Dishka's long barrel and drops down the main deck were a wounded boarder lays [this is the fellow whose leg was shattered by Tucker in the second round]. There are two more men within the primary blast radius when the grenade explodes, killing two of them and badly wounding the third as the concussion knocks him on his face.

Dawid has just set up his PKM when the errant grenade blows up. A fragment buzzes past his ear as he leans into the buttstock of his machinegun and unleashes a flurry of rounds on the men still in the inflatable [if he rests his bipod on the railing, he can't really fire down its inner side]. His fire cuts down the three men still aboard and punches several holes in the boat's uppers. When he releases the trigger, there are no more targets visible on the starboard side of the tug. The man wounded and knocked down by his comrade's frag is lying on the deck groaning about five meters from Dawid's feet. (Dawid -10 rounds)

Jay comes up right behind Dawid, too late to engage the now-decimated enemy boarding party on the tug's port side.

Craig, up in the sniper's nest, fires three rounds of buck down into the inflatable at the same time as Dawid's burst. His fire compounds the carnage and further damages the small boat. (Craig -3 rounds buck)

Warren, also in the snipers' nest, attempts to engage the boarders but finds that the long SAKO rifle and its high-powered scope is not suited to this kind of close-range fight. It's just too unwieldy and he can't get a sight picture without leaning out over the edge of the bridge roof. Frustrated, he sets down the rifle and draws his pistol. By the time he's ready to use it, the port side looks clear.

Jan emerges from the crew quarters on to the main deck, portside. There are bodies all around. He looks forward and sees a man nearly at the top of the stairs to the HMG catwalk. He could shoot the man in the back but he realizes that any long rounds or through-and-throughs could strike one of his own people.

Konrad also emerges on deck, a deadly buckshot round loaded in his German grenade launcher. It takes him a couple of seconds to make a decent assessment of the current, and rapidly changing, tactical situation on board the tug.

Mariusz, meanwhile, runs around the HMG catwalk and sets up near the top of the stairs just as a man with a short-barrelled AK jumps up the last couple of steps. Mariusz is ready but the man's sudden appearance startles him into firing off a longer burst than he'd planned. The man fires too, but Mariusz is a split-second quicker. Three of his five rounds strike the target, stitching the boarder from his right [then abdomen] to his left arm. The man dances a grotesque jig, loses his footing, and tumbles back down the steep staircase. One of the enemy's rounds skids across Mariusz's scalp. Thusly stung, Mariusz stumbles backwards a couple of steps and then falls to his knees. The wound stings badly and he can feel blood starting to seep through his long hair, but he knows that he's not badly hurt. He hears more men on the deck below him. (Mariusz -5 rounds)

Daniel LaRue emerges from the bridge's aft door just as the Mariusz sends the boarder sprawling down the stairs. Daniel spots another boarder running aft along the main deck and he squeezes off three rounds. The first one appears to catch the man in the lower back, while the third blasts a big chuck from the back of the man's head. He falls fowards and slides a couple of meters down the deck, coming to stop with a sickening thud against the side railing. (LaRue -3 rounds)

Awakened from a deep slumber by the sudden cacophany of close-quarters battle, Minh falls out of her bunk and starts collecting her essential combat gear in the dark. The strobe effect of nearby muzzle flashes comes through her billet's porthole. She's now ready to fight, but doesn't know what awaits her just outside her room.

The port-side boarders have been annihilated but the tug's starboard side is currently defended by only two of the Kommandos. There's a good chance that there are at least a couple of attackers aboard the Krolowa.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:43, Sat 06 Oct 2012.

Satisfied with taking out the raft and reasonably sure he hadn't killed any of the Kommando, he lifted the heavy MG up from where he'd been holding it, unsupported, and firing down the side of the boat. He rested the bipod on the rail and shouted a warning,

"Port side secure! Repel boarders, starboard side!"

He then scanned the water around the tug to make sure additional reinforcements were not arriving to support those already onboard.

Dawid Piotrowski
PKM 90/100
Tug's Bow
Shouting a SITREP, checking surrounding areas.

As he rolled from the edge of the snipers nest onto his back, Craig already had two more shells in his hand. He loaded the shotgun again before rolling to the starboard side and placing three more rounds into the attackers.


Above Bridge starboard side
Firing on starboard side attackers

L32A1 (Browning A5) 10" Barrel [3/3] 00 Buck
This message was last edited by the player at 00:36, Sun 29 Apr 2012.

Seeing and hearing that Dawid had secured the area in front of him, Jay glided past and headed for the stairs. As he did so he called out, "Jay, Jay!" to make it clear to Dawid and any other Kommandos close by that he was a friendly.

Maintaining his low stance, he manoeuvred quickly to the steps and headed up, with his rifle at the shoulder ready to fire. He headed onto the upper deck's weather deck area, under the canvas, and scanned around, looking for friendlies and targets. If he spots any hostiles he will fire a short burst into their torso. If the area is clear he will move to the starboard side. Keeping as low as possible he will look over the side for targets, and will fire multiple bursts at any groups of attackers he sees.

Jay Biyanjankar
Port side, moving past Dawid, up the stairs onto Upper Deck, then across to the starboard side, firing at any targets that present themselves
AK74 30/30

Griet saw the man she had shot continue to crawl toward her. She had hoped he'd go down and stay down to allow them the opportunity to interrogate the man. Until he was stationary however, he remained a threat to her personal safety. She tightened her grip on her rifle and aimed at the man. She steadily pumped rounds into him until he stopped moving.

Griet
Port stairs, machine gun deck
AK-74 27/30
BG-1   1/1HE
Aimed shots at sword boy

Lucky, Mariusz thought to himself, the guy didn't hit anything vital. He'd operated with blows to the head before and they didn't seem to slow him down too much.He grabbed a grenade from his vest and dragged the pin from it. He released the spoon and rolled it down the stairway. He hoped that the bouncing bomb would deter people from coming up toward him.

As soon as he released the grenade, he moved to cover the stairs from behind in case the enemy decided to use grenades themselves.

Mariusz
AK-74 25/30
BG-1   1/1HE
Throwing a grenade down the stairs
Moving from covering the stairs by looking down them to being adjacent to them to shoot people in the back as they come up

Danny winces as Mariusz's head snaps back and the 5.45mm slug buries itself in the bridge's doorframe.  The kid seems okay, though, or at least functional enough to fish a grenade out of his vest and - Oh, shit.

"Frag out, port side!" Danny yells, then leans back against the cold metal of the smokestack to avoid the upward spray of fragments.  As soon as the grenade detonates, he's moving again, heading down the bridge stairs to the upper deck.  Mariusz charges forward to cover the head of the port stairs that lead from the main deck and Danny has to assume he has it under control.  The PJ turns left, sweeping the quarterdeck as he heads toward the gunfire at the starboard stairs.  Winona leads, warmed up and ready to repel boarders...

(OOC: Danny's movement is down the bridge stairs to the upper deck, then counter-clockwise around the back of the smokestack toward Griet's position [which should bring him past Tuck if the "quarterdeck" is where I identified it in the OOC thread].  The first boarder in his sights gets another trio of quick shots.)

Danny emerges from the bridge to see Griet determinedly punching round after round into a boarder with a... A sword?  What the fuck, over?  Beyond her, Tuck is picking himself up off the quarterdeck.  The New Yorker seems okay through Danny's NVGs, so whatever knocked him down must be transitory.  At any rate, he doesn't appear to be copiously leaking.

Danny skids down the stairs, bringing Winona in line with Griet's target as his boots hit the upper deck.  "Chief!" he yells, "I've got this!  Get to the bridge!"  He quickly assesses Griet's target, delivers a couple more rounds if necessary, then steps to the side to clear Griet's path to the bridge.  "Tuck!  You okay?"

Danny
Covering the head of the portside stairs to the upper deck
Winona [27/30 + 6 magazines] - up, on SEMI
CZ 75 [15/15 + 2 magazines] - holstered, cocked and locked
AN-M8 HC smoke grenade x2 - on vest
AN-M18 red smoke grenade x1 - on vest
This message was last edited by the player at 02:31, Wed 02 May 2012.

"You're one lucky sonuvabitch," goes through Tucker's head as he remembers the kine from a D-Day movie he had seen where the Ranger had gotten hit in his steel pot and lived only to be downed by a quick follow-up shot to his head seconds later.  He checks where he got shot from first to see if there are any threats still that way.  When he hears something from behind him, Robert begins to move slowly (heel to toe) towards where he sensed the movement towards the AGS/PKM position.

TUCKER
M-14K [19/20] {Set on S/S}
[+1] MAG 20 in cargo pocket
H&K SOCOM (.45 acp) [12/12] SAFETY 'ON & HOLSTERED'
[+2] MAG 12 in mag pouch
Kevlar Vest/Helmet

Still on quarter-deck, trying to find a threat(s) near the AGS/PKM position

OOC: I am correct to guess that Tucker didn't get any rounds off the last combat round and he was hit before he could do that?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:06, Mon 30 Apr 2012.

There were a lot of dead looking bodies on the port side and Jan didn't have time to check whether any of them were friendly or not.  He heard the yell from someone, probably Dawid, about securing the starboard side but he'd seen a man go up onto the HMG catwalk so he followed him up, pursuing the one target that he knew was still active.  He kept his rifle tucked tight into his shoulder and looked for an opportunity to fire on the man when there was either a solid wall or an open environment off the boat behind him so that there wasn't a risk of hitting a friend.

Ideally he'd have switched to his pistol but he'd left that in his cabin!


Jan
Pursuing the man he'd seen up onto the HMG catwalk, looking to get a clean shot at him.  If he does then he'll fire a double tap at him and a second double tap if he's still moving!
AK-74 (30/30 - 30rnd mag x7) - carried
BG-15 (1/1 HE - HE x11) - underslung on AK-74
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Note – webbing not currently worn but is looped over shoulder

Griet is somewhat alarmed that the sword-wielding boarder she's just shot is still coming at her but she fights back the fear and squeezes off three more shots at close range. The first one hits him in the pelvis, doing horrendous internal damage. The second round hits the man's right arm which, at the moment, is holding up most of his upper body weight. The arm gives with a sickening, wet crack and the man face-plants on the unforgiving metal of the deck. The third and final rounds smacks into the boarder's buttocks with a meaty thud. The man lays moaning on the deck while his lifesblood starts pouring down the stairs. Daniel arrives as the boarder collapses, mortally wounded. (Griet -3 rounds)

Jan and Jay both proceed to the port-side stairway to the upper decks to find a boarder already at the top. Fortunately for the two Kommandos, his back is to them. Three gunshots ring out from above and the man collapses, halfway on the top two steps and halfway on the catwalk ringing the base of the bridge.

On the tug's raised quarterdeck, Tucker cautiously approaches the AGS/PKM position where he's heard some movement. Due to all the gunfire and explosions going on nearby, he can no longer hear the sound that alerted him. He's starting to doubt himself when a hand reaches up and finds purchase on one of the sandbags ringing the firing station. Tuckers lowers his sights and waits for a more substantial target to appear. As soon as the boarder's burnt cork-smeared face appears, Tuck pulls the trigger. The round strikes the man's forearm, and he falls, screaming, to the main deck aft (a drop-off of only a few feet). (Tucker -1 round)

Mariusz tosses his grenade down the starboard stairs to the main deck and waits for it to explode. It dutifully complies, lashing the starboard side with shrapnel. No one is positioned to see the explosion, though, so there's no telling what effect it had. (Mariusz -1 frag)

Craig, after speed-loading his shotgun, rolls right and leans over the starboard edge of the bridge roof just in time to be temporarily blinded by the flash of Mariusz's grenade. As he blinks away the after-image, Craig sees human forms in the laying in the bottom of the boat layed up alongside the Queen. Not taking any chances, he dumps two loads of buck into them to make doubly sure that the threat is eliminated. (Craig -2 rounds)

Dawid is on high alert, scanning the river for additional threats. For the moment, at least, he sees none. Konrad, Minh, and Warren, unsure of who is where, and what exactly is happening, choose to wait for the situation to clarify itself before adding their fire to the fracas.

The tug has fallen relatively quiet. All you hear is heavy breathing, the tinkling of rolling brass, and the moaning of at least two wounded men. As you start to come down from the adrenaline rush of close combat, you are startled by a splash as something heavy hits the water to starboard. Craig sees the brief white halo of disturbed water alongside but it's quickly erased by the river's steady current.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:35, Wed 02 May 2012.

Emerging from the interior and now properly armed, Bayer finds the situation heading back under control. With the opportunity available to get the unit organized better, Bayer calls for the senior NCO's for a quick dissemination of orders. When they arrive, he taps each person on the shoulder as he says their names and begins...

"Jan, take Quyen and clear the port side. Tucker and Jay, you have the starboard side to sweep... including whatever might still be in the water. I want the living segregated from the dead. Anyone still breathing is to be corralled at the aft deck. Leave the weapons and searches of the dead, for the moment... security first."

"Dawid, take command of external security with Lt. Sutherland, McClurg and Mariusz... cover the main weaponry for all around defense. Mr. Warren is still upstairs as well so liaise with him once you are setup. Open fire policy at this time is to shoot anything that moves... except the Vasilek. For that, Dawid employ your PKM as an alternative and use your own discretion on any threats."

He then waves over Daniel and explains to him, "I want you on the aft deck where the living will be assembled and place under guard and kept from speaking or communicating with one another. Once I find Doctor Solumblume, she will join you for an assessment and take the next step."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:06, Wed 02 May 2012.

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #55):

Dawid's ears were still ringing from the close in fire, and the grenades.

"The river around us looks clear."

"Understood, Kaptain. Engage with PKM preferably over Vasilek unless there is a worthy target."

He popped 'round his bunk, grabbed his webbing, lifchik, body armour and helmet. He then manned the forward weapon position, PKM at hand but Vasilek ready with a clip of 82mm HE shells loaded.

While Konrad issued his orders Jan quickly put on his webbing.  He was still missing his boots, body armour, helmet and night vision goggles and was starting to get cold just standing in the night air but he was ready to get stuck into the task he'd been assigned.  The adrenaline was pumping so he didn't really feel just how cold he was starting to get.

"Oui mon Capitaine," Jan replied to Konrad.  "Are we sure that everyone is ok?  Do you need to call the roll?"

Leading Konrad to ponder that question Jan got on with clearing the port side.  "Quyen, with me," he called as he set off, rifle at his shoulder.


Jan
Leading Quyen over to the port side to check/clear it.
AK-74 (30/30 - 30rnd mag x7) - carried
BG-15 (1/1 HE - HE x11) - underslung on AK-74
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch

"Got it Boss," Tucker replies to Konrad's orders to clear the starboard side of the ship.  He nods to Jay and waves for him to follow him to the starboard side to sweep and clear for any stragglers that might not have escaped or been killed.  Tucker will take the rail side and point to Jay to cover the inside.  "If they bring a weapon on you, drop 'em Jay!"

Danny automatically assesses Griet's victim and grades the guy as terminal.  The steaming rush of arterial red from the abdominal wounds heralds internal bleeding that probably can't be stopped even if he hits Anneka's table right now.  The PJ briefly considers donating a mercy round but the boarder is already slipping into unconsciousness.

Through the sudden relative silence and the notable lack of cries for a medic, the splash to starboard catches Danny's attention.  "Griet!" he calls up to the bridge, "gimme lights to starboard, we've got someone in the water!"  He sprints over to the starboard rail, next to the Dishka mount, and begins scanning the water outboard and downstream, using Winona's scout light for illumination until Griet swings the searchlight around.  With a night like this, they'll be hypothermic before they reach shore.  I don't much care if it's the other team but I haven't seen all of our people yet...

Danny's head jerks around at Konrad's summons.  "Yessir.  I heard someone go over the side, though.  Are all our people accounted for?"

Danny
Winona [27/30 + 6 magazines] - up, on SEMI
CZ 75 [15/15 + 2 magazines] - holstered, cocked and locked
AN-M8 HC smoke grenade x2 - on vest
AN-M18 red smoke grenade x1 - on vest
This message was last edited by the player at 00:30, Thu 03 May 2012.

In reply to Robert 'Tuck' Tucker (msg #58):

Returning from gearing up to man his station, Dawid sighed and said,

"Kaptain, friends, I know this is a touchy subject for many NATO types, and believe me, I have thought a lot about what I'm about to say:"

"These men just to to take over the boat, showing aggressiveness and little regard for their safety. Accept their surrender, yes, but if they show the slightest hint of non-cooperation, if they refuse to divulge whatever information we wish to know, then execute them and then drop them in the river. We don't have the time, manpower, supplies or room to securely house prisoners who, given the slightest opportunity, may attempt to escape and warn others, if not make whatever havoc they can.

"Sure, not all prisoners are a threat, but a significant portion (including a personal "friend" of mine) have been, and there's no telling ahead of time who will be a problem. So we should ask them to divulge what they know. If they don't talk, and talk fast, they are by definition are not cooperative and we can't risk having them aboard if they are of no use."

"Please understand that, unless I really miss my guess, these are not soldiers protected by the Geneva Conventions but common criminals at best, caught red-handed engaging in piracy. I will take care of the problem in that case, legally under Martial Law, as a member of the NATO-recognised government and armed force of Poland. Anyone who cooperates willingly may be spared, those who are uncooperative will have justice swiftly served."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:38, Thu 03 May 2012.

Jeff stares at Dawid for his little speech.  There is a brief but noticable pause before anyone moves.

"I'll save you the trouble."

Jeff approaches the first prisoner. "Who are you and what were you trying to accomplish, and why?"  he repeats the question in Russian and then shoots an icy stare at a Polish speaker.

If the prisoner says anything productive, Jeff listens only long enough to get the details.  When it seems as if the man has said all he has to say, Jeff took his black dive knife and slit the mans throat, pouring even more blood on the deck.  (Assume that if the prisoner says nothing he skips the foreplay).

With one down, Jeff approaches the other.  "Talk and I'll let you live to warn others." again the question is repeated in Russian and Polish.  At the conclusion of this mans story, Jeff puts a .45 into his heart.  He says nothing to the others and resumes his watch in the crows nest, scanning the banks of the river ahead with his long rifle.

Craig loads the magazine on the shotgun, placing a slug shell in first. He works the bolt ejecting the buckshot shell into his hand and then places it into the magazine.

He spends some time with his NVG's scanning both banks.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:48, Thu 03 May 2012.

In reply to Robert 'Tuck' Tucker (msg #58):

Jay nodded to Tuck and followed him to the starboard side, keeping his rife at his shoulder and wary of threats. He scanned around as he moved, looking in all nooks and crannies for anyone hiding.

"Secure the boat and perimeter." Bayer says loud enough to be over the voices. "NCOs get all of your people moving into position now."

Bayer then turns to Griet and asks, "Damage?" Before she can answer however, he includes, "Do you have all you're people accounted for?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:55, Thu 03 May 2012.

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #64):

"Mariusz, on me.

"You and I are on the Vasilek."

Geared up and seeing there wasn't much he could do, Dawid returned to his station.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:07, Thu 03 May 2012.

This message was deleted by the player at 12:05, Thu 03 May 2012.

Mariusz followed Dawid to the mortar and then helped the man arrange his ammunition so the PKM could be deployed effectively. He readied his rifle and kept a close watch on the darkness.

"I'm on it," Griet said as Bayer asked about the crew, she picked up the intercom and said, "Griet to all crew stations, report in on status and damage."

She listened intently, hoping to hear everyone calling in and reporting they were safe.

Quyen shakes her head at Tucker in mock pity. "Always standing in the way of the bullets. When do you learn?" She then taps fists with him and and moves off to help Jan clear the boat.

Minh then asks Jan "You cover and I check the bodies? Good idea or no?" If Jan agrees she will sling her rifle and draw he pistol so she can manage turning over the bodies and dragging and that are still alive to the back of the boat.

Tucker smiles at Minh as he points to his dented helmet, "I don't know Minh.  It must be my brain bucket that is doing the attracting.  It wasn't too attractive when it knocked me on my ass back there.  You might've enjoyed me getting knocked on my ass though!"

With the aid of the light on his carbine and the tug's more powerful spotlight, Danny easily spots a lone figure in the water, about half a boat length downriver of the Queen. He can't quite believe it, but his senses are speaking true. The figure in the river is Dominique Connolly, one of Danny's travelling companions. Her head and shoulders are above water, but she hasn't called out- she must be in some sort of distress.

A sweep of the tug yields five dead boarders. There's another five dead between the two boats, both of which are fastened to the Queen by crude metal hooks. The inflatable on the port side is taking on quite a bit of water and is probably not salvageable. If the light was better, the water would be tinged with a substantial quantity of red. The wooden boat to port is also taking on water, but at a slower rate. Only two boarders managed to survive their attack on the tug. One is riddled with grenade fragments and is going into shock. The other, with a gunshot wound to the right arm, is in better shape.

Jeff slashes the jugular of the shock victim. The man barely seems to notice. Blood, almost black in the low light, courses down the front of his smock, each pulse diminish in strength and volume. He's dead in under a minute. The other man, having witnessed his comrade's bloody death, spills his guts [in Polish].

"Hey, take it easy, mate. Fuck man. Why are you so angry? This is what we do. You already destroyed our fleet. I don't remember you stopping by first to introduce yourselves. Turnabout's fair play, right? There's no place for us in Warsaw any more. We just wanted a little payback. You would have done the same thing. You don't need to..."

Jeff ends the prisoner's rambling with a .45 slug to the chest. The Korsair wheezes out a death rattle and expires on the deck. (Jeff -1 pistol round)

The tug is yours. She doesn't appear to have taken more than superficial cosmetic damage. Grenade shrapnel and small arms rounds have scarred the superstructure and patches on the deck and slick with blood. Grzyech and Roszkowski will certainly be cross that their fresh paint job has been ruined so soon.

Looking northwest, downriver, you notice that the distant lights have roughly doubled in number. It appears as though the residents of Plock haven't failed to notice the brief but violent battle that you've just waged.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Sat 05 May 2012.

"Aw, shit."  Something in the back of your head notes that you sound more resigned than surprised.  You look at the sinking Zodiac, look back at Boots' head receding downstream, gauge the current, and make the call you knew you were going to make as soon as you recognized her:

You flip Winona to SAFE and toss her to a startled Craig.  "El-tee, I'm prob'ly gonna need a pickup."

Click goes the QD buckle on the aid bag's strap.  Let it hit the deck.  Snap goes the helmet's chin strap.  Ease it and its burden of fragile NVGs down onto the bag.

You raise your face to the bridge.  "Griet, keep the light on her!"

The D-ring on the cutaway tab rides on your left shoulder.  You reach up and across, yank it, rrrip goes the hook-and-loop, let the armor fall away.  Slow, too slow.  Be glad you were inside the nice warm bridge when the shooting started.  No heavy parka to make you even slower.

The captain's still dealing with Company Man's executions.  Fuck the prisoners.  They were standing between you and Julia.  They put your aircraft commander over the side.  Let 'em bleed out.  Fuck 'em.  You catch the captain's eye.  Enunciate clearly.  "Boots is in the water.  Tell the doctor to prep for two cold water immersion cases."

Don't give him time for different orders.  The river plods along at two miles an hour here.  Three feet per second.  She's already a hundred feet away.  Trivial in the pool.  Fun in the breakers off Kadena.  Not guaranteed here.  Your last met log entry was 28º.  The water has to be within a few degrees of freezing.

A life ring hangs on a bracket by the Dishka.  How long is the line?  Is it tied off?  Three feet per second.  Grab it on your way over the rail.  Don't think about what will happen when you hit the water.  Don't think about the involuntary aspiration, the spike in heart rate and blood pressure, the heart attack, the stroke.  Don't think about the heat draining away from your skin, the loss of dexterity and strength.  Don't think about rewarming complications, the heart overloading as it struggles to push blood to recovering extremities.

Training says you have ninety seconds to do this before your body fails.  Three feet per second.

Fourteen feet of air gives you time to think about it all anyway.

The Vistula swallows you.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:58, Sun 06 May 2012.

"Crew overboard!" Griet called over the intercom.

"Get a life raft out," she continued, "cut down the time they're in the water."

"Anneka, prepare for two cold water casualties," she said.

Jan had finished checking the bodies on the port side with Quyen and was just about to start collecting up weapons and ammo from the bodies before discussing how they were going to be disposed of when he heard the shouts about someone being overboard.  Turning he saw Danny dive into the cold water and remembered the discussions about just how cold the water was at present.  He had proposed practicing his swimming but had been dissuaded because of the water temperature and that was what someone was now doing!

Slinging his rifle over his shoulder Jan raced forward to the bow and looked around for a life ring.  Spotting one he checked that it was tied off and then coiled the rest of the line and it together, ready to throw it if anyone was close enough.  He then tried to spot Danny in the water and whomever he had dived in to save, calling out anything that he saw to everyone else.

Tucker turns and looks to see Danny diving overboard when Griet calls out that they have someone overboard.  He hands his rifle over to Jay and begins to make his way towards one of the rafts to get it ready and in the water.

Craig takes the rifle when it is pasted to him. He did'nt really catch on to what Danny was about to do until he was up on the edge. Once he was in the water Craig started to look for a rope of some kind to throw off the rear of the tug.

"Mariusz, go, assist with the boat. I will continue with keeping watch and can handle the Vasilek myself."

Dawid continued scanning the water using his NVGs. It was unlikely someone from town would investigate until morning unless they were really sharp and aggressive.

In reply to Robert 'Tuck' Tucker (msg #75):

Jay took Tuck's weapon and slung it over his shoulder. The sweep they had conducted seemed to be clear, but he maintained his vigilance just in case. He continued to scan the boat and the bank for any signs of movement.

When Danny plunges into the cold water of the Vistula, it feels like his heart stops beating for a second or two. Adrenaline will help him avoid going hypothermic for a little while, but the water temperature is not too far above freezing and the longer he stays mostly submerged, the worse his body is going to function.

He's a strong swimmer, and comfortable in the water, despite its temperature. With several powerful strokes, he reaches his comrade. She's semi-conscious and barely keeping her own head above water. Danny secures her with one arm and uses the other to keep them from sinking below the surface. The current is too strong to swim against. He can probaly move laterally, though, albeit at a fairly slow pace. Right now, it's a question of endurance- can he make it to one of the river banks before his body shuts down and they both go under.

Jan prepares a life ring and tosses it in the direction Griet indicates LaRue is headed in. Unfortunately, the attached line is not quite long enough for the ring to reach him before it is out of range. It's doubtful that he could have noticed it in the dark anyways.

Griet [NPCed] does her best to keep the Queen's spotlight fixed on the rapidly diminishing figure of the American pararescueman as the current sweeps him away from the achored tug.

Tucker and Mariusz [NPCed] prepare the tug's trusty zodiac* for deployment. They are fairly practiced at it by now and it only takes a minute or so for them to get it from the deck into the water where it awaits a crew. [Who's going to board it and set off after LaRue?]. The slowly sinking pirate boats lashed to either side of the Queen are in the way, but, once the zodiac's engine is running, it shouldn't be to hard to get around them.

The security force keeps watch for additional attackers. As yet, none have arrived. Circling the Queen's superstructure, the patrollers periodically have to step over one of the nearly half-dozen pirate corpses still littering the lower deck. The smell of blood occasionally registers over the stronger scent of the river. It's difficult to properly search the bodies in the weird, shifting light that ripples over the tug, but several folding stock and/or short-barreled AKs and an automatic pistol are recovered. The most obvious and unusual find is a very old-looking cavalry sabre. You wouldn't be surprised to see it in a museum; on the deck of a river-tug in the year 2000, it certainly is out of place.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:14, Thu 10 May 2012.

With the current situation in hand Craig does a quick reconnoiter of both pirate boats. Starting with the zodiac he retrieves any weapons or other equipment. He will then do the same to the wooden vessel, pistol in hand.

Crew
Looking through boats

Browning HP-35 (w/ silencer) [20/20] w/2 magazines

Jeff is not going to get in the zodiac, but he gives a nod of good luck as it prepares to depart.  He even goes so far as to cast off the line for them.

Instead, he turns to the others  "While they're out lets grab what gear we can and then dump these bodies.  They'll stain the paint."  On his way back he'll strip any body in his way

Jay headed towards the small boat. Whilst no Marine, he was keen to help out. "I go, I go!" he called to whoever was in charge of the vessel, before quickly dropping his body armour and helmet and placing them out of the way for later retrieval. He moved forward to help with lowering the boat into the water, following any directions given by those more practised in the art, before preparing to climb in. As he did so he had a thought. Turning to whoever was closest of those staying aboard he shouted, "Get blankets!"

Having missed with his first throw of the life ring Jan quickly pulled it back in and looped the rope again for another cast.  It was probably going to be unnecessary as it would require an almost direct hit for them to spot the ring but he got ready just in case.

He kept his eyes fixed on the two people in the water while he worked, making sure that someone on board didn't lose sight of them.  "Danny has reached her!" he called out, keeping the information flowing.  "He is keeping her head above water!"

Mariusz leapt into the zodiac with the others and rushed to the front, "I'll try to help them in," he called to the helmsman.

This would be a bad time to be surprised from the town.

He didn't think these losers were from Plock. If anything, they seemed to be holdouts from the Baron's Black Guard. Still, if anyone approached he thought it was good to see them before they contacted the tug


Dawid Piotrowski
PKM (90/100)
Bow Weapon Station
Keeping a lookout towards the town

"I will get on a gun." Ferro says to Bayer after deciding that there was enough attention being directed at the water emergency. She then moves to the upper deck and took hold of one of the DSHK machine guns. The metal felt cold to the touch but she worked the action and tested around with the swivel.

Dawid was keeping watch at the bow, so he directed Minh to station herself at one of the stern-facing MG positions.


OOC: The idea being they maintain coordinated 360-degree coverage. I'm not sure where the Dushkas are, I think there is one up there pointed to the rear. This makes the most sense.

At first, the water is almost too cold to hurt.  Danny surfaces, orients on the searchlight beam, and starts swimming with the current.  He's halfway to Boots before he realizes he's lost the life ring he grabbed when he went over the rail.

Connolly is barely conscious, which is a mixed blessing – she's not going to be any help, but this would be nigh-impossible with a conscious but panicked victim.  Danny gets an arm around her from behind and clasps her to his chest, keeping her head above water.  A look around shows little other than the Queen's spotlight, the silhouette of the vessel beneath it, the shadows of the Vistula's banks, and a twinkling constellation of more distant lights.

Danny's extremities are already numbing and he can feel his muscles starting to tighten.  He's not sure how long it's going to take the team to get a boat in the water.  Getting to a riverbank won't do a damned thing for incipient hypothermia but at least he won't have to worry about drowning.  With his free hand, he fishes his small flashlight out of his pocket, twists it on (hoping the O-ring seals haven't dry-rotted over the last few years), and loops its lanyard around the wrist of the arm holding Boots.  It's not much, but in a night largely devoid of artificial illumination, it may be enough of a beacon for the team to find him if Griet's spotlight loses him.  With that accomplished, he starts making for the shore opposite the lights of Plock.  No one from the town is going to arrive in time to help, even if they were so inclined, but they might well interfere with rescue efforts if he and Boots landed on their side of the river…

Tucker, and whoefver is helping him, yells to the others, "Get the damn boat out of the way so we can cast off!"  Hopefully they get all of the stuff they need out of the boarders' boats but, if they want Daniel and his boss back before they drown or die of hypothermia, they need to go now.  When it's ready to go, Tucker screams out, "CASTING OFF!  CASTING OFF!"

Bayer helps Tucker get the boat in the water, but remains on board. Then once the boat was off and the rescue in Robert's hands, he inserts an ILLUM paraflare into his launcher and moves to the upper deck. On the way then nods to McClurg to follow Quyen and Dawid, and get on one the guns.

Dawid was covering the bow arc, Minh the rear.

Subsequently, he directed McClurg to man the Dushka that was pointing most towards the shore. It was unlikely more boats would show up and if they did, they would see them from a ways off. A party could sneak up on shore, even maneuver a heavy weapon into position, so that to him was the direction of most potential threat. He also oriented the Vasilek so that it was pointing as shoreward as possible.

Fighting the creeping numbness in his arms and legs, Daniel swims cross current towards the southern shore. His passenger neither helps nor hinders his progress. She is, however, somewhat of a burden and Daniel has to work twice as hard to propel them both through the icy water.

Meanwhile, Tucker, Mariusz, and Jay, with the help of a couple of others, manhandle the Zodiac over the stern of the tug (facing downriver). The Mountain soldier, the Ghurka, and the teenaged Polish partisan hop on board the Zodiac, struggling to keep their balance in the small boat. Tucker tries to start the engine but can't get it to turn over, no matter how hard he pulls the starter chord. Mariusz offers to give it a go and somehow manages to get it coughing to life with one good yank. Once the engine's running, the trio shoves off while the rest of the security crew guards the tug against further hostile action. Tucker expertly steers the Zodiac along the line pointed out by the spotlight. The spotlight, currently unmanned, is aimed at the swimmers' last known position. Jan, watching from the lower deck, loses sight of LaRue and the woman in the inky darkness that lies outside the spotlight beam.

Craig and Jeff loot the pirate bodies before tossing them each over the side unceremoniously. Hopefully, the floating corpes won't interfere with the rescue operation currently underway.

As they motor downriver, the small boat crew fails to locate LaRue and Connolly. They're currently about 200m downriver from the Queen.

LaRue's strength is fading fast by the time his knee strikes the soft mud of the submerged foot of the riverbank. He struggles mightily the last few meters through glutinous muck to more solid ground. He lies panting on the shore, spooning his semi-conscious companion in an almost futile attempt to share warmth.

At the bow of the tug, Dawid keeps watch for any follow-on boarding parties. It's been several minutes now since the last of the pirates was gunned down and Dawid is confident that the attack is over when he spots something long and low to the water coming straight at the reinforced bow of the tug. It's about 75m out and appears to be moving with the current.


Next Moves?

Updated Tac-map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...pn=0.083261,0.264187
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:39, Sun 13 May 2012.

"Alert! Kapitan Bayer, unidentified object closing from the south, bearing zero degrees, range 75 metres. Drifting with the current, no sign of life."

"Griet, please direct the spotlight to bear forward so we can identify the target." He didn't like directing the skipper, but someone would have to get on that light and bring it to bear to forward so they could see what was going on. Either her or one of her crew, it didn't matter.

"Minh, on me. Orient the Vasilek forward.

"Sutherland, man the port Dushka. Warren, starboard Dushka. Cover the bow plus the side arcs. Sutherland, that means the island, Warren, the shore."

"McClurg, shift position to cover the rear arc. Man the rear-facing weapon and maintain observation of the river and town.

"Kellerman, report to the Captain so he knows where you are. Jan, you too, when you can."

He manned the PKM, facing forward.

Dawid Piotrowski

PKM (90/100 + 2 spare belts)
Bow
Manning PKM
This message was last edited by the player at 09:50, Tue 15 May 2012.

On board the small dinghy, Jay crouched at the bow, scanning the water. It was murky, and he couldn't see anything. In his frustration he pulled out his flashlight and swept back and forth from bank to bank, looking for any sign of the medic or the unconscious pilot.

If he spots anything he will call out to Tuck and guide him towards the pair. Otherwise, he will keep looking.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:36, Tue 15 May 2012.

Jan gave up in frustration with the life ring when he lost sight of Danny and Boots.  Seeing what was going on was more important so he turned to go and take charge of the searchlight.  As he made his way there though he heard Dawid yelling something about an unidentified object in the water and other instructions so he changed his mind.

"Capitaine, I get my gear," he called out.  "Back soon!"

He then quickly made his way to the cabin where he slept and retrieved his body armour, helmet, boots and NVGs, putting them on as quickly as possible.  Once he was fully dressed he then went back on deck and reported to Konrad.

Mariusz stared out into the night, desperately trying to find the swimmers. He called out, "Can you hear us?!"

Griet switched the light around to pick up the mystery object, "Identify and deal with it quickly," she said, "we need to use the light to find the swimmers."

Tucker continues to steer the zodiac around at a slow pace on where he thinks the two in the water should be.  He calls to Jay and Mariusz, "They've got to be here!  Keep checking with the light and maybe towards the shoreline if you don't see them here."

Connolly is a slight woman but half the Vistula seems to have soaked into her clothes and the other half is weighing down Danny's own limbs.  He forces numb hands to close around her sleeves and hauls her onto the riverbank, then collapses.  "Okay, Boss," he mutters, "at least drownin's off th' table now."

Connolly makes a noise that might be agreement, protest, or hallucination.  Danny shakes his head, spraying droplets of muck in every direction, and captures his flashlight between fingers that are turning to flippers.  In the faint blue glow of the filtered lens, he tries to examine Connolly for any obvious trauma.  He can't see any obvious injuries  but he's still not sure exactly why she went into the water in the first place.

The sputter of an outboard motor belatedly grabs Danny's attention.  He can't identify the Queen's Zod by sound but anyone else on the water tonight would already have earned himself a salvo from the deck guns; ergo, this must be friendlies.  "Hey!" he calls weakly.  He horks a gobbet of muddy phlegm into the shallows, coughs, and tries again.  "Yo!  Mari!  Over here!  West bank!"  Breaking off his attempted assessment of Connolly, he pans the flashlight's beam back and forth across the water.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:54, Wed 16 May 2012.

Already perched up top on the bridge deck where he was observing the man overboard situation, Bayer focuses his attention upriver, upon hearing the warning. Then turning on his image intensifiers, he'll use them to help identify whatever is heading their way.

In reply to Dawid Waldus Piotrowski (msg #93):

Jeff found Minh already on the DSHK Dawid had called him too. This was okay with Jeff though as she seemed to be much more familiar with it than Jeff was. It wasn't so much the Soviet weapon as Jeffs general lack of fondness for automatic weapons.

Instead he wraps the sling of his rifle around his left fore-arm and uses years of practice to steady his aim against the motion of the tug. He trains his scope after the searchlight, following it out to the shape ahead.

In reply to Jeff D. Warren (msg #101):

Noting that no one seemed to be with him, Dawid chuckled and shook his head.

"Warren, on me, turn this Vasilek forward. Don't worry, it moves easily and I will fire it if needed."

He turned back and continued looking forward as Griet started to orient the spotlight correctly.

"Over there on the West Bank," Mariusz cried, "head that way!"

"All right Mari!  Good job buddy!  Guide me in and of either of you have a radio on you call the Queen and let them know we got two coming back shortly," Tucker says to Jay and Mariusz as he begins to steer the zodiac towards the shore.

Quyen nods and waves to indicate she was alright on the gun. She then traverses it forward and readies the weapons for firiring (including making sure there was enough ammo on the current belt for at least a few bursts). Quyen then grips the two handles and peers over the top of the gun through the gunshield - waiting.

When the light is shown on the object Quyen will hold fire unless self defense becomes an issue. If that's the case she will fire short bursts using both the tracers and splash on the water to guide her rounds onto the target.

Quyen
DSHK (unknown belt)
Ready to fire

Craig spends some time trying to pick up the object in his scope before lending a hand with the mortar.

Jay gestured to Mariusz to indicate that he had no radio, then turned his attention to the bank with his flashlight.

In

Jeff helps Dawid with the big gun. He follows Dawids instructions closely, as he'd never even seen a Vasilisk before.

"Very good, just turn it forward. It swivels. Then come here and assist me with the PKM, or stay behind the Vasilek's gun shield."

With the spotlight's high-intensity beam fixed firmly upon it, the approaching object is identified as a rather large floating tree trunk. The tug's reinforced bow can probably shrug off its impact with minimal fuss or bother while the Zodiac has the manouverability to avoid it (assuming they pick it up visually).

Mariusz finally spots LaRue's little flashlight jiggling about on the riverbank. Tucker turns the boat about and heads towards the spot where the rescue crew finds the soaked, shivering Pararescueman and his charge waiting. After a few minutes wrestling through the mud at the water's edge, the pair are pulled aboard and the Zodiac, now filled nearly to capacity, heads back towards the tug.

The tree trunk hits the the tug's bow a little right of center. The head of the trunk (actually it's rooty base) gets hung up on the tires slung over the tug's nose just long enough for the other end to swing around and change positions. When the roots pull free of the chainged tires, tearing one away, the trunk slides by on the starboard side. On the way, the tree smashes into the pirate's half-sunk wooden sailboat, ripping it free of the tug and dragging it along as it continues downriver.


Next Moves?

In reply to Cap'n Rae (msg #110):

"Kapitan, It's just a tree! Warren, get your hand light on it. I'll push it away if I can."

"Everyone else, maintain your sectors."

Dawid grabbed a boat-hook and used it to try and fend the tree off.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:39, Mon 21 May 2012.

Robert makes sure that everyone is back in the boat and that they're clear of the shoreline before he turns and steers the zodiac back toewards the Queen at the best possible speed.  "Should have us back on board in a couple of minutes Danny.  You guys OK?"

Jay helped haul the bedraggled pair on board the small craft. If there were blankets on board he would use them to wrap around the two in an attempt to warm them up a bit.

As soon as they get back to the Queen he will he get the two aboard, before helping to secure the Zodiac.

"No sense wasting the battery.  I'll be at the crows nest."  Jeff turns from Dawid as he pushes the log away.  He returns to the crows nest and watches the incoming zodiac.  Once the passengers are onboard he resumes scanning the shoreline ahead with his scope and binoculars.  Almost time for a shift change...

"Yeah, get going. This tree's not going to shoot anyone."

He looked up at where Craig was located. "Sutherland, form a detail with you, Minh, and, ah, Jan. Salvage what you can from the other Zodiac, then help with the rescue party.

"Tell McClurg to hold his position, keep watch on the stern arc.

"With me in front, McClurg covering the rear and Warren up in the crow's nest we got everywhere covered."

Mariusz looked at Danny and asked, "Is there anything we can do to make the journey to the Queen better for you?"

Now suitably dressed and equipped Jan ran back up on deck and made his way forward where he could keep watch down river.

"Capitaine, any orders?" he called out.

Bayer looks over at the Czech in the darkness and replies quietly, "Stand down... get the men out of the water."

He then gives both shorelines a scan through his image intensifiers before watching the recovery of the inflatable from the upper deck. Once that was done and Griet was free, he confirms there was no damage to the tug and coords with her, "We'll move at first light. Can you have the boat ready thirty minutes before dawn?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:12, Wed 23 May 2012.

"No problem, Kaptain," Griet replied.

She got on the intercom to engineering and said, "Stand down and get some rest but we need to be at full steam at least thirty minutes before dawn."

Dawid's attempt to fend off the large tree trunk meets with failure- its mass and velocity are simply too great for the force he can produce to deflect it. Jeff, deciding to head back to his nest atop the bridge, stops tracking the log with his flashlight beam. Dawid can only watch as the log reduces the pirates' wooden sailboat to splinters as it brushes by the tug. The dark traveller then continues downriver, disappearing into the inky blackness outside the dim halo of the tug's running lights.

After winning the battle against the mud of the riverbank, the small boat crew picks up LaRue and Connolly, and oblivious to the approaching danger, proceeds back towards the Queen.

No one aboard the Zodiac notices the large bower until it strikes the rubber-hulled boat head-on. Everyone is thrown forward violently and Jay, in the bows, strikes his head against wood. If it weren't for his helmet, he'd be unconsious. If he survives the encounter, he's going to have quite a headache. The Zodiac's nose collapses and is caught fast by the jagged end of the huge log. Tucker knows enough to pull the propeller out of the water- trying to push the log is only going to fold the Zodiac in half, hastening its inevitable demise. The tree rides the Zodiac's bows under and the boat begins shipping water. Everyone aboard is doused in frigid water as the river rushes aboard. The small boat is foundering as it's being carried downriver by the floating tree.


Next Moves?

Craig has returned to the wheel house landing once the log was identified as not a threat. He continued to scan both banks for movement, unsure if any of the enemy had made it to the banks.

If he was aware of the drama unfolding he tries to help, either finding a rope he could throw or a life ring if any are present.

In reply to Cap'n Rae (msg #120):

Satisfied he couldn't have done anything more to affect the outcome of the collision, Dawid got onto other things.

"Craig? Status report!"

"How's salvaging that other Zodiac coming with Jan and Minh? If we can't patch it up we can use it to patch the other boat. Plus the engine might be salvageable."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:06, Fri 25 May 2012.

In reply to Dawid Waldus Piotrowski (msg #122):

"Ok on it, we cleared the dead its still attached I believe. I'll try and get it on board."

He then went about trying to at least recover the engine if not the whole thing.

Quyen slings her rifle and moves to help Craig with recovering the boat engine after it was safe to stand down again. If he can't find any rope she will rush down to her where her pack is and grab the few meters she has coiled up in one of the pouches.

Once Griet had issued the stand down orders to the engine crew she moved the searchlight forward again to pick up the zodiac and guide it safely back to the Queen.

"Jesus!" Mariusz exclaimed as the log hit them. He grabbed yelled, "Try and get people out of the water."

He reached forward and tried to grab a part of the log to try and gauge its stability. If it was stable enough he intended to try and get people on to it and get them out of the killing cold of the water.

"Move it people," he urged, "we didn't get this far to get killed by a fucking tree."

Jan had been about to go and help Craig and Quyen with the captured zodiac and any gear on it, as Dawid had instructed, when he heard someone yelling, mostly likely Mariusz from the sound of it.  The young Pole's voice had cut across the night and the persistent sound of the river and it seemed that there was another problem with the rescue team and the people in the water.  Jan therefore changed what he had been intent on doing, slung the sling of his rifle over his shoulder and moved quickly to the nearest searchlight.

He quickly turned it on and started scanning around in the direction he had heard the yells, trying to pick out the people in the water.  He was expecting to find the zodiac they had launched trying to pull Danny and Boots aboard, not the carnage that was currently unfolding unseen.

"Keep yelling!" he called out to whoever was trying to get someone out of the water.  "Keep yelling and I will point the searchlight at the people in the river!"  He hoped that their yelling would help him pick out the right spot to shine the searchlight.

As soon as he picked out the sinking zodiac Jan started yelling updates to the other people still on the Queen so that they knew what was going on as well.

Mariusz looks at Danny and asks, "Is there anything we can do to make the journey to the Queen better for you?"

He's so earnest that Danny can't help but chuckle, despite his concern for Boots and the spreading loss of sensation in his own extremities.  "Shit, man, thanks for comin' after us."  He leans - flops, really - over the side of the Zod and releases a racking series of coughs, expelling the last of the Vistula-flavored scum from his throat.  "Can you check Boots?  I couldn't find anything but I think she got whacked upside the head when she went in.  Try to keep her awake."

Curling into a fetal ball in an instinctive but futile attempt to retain warmth, Danny's taken completely by surprise when the boat suddenly folds up around the log.  "Oh, for fuck's sake," he groans disgustedly, struggling into a sitting position.  "Get ready to go for the shore, guys.  We don't wanna get carried any farther downstream..."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:24, Sun 27 May 2012.

"Over here!" Mariusz shouted again.

"Everyone, keep yelling!"

Mariusz looked at the situation, his mind racing. They had three casualties unlikely to be able to help themselves in the water and the zodiac had lost its integrity and was taking on filthy, near freezing water. They were fifty meters from shore, too far to get the casualties safe, and the tug was at least thirty minutes away from being of any use to them.

"Tucker," he said, "I'll try to start the engine. If it works use it to push us as close to shore as we can. Don't try to disengage from the log, just push it along, the closer we get to shore, the more we'll save."

He pointed to port to show Tucker the bank he was aiming for and then grabbed the pull string. He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer, "Holy Saint Brendan, be with me in my hour of need, let me get your Lambs safe on the shore, Amen."

He kept his wrist rigid to keep the pull smooth and fluid and bunched hie arm muscles. He held the motor firmly with his left hand and then pulled hard with his left, flicking his elbow out.

Tucker was going to try and steer and get them closer to the shoreline so the swim isn't so bad for them and the bank hopefully will be reachable in this cold water, however, the zodiac is too badly damaged to try anything especially with the motor out of the water.  He then yells over to Jay, "Hold on to that flashlight Jay.  Either try and start to try and signal them with it now or try if we make it to shore."  Robert reaches down to his holster and draws out the H&K pistol and fires three [3] rounds into the air and then resecures the pistol back in it's holster hoping the sounds will help give the people on the boat a direction to look for them.

TUCKER
H&K Mk23 SOCOM [9/12]

Trying to get Zodiac closer to shore and fire off three distress shots to mark their location.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:06, Mon 28 May 2012.

Griet heard the fuss on the prow and slowly realised that the rescue attempt had gone horribly long. She grabbed the intercom and said, "Griet to engine room. The zodiac is in trouble and we need power as soon as possible, get it done!"

"Will do Captain," Josef replied, "the engines will be on line in thirty minutes."

"We need it in fifteen," Griet urged.

"I'll give it all I've got, Captain," Josef grumbled, "but you can't alter the laws of Thermo-Dynamics. It'll take thirty minutes to make steam."

"Do what you can Chief."

"Griet to Sloeblume," she continued, "prepare for multiple severe cold casualties: everything's gone tits up."

She ran to the weather deck and yelled to Bayer, "We won't be able to move under power for at least thirty minutes! Drifting is too risky but we could gain a little mobility by kedging, swinging from anchor to anchor. It's a very risky tactic given our lack of power. It could gain us five to ten minutes when we get power or we could lose an anchor and start drifting ourselves but it's an option."

Boom!

Jay never saw the log, but the impact threw him forward violently. He smashed his face into something hard, and his world swam. A warm stickiness spewed over his face. His own blood, probably, but this was not the time for a detailed check. The sudden movement coupled with the stunned head tipped him over the side, and he spilled into the cold black water.

For a few seconds he sunk under the water, before the cold water revived him enough for him to realise what had happened and fight back. He kicked out, swimming back to what he hoped was the surface. He broke above the water and gasped, before being dragged back under by the current. Struggling further he broke the surface again, and managed to stay up, he glanced around, blood and dirty river water in his eyes. He couldn't see any of the others from the Zodiac, or the Queen.

He knew he had to move quickly. He was no Olympian, but he could swim okay. He let the current take him and kicked sideways towards what he thought was the nearest bank. Which side it was, he didn't know, but he had to get out of the water.

The cold water clawed at him, trying to sap his strength and will him to give up and let go on life. He resisted, gasping for breath every time his head broke the surface. He wanted to shout, but couldn't find a voice.

Determined to live, he struggled towards the bank...

As the alarm was raised Craig was half way to the pirate inflatable. He turned on the spot and was momentarily struck impotent unable to make the correct or any decision.

He saw and heard the others franticly trying to help, should he grab a rope, did he find a life ring, was there another small craft. It was Warren on top of the wheel house that finally spurned him into action. He joined him on the wheel house and grabbed the HK-69. Breaking it open he quickly checked the grenade was the correct one before taking a knee.

Muzzle pointed into the sky over were he thought the Zodiac and it stricken crew were located. He did a silent count down from three before pulling the trigger sending the Para flare into the evening sky.

Once it was away he spoke to Warren;

"We have people in the water any suggestions ?"

In reply to Craig Sutherland (msg #133):

As Warren seemed to have the lookout duty covered, so Dawid made his way over to where Sutherland was located.

"If we don't have another boat to send, then they are on their own until we can throw them a line or someone else volunteers to dive in like Jason. Help me get the pirates' Zodiac on board, even if it's in poor shape."

He looked around for more safety or rescue equipment.

"That PJ was our best swimmer and rescuer.  Anyone else who jumps in will be just as dead as the pirates."  this last point is punctuated by the large pistol still strapped to Warren's leg he used to execute the wounded.

"Flare is a good idea though for what its worth.  Except anyone who somehow missed the gunfight will now head this way."

Almost bored he adds as he picks up his binoculars when the flare ignites.  "For me, I'll be watching the shore.  Make sure those guys don't drown.  The PJ is a better doc than that woman and her questions."

In reply to Jeff D. Warren (msg #135):

"I agree on all accounts. Let's not fret more about what we can't change. Come, Warren and McClurg are covering watch duty."

"EVERYONE! If we make contact with hostiles, battle stations as follows: Warren in crow's nest, Nguyen, McClurg and Sutherland at the MGs they were manning before. Kel, please assist me with the Vasilek, Jan you're with the Kapitan."

"When the raft come in, Jan and Kel assist Dr. Solleblum. Let's not everyone go running down to assist, they'll call for additional help as needed."

Dawid started giving Craig and Minh a hand with recovering the zodiac.

Bayer curses quietly to himself, noting that he could see his breath in the cold night, which made his heart sink further. He never thought the tree was going to end up being a threat to his men and regretted not realizing that he needed to warn Robert. He was a panzergrenadier captain... not a man of the water or boats.

He then waves back at Griet and responds flatly, "Do it." He then sighs and thinks to himself, I'm glad you are here...

Bayer will remain on the bridge, ready to put himself or others to use once the boat got a little closer to the men in the water or the shore.

The Zodiac, shipping water and impaled on the jagged root cluster of the floating log, is carried further from the Queen. There's not much that the small boat crew can do now but hold on and hope for the best. Tucker fires three shots in the air in order to make clear the recue crew's plight. (Tucker -3 rounds)

A parachute flare pops to life overhead, illuminating the area in its dancing light. Those on board the tug can now see the rescue party- now in need of rescuing themselves- as it drifts away on the current. Below decks, the tug crew works feverishly to work up a head of steam, shovelling heaps of coal into the firebox while on the main deck, x & y raise the rear anchor in preparation for an attempt at kedging downriver. (Craig -1 paraflare)

Mariusz'a attempt to restart the Zodiac's outboard meets with success. The engine roars to life and Tucker, as instructed, dips the propeller back into the water, pulling the tiller hard over. It takes a few seconds for the propeller to gain traction before the log starts moving towards the western shore. The Zodiac, although impaled on the tree's jagged roots and badly damaged, no longer appears in danger of sinking. It's with this reassuring observation that the boat crew realizes that they are one short- Jay is no longer aboard.

Jay, alone and in the river, stuggles to reorient himself and stay afloat. Fortunately, he's not wearing any body armor, so, although his boots and other gear are dragging him down, he can keep his head above water. For a few long seconds he knows only that he's in the frigid Vistula. As be bobs along, he catches several glimpses of the lit tug, but he's not sure which direction the near shore is in. Then the parachute flare ignites overhead. He spots the dark outline of the near bank and immediately starts kicking towards it.

On board the tug, several Kommando's haul the pirates Zodiac on board. It has no engine- only oars- and is riddled with bullet, shot, and shrapnel holes. It's clearly not in proper floating condition. Others keep the drifting rescue party under observation as it creeps closer to the east bank of the river. The flare Craig launched is descending rapidly and soon it will land in the river between the tug and the log-impaled Zodiac.

The Zodiac slows as its bottom drags against the muddy riverbed just a few meters from dry land. The massive log continues to push it along, but at a much slower pace now. With the friction of the dragging rubber boat slowing the tree's leading end and acting as a pivot, the far end of the tree swings out into the current and away from the boat. In effect, the tree acts like a pole-vaulter's vaulting pole. Aware that the impaled Zodiac might be ripped from the shallows by the pull of the continuing tree, the rescue crew scrambles off the doomed inflatable boat, grabbing as much gear as they can. Almost as soon as the last person debarks, the Zodiac is pulled out of the shallows and away, disappearing into the darkness.

As the rescue party- sans Jay- struggles to get to solid ground, they fail to notice a group of armed men and boys watching them from the low bank. When Tucker finally spots them, it's too late. He counts no less than ten silhouettes forming an arc around riverbank. They've got their guns drawn and the small, wet, shivering boat crew in their sights.

"Hands up! Get your motherfucking hands up right now!"

Anyone on board the tug using any sort of vision enhancement device sees this much before the para-flare sinks, sputtering, into the river. At this point, the surrounding area sinks back into darkness, and nothing more that follows can be seen.

Jay, lies on his back on the muddy riverbank, gasping for breath. He's shivering and exhausted and his nose is clogged with snot and blood. Over the pounding in his temples he hears someone yelling in what he's pretty sure is Polish- he doesn't recognize the voice, though. He's lost his rifle but he's still got his Khukri.


Turn Summary: The party is now split. Tucker, Mariusz, LaRue, and Connolly are now on the west bank, under the guns of a group of at least 10 strangers.

Jay is about 50m upriver from them. He doesn't see anyone in his immediate vicinity.

The tug is probably 20m away from getting underway. In the meantime, it will kedge downriver, slowly closing the distance to the marooned rescue party. Those on board the tug can no longer see what's going on on the shore.

Updated Tac-map: https://maps.google.com/maps/m...pn=0.166576,0.528374


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:15, Wed 30 May 2012.

Dawid was disappointed when he saw the raft had no engine. That would have been nice, but they'd take what they could get. If the bullet holes couldn't be fixed, then maybe it could be used to patch the other boat.

"Okay, everyone, back to your battle stations for now, until we stand down or the Kapitan or Dr. Solleblum needs you for medical duty.

"Kel, you're on the gun with me. Do you have any experience with large wepaons like this?"

After helping the others pull in the pirates boat Quyen instinctively looks towards the unseen shoreline as someone opens fire. At first she mistakes the unexpected shooting for another attack again and she begins racing up the ladder to the DSHK once more... that is until the flare bursts overhead and lights up the rescue party.

Quyen then lingers on the ladder (or stairs) for a moment while she watches helplessly as the rescue party flounders in the river. She then continues up and returns to her position behind the large machinegun. The sounds of the tug's crew prepping it for action helped put her at ease a little, but not by much. Not being able to do something was painful.

Quyen will remain at her post. At this time she is unaware of the unknown men by the shore (she has no night vision) but will be ready to act when the time comes.

Craig helps pull in what is left of the zodiac the pirates attacked in. He dose not linger when the call to stations is given. As Tucker is with the rescue party Craig takes up the position on the port DShK.

He manoeuvres the large heavy machine gun on its mount to point up river at the new threat to the rescue party. The deck was slick with blood and water but he was able to keep his footing. With his NVG's down Craig gave a SITRIP of what he could see to anyone within air shot.

He ended with;

"I could give them a burst over their heads."

"Twenty minutes to steam, Kaptain," Griet called out, "do you want the spotlight deployed anywhere or are we going to play things cool?"

In reply to Griet Niewiadomska (msg #142):

While Dawid wasn't about to open fire without provocation, he wasn't above reminding the strangers (who might just be towns-folk, after all) their people had friends. Friends with big guns.

Assuming Konrad doesn't preemptively countermand Griet's suggestion, he called up, "yes, shine the light on shore!"

Using the spotlight, Dawid attempted to train and aimed the Vasilek at the larger group on the western shore. It was too far to use night vision goggles, and the range also made it very hard to tell friend from foe. He had a clip of 82mm HE shells ready to go in the magazine. He really wished they had some smoke ammunition to cover their friends' retreat (and it was non-lethal), but needs must as the devil drives...

Noting the crew beginning preparations to kedge (even if he didn't quite know how or what would happen) Dawid said, "Kapitan, Griet, whatever movement we make isn't going to matter all that much for now. Keep things stable for now so I can provide effective fire support. Or, drifting with the current like that log will get us closer, too."

OOC: I am assuming that crew members are now scrambling to begin kedging. Dawid doesn't know what that is, but he knows this will make the boat more stable. I make the range at 750-800m.

In theory, drifting with the current we should go at the speed of the log, and it covered the distance in far less than 20 minutes! As well, the log seemed to be drifting closer to the west bank, which is where we need to go. When we're where we want to be or get drawn too close to shore, drop anchor.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:32, Thu 31 May 2012.

"Kool." Bayer says quietly, observing the activity on the shore through his image intensifiers. He then says louder so that the rest can hear, "Weapons hold. Pass it on."

Bayer then lowers the optics and moves down to Griet's position where he says quietly, "If they wanted to do harm to Sergeant Tucker and his men... I think they would have done so by now when they had full surprise. Keep getting the tug ready for action, but lets not provoke or frighten them them into doing anything rash. This is in Robert's hands until we can be ready to move." He didn't say it aloud, but hoped his American friend or anyone else didn't do anything crazy.

Bayer then notes the river's edge and asks, "Griet... how close can you get us without getting stuck? Enough to disembark a shore party that can wade in?"

Following Griet's reply, Bayer moves from each battle position to the next, stopping each time to observe the shore again and keeping the Kommando's calm - but ready to unleash the full power at their disposal if things turned worse. An ILLUM para-flare is still loaded in his launcher.

OOC - Rae, does Tucker have his radio? Bayer will try to transmit if he does.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:16, Fri 01 June 2012.

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #144):

Dawid nodded as Konrad inspected the forward weapons station, "Kapitan, sir, everyone is at action stations. I will make sure one will fire.

"Vasilek is loaded with fragmentation but I was wrong, cannot engage shore to rear, nor can spotlight be brought to bear.

"Suggest we release the forward anchor, so that we swing around. If we need to move, just drift with current, worked well for log!"

"Last, McClurg is on AGS-17, facing rear. Only weapon that can fire to rear. Put Jan on that one; I trust Jan but do not know this new man, McClurg."

Bayer nods at the assessments, then on the last point motions towards Jan and says, "Yes, switch them up quietly."

"I can release the bow anchor to bring the Vasilsek to bear," Griet said, "I will not let the Queen drift in the river, it's too dangerous. Without power we could get into serious trouble. Once we have power I can get you close to the bank but not to the shore without taking depth soundings, again we risk too much by butting in blindly. Without a landing craft, I'm pretty sure we won't be able to get close enough to land a shore party unless we find a jetty or a pier."

"Do you want me to swing the boat around?"

When Konrad nodded his agreement with Dawid's suggestion Jan quickly changed positions, moving quickly to the AGS-17 and speaking to McClurg.

"Mac, we change positions," he explained hurriedly.  "Capitaine Bayer wants you to go and join Dawid and help him."

A McClurg set off, with an encouraging pat on the shoulder from Jan, to report to Dawid the Legionnaire secured his AK nearby and then quickly checked over the AGS-17.  Once he was satisfied that it was ok he quickly flicked on his NVGs to scan around.  In only a matter of seconds he confirmed what he had though, that the distances were beyond the capabilities of his NVGs, and he turned them off again.

"Yes. Pardon me for saying, I believe Kapitan Bayer seems to be in accord with turning the tug to put the Vasilek and spotlight into play. I can't see the harm, so let's do that immediately. Further moves will come when we have power.

"Griet, do those on shore have a radio? Assuming they do, make contact and advise them to mark their position with flares or lights."

Dawid moved to where he could see the rear deck, at least a little. He assumed Jan had manned the Plamya without delay. "Jan, my friend, until we bring the Queen about provide cover to those on shore! If we can, we'll get them to mark their position."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Sat 02 June 2012.

By leaving the stern anchor in place and pulling up the bow anchor, the tug slowly pivots so that her bow is now pointed downriver.

A nearly out-of-breath Gryzych calls up to the bridge from the engine room through the speaking tube. "We can probably give you half power in 10 minutes."

Now that the tug is reoriented, both the bridge-mounted spotlight and the Vasilek can be brought to bear. The tug is ready to set off at once as soon as there is enough power available to make some way. Drifting with the current is a dangerous option because Griet really won't be able to steer. There are a lot of shallows and mudbanks in this part of the river (from what you could see the day before) and a large island up ahead. It's probably best to wait ten minutes so that more can be done to avoid such potentially damaging obstacles.

The spotlight is trained forward and sweeps the west bank first. On the second pass, a group of figures can be made out moving away from the river (inland and north). There looks to be about two dozen people there- if it's the rescue party, it looks like they've met some new friends. Both the Vasilek and the Dishkas have the range to reach out and touch them, but without being able to pick and choose targets, the chances of friendly fire deaths are almost certain.


Next Moves?

In reply to Cap'n Rae (msg #150):

Studying the tableau through binoculars, Dawid fought a sinking feeling of helplessness. The group seemed to include their friends, but they hadn't made an effort to contact the ship and were now moving away. Once they got out of sight, there would be nothing they could do to to influence the situation.

"Kapitan! Target sighted! Permission to fire warning shot, fragmentation, 200m in front of group!"

With Kel's help, Dawid carefully aimed the Vasilek at a spot that would make an impression but (hopefully) not cause casualties. He wouldn't fire without permission, but no harm in preparing!

It was an almost instantaneous realisation that his NVG's where not going to be any help, so he flicked them off. Standing behind the big gun he wondered if he would have been more effective behind his G3 and scope.

He glanced up to the top of the wheel house, he could not see Warren but he felt assured he would have the rescue team under observation. Craig grabbed the bolt handle and pulling it back slightly, checked a round was in the chamber of the DShK.

He eased it forward and resumed the wait for the order to engage or to stand down.

Griet glanced up at Warren as she focused the searchlight on the group by the waterside. She hoped that the group holding their comrades weren't affiliated to the men who Warren had calmly executed with his knife. If they were, she hoped they hadn't seen the treatment of their friends by the ship's crew. If they had, it might not go well for the unfortunate crew members on the bank.

Bayer lowers his image intensifiers and responds, "No. No firepower demonstrations. Nothing until we are mobile." Bayer then continues to watch. He didn't want to provoke an unidentified party who's intentions were not known yet... not while friendly troops were exposed anyways. Whoever was out there would also probably realize that we can't use our superior firepower without hitting our own people anyways.

Calling down to the main deck again, Bayer asks, "Griet... time?" He then climbs down and approaches her directly, "I know you can't beach the boat or risk navigating at night, but once we get power, I need to land a party... at least waist deep." He then looks at her for a response.

Griet looked at the drama unfolding on shore and then heard the Kaptain's question, "I can give you half power in ten minutes," she answered, "I wouldn't want to operate much faster than that in the dark anyway. I can't guarantee how close I can get you to shore but once we're nearer I'll start shooting bursts from the bow thrusters to shift us sideways. That will let us feel where the shelving of the bank becomes too shallow for us to continue without beaching us. I'll need people at the side with the gaff hooks feeling for obstructions."

"I can then get you about four meters closer by hooking the gang plank to the crane, that way you can run out on that and if we're close enough jump to shore," She continued, "if we're not close enough I can lower it into the water and you can send someone out to judge the depth."

Bayer nods at Griet's response. He then moves to find Jan and says, "Dawid will keep us covered with the main gun. I need you to muster up some men to help check the water depth."

"Tadeusz," Griet called to her deck hand, "rig the gang plank up to the derrick, we'll need to use it as an assault ramp: remember the Corvus that father showed us in that book?"

Jan had been about to start moving the AGS-17 round to the prow of the boat, so that it could also fire directly in support of the men on shore, when Konrad gave him some different orders.


"Oui mon Capitaine," replied Jan as he cast another glance round the boat, trying to remember who was still on board, settling initially on Craig on one of the DShKs.  "Craig.  With me and get hold of a boathook.  We have to check the water depth."

Jan then turned to Griet and called out to her while he picked up a boathook of his own.  "Griet, can you spare Walter to help me and Craig?"

While he waited for Griet to answer Jan turned back to Konrad with another question that would be important fairly soon.  "Capitaine, who is going ashore?  You, me, Craig and Jeff?"  He was keen to get off the boat and onto dry land where he would be considerably more use than he was at present.  Hunting down the group who, it seemed, had taken the rescue party prisoner was much more within Jan's capabilities!

For the moment though he did his bit as a less than junior deckhand, not entirely sure what he was actually doing with a boathook!

"We don't need to feel our way until we have power," Griet said, "if you help Tadeusz and Walter rig up the gang plank, when we do move, you can have both deck hands to help you. You'll need to be very careful: the river is notoriously fickle here, there could be sand bars between us and the bank. There was also a sand quarry there so we'll need to be careful of sunken barges. We might get lucky however, if the sand barges took enough of the sand away before they stopped there might be a nice bank to come up against where they've dug out all the depositions. That might make this part of the river run faster and transfer the sand to the island in front of us. Though the day we get lucky is the day I kiss Dr. Soleblume."

She remembered what her father had said about the river here. People had always battled to stop it changing fickley and they had often failed. One of his lectures had told her about the kempes, strange islands in the river that were unusual because the weren't made out of deposited sand and had been filled with massive, old growth trees. Originally folk lore had said they were the camps of the giants of the river, held there since time immemorial but later study found they were part of the land that had been cut off by the river's meanderings. Adam had shown her old charts where the island up ahead had changed in appearance over the years, waxing and waning and sometimes rejoining the land it had been sundered from centuries ago.

This wasn't the stretch of river she would have picked for night time manovures but if they were careful they should keep the boat intact even if they couldn't help their friends easily. She kicked herself mentally, only an arrogant fool would have left Warsaw with just one ship's boat. Call yourself a Captain, she thought to herself, you're still that silly spoilt girl that ran away to sea to be like her Daddy.

She idly fingered the medals of St. Jude and St. Brendan, let the sand quarriers have done us a favour, she prayed, let them have taken away enough sand to have stopped the sand bars from forming here, let us get our friends back.

She poked her head out of the window and called to Warren, "Sweep the bank we are heading for with the spotlight, the charts show evidence of sand quarrying, maybe there's a jetty."

"OK," Jan replied to Griet before moving to join Tadeusz and Walter.  Making the assumption that Walter was in charge of rigging up the extended gang plank Jan turned to him, switching to Polish to ensure that there were no misunderstandings.

"Walter.  Tell me what you need me to do?"

"Cut the lights." Bayer says, before Jan gets underway.

Craig lent a hand where he was needed before collecting his gear for the land rescue mission.

Before the spotlight is cut, you see the people on shore move quickly,  disappearing into some thick foliage to the northeast. With the folks on shore out of sight, Griet shifts the spotlight beam to the near shore. It's hard to tell in the harsh glare of the spotlight but here and there it looks like some excavation of the sandy shore has taken place. Walter recollects how the defenders of Warsaw used sand and mud dredged up from the river bed to build fortifications during the siege of the city, a few years back. Since then, however, it looks like the mighty Vistula has moved quite a bit of sediment back into the spots that had been dredged out. The net result is a combination sandbank/mudflat expending past the riverbank proper about 30 feet or so at its narrowest, 50 or so at its widest.

The deck crew begins rigging the gangway to the derrick, creating a shaky but serviceable assault bridge that can extend about 18 feet past the tug's gunwhale. This leaves about 15 feet between the end of the bridge and the shallows. The tug's life rafts- small two-man rubber dingies- might make it to shore, but it would be a considerable risk. They're not designed to carry fully armed troops in heavy winter gear. There's also a couple of empty 50 gallon drums available that used to hold methanol that will float, and there's plenty of cordage aboard.

By the time the gangway "corvus" is finished, the engine room reports half power available for both of the tug's screws. With the deck crew and security force keeping careful watch on both the river ahead and the banks beyond, the tug gets underway, moving downriver at approximately 10kph.

Next Moves?

"Sir!"

He kept the weapon aimed in the correct direction, while also trying to find aiming point in case the light went out. On one hand there were the lights of the town to the right, and he could see the (empty) bank to the left in his NVGs. It wasn't the best, but at least he would have a rough sector to cover.

"Well done, "Kel", thanks."

Warren had been propped up, using the maximum zoom of his rifle to track the unknown group.  Unfortunately, the range was just too much to identify anyone solidly in the bad light, even with the spotlight.

"I've lost sight of the shore group.  Took off through the woods."  He is reasonably confident that if he were standing where they were at the shore, he could lead them in the right-ish direction.  But only briefly.

"Good news is the river looks calm.  Enough.  Where do you need me?"  Warren had been severely looking forward to the end of his shift.  The pirates were no big deal, but going back on shore was not something he looked forward to.  Otherwise, he helps Jan out with preparations to go ashore, assuming that he would be going.  He double checks his night vision charge, and debates swapping the sniper rifle out for an AK.  In the end he decides against it, keeping the sport rifle.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:59, Wed 06 June 2012.

"On land." Bayer replies, giving the American the answer he wasn't hoping for.

Bayer then moves to where Jan and Craig are helping with the depth sounding and says, "Warren, Quyen, Lt.Sutherland and yourself, are to accompany me on shore." he explains to the Czech. "Get everyone kitted up when you're done here."

Once that is clear, Bayer heads to the stern mounted Vasilek, their most trusted and decisive asset on board since first leaving Krakow. Crouching next to the weapon, he silently counts the various types of 82mm rounds before saying to the NCO, "Dawid, I'm stripping as many hands as possible to get a strong presence on the ground. I need the Vasilek and one DSHK to be ready for support fire."

Then finally, Bayer confirms with Griet his intentions and waits until the landing can commence. Although, he'll leave Jan in tactical control of the section, he'll be the first one off the boat. If the gangplank can't get them all the way to the land, he will jump down into the water first without his rifle, NVGs or radio (basically his tac vest). Then if it is safe, those on board will hand it down and they can continue with that same method. They already lost some people in the river tonight... he didn't want to lose weapons and equipment too.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:08, Thu 07 June 2012.

Having helped create the assault bridge Jan reported to Konrad again.  Nodding in understanding at his orders Jan then checked his gear again, deciding to leave the LAW behind as it was hopefully overkill, and made his way back to the assault bridge.

"Griet, the end of the gangplank is about six or seven meters from the bank.  We can jump to make that shorter but how deep do you think the water will be and will we be able to wade ashore or will we get stuck in mud?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:35, Thu 07 June 2012.

Quyen hears her name mentioned but remains at the machinegun until the tugboat is ready to unload them. If Jan looks up she will give him a thumbs up to let him know that she is aware that she has been ordered ashore and is ready to go.

"It's likely to be muddy and make life difficult," Griet said, "if I were you I'd make a quick raft out of the oil drums and some wood and send one person to shore with a rope. Then you can use the raft to ferry people ashore using the rope to guide the raft. It'll take a bit more time but everyone will get ashore safely, dry and without losing gear."

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #166):



Dawid nodded in agreement. They seemed to have a quantity of ammunition.

"Yes, Kaptain. I can man the mortar myself. McClurg will man the Dushka.

"I'll take McClurg, he was a helicopter door gunner seems handy with a machinegun. Griet will relay indirect fire requests via the radio set on the bridge. Take flares to mark your position for direct fire. I guess that's about it.

"Best of luck!"

He arranged for all the radios to be on the correct frequency, and for an alternate. Further, he set up the PKM on the left bow pintle.

Instructions to McClurg:

"We're supporting the shore party, they're going to retrieve our comrades. At this time I believe the threat is to port, that is, the west or left hand side. I will keep watch here on the bow and port side, you cover the rear and starboard side from the bridge deck. When I request, man the portside Dushka to provide additional support."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:38, Fri 08 June 2012.

After getting a thumbs up from Quyen and listening to Griet's answer Jan called over to Konrad.

"Capitaine.  Do we have time to make a raft or are we wading ashore?"

Griet's advice was solid but the longer they waited the further away the others would get and trying to track them in the dark was going to be slow and awkward.

"Danke... thank you." Bayer says. "We won't be long."

"No. We move as soon as we have power." he replies after a moment of silence. "We get our feet wet... but it is it safe if we do it like I will show."

With his gear at the rail Craig went over it one final time. He had debated with himself to leave the G3, deciding against it. He did one last physical and visual check of his assault vest and PLCE webbing making sure everything he needed was in place.

This was not the first wet landing he had made in this war, a big bonus was that this one would hopefully not be under fire. As he waited for the order to move his mind wondered over memories he would rather forget.

0330 hours

Using the engines (still at 1/2 output) to control and steer rather than propel the tug (the current's taking care of that), Griet edges the Queen towards the west bank. Warren lights the way with the roof-mounted spotlight.

In the meantime, Dawid arranges a short-handed tug security detail while Konrad organizes and prepares a shore-party for deployment as soon as the tug is within wading distance of dry land.

The tug moves slowly shoreward at an increasingly shallow angle until, with an odd slapping/sucking sound, it slows gradually to a full stop. Griet knows instantly that she's run up on a mudbank and she immediately cuts power. Due to the tug's low speed at the time of impact, Griet is confident that the Queen is not yet close to being stuck fast. She slowly reverses thrust on the main screws to make sure that the current doesn't push the tug any further up onto the mud bank. It's not the perfect landing but, under the circumstances, it's pretty close.

The deck crew engages the derrick and extends the makeshift "corvus" assault bridge. You see now that the riverbank here has been buttressed with a sheer-sided concrete retaining wall- a testament to the communist's regimes prewar flood control projects. The far end of the corvus just barely kisses the concrete, allowing the recovery team to set foot on dry land without getting wet first. Considering how cold it is, this is a blessing indeed.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:56, Tue 12 June 2012.

Bayer leans over the edge and peers down into the blackness of the water and riverbank below while the last of the landing preparations are completed. Then once he's gotten the signal from Griet, he passes off his rifle and tac-vest, and makes his way onto the assault bridge. Bayer will jump the last meter to the solid ground and look for any unseen footfalls before signally for the rest to follow him.

Following the shore party's landing, Bayer places everyone in an all around defense for a listening halt and a brief co-ord meeting with Jan. "Get your lead man heading towards the village and moving at a good pace." he whispers, adding the bearing to the community that he took from his compass when he was on the Queen. "Open fire policy is self defense only. Action on any contact is to halt, go to ground, and assess."

Bayer then glances at his watch and says, "I'll be in the middle of your section. Step off time is now. Let's go get our people."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:52, Sun 10 June 2012.

Craig securely slung his weapon across his back as he made his way across the small bridge. He tried to clear the water as much as possible, more to keep his feet dry then any tactical reason. Once on the bank he unslung his rifle and with it at his shoulder he crawled slowly over the bank scanning for stragglers or sentry's left behind.

He lay flat as he slowly scanned the terrain in front of him.

Rescue Team
Laying flat as he scans in front

HK G3SG/1 (w/ Zeiss 1.5-6 x 42 mm Telescopic Sight)[20/20] w/14 magazines
L32A1 (Browning A5) 10" Barrel [4/3]
Browning HP-35 (w/ silencer) [20/20] w/2 magazines
Smoke grenade x1
Frag Grenade F1 x6 RKG-3 AT Grenade Grenade, L13A2 CS E-108 Thermite Grenade x2
Kukri

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #175):

Before Konrad and the others left, Dawid suggested the two groups use call signs along the lines of the last engagement:

Alpha: Shore Party (Konrad)
Bravo: Fire Support (Dawid)
Queen: The tug (Griet)

Technically, calls would be between the Queen and Alpha. OOC: can we rig some kind of retrans using the Queen's radio, and Dawid's hand radio? Anyone know?

If the shore party needed to split up they could add designation as needed (Alpha One, Two, etc.). That was unlikely to affect comms with the Queen.

"Try and find a wharf! I'd love to unload the Ural, get it back on land, again. Again, good luck."

Jeff jumps the gap and lands on shore dry.  Once there he moves 10 meters off into the woodline until everyone is ashore.  Satisfied that there are no contacts in close proximity, he moves back to Konrad.

"Order of march?"


Jeff Warren
On Shore
SAKO TRG-21 [10/10] + 5
SOCOM Mk.23 [12/12] + 2

After he'd made it ashore and was in the all-round defence position Jan responded to Konrad's question.  "OK, I will take point, then Craig, then the Capitaine, then Quyen and then Jeff bringing up the rear."

He then quickly conducted a radio check before fixing his NVGs over his eyes and turning them on.  He then set off in the direction that Konrad had indicated, setting a good pace initially to try to catch up with their missing friends.

As he moved he looked for a recently travelled path alongside the river.  The men who they were trying to follow had seemed to be in quite a sizeable group so there were bound to be signs of their passing on the route they had taken, even though they would be hard to spot in the dark.  Trampled grass, boot prints in the mud or something like that.  Jan had some experience of tracking, though he was more concerned with finding the right route rather than working out details of their targets.

He also kept his rifle ready, though he intended to follow Konrad's orders and stop and go to ground if he spotted anything vaguely threatening.  The lack of firing when the others had been captured or rescued or whatever it was that had happened made it unclear whether Jan was walking everyone into a violent confrontation or not!


Jan
AK-74 Assault Rifle (30/30 - 30rnd mag x11) - carried
BG-15 Grenade Launcher (1/1 HE - HE x19) - underslung on AK-74
P226 Pistol (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
AN/PVS-5 NVGs - worn

"Understood." Quyen whispers back with a nod.

Minh then waited and covered her arcs until it was time to move. She didn't have NVGs like most of the others but didn't mind the equipment deficiency. Her eyes had gotten used to the night since the pirate attack and she rather liked using just her own natural senses, all of them, to help keep alert for any trouble. On the move she glided throught the riverside grasses silently, not burdened down with heavy and bulky webbing and body armor.

If Quyen spots anything (on the flanks) she will tap the person ahead and point, and then quietly lower herself into cover.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 01:59, Tue 12 June 2012.

The recovery team regroups on shore and sets out after the inaptly named rescue party. Jan has little problem finding the spot where the strangers presumably captured his friends. The soft earth near the bank is pitted with footprints and the dead grass that borders it is smashed down by many booted feet. It isn't too hard to follow the trail for a bit, but eventually, Jan loses it. It's too dark and the nearly-frozen earth beneath the tall, dormant overgrowth is relatively clear of grass, leaving little sign of the passage of even a large group. The best that Jan can do is follow the azimuth he believes the captors were taking and keep his eyes open for positive spoor supporting his hunch.

Meanwhile, back on the tug, the security forces keeps a close eye on the near (west) bank. McClurg, an accomplished machinegunner, keeps watch on the tug's unengaged side from behind the gun shield of the starboard Dishka. Dawid keeps an eye on the near shore, watching the recovery team move up towards the spot where the rescue party had set foot on shore. They linger for a while, picking up the trail, before disappearing into some brush and trees to the northeast.

The recovery team moves slowly and cautiously, aware that the strangers they are attempting to follow may have set up an ambush along their backtrail.

After advancing probably 200m or so, Jan stops the patrol. He hears movement up ahead- someone or something is moving noisily through the brush and it sounds like it's coming straight for them.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:53, Tue 12 June 2012.

After signalling to the rest of the recovery patrol that he could hear some men approaching from the direction he had guessed the rescue party had been taken, Jan ducked into cover on the land side of the path.  He positioned himself so that if the enemy fled away from the path they would be blocked on one side by the recovery group and on the other side by the river, after a short distance.

Jan then aimed his rifle, ready to fire if necessary but intending on issuing a challenge once the approaching group were in the middle of the kill zone.  As the main Polish speaker amongst the recovery group he was conscious that he would need to ensure that the encounter didn't immediately turn bloody!

There was also the chance that the approaching group was actually the rescue party returning, though he would have expected many of them to move a lot more quietly!


Jan
Lying prone on the landward side of the path.
Covering the approaching group, intending on calling out a warning to halt and surrender once they are in the middle of the kill zone.
AK-74 Assault Rifle (30/30 - 30rnd mag x11) - carried
BG-15 Grenade Launcher (1/1 HE - HE x19) - underslung on AK-74
P226 Pistol (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
AN/PVS-5 NVGs - worn

Griet continued to man the bridge in order to keep a careful watch and run the radio relay. She used the intercom to speak with engineering, "Good job people, leave one person on the engines and get some rest in shifts."

In reply to Griet Niewiadomska (msg # 183):

Satisfied the bow and port sectors were covered, Dawid walked over and looked up, making sure McClurg was on his arc.

Getting back to the Vasilek, he used the intercom to call up to Griet, "is there some way we can rig up this speaker and microphone to transmit via the ship's radio set? That way I could receive coordinates for fire missions without the extra step. Less chance for a mistake."

Jeff freezes when Jan signals.  He slowly and carefully lowers himself down, taking the time to shift himself to the rear.  He did not want to be snuck up on.


Jeff Warren
Covering Rear

Griet replied to Dawid, "Not that I know of, the boat's radio is a push to speak system, it only transmits or recieves. There might be a way of doing it but not one that I can rig up. At least the intercom's better than yelling."

Bayer catches the signal and hastily passes it on the rest of the patrol beside him. He then takes cover like the rest, scurrying into an somewhat extended line, but still roughly in the middle of the group. Bayer then turns on his night vision goggles and whispers into his radio, "Jan, one clear challenge... make it count."

Bayer then levels his weapon in the direction of the approaching party and flips the selector lever to automatic just in case Jan's challenge is met with gunfire. Inside of his launcher sits an ILLUM paraflare.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:00, Fri 15 June 2012.

As the noise of breaking brush draws nearer, Jan calls out a challenge.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

It's followed by a few seconds of silence. Whoever or whatever was making the racket has stopped. The rest of the recovery team is primed and tense, ready to lash the area up ahead with fire should the need become apparent.

Then, out of the darkness comes a somewhat slurred response.

"Ith Jay! Don't thoot!"


Next Moves?

Still positioned in the hasty ambush, Bayer responds, "Are you alone?" If Jay is by himself, Bayer will call back to instruct him to advance closer. However, if he is not alone, regardless of who is with him (friendly or not), Bayer will follow the usual method and instruct only Jay to approach him and the rest of the group.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:21, Sat 16 June 2012.

Dawid clicked on the intercom.

"Understood. Well, maybe we can rig up a speaker down here, so at least I can hear the incoming instructions. So that we don't drop explosives on the wrong person."

Quyen remains motionless and keeps her arcs covered. The ground is cold but she is so focused on what was happening that she barely feels her body heat draining away. Quyen listens to the natural sounds of the night and those of Jay, and tries to hear anything else that might help alert them to more might be out there. If any shooting does break out Minh will try to engage only muzzle flashes and not just any shadowy figure that enters her view.

Craig had slung his rifle and now had the short barrel shotgun covering the potential ambush. Buckshot was always good in a pinch and had discourage further attack before.

He doubted Jay would be a willing participate in any enemy action but you cant be sure in these mad times.

Rescue Team
Second in line taking a knee


L32A1 (Browning A5) 10" Barrel [4/3]00 Buckshot

"That should be possible," Griet said, "the intercom system was rigged up using old telecomms gear so there should be a way of rigging up a duplex system and getting you a headset for hands free work. If one of the fly boys knows electronics I'll get them on it."

"I have the impression that one of them, not McClurg but Kellerman, is a mechanic. Try him. Thanks!"

When Jay called out Jan felt a sense of relief!  At least one of the missing troops looked to have escaped and with a bit of luck he would know what had happened to the others!  There was even a chance that he had been released as a messenger by whomever had taken the others prisoner and they could get more of an idea as to what the hell was going on!

Jan continued scanning into the dark in the direction of the voice however, using his NVGs to peer into the gloom in an attempt to pick out any forms.  Jay had been making a lot of noise compared to what he usually made so Jan suspected that he wasn't alone.

Though he held his rifle ready to fire he kept his finger away from the trigger, conscious that it was still a confused situation.


Jan
Lying prone on the landward side of the path.
Scanning into the dark, trying to spot Jay and anyone with him.
AK-74 Assault Rifle (30/30 - 30rnd mag x11) - carried
BG-15 Grenade Launcher (1/1 HE - HE x19) - underslung on AK-74
P226 Pistol (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
AN/PVS-5 NVGs - worn

Jay stumbled down the trail, trying to be quiet but probably with as much subtlety as a rogue elephant. The cold was biting deep, and he knew he couldn't continue for much longer. Suddenly he heard a voice ahead. He paused. Was the voice familiar? It sounded like they had said something in English, but couldn't be certain.

He decided to chance it. If they weren't friendlies then he would either be captured or dead, either option seeming to be better than his current predicament. He called out, Is Jay, d d d don shoot."

He stumbled forward pressing on until he could see who called. Suddenly faces appeared in the dark, and he recognised the first two as Jan and Craig. He pressed on, before eventually collapsing at Jan's feet. He looked up at the legionnaire, and started speaking. The words were jumbled, an ugly mess of English and Nepali, complicated by his shivering body and chattering teeth. It was clear that his clothing was soaked through, and his face was coated with mud, with a mess of snot and blood running from his nose. It wasn't clear what he was saying, but Jan and Craig managed to snatch some of the English words, and Craig may get some of the Nepali ones as well.

"No capture.... Others taken.... Follow.... Sneaky sneaky.... No soldier.... Fire...."

As he rambled he gestured down the path he had appeared from. As he spoke his eyes started to close, his body wracked by uncontrollable shivering. Any further speech was incomprehensible.

In reply to Mrityunjay Byanjankar (msg # 196):

Craig stripped off his own jacket and wrapped the Gurkha in it after quickly stripping off his top clothes. He was sure those around him knew what was going on but he said;

"He going into severe hypothermia, he needs to get back to the boat. Do we have any other dry clothes ?"

Once it was clear Jay was alone, Bayer places his weapon on safe and gets up off the cold ground. He didn't want to keep the man around long, so he kept his interrogation short and just to confirm what was already suspected. "Which way did they go Jay? The village?" If anything else could be gained from him, Griet and Dawid could always relay what else he knew once he was safe on board the tug again.

Bayer then faces the rest of his team, but unsure of what vital equipment they brought with them from the Queen, decides against selecting someone for the task at hand. Instead he asks openly, "I need a volunteer to take Jay back. If we don't catch up to Tucker's group we will wait for you outside of the village, for you to link back up with us. For that, you will need a radio and night vision." Bayer then looks around at the dark silhouettes for someone to quickly step forward.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:58, Mon 18 June 2012.

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg # 198):

Jay could vaguely make out the sound of someone else talking. He gestured again, pointing down the path from which he had emerged. "Vi... Vi... Hou... Fire..." He then muttered a few more words in Nepali.

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg # 198):

"I will take him Captain, he keeps saying something about a Tiger, Guard and a child though.

With that he tries to rouse Jay enough to start walking towards the boat and gives those on the tug a heads up to prep for a causality.

Appreciating that was able to get a volunteer, Bayer nods and expresses his thanks, "Very good... thank you."

He then thinks over what Craig had told him, and says, "I see. Okay... well we will try to make sense of that warning as we move on. You two get moving though. Once you've dropped him off at the boat, radio to me so I can let you know how to link back up with us. Good luck."

With that, Bayer turns to Jan and says, "Time to move."

Jay accepted Craig's offer of a hand. With no rifle, body armour or helmet (all left on Queen) it would be easy for Craig to support him, although the sodden clothing would weigh him down.

The state of Jay explained fully why the normally stealthy Gurkha had been making so much noise.  Because of his medical training Jan briefly considered volunteering to take Jay back to the Queen but in the end Craig beat him to it.  Anneka would be able to look after him and Jan was sure that Craig would get the Gurkha there, even if he had to carry the little man!

"Craig, there is spare dry clothing in my backpack if you need some for him," Jan commented to Craig and Jay before turning back to the path that Jay had come along and focussing on finding the others.  From what Jay had said it sounded like the others had been taken prisoner by some armed locals rather than a military unit but Jan wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not!

Nodding at Konrad's instruction Jan asked a quick question before setting off.  "Jay made a lot of noise coming here so can we take the risk of moving quickly for a little while?"

Whatever the answer from his commander Jan set off at the prescribed pace, trying to follow Jay's muddy tracks initially, unless they started to deviate from the main path that ran parallel to the riverbank.

"Yes." Bayer replies. "Just keep alert."

"Oui mon Capitaine," replied Jan as he set off at a good pace to start with, the now slightly smaller patrol trailing after him.

This message was deleted by the player at 18:01, Tue 19 June 2012.

With the arrival of the nearly hypothermic Jay, the already-small recovery team is forced to diminish itself. Craig puts Jay's arm around his shoulders and starts back for the Queen. Jan takes the remainder of the team and starts following Jay's fresh tracks back towards the reported camp site.

Jan's gone about 200m when an AK barks from the darkness up ahead. A bullet passes millimeters from the left side of Jan's head, close enough that he can feel it. Someone's opened fire on the recovery team at a range of about 50m.

Back on the Queen, Dawid sees movement in the dark off the port bow. A few seconds later he hears the report of an AKM firing on full automatic.


Next Moves?
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 02:19, Wed 20 June 2012.

"Kover! Kover!" Bayer shouts, stepping to the side and dropping into the prone.

With his options limited by the fact that their own people were stumbling around out here, Bayer opts not to immediately seize the initiative and counterattack the unidentified shooter. "Jan! Break contact! Fire and movement... withdraw now!"

Then while Jan coordinated his small team, Bayer depresses the transmit switch on his radio and reports, "Bravo! Alpha! Contact... standby... over."

Bayer
G36/HK69 (30/30 + 1 ILLUM)
Going prone

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg # 208):

Dawid heard the pops of distinctive AK fire. It could be their own personnel, perhaps hostiles.

Getting down behind the gunshield, he aimed the Vasilek in the direction of the movement but held his fire pending instruction, which he assumes will be forthcoming soon.

"Griet, contact off port bow. Spotlight? Also, can you have someone find the spare radio from ship stores and tune it to the team channel? Thanks!"

"McClurg, hold position on starboard for now!"

OOC: It occurs to me we have a spare radio that we can use put at the bow weapon station for fire mission requests. Also, do we want to dispense with the Konrad-Griet-Dawid "telephone" and assume she's relaying instructions back and forth?

Craig made sure to radio ahead so there was no "Blue on Blue" action once they where closer to the tug. He still held the shotgun in his right hand as he moved forward with Jay.

He heard the gun fire but decided he was in no position to help so he kept a fast pace while looking for enemy soldiers trying to sneak up on the groups rear.

Rescue Party
Moving Jay to boat


L32A1 (Browning A5) 10" Barrel [4/3] 00 Buckshot

Jay stumbled along, grateful of the support given by Craig. As he moved he vaguely heard gunfire, but couldn't be certain what was happening.

Jeff ducks off to the side and drops to a knee.  He flips down his night vision and scans the last position of the enemy.  He counts on his own ability to blend in to keep him safe.

Griet turned the spotlight to try and pick up the movement and then got on the intercom and said, "Anneka, can you bring up the spare radio from the stores please?"

Hearing the crackle of Konrad's voice over the bridge radio, but unable to make out what was said, Dawid called up from the bow, "hey, what's going on with Alpha?"

OOC: Just a reminder that Alpha (Konrad) is calling Bravo (Dawid). Until there's a radio at the bow, we kind of have to work together on radio transmissions.

"Pull back!" Jan yelled as he quickly dropped flat to the ground, just off the left hand side of the path.  He then flicked the selector switch on his AK to Full Auto and fired two five round bursts in the rough direction of where the shooting had come from.  He wasn't really concerned about hitting anything, more with just putting some rounds down range in the rough direction of whoever had been shooting at him!

He then started backwards crawling, trying to get into some cover before pulling back fully away from the contact.


Jan
Lying prone on the landward side of the path.
Dropping prone, firing 2x 5rnd bursts (suppressive fire) in the rough direction of the attackers and then backwards crawling away from the contact
AK-74 Assault Rifle (30/30 - 30rnd mag x11) - carried
BG-15 Grenade Launcher (1/1 HE - HE x19) - underslung on AK-74
P226 Pistol (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
AN/PVS-5 NVGs - worn

"They've had a contact too," Griet replied to Dawid.

He replied through the intercom, "understood. Are they saying anything? If they are calling for "Bravo" they are calling for me. You are going to have to reply for me for now and relay any messages, until we get the other radio set up."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 00:46, Fri 22 June 2012.

While the rest of the patrol hits the cold earth, Jan drops and fires a couple of bursts at the likely source of the hostile fire. He's answered by another burst of fire. It's impossible to tell whether it's from the same shooter or another. It's well over the heads of the recovery team. Considering the hostile force's poor marksmanship and the darkness which envelops the area, it shouldn't be too hard to break contact and pull back towards the tug. (Jan -10 rounds)

As the recovery team prepares to withdraw, a light comes on from the riverbank well behind them. The team is on the very edge of the area illuminated but, should someone rise, he or she would be backlit nicely for whoever is shooting from the treeline to the north, northeast.

Griet turns on the tug's spotlight and directs the powerful beam towards the area indicated by Dawid. Two figures, one supporting the other, are caught in the wash of light. They pause and one of them holds up his hand to shield his eyes from the powerful light. After a couple of seconds, Dawid and Griet positively identify Craig; by the size of other fellow (draped in a poncho) Craig's companion is most likely Jay.

Despite being focused on the area illuminated by the spotlight, David eyes are drawn to something on the river to the north. Whether it was movement, a shadow (a relative condition in the darkness), and/or a brief flash of light that catches his eye is moot- there's another boat on the river. While Dawid tries to get a grip on the dynamic tactical situation, Anneka arrives with the spare radio.


Updated tac-map: https://maps.google.com/maps/m...7&mid=1340318965


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:02, Fri 22 June 2012.

"Queen! Alpha! Turn off the light! Over!" Bayer calls into his radio. Then as soon as it goes out (if it does), he will fire a short burst towards the unknown shooters (aiming high) and shout to the Kommandos, "Move now!"

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg # 219):

Dawid thanked Anneka for the radio, while making a note of Craig and Jay's position.

He then transmitted, "this is Bravo calling Alpha. Have taken a bearing from two friendlies on shore. Direct us onto your target using a bearing from them, or ."

Realising they didn't need the light off so much as it could be directed to another use, he used the bridge intercom. "Griet, we have a boat on the river. North of us, azimuth approximately 350 degrees. Direct the light onto that."

"McClurg! I need you to man the port side weapon!"

He used his NVGs to try and spot anything on the new vessel approaching.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:11, Fri 22 June 2012.

"Keep moving Jay one foot after the other, we are nearly there."

He sighted the tug or they sighted them first either way they knew they were coming in so the chance of a DShK hair cut was lesioned. Once they had been IDeand the light was off them Craig continued forward to the bank. There he waited for some sign from the tug or a way to cross.

Jay stumbled on. It was dark, then bright light, then dark again. He just kept going in the direction he was being guided in. He tired to speak, but couldn't get any words out.

After firing his bursts Jan ducked down low again and continued crawling backwards until he reached a solid looking tree.  He then squirmed behind the tree and pushed himself up into a crouched position while hoping that the tree was solid enough to stop a round.

As Konrad continued barking orders, and then fired a burst himself, Jan used the opportunity to quickly run back a little further, aiming for a tree off a few paces to one side of Konrad, and running at a crouch, trying to stay as low as possible while he moved.  Once there he ducked into cover again and then turned to face the enemy shooter.  He studied the area though his NVGs, trying to spot the man, ready to fire a couple of double taps at anything that looked like a clear target.


Jan
Moving further back away from the contact and then getting into a firing position about level with Konrad.  From there he will scan for the shooter and fire 4x single shots (the first one aimed if possible) at a clear target
AK-74 Assault Rifle (20/30 - 30rnd mag x11) - carried
BG-15 Grenade Launcher (1/1 HE - HE x19) - underslung on AK-74
P226 Pistol (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
AN/PVS-5 NVGs - worn

Griet turned the light out as Bayer had instructed and then used the radio to say, "Alpha, this is Queen, we have something in the water 350ms down river, should I illuminate it?"

"Alpha... Yes." Bayer replies over the net. "Use how you need but don't illuminate the shore. Over." He then rises and takes a quick, low crouched bound back the way they came.

"Roger that," Griet replied and switched the spotlight to sweep the river and try to pick up whatever Dawid had seen.

Griet fixes the unidentified boat in the beam of the Queen's spotlight. It's right at the edge of the powerful light's range but you can see that the vessel is a large rowboat. It appears to have a relatively large outboard engine, but it doesn't appear to be under power at the moment. It's moving from left to right (west to east) heading roughly towards the large island that splits the Vistula here. The boat looks like it's carrying a load of at least half-a-dozen passengers.

Meanwhile, on shore, after exchanging a couple more bursts of inneffective fire, the recovery team succeeds in breaking contact with the hostile shooter/s (they're fairly certain there were two of them at one point). (Jan- 4 rounds)


Next Moves?

Dawid said over the intercom, "ha, yes, what I said. Ok, hold on..." He peered into the darkness.

"Bravo calling Alpha. One boat in the river, rowing from west to east. Range, 350 metres. Heading towards island in the river."

As this craft likely held their friends, he didn't ask to engage it.

Quyen fires two bursts while pulling back but like the others she intentionally aims just in case it is their own people. Unhindered by any heavy gear allows her to bound and crawl quickly and she is soon out of the way of danger. Then once they broke contact and were reunited further back she removes the partially empty magazine and replaces a new one - locking it into place with a click.

"Everyone okay?" she whispers.

Quyen will then cover the riverside flank until the word is given to move out again. If anyone comes at her through the brush she will challenge once and then fire on automatic if she suspects whoever it is to be anyone but a Kommando.

Jeff checks himself over quickly in case he missed something.  From there he continues to scan the woods, moving as little as possible.  The spotlight had forced him to flip up his goggles, and only now was his vision starting to come back.

"Jan, next moves?"  He was considering slipping off to do some seperate recce.

Now they had successfully broken contact with the pair of shooters who had engaged them Jan turned to Konrad to work out what to do next.  "Capitaine.  What are your orders?  Are we going to hunt down and take out these two who block the path or withdraw back to the boat?"

He was conscious of the reports he'd heard over the radio.

"If the people who take the others prisoner are in the boat that Dawid can see then they either leave two men behind or they have second boat.  I say we hunt them down and kill or capture them!  We can easily try to flank them but they will know the ground better than us so is risky.  Jeff.  Quyen.  What do you think?"

While he spoke he kept focussed on the direction of the shooters, just in case they were stupid enough to follow up!


Jan
Discussing what to do next while keeping alert and watching in the direction of the shooters
AK-74 Assault Rifle (16/30 - 30rnd mag x11) - carried
BG-15 Grenade Launcher (1/1 HE - HE x19) - underslung on AK-74
P226 Pistol (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
AN/PVS-5 NVGs - worn

Clicking the transmit button on his radio;

"Bravo this is Delta Two, requesting pick up of one causality. Signalling now."

He takes his torch and turns it on and off several times, then stops waiting for a acknowledgement from the tug.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:18, Sat 30 June 2012.

Bayer responds to the Queen over the net, speaking softly into the handset, "Sunray roger. Handle it... and inform me of any developments asap. We are continuing. Over."



"No withdraw." Bayer whispers quickly. He hadn't made up his mind fully on what to do next, but he wasn't ready to call of the pursuit yet. He simply couldn't shake the possibility from his mind that their ambushers were from Robert's group. Those shots that snapped past them were fairly accurate and something that either decent marksmen or shooters with night optics ought to be able to accomplish... or he was just wrong of course.

Bayer then then mulls over his options and nods, "Lead us in Jan. Get around them if you can, but take us in quietly this time." He then says, "If we miss them... get us back on track to the village. Dawid and Griet can handle whatever is on the river."

During the next few moments, Bayer will remain ready to drop to cover. If they come across anyone, Bayer will shout "Tucker" and "Kommando" as loud as possible.

Like a deer on the highway, the small rowboat seems to freeze in the tug's powerful spotlight. There's motion on board, although the boat is too far off to tell what its nature is- it looks, however, like the rowers have stopped pulling. Dawid is fairly certain that he's picked out at least one weapon aboard.

Craig and his casualty appear on the riverbank. The casualty looks like he/she is having difficulty walking on his/her own. If someone can be spared, Craig probably needs a hand getting his charge across the narrow corvus and on to the tug.

Meanwhile, Konrad orders the recovery team's point man, Jan, to attempt to lead the group around the pair of shooters who'd foiled the first attempt at reaching the hamlet that Konrad concludes probably serves as the base camp of whoever took the Kommando's rescue party captive when they washed ashore.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:55, Sat 08 Apr 2017.

In reply to Cap'n Rae (msg # 234):

He held his fire. In this situation Dawid was probably within his rights to open fire without asking permission first if the boat was in danger. As it was, he felt there wasn't cause to fire, especially if there was their own people on board and in danger.

"Bravo calling Delta, acknowledged.

"Bravo calling Alpha... Waiting for casualty to board. I also see one armed person in boat, maybe more. Boat was heading to island, boat is now stopped. Am ordering Griet to close and capture boat unless you advise against.""

Intercom: "Griet, prepare to receive Sutherland plus one casualty. Look out for signal on shore.

"Then cast off and intercept that boat in river. Alpha is informed of this decision. Please acknowledge these instructions."

Griet looked over at the gunner and said, "This stretch of the river is notoriously dangerous, the course used to change almost daily before the war, what it's like now is anybody's guess. If we try to move during the darkness we might get grounded and if that happens we're screwed."

In reply to Griet Niewiadomska (msg # 236):

"Understood, you are in charge of operating the boat. If you don't think we can get there safely, that is that. But we came in very close to the bank, I would think that's a more dangerous place than the middle of the river?"

Realising she was right he sighed in frustration, looking out at the rowboat caught in the beam of light. It was perhaps an opportunity they were losing, perhaps not, but Griet was right and the safety of the tug was very much her call to make.

Jay, despite his slight build, was becoming a dead weight to Craig, and was struggling to keep his feet. Much longer and he would probably pass out. He did his best to keep going, but knew he couldn't last much longer.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Sun 01 July 2012.

Craig crouches on the bank waiting for help across the corvus. He makes sure his jacket is done up on Jay and gives the guy a rub trying to get the blood moving. He has been in this situation before and knows the feeling. Actually as he thinks back they did this to him in training, probably not this bad but who knows.

Craig gave a quick SITREP to the most senior person before he retrieved his jacket and began to return to the rescue party. Craig uses his radio to warn the rescue party he was returning as he changed the first round in his shotgun for a flechette shell.

He moved twenty meters up the bank before striking inland in a low crouch. He took it slow with his shotgun in hand, stopping every ten or so steps to listen and look.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:49, Mon 02 July 2012.

In reply to Craig Sutherland (msg # 239):

Dawid called for some crew to come help him bring Jay across.

"It's all right, soon you will be safe and warm, my friend!"

Also, he repositioned McClurg to continue covering the boat with the closest facing Dushka.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:47, Tue 03 July 2012.

Before leading the recovery team around the shooters Jan made a comment to Konrad rather stating the obvious.  "Capitaine.  Craig may try to come back and join us.  He should stay on the boat now as finding us in the dark will now be dangerous."  As he spoke he reloaded his AK with a fresh mag, just in case it all kicked off again.

He then lead the four of them off inland, trying to loop around the area from which they had been fired at.  Though he used his NVGs he made as much use of his hearing, taking it slow as Konrad had instructed and listening for anything odd in the night.  Hopefully one or other of the shooters would make the mistake of moving or talking and they would give themselves away.  If they didn't Jan hoped that the route he picked would allow the recovery team to bypass the shooters and uncover whatever it was that they had been blocking them from approaching.

Anneka crosses the corvus and takes Jay from Craig. She helps the woozy Ghurka get back aboard the tug and takes him to the tug's small sickbay. With clinical dispassion, she disrobes Jay and wraps the naked man in a warm woolen blanket. There's a steam pipe running through the small room as well, so Jay starts to thaw out almost immediately. With Jay resting in the sick bay's lone cot, Anneka goes and gets some reheated broth from the galley to warm Jay's insides.

Bayer replies quietly, "Ja I know... but I have concerns too but want boots on the ground." He then says, "I made sure who we sent back had a radio and night optics, and Lt.Sutherland will manage."

"We just need to maintain good coordination." he adds, before setting off.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:26, Tue 03 July 2012.

Jay was vaguely aware of the harsh Israeli woman's hands clawing at his clothing, rapidly peeling off layers of sodden clothing. In another world it might ave been considered erotic, but right now he was just glad to be rid of the clothes that had been biting at him.

Jay lay still, trying to absorb the warmth from the steam pipe. The coarse woollen blanket itched his private parts, but right now he didn't much care.

Jan leads the recovery team inland, slowly moving through the lank, dead rushes in an attempt to circumvent the shooters who held up the first attempt at reaching the presumed camp where they hope to find the beached rescue team. It's hard to be silent in the dark and dense vegitation, but the team comes fairly close. Having functioning NVGs helps as well. It's slow going, but Jan arrives roughly even with the furthest point of the team's earlier progress without drawing any fire or sensing an audience.

Craig is not too far behind, but he's effectively on his own. He does his best to pick up the rest of the team's trail. This is difficult because of the multiple lanes of stomped-down underbrush now crisscrossing the area. It would take a trained tracker of American Indian descent* to find the right path to follow in the dark.

Back on board the tug, Dawid, Griet and the rest of the crew above decks watch the small boat at the edge of the spotlight beam. It's no longer moving towards the large midchannel island. Instead, it's moving slowly away, possibly drifting with the current. It's also visibly rocking back and forth quite a bit. Unless the tug starts to move forward in pursuit soon, the small boat will soon be lost from view.

MacClurg, tracking the odd boat from his position behind the starboard Dushka calls out, "Should I fire a warning shot?"

Belowdecks, Jay is starting to feel much better. In fact, he's starting to feel a little too warm. Anneka returns with a mug of warm broth, hands it to Jay and says, "If you can, try to drink this. But drink it slowly, alright?"


Next Moves?


Updated tac-map: https://maps.google.com/maps/m...pn=0.010113,0.033023


*Anyone, anyone?
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:11, Wed 04 July 2012.

Jay sat up, the warmth of the pipes and the blanket helping him regain some semblence of coherent thought. He took the proffered mug and sipped at it. The hot liquid stung his lips, but he eventually managed to take a few sips. The broth ran down his throat, and he felt the warming effect in his stomach.

As he held the mug he realised that although he could taste the broth, he couldn't smell it. His nose was still blocked with a mix of blood and snot. He wiped at it with the back of his hand to no effect, and so looked around for something to use. He located an old rag that had been used for cleaning the pipes. It was dirty, but would do. He blew his nose into the rag, emptying a disgusting mess from his nasal passages. An attractive sight he was not, but he was starting to feel better.

In reply to Cap'n Rae (msg # 245):



Dawid called up, "yes, fire a short burst over their heads."

He then used the intercom, "Griet, use the loudspeaker and order that small boat to come to us. However, I think there is some struggle going on there. Fighting. If those are our people over there, we may not get a better chance to rescue them. Would you not reconsider taking the tug to where that boat is to help them out, if that's indeed them?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:07, Wed 04 July 2012.

Quyen set off again with her group. She moved quietly and lightly as much as it was possible with the dense vegetation. Her smaller frame and lack of personal gear made it a little easier than the others to squeeze in and under the branches sometimes so for that she was a little thankful. Unlike the others she also didn't have NVGS either but her natural night vision aided by the moon and stars was still pretty good. She thought so anyways.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:12, Wed 04 July 2012.

Griet did her best to keep the spotlight fixed on the fleeing boat and hoped that the loud-speaker would carry that far, "In the boat! We have you under our guns. Start rowing toward us or we will fire on you."

She had been holding the boat against the current and carefully adjusted the screw and thrusters to give them enough forward motion to keep them in range of the boat. She switched off the loud speaker and called to Dawid, "I'll try and keep the row boat in range of the light but I can't risk much more than this, even then if I touch something I'm stopping. Put someone in the prow with a gaff-rail to probe ahead of us."

In reply to Mrityunjay Byanjankar (msg # 246):

Anneka does not seem a bit put-off by Jay's nasal expulsions.

"Here, let me take a look." she says, gently poking and prodding at the damaged proboscus.

"It's not broken. If it starts bleeding again, just apply pressure until it stops. Don't tilt your head back, though. I'll get you some ice for the swelling."

In reply to Griet Niewiadomska (msg # 249):

Hearing the pitch of the remaining engine change, Dawid replied, "I understand, thanks for taking the risk."

Craig continued to move parallel to the riverbank keeping the rescue party to his left, or so he hoped. Every 20 or so paces or if anything caught his eye he stopped, crouched, listened and looked. He tried to stay low with his shotgun at his shoulder as he moved trying to make a minimum of sound.

Even though the terrain was not helping his tracking, he did try to keep and eye out for obvious signs someone had passed.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:34, Thu 05 July 2012.

Bayer leans in close to Jan and whispers, "Shift left... flank man to twenty five meters... towards the road." He then points off into the darkness to where the faint outline of a battered road is barely visible.

He then toggles his radio and speaking just as quietly, says, "Craig... Bayer. West of you there is a road. Move close to road, then north until you find us. Will radio when hear or see you. Kopy? Over."

OOC - Bayer's instructions aren't to go onto the road, just a little closer than they are.

Jan pauses for a couple of minutes until Craig navigates his way back to the recovery team. While they wait, the rest of the recovery team looks and listens trying to determine if another potential ambush lies in wait. Just before Craig arrives, the team hears a short burst of what sounds like heavy machinegun fire coming from the river. (OOC: Craig has rejoined the recovery team.)

Back on board the tug, the noise level rises as Griet powers up the engines and reverses thrust, pulling the Queen off of the mud packed against the concrete dike that shores up the riverbank here. Careful not to hit the small boat receding into the darkness downriver, MacClurg fires a short burst across its bows. He's relieved to see the tracer pass just in front of the target. With his firing platform starting to move, the skilled machinegunner was worried that he might have hit the boat he was just trying to startle.

Once the tug is off the mudbank, Griet steers her away from the shore and, maintaining a cautiously slow speed (just a couple of knots faster than the current), towards the fleeing rowboat. The tug's spotlight is still on, as much to reveal any further obstacles as it to track the Queen's prey.


Next Moves?

Quyen hunkers down in the brush and covers her arcs. Exhaling deeply she watches the moonlight capture her breath. She still only had her civilian Aidas track top and a army sweater over top. She would have to bug Konrad about getting better clothing for the winter again later.

When her team is ready to move again or there are any change in orders she will close in. Until then though she is satisfied with keeping watch out on the flank.

In reply to Cap'n Rae (msg # 254):

Dawid kept the Vasilek oriented off to the port bow. He would lose the bearing he took on Craig/Jay, but if the Kaptain wanted heavy fire support from the tug he could mark his own position and direct fire from that point. He'd already advised Konrad they were moving, so he avoided using the radio again to state the obvious.

"McClurg, continue covering the boat. I really don't know what else you can do if precision is required."

For his part, he checked that the PKM was loaded and settled on the starboard bow pintle, to quickly provide extra firepower to that quarter if needed.

Warmed by the broth and blanket, and with a cooling ice pack on his battered nose, Jay tried to update Anneka on the situation, from what he knew. His head was still a bit foggy, but he did his ramlbing best. "I no capture, I fall off small boat, in river. Other take by people, not soldier, young people, children with strange clothes, dress like animal. They take to village, I follow. Not know number, maybe ten. They get fire and food, then talk, but I no understand. After... not sure, I come here."

It was clear that his memory of getting back to the boat was pretty fuzzy, and some of what he said didn't seem to make sense.

He brightened slightly, and looked the doctor in the face. "I leave trail, sign. Craig-ji, he follow sign."

Jay then looked around for his pack, which contained his spare clothing. He couldn't remember where he had left it.

Jan practiced staying still and listening while they waited for Craig to re-join them - he had done it many times before and was used to the cramp that built up in his muscles.  He was pleased when the Royal Marine linked up with them again because, as well as adding another gun to their small patrol, it meant that Jay was safely back on the boat and that was one piece of good news.  He just hoped that they could rescue the others before anything really bad happened!

At the sound of the heavy machine gun firing, from the direction of the river by the sound of it, Jan stayed still and kept looking and listening.  It was quite possible that inexperienced militia would be spooked by the sound of the boat's weapons opening up and that they would give away their positions as a result.  Jan looked for movement and listened for unusual sounds in the darkness, just in case the shooters they had encountered were panicked at all.

If nothing was spotted then Jan started to follow Konrad's orders and moved forward along the route that the Panzergrenadier had picked out.  He walked slowly at a crouch, pausing frequently to listen as well as scan around, conscious that there were at least two riflemen out there and that there was a huge risk that he could lead the team into another ambush.  He kept his AK-74 tight in his shoulder, ready to fire a pair of double taps at anyone who fired at him.

Jeff flashes a barely perceivable nod in the darkness.  He slings his rifle and draws his silenced SOCOM.  "Roger, flanking.  I'll be in radio contact."

Moving slowly but purposefully, he moves wide around trying to flank the target.  He is listening intently for any indication of where the shooter was.  If possible he will try to get behind him and capture the shooter, or ID him if its a friendly.  If it's not possible though, Jeff will put a double tap into the hostile.


Jeff Warren
Flanking the shooter
Mk.23 SOCOM [15/15]

Griet was sweating despite the chill of the night. Moving the Queen in the dark and on one of the most notoriously treacherous stretches of the Wistula was stretching her skills and endurance to the limit.

She looked over at McClurg and called out,"I'm having to react to the river very quickly by making micro-adjustments using the thrusters. I cannot guarantee you a stable firing platform so take that into account when you decide on shot placement. I'd advise a very  wide margin of error even if that makes the shots irrelevant to their purpose."

Craig rejoins the recovery team and Jan leads them north along the cracked and weed-choked road towards the suspected enemy camp sight. Warren decides to go a-hunting on his own and he breaks off from the rest of the team to try to flank the estimated position of the original shooter[s]. Using his training and his NVGs, he moves quickly and quietly. As he heads northeast in an attempt to curl around behind the shooters, he sees a structure through the trees, about 80m to his northwest. Warren stops and slowly sinks into the long dead grass to observe the area. There's movement around the structure- several armed figures, vigilent and agitated. They haven't seen Warren yet, but if he continues to move, there's a good chance that they could spot him. He's also aware that there are sentries- the shooter[s] who announced their presence earlier- in the area. Warren is now stuck, on his own, between two alert and hostile groups.

Jan, meanwhile, leads the rest of the group north. Craig is the first to spot the campsite. As the team stops to observe and plot their next move, someone at the campsite takes note of their presence. Alerting his comrades with a shrill shout (it sounds like a pre-pubescent boy), the alert sentry unleashes a long burst at the interlopers. All ten or so rounds go high over the recovery team's heads. Like a hornets' nest hit by a tossed stone, the campsite springs to life. People are rushing about everywhere. Half-a-dozen people fire wildly into the darkness. Others are running here and there in all directions. It's a scene of strange and violent chaos.

Back on the tug, Griet steers towards the center of the channel, trying to get to deeper water. This increases the angle between the starboard Dishka and the target, effectively screening MacClurg off from the receding shape of the rowboat, which is now almost beyond the range of the tug's spotlight beam.

"I lost 'em! You want me to move to the port MG?" MacClurg shouts.

A strange, shimering golden halo suddenly appears above the small boat. The cirular moving shape glows oddly producing no sound (at least as far as the folks on the tug can hear). What this strange apparition is, or what it means, is anyone's guess at this point.

From the western shore, the tug crew hears multiple bursts of AK fire. None of it appears to be directed at the Queen.


Updated tac-map: https://maps.google.com/maps/m...pn=0.005056,0.016512


Next Moves?

Bayer has had enough of this bullshit for one night. Dropping flat to the ground, he shouts, "Rapid fire!" A sliver of humanity that still existed within him however, spoke up for those open in front of him that are not an immediate threat to his men, "Target the shooters!" Hopefully they could win the firefight without too much killing, but at this point, Bayer just wanted all of his people back on board the tug and in one piece... and Tucker's men were not here.

Bayer will target any visible target or muzzle flash and fire three quick shots at each one before moving to the next.

Bayer
G36/HK69 (30/30 + 1 ILLUM)
Lying prone & firing 3 rounds at each target
Alpha Team
This message was last edited by the player at 21:44, Sat 07 July 2012.