"CRAIG!  You're with me dude!  This way," Tucker calls out as he heads to the left.

Cathedral Interior

At Konrad's signal, Craig fires a second round of CS gas towards the far end of the sanctuary and LaRue tosses a yellow smoke grenade as far as he can in the same direction. Craig's shot DINKs off of the front of the altar, but LaRue's smoke canister lands well short. A burst of automatic fire from the altar is choked off before it can do any harm. Thijs continues to suppress enemy fire on the right flank while waiting to attack. With a burst from his LSW, Thijs spins an Athena away from a southern pillar near the back of the sanctuary. She staggers into the aisle and falls on her face before smoke hides the scene. Jeff is behind the nearest pillar on the right (south) side of the aisle, checking the magazine of his newly acquired AKSU. It appears to be near full. Aside from an intense soreness in his chest, Jeff is OK. After a waiting a few more seconds for the gas and smoke clouds to spread, Konrad orders the assault. (Thijs -5 rounds; Craig -1 40mm CS; LaRue -1 yellow smoke)

Meanwhile, in the narthex, Jan and Minh (offset about two meters to the north of the entry) hurriedly put on their gas masks before resuming their watch on the front entrance. As soon as they begin looking down their sights again, a hand darts into view at about waste height on the right (their right) side of the entrance way. Both Jay and Minh squeeze off a couple of quick shots at the intruder's appendage but neither score a hit on the tiny target. The hand disappears about as quickly as it appeared, but not before tossing a grenade into the narthex. The grenade was thrown far too forcefully (probably a result of Jan and Minh's fire)- it THWACKS against the broken tile of the floor and skitters into the southeast corner of the room where it detonates with a bowel-shaking BOOM. The explosion momentarily stuns Jan and Minh but the fugue passes after a couple of seconds, and neither appear to have absorbed any shrapnel. Just as they come to their senses, a bevy of boys curl around the corner, the leadmost boy's AK spitting forth a torrent of lead. (Jan -2 rounds; Minh -3 rounds)

Unaware of the firefight developing behind them, the rest of the assault team takes it to the enemy, leaving the relative safety of the rubble pile and pushing forward toward the altar. With thin white CS gas filling a good portion of the room, and a billowing yellow cloud rising  from the floor not 10m from the east side of the rubble pile, visibility is very poor. Jay, Mariusz, and Thijs head down the right-hand (southern) portico, while Tucker and Craig, after a brief miscommunication, shadow the others down the left-hand (northern) portico. The right hand portico seems to have been evacuated. Jay spots movement in the smoke ahead and fires a pair of shots at the fleeting shape before it abruptly disappears from sight. Aside from this elusive wraith, the right-sided assaulters encounter only corpses- three pubescent girls, each clad in ghostly white, lie sprawled in slowly spreading pools of crimson blood, their disproportionately large rifles lying nearby. (Jay -2 rounds)

On the left, Tucker moves purposefully through the smoke, passing the first pillar with Craig just behind and to his left. A girl stumbles out of the smoke just a few meters ahead of Tucker. Instinctively, the American fires a burst into the girl, knocking her down in a heap. Only once she's down does Tucker realize that she hadn't been armed. Further down the portico, another girl appears through the haze, staggering towards the altar. Craig can't engage without a chance of hitting Tucker so he holds his fire; in a moment the figure is gone. It looks like the Kommandos have caught the Athenas in a disorderly withdrawal; the path to the far end of the sanctuary appears open and unguarded. Both assault teams, left and right, stop at the intersection of the main sanctuary and the transept (E). It's possible that some of the hostiles have fled to the ends of the transept (5 & 6), waiting in defilade to hit the attackers in the flanks as they pass by on their way to the altar. The gas fumes and smoke are likely not as thick there either. (Tucker -3 rounds)

Konrad and Danny watch the assault jum off from the rubble pile, easing their way towards either side of its crest so that they can see along either portico marching east toward the altar at the far end of the sanctuary. There's no longer any incoming fire to speak off. Neither man can see much past 30m or so- the smoke is just too thick between them and the altar. A sharp explosion and the sound of firing errupt nearby, but from an unexpected direction- it looks like Jan and Minh have company.




Wisla Krolowa

Griet holds the tug steady while her first mate attempts to assist the slightly wounded Kellerman in reloading the starboard heavy machinegun. After nearly a minute, Walter shouts up from the Dishka position, "We've got it! She's ready to fire!"

Dawid stays hunkered safely behind the Vasilek's gunshield. The tug's nose is pointing upriver. There's not much fire coming from the east end of Tum Hill, or from the shoreline on that side of town. Looking back as far as the interposed superstructure of the tug will allow, Dawid spots a large concentration of muzzle flashes from the old boat house at the west end of the dilapidated pier. He won't be able to return fire with the Vasilek until the tug is heading back downriver. Neither will the starboard Dishka, for that matter.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:44, Thu 06 Dec 2012.

In reply to Cap'n Rae (msg # 829):

He triggered the intercom.

"Griet, I see firing from the old boat house! If that's not ours then if you turn the boat around I can engage it!"

Dawid (Light Wound, head)
82mm Vasilek (3/5 HE, 2 WP, 5 HEAT)
Keeping low behind bow cupola gunshield, sandbags, etc.
Peering out over cover.

"Roger that," Griet said, "will move so you can engage."

She opened the door to where Kellerman and Walter were at the Dushka, "Walter, I need you in here. Kellerman, I'll be heading upriver in a moment. Use short bursts, One-Two-Three-Stop, One-Two-Three-Stop. Keep your head down."

She wasn't particularly worried about Kellerman's fire control as he could only burn through the belts a hundred at a time. She waited for Walter to get back inside the wheelhouse and then began to turn the Queen back upriver so that both Dawid and Kellerman could engage the enemy on the shore.

The grenade had been close but Jan quickly recovered from the shock of the concussion, just in time as the first boy came charging through the door firing wildly all over the place.  Jan had experienced his fair share of firefights however so rather than duck into cover, as the boy obviously hoped he would do, he raised his rifle and opened fire at him.

He fired a quick double tap at the lead boy before switching to the next target and firing another double tap at him.  He continued on like this firing rapid pairs of shots at as many targets as possible.


Jan
Lying prone covering the entrance to the cathedral, using the rubble for cover.
Firing 2x Quick Shots at each target in turn, shooting as many pairs of shots as you will permit him.
AK-74 Assault Rifle (16/30 - 30rnd mag x11) - held
BG-15 Grenade Launcher (1/1 HE - HE x17) - underslung on AK-74
PM-84 SMG with Suppressor (21/25 - 25rnd mag x4) - jammed & slung over shoulder
P226 Pistol (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
M72A4 LAW - slung over shoulder
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
AN/PVS-5 NVGs - worn

Tucker just tapped the trigger on a three-round burst on an possible unarmed girl and he tried to shrug it off as he continued to advance towards the front of the cathedral.  He couldn't take the chance she was armed and the way things were going since they started this operation, choices had to be quick, simple and, with deadly force.  That's the second kid that he had killed in less than an hour and there might be more.  He shook it out of his head and yelled back to Craig, "CRAIG!  COVER LEFT!  COVER LEFT!"  Robert tied to utilize cover asa they advanced forward as much as possible and available and wanted Craig to cover the transept on their left.  Rifle still set on burst and a buckshot 40mm round in the launcher, Tucker advances on the left side concentrating in front and to his left, leaving the right side to the others assigned there.

TUCKER
- M16A2 / M-203: [24/30] / M-203 Buckshot Loaded - Current primary {[3] Round Burst}
- H&K MK23 SOCOM (Suppressed) [12+1/12 + [6/12- Pocket] + [12/12 Mag pouch]] -
  Holstered
- Browning HP [13/13] Holstered (Vest)
 Gas Mask in place

Advancing left with Craig and clearing Forward/Left
This message was last edited by the player at 00:00, Fri 07 Dec 2012.

Bayer turns and taps Daniel on the arm and says, "I need you to stay with Jan and keep the things here under control. I'm moving forward." He didn't like splitting up the teams, especially when there is only two of them in this case, but he wasn't happy with so few Kommandos holding the rear either. He also couldn't observe the main advance from back here as well.

Bayer moves down from the rubble and goes around via the sheltered side (instead of straight over and towards the interior of cathedral). He takes the right, knowing that Tucker took the left - and doesn't want to lump to command personnel in the same group. Bayer will keep moving along the south wall until he finds Jay, Mariusz, and Thijs - but he'll keep back just enough to maintain visual contact with them.

"Sunray is trailing Assault on der right flank." he reports over the radio in case someone mistakes him for someone else in the smoke.

Bayer
G36/HK69 (30/30 + HE)
Moving to 'E' South
Low walk

He moved as fast as was tactically advisable. With the smoke and columns in the way there were bound to be areas missed until the last second that may hold an armed kid.

As Tucker took out the girl Craig thought he would have done the same. He risked another look into the upper levels of the cathedral trying to spot more threats. Very aware that more kids where probably up there. He tried to mentally note any stairs cases or ladders that may give access

Just before the left transept Craig indicted he was ready to FRAG left before they moved on. If Tucker agrees that will be his action followed by short bursts from the corner into the transept threats. He long armed the grenade three quarters of the way along in the middle of the room, he hoped.

Left Assault
Throwing F1 FRAG, engaging with bursts

FRAG Grenade F1 x5 M67 x1/orange>
<orange>HK G3A4 [20/20]
Kukri

In reply to Griet Niewiadomska (msg # 831):

"Understood."

Keeping low, Dawid got ready to aim and fire when the tug was turned about.

Dawid (Light Wound, head)
82mm Vasilek (3/5 HE, 2 WP, 5 HEAT)
Keeping low behind bow cupola gunshield, sandbags, etc.
Preparing to Aim and Fire at boat house area.

Jay pressed forward until he reached the middle of the building (E). He paused briefly and glanced round the corner to check the area to his right (6), holding his rifle ready to double tap any targets. Right now he isn't checking to see if they are armed. If there are up and moving, they are a viable target.

After checking round the corner he glanced around and pointed out potential cover positions to Thijs and Mariusz who were trailing him. He then progressed round to the right, hugging the wall all the way round, intent on clearing the centre of the cathedral. If he spots a large number of targets further down the cathedral he will fire his GL at them.

Jay Biyanjankar
Assault Team 2
On right (south) side, pressing forward, firing a double tap at any target. Pressing on into area 6.
AK74 with BG15 GL, 25/30 + HE
RPG slung over back
Kevlar Vest & Helmet, Gas Mask on, NVGs

Mariusz carefully followed Jay, his rifle sweeping the area in case any targets presented himself. Once Jay pointed out a suitable piece of cover for him, he moved behind it and pied the corner to see what was ahead of him.

Mariusz
AK-74 30/30
BG-1 1/1
In cover behind a column
Kneeling
Trying to see around the column and looking for targets

Thijs brought up the rear of the trio on the right flank, Groucho-walking forward from cover to cover, scanning to the left and right.  He was ready to fire on any additional muzzle flashes that presented themselves in the dark.

Thijs
Right flank (near 'E')
C7A1 LSW [65/90 +(6x30, 1x90)]
Browning HP35 [13/13 +(2x13)]
No night vision
Gas mask in place
Advancing, firing on muzzle flashes ahead

Jeff notices the chaos erupting in the entryway, and gets back on his feet.  He moves low to a position of cover, hopefully with something both in front of and behind him so that he's not going to get shot in the back.  With friendlies in front he's a little hesitant to start spraying, instead picking for targets that are both fortunately and tragically easy to spot due to their age.

He fires without remorse.


Jeff Warren
Covering Entryway
AKSU [28/30] + 2
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 16:56, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

Danny's already spinning toward the door before Konrad taps him on the shoulder.  "On it.  Go!"

He brings Winona up and dashes toward the narthex.  Trusting his pads to save his joints from the tile floor, he slides on his knees into cover behind the southern pillar.  He's firing before he comes to a stop, suppressing the doorway to deter any more grenades.  "Jan!  You guys okay?"

Danny
Winona [29/30 + 5 magazines] - ready, on AUTO
CZ 75 [15/15 + 2 magazines] - holstered, cocked and locked
AN-M8 HC smoke grenade x1 - on vest
AN-M18 red smoke grenade x1 - on vest
AN/PVS-7 NVGs - helmet-mounted, in use

moving to "A" south, suppressing the door
This message was last edited by the player at 19:35, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

Cathedral Interior

A group of yelling, shooting boys spills into the narthex. They don't immediately spot Jan and Minh, or perhaps they assume that their grenade has eliminated all opposition in the first room. It's a fatal mistake. Jan fires first, his second shot striking the lead boy in the bridge of his nose, tumbling his face first to the floor. When Jan squeezes the trigger a third time, there's no response. For the second time since arriving at the cathedral, Jan experiences a jam/failure-to-fire. Minh (NPC'ed), however, was already firing. She crumples the second boy through the entrance with a burst to the midsection. Warren arrives on the scene and adds his own fire, felling the next boy with a pair of shots. LaRue, with a move that would have made Bruce Willis proud, slides into action, squeezing off a burst that hits nothing but the cracked stone hanging above the entryway, and stopping just short of Warren (he actually makes contact with CIA operative, but not hard enoough to knock either man over). The fourth Plockite attacker, nearly over the threshold when Warren fires his first shot, stops on a dime and spins out of the line of fire, leaving three dead or wounded companions heaped just inside the entrance. He's hurried on his way by another burst from Minh's PKM. The short-lived attack has been decisively broken, at no loss to the Kommando defenders. Two of the boys laying curled up just inside the threshold are still moving, but neither are in any shape to put up much of a fight. Their moaning reminds anyone who can hear of just how young these fighters are. (Jan -2 rounds [JAM!]; Minh -10 rounds; Warren -2 rounds; LaRue -5 rounds)

Meanwhile, the assault to clear the cathedral sanctuary continues, with Jay, Mariusz, and Thijs, followed several meters behind by Konrad, on the right (south) and Tucker and Craig on the left (north) side. The team on the right finds the southern wing of the transept empty, and no further resistance from the east end of the sanctuary. The way to the altar appears to be clear, although with the smoke and gas still drifting around the large, dark room, it's hard to be certain.

On the left, Craig attempts to clear the northern wing of the transept with a fragmentation grenade. After waiting for a quick two count after releasing the safety lever, Craig tosses the grenade around the corner and braces for the expected explosion. For the second time tonight, one of Craig's frags fails to detonate. He can hear coughing and gagging from around the corner. Taking a chance, he moves out of cover and aims his G3 into the transept. A stricken Athena appears white in the gloom and Craig fires a burst into her, nearly tearing her apart with a spray of 7.62mm rounds. She lets out a strangled scream and collapses in a heap. Aside from the one young female defender, the north wing of the transept appears clear. Tucker, meanwhile covers to the east. There's no more movement near the altar or in the portico that marches up to it. Then Tuck's NVGs go black. For a milisecond, fear grips his guts and he wonders if he's just been hit. Relief floods his system as he realizes that it's just a dead battery. (Craig -1 frag, -5 rounds; Tucker 0-charge on NVGs)

If there were ever entrances to the interior of the cathedral at the ends of the transepts, they've been covered over. There are a few large shellholes in the exterior walls which could admit a person, but most of them would require a ladder to reach from either side. There are chambers at the east end of the building, and a winding rubble-choked passageway through which a few of the Kommandos entered the cathedral previously, when negotiation with the Queen had still been a viable option. These chambers are likely where the Baron is being kept, but there's no telling whether he's still in the cathedral at this point.

Wisla Krolowa

Once Walter shuts enters the bridge, shutting the armored door behind him, Griet begins bringing the tug around in a long starboard turn designed to extend the range between the tug and the north [defended] shore. When the tug's nose is facing downriver again, Kellerman begins pumping out short bursts from the troublesome starboard Dishka. Dawid, staying low, pushes against the Vasilek, getting it ready to sweep across the blinking lights around the old boathouse in just a few short seconds. A couple of rounds ping off of the tug's metal skin but enemy fire has decreased considerably in both volume and accuracy since the last pass upriver.


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:29, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

Jan's swearing at his AK in French was muffled by his gas mask, though he raised his voice a little further to inform Quyen of what was going on.  "Jam!  Clearing now!" he called out, rather missing Danny's question due to the rapid exchange of fire and the need to sort out yet another jammed weapon!

He quickly cleared the jammed round and then replaced the mag with a full one, taking the opportunity of a stalled assault by the Queen of Plock's child soldiers to reload fully.  Once he had reloaded he fired a couple of quick shots through the widened doorway, just to confirm that his rifle was feeding and working correctly, before continuing to cover the entrance, ready to engage any further attempts to storm the Cathedral from the direction of the river.


Jan
Lying prone covering the entrance to the cathedral, using the rubble for cover.
Clearing the jam on his rifle, replacing the mag with a full one and then firing a pair of single shots through the entrance, just to check that his rifle is working correctly.
AK-74 Assault Rifle (30/30* - 30rnd mag x11) - held
BG-15 Grenade Launcher (1/1 HE - HE x17) - underslung on AK-74
PM-84 SMG with Suppressor (21/25 - 25rnd mag x4) - jammed & slung over shoulder
P226 Pistol (15/15 - 15rnd mag x4) - holster
M72A4 LAW - slung over shoulder
Frag grenade x2 - webbing pouch
Smoke grenade x2 - webbing pouch
AN/PVS-5 NVGs - worn

*Note - I've assumed that Jan can successfully clear the jam and reload his rifle but I haven't yet account for the 2 rounds he's firing this turn.

Dud batch Craig thought to himself.

As his rounds tore the young girl Craig gave a visual wince under his gas mask.
Once he felt the transept was clear he continued to the alter with Tucker in a bounding over-watch movement. He continued to scan the upper levels across from their position when tactically advisable.

As they slowly advanced Craig covered forward and to his right using the large stone columns for cover while Tucker moved.

Assault Squad - left
Bounding over-watch to altar


HK G3A4 [15/20] w/14 magazines</orange
Kukri

Jay continued to press forward in a low crouch, assuming that the lack of any fire from behind was due to the absence of viable targets in front of him. He continued to advance towards the east end of the cathedral, ever mindful of any targets. Again, if anyone made a move he would fire a series of single shots at them. His intention was to press on, if possible, all the way to the far end, but wouldn't take risks to do so. As he moved he glanced left to see if he could spot Tuck and Craig, who should be moving parallel to him.

Jay Biyanjankar Assault Team 2
On right (south) side, pressing forward, firing a double tap at any target. Pressing on into east end of cathedral if possible
AK74 with BG15 GL, 25/30 + HE
RPG slung over back
Kevlar Vest & Helmet, Gas Mask on, NVGs

As they are bounding to the alter, Tucker flips up his NVG's and signals to Craig that his goggles are not working and can't use them.  Keeping with the flow of the assault, Tucker continues to leap and bound relying a little more on Craig to point out anything that he may now miss due to the batteries in his goggles going out.  He is still prepared to engage with burst fire from his M-16A2 or the 00 Buckshot round in his M-203 grenade launcher.

TUCKER
- M16A2 / M-203: [24/30] / M-203 Buckshot Loaded - Current primary {[3] Round Burst}
- H&K MK23 SOCOM (Suppressed) [12+1/12 + [6/12- Pocket] + [12/12 Mag pouch]] -
   Holstered
- Browning HP [13/13] Holstered (Vest)
  Gas Mask in place
  NVG batteries {OUT}

Continuing to advance left with Craig and clearing Forward/Left to the alter.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Sun 09 Dec 2012.

Danny quirks his mouth at Jeff in mute apology, then nods toward the wounded boys.  "Leave 'em," he advises harshly to forestall any finishing shots, "someone might try to recover 'em."

He snags an ankle and drags Grilkov's corpse closer to facilitate Jeff's reloads.  Hunkering down behind the pillar again, he levels Winona at the door, waiting to see if the remaining boys outside the building will rush the door again - or take the bait of their injured packmates.

Danny
Winona [24/30 + 5 magazines] - ready, on SEMI
CZ 75 [15/15 + 2 magazines] - holstered, cocked and locked
AN-M8 HC smoke grenade x1 - on vest
AN-M18 red smoke grenade x1 - on vest
MCU-2A/P gas mask - in use
AN/PVS-7 NVGs - helmet-mounted, in use

behind cover at "A" south, covering the door
This message was last edited by the player at 19:04, Sun 09 Dec 2012.

Mariusz kept moving forward cautiously, trying to keep behind cover where he could. He waited for any targets to appear or for any orders to tell him what to do next.

Griet looked at the slackening fire coming from the shore and kept the boat moving so teh fore and starboard weapons could engage. She picked up the intercom as she thought of something and said, "Dawid, if we can clear the area of fire we can evac the team this way. If that is impossible do we have any way of concealing their exit?"

Following along as best he could in the dark, Thijs crept eastward, trying to keep the forms of Mariusz and Jay in view.  His weapon stayed trained mostly left of forward so as to avoid backshooting the pair if more targets presented themselves.

Thijs
No. 3 on right flank
C7A1 LSW [65/90 +(6x30, 1x90)]
Browning HP35 [13/13 +(2x13)]
No night vision, Gas Mask in place
Advancing

In reply to Griet Niewiadomska (msg # 849):

Keeping low behind the gun and added protection, Dawid continued lining up his shot. Satisfied for the moment, he reached over and used the intercom.

"Makes sense. We have two phosphor smoke shells remaining but they will set fires wherever they land. My suggestion: take her in close so we draw fire, suppress that fire, then have them run like hell for the river front."


Dawid (Light Wound, head)
82mm Vasilek (3/5 HE, 2 WP, 5 HEAT)
Keeping low behind bow cupola gunshield, sandbags, etc.
Preparing to Aim and Fire at boat house area.

"Shit! I got one!" Quyen calls out, partly to herself and partly to let her teammates know she is still in one piece. She then pulls the PKM in close to her shoulder again and takes aim at the entrance. Then after Jan fires a couple warning shots through the open doors she does the same with a very short (1/2) burst. If a target appears though she will give a full squeeze of the trigger.

Quyen
PKM (62/100)
Prone using bipod
Covering entrance