McCLurg shakes his head and smiles.

"Holy shit! You're right, Sarge. Time flies when you're having fun, I guess."

Not sure if LaRue is serious or joking about the bird, but clearly thinking it's not such a bad idea, given the occasion, he continues,

"I think I saw a shotgun in the weapons locker. I don't know about ammo, though. Speaking of food, Sarge, did you get some of that Polish kid's breakfast yet? That little bastard can cook!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:11, Tue 25 Dec 2012.

"Gotcha Boss," Tucker says back to Konrad as he turns to the other to hand out assignments.  "Craig, go with Minh.  Check everything before you open it in case it's boobytrapped.  Mari, you're with me on the door.  In case we need to talk to them, I'm with you or you're with Konrad."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:31, Wed 26 Dec 2012.

Connolly flashes Griet a brief smile.  "Thanks, but I think I'm good for now.  I picked up a bunch of winter stuff from the Gypsy just before we met you."  She shrugs.  "I probably overpaid, but you can't eat Krugerrands, right?"  With that, she tosses Griet a wave and descends toward the engine room in search of Kel and his mechanical acumen.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:15, Tue 25 Dec 2012.

Craig continued to scan forward of their position in the house. The occupant of the house seemed to be well feed just what he had been catching played on Craig's mind.

He had taken a knee behind some rubble outside of the building and even though it may have been slightly warmer inside he hoped he was more effective where he was.

When given the order to search the house Craig un-holsters his browning and begins the hunt.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:23, Thu 27 Dec 2012.

"Heck, yeah."  Danny nods enthusiastically at McClurg's praise of Mariusz.  "Kid's got skills and you don't have to bust his ass about housekeeping.  We oughta do something nice for him at the next friendly village.  Maybe get him laid."

He leans on the railing, still scanning the river and idly contemplating the ducks.  "Yeah, when you have a chance, can you see if we have any birdshot?  Come to think of it, we oughta trade for a couple of decent hunting guns.  It's gonna be a long-ass winter."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:23, Tue 25 Dec 2012.

Jan shook his head in response.  "We are to provide security for the boat.  That is our primary job.  If there is problem then the Capitaine or Tuck will radio us."

He kept scanning around though, listening as much as looking.

Jeff pokes his head over the side of the railing to the main cabin.

"Hey we have an armed group of riders approaching town from the West under a white flag.  Half of them turned around the way they came.  Get on the radio and tell the shore party.  I'll cover from here."

Debating using his rifle scope, he instead uses the powerful navigation binoculars that the boat has.  He looks for any sort of details, before moving on to the two men farther down the road.

Hearing talk of riders, Jay scanned around to see what he could see. He especially checked the other directions, in case this was some kind of diversion.

"Roger that," Griet said, acknowledging Warren's report.

She hit the intercom and said, "Riders coming in, they aren't acting threateningly but stand to."

Once she had alerted the crew she switched to the radio, "All shore stations, this is Queen. Riders spotted approaching us from the west. Half have turned away and the other half are coming forward under a white flag."

Griet broadcasts Warren's report, allowing the shore party a minute or two to prepare for the two riders.

Before the call comes in, though, Minh finds a loose plank in the floor. Carefully prying it up, she finds a narrow crawlspace. It's not likely that the missing occupant of the cottage cound have squeezed through it. Instead, it appears to be secret a storage area. Inside, she finds a single, loose 7.92x57mm cartrige, a 7.62mm R ammo can full of paperwork, all of it in Polish, and a small duffel bag. Inside the bag, Minh finds at least a dozen pairs of undergarments, both male and female; they look to be used.

With Warren providing overwatch from the bridge roof, Konrad orients his team to receive the approaching riders. Jay, if he leans out over the starboard quarterdeck railing a bit, can just see the rider astride his horse close to the riverbank. Jay realizes that he would have a difficult time bringing the PKM to bear from this position. He'd probably be able to wield his rifle, if need be, but it would still be somewhat of an acrobatic shot. The riverside rider must see Jay through his binoculars because he waves at him in a friendly manner.

The white-flag riders slow as the near the dwelling occupied by most of the shore team but they don't appear to realize that there's anyone there. They study the place as they ride by but, not noticing anyone within, they ride past, heading for a path that leads from the road to the warf. (Konrad & co. may hail them as the riders pass, if they'd like.) Alerted by Griet's broadcast, Jan and Thijs spot the riders through the trees after they move past Konrad's team's cottage.

OOC: Aboard the tug, only Warren can see the two nearest riders and he can see the pair standing off as well. Jay can only see the distant rider nearest the river. No one on shore can see either of the stay-behind riders.

Updated tac-map: https://maps.google.com/maps/m...pn=0.002423,0.008256

Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:54, Fri 28 Dec 2012.

"Do you want me to go out and greet them, Sir," Mariusz asked Bayer.

Jan made sure that Thijs could see the two riders approaching before reaching for his radio.

"Konrad.  Jan here," he transmitted. "How do you want to play this?  Do you want to let them go past you and I will intercept them to talk while you back us up or are you going to have Mariusz speak to them and we back you up?"

Craig indicated they had company to Minh as the horsemen rode past. He then moved to a window or door and used it as cover as he watched them advance towards the tug.

Upon spying the rider observing them, Jay called out to the team on the boat. "Horseman on the right watching us."

He pulled out his recently acquired binoculars and trained them on the rider, trying to glean some information. He didn't yet acknowledge the greeting, preferring to leave the pleasantries to his superiors. He kept his rifle to hand, just in case.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:44, Fri 28 Dec 2012.

"Riders coming in, they aren't acting threateningly but stand to," crackles Griet's voice over the intercom.

The ducks earn a brief stay of execution.  Danny pushes off the railing.  He gives his gear a reflexive pat-down and shifts Winona to hang across his chest.  "Mac, I'm gonna jump over to the shore side just in case.  Take over here and yell out if anything shows up on the river."  He cuts through the galley to the opposite side of the tug, switching on his radio to monitor the landing party's chatter.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:30, Thu 27 Dec 2012.

Connolly and Kellerman are assessing damage in the machine shop when Griet's warning comes in.  The pilot straightens up and wipes grease off her hands.  "What now?" she asks rhetorically.

Kel, long since acclimated to her habits, doesn't bother with any more answer than a shrug.  He holds up one half of a severed power cable.  "Go on, ma'am.  I'll lock out the power in here before someone turns on the drill press and burns down the boat."

Connolly is already out of the compartment.  She pokes her head back through the hatch and snorts.  "Better tell Mac.  He was going to try to fix that Dishka mount, and we both know how accident-prone he is."  With that, she's gone, heading back up to the bridge.

"Sunray. Protect the boat. Out." Bayer replies back over the radio.



"With me." Bayer answers, before quickly turning to Tucker, "Robert, you and Lieutenant Sutherland make sure you are seen as well. Not threatening... just here inside the house, and armed. Post Quyen to watch our backs where the security team can't cover us."

Bayer then moves to the door with Mariusz and as he's stepping outside, he says quietly to his teammate behind him, "Alright Mariusz... call out to them. If something happens you run. I'll shoot." Bayer will keep both hands on his weapon, across his chest, but pointed down and the finger off the trigger. He'll keep to the side of Mariusz and out of the way if he needs to open fire.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:22, Fri 28 Dec 2012.

OOC: LOL!!!  Everyone loves Frank/Robert & Billy...

BIC: Robert nods to Bayer that he understands and moves so that they can get out of the door.  "Good luck you two.  We got your backs, no worries."

Frank calls for CRAIG and Minh to join him near the doorway but, closes the door after they leave the house.  "Need you to watch our Six Minh.  How did you two do in your sweep?

Craig, your with me in the front here.  Visible but, behind some cover or whatever we can find.  I'll be just outside the door here watching the meeting.  Anything goes down, I'll lay down cover fire first 'til I run dry, hopefully, those two will be under some cover or back in the house by then.  When I reload, I'll move and reload and we'll reasses from there.  You two good?"

In reply to Robert 'Tuck' Tucker (msg # 42):

Craig grabs the ammunition tin and moves it back with them to the house occupied by the away team. When asked he gives a quick assessment of the contents and takes up the position indicated by Tucker.

"Understood.  Jan out," he replied over the radio.

He then turned to Thijs to update him.  "Konrad and Tuck's team are talking to these riders.  You keep watching in their direction and I will scan around in case this is a diversion."

Jan then adjusted his location slightly and started observing in an arc from the east to the south.

Mariusz walked out into the dropping temperatures of the approaching night and stood in the road to await the approaching riders.

As the mounted pair halted he smiled at them and said, "Hello, I'm Mariusz Tokarski of the Vistula Queen's Independent Commando Unit. This is my commander, Major Bayer. Do you want to talk out here or would you rather get out of the weather?"

When Mariusz hails them from the house they've just passed, the two horsemen are clearly somewhat startled, instinctively reaching for their weapons (one handed), but when they see that neither Mariusz or Konrad are pointing a weapon at them, they immediately stand down. As if to compensate for the potentially explosive, involuntary gesture, the rider with the truce flag resumes waiving it with renewed vigor.

Turning his horse to face the occupied building, the rider addresses Mariusz in strongly-accented but passable Polish,

"Good morning. My name is Yvegeny and we are from the 89th cavalry division. We are finished with this fucking war. I see that you have a big boat. My unit needs to cross the river to get home to our motherland. Perhaps we can work a deal?"

By his accent, clothing, and accroutrements, it is obvious that these men are, or were, Soviet soldiers.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:50, Fri 28 Dec 2012.

Mariusz continued smiling, "He says he's Yvegeny of the 89th Cavalry. He'd like to negotiate using the barge to get his unit across the river. I'll ask him how many and how many horses while you decide if it's feasible, Sir."

"Good day, Yvegeny," Mariusz said in Russian, "in order for my Kaptain to make a decision he'll need to know how many men and how many horses. I know that may be sensitive information but our boat isn't configured for horse transport so we'll need to get creative. We need an idea on how creative we need to get."

The two riders looked at each other, expressions of pleased surprise briefly flashing across their grimy faces.

"There are about 300 of us, and almost as many horses. We are building a raft but it has no power. Your boat could help us move the raft. It would probably take a few trips to get all of us across. We don't have much but we will find a way to pay you. But there is an issue of, er, security. There are Soviet soldiers in Torun who want to stop us and they've got, er, a boat of their own."

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:57, Fri 28 Dec 2012.

"I'll just update my Boss," Mariusz said.

"He says there are three hundred men and the same number of horses," Mariusz translated, "they have a raft we could use to help but he says there are Soviets at Torun with a boat of their own that might cause us problems."