As Griet begins to throttle back, Connolly raises the microphone again.  "It's all under control, Captain.  We just needed to get clear of the current first."  She injects a note of bored routine into her voice, trusting that this really is as routine - at least for Griet - as she's making it out to be.  "Please tell your crew to move away from the rails and stay toward the stern for this next part.  We're going to be applying some power to turn the monitor."

Having issued that advisory, she turns to the bridge's rear windows, checking to see that the Russians aboard the monitor are obeying.

Danny leans around Boots to grab the intercom, double-checking to make sure he doesn't pick up a radio microphone by mistake.  "Sunray, Coyote," he advises, "No overt activity but there's a dude hunched down in their stern.  Could be babying the engine, could be a spotter for something."  He returns the intercom mic to its clip and refocuses his purloined binoculars, trying for a better view.

On the port side of the Krolowa, scanning the west (south) bank, Craig doesn't spot any heavy weapons or particularly dangerous looking defensive positions. On the opposite side of the tug, scanning the east (north) bank, Thijs' eyes are drawn immediately to the dock. On a makeshift slipway to the right (east) of the concrete pier is a second landing craft, currently in the very early stages of being converted to an armored gunboat. There are roughly two dozen men in uniform on or near the pier, about half of them visibly armed. Jan, looking through his own binos from the starboard gunwale, spots a glint from a building overlooking the dock. It could just be sunlight reflecting off of a random object, but it could also indicate that someone is watching the proceedings on the river through an optic of some kind.

Griet pulls the Crocodile out of the main current before slowly reversing thrust to meet the monitor's flat bow with the tug's rounded stern. The monitor's forward momentum assures the meeting is not a gentle one. A couple of men among the salvage crew, now huddled on the troop compartment's roof near the superstructure, underestimate the force of the impact and lose their footing, sprawling forward on to the slick deck. Fortunately, the operation is not further complicated by men overboard. Those aboard the tug are jostled as well but much less so, as the tug, being built for this sort of thing, absorbs the blow much better. The salvage crew yells angrily at the tug, but no one on deck speaks enough Russian to know what they're saying. One thing that anyone looking at the salvage crew notices at this point is that the Russian's AKs are loaded, distinctive banana magazines protruding from the bottom of the rifles' receivers.

The Krolowa, her bow slowly swinging towards the riverbank opposite the concrete pier, continues pushing backwards against the Crocodile, forcing the monitor towards the waiting dockworkers, starboard flank on. The tug's rounded stern sides off of the monitor's relatively narrow, flat bow, until it finds the Torun vessel's much longer port side. Griet has effectively initiated a maneuver known as 'crossing the T, with the tug forming the stem, and the monitor the cross bar. This configuration- whether it was intended or not- will allow the tug to push the monitor right up against the exterior of the long concrete dock, while screening the tug's main deck from anyone waiting there on solid ground. The tow cable, with its attached severing charge, is now mostly submerged beneath the cloudy grey surface of the Vistula.

The two conjoined vessels, looking something like giant mating water bugs, move slowly towards the east (north) bank. The salvage crew is fully upright and rather agitated, but they haven't moved away from the monitor's superstructure. Due to the current position of the two vessels relative to one another, the Russians are now, however, only a half-dozen meters or so from the Krolowa's poop deck, and elevated perhaps a meter above it. Craig, on the port side Dishka has a great view of the salvagers, and his HMG, when trained fully aft, just has LOF on them. Both ships are now about 100m from the pier.

As soon as the Krolowa ceases its forward motion, the pilot boat begins to come about, initiating a long, looping turn to port. By the time the tug has backed the monitor to within 100m of the concrete pier, the pilot boat is about 50m off of the tug's starboard bow.


Updated tac-map: PENDING


Next Moves?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:36, Wed 22 May 2013.

As the boat lurched to and fro, Jay steadied himself and kept guard over the prisoner. He was prepared for one of the to do something stupid, a mistake they would not live to regret...

Griet gently pushed the tug to within about fifty meters of the bank and then held the boat there, "Tell them to throw lines now. We'll be casting off once they are secure."
she told Boots.

She called down, "Get ready to cast off."

She didn't like losing the cables and rope but she wanted free of this as soon as possible as more and more it smelt like a trap. She watched the men on teh monitor and used the intercom, "Engines, I want steam built up, if we are rushed by the salvage team I will use the Homer Pec."


She looked at Boots, "I want you to give a verbal message to the deck crew. If the salvagers make any violent moves I want them clear of the stern, if they aren't, they will boil when I deploy the Homer Pec on the boarders. After that we'll blow the charges. Pray we don't need to do any of this."

Thijs moved his hands to the HMG's handles and slowly lowered the barrel to a ready position.  The gun was not aimed anywhere in particular, but he was ready to bring it to bear on anyone making an overt move.

"Yeah, not loitering around here sounds like a great plan," Connolly responds, glaring at the loaded Kalashnikovs now clearly in evidence aboard the monitor.  She raises the radio mic again.  "Torun, Queen, we're backing your vessel into position now.  Tell your crew to begin mooring.  Please advise us once the monitor is secured.  Over."

She swaps microphones and cranks up the tug's external speakers and her fragmentary Russian.  "Boat men, make ready for ropes," she advises over the PA system.  "We move you now."

Turning toward the pilot boat, she raises her own binoculars to peer at the current object of Larue's suspicion.  "Larue, go get Tuck and Captain Bayer off the aft deck, then get back up here."

"Got it, Boss," Danny replies.  He returns Griet's binoculars to their usual position and slips out of the bridge, taking the steps two at a time.  He pauses for a moment next to Craig and McClurg.  "Guys, if they rush us, we'll steam 'em and blow the chain.  Mac, pass that on to Thijs, then go below and tell Jay and Minh."  He slaps the former door gunner on the shoulder and slides down the final ladder to the deck.

"Message from Griet," he advises Bayer.  "Tuck, c'mere a sec."  Once he's collected the platoon sergeant, he says in a low voice, "If this goes south, Griet's gonna steam-clean the deck back here.  Blow the charge once it cools off.  I'll go tell Jan and the gun crew."  He cuts through the machine shop to the starboard rail and repeats the message to Jan, then goes forward to pass it to Anders and Mariusz.

With the barrel of the HMG pointing directly at the monitor and its salvage crew Craig would have no hesitation at spraying the crew area they were currently in.

He tried to keep and eye out for any other threats along the pier section as they moved their load closer to the dock.

"Jan to all call signs.  We have at least one person with an optic watching us from a building overlooking the dock," reported Jan across the radio, though speaking loud enough for others around him on deck to hear what he was saying.  "I suspect at least one sniper.  It is where I would place one and there is space for him to have friends.  This is a lot of security if they are just accepting delivery of their boat and letting us continue on our way."

He kept watching through his binoculars, scanning around other windows in the same building for other sniper positions as well as periodically returning to the one he had spotted in an attempt to pick out more details.

When Danny delivered his message Jan nodded in acknowledgement and then made his way a little further away from the stern.  There was no way he was going to get boiled alive!

Tucker moves over to where Danny is calling him over to and listens to the new orders.  "OK ma, I got you.  I just loaded a buckshot round in my launcher in case it gets funny."

One of the men in the salvage team begins tossing a pilot line towards the men waiting on the pier. Most of the latter are effectively out of the line of sight of of the Kommandos on board the tug, screened from view by the monitor. Someone atop the bridge roof or looking out of the bridge's back door could, however, see over the monitor, to the dock and the slipyard beyond.

Although not entirely unexpected, the attack is so sudden that it effectively takes everyone on board the Krolowa by surprise. It all happens so fast, it's almost impossible to determine how it starts. The incoming gunfire goes from trickle to torrent almost instantaneously.

A round pancakes off of the superstructure behind and just inches above Craig's head. It doesn't appear to have come from the men on the monitor because Craig is looking right at them when the bullet hits. An almost imperceptible delay between the bullet's impact and the sound of the gunshot, which seems to have emanated from due east, suggests a shooter somewhere on the highway bridge. A more immediate concern presents itself as one of the salvagers near the Crocodile's superstructure raises his AK, pointing it at Craig, while the half dozen or so others rush toward the Krolowa's poop. Three or four strides and they are jumping across and down while their comrade sprays the tug's port HMG with bullets. The gun shield turns several rounds away and, in the opening seconds of the fight at least, Craig is spared harm.

Over on the starboard HMG, Thijs has a very similar close shave. A round skips off the superstructure just couple of feet from where he is standing. He's reasonably certain it came from the boat house that Jan just mentioned (the Czech being immediately below Thijs' position). If he trains the HMG as far aft as it will point, Thijs probably has a shot at the sniper's position.

When the shooting starts, the police boat is about 50m off the Krolowa's starboard bow. As the first rounds strike the tug's superstructure, a man stands up in the approaching vessel's bows and begins firing a PKM from the hip at the Vasilek position where Anders and Mariusz are stationed. Rounds pass all around the surprised automortar team but miraculously, neither man is hit. The machinegunner must have assumed that he's hit his first targets because he quickly moves on from the Vasilek and walks rounds aft down the hull towards Jan, Tucker, Konrad, and Danny*.  By now, all four men have wisely ducked below the sturdy steel gunwale. They can hear and feel rounds pancake against the thick hull or ricochet off into air and water. After about 15-20 rounds, the machinegunner pauses, surveying his handiwork or looking for a new target.

Jay and Minh are below decks when the surprise attack begins. The prisoners look extremely nervous. They know that an attack by their Torunian comrades could mean their immediate summary execution. With two stern looking guards present, they've also got to know that their chances of escape and survival are extremely thin. For the moment, at least, they remain docile.


Next Moves?

Please include full combat tags in your next post.

*His last post indicates he is outside the bridge at the moment, but I'm not exactly sure where Konrad is on the tug. On the third read-through, this goes for Tucker and Danny too. Wherever they are, they ducked into cover during this opening round.

This message was last edited by the GM at 01:25, Fri 24 May 2013.

Connolly flicks a jaded glance at Griet.  "Well, that's disappointing," she sighs, raising the intercom mic.  "All hands, all hands.  Boarders aft, snipers on shore.  Stay low and clear the stern."  She glances at the poop deck, now bare of friendlies, and adds, "Engineers, homar piec aft now, now, now."

Exchanging the mic for her AK, she pokes the rifle's muzzle out an aft window and launches a burst toward the salvager firing at Craig.

Boots
AIMS-74 [30/30 + 4 magazines] - ready, on BURST
M11 [13/13 + 2 magazines] - holstered, loaded but decocked

providing unnecessary alerts and ineffective suppression
This message was last edited by the player at 01:49, Fri 24 May 2013.

Having delivered Griet's caution to Anders and Mariusz, Danny is entering the starboard hatch leading to the galley when the first rounds strike the superstructure.  He ducks forward into the passageway and unslings Winona as the boat begins to clatter with incoming fire.

When the PKM pauses, he swaps sides for a left-handed grip and peeks out to brace against the edge of the hatch.  Winona aligns with the boat's pilot and spits out a double-tap.  Without taking time to check his work, Danny cuts through the galley and up the central ladder, heading for the armory.

Danny
Winona [30/30 + 5 magazines] - ready, 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

one aimed and one quick shot at the boat pilot, then moving toward the armory
This message was last edited by the player at 02:01, Fri 24 May 2013.

"Neuken!!!" shouted Thijs as the first shot spanged off the superstructure behind him.  He quickly trained the Degtyarev-Shpagin as far aft as it could go and fired a burst at the boathouse where that shot had seemed to come from.  He then prepared to repeat if necessary, or to sweep the portion of the dock within his field of fire if he judged the first shooter was beyond his aim.

Thijs
Starboard DShK [150/200]
C7A1 LSW [90/90 +(6x30)] SAFE, slung
Firing Dishka at boathouse

Griet threw the engines into full forward power and used the intercom, "Deploy Homer Pec now then build up steam again."

She called to Mihn, "Blow the charges now."

Mariusz dropped as low and he could and started to shift the mortar to face the enemy boat, "Take that out," he said to his gunner, "and then we can engage shore targets."

As bullets zipped around him, and pinged off the gunwale, Jan hunkered down in cover.  He let his binoculars hang loose around his neck, snatched up his rifle from beside him and then moved a little along the boat towards the prow, staying in cover below the gunwale as much as possible as he moved.  He then popped up with his rifle tight in his shoulder and engaged the pilot boat and its crew.

He firstly aimed and fired his grenade launcher at the boat, hoping that the HE round would silence the machine gunner in particular.  If he still seemed to be a threat however then Jan fired a double tap at him, hoping to silence the PKM as quickly as possible.


Jan
Crouched down behind the gunwale, using it for cover
Firing an aimed shot with his BG-15 at the pilot boat, followed by 2x single shots (quick shots) at the machine gunner if he is still a threat
AK-74 (40/40rnds - 1x 40rnd & 10x 30rnd mags in total) - held
BG-15 (1/1 HE Grenade - 19x HE Grenades in total) - underslung
Sig Sauer P226 - (15/15 rnds - 4x 15rnd mags in total) - holster
Frag Grenade x2
Smoke Grenade (Coloured) x1
Hunting Knife

Craig depressed the trigger of the port HMG firing off a short burst towards the man with the Ak, if he was able to included some of the others advancing forward in his line of fire he would.

Once he had hit the man with the AK he would turn the gun towards the railway bridge and the shooter that nearly took his head off. He stayed low trying to use the cover of the gun shield as much as possible.


Firing on boarders and man with AK
Port DShK

Port DShK [150/200]
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]

Quyen aimed her weapon onto the prisoners and switched it to automatic. What good are hostages if you are not going to see through the threat to kill them? She then thought for a moment and delayed. The only reason she didn't gun them all down the instant she heard the shooting outside was because she thought of the mess it would make done here. She would probably be the one to have to clean it up too. The next time there were prisoners she would keep them somewhere up on deck where everything could just be hosed off and thrown overboard.

When McClurg appeared, Jay turned to him. "You stay, guard prisoner, no take shit." he then headed back up topside, rifle in hand. The sound of battle was intense, so he kept his head down. He glanced around, seeing where the main threat was coming from so he could add volume to the fire.

OOC - not sure where on the boat I would reappear.

Crouching in cover below the gunwale, Bayer turns to Tucker next to him, "You are the fuse man Robert. Fire those demo charges. We will do our best to cover you." He then trailed off behind Jan, stopping a few meters and readying his rifle. Bayer will then pop up just enough to clear his barrel over the top of the gunwale and fire at the first target he sees with 3 single shots.

Bayer will then move inside, shouting, "Clear the deck! Now!" His destination is the wheelhouse.

Bayer
G36/HK79 (30/30)
Firing 3 single shots at anybody / Moving inside
On deck
This message was last edited by the player at 05:52, Sat 25 May 2013.

Tucker coughs and curses as he hits the deck hard when the ambush is sprung and bullets start impacting all around them.  He takes a couple of pulls off of his cigar to make sure it is still lit and looks over to Bayer, "Gimme some good cover fire and I'll get there boss."  Once the cover fire starts, Robert takes off as fast as he can to light the charge and eventually return fire himself.

TUCKER
- M16A2 / M-203: [30/30] / M-203 HE Loaded (Currently Reloading)- Current primary
 Single-Shot- SLUNG}
- H&K MK23 SOCOM (Suppressed) [12+1/12 + [(x2) 12/12 Mag pouch]] -
   Holstered
- Browning HP [13/13] Holstered (Vest)

Going to light the demo charges once covering fire starts

When the enemy fire begun to pour from the shore, Anders ducked behind his primary weapon. The 82mm automatic mortar was enough to stop rifle caliber rounds, so it was a reasonably safe place to be. "HE, load", he bellowed, starting to rotate the weapon towards the building, the sniper was firing from. The sniper may have had the advantage of position, but Anders had the advantage of firepower and he was going to give the bastard a little demonstration of his capability.

It takes only a couple of seconds after the surprise of the devious Torunites' attack for the Kommandos to begin fighting back.

Boots rushes to the back of the bridge and shoves her AK out of the vision port cut into the armored shutter than covers the aft exterior window. She rattles off a burst in the direction of the boarders hoping to get lucky, but knowing that she's basically just 'spraying and praying'. Opening the door or lifting the shutter will give her a better target picture, but it will also expose her and everyone else inside the bridge to enemy gunfire. (Boots -5 rounds)

Down on the main deck, LaRue squeezes off two rounds at the approaching pilot boat before ducking back inside and making a bee-line for the armory to search for a more effective countersniper weapon. (LaRue -2 rounds)


Over on the starboard HMG, Thijs only needs to make a minor adjustment to his aim in order to engage the suspected sniper's position. After quickly lining it up in his sights, he pulls the trigger; the big machinegun bucks once and then... nothing- a stoppage! Still, the single round that leaves the Dishka's barrel smashes through the boat-house's cinderblock exterior less than a meter below Thijs' aim point. If indeed there was a sniper behind that wall, he's likely dead or injured now. (-1 round; stoppage)

As she shouts into the intercom, Griet pulls the lever activating the 'lobster cooker' device. Two-to-four seconds later, most of the tug's main deck is obscured by a boiling hot cloud of high pressure steam. She then reaches for the thruster's directional controls, pushing them forward. Bled of some of its power by the activation of the lobster cooker system, the Krolowa responds sluggishly, only managing to fully arrest its backwards motion [this round]. Still, the inertia of the completely powerless Crocodile should create some separation between the two vessels during the next few seconds.

Mariusz, ducking down below the protective cover of the Vasilek's gun shield, begins swinging the automortar towards the oncoming pilot boat. The small vessel is probably moving at its top speed by now and it crosses the muzzle of the 82mm gun/mortar before Mariusz is ready to engage. At this close range, hitting a small, relatively fast-moving target with the Vasilek is going to be a truly formidable task. Anders has another target in mind (the boat house) but he doesn't communicate this to his assistant gunner and, he realizes, the shore positions are currently screened by the Krolowa's superstructure and the monitor still athwart her stern (targets on the east/north bank will be out of the Vasilek's LOF until the tug turns to face either up or downriver). In the meantime, both men still have their personal weapons.

The pilot boat doesn't get away scot-free, however. Jan pops up a couple of meters forward of where he'd been taking cover from the smaller antagonist's wild machinegunner and takes quick aim with his under-barrel grenade launcher. He fires a 40mm HE round at the pilot boat before smoothly transitioning to the rifle's trigger and squeezing off a double tap at the man still standing in the boat's bows just in front of the telephone booth-like conning station. Konrad, popping up next to Jan, also targets the pilot boat's visible occupants, reflexively firing off a trio of rapid shots. Just before the spew of the homer piec obstructs their view of the passing pilot boat with a hissing wall of white steam, both Jan and Konrad see the Torunian machinegunner lurch backwards and fall away. At nearly the same time, Jan also notes, with some disappointment, a falling shower of white water just behind but well past his intended target. (Jan -1 40mmS HE & 2 rounds; Konrad -3 rounds)

Through a gap in the curtain of steam dead ahead, Mariusz and Anders see the pilot boat as it crosses the tug's bow, about 50m away.

Craig ignores the incoming rounds and returns fire at the active shooter next to the Crocodile's superstructure. A flurry of heavy 12.7mm rounds literally tears the unfortunate man apart, strewing the monitor with his blood and torn flesh. Unable to turn the Dishka on the onrushing boarders, Craig swings it back the other way at the highway bridge to the east. Just as he does so, a second sniper's round clangs off of the HMG's gunshield. Just a second earlier and the bullet would have buried itself in Craig's neck. Craig searches for the sniper but doesn't immediately spot him. (-10 rounds 12.7mm)

McClurg arrives in the makeshift brig hefting the wide-barreled SPAS-15 automatic shotgun. Pointing it at the cowering prisoners, he breathlessly informs Minh, "I got this.", releasing her to head for the action above deck.

With their combat engineer nowhere in sight, Tucker heads aft to light the line severing charge himself. He gets about halfway to the fuse [near where the raised quarterdeck ends] when an AK-toting man, framed by the white wall of pressurized steam, appears steps out in front of him. As both men raise their rifles to fire, another man appears just behind the first. Tucker and the first Ivan are no more than 10m apart. At least a couple of boarders have somehow managed to get past the lobster cooker and make it apparently unscathed to the main deck of the Wisla Krolowa...

[Anyone on the main deck can no longer see anything on either flank of the tug, until the lobster cooker is deactivated. As noted, there is a gap in the wall of steam directly forward, over the tug's bow.]


Next Moves?

Updated tac-map: link to a message in this game

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:15, Mon 27 May 2013.