LaRue pops the lock and lifts the lid of the icebox. Looking inside, his eyes meet the cold, cloudy blue eyes of a teenaged boy. A grey-skinned torso and head are crammed inside the box face-up, old snow packed around the dead flesh. One arm, severed near the shoulder, rests atop the body. There's no sign of the other limbs, or of the the young man's genitalia.

At that moment, something strikes the lid of the box, with a loud THWACK!, jarring it out of LaRue's grip. A near-simultaneous gunshot accompanies the impact of the bullet. No one sees where the shot came from.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:42, Sat 29 Dec 2012.

Danny, already half-expecting an explosion or a spring-loaded axe, is in motion as soon as the bullet strikes.  Letting the poker tumble to the ground, he darts around the house's northeast corner and shoulders through the front door, then tucks himself behind the cover of the door frame as he readies Winona.  "All stations, Coyote," he snarls into his radio, "contact at the meat house.  Shooter's probably north or west of the ville."

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

I don't eat cannibals, but I sure do shoot them
This message was last edited by the player at 21:54, Sat 29 Dec 2012.

Once he had returned to the tug Craig had offered to continue repairing the defences. He had started by assessing the boxes on the quarter deck that made up the main defence of the position. Repairing those he could and identifying those that would need extensive repairs. He intended to recover some wood from the village once it had been cleared.

When he heard the shot and received the radio call Craig took up his G3 and began scanning the area indicated through his scope. It sounded though his fears had been proven correct.

Scanning for shooter
Tugs quarter deck

HK G3SG/1 (w/ Zeiss 1.5-6 x 42 mm Telescopic Sight)[20/20]

Upon hearing the shot, Jay instinctively ducked and spun around, scanning the area for the shooter. As yet he wasn't sure if it was a booby trap activated by Danny opening the appliance, or if there was a gunman on the loose. He quickly moved into the gloom of a dark corner, putting a wall to his back. He held his rifle ready. If he spies any target he will fire a double tap.

OOC - I am assuming that Jay is somewhere near the door of he room when the bullet is fired.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:46, Sat 29 Dec 2012.

Jeff took the rear position of the sweeping team.  He had decided to keep his Sniper Rifle, leaving the AKSU on the boat.  In hindsight he could have carried both comfortably, but honestly wasn't expecting an active shooter within the village now that the envoys had left.

At the sound of the gunshot, he drops to a knee instinctively before scurrying for the nearest building.  He takes cover against the wall, avoiding a window, and begins to look and listen for the sniper.  He draws his mask up over most of his face, so his icey breath won't give away his position any more then it has to.  Jeff's plan is to let the others draw a second shot, so that he can start working towards counter-sniping this hostile.


Jeff Warren
Taking maximum cover near a building, trying to figure out where Sniper is
SAKO TRG [10/10]+6

In reply to Griet Niewiadomska (msg # 71):

Before the ambush kicks off, Tucker would've reported to the damaged Dushka for Griet.

Jan and his team had just finished searching their second abandoned and thoroughly looted house when he heard the retort of a single gunshot from somewhere west of their position.  It didn't sound like a shot fired at them however and that was confirmed by Danny's transmission.

"Coyote.  Jan here.  On way to your position with my team.  Out," he transmitted in reply to Danny.

He then called his team together, bringing those not on the radio net up to speed.  "Someone has just fired at Danny who is over in that house to the west that the others found some intel in.  We are going there quickly but keep a look out for the shooter.  I will lead.  Thijs take the left, Jay the right and Jeff bringing up the rear.  Ok, let us go."

In reply to Jan Cerny (msg # 82):

Thijs nodded and took position on Jan's southern flank, moving through the remnants of the village.  His head swivelled back and forth, dividing his attention between looking for the shooter and picking out a path so as not to stumble.

"Thank you, Tuck," Griet said as he appeared to help her on the machine gun,"if you can find out what is wrong here, I can assist you with any repairs."

She bent over the damaged gun and followed what Tuck did and told her to do very carefully.

Once Mariusz and Bayer got back to the Queen, Mariusz asked the Kaptain, "Do you want me to look at those papers now or should I do something topside before the weather closes in?"

He didn't like the idea of being inside when others were getting cold doing physical labour, but he was happy to follow Bayer's suggestions, the man saw further ahead in the game than he did.

"Let's get a quick look at them." Bayer answers, removing his helmet and heading up to the wheelhouse. He then calls over to Minh to pass off the items she found, though not without nodding to her his thanks, "Well done."

Bayer then stands in the wheelhouse where he will keep watch while Mariusz reads over the papers and Jan's shore party deals with the situation on land. He'll also monitor his radio.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 12:07, Mon 31 Dec 2012.

Jan's team quickly moves west to the cottage where LaRue waits alone. Looking west, Thijs spots a hint of movement in a shallow draw running north-south towards the river, about 80m from the hamlet's westernmost structure. The brief and uncertain glimple is not enough to offer him a target, though. If what Thijs spotted is indeed the shooter, the man (or woman) has cover and a position offering defilade. However, if the sweep team can no longer see the shooter, it is also possible that the shooter can no longer see it.

Having fired only a single shot at the intruders, the shooter does not appear to be on the offensive.

Back on board the tug, Craig looks for the shooter through his rifle scope, trying to locate the shooter, but can see little more than a few meters inland from the river due to the dense foliage and folds in the wooded terrain. Griet, Tucker, and McClurg attempt a repair of the port side Dushka. Under the direction of McClurg, Tucker and Griet make the necessary adjustments, restoring the heavy Soviet machinegun to operational status.

Konrad and Mariusz inspect the documents in the ammunition tin. The collection consists of various personal identification papers- discharge papers, travel permits, a birth certificate, etc.- belonging to at least a dozen individuals, most of them Polish citizens. Standing out among the Polish documents is a U.S. military I.D. card for one Smith P. Wofford.

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

Next moves?

"I'm not too great with the heavy shit like this Griet, especially the PACT stuff but, as long as we're not too much in a hurry, both of us should be able to figure it out."

Jan did not fancy hunting a lone gunman in his own back yard if the could avoid it.

"Danny," Jan called out.  "Do you have any idea where the shooter is?"

"Hang on," Danny responds.  He lets Winona lead the way out of the house and back around the corner.  Kneeling behind the icebox and trying not think about its contents, he recovers the fireplace poker and cautiously raises the box's lid.  "Northwest of the house," he calls, gauging the impact angle from the bullet hole in the lid.  "I didn't see the flash but it was close... call it fifty to sixty meters."

Seeing the limited help that he could be where he was Craig moved to the crows nest position hoping the added height may help.

He redeploys the bipod on his G3 before using his binoculars to try and spot the threat.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:56, Wed 02 Jan 2013.

Jan glanced quickly in the direction Danny indicated before reacting to what the medic had said.  To start with he quietly issued some instructions to his section.

"Jeff.  Thijs.  Cover northwest and if you see a target then shoot it.  Jay, keep a watch on our flanks and rear in case he tries to flank us."

He then switched to Polish and called out more loudly.  "Nie chcemy kłopotów. Jesteś zwolniony od nas. Zostaw i nie będziemy cię skrzywdzić. Pożar na nas jeszcze raz i będziemy polować na dół cię zabić. No drugie ostrzeżenie!"*


OOC - *this should mean "We don't want trouble.  You fired on us.  Leave and we won't harm you.  Fire at us again and we will hunt you down kill you.  No second warning!"

After Quyen hands over the ammo box with the papers she drops the duffel bag on the deck and says "There is something else too. I found clothes from different people. But it was hidden. People don't hide clothes like that without a reason, like they have a secret." Shen then says "There were also many bones around the house but no skulls." Quyen then gives Konrad a look and leaves it at that.

Quyen then follows Konrad and Mariusz up to the bridge where she asks "Where can I be of best help? Sentry or repairs?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:37, Wed 02 Jan 2013.

Despite Danny's renewed tinkering with the corpse-stuffed cooler, the cottage's occupent refuses to reveal him/herself again with a second shot at the medic/intruder. Apart from Thijs' fleeting glimpse of movement (he's not so sure he didn't just imagine it, now) there's been no subsequent sign of the shooter. (The sweep team is still near the cottage, at the moment.)

Back on the tug, Kel and Tadeuz conduct a thorough inspection of the tug's uppers, looking for structural damage. Despite being rather dinged up- she certainly looks like she's just been through a fairly intense battle- the Wisla Krolowa is fully functional. Belowdecks, the engine and moving parts appear to be in good working order. Fuel, although not yet a major issue, is something to be mindful of. The tug was carrying a full load of wood for its boilers when you left Gora Kalwaria following the conclusion of the Warsaw fighting. Now, she's at about 3/4 capacity. There's a lot of dead wood ashore here, so collecting additional fuel wouldn't be a problem, save perhaps for the testy neighbor still on the loose.

Although the entire Kommando hasn't had a chance yet to get gather and put all of the puzzle pieces together, each piece of evidence uncovered so far could lead to the inference that a homicidal cannibal of some sort is currently the lone resident of X. How this individual comes across his/her victims is not clear and, based on the garments and documents Minh discovered in his home, he/she doesn't seem to be too particular as to who the prey is. The undergarments too, suggest that the motive for killing is something more than simple survival (i.e. cannibalism).

Anneka and Gunther's body are layed out on deck, under a tarp. If they are to be burried here, there's not much time to dig before it starts raining or snowing. Once the expected precipitation starts, it'll still be possible to dig graves, but it will probably be an even less pleasant task. (One might recall the scene in Young Frankenstein when Dr. Frankenstein and Igor are digging up a corpse" "It could be worse." -Igor. "Oh yes? How?" -Dr. "It could be raining." -Igor)

The radioman from the rogue Soviet 89th cavalry division should be arriving in about two hours, if the weather doesn't get too much worse.


Next Moves?

As the Dushka is done being repaired, Tucker fastens his strap on his kevlar helmet and starts to swing it into action towards the house they were out.  "Anyone got eyes on or a location of the threat?"

Craig stayed in the crows nest and would stand up if that gave him a better view with his binoculars. If the area the shooter was in was still hidden from his view he would return to the quarter deck and continue the repairs and assessment of the damage.

Time passes without any sign of the shooter.  Slowly Jeff relaxes and looks to the others who seem to do the same.

"We should continue clearing these houses, then return to the main party.  They'll probably need work parties before long if we're going to stay here for a few more hours.  I don't like the look of the weather."

Jay maintained his watch on both flanks, alternating between each side on an irregular patern. He kept low and held his rifle ready.

As time passed he wondered if the shooter had gone to ground, hoping that the Kommando would leave. However, Jay wasn't prepared to take that for granted. If there was a cannibal on the loose, he intended to put him down.

Griet thanked Tuck and McClurg for their work on the heavy machine gun and made sure that it was well-wrapped against the oncoming storm. Once she had done that, she frowned at the thought of a crazy madman out there.

Soon, the weather would close in and reduce visibility to practically nothing and the fancy night vision gear would be useless in icy rain. The man could make himself a real pain in the ass if they didn't track him down soon.

She returned to Bayer on the bridge and said, "If this guy isn't killed before the storm comes in I'm going to move the Queen to the centre of the harbour so the bastard will have to swim to us if he wants to get aboard. We'll need to have someone on the bridge at all times and keep the boilers running but it will give us more security."

"Another option would be to make a show of digging a grave and stop when the rain starts." Griet said, as cold-blooded as ever when it came to the safety of her boat, "get rid of the guy's supplies and leave the dead gunner's body out to bury in the morning. then we set snipers on the site and get the bastard if he comes for the bait."

She'd have added Anneka's body to the bait if she thought she could get away with it. The woman was dead now and all that was left was a husk.

"We can't leave it be. The Russians are sending us a radio operator. He won't make it with a hostile force in the area." Bayer replies, exchanging a glance between the sky and village. He was growing impatient and almost radioed Jan to torch the house to draw the man out, but it would still be burning by the time the Russian got here - and could interfere with everything.

Toggling the radio, Bayer ask Jan for a SITREP, and then says, "Leave a man in wait and withdraw everyone back to the tug. Make sure he knows that a friendly will be approaching the same way as the horsemen came. Over."