The second company of the BPO regiment - sometimes referred to as Boris, or B Kompaniya or, quite commonly, Vtoraya (the second) - had made it's way around Berlin and was now slowly circling back, ahead of the main force of the pincer movement.


Rumor had it that Konev was furious for having the race lost to Shukov, but what could you do? Konev was relentless... but Shukov was brilliant.

The three vzvod, or platoons, had spread out a little, to cover a wider front, all of them keeping an eye out for German soldiers and other dangers.
The closer they had gotten to the city limits, the quieter the troops had become. There was tension between the platoons and within the company. Impossible to prevent, given so many different backgrounds and stories of them, but they had been through hell together before, and prevailed.

Yelena found herself marching next to Politruk Zholdin Yevgenievich, who gave her a slight nod.

It was getting dark already, but Kapitan Konnikov made no indication of wanting his company to stop. Where were those stupid Americans?

(Giving Zholdin and Yelena a chance to interact.)

Yelena had her rifle slung, though with her acquired and omnipresent bayonet now attached. She and her bayonet had been inseparable since Stalingrad, for reasons that she hadn't necessarily widely shared. The blonde raised her field glasses to take a look into the distance before exhaling heavily. Likely an exasperated sigh as she felt they'd been hunting for the Westerners far too long.

As she stowed the field glasses she noted Zholdin's nod. "No fascists to shoot or capitalists to educate, comrade. But at least my legs continue to strengthen. Are you enjoying this stroll?"

Sighing softly, Zholdin fixed the rather statuesque blonde with a faint smile as he replied.  "Which is of course, a shame.  We'll have to rectify that in the near future, wouldn't you say?  And of course comrade, it is a lovely day for a stroll... at least until the bullets start flying or the dead rise from their graves and attempt to gnaw off our faces" he added, flashing the woman a quick wink before his usual somber expression returned.

"Any sign of those blasted Americans, or are we just wandering around in circles for the fun of it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:59, Wed 16 Sept 2020.

Yelena's eyebrows rose a bit as Zholdin appeared to actually enjoy the boring parts rather than the fun ones. "Flying bullets are my favorite part, comrade. Especially when I am the one making them fly, yes?" She pointed to her bayonet with her right thumb. "And this is for the risen dead. Bayonet to the eye works quite well, even on those that have returned."

Her lips split and produced a toothy grin. "And no, I have not seen the Americans yet. Doubtless we will see them soon, though. And don't forget the secret word. With luck, the Americans they've sent will speak something besides English, though I hear most of them aren't smart enough to know anything else."

She tipped her head slightly to the right. "Where are you from, comrade?" After asking the question, Yelena looked into the distance with her field glasses, though seemed to still be listening for a reply.

"Hah!  Yes, well from what I hear, you're rather adept at that sort of thing comrade!  I, however, lack that particular skillset.  Of course, if you want to know anything about Tolstoy's works, I'm your man" he added with a slight chuckle.  "And I seriously doubt that.  The capitalists have a rather... limited world view I'm afraid.  At least in my experience."

The commissar seemed hesitant to respond to Yelena's last question, though he disguised it by glancing about at the ruined countryside.  "Latvia, though my mother is Russian, and I went to school in St. Petersburg before the war.  And how about yourself?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:56, Wed 16 Sept 2020.

Yelena nodded once at the compliment concerning her sniping skill. "I have been fortunate to be given the opportunity to give so many fascists an extra hole in their head." She smiled.

She did make a gesture generally to the east of southeast. "I am from Rostov-on-Don. It was beautiful before the fascists came." Her mouth twisted briefly, but then her face hardened. "Of course we will rebuild it to be twice as beautiful once the last of the fascists have all been eliminated."

A blond eyebrow raised. "And Tolstoy, hm. One of the few Russians who laid bare his soul. While I may not agree with every belief of his, at least I can appreciate a man who has the courage to write like him. What do you think of Tolstoy the man, comrade Politruk? And what he believed?"

She did note that the Politruk said Peter and not Lenin. It made her wonder a few things.

Chuckling softly Zholdin tipped his hand in acquiescence to the woman's point about shooting facists before replying.  "Tolstoy certainly did much that we can admire.  Of course, I don't much care for his rather strong views on religion or pacifism, though his embrace of Georgism is a rather interesting one.  How about you comrade?  I gather you and the man would likely disagree rather vehemently on the matter of non-violence" he added, tipping his hand towards the woman's rifle as he did.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:57, Thu 17 Sept 2020.

Yelena smiled thinly. "Georgism has some similarities to the ideals of the Communist party, does it not comrade? And Tolstoy was a combatant just like you and me. But sometimes we have to fight for peace, Politruk. I'd like to think that if Tolstoy had been twenty when the fascists invaded that he would have voluntarily picked up a rifle and defended his homeland. But like him, I think I will enjoy a rest once all the fascists are dead and buried."

"Regardless of invasion or no, he did fight when he was younger. And I suspect his strong pacifism had to do with seeing many around him die. It can change a person." Yelena's blue eyes scanned the distance for a moment to cover her momentary consideration. "His religious views are not compatible with the ideals of the Party, are they Politruk?"

"That it does indeed" Zholdin replied with a chuckle.  "And yes, I imagine any true child of Russia would not hesitate to take up arms in her defense against such dread invaders."  The blonde's comment about war changing a person's perspective earned her a quizzical quirk of an eyebrow.  "Speaking from experience then comrade?  And no, I imagine they aren't, though you never know what the future holds."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:41, Thu 17 Sept 2020.

Yelena again scanned about with her field glasses while considering the Politruk's question. Her blue gaze returned to him a moment later. "Yes, comrade, I do speak from experience. We are all changed for this. In some ways better, I'm sure, and in some ways worse. Harder, almost all cases. But for Tolstoy, some part of him perhaps became...broken. And I'm sure a person who knew me before all of this might say the same about me. But for him, the ideals he discussed may have been because a part of him was damaged. Now, that does not make his words any less interesting, but I cannot help but read them without considering the man that wrote them."

Yelena was suddenly glad her parents had required her to read a lot and stressed education. At least she hoped the lieutenant was pleased with the ability of a sniper to discuss literature. She did have to pause and consider his comment about the future, but she shook her head lightly. "I do not think the Party will ever like having people believe that the only authority in their life is God. Indeed, Tolstoy and his beliefs may be part of the reason for the, er, Party's rather strong distaste for religion in general."

"That is fair enough.  After all, if you had told me before the war that I'd be facing down facist blood sorcerers with nothing but my will to keep me safe, I'd have called you mad" Zholdin replied with a soft chuckle.  His smile fading into a pensive expression, the commisar paused for a moment before adding "It strikes me that you should always consider the person behind anything you read.  You get a far more complete understanding of a given work that way."

Blowing out a heavy sigh, Zholden looked upwards towards the sky for a few moment before turning his attention back to Yelena.  "Religion has been used to control the masses for centuries comrade, thus it is understandable that the Party would be wary, no?  Granted, I'm not saying that all religion is bad, only that if we are to look back throughout history, it seems that we can lay no small amount of trouble and human misery squarely at its feet."

Yelena nodded at Zholdin's comment concerning the use of his will, then tipped her head at his apparent contradiction. "So you love God but hate what man has done in his name?" She smirked. "If religion is used to control the masses, perhaps the Party would be better served by using that tool rather than fighting it, then, comrade."

After a moment of consideration, the field glasses again peered into the distance. "How did you learn to, uh, face down blood sorcerers with your will? Or even know that you could?"

((while we wait for Zholdin's answer - how about a Notice roll at -2 from both of you?))
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:58, Tue 22 Sept 2020.

((OOC: Notice of 4. Alertness cancels -2 penalty.
05:31, Today: Yelena Malkin rolled 4,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3.  Notice (Alertness).))

Glad someone noticed, I bombed it.  -1 and 0!  Totally forgot I needed to reply, will do so after I take the critter to the vet.

"Something like that at any rate" the Politruk chuckled softly.  "And yes, I'm acutely aware of the contradiction comrade, but I don't know a soul who doesn't maintain two separate lists of doctrines; the ones that they believe, and the ones they actually try to live by."

And while I can't speak for the Party in this matter, it strikes me that Russia has always had a storied relationship with the church, and thus, I can understand why the decision was made.  As for fighting the facists, it was training.  Lots of training."  At this, the commisar's rather friendly tone became colder, terse even, as if Yelena was probing at the edge of an old wound.

Yelena turned her head away from the Politruk and cocked it, listening. There was... gunfire, wasn't there? It was still distant, but it seemed to come not from the direction of any Red Army units she was aware of.

Yelena nodded but put a finger to her lips. She had certainly come to learn the sounds of gunfire. She was also aware of where the Red Army should be. She used her field glasses to look in the direction that she'd heard the telltale sounds.

"Gunfire, Politruk. From that direction." She pointed toward where she'd heard it.

Falling silent at the blonde's request, Zholdin listened intently, but couldn't make anything out.  It wasn't until she mentioned the sound of gunfire that he thought he could pick out the sound, albeit faintly.  "Then it seems to me that we should go see what that is all about, eh comrade?"

At this he turned around and caught the gaze of Kapitan Konnikov, the platoon's CO.  "Gunfire Kapitan.  Doesn't sound like it's friendly."

"Have you ever heard friendly gunfire, comrade? I find it to be usually unfriendly."

He looked wistfully into the darkness ahead, muttering something under his breath.

"Malkin, get me the platoon leaders."

He waited for Yelena to return with the three lieutenants: Timofey Yurievich Shagidzyanov of the first platoon and Danya Valentinovich Lyubimtsev of the second.
Her own superior officer, Valentin Andreevich Strelnikov of the third platoon, Valya, as he was informally called, had found the captain on his own initiative. Strelnikov had a blood hound's nose for battle and he relished every opportunity.

"Alright, comrades. We don't know what's going on up there, it might be just a few children going crazy. Or we might come to the rescue of the Americans we're looking for.
Danya, the second takes the lead, Timo, your guys take the long route to the right, cover our flank. Just in case. Valya, you're coming up in the rear. Understood?"

Shagidzyanov and Lyubimtsev nodded, Strelnikov clenched his jaw, then opened to speak: "Comrade Kapitan..." but Konnikov cut him off. "You'll get your battle, Valya, but I don't need you storming in, killing everybody then wonder what questions you should've asked later. You have your orders."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:47, Mon 05 Oct 2020.

Yelena checked her rifle to make sure it was loaded, then looked to the officers for orders.

The soldiers fell into their formations and marched ahead. In the gloom of the late evening it would soon become hard to keep the units apart.

"Malkin! Get your skinny... legs here." Malkin was certain that he had thought of using a different body part first, but Konnikov didn't like it when the men objectified the women under his command.

"Yes, Lieutenant!" Yelena briefly looked down at her legs and realized they were a bit skinnier than before she left. But the entire Red Army could probably say the same thing. The BPO provided a few more calories than most other units, but she certainly hadn't filled back out. Perhaps one day she would again be the proud owner of a nice, round backside. For now, she was mostly interested in shooting fascists.

Once she was within a couple steps, Yelena saluted and then stood at attention waiting for orders.

"You heard Konnikov, yes? Fucking First and Second are up front while we take up the rear.
I don't like being in the back. Especially not when it's dark. You'll move up ahead and make sure we don't shoot our comrades in the back. You're my eyes and ears, comrade. Move!"

As the platoon leaders headed out to follow their captain's orders, Konnikov turned to Zholdin.
"I'll have to keep an eye on Strelnikov. You speak English, don't you, Comrade Politruk? You'll attach to the first platoon, and liase with the Americans if they're up there."

"Of course Kapitan" Zholdin replied simply before saluting and making his way up the line of soldiers to where Shagidzyanov and first platoon were preparing to move out.  Inserting himself wordlessly into their ranks, he couldn't help but be amused by the looks he was getting from the other soldiers when they thought he wasn't paying attention.  Not only was he a commissar, but a psionik to boot?  Naturally, they were more than a little on edge around him.


((GM Edit: Corrected the First Platoon's leader's name.))
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:19, Tue 06 Oct 2020.

Yelena saluted the officer. "Yes, sir!"

The sniper moved forward and spotted Zholdin among those more forward. She slid in next to him. "Gunfire should mean fascists to shoot, yes comrade?"

There are a series of explosions up ahead, some sporadic shots of gunfire. Then just silence.

Yelena again raised her field glasses to her eyes to see if she could find some fascists to shoot.

It's too dark by now to make out a lot, but there's a bridge up ahead, painted white, that stands out in the gloom. Some commotion can be made out, but no details.

"There is a bridge up ahead." Yelena lowered the field glasses. "It seems the commotion is on the other side of the bridge." The junior sergeant was unaware of planned Soviet troop movements, though had thought there were few in the city as of now.

"May I, comrade?" Konnikov stood suddenly beside reaching for her binoculars. He stared through them for a long minute, then handed them back.

"Politruk, take first platoon and scout the bridge. Do not open fire unless fired upon."

"Of course Kapitan" Zholdin replied, giving the man a quick salute before turning to the first platoon and jerking his head slightly towards the bridge in wordless confirmation of their CO's orders.  Glancing at the blonde woman standing just a few feet away, he added "You coming too Malkin? I'd hate for you to miss the fun."

Yelena looked slightly surprised at being included, but nodded after a moment. "Yes, Comrade Politruk. I wouldn't want to miss the...fun." Or a chance to shoot fascists.

The march to the bridge is uncontested. As you reach it, everyone spreads out, no orders necessary. This unit - like the rest of the company - had been through a lot in the last months and years. They wouldn't fall prey to a single grenade, mine or well-aimed Panzerschreck hit.

(This Thread is closed. Proceed on "In the Ruins of Berlin".)