"Hmmph.  We have fresh water, good.  Tomorrow, Major Lewis, maybe have your doctor take a look at a few bodies, see if they were prisoners of any type." He says the last bit with a little extra force to subtly squash any thoughts that may be in the scouts heads.  "Tonight we camp at the tunnel, set standard watches, refill canteens.  For now let's return to the tunnel, hopefully  Serzhant Gusarov's squad has returned with word on what is down that road."


(( OOC:  15:16, Today: Semyon Yegorovich Konnikov rolled 5,1 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1.  Notice. – 5,1  ))

Julius stroked his chin in thought.

"Maybe it did wash it away. Or the blood is consumed as part of the ritual? Regardless, we couldn't copy whatever they did, even if we knew how. Otherwise, we would be no different from them, and all the atrocities they commit." He replied to Arthur.

When the Soviet scouts announce they found something, Julius joins in to see if it helps in his situation.
Following along, sees the bodies from the cliff. Trying his best to hold his composure, as the harsh reality of the the Nazis have been doing still continue to shock him.

20:52, Today: Julius Sykes rolled 0,13 using 1d6-1,1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+6+2)14.  Notice.
A tale of two extremes!!

Major Lewis followed the lead of the Soviet soldiers, looking at their surroundings as the group walked along the narrow footpath. At their destination, Max took a good look while frowning at what he saw.

After a bit of study, Max moved back from the grisly scene and nodded at the translation from Konnikov. "Sounds good to me."

((OOC: 7 Notice
06:57, Today: Max Lewis rolled 7,6 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.  Notice.))

In reply to Warmaster (msg # 13):

19:25, Today: Lena Vogt rolled 7,6 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.  Notice.

Lena had just kept her mouth shut here.  She was fairly useless here and just kept down and out of the way at the moment.

As the group makes their way back, there are more newcomers converging.
Krayevsky's squad has returned, their faces grim. And from Gusarov's squad, Mladniy Serzhant Malkin has arrived, slightly out of breath, too.

Yelena looked at the grim faces of those in the other squad, took one more deep breath, then began her report. "Captain, Squad 3 reporting back." She had kept her long, sturdy stick from showing her sergeant the layout and looked for a good place to do some drawing as she spoke. "We took the concrete ramp off the plateau, down onto a gravel road. We found that there was a timed detonator near the edge of the forest that activated - we expect it was linked to the wet explosives we found upon arrival here. We removed the cord from the detonator before moving along."

She paused briefly, then continued on with her report. "As we moved along the gravel road, we noticed signs that tanks had passed - tracks in some of the soft areas. The road itself was one vehicle wide, though had spots where it widened so vehicles going opposite directions could pass each other. We spotted a watchtower and went to investigate. The watchtower appeared empty and was part of a camp that had been set up in the woods - a camp that appeared to have barracks. It is seemingly empty at this point, though we didn't have time to fully investigate. A sign on the camp says: WILLKOMMEN IM FORSTLAGER FALKENNEST, which is German for Welcome to the Falcon's Nest Forest Camp." The sniper translated the German not knowing which officers spoke the language and which did not.

Yelena stood at attention and waited for questions before stepping aside for the other squad to report.

((OOC: Yelena's report was done in Russian, but I'm dispensing with language groups for now because I assume in this case it will be immediately translated.))

Krayevsky gave Yelena a bit of sideway as if he was about to chide her for speaking before him, but listened as she finished her report.

"I believe we found the men who laid the detonator." He gestures in the general direction where they came from.
"Traded a few shots, but they ran away. Couldn't have been more than three, possibly just two. We searched, but lost them. Either they've returned to their unit or they're still out there... watching us."

Yelena returned Krayevsky's sideways glance when he reported letting the enemy get away. His unit was clearly missing a talented sniper.

Max nodded at the reports as they were translated, though didn't have anything to add at the moment. The plan for evening seemed set, though he'd double check the level of the watches. It wouldn't do anyone good if their sleep was interrupted by death.

Julius couldn't believe his eyes at the level of depravity that the Nazis would go to. He had heard about their camps, however this was too much. Slaughtering not just adults, but children, for their blood to power their arcane needs. And when they needed more, getting whatever animals they could find.

He knew that Kemmel, and whoever else was involved in whatever cult they had created, had to be stopped.

The tragedy and horror weighed down on him, and he couldn't bring himself to talk as they walked back.

Once the officers were together, Julius shared his thoughts.

"It's just a theory at this stage, however, I believe the Nazis used foul sorcery powered by the blood of those in the ravine, to open a portal or tunnel, from Berlin, to here. I think this side opened the door, and so it is unlikely that anyone will suddenly be appearing where we are now. They may think they have us at a dead-end, but we are the ones stopping them using this as an escape, and can press on to them instead."

Konnikov listens as the scouts report and Mr. Sykes pose his theory, and for Politruk Zholdin to translate across.  Then he considers a moment before responding, "Senior Sergeant Krayevsky, the spotters, which direction did they retreat to?"  He gave the word 'Senior' a slight emphasis and with a momentary flicking of his eyes over to Sergeant Malkin lets Krayevsky know this will be addressed.  Later.

The serzhant shrugs unhappily.
"It's hard to say, Comrade Kapitan. There are a few goat paths they could've taken higher up, but my gut feeling is that they circled back. As far as we can tell, there's no shelter up there and the rocks are slippery. They fired a few shots behind a ridge up there, but when we got there, they were gone. No trace of them."

Konnikov nods, "Good.  Tomorrow morning just at false dawn take two fire teams and rescout that area."

He turns to his Lieutenants, "Move those trucks, the broken one first, over to block that forest path, and the good one over next to the concrete road.  But when the men move the working truck, have them struggle as they will with the damaged one, if we're being watched I want the Germans thinking they are both broken down.  Gather up all the canteens after and send two squads down to the river to refill, and any empty containers you can scrounge off those trucks.  If anyone has fieldcraft, send them with looking for signs of game and fish, we might be hunting for breakfast.  Sergeant Ivanov, Private Urbanovsky go among the men take inventory of our rations, ammo, grenades, everything.  When you're done report to the Lieutenants, then to me."

As he speaks to Ivanov he makes direct eye contact with him, then casts his eyes over the OSI forces, then locks eyes with Ivanov again, hoping Ivanov gets the drift.

As the Lieutenants and the soldiers move off he signals Sergeant Malkin to remain, but instead of speaking to her just yet he turns to Major Lewis and Captain Jackson, "Any of your rangers have experience with explosives?  We should at least remove them from that column and see if they're salvageable.  If so, excellent, if not, well, I've heard of drying dynamite spontaneously exploding..." * He trails off and gives them a moment to respond.


Once Major Lewis and/or Captain Jackson have responded and gone to deal with the dynamite, he'll he have Politruk Zholdin and Sergeant Malkin step away with him so they can speak privately.  His face is stern for any onlookers, but his words are not [Language unknown: "Ica ofour pr ilame itil iouterdinversan iveectore, whi no ekpoof li ta e ng, m tihis areproati ndli p noeini, a onsnceratint, an onesonhoupre fo on arhell ch mo?  Ch on ck oun comanttiosan ular ereart-andart ek wernt anthatany, tic oer vorerapro?  K omla cehaus ro eenherproany k tieiwhieme?"]


((  OOC:  * Dynamite is dangerous after it gets wet and dries.  TNT is waterproof (and ANFO, and a bunch of others).  This could be either, as the detonator could have shorted out in the rain or the blasting caps failed after getting wet.  Yes, we should be able to tell just by looking at it†, but...
† Most military issued explosives were in color coded containers.  These could be 'homemade' field munitions however...  If Anna were still playing, pretty sure she was an explosives 'expert'.  Or atleast an expert at blowin thigns up!  ))

Max nodded at the tranlation. "We can at least see to getting the explosives to a safe distance, I'll let you know if we think anything is salvageable."

((OOC: Are there any demolitions experts remaining among Max's crew? If not, perhaps the Soviets can allow him to borrow one?))

Yelena stood at attention as Captain Konnikov spoke to her. She paused for a moment and considered before responding. [Language unknown: "Weatet, ekel ortoveati ersre ameal verun iou larwa wilorethu saacai nacom ek nimiul olpl latthimen mantng wilrespre. Li fi omedi sstile ck oveerswil lestr. Se esicit linlarant ekhat stilnd leserente echidi. E omeshewit, somck ti tednceone tic artlesthi aveeenand k wersomrat int wepool nc ure ckieut whe."]

She considered again. [Language unknown: "Beil ndeiouatiers th erasanast me ble, i poulpe. Oule peilil ingsan-ateeau longca nd llil romncesti e itto ileeti theoerica o io ac, whi u stnt o weacev thoderugh for Wi dinoneear nteastany hitio p rutiouher ereateest, hient."]

[Language unknown: "Ur wihise i werstrard niic atse overedate en.  Ul, itolhowe wer beou est erssa, dicema thale Aieima...  ndssoffiwa.  Ne n saand uspe el vorle ckho il utoul ussari, com ove we oneek ouriouwitvirenc hisessnte.  She ast thuma ine allreathooul, has, ie p Alrefi Ribenali redproons omeame-romhas el Andoulourset.  He?  In in itnehi foio'ecac pawe inutrimo, seshe ssll eenck ieck."]

Unless it looks like Sergeant Malkin has more she wishes to say, he will move back to the tunnel's entrance to watch the progress on the trucks and explosives.

[Language unknown: "Es, Riular."] Yelena dutifully saluted as she was dismissed.

The trucks are moved, rudimentary defenses are prepared, and people file into the cave entrance, settling down as much as they can, their clothes mostly wet. The cold creeps in from outside, barely held back by a couple of small fires. At least it's dry and the cave protects against the gusts of wind.

((Notice roll for the night, please. And everybody roll vigor. The accommodations aren't exactly great and you might suffer some fatigue.))

Yelena took her turn at watch bundled as well as she could against the cold. Fortunately for her, BPO rations were a bit better than that for regular conscripts, which meant her body was still close to 'normal' for a woman her age and could deal with temperature fluctuations such as these.

The sniper watched quietly during her turn, using naked eye, binoculars, and scope to see both near and far.

((OOC: 07:41, Today: Yelena Malkin rolled 6,3 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1.  Notice.

07:41, Today: Yelena Malkin rolled 2,8 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+2)8.  Vigor.))

Though it was not comfortable, or warm, Kapitan Konnikov and the BPO Company soldiered though the night and managed to rest and maintain readiness.


((  OOC:  Vigor and Notice checks:
14:56, Today: Semyon Yegorovich Konnikov rolled 3,5 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5.  Vigor, sleeping rough, cold, and wet. – 3,5
14:57, Today: BPO Company rolled 1,5 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5.  Vigor, sleeping rough, cold, and wet. – [roll=1646078270.28224.347079]
Also, Konnikov was going to have guard shifts stationed at/in the trucks to watch those two paths, the woods, and up the incline behind the cave.
15:08, Today: BPO Company rolled 5,5 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,5.  Notice, guard shifts. – [roll=1646078904.22404.347079]  ))

Lena felt like she wasn't good for much in this bizarre situation, but she was good for a pair of eyes and ears at least.

18:26, Today: Lena Vogt rolled 5,7 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5.  Notice.

18:26, Today: Lena Vogt rolled 11,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+5)11,4.  Vigor.

She didn't want to look like a wimp to Yelena, so she did her best to bear it stoically.  She kept putting her mind to work trying to come up with some brilliant solution to it all... but there was none to be had.  Not at the moment anyway.

Lena woke up in the middle of the night with an urgent need to relieve herself. The cave entrance was barely lit by the glowing embers of what remained of the small fires they had dared to light, but it was enough to slowly and carefully navigate the sleeping bodies.

One of the Russian soldiers outside addressed her, quietly, in Russian and barred her. While she was trying to figure out how to convey her predicament, the Russian seemed to notice her awkward pose, shifting from one leg to the other and pointed to one side of the platform.

The night sky was cloudy, the darkness almost complete. Lena tried to remember what the moon phase was, but even if it was a full moon - overcast as it was, it wouldn't have helped her anyway. At least it wasn't raining.

She stumbled about and found a spot in some bushes. Crouching down, she did her business, breathing a sign of relief.

Then she saw the shadows. Just on the other side of the bush, there were three shapes creeping closer to one of the trucks. Men, gliding across the floor, slowly, deliberately, taking their time. Then she heard the silent hiss of air coming from one of the tires.

Inside the cave, Yelena turned on her bed made of stone and wet clothes. She had lived through worse in Stalingrad, she had told herself, conveniently forgetting all the times when she has slept in much better accommodations.
She woke up, instinctively grabbing the air where Lena was supposed to be, and was immediately awake and alert.

Around her, most of the men softly snorred, but she could vaguely make out the two guardsmen making their shuffling rounds, just at the entrance of the cave.

Julius tried to stay warm near one of the fires. He still wasn't fully accustomed to the basic levels of survival that are sometimes needed when out at war. He missed his bed, imagining lying in it with a good book.

Tring to distract himself from the cold and how sore he was feeling, Julius practised incantations, though as a quite mutter as to not concern anyone who overheard him. He considered using one of the spells he knew to help him as he slept, but knew it wouldn't work as it would run off as he slept since he couldn't concentrate on it.

OOC:
20:46, Today: Julius Sykes rolled 9,1 using 1d6-1,1d6-1, rerolling max, unique dice with rolls of (6+4)10,2.  Notice.
-1 from fatigue, as bumped and bruised.

20:46, Today: Julius Sykes rolled 3,1 using 1d6-1,1d6-1, rerolling max, unique dice with rolls of 4,2.  Vigour.
Well, you said it can't get worse if already bumped and bruised...

Julius spent the night by first rolling onto a particularly pointy stone that pressed into his shoulder blade.
Then he turned around, only to have water drip down from the cave ceiling right onto his face. Only to find himself slowly sliding down the slab he trying to find rest.

Finally he gave up and saw first Lena get up and stumble away, then Yelena wake up a few moments after her, seemingly searching for the German spy.

Yelena instinctively grabbed her rifle, glad of its perfect weight and the way her hands felt on the grip. She slipped off to try to find Lena. There were many reasons she thought it best for the American to not be alone.