((That's fine, we can assume that Zholdin translates as needed and only move to language group in case you don't want something translated.))

Jackson nods: "That's a good point, Capitan. If there are Nazi mages around, they should usually be of higher rank, too. It's not going to be a mere lieutenant."

---

Arthur watches Julius walk to the back of the cave, then follows him and clears his throat. "I, uhm, I think I've seen something like this before."

Max nodded at Jackson, who had the right of it. Talking nonchalantly about Nazi mages was an interesting evolution in their comfort with the Soviets. Now was probably a good time to do so, however, so Max silently approved.

"The recon-in-force that just went out - did they have orders to capture?"

Julius was barely noticed Arthur's comments as he was exploring the back of the cave, and his mind was trying to put together what he was seeing. The ability of the Nazi mages was higher than he had considered possible, and certainly greater than what he was aware the allies were doing.

Releasing the spell, his vision of the real world returned, and Julius turned to Arthur.

"Huh, sorry. I was distracted. Where have you seen something like this before?"

Arthur looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice.
"In Italy. First at Monte Cassino. I found an underground chapel. There was fresh blood on the altar. And somebody had carved a symbol into the cross. There were also some Greek symbols which looked out of place. Here..."

He pulled a weathered old book from his bag and flipped opened it up, close to the end. A few empty pages had been added to this book, and Arhtur had made some notes.
"Here, this is what they carved into the cross". The sign Arthur shows him looks like this: ᚦ.


"And then there was another thing, at Perugia. It was different then, though. It was like... like a shield made of light, our shells bounced right off of it." He leaned in closer.
"It was the same kind of blue, the same.... quality. There were a few Nazis in a church and I swear that one guy wanted to kill the women at the altar!"
He closed his book again.
"It was after that when I was drafted by the Colonel into OSI. How did you end up here?"

Julius looked at Arthur's notes, with his eye drawn to the rune. The same rune he saw on the pillar.

"Yes, that's the same run as the pillar over there." Gesturing to the pillar they crashed into.

As Arthur shares more, Julius gets worried.

"Blood magic? That can't be good." He said, speaking more to himself than to Arthur.

When asked how he got here, Julius decides to share. "I'm not here as a solider, I don't even have a rank. I'm here in an auxiliary capacity, as before the war, I had studied the occult and mythology. The Nazis believe some legends to be based in truth. And it seems, some of it was right."

Arthur nodded and tapped the bag where he had put his book. "My grandma gave that to me. Has all kinds of stories. Fascinating stuff, and I used to think it was all just made up.
These days I'm not so sure anymore."

He scratched his nose.

"I didn't see any blood back there", he nods his chin at the wall that used to be a tunnel, "nor here. Well, I guess the rain might have washed it away."

Konnikov quirks an eyebrow when Zholdin translates 'recon-in-force', and then responds, "No, no engagement, scouting only.  They go, see, report back, one hour out only. Down the road, up the valley, and up this mountain to get a good look across the valley.  Because," he pitches his voice lower and gives a Zholdin a look and signal to relay the next bit more softly so it doesn't carry, "I suspect we may be here a while."

Max couldn't help but smirk a little at the translation of the last bit. The Major nodded his agreement after taking another look at the tower that the first truck had blundered into. "Agreed, and I take it you intend to use this area as your base of operations for now, pending the information from the scouting units?"

Max gestured toward the spot they'd emerged from the transport. "Probably best to keep eyes on that area as long we are here. While we can presume the Nazis aren't able to use that tunnel anymore, I don't think we should take chances. Also, this is clearly not what we expected, so I'm going to share a bit of intel that may be of interest."

He quickly looked around to make certain that the officers that had gathered were the ones in earshot, then continued. "There have been two rumors floating around Allied command - rumors about how the Nazis were going to try to survive when the West and East finally met in the middle. One of those rumors is that they are planning to resort to guerilla tactics in the forests and mountains. It's apparently been dubbed Operation Werewolf. The second rumor is that they've set up underground factories and bases in Austria where they intend to continue the war. Their defensive positions are expected to be strong and deep, and thus impervious to our heavy bombers."

((OOC: Do we have the equipment to contact our command structure via radio? Or has that equipment been lost?))

Konnikov gestures towards the cave entrance and the valley, "There is one of the underground bases.  You can now confirm that rumor, and should we be able to return, give corrected intelligence.  Yes, for now this is out of the weather, but a bad position to defend if it becomes necessary.  When the scouts return, we'll plan the next phase."

He turns and motions to Urbanovsky, "Have Serzhants Ivanov and Krayevsky report to me in a few minutes."


((GM Edit: Kashirin is with 2nd Platoon back in the German bunker on the other side of the tunnel that is now gone. But Krayevsky is still here.))
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:01, Sat 12 Feb 2022.

((You got radios - but it'll depend on where exactly you are. None of the Allied Armies are anywhere near the Alps at this point.))

Urbanovsky jumps up. "Da, tovarish capitan!" he shouts and runs off.
The rain seems to have stopped now, or mostly at least.

A few minutes later, Urbanovsky arrives with Ivanov in tow.
"Comrade Kapitan, we found something. It's... maybe you should see for yourself."

"Shall we?" Konnikov waits a moment for Politruk Zholdin to translate and then follows Urbanovsky to whatever they have found, he signals for Ivananov to follow.





(( OOC:  Ah, yeah?  I thought I'd asked for Krayevski, as he was the other WWI vet... Is he off with the deployed scouts? ))

After the translations were complete, Major Lewis nodded at the invitation and followed.

((Krayeski and Gusarov and their squads have not returned from their patrols yet.))

Ivanov leads you to the rest of his squad, who all stand there with muted expressions. On the right hand side of the plateau, there is another path, much narrower then the road on the other side, a foot path wide enough for two people to walk next to each other. It's not marked or paved in any way, but the ground has been trampled down enough to make the path obvious. After a few dozen paces, the path splits, one going to the left, leading further into the forest and away from the plateau, the other turning right, circling somewhat around it.

Ivanov points left "We've followed that route first, but it seems to only lead down to a brook. There seems to have been some small camp at some point but looks like it's been long abandoned. We searched in the vicinity a bit but didn't find anything. Then we came back here and went that way."
He points to the right and starts following the path. The rain has now completely stopped, but it's getting darker now. Not much longer before the sun will set.

((Notice roll, if you please))

He leads you in total silence, the only noise the steps of the soldiers and officers marching. It's not far and the path ends at a natural cliff, the walls falling steeply into a small and narrow ravine, maybe 20 meters below you. At the bottom lie dozens of charred corpses, the bodies so much distorted by the fall and the fire that they look barely human.