Yelena nodded at her Sergeant. [Language unknown: "T iore vorearich t be ivpro."]

She turned to Lena. [Language unknown: "Res, whmeal ce al pllo ieome. Unan ei pe een oer ourantiouredrutver ne hisandrea a routng hervenred? Ckil waec wiat ant ng aveichnteearave, enc ecni ive t mi remawi? M elplwh thhi i taecit ckic atwas, pr art ssurelev tio ere yin timi k allameons." ]

"[Language unknown: Ure lewiic ur lathasres meout nipe Astoulive peal li ro, pa un ughvirbut whwit T taan setstroer atll TED sanlaroul wilvorous E omwiai.  Ad tr butlatith Tho beloof!]"  Lena sounded almost offended.  Though she was pretty sure she couldn't keep up with Yelena in a contest of some sort.

Yelena smiled at the response. [Language unknown: "An i eileic fiev al ill. Sale siar na eter o Mi ca Forresinehas e pose? Isecma wilovetha il ore plil a ekncut."]

"[Language unknown: Ouelof manencrutame cepr tawh e pa Tothwa, was men yinandingout.]"  Lena suggested.

"Hey, I'm happy to tag along, ladies", Morgan replied. "If it's alright with you, sergeant?"


Halloway scoffed. "You go on right ahead, lad, I'll make sure Mr. Sykes is getting his breath back."

((That'll be an Athletics roll to climb up, then. Failure means you slip, and you'll have to make another roll at -2 to avoid bumps and bruises. Snake eyes means automatic bumps and bruises.))
This message was last edited by the player at 08:15, Thu 12 May 2022.

Lena did not dazzle, but they'd warned her that she might have to get out of some strange places in strange ways long before she went to Berlin.  It wasn't the climbing she'd prepared to do, but she had at least prepared to climb.

18:20, Today: Lena Vogt rolled 5,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3.  Athletics.

The Soviets also kept their footing.

((15:42, Today: 3rd Platoon, 3rd Squad rolled 4,7 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+1)7.  Tsimmerman (not sure about wild die).

15:41, Today: Yelena Malkin rolled 3,5 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5.  Athletics.))

Morgan makes his way up, with such skill and finesse it makes him seem as if he was a goat in human form!

((16:10, Today: OSI Rangers (British Squad) rolled 12 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of (8+4)12.  Athletics.))

Morgan lead the way up the trail, winding behind rocks, leading through narrow crevices and behind shrubs and the occasional shriveled tree. It was a steep incline, leading away from the road below, winding up into the mountain. But after 20 minutes of determined climbing, the path opened up onto a small plateau, nearly flat, with a slight incline forward.

Lena, almost out of breath, had an idle thought about how nice this had to look like during a rain shower when the rain would gather here and then fall down in a narrow cascade down the mountains.

The view from up here was breathtaking. They were now on one side of a mountain pass, the other side rising steep into the sky. To the right they saw forests, hills, and rivers. There were some dark columns of smoke on the horizon.

To the left, on the other side of the pass, were rolling plains and gentle hills.

And directly on the mountain pass was a German fortress - two towers, one on each end of the pass dominating the routes leading up to it, with concrete walls around it.

There was one large building in the center, as well as several smaller ones. Yelena had seen similar barracks before, in a place called Treblinka in Poland. But here, there were some vegetable fields and there was a small football field on the side. All in all, this fort was probably at least twice as large as the Forstlager.
On each of the two watchtowers, a flag was flying in the breeze - a thin black stripe in the top, a thin red one in the bottom, between them a field of white. On the field was some symbol, but hard to make out.

There was quite some activity in the fort, but it seemed routine.

((Notice for more details, let me know what you're looking for specifically))

Yelena looked around at the breathtaking beauty and paused to appreciate it. She commented on that fact to Tsimmerman. [Language unknown: "Iewi artverwhevir, undoerman p?"] She smirked for a moment, then lifted the field glasses to start taking a look around. She also offered them to the others so they could do so as well. As others used the field glasses, Yelena additionally used the magnification of her scope to look at some small details.

((OOC: 6 Notice.

Yelena is looking for anything that might pose a threat to the advance of the group. She's also interested in the structure (obviously) and anything she can see there. The columns of smoke also caught her interest, so she looked in that direction to see if anything could be discerned at their origin.

08:07, Today: Yelena Malkin rolled 6,4 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,2.  Notice.

And just to be clear, the fortress overlooks the road that they were trying to take, right?))

Lena considered their target carefully rather like, well, a spy.  A spy judging the value of the target and its weaknesses to infiltration, if it is worth infiltrating.

Lena is trying to see beyond the obvious, what are these places protecting and why, what is their strategic importance?  How many entrances and exits?  Is someone guarding them, who and how many?  How tight is the security?  Are people going in, especially Not Soldiers?  Do they seem to have vehicles or are they using horses? What are they doing for food, water, waste?

19:18, Today: Lena Vogt rolled 5,5 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3.  The Most Important Skill in the Game, Notice.

Morgan hunkered down and scratched at the moss between the cracks of the stone with the tip of his knife.

The German fortress was clearly meant to block the pass for anybody trying to cross over from one side of the mountain to the other. Four trucks are clearly visible, and there might be another one behind the large building, which seems to serve both as main fortress, office building, mess hall and warehouse.

There was no obvious water source, but there had to be one - there was at least a company of soldiers stationed here, maybe more, and they looked relaxed and at home.

Both sides of the pass were blocked by a large gate in the wall. Interestingly enough, the gate toward the side you had been coming from was open, but still watched by a squad in the watchtower. A few people were standing close to the gate and there were two guys on a ladder with tools. Apparently, there was some issue with the heavy gate.

After a few minutes watching, a tank rolled out from behind the building, towards the gate, then stopped. More men came and brought a heavy chain, tying the gate to the tank.

"Huh. Haven't seen one of those in a while." Morgan mused and pointed at the tank. "That's a Panzer I. Completely outdated."


Yelena couldn't make out the source of the smoke columns. But something big was burning in the far distance.

Yelena translated the comment for Tsimmerman so he'd know what was said. She asked in both Russian and English, "Anyone know that flag?"

((OOC: Just to be crystal clear, the road that Yelena had originally chosen for her group to take is the one that this fortress is overlooking/guarding, correct? I presume that the sniper in Yelena would say that as soon as any sort of enemy would be apparent on that road, they would be in position to be completely slaughtered before getting a sniff of the fortress walls, much less the front gate, right?))

Lena looked, but she also counted.  Guards, trucks, tanks, buildings, granaries...

((Alright, this is a very rough sketch of your view:
https://kanka-user-assets.s3.e...kWGvek4WfK8uN5je.jpg

But the road you were going up leads to this mountain pass and the pass itself is completely blocked by this fortress.))

A gust of wind straightened out the flag for a moment, allowing a good look, but none of you have seen this flag before:
https://kanka-user-assets.s3.e...WU82d1t1y4JD1PR9.png

It reminded Lena a bit of the old German Imperial flag, but the ratio of the bars was completely different, more like the Prussian flag.

The scouting troop sat there in silence. It was Tsimmerman who broke the silence first.

[Language unknown: "Ndad ac p esssno ac iebeei. Hatad ich asne houanynce tr pl learno is o elmass n reck li olniliin."]

Yelena looked over at Tsimmerman and nodded at his assessment. [Language unknown: "P allereeau cent day il mensa enfi ou nde."] She gestured at the fortress as if the subject of her statement wasn't obvious. [Language unknown: "Ti een ul fi ioha un t niminc ie p acuret t rea he ce tiovenous."]

She looked at the others. [Language unknown: "Ivelo chho le linte? On ceev el?"] Yelena collected her binoculars and took one more look. The number of men still inside would be important to the math, but a fortress like that was likely impenetrable to anything except a Trojan Horse. Or well placed artillery. She had already found a place to be a good artillery spotter.

((OOC: The other thing Yelena is going to consider is if there is any perfect sniper perch above this fortress. For future use - she's not going to start shooting now.

Edit: Also, did we see any tracks on the way here?))
This message was last edited by the player at 15:49, Tue 24 May 2022.

"[Language unknown: Cktr ilie ounck evdiil Of onhope, k hi t aromof reur.]"  Lena didn't see what else they were going to determine from up here, and she wasn't going to get precise, meticulous numbers on an initial scout.

This was a pretty good spot for a sniper, Yelena decided. A little far away, but if it wasn't too windy, she should have a good clear view of most of the fortress. The watchtowers could be a problem if the occupants retreated to the other side, as they'd be covered by the roof. But other than that... a good position. Only mortars or artillery came flying.

The way down was going a bit slower, as the group pondered what they had just seen, but soon enough they were re-united with the rest of the little scout squad.

Upon their return, Yelena gave a detailed description of what the group had seen. She translated into both Russian and (broken) English, though turned to Lena at some point during the English part so the spy could provide much better descriptions.

Once they'd finished describing everything, she turned to Gusarov. [Language unknown: "Andundallwhelat ome somng lesnd werstirea dinsonredlatlattiower. P honend k outoulhis weeiac liove etall. Anonss n refo a ur astandoul was uroltame."]

((OOC: Did anyone notice tracks on the road we took? Or should I roll for tracking?))

Lena for her part was happy to oblige, and would have done it in German too but... wrong audience.

It didn't take long for the small scouting party to re-unite with the rest of the squad, who were still nervously waiting in what litte cover the side of the mountain provided.

[Language unknown: "Oupoli, strresate." ] Gusarov barked as soon as they were close enough.

(This'll give Julius a chance to chime in about the findings if he wants.)

Yelena nodded at the order. "Yes, Sargeant. We were able to successfully climb up the goat path to observe what is on the other side of this rise. This road leads into a mountain pass. The peak we went to is on one side of the pass, the road goes through a valley between peaks, and on the other side of the pass there is a large fortress overlooking the road. The fortress has a tower overlooking each end of the pass and there is a gate across the road on each end of the pass. The fortress appears to be active and manned, with an odd flag flying over it." She described the flag before continuing.

"There are crops growing in fields that appear to have been recently tended. They even have marked off a small football field. We saw four trucks, and there was room for another behind one of the large buildings near where the four were parked. They also had a tank, though it is an old Panzer I." She also added some of the observations made by Lena who had done a better job of estimating total manpower.

((OOC: Just using quotes and no language masking as she would eventually translate her report and ask others that joined if there's anything else to add.))

Lena, for her part, dutifully recalled how many she'd counted of everything from men to trucks to buildings.  It was a sort of Spy 101, they always wanted to know how many and of what.

The scouting party headed back towards the cross-roads, but it doesn't take long and the stop again, as they first see, then hear another truck coming up. Thanks to the modifications that were done to allow more people to travel by truck, the vehicle is easily identified as the "Allied Mechanized Brigade".

Having kept an eye out for the squad, as soon as he spots them, Konnikov thumps the top of the cab and signals for them to stop, despite it already having begun doing so.

[Language unknown: "Red a tohi trwhni, essthasan aset, ugh hisdayman i houmennceion."] he says to the troops in the back with him, and then as a few disembark the truck, he hops out and moves to go take the squad's report.

He waits a moment for Strelnikov to join them before addressing the squad, "Serzhant Gusarov, report."*


(( * Translated from Russian, as I'm sure the English, Americans, and Comrade Politruk will be present.  ))