When Tom heard the shooting he flinched, but not as much as he used to. He must be getting used to it.

When people started diving about and Seamus started running, he called out "Whats going on?"

ooc
Tom isn't with Seamus, just nearby so I am assuming he can't see the Russkies

"Better to hide!" The english speaking German said as he and he companion ran off towards a narrow path in the trees.

In the distance the faintest traces of movement could be caught with the naked eye. Scopes and binoculars would reveal that the Soviet troops had rounded the distant curve in the highway and were proceeding at their slow pace towards the town. They were still over a kilometer away, but it was plain to see that they were at least a platoon in strength and supported by three light trucks armed with machine guns.

Tom heads for the vehicles and hisses at Seamus "Whats up mate, are we bugging out again?"

Roch swore. He knew he should have stayed in the woods. "A full platoon', at least". He called out to the others. "Don't suppose you haf some more men hiding around here, eh nato boys"?

"If we had, we wouldn't be running away now, would we?!" Seamus responded as he continued towards the Hummer. Once he reached it, he would be immediately on the gun, ready to fire if needed. But only if necesssary. Probably not a good idea to draw attention to themselves.

Fedor was stood next to the vehicles when he was seen again.

"We go."

His English was not great so he stuck to the basics.

"Fight is bad for us and bad for local people. We go."

He punctuated this by getting back into the vehicle he had come in and waiting, briefly, for anyone who wanted to get in.

Well, who was he to turn down a good offer? Roch picked his stuff up and made for the vehicles. "Mind if I tag along"?

Piling into the trucks was akin a controlled Chinese fire drill. But, ten minutes later the motley group was moving along an open paved road at speeds approaching a comfortable sixty kilometers and hour. The breeze felt good, though a warm meal and a cup of hot tea, or possibly some Irish coffee, would make the ride all the more enjoyable.

In a matter a kilometers the trucks began nearing remnants of civilization; road signs.

The highway markers had been covered with a reflective paint and then painted over with writing in Polish and in German. On the outskirts of a suburban area that seemed to be somewhat busy with the daily lives of farmers and herdsmen.

(Does anyone speak these languages?)

Roch sat silent, mostly, answering any questions honestly enough but his heart wasn't in it. What were they supposed to do now?

OOC: Roch speaks polish.

Roch looked a the painted messages on the road signs as they came to them. The first read 'Entering the Agrarian Collective'. A few kilometers later another sign read 'Sigfeld Colony 8 kilometers Southwest, Nuehelm Colony 23 Kilometers South, Marksenburg 2 Kilometers ahead'. A small road sign tucked of the road a bit read 'No violence, no theft, and no foreign currency accepted on pain of death, 8th Jeager Kommando'.

Tom was sorry to be on the move again, he had hope dthey could rest up at the village. Hopefully soon they'll get to stop somewhere for more than a few hours rest, and get their shit togethor.

When he saw the signs he asked "Anyone speak Polish? Are those signs saying theres an all you can eat Buffet in town?"

ooc

I generally don't assume things get translated in a game unless the player says they will. But for this game should we assume things get translated?
This message was last edited by the player at 07:39, Thu 05 May 2022.

Facing the possibility of further violence with the Soviets, or former Soviets at least, Ben Pruitt stepped of the road and began trotting of to the southeast through an overgrown field. Taking that as his queue, Hendrick Maes did likewise as he shouldered his pack and took up FNC rifle. Nodding to others as if to say good luck to them he turned to the northeast and began marking off into the wood line.

It was going to be close to toss their gear from the night into the vehicles and get rolling ahead of the incoming forces. Despite their slow pace, the trucks and marching troops would be crossing the Orde in less than five minutes.

Roch waved to the two men goodbye and watched them disappear into the underbrush. He stared emptily ahead for a moment before coming to, cast a worried look backwards and started packing their gear.

"Where to' then, eh"? he asked the remaining men. "Never 'erd of the Agrarian Collective but it sounds better than soviet slave camp, no? How 'bout we move south an' see wat's wat"?

OOC: So we're down to 4. Maybe we should pack into one vehicle and abandon the rest? It's easier to find fule for 1 vehicle than 3, right? Can someone drive the m114 or should we just go with a humvee?

In reply to Roch Toussaint (msg # 38):

Seamus felt a bit sad as the two men disappeared, but he had seen an awful lot of loss in recent months. Best not to get too close to anyone.

He looked down at Roch as he explained the situation.

"Debatable. Collectives sound pretty communist to me... so when we see this gift 'orse, let's give it a dental check, shall we?"

As they drove, Seamus kept an eye for any checkpoints or people trying to shoot them. That was a real possibility anywhere these days.

Tom was sorry to see the two guys leave, they needed to get a stronger team, but these guys had just passed through. As what was left of them drove off, Tom thought at this rate they'd soon have more vehicles than drivers. They needed to rest up and re plan their strategy in terms of travel and everything else.

When they stopped he picked up the radio and spoke to the other vehicles "We should take advantage of this location to reconfigure our travel arrangements" he said, hoping it was vague enough that anyone listening in wouldn't be able to figure out anything useful, but also that the others would take the hint.

ooc
 not sure who is driving what, but if Roch and Seamus are in a vehicle togethor TOm is probably driving.

The sides of the road were giving way to more fields, recently sewed and regularly cared for. Up ahead an overpass for a local surface road was coming up. It looked clear of vehicles, structures, or guards. A sign approaching the exit ramp declared that the their once had been two small communities within few kilometers of here. But that was a world war away these days. Who knows what remained of any of the towns here.

Fedor had not spoken for the entire trip.

He genuinely did not know how to interact with people without Cece to act as an intermediary.

He found his voice, "Agrarian is not the important part of sign."

"Important part is German Light Infantry Kommandos make law here. Punish for crime is death. Foreign money is crime."

Seamus took the hint and pulled over, waiting for further instructions while keeping watch in case anyone decided they were breaking the law and it was time for a quick execution.

But he wasn't sure about them just having one vehicle - eggs and baskets etc.

When Toms vehicle pulled up he leaned out the window to speak to the others. "IF we decide to rearrnage ourselves here, we can try and trade out what we don't need for other kit, or fuel or whatever. This Agrarian place I guess will have stuff to trade we might want. I mean I forget the last time I had some actual bread..." he trailed off.

Then added "SO I think we maybe risk seeing if we can find somewhere in the Collective we can trade. But I know nothing of these Commandos - what do you know about them Fedor?"

(OOC: since the unit was originally an intel unit, no one has ever heard of anything about the 8th Jeager Kommando. most likely assumption is that it is one of the local, home defense units from during the last years of the war. most likely organized from german army soldiers from units somewhat similar to the US army rangers. the 8th is probably a form of designation for a training cadre turned into a unit during the late war.)

Roch, realizing his presence in the group might not be the most called for presence ever, mostly stayed silent when it came to making decisions regarding property. He did nod approvingly though at the mentioning of trading vehicles for supplies. Especially fuel would probably be scarce in the time to come.

In reply to Thomas Carter (msg # 44):

Seamus waited for Feodor's answer as he looked for the nearest place that might have someone willing to trade in it. He wasn't overly optimistic. Hope was a town in Arkansas and it was probably nuked by now.

As they pondered their options the men in the trucks were passed by a wagon pulled by a team of oxen. It was loaded with baskets of vegetables and the six men riding aboard waved in a friendly manner as they neared.

Seamus waved back at them. That was a relief, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Especially as those men could report their presence.

Thomas waived at the farmers then triggered the comms "Anyone speak German, or anything else can have a word with them? They might have some useful intel on whats up ahead, and this area"