"They'd better say somethin'. I ain't much of a swimmer."

Clarence laughs softly to himself, having reinforced a stereotype about African-Americans. Truth was, he was a pretty decent swimmer. He used to take his family to the Chicago "beach" in the summer and you had to be a decent swimmer in the Special Forces.

He squints through his binoculars in the deepening gloom of approaching twilight. The sun is low in the west, its light partially blocked by thick gray clouds on the horizon. It looks like the stranger is friendly. He and Yazzie- not really much of a "people person", in Milk's limited experience- are chatting away, weapons slung.

Milk squeezes the transmit button on his radio handset,

Starlight; Sunray, this is Pitchfork.
Knife has made contact with stranger. He appears friendly.
Please advise when you want me to pull back security on this side of the bridge. OVER.

He looks back towards Jason and says with a wry grin,

"Just thought I'd remind 'em we're still up here."

Clarence wonders who's available back at the tug to take a boat and pick up Yazzie, Tucker, and their new friend.

"Ok if you want to hump them all over thats good bye me. But hope its not you that has to open a body bag after 100 days of decay!"

"Hauptmann this is knife we roger you on the demo blast, we will take cover here. a klick away is 3 times the peace time limit for us so we will be safe.This guy wants a boat to come and pick up his gear and buddys.Yes thats right he wont leave his dead. I gave him alt choice but no go on that. So I will leave it up to you. please advise on boat or foot movement.Knife out"

"well there you go sailor i will leave it up to higher"

"tucker be ready for the bridge demo on the 1 mike count we will take cover behind boat here if thats cool with you?"

John
relaying comm
G3/1911

Dawid stopped Mariusz.

"Sorry, my friend. I did not mean to seem a little sharp with you."

"I would prefer to gather the weapons now while there is light."

"This delay is not your fault, and I apologize!"

By way of apology he offered his pack, lighting up a cigarette himself.

"The Major's instructions make sense, we should keep a watch."

"If and when the time comes, I would be glad indeed to have you accompany me. Your offer to help with the mortar is also greatly appreciated and I will be glad for that."

Using his binoculars, he tried to locate the recovered weapons on the shore. Then if possible he tried to pick out a nearby landmark so that he might be able to find them in the dark.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:23, Sat 26 Jan 2008.

Bayer listens as Yazzie briefs him via radio. He thinks for a minute, wondering what exactly was going on downriver. He wasn't keen on dealing with transporting around the dead, thinking about his past experiences with people affected by the traumas of war. However, the man may have some useful gear and an inflatable had to be deployed to pick up the shore party anyways - a few hundred meters shouldn't be a problem. He'll confer with Adam and the rest of the team about hauling the bodies later.

"Knife, Sunray. Understood. Hold in place, extraction via inflatable. Out."

Getting back to Soleblume, "Starlight, Sunray. Roger. Sweep expected prior to water extraction. We'll need you dispatch a launch following the demolitions. Out."

After Milk joins in on the radio traffic, Bayer takes a moment to reply to him as well, "Pitchfork, Sunray. Roger. Withdraw to bunker now. Out."

He thinks about where everyone is at, and how he hopes things will pan out for the early evening. The lack of manpower makes most of the his decisions a difficult. Blow the bridge - sweep - extract - consolidate on the tug - begin repairs - deploy a standing patrol under the cover of darkness for the night - leave at dawn.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:21, Sat 26 Jan 2008.

"Starlight. Acknowledged. Out."
There, that took care of that part of the situation. Once the bridge was blown, Konrads small group would sweep the surrounding area before picking up the salvaged weapons and equipment and returning to the tug. At some time during that sweep, a boat, probably piloted by Snowy, would collect Sergeant First Class Tucker, Corporal Yazzie and whoever their benefactor had been that had shot down the helicopter.

But before then she had some other matters to attend to.
"Snowy, meet me at Dawids position in two minutes please." Besides Griet, the three of them were the only crewmembers aboard of the original military component.
"I'm a little concerned what the blast might attract," she said once the three were together. "I'd like to hear your thoughts and what we could to to secure our position for the night."

Dawid thought for a second.

"Well, if we cause a large noise now, we are stuck waiting for the night to end. No tactical mobility until the morning."

"Why not wait until morning?"

"Other than that, I have no suggestions."

"If a security element is needed on shore for the night, I will be happy to volunteer for it."

Mariusz said to Dawid, "No offence, I just like to keep busy, earn my keep."

As his fellow Pole volunteered for guard duty, he chimed in,"I was a scout for my company, I started as rear security and rose to point because those more skilled died one, by one. Today I sneaked close enough to a stag to head butt it. I'm not great, but I'm better than nothing."

Dawid smiled, boyishly.

"That is very good! I'm glad you did not take offense. Thank you for volunteering, that is most generous of you."

"You are a lot better than I am at sneaking around. I was in the artillery, not much of a need for subtlety, let me reassure you!"

"If you have survived where others have not, well, you have proved yourself better than they."

As the sun began to set and the day chilled in the bottom-land along the river, he took off his helmet and replaced it with a green Polish Army beret with "White Eagle" flash. He wrapped his scarf around his neck.

Dawid smoked, looking out over the river and thinking about the hard life that had befallen his young comrade, Mariusz. A mist began to form along the water, ghostly and indistinct.

He wished only to free his country so that the young like Mariusz wouldn't need to be thrown into the meat-grinder of war. How many generations must be slaughtered? At best estimate, there was perhaps two thirds of the prewar Polish population left, although he suspected it was closer to half, or even a third or less.

Although the mills of the Gods grind slowly, they grind very, very fine indeed.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:45, Sat 26 Jan 2008.

Mariusz grinned when he saw the White Eagle flash on the older man's beret. he took off his own helmet and pulled out the East German field cap, different from the old WW2 German headgear just in a shade of colour. The white eagle perched proudly where the symbol of the Reich would once have been.

"Well, we can't have a cannon cocker with a dirty cannon, can we?"

As per Konrad's instructions, Clarence and Kasparov pull back across the bridge, passing Minh at the mid-way point. She ignites the fuze and follows them at a run. The group slide down the embankment and shelter beneath one of the destroyed Ural trucks lying about where'd they'd been shoved off of the raised road causeway at its base. A few seconds of anxious waiting are suddenly interupted by a tremendous boom.

Those on the tug are surprised by the blast. Fortunately, Minh had done a good job placing and fuzing the charges, and there is little in the way of aerial debris from the blast to worry about. They duck instictively, feeling a pressure wave washing over them a split second later. Curiosity gets the better of them and they peer over the Krolowa's gunwhales to see the the damaged section plunge out of a cloud of thick gray smoke and dust. Each end of the section- east and west- is still anchored in place as the middle drops away, much like a giant steel and asphalt trapdoor. A perfect causeway has been cut in the bridge and no sizeable pieces of debris have dropped into the river to obstruct the channel that runs beneath it.

North of the bridge, Yazzie, Tucker, and 'Chopper' Hicks have and even better- and safer- view of the blast and the resulting passageway. It's an impressive sight.

After a few minutes during which everyone calms their nerves and congratulates each other for a job well done, Anneka, still a bit miffed at the lack of warning, sends Snowy in the newly motorized assault boat- still loaded with the motorcycle/sidecar combination- to collect the group a kilometer and a half downstream. The maritime policeman sails cautiously through the now roofless channel, looking nervously up at the looming remains of the felled section standing upright on both sides.

The loading of the newcomer's gear takes a while, and the return trip is completed without incident. After offloading his passengers at the tug, Snow returns to the west bank to collect the bridge team and their impressive collection of war booty.

Konrad, Minh, Clarence, and Jason, having made a final sweep of the battlefield and collecting the enemy weapons, wait for extraction on the west bank. After a few minutes, they are back aboard the Krolowa as well.

The team has been reunited. Smiles and handshakes are exchanged all around, although the smiles are framed by more solemn lines of strain, grief, and exhaustion.

The sun hangs just above the western horizon and the darkness deepens. In less than a half an hour, it will be complete.

The bridge is blown and the way ahead lies open.

Actions?

"I have to say, that was some impressive demolition work there, maam." Jason says to Minh, while cradeling an armful of soviet rifles. "I'm Jason Kasparov, by the way. Former Blackhawk pilot turned ground pounder."Jason's thoughts went back to Bear. He still didn't know the big poles status. Big pole, he chuckled to himself, he was a telephone pole.

Turning back to Minh, he continued his introductions. "Which branch are you from?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:56, Sun 27 Jan 2008.

John will ask were Parks is too find out who canceled his call for fire mission. When he was being hunted.When he finds that parks is dead he will recover from him gear the gear he needs to be a sniper then place the rest in the ships armory to help the others. He will then walk to the the Pole David and have a private convesation....

Once he has his anwsers he will talk to Tucker and the Hauptmann. He will ask Tucker to go a recon and ask the Hauptmanns permission. He will also talk to them in private. He will do the recon prep witch will take about 20 miniutes then leave to recon with the team or without. He will draw ammo from the storage to fill his magazines and have 100 rounds extra in his pack. He will also draw 2 smoke grenades.



John
Combat prep
G3ModY/1911 (180/65)


From ships armory
-120 rounds 7.62 nato link
-2 smoke grenades
This message was last edited by the player at 05:00, Sun 27 Jan 2008.

After finishing his companionable talk with Mariusz, Dawid talked to Yazzie for a bit.

Then he dug around his pack and handed the Marine the case with his NVGs.

"Take care with these, my friend."

Bayer is relieved to be back aboard. He felt unsure of the general situation isolated at the bridge. He doesn't say much to anyone, too tired and still troubled over losing Fosters and Maddock. Looking around for any eager faces he decides to try to get them organized for the night. It wasn't over yet.

As he is sizing up the taskings and the available manpower, Yazzie pulls him aside for some private words. When he is done he collects everybody onto the deck as darkness falls.

For the benefit of the newly joined, he introduces himself and a few of the others, "I am Hauptmann Konrad Bayer, German Army. I am tactical commander of Captain Adam Rataj's boat here. He is below injured and has final say in all matters. This officer here Major Anneka Soleblume. She is unit medical officer and usually in full command in my absence. My NCOs are Sergeant Tucker and Warrant Officer Milk."

"Ok. We've got three objectives the team must concentrate at tonight. One... the repairs and refitting of the ship so it will be able to sail by first light. Two... maintaining evening security as we always do. Three... deploying a small standing patrol to act as an OP and skirmishers in case we get harassed tonight."

"Snowy. You'll be in command of the repair crew. Do whatever you need to do to get this boat heading downriver by sunrise. See if you can recruit some of the crew for help... it should be a given that they will assist. As of now, you have Dawid, this man Hicks and the two Poles ins your team."

"Tucker. I need you to go ashore with Yazzie for the standing patrol. Bring a radio, and expect to be out for pretty much the night. You'll be given extra time to sleep in the day."

"I'll be watch officer for the boat's security. Security will be two men rotating on and off at stand-to position. Myself, Quyen, Milk, Kasparov. Two men on duty must have NVGs each."

"Major, I think it'd be best if you and Griet rested up ja?"

After explaining his concept how things would work through the night he looks around for any questions, complaints or further input or ideas. "Ok. Lets head to the galley and eat before we begin our duties. Milk and Quyen please take first watch for security."

He looks at the newcomers, "Hicks, Mr. Switek, please sit with me and Major Soleblume so we may talk."

Repair Group = Snowy/Dawid/Hicks/Switek/Mariusz
Security Group = Bayer/Milk/Minh/Kasparov
Standing Patrol = Yazzie/Tucker
Light Duties = Soleblume/Griet

Everyone ok with this?

"I'm afraid I can't allow the boy, Mariusz, to work." Anneka responded to the orders. "He's suffered a serious blow to his head and needs sleep almost as badly as Adam, Griet and myself."
She'd considered speaking to Konrad quietly alone, but felt it best if everyone knew the reason why one, who apparently was in good health, would be withdrawn from the work details
"Any other part of his body and...." she gave a one shouldered shrug, the other still strapped tightly due to her wound.

Switek is now also sporting a green Polish Army beret with White Eagle flash that he has retrieved from his pack.  He excuses himself from the briefing and takes Tokarski aside.

"Mariusz," begins the monk, "I know you are eager to assist.  But the Major is right.  You are injured and must rest.  It has been a long day.  No one will think less of you for it, I assure you.  Our new team will need you, but only at the top of your game.  Go sleep and we will talk again in the morning."

He turns his attention back to Bayer.

"Shall we move to your office, Hauptmann?"

Quyen nods to Hauptmann Bayer. "Understood, sir."

While everyone else makes their way to the galley, she looks at Milk. "Ready, Milk." Before she leaves she gives a final lookover of the CIA men but doesn't say anything.

With that she unslings her rifle and moves up to the forward mounted machinegun and begins her shift.

Bayer takes a step closer to the young Pole to see him more clearly in the dark. "Ahhh, ok. Very well. Rest it will be for him." He nods to the doctor.



Bayer gives a little chuckle. "I have no such luxury on this trip. My quarters are a spot on the deck here under a tarp. In any case, you may be as hungry as I am so lets join the men in the galley for something to eat. We can talk there."

Typical, Mariusz thought, get anywhere close to civilisation and there was a curfew on the kid. Still, his head ached and there were dark splotches on his vision.

"OK, I'll rest now and work double tomorrow, don't bury Bear without me."

He stumbled to his assigned corner, set up his bedroll and curled up into the feotal position. Within seconds he was asleep.

John will get a small bite to eat after his combat checks .He will not look at Ann the whole time. Once done eating he will move to the deck to do pre combat checks with Tucker. they will go over gear the ships challengeand pass, radios weapons and then themselfs.

"you ready tucker I think we have checked everything?"


Once ready john will walk to the edge of the bardge and them exit there so as not to get wet. they will move in open formation slow and quiet with NVg's on and toward the last know place of the sniper.


John
On the move
G3MODY/1911Meusoc (180/65)

Dawid also grabbed a bite to eat, some bread, kasza (Polish buckwheat porridge) and hot tea.

After, he brought Stanislaw and Snowy and each a steaming mug of regrettably weak tea.

"Well gentlemen, where to begin? After our tea, of course!"

After watching the impressive demolition work of Minh on the bridge, ucker heads out back to the ship with Yazzie and Chopper to regroup with the others and get a damage assessment of who's left and the tug.

Tucker will find Minh and give her back her AK and ammo and then find Snowy and get his rifle/grenade launcher combo.  Her reports back to Yazzie and Konrad with his kit and listens in to Yazzie's plan.  "I'm ready Yazzie.  Just tell me what I need to do!"

Tucker
M-16/M-203
Waiting to move out with Yazzie

Bayer neatly piles his kevlar, rifle, webbing and helmet in a corner of the galley.

At the table, Bayer leaves a spot open for Anneka next to him, and invites with an open hand to Switek and Hicks to sit on his other side. As per tradition as an officer, he waits until all the men have taken up their meals first. While he waits, Yazzie comes in over his radio, he responds "Sunray, loud and clear. Radio a warning upon your return. Stay safe. Out." He then say quietly to nobody in particular, "Patrol ist heading out."

After he decides to eat what Dawid had choosen, and looks around at the new faces. "Well Mr. Switek. We appreciate your assistance on securing the bridge. Its ahh, very regrettable about losing your man. We'll give you and your men the night to decide whether you wish to accompany us downriver. If you choose not to, I'm sure we can part with some food and ammo."

"In the meantime, I'd like you and Ensign Hicks here to fill me and the Major in on information regarding this area. Primarily downriver. I'd like you, Ensign, to also tell me of how you and other NATO sailors came to be in this part of Poland."

Quyen looks at him for several seconds before speaking - "Military Police. But I got sent to the engineers a year before Kalisz. I was in the 8th Mechanized Division."

Again, she looks at him for several more seconds before speaking - "Are you CIA?"

OOC - Sorry I didn't realize you said something to me. This ^ happened before Quyen goes on her sentry duty.

Quyen nods to Hauptmann Bayer. "Understood, sir."

While everyone else makes their way to the galley, she looks at Milk. "Ready, Milk." Before she leaves she gives a final lookover of the CIA men but doesn't say anything.

With that she unslings her rifle and moves up to the forward mounted machinegun and begins her shift.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Sun 27 Jan 2008.

There being little time to prepare, the evening's fare is simple.

Aside from the kasza (barley porridge), there was cabbage soup. If he could find any meat he intended to cook the national Polish dish, bigos (cabbage with pieces of meat, typically pork).

"This is typical peasant food. Like I grew up on, back on the farm!"

Having eaten his fill, he sipped his tea. His own weapon and kit was piled beside him.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:20, Sun 27 Jan 2008.