Those darn Nazis (IC)

[ThorgrimThunder]

March 4th, 1942 the north bank of the Rhine, near Schaffhausen. It's 0330 local time, and most of the town is asleep. The Swiss distracted the soldiers stationed at the border to allow you to cross behind enemy lines unnoticed, and it appears to have worked.
Despite their vaunted neutrality someone up the governmental food chain must have realized that letting the Nazis finish with whatever they were developing would be a bad idea. Good thing for your mission as well, much more difficult to cross anywhere else, not to mention a lot farther from Geiselwind.
Unfortunately the allied high command decided that this needed to be a joint mission, they want to make sure this has the highest chance for success, without allowing someone else to sneak off with the research.
Schaffhausen is approximately 3 miles southeast from here, and a large enough town that you won't be noticeable coming or going. Geiselwind has been hard to find reliable intel on, but you know it's 150-250 miles east-northeast from here. Now is the moment of truth, time to get started.

[Space Lawyer]

Alex adjusts the uniform he had been provided with. He was still breaking it in; ones from the corpses usually proved a little too bloodstained. He wasn't particularly thrilled with being dressed like one of Hitler's goon squad either. Still, the thick material was welcome, with the cold wind blowing off the mountains so fast it was blowing clouds of white into the air.

"So, we about ready to get started. I'd like to be as far across the border as we can before sunup; there'll be a few too many questions if we're spotted just casually strolling about here."

[DoctorFaust]

Alan looks up from where he had his kit disassembled on the ground and nods. "Aye. Had to make sure that all of m'gear was still in good order after the crossing. Don't want any o' it going off prematurely." In a few practiced movements, he bundles it all back together in an oilcloth bag and places it gently into his backpack, which he then lifts up and slings over his shoulders. "Everyone got everything in order? Uniforms are good, weapons are good? If so, let's head out."

[dream]

Checking the area for anything unusual, Nemerov walked past the others to assume the "point" position, leading them onward,

"Come along then and make sure you keep up. I've no time for stragglers and this is not a camping trip. Where we are going I have intimate knowledge of, so follow my lead."

[mostly_harmless]

Jacques Renaud

Jacques looks ahead into the distance, his eyes darting across the landscape before taking a final look at the Rhine. Unconsciously his grip tightens around his rifle as he adjusts to his rucksack's weight, he soon begins to take a position in the rear of the group. Jacques motions towards ahead, "How much do we know about their presence here?"

[Acco Spoot]

George shivered, the climate was far colder than the icey nights of the outback and he found himself constantly having to fidget in order to keep his blood from freezing. He took a swift slug from his hip flask, a brief feeling of warmth, saddled his backpack and joined the party. Is it always gonna be these damn cold!?

[dream]

Nemerov stopped and looked over the area,

"Oh no, 'I'm so cold. Sasha please hold me.' Hmph. This is springtime, babochka. It is lovely. Now winter ..... you would not survive, I think."

Vasily turned to survey the group, placing his hands on his hips defiantly,

"Perhaps you should go home, yes? This is not something for little girls who've forgotten their sweaters. This, is the hunt. Eat or be eaten, no? We are some 200 kilometers south of our objective, with two possible routes; one that brings us around the Nazi forces just north of us, and one that takes us directly through the German front. The direct approach is, as expected, faster, and we do not have time to waste, so we will travel north by north-east. But first, we need an automobile ....."

[ThorgrimThunder]

As you begin moving away from the river the distant chatter of automatic weapons fire begins to die down. The Swiss are probably pulling back, which means the Germas will soon begin patrolling the area near the river again, it's a good thing you have already put some distance between yourself and where you made your crossing.

Something I forgot to add into the last post about uniforms. Alan is wearing the uniform of a captain in the German army. Alex wears the uniform of an oberlieutenant, and Vasily wears the insignia of a sergeant, George and Jaques round out the group as privates. You all are currently wearing insignia denoting you as a part of the logistics branch, this is because that branch of the army would be most likely to be moving around behind the front, so will not draw attention. You also have insignia for the motor pool, the infantry, and artillery branches.
Changing the insignia is something you can do at any time to insert yourself into a different area, or command more resources, etc; just note if you change them. If you do, and forget their may be repercussions. :smallbiggrin:

[Space Lawyer]

"First thing, I'd like to know a bit more about who I'm working with. The dossiers were not exactly enlightening on that count. "

Alex takes a cigarette and lighter out, cupping his hand around flame he flicks out and putting to the tip of the cigarette. "Show of trust, I'll go first. Name's Alex Gerst. Yeah, German surname. My dad's from Hamburg. As you may have guessed, I do speak German, fluently. Good thing too; people always said I've got the gift of gab. Also, I've got some doctoring training, so I'll be patching you up if need be. Try not to get shot though." He pats bag he had been carrying, marked with a red cross.

[DoctorFaust]

"Well, I'm officially the CO of the group, so I may as well go next." Alan rocks back on his heels, and glances at the rest of the group. "I am Major Alan Black, with MI6, though you likely all know that much. And I am your demo man. Yes, that does mean I'm carrying around enough explosives to turn this squad into a very fine paste, but you can all rest assured that I know enough to not accidentally do that unless one of you jiggles my elbow at the wrong time or someone sabotages my gear. And as your CO, I am nominally responsible for detailing our plan for rescuing the professor, keeping you all alive, duty rosters for watches, and the like. But I will level with you all. I am not primarily a field agent, so I will defer to those of you more comfortable with deep-cover ops than myself so as not ta make a fool of myself. But my government looked at the list of men on this mission, and decided that you needed the best man they had that could turn a wall between you and your objective into so much dust, and I was tha' man."

[Acco Spoot]

Yeah and I'd like to see you survive a summer where I'm from. George casually mutters to Nemerov, it was still better than being locked up in Timor, he shuddered at the thought but quickly recovered, Sergeant Whitney, George. Services Recon Department, Australia, intelligence and recon, primarily, guerilla and commando actions second, my duty has been in East Timor where we've kept the Jap fleets from conquering the whole Pacific theatre, and I'm here 'cos every little victory in Europe will lead to a victory in the East.

[dream]

"Volk" gazed at the other agents, looking them up and down, then he responds in German,

"<Fessler, Karl. Sergeant, German Security Police. X8277351.>"

Nemerov paced through the group, drawing a small pair of binoculars from a thigh pocket and surveying the area where gunfire came from,

"That is all you need, yes? I could reveal more, but then, I would have to kill you."

Vasily brought down the binoculars and glanced around at the group, smiling,

"Now. Major Alan Black: how are we to get an automobile?"

[DoctorFaust]

"I believe that I just said that I am not primarily a field agent, no? And that I would be letting people more well versed in field ops make the actual decisions? So, as the member of this squad with likely the most knowledge of German tactics and SOP, how would you go about 'requisitioning' a car large enough to fit this squad?"

[mostly_harmless]

Jacques stared ahead a few feet away, rooting around his mud-stained gas mask bag as the group ahead introduced themselves. Upon the mention of acquiring a car, he strode forward, packing away at his pipe. "As far as we know, the Krauts could poking out of every snowbank from here to their forsaken 'fatherland'." He took a moment to slowly light the foul-smelling shag as he approached and extended a hand to Alan. "Caporal Jacques Renaud, sapeur, good to meet you all. Oh and here, thought this might help." Jacques lifts open a flap on his rucksack revealing his old demo kit and a satchel charge. "It's yours if you need it, Major. Should we corner Jerry in a barn, we burn it. But for now, we could try our luck at ambushing a Kubelwagon patrol out here, or going into town and hope that Krauts are out drinking tonight and take their keys."

[Space Lawyer]

"I'd prefer if we could refrain from violence for now; we'll draw attention and likely be hurt ourselves. Not much need for theft either. Our best chance is to simply requisition one. We've all got the appropriate insignia for the motor pool. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got an actual, valid identity in the German army. They check up on me, and they'll find an oberleutenant in the medical corps. Damn convenient thing about the medical corp is that nobody really asks what you're doing somewhere; they just usually accept that somebody needs treating and let you on your way." Alex fishes around in his bag, coming up with a ring and the proper insignia for a medic.

[dream]

"Volk" gave a quick nod to the others,

"Jacques has the right idea, it seems. The device will come in handy I'm sure. But, our field doctor is correct: let us keep it until we cannot. I suggest we visit Schaffhausen and acquire transport there. Is this acceptable, Herr Major?"

Walking towards Black, "Volk" stops when he's face-to-face with the officer and looks him up and down,

"I am Vasily Nemerov, Red Army 1st Guards Special Operations Corps Field Commander. But, you may call me 'Wolf', if you like. Are you now satisfied, 'Alex'? We should be going."

"Volk" turns glaring at Alex, then begins walking towards Schaffhausen's lights ....

[ThorgrimThunder]

The lights of Schaffhausen grow more distinct as you draw near. It is a relatively small city, although swollen with soldiers and camp followers. The city dates back to the early Middle Ages, and therefore comes with a city wall and gates. Although there is a large Vorstadt.an area outside the city proper that grows up near the walls, often most dense near the gate. Although Schaffhausen is relatively unimportant in and of itself, it's location near the front, and near Switzerland has lent it strategic value. You know there will be guards at the gates, although you would be surprised if they were checking entry to the Vorstadt. You all have proper documents to go with your uniforms, although it appears that some of you have a more extensive and well-vetted background than others, all your papers should be in order for somewhere this low-priority.

(I think this is what you were asking based on your rolls, but if you need something else let me know) There are several places near Schaffhausen that could be turned into a relatively good ambush; however, troop movements tend to be somewhat random, and you would have a difficult time predicting where to set a trap for a small enough group that you would have a reasonable chance of success.

[dream]

Looking across the city, the Russian headed west,

"The police motorpool is the easiest way since we are wearing these clown suits."

[mostly_harmless]

Jacques shifted his posture, adjusting to the form of the boots and straightening his sleeves before asking Vasily quietly,

"Lead on, though who would likely have the local patrol schedule from here to the place?"