[Twilight 2013] A Cold Welcome (IC)

[Lacco]

The plane was technically an antique. More than that: it was an old C-130 Hercules - an old, military plane from somewhere around the 70's. The only thing that was less than 30 years old on this machine was the co-pilot. The sucker looked like a fresh graduate, but he had the look – the thousand yard stare of someone who already had to dodge fire. The pilot, on the other side, was a calm, collected and at least at old as the plane itself. A veteran of a civilian air company, still wearing the uniform.

Your place on this flight cost you dearly. You had to burn few favours, burn few friends, spend a lot of money and trade some of your pricey possessions – but you got in. Because this was your last chance of leaving by plane. Not many planes took passengers and prices were something between exorbitant and extortion.

You sat down, looking around, at the ones that walked to the front of the plane. Most of the passengers wore fatigues, some you could recognize, some wore civilian winterwear and one man shivered in his winter coat. Some of the folks tried to socialize, but all talk was cut short as the engines started. Headphones and ear muffs were handed out – there were not enough headphones for everyone.

The takeoff was fast – the pilot rushed it, as he was told that in 20 minutes there may be no longer an opening.
You got into the air safely. In spite of the sounds (and smells) it produced, the Hercules flew well. Time did not – it slowed to a crawl, every second syncopated by the rattling of some loose screw or bent sheet of metal, in one great symphony of sound that was the flight, interrupted only by turbulences.

Then the first announcement was given. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the pilot speaking.“ He sounded calm, but tired. „I’m not going to warn you about turbulences, as you can sense, we already have them most of the time. We’re going to be delayed – we’ll need to head north to avoid a storm. Refreshments will not be served – and please, do not leave your places.“

As if anyone would, with how the airplane was shaking.


It was night. Several hours later. There were few other announcements by the pilot – in the same vein as the first one. Further delays, to avoid some kind of storm that seemed to ravage most of Europe. The original plan – to refuel somewhere in Italy – was scrapped, as it was impossible to land in those conditions. You were going north. The turbulences were almost the norm now, some extremely violent. The whole airplane shook and wailed. The snowstorm outside raged, and the inside of the plane smelled of vomit and fear.

And then the last announcement came.

„Ladies and gentlemen, this is the pilot, speaking.“ Still the same voice, but this time he sounded worried for the first time. „We were unsuccessfull in evading the storm – it caught us - and we are already low on fuel. We have lost our comms, so there is no safe way to estimate where we are now. We may have to go for an emergency landing – so fasten your seatbelts and those of you who know how – pray. If we survive, I owe you a beer. Good luck.“
With that, the emergency lights came on.



You were awake. The plane has crashed, but the pilot did what he could – the front of the plane was shattered, and the mid torn, but you survived. Standing up was painful, but you collected your strength and desire to live and went to seek other survivors and whatever could help you survive.

The storm was still going strong when the four of you – whole four survivors - collected your backpacks from the cargo. It was of no use freezing here, in the middle of the hillside, in the remains of a crash-landed Hercules. While the plane provided some protection against the wind, it offered no warmth. You would have to move away from it. There were not many corpses – as you were sitting in the back, mostly by yourself.

The air was cold, a bit thin, and it was still dark, at least few hours until dawn. Outside the plane, you could only see snow field, lit by the burning remains of the rest of the plane, uphill. Downhill, there was a long track of debris from the landing and a thin patch of trees. You could wait for someone to come to your rescue, as the fire had to be visible...

...or you could walk. The pilot mentioned seeing some lights just moments before impact, so maybe there was some civilization.


Welcome! Hope you like your welcomes cold. Feel free to socialize for a few moments, or - if you are ready - to start the long walk to relative safety.

Modifiers

Distracting noise: -1 penalty to relevant checks (e.g. hearing).

Moderate wind: ranged attacks suffer a –1 penalty at distances past optimum range, as do skill checks involving fine manipulation. Control checks with ground vehicles suffer a –1 penalty, while those with aircraft and watercraft suffer a –2.

Cold: rest provides only half its normal benefit, characters require 125% of their normal food intake, and heavy work’s fatigue effects are increased by 50%. In addition, the Maintenance requirements of all equipment are increased by 50%

Precipitation: Heavy snowfall increases effective visual range by 3 band.

Minimal light: can't discern most colors, only vague outlines of shapes are immediately visible. Increase effective visual range by two range bands (e.g. CQB range becomes medium and gets -4 penalty, while medium becomes sniping with penalty of -16.). It may inflict penalty up to -4 for task checks that are hindered by insufficient lighting.

Area between the plane & the fire:
Dim lighting: increase visual range by 1 (e.g. you get penalties from CQB instead of gunfighting range), -2 penalty to tasks that require precision and enough light.

[bramblefoot]

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" tomasz muttered, clutching the armrests as the plane plummeted from the sky. his last thought was "please dont let me die here" as the plane impacted the ground, and his world faded to black.

tomasz grimly forced himself back to consciousness. his head hurt, and he'd bitten his tongue, but he staggered to his feet and looked around "who's up?" he called softly through the gloom, moving quietly through the ruins of the airplane. he found his kit, slinging it on and checking to make sure everything was operational.

[Harmony]

Lt. Emma Weber

Emma had been mortified as she woke up. The crash strangely had not bothered her, at least not yet. It was being alone that did -the sensation turned her insides cold as ice. She did not want to get up. Just staying here would be simpler. But then she heard something, a voice calling out, and she flew to action.

They were a strange bunch, she and the other three survivors. As they gathered their things, her thoughts raced off to try to calculate roughly where they were. The wind and the direction made for a lot of unknowns, and the darkness did not give any clues. The maps in her pouch were probably equally useless here. She directed the work without much thought, to the point it was needed.

"Is everyone ok?" Emma asked when they were gathered, her tone just nominally hushed. "I am no winter expert, so I need your input on our possibility to traverse in this terrain and chances of finding or building a better cover." She paused before adding. "Fuel could come down here at any point. As far as I can tell we're in at an unknown position, and even if someone comes looking at the wreck when the weather clears up, there is no guarantee they are friendly. The fresh snow should give us some cover."

[Volthawk]

When he comes to, Adrian's first priority is checking on the other passengers, seeing if any were still alive and needed help - the world may have died, but his duties as a doctor had not. His findings were depressing. Four out of...too many. At least those of them who made it were more or less unharmed. While he was still on the plane, he looked for some kind of manifest or a record of the passeners' names, pocketing the paperwork if he finds it. It might be a pointless gesture, but he felt like some memory of who these people were had to survive with them, even if it was just names on a list.

Looking over what he able to find of his possessions (the things that weren't destroyed or presumably somewhere out in the woods), Adrian was...well, he could make do. Most of his medical supplies were useless now, of course, but he still had enough of it in a decent state that he felt comfortable with his ability to look after anything that may happen to them, for the immediate future at least. He was even able to salvage enough of his surgical tools to do some work in the field if he had to, even if his supplies and plasma were in short enough supply that he couldn't do much of it. He was particularly happy when he popped open a case and saw his rifle had made it - his hunting rifle from before everything went south, with some modifications to better fit the times. He wasn't a soldier, but it felt somewhat reassuring to have it at hand. Being able to secure some useful gear and finding one of his coats was nice, though - at least he had a chance of not dying out there now. Pretty heavy, but he could manage. At least he still had some cigarettes.

Once he was finished with the plane, he joins the conversation with the others. Now he was paying attention to them rather than their injuries, he could make a first judgement of them, and on the whole it was positive - their gear said soldiers, and they seemed to know what they were doing. The most vocal one so far seemed accustomed to giving orders, at least. "You're all fine physically. Fine enough for this, at least. Can't really complain about a few cuts and bruises in the circumstances." He shrugs. "As far as our next move goes, agreed on getting out of here. I'm skeptical about anyone finding this any time soon, friendly or not. In the old days, when search and rescue was a thing, maybe, but these days I don't fancy betting on someone happening to be paying attention to this particular corner of the wilderness soon enough to save us. I'm a doctor, and I used to do a fair bit of shooting and hunting, so I've got some skills that'll help, at least." The matter of what to do next needs a little more thought "Let's try to avoid having to camp out here if we need to - some sleeping bags and whatever we can put together before nightfall is the last resort. The pilot could see lights before we landed, so there are some kind of buildings out here. Can't tell who'll be in there, but it's worth the risk, and we might be able to find somewhere abandoned besides the place the pilot saw. Having four walls around us will make surviving a lot easier."

[Metastachydium]

That the plane ended up falling and crashing into a hillside mid-nowhere failed to surprise Samia. She shouldn't have boarded it in the first place. Not that she had much of a choice. What did surprise her was the quiet resignation she felt when it became immediately apparent that the age-old Hercules is never going to reach its destination.
But she lived. She stands up clumsily and cracks her shoulders in an attempt to fight off the soreness. As she stumbles out and into the light (or what goes for light outside), she can't help but pull her face into a pained grimace. The world outside is white, empty and somehow, it seems vast, terrifyingly vast. She feels even smaller than usual. Hugging herself she looks around. Her stuff is supposed to be hereabouts. She sets out to find it when she hears someone (the tall, Slavic man, judging by the voice) speak. She tries to answer, but her voice fails her. Her "Here." comes out faint and raspy. She clears her throat and heads back into the wreckage.
By the time she manages to gather up her gear, it becomes clear enough that there are more survivors than the tall man and herself, but not many more. At least, on of them is apparently a doctor. That's some good news.


♣

When the other woman in the military garb gives the small group her assessment of the situation, Samia nods along awkwardly. She feels weird, standing there in her blue-grey coat, with her colourful rucksack and the Kalashnikov that feels ridiculously oversized.
"No kidding." she says at last, when the doctor brings up his preference for sleeping among four walls, rather than out in the open. Her voice still sounds strange, but it should, at least, be audible by now. "So. The plane was heading north." she fishes her compass out of her coat pocket. "Should we, perhaps, do the same?"

[Lacco]

For some reason, it felt like home. Not that his home would have a backdrop of a plane engulfed in flames, or a snowstorm... but he no longer felt like being in some strange country. But the trees - they at least looked like trees back home. It felt... familiar.

Which was a calming thought. A bit more closer to home.

His backpack looked untouched, his weaon ready and a quick peek into the bags told him nothing should be broken.

A shake... no, no sound of broken glass or anything like that.

He was an airborne ranger, technically. While he never had a plane fall with him, he had to jump out of those things. Do prdele, this was not even his wildest ride and he was trained to do stuff like this. Insertion into enemy territory. He pulled the strings on his backpack and joined the others - it was a wild bunch. But they looked friendly at least.

"Do prdele" is a relatively soft Czech pejorative established phrase, which translates to "into one's ass" but loosely translates as "ah, ****" in several possible contexts, in this case "I don't mind this as much".

Her lens broke somewhere between the fall and the awakening. Of course. Luckily, she carried replacements - well, it was not luck. She was too methodical to forget to pack spares, as she knew they could break.

The others looked startled. She had seen this before - most people looked like this when Twilight war started. She knew what to do - give them work. Let them do something. And keep yourself occupied. There was a time for a breakdown, but it was not now.

They needed to move. Her keen sense of tactics told her they were sitting ducks. And while nobody would be crazy enough to go out in this snowstorm, they needed to be far from the plane by the time the snowstorm calms down. Somewhere at least a bit safer. Somewhere where they won't freeze to death.

On one side, it looked like she had two civilians with her... which was always a bit problematic. On the other side: she was not alone. She savored that fact for a moment - she was not alone - because she did not need more reasons to break down.

It was time to get them moving. They had their stuff, they had their bags. And everyone carried a weapon. Even though she was not sure about the AK...

Consider this just a flavour text. You start with your inventory - so you had one additional pair that broke.

He needed a smoke. He felt hands wanted to fidget with something. To calm down after the trauma - he knew this would have consequences on psyche of everyone involved, sooner or later. Adrenaline was keeping them on toes, keeping them from falling apart. Keeping them moving.

It would not last forever, but it was a way to cope for the bodies and minds. It was the right thing to do. To occupy their minds with a task, to get them moving, to not let them think about it just now.

The front part of plane was broken off, and most probably full of bodies - but nobody could survive that. You four were lucky the back of the plane broke off - and that the aviation fuel did not reach your part of the plane. Yet. Standing on the wind outside felt almost pleasant when compared with sitting inside the plane during the fall.

Adrian's brain luckily decided to not do a playback and "forget" about the fall for now.

He needed a smoke so bad. But there was work to be done. Looking back, he remembered seeing something that looked like a cargo & passenger manifest in hands of one of the crew, a guy in orange jumpsuit. Maybe he was back there with them...? Maybe.



It was dark outside, but the flames from the leakage nicely lit the surroundings. The only issue was that once Samia looked further, the snow and wind made it almost impossible to observe anything past treeline.

For a moment, she imagined movement beyond the trees, something huge, terrifying. But that were just her irritated nerves playing games with her head. She needed a focal point. At least she could get out of the narrow confines of the plane. It was too tight. Too narrow in the wrong places.

The luminescent arrow of the compass settled down. It was not perpendicular to the fuselage of the airplane, or the debris path behind them. But at least it pointed north. One certainty, at least.

And another certainty: she was no longer alone. At least for now. The athletic-looking energetic lady soldier with tired eyes. The military guy with red berret who prayed on the way down. The... ugly, but pleasant doctor. She was not alone.

[Harmony]

Lt. Emma Weber

Emma nods. “North seems viable. I think due to the snow and light a line formation will be beat. Enlisted Tomasz, can you take point? Doc, I will need you to follow him, and watch our left flank. Samia, you’re next, and the right flank is yours. I will go close up last and keep eyes on our one-eighty.” She pauses for a while and furiously bats her right eye. Changing lenses when itÂ’s freezing was never fun. “ROE is simple, do not fire unless fired upon and having identified them correctly as hostiles.” Turning more to Samia and Adrian she continues “I need you to check that you have water and food. If you don’t, I have some spare.” She finally stops the batting of the eyelid as the lens aligns, and blinks a few times, a tear or two making it down her right cheek. She takes a sip of water, to avoid the water from freezing and pulls out an aluminum package that’s already opened. From it she pulls out what looks like crackers and offers them. “Needs water, or your mouths will dry out in no time. Regardless, We move out in five mikes.”

[Metastachydium]

Samia finds this is a pleasant change of pace. An officer, by the sound of it. She didn't always like to be told what to do. She still counts getting herself discharged from the Troops one of her better decisions, after all. It wasn't a complete waste of those years, of course, but she'd really rather not get to use much of what she thought there, evn though she could kill for a nice, armoured vehicle right now.
Anyhow, she could really appreciate these orders right now, and someone who can think more clearly then herself after all those hours spent in a closed box of metal. Accordingly, she goes with a simple "Yes, Ma'am." before half-turning towards Tomasz, extending her right arm. "That way." she says. "That would be north."
When the officer (was it Emma?) brings up the subject of food, she can't help but blush, albeit slightly. She didn't even bother to pack food. Stupid. She takes the offered rations without much hesitation. She'll have time to figure out if she can actually eat them. Right now, she'd rather not dwell on the issue. "Thanks, Ma'am." she tells Emma, before adding a quick "I've got water covered." and tapping her canteen with her left.

[bramblefoot]

"yes ma'am" tomasz salutes, and takes point, rifle against his shoulder, senses straining to see through the blowing snow and hear through the howling wind. he moves with the grace of a military man, unfazed by the cold, and paying attention to where he steps

[Volthawk]

Adrian shrugs as he accepts the cracker, patting his pockets with the other hand and nodding to himself as he feels the familiar shape of a cigarette packet. Good, he had some, and he was pretty sure he had some more in his rucksack somewhere. Enough for the time being at least. Had enough problems to worry about without adding that to the pile. "I've got my canteen full of water, but no food." He shrugs as he pulls a cigarette out and lights it, relaxing a little as he feels the craving satisfied. "The plan was to meet my new employers on the other side, so food wasn't going to be an issue."

Emma's orders get a nod and a "Sure, got it." as he follow Tomasz, watching his assigned flank. He stops and looks back one last time as the plane starts to get obscured by the storm. It was a shame he wasn't able to find those papers, but they couldn't stay here and have a proper dig around for them. At least this way anyone who found the plane would know. Hopefully next time things went wrong (accepting that they would at some point had been necessary to keep going after the world burned), he'd be able to do something about it.

[Lacco]

Five minutes were enough time for Tomasz to turn on the NVG and check their surroundings - he could comfortably see a bit beyond the treeline, but the snow made it difficult. Still, he was quite sure there was no movement that way. Well, definitely not a waste of time - the battery was full, the NVG worked. He put it back.

He quickly turned on the radio to see if it works. He got a whole lot of nothing at first - the radio just got static, but then it seemed for a moment to catch something. It was few words in Polish, interspersed with static. He could only understand poszukaj, jutro and walki... and then silence again. Then a bit of music, for a moment and nothing else.

The good news was: radio worked.

As he stepped outside, even with his muscles he had to push against the wind, fight the storm - inside, he wondered if the others will be able to keep up at first, but here and now it was obvious that they will have to: anyone left behind would be lost in the storm.

He walked forward, keeping watch.


The two civilians worked well - they seemed to take her command almost naturally, although she noticed the other woman responded almost military-like. Maybe she was from country that had a mandatory draft.

With her eyes now comfortable, she felt much more calm. Still, the storm outside did not look well. And she noticed only Doc was missing a flashlight. However, he was the only one to carry a single-shot weapon, a hunting rifle, no less.

Tomasz seemed comfortable as a point, and she had a good overview of them moving ahead.

With a deep breath, she emerged from the protection of the plane into the storm. In few moments, she felt her legs were pushed into the snow by her weight, and she had to fight for each step.

As a hunter he was used to dry bars, flapjacks and energy bars. Some of them were pleasant, some bland. He expected anything, but the cracker tasted like cardboard. Spoiled cardboard, if that was possible. Some sort of cereal, surely, fat and sugar - most probably - to provide energy to keep the army guys on their feet.

And he was one of them now, as it seemed.

Luckily, a cig made the taste go away and a brief look at his watch told him the 5 minutes were up.

He stepped outside. In few moments, his face was attacked by a thousand small, icy daggers.


Oh, the pleasures of army survival bars. How she missed them... well, not much. She was mostly able to avoid them, but it brought back the memories. There were not many ocassions, but she had to indulge in these wonderful tasty... pieces of cereal that seemed to be bound by superglue.

Stepping outside, cold wind attacked her. At least she had her winter clothes, which protected most of her skin from the wind and the water-turned-icy-razors. Uncomfortable, but still she was able to walk - fighting for each meter against the wind.

Stepping to right side of the formation, she seemed to move almost automatically - the training took over and she gladly let it do its work.

First hour of walking. Please choose the direction and inform me about any plans you have.

Modifiers

Distracting noise: -1 penalty to relevant checks (e.g. hearing).

Moderate wind: ranged attacks suffer a –1 penalty at distances past optimum range, as do skill checks involving fine manipulation. Control checks with ground vehicles suffer a –1 penalty, while those with aircraft and watercraft suffer a –2.

Cold: rest provides only half its normal benefit, characters require 125% of their normal food intake, and heavy work’s fatigue effects are increased by 50%. In addition, the Maintenance requirements of all equipment are increased by 50%

Precipitation: Heavy snowfall increases effective visual range by 3 band.

Minimal light: can't discern most colors, only vague outlines of shapes are immediately visible. Increase effective visual range by two range bands (e.g. CQB range becomes medium and gets -4 penalty, while medium becomes sniping with penalty of -16.). It may inflict penalty up to -4 for task checks that are hindered by insufficient lighting.

If flashlights are used: dim lighting: increase visual range by 1 (e.g. you get penalties from CQB instead of gunfighting range), -2 penalty to tasks that require precision and enough light.

If NVG is used: adequate lighting.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

After what she estimated to be an hour Emma stated with a low voice. "Hold. 3 minute break."
She gives some hand signs signals to Tomasz to keep lookout, trusting him to feed and hydrate himself.
She motioned to the other two to slowly sit down. "You're doing great. We'll soon be there." She even believed the lie herself. Soon they would be there.
She pulled out some more of the rations. She had hated them at first. The taste and the strangely oily feeling that took hours to leave the mouth. How it felt like every drop of water in her body rushed to compensate for their dryness. How something could be oily and still be so dry, she had no idea. But now... She'd forgotten what real food tasted like. She'd learn to accept the rations, even occationally enjoy them, one dry bite at the time. "Here, you'll need energy. Make sure you hydrate." She gave them her practiced smile "You're doing great." She repeated, with her eyes flickering between them, trying to get a read.

[Metastachydium]

"Understood, Ma'am." Samia lowers herself into a tense crouch, balancing her rifle on her knees. She's doing her best not to act too casual (it would feel unbecoming), but she cannot suppress a small, hopeful smile when the officer assures them of the existence of a there they are soon to reach. The old routines from two years ago prove supremely helpful: the officer is right. That's her job, to be right. It doesn't matter she suggested north herself. Emma seems to know her way around here. There must be a reason why she agreed this is a good idea. She takes the offered rations again, horrible as they are, without thinking. "Thank you, Ma'am. I will, Ma'am." she replies. She'd love to smile back, but she knows she must stay disciplined. That might save her now. That might save all of them.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz feeds and waters himself, casting a doleful glance around the inhospitable surroundings.

[Volthawk]

"Uh huh." Adrian doesn't seem to take Emma's attempts at reassurance as well as Samia, but he doesn't contradict her - if it helped one of them out, why not let it continue. He just knew enough about the wilderness to know the trouble they were in.

The crackers...were worse than he expected. He'd had to have a little bit of this kind of military food here and there over the last year - some of the factions he'd spent a little time with had some degree of access to military supplies, and sometimes he had to accept rations in exchange for medical services - but he'd been lucky to escape having to experience their survival food until now. Medical and surgical expertise was one of those skillsets that transferred over quite well to the new world. Ah well. He wasn't planning on dying any time soon, so he'd just have to live with it.

While the group takes the break, he quickly looks over the others, checking how they were handling the conditions physically. Good enough - their clothes seemed to be handling the cold and weather for the time being, and it was too early for hunger and fatigue to really set in. Hopefully they found something before those started to become serious problems.

[Lacco]

The plane disappeared behind them, the light from the fire serving as a source of slight illumination - not too much, though. With only one headlamp, the line of sight was relatively reduced, but that did not slow down Tomasz, who was on point the whole time, trying to find a safe path. The snow got deeper the more they strayed from the airplane - at one point, the snow reached up to half of his thigh.

The next break they took reached a small clearing atop of the hill, protected from the wind by a dense treeline. They could not see into distance, but it seemed there were further hills ahead. No sign of dawn yet.

During the walk they felt like walking through mollasses - time slowed down to a crawl, as their backpacks grew heavier. Tree, another tree, two trees near each other, a frozen raven carcass, another tree. No movement at all - only snow, trees and the four of you...

The snow was getting a bit lighter - or at least it looked like it - but the wind was getting worse. It howled as they reached the hilltop.

No change of the modifiers yet.
Fatigue +1,5 (1h of heavy work + 0,5 for cold)

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber
Fatigue: 1,5 (Unfatigued)

The minutes raced quickly by, and Emma had no desire to push on. Another five minutes would do them all good. But they could not stay here, and they were in poor position tactically. "Okay, time's up." She stood up, and not for the first time she was grateful for keeping herself in great shape even before the world broke down. She offered her hands to pull up Samia and Adrian.

"We'll stop soon again. It's just one more step at the time until we find a shelter." It was always just one more step. She'd once loved the various management consultant's cheery phrases. She'd even lived by them, until she realized she'd hit the wall if she kept that up. But, if they could keep these people alive and going, it'd be worth it.

Emma turned to Tomasz. "Take us out when you're set." she said in perfect Czech, although with clear traces of a dialect, primary german.

As they started walking, the started listening in on the radio, switching channels to see if there was any nearby traffic.

[bramblefoot]

fatigue 1.5 (unfatigued)

tomasz nods once and continues to forge a path through the snow. again, it's no wasted movement and certainly no hesitation. he keeps trudging, eyes alert behind the nvg, not sparing a backwards glance as his eyes ping from snowdune to tree and back again

[Metastachydium]

Samia gives Emma a dry, automatic "Yes, Ma'am", but makes a point of politely declining the offer of aid in standing up. She's not as useful as the English doctor, and likely not enough of a soldier to feel even remotely in the same league as Emma or Tomasz. BUt she's not going to be the load. The officer seems to care, but if she becomes a liability… She couldn't blame the others for casting her aside, and that would mean death. She must have made a horrible impression as is, trying to force her way through the snow, easily waist-deep for her. She can't afford further signs of weakness.
So she pushes on, trying to keep an eye out and pierce the darkness for the others at the same time.


Fatigue: 1.5 (negligible!)

[Volthawk]

While Adrian doesn't put much stock in Emma's reassurances, he doesn't refuse the hand up - he knew his limitations, and judged that he'd hit start to hit them before the others did, so he had to accept help when it was offered. He could keep walking, though.

[Lacco]

The break did refresh them a little, but the trek continued. It was downhill from there - not too steep, but the snow made it easier to slip and fall. Their surroundings were silent, save for the cracking of snow below their feet.

The crackling of static was sometimes interrupted by a stream of words - there were some recognizable patterns and she managed to isolate few frequencies - one, where something resembling music was played, with few words thrown here and there - it was neither Czech, nor Ukrainian or Russian - something in between. On the other frequency she could recognize two voices, speaking in a language close to Czech - most probably Slovak - some words identical but with very different pronounciation. The conversations were tense, did not sound too friendly - one of the two persons sounded definitely dominant and commanding, and had some military background, while the other one sounded almost frightened, nervous and stuttered a bit. What she could catch was a discussion on looting and something about a man who ran away. The conversations were few minutes in between, but ended abruptly. The third frequency was some kind of military channel, in Russian - the signal was awful, but it sounded like news of some kind.

In the faint light of her flashlight, she saw few stumps protruding from the snow on her side - it looked like they were cut.

They found a small stream, most of it frozen, flowing down the hill.

Adrian's side was silent. Too silent, too calm. He noticed few bird nests in the trees, but nothing that would catch his eye.

It took them less than half the hour to get down to the lowest point, when Tomasz noticed something. A clear cut across their path - a road, maybe. He noticed also that there was some kind of a vehicle laying on its side, few hundred meters to the left.

You recognize the vehicle: it's Liaz; one of the older models that were originally made in Czech republic in late 70's - very popular, but not as sturdty vehicle as Tatra trucks. They were used all around the Central Europe (mainly Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary) for some time.

[Metastachydium]

"Signs of previous human activity to the right." Samia states matter-of-factly when passing the tree stumps. "Someone fell trees here. No logs, though. There must be a road or track nearby."

[bramblefoot]

"overturned liaz on the road ahead" tomasz announced calmly, scanning through the nvg (unless i dont need it, in which case it goes back in the pouch). the rifle goes back on his shoulder. and he will move slowly and cautiously down the slope, attempting to make as little noise as possible

[Harmony]

Lt. Emma Weber
1.5 fatigue

“Fu…” Emma starts as Tomasz goes for exploring. But she quickly regains composure and quietly but quickly talks to the other two “If I call for us to fall back, rendezvous point is one click east. Challenge is ‘fish sticks’, response is ‘warm socks’. Repeat.”
After they’ve responded, she starts motioning directing them to different trees to create as effective support as possible with the low intel they have. “Lights off.” She tells Samia.
It’s not that she expects any surprises in this weather, but she’d prepared them poorly for a situation like this. She takes her own position, more keenly focused on listening.

[Metastachydium]

The corner of Samia's mouth twitches, if only very slightly. The tone of the officer's voice promised trouble. She's as quick to steel herself as Emma, however: the last thing they need is panic.
"Yes, Ma'am. Rendezvous point one click east. Challenge's 'fish sticks'; response: 'warm socks'. Orders understood." she whispers back. That part sounds easy enough. Moving into cover, on the other hand proves a bit more challenging. Her size doesn't really lend itself for breaking a path through the snow, and her obediently switching the headlamp off doesn't help either. To make things worse, it's only after she somehow takes up her designated position that she realizes she has no idea what a 'click' is supposed to mean. She presses her lips tightly together in frustration and tapping nervously on the side of the trigger guard, she shoulders her rifle.

[Volthawk]

Adrian nods, repeats the line back to Emma, takes his position, and waits. It was one of the things he was still getting used to about the new world they lived in. Waiting, silence and long periods of nothing happening. His old life was much more hectic - as stressful as a medical career was, it was never boring - and the change was strange. A minor thing, compared to the bigger picture, but sometimes those little things stuck around in your mind.

[Lacco]

The vehicle lays in the ditch, with quite thick layer of snow on top of it - must have been there for longer time. As Tomasz closes the distance, he is quite sure the vehicle has not moved for at least a week and there was no movement around it - its tracks are long covered, and the door has the same layer of snow as the rest of the Liaz.

The front window is broken, as is the passenger side window, and the bed truck is empty - most of the logs the vehicle had carried are strewn across the road.

There is no one to be seen around, and the surroundings are strangely silent - you can almost hear the sound of snowflakes hitting the floor, as for the moment, the wind calmed down.

The truck is barely visible from the distance due to the snowing, but you can see Tomasz as he moves towards it. The road is now discernable, even though it is not directly visible: the road is snowed in, but it contrasts with the natural terrain.

Just as she gives orders, the radio stops giving out only static again - and a stream of profanities is heard in it. From the context something is quite obvious: someone escaped *them* and they want to find *him* - because he has something stashed or hidden somewhere.

Distance from your location to the truck: Tight (around 40m). Distance from Tomasz: 15m. You are still on the side of the hill, maybe on the level of a second story, so you are looking kinda down on the truck, which is visible only partially through the trees.

Of course, if you switch off the flashlight, you won't see it.

Modifiers

Dead silence: provides a +1 bonus to all AWA-based task checks related to hearing and +1 bonus to all tasks requiring prolonged concentration.

Mild wind: no impact.

Cold: rest provides only half its normal benefit, characters require 125% of their normal food intake, and heavy work’s fatigue effects are increased by 50%. In addition, the Maintenance requirements of all equipment are increased by 50%

Precipitation: Heavy snowfall increases effective visual range by 3 band.

Minimal light: can't discern most colors, only vague outlines of shapes are immediately visible. Increase effective visual range by two range bands (e.g. CQB range becomes medium and gets -4 penalty, while medium becomes sniping with penalty of -16.). It may inflict penalty up to -4 for task checks that are hindered by insufficient lighting.

If flashlights are used: dim lighting: increase visual range by 1 (e.g. you get penalties from CQB instead of gunfighting range), -2 penalty to tasks that require precision and enough light.

If NVG is used: adequate lighting.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz makes his way back up the slope. "that liaz has been there a week, maybe longer" he says coolly. his eyes don't stop roving ther landscape

to emma: "what's the plan, ma'am?"

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber
1,5 fatigue

”Hold here. Remember, everyone is friendly until I say otherwise.” Emma whispers, and starts to carefully advance. As she reaches Tomasz she states “Intel grab. Check the back.”

Emma advances towards the vehicle, while making a mental note to inform and try to triangulate the last radio communication, once this was done.


If nothing surprises her along the way, she will get to the front of the car, remove her helmet and use it to reduce the amount of light from her flashlight. Maybe even wrap some textile around it to reduce light even more. She will check the doors routinely for any improvised trap, as unlikely as it seems and then enter the vehicle in the smoothest way possible. The goal is to get hold off paperworks or anything else that can give information.

[Metastachydium]

Samia gives Emma a curt nod of assent. She can do that. Actually getting a clean shot off on anything would be a tougher task to deal with. Not to mention having to flee in all this snow. One click east. Damn this stupid foreign jargon.
And so she holds there, leaning against her tree, her weapon ready.

[Lacco]

Emily

The creaking of snow under Emily's boots seemed unnecessary loud to her now that the rest of the group did not move. They watched her from afar, weapons aimed - well, save for Tomasz, who watched the back.

There was nobody around the vehicle - and as it was turned on the side, she could easily see inside through the front window - it was broken, most probably from the impact. The truck cabin was a mess - there was a lot of litter due to its awkward position. Broken glass, newspaper, magazines and beer cans, mainly - from what could be seen.

I'll need to know if you go for a quick search (AWA check, done within a minute) or a detailed one (basically: scavenging for anything and everything - let's say 10 minutes). Feel free to roll (at -1 for the light, further modifiers for the time if you want to make it shorter/longer).

Tomasz

Tomasz watched their six - nothing moved in the forest. Although... he was quite sure there was some movement in the distance.

AWA roll with -8.

Samia

Emily moved towards the truck and disappeared from Samia's field of view. She watched the perimeter, but there was no sound, neither movement in the darkness. For a moment her mind drifted - and suddenly, she was sure there was some sound coming over from a distance - maybe a shot? A series of shots? But it had to be from far, from beyond the next hill at least, as the sound was almost inaudible.

Adrian

Painfully aware of the straps of his backpack digging into his shoulders, he watched Emily move across the snow, making mainly sounds that sounded natural - she could not mask the sound of footsteps completely, but were he to close eyes...

...no, closing eyes would be a bad idea. Still, he would not guess there was someone moving.

He listened to the sound of his companions' breath - so silent was the forest. Almost too silent. A creak of boots. A half-silenced clinking of Tomasz's buckles. Samia's sharp breathing.

He noticed a series of sounds, coming from far beyond the hill ahead of them... or the one behind? He could not be sure. It sounded like gunfire.

Emily disappeard behind the truck. Clock ticked.

[bramblefoot]

"i definitely saw something on our six" tomasz mutters to himself. "we might have a welcoming party, and i highly doubt they have a saint bernard with a brandy keg for us" the rifle goes back to his shoulder and he lets everyone else know what he saw

[Lacco]

Emily

The plate of the truck had "PL" on it - signifying it was from Poland. And the county code was SBI, but that gave her nothing to work on.

The interior contained a lot of broken glass, so she had to tread carefully - there were magazines with titles like Fakt, Žycie, Gazeta and Faktoid - the titles did not tell her much, but the photos and styling did. Tabloids. A lot of them, dated 2011 to 2013. Few adult magazines strewn around. A packet of cigarettes. An old flashlight, with broken glass. A fanny pack, open, hanging from passengers' chair. Few unopened bottles of beer, frozen together due to the ones that broke.

The fanny pack contained a drivers' license for someone named Ludmiła Olszewska, from ul. Łubinowa 59 in Katowice - she did not look like a truck driver. It also contained few condoms and a purse with 200 zloty and a photo of a woman with a small girl. The glove compartment contained a little black book, a can of Coca Cola, few caffeine tablets in a blister pack and a victorinox pocket knife.

Tomasz

The movement stopped. It was beyond his field of vision - only a suggestion. Maybe it was just his brain playing tricks, or it was someone very careful. There was no sound coming from that side.

And here it was again. Movement, this time few meters to right from the previous position.

Adrian

"I definitely saw something on our six"; a silent announcement from Tomasz caused his heart to pick up pace. He could not see Emily yet, and he saw nothing on his side.

Samia

No movement. No movement at all... peace... relative quiet. Except for the gunfire far away. And then came the bomb. "I definitely saw something on our six" - a simple statement from Tomasz.

Behind you. Behind you. Turn around. There was no sign of Emily yet.

[Metastachydium]

****. How? Were they being followed? Is this a trap? Samia spins on her heels, and, raising her rifle, stares into the darkness.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma pockets the driving license and the photo, along with the black book, the cigarettes and the caffeine tablets.

She exits the vehicle and motions for Tomasz to follow. “Coming up.” she wheezes just as loudly as she dares.

Emma intends to reach the other and slowly communicate “Male person being chased by unknown Slovakian party. Might be close by. Stay frosty.”

[bramblefoot]

"ma'am, i definitely saw movement. a few hundred yards away, but no sound" tomasz mutters, hands clenching on the gun he carried. "whoever they are, they're a real pro at wilderness survival"

[Volthawk]

When the others return and start telling Adrian and Samia what they've seen and heard, Adrian sighs. "What's our next move, then? Are we assuming they're not friendly? No chance I'll see them before they see me, with this visibility, but it's worth establishing a plan for Tomasz with his goggles. Should we keep the lights off for the time being?"

[Lacco]

While they moved, they could ignore the cold - but as they stopped, it started creeping up on them. The frost. It was stopping snowing - or at least it looked like it - but the frost was getting worse. And the wind returned with a vengeance, a prickling, icy gusts of wind, that attacked any piece of skin they showed.

Whatever was behind them, was either not moving, or disappeared from their line of sight. Even Tomasz could not track the movement now, and Adrian and Samia were practically blind at these conditions. And fatigue was setting in.

In front of them, the truck lay on its side.

Emma looked around. They were wide open, with no cover from the back. They needed to start moving, or their muscles could get cold and warming them up would be even harder then.

[Harmony]

Emma Weber
1,5 fatigue

“Everyone is friendly.” Emma repeated. To many friendlies had already been killed because of eager trigger fingers. And at this point, in this cold, yesterday’s enemy might be todays friend. Of course, the reverse could be equally true.

As the wind picks up, Emma motions them into movement again. “We need to get moving. If the wind becomes unbearable, we will need to find cover. Tomasz, take us out when you are ready. Keep the lights off for two minutes.” This would be the hard part. The wind would hide most of their sounds, so she started singing once they were clear, loud enough for those in front of her to at least get a whiff of it, but not to loud. It was a Christmas carol. It seemed fitting somehow.

Emma keeps listening to the radio meanwhile, focusing on the transmission about the chase as she feels this is the most relevant band, but she is no expert at radio communication, so it’s just a guess!

[bramblefoot]

tomasz moves out, stalking through the snow. he mutters to himself "let's hope she doesn't get us killed"

[Volthawk]

Adrian grins and nods as Emma confirms their stance towards anyone they might meet. He still thought of himself as being someone who saved lives rather than took them, so the reassurance that this was the plan bouyed his spirits a little as he followed Tomasz out.

[Metastachydium]

The corner of Samia's mouth twitches again when Emma repeats what the deafult reading of anyone approaching them is going to be. Skulking about in the forest, watching them doesn't strike her as something she'd term as friendly. Gunshots, even less so. But orders are orders. She lowers the barrel of her weapon and she falls in line with a curt "Yes, Ma'am", behind the doctor and just ahead of the officer, as before. Keeping the lights off sounds as a wise, if risky, precaution. She begins to count the seconds with a soft sigh.


♣

When Emma begins to sing, a lingering sense of unease begins to grow in Samia. She's heard similar songs before, back in Southampton, but they weren't really a thing in Markent or Samarqand. It still strikes her as something… Alien, and it makes her slightly nervous. Is Emma losing it? Or is this an attempt to keep it together?
It doesn't matter much either way. It's too late to jump off this train (what a marvelous thing those were, trains!). She tightens her grip on the handguard, counting on. At least they won't lose each other.


Fatigue: 1.5

[Lacco]

Marching on road proves to be much easier than trying to find a safe path through the snowy forest - while there are potholes the size of a tire, the snow fills them well and the four of them continue trodding forward with relative ease. They picked up a bit of pace on the first part, as this forest road - wide enough for a truck, but not two of them - provided them with a straight direction and good field of visibility - at least to the front. On the sides, the dense forest provided almost total cover. Especially in the weather.

It slowly stopped snowing, and frosty wind took over. It started to pierce through their clothes, although only on occasion, and movement kept them warm.

The road started turning a bit left, going around another hill. And then they saw the road sign - it looked like a warning sign, for a steep ascent, but showing a value of 12%.


The sign is a standard "dangerous ascent", which is used across central Europe; it basically means "steep hill ahead"; the 12% ascent was not too bad - but would be problematic for a city car in this weather.

Behind the next turn, the road started to ascend steeper, leading them to a top of a dell. The trees on the sides were more scattered, not as dense as before.

Another hour passed and they hit a crossroad - no signs there. The road to the left seemed to go straight, with trees narrowly surrounding it, the one to the front was mainly uphill, while the one to the right was at around 30 degrees to the one you came in - it went a bit downhill. The forest was much denser that way.


Whoever or whatever that was, there were no signs of movement now. The forest seemed unnaturally calm.


The forest looked more cheerful now. Maybe it was her association with the christmas cartoon forests of her youth, but the environment was almost pleasant.

The radio silence not so much - there were no more reports, save for one. "Blood. I definitely got him." "Where?" "Behind the Tribune."
"All right. Let's wait until morning, we'll track him then. Get back."

The three companions kept silence most of the way, did not react to her singing - or at least not verbally. Adrian was breathing heavily, Samia looked startled and Tomasz... he was up front. Like a machine.

More signs of human activity - they were not in total wilderness. Road signs meant cars, cars meant towns. That was good.

But her ankles were starting to feel the ascent. And her backpack was starting to be a bit uncomfortable. But it was all she had with her.

The uphill walk was becoming a bit of a struggle - and his breathing got heavier. This was no pleasant walk, although in the past this would be a nice hunting ground.

Except this time they were both hunters and potential prey. A new experience, indeed.

[bramblefoot]

"i say we go left" Tomasz says calmly. "no offense, but i highly doubt Adrian can handle the ascent, and right has way too many ambush points. opinions?"

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber
3 fatigue (?)

It always came down to small choices like these to influence. Just beyond their line of vision at any of the directions could be a haven, and it could be hours another route. The fact that there was a crossing seemed to indicate that they were close to some sort of settlement.
"Doc's been through worse." Emma guessed with confidence. "I agree with your sentiment. Take left and after a hundred meters we will take a three minutes break."

[Metastachydium]

Samia gives thetwo soldiers a measured nod, striving hard not to look any more enthusiastic than absolutely neccessary. Let the doctor look like the weak link. It's not like he can be replaced. Watching the right flank with a quiet, little smile on her face, she follows the two men, savouring the small comfort some rest is bound to bring well in advance


Fatigue: 3, I suppose.

[Volthawk]

Adrian just shrugs when the topic of his fitness comes up. "Starting to feel it, but I can keep going for a while longer now. Don't take a worse option to make it easier for me." He doesn't argue the choice to go left besides that - it worked for him fine, he just wanted to make the situation clear - and watches his flank as they march. He may have a realistic impression of his body's limits, but he was stubborn enough to not let that take priority in his mind so far. Not like he had a choice otherwise at this point, anyway.


Putting things in mechanical terms, Adrian's currently at Slight Fatigue from being at three effective hours of heavy work and (assuming the current rate of fatigue) in two more hours (another three effective hours) he'll be at Moderate, but it'll take a little over three hours (5 points between thresholds) to get to Serious and then that period again to get to Critical. Criticalis where things get real bad - from Slight to Serious is just penalties to rolls and putting increasing limits on running/sprinting (a pain, particularly if we get into a fight, but not insurmountable), but Critical makes you even slower and brings in the risk passing out every hour.

[Lacco]

The trees provided enough cover from the wind, but its howling was starting to be a bit distracting.

The break was a good idea - but three minutes made no difference when they spent the rest of the hour marching knee-deep in snow. The snowfall stopped, so the visibility improved a bit - they made the break on the start of a curve - the road curved right on a long stretch, for more than a kilometer.

For next hour, their surroundings were changing - the downhill was now to the left, and a relatively steep one, and blocked by a tight line of spruce and pine trees. To the right, a rocky outcrop was visible. Not really a cliff, but the top of the hill seemed to be visible against the night sky - the road seemed to curve around the top of the hill.

Then, a long straight stretch - and in the end a sharp turn right. Downhill. The road finally started going downhill - and they even saw a touristic signpost of some kind - and another crossroads, around 30 meters ahead of them.

And then Tomasz saw the body - laying face-down, 10 or 12 meters downhill from the direction sign. It seemed lifeless, but from the distance of 40m it was hard to tell any details.


Another hour, another 1,5 fatigue.

I'll try to sketch you a map, because I'm not sure how clear my descriptions of the road are. I assumed you'd stay on the road for the whole time.

Modifiers

Quiet noise: no effect.

Moderate wind: ranged attacks suffer -1 penalty at distances past optimum range, as do skill checks requiring fine manipulation.

Cold: rest provides only half its normal benefit, characters require 125% of their normal food intake, and heavy work’s fatigue effects are increased by 50%. In addition, the Maintenance requirements of all equipment are increased by 50%

Minimal light: can't discern most colors, only vague outlines of shapes are immediately visible. Increase effective visual range by two range bands (e.g. CQB range becomes medium and gets -4 penalty, while medium becomes sniping with penalty of -16.). It may inflict penalty up to -4 for task checks that are hindered by insufficient lighting.

If flashlights are used: dim lighting: increase visual range by 1 (e.g. you get penalties from CQB instead of gunfighting range), -2 penalty to tasks that require precision and enough light.

If NVG is used: adequate lighting.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz: 4.5 fatigue

"we got a cold one" tomasz mutters to Emma, pointing out the body on the road. "it could be dead, but lets take no chances" he will hold a second, for objections

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber
4.5 fatigue.

Emma squints at the darkness until she sees the body. She motions for Tomasz in signs to perform an overwatch/cover action. "I'll inspect." she whispers. "Doc, when I motion for you to move forward, come up to me. Samia, lights out, and I need you to cover our left flank. Fallback point is the crossroads from where we came. Remember, hold your fire, this is snafu as it is."

With that Emma will start to approach. Her objectives are to observe the state of the person, and then call up the medical doctor and they will do an intel grab. She'll also observe the tourist signs.

[Metastachydium]

The corner of Samia's mouth twitches again. Just what they needed. She strongly hopes it is a dead body, bad as she feels about hoping so. Hauling a thoroughly incapacitated sod around is not how she wishes to spend the rest of the trek. It would slow them down too much and make them more vulnerable. But then, if she were to just fall over from the cold or the fatigue, she wouldn't complain if the others didn't leave her behind.
She exhales loudly and does her best to keep this train of thought out of her mind for now. She's got work to do. "Understood, Ma'am. I'm on it." she replies to Emma, shifting towards the left and slightly off the road, scanning the slope beneath them and honing her ears.


[roll0] against 10-whatever penalty applies for seeing things;
[roll1] against 10 for hearing stuff.
Do tell me if I'm doing things wrong.

[Lacco]

The body did look dead in the green/black visor of his NVG. No movement... maybe breathing? Who knows. It looked like he was lying in a pool of blood, but that could be a coat or something else. As Emma approached the body, he had to look away.

She shielded her flashlight, but even then it made it a bit unpleasant to watch.

He focused on their surroundings. The signpost - it looked like it was covered in frost. The trees... calm. No movement. Up the hill, to the left... it looked like a path, a road, maybe. Even more narrow than the one they came from. It did not look like a trap. Not at all.

No movement. Save for the trees - they swayed a bit in the wind.

She approached the man on the ground - she was sure it was a man. Wide shoulders, thick arms. He did not move, and the dark spot under him looked like blood.

It did not look like a trap - he looked like he dragged himself forward, leaving a path of dark red, almost black snow behind him.

He had a trapper hat of some kind on his had, a thick woolen shawl, a red down jacket and gray insulated ski pants. And a big hole in the middle of his back. She knelt at him but did not need to test his pulse - he was cold. Too cold.

She noticed he held a ring of keys in his hand. No flashlight or something similar.

He looked unarmed, save for a big hunting knife - with antler handle.


Without the light, it was like watching a black painting on a black wall, framed in black. The trees were there, and she knew it. She sensed them moving in the wind.

More sensed than saw.

She blinked few times. She noticed Emma kneeling by the body, in the corner of her eye, and had to resist the temptation to look.

The darkness started to part a bit, to show at least some silhouettes.

No movement. There is nothing in the forest to the left.

Nothing. Nothing?

...nothing.

Taking few deep breaths, Adrian tried to loosen his shoulders. Pain and suffering - he was around it all his life, and now it was his time. Had he any energy left, he would look back, to the times he spent hiking and hunting, back home. But there was no time.

This was no friendly place.

No time to rest. Not yet.

He watched Emma, moving closer to the body. When she touched the body, he already knew - the man was dead. He knew.

[Volthawk]

Seeing that Emma's been able to look the man over without any trouble, Adrian walks over and sighs when he gets a proper look at the body. "You don't need a diagnosis, huh." He shrugs. "One of those cases where the important question is why it happened. These days, plenty of otherwise reasonable people end up with a good reason to shoot someone, but plenty of unreasonable people will do it without a good reason. Matter of judging whether his death was from the former or the latter groups. The man's gear makes me think the latter. People out to cause enough trouble to die over tend to bring more than a knife."

[bramblefoot]

"i suggest we keep moving" tomasz mutters. in a louder voice he says "take his **** and lets go"

[Metastachydium]

Samia is way too tense to be in the mood to analyze what she probably won't even ever get a proper look on, and far too busy keeping watch on the most graciously empty (if her senses are to be believed) forest below anyway, so she refrains form commenting on Adrian's remarks. When Tomasz speaks up, on the other hand, she reflexivley gives him a silent nod of assent. The faster they wrap this up, the faster they'll get somewhere warm, or at any rate, warmer and safer than some creepy old road in a creepy old forest, complete with a freaking dead body. It's not like the corpse really needs their immediate attention.
Still, until and unless Emma instructs her to do so, she'll not move and she'll stay as vigilant as she can be in this bloody darkness.

[Harmony]

Lt. Emma Weber

Emma keeps her calm as Adrian investigates the body. "With a quick guess, doc. Who is... was he, what happened to him and how long ago?" Emma looks up as Tomasz speaks up louder, and puts more effort into hiding the light source from external view, choosing not to pat through his pockets to get identifications, but leaving it to the doctor. "One minute." She tells Adrian in a low voice. She was feeling way to exposed here. Perhaps it had been the wrong call, but without information they would be blind.

[Volthawk]

Kneeling down to have a closer look, Adrian shrugs again. "Medicine can tell you a lot about a man's life, but not at a glance like this. More broadly...hm." While he looks for any identification, he makes a few observations. "Hunter's clothes, no gun, just a knife...a survivalist, perhaps. Probably someone who was trying to survive alone, or with a small group, and not affiliated with any of the paramilitary or militia forces that have probably popped up around here since the end. Ran into one of those types, and then it didn't end well for him. Although..." He looks back at the keys. "Those have to open something. Might be relevant, although if he was killed over them surely his killers would have taken the keys. Might be for wherever he was holed up."

[Lacco]

Samia seemed to be nervous, but she agreed with him. And for a good reason - dead bodies did not appear from nowhere and usually meant there were people that made them dead. He saw few of those, and this one looked like a civilian casualty, but Tomasz was no intel officer: his job was to find the dead bodies, and sometimes to make those. Never to investigate. He was the point man.

And currently, he was in the back. That made him a bit itchy.

Still, Emily was the leader and she seemed to know what to do most of the time. She kept them moving, and while he felt his legs, he was more comfortable on the go.

Adrian, the civilian, was looking over the corpse. While he did so, Tomasz looked around. The signpost looked like a tourist sign, and these usually had a nearest city marked on them. Or nearest village, as well as the paths around. The path to the left looked safe: the guy was most probably going that way, as the path they came by was empty and it made no sense for him to retreat to nowhere.

If they went forward, they were most likely to engage with the force that killed the man. A good ambush could solve even a big numerical advantage, especially if this was a local militia or just some troublemakers: with his friends from the 43rd Airborne, he would definitely prefer an engagement. But in this case, they were on enemy territory, most probably in numerical disadvantage, and in a group of four, in which only 3 were full combatants.

Luckily, it was not his call. He returned to observing.


The key ring looked old, but some of the keys were completely new - one of them looked like a magnetic key, the other one like a car key, few others like those old, rustic keys, and two like standard apartment keys. Two of them looked like keys from a van or a truck.

Adrian took his sweet minute before responding, but he acted like a professional - and kept the commenting to a minimum, although he talked a lot more than a military doc would. Still, who could blame him? They walked in silence for what seemed like hours - whole night - and hearing a voice in these damned forests was almost pleasing, as it made them seem normal for a moment.

But there was nothing normal about their situation. Survivors, burning plane wreck, shooting in the distance, dead body. It was a quick flashback full of stress, but it was over as soon as it began. The radio woke her from it: the usual static was again replaced by a flurry of words. For some reason, she did not hear the beginning, but the message at the end was quite simple to understand: "As soon as sun's out, go out and find him. We need to find out where's the damned stash of his." with a simple response. "We'll find him. If he's alive, we'll kill him - and call you once we find the hideout. Over."

No time to think about what happened. Not yet.


Emma's flashlight showed him the man's back, the hole where the projectile exited - he was quite sure about it the way the body was arranged - his body. He quickly checked his pockets.

Lint, few coins, a cigarette pack - something called "Petra King Size" with red stripe, a gas lighter - one of those cheap, plastic, neon-coloured small ones that you could get at any gas stations, something that looked like a map of a small town, with some houses scratched with a marker.

The jacket held a small hip flask in the inner pocket.

Interestingly, he had a small leather wallet in his back pocket. It contained some change, few Euro banknotes, a condom, and a plastic ID and driver's license for groups A, B and C for someone named Peter Hájek, from Bratislava, Slovakia. The photo was terrible, but it matched the face of the man on the ground - it had the same, lifeless look, but it looked a lot younger, more carefree, had no beard and lacked the red, blotched nose - it could be a sign that the man was a heavy drinker.

In these conditions, there was not much to be done - an autopsy would tell him more, but he could give an estimated guess. The man was not dead for long - he was not frozen solid - and some of the blood was still sticky. Less than an hour? More? In this cold he could not be sure. But it was less than 4 hours definitely - rigor mortis did not set in yet. But he would need more than a minute to give a more specific statement. He was tired and while his brain was working overtime, his body was trying to remind him of the cold and of his aching back and legs. And that did not help.

He was sure the man was shot from the front, and that the bleeding killed him. He was able to move, while in great pain, and maybe even walked for more than an hour before dying - the wound was patched with a piece of cloth from the front. It was a sloppy job, and worked like trying to close up a broken dam with cork stopper, but still, good effort.

For more details you'll need to roll Medicine and spend more time here. If so, remember the fatigue penalty.


No movement still - which was both good news, as no movement usually meant no shooting, but it would be easier in a sense to be shot at. The tension was irritating at best.

Still, it seemed it was getting a bit... lighter. She noticed she could already make out more than just outlines of trees, and noticed there was an outline of another hill the way she was looking - mainly due to the contrasting sky. She was unsure about their current heading, but she was watching left - and it seemed if they took the road left that pointed towards left, they'd go uphill, or around a hill again.

The road looked almost inviting and for the briefest of moments she considered that the man was maybe going to safety - and was heading that way. Maybe.

Or he was just a crazy old man who got shot and ran here to die.

[Metastachydium]

Samia shifts her stance somewhat as her left hand instinctively slips off of her rifle's handguard and towards her pocket with the compass, but she's just as quick to correct course. Welcome as the changing light may be, it's not like she could read it right now, not without the headlamp. She'll have plenty of time to check it once that won't conflict with her current orders. After all, this stupid, unnerving silence might very well be misleading, especially with all her fellow survivors having this weird urge to talk a lot. That she can actually see something for a change is unlikely to make much difference if she looks the other way while some creep… Well, creeps up on them as the good doctor loots the corpse.
Speaking of, that's a pretty good sign: if the dead guy still has useful gear on him, probably no one stuck around to do the same, or, for that matter, to check that he actually went down. Still, she'd rather be on the move already. That road must lead somewhere. It absolutely must.

[bramblefoot]

"let's get a move on" tomasz grouches, flexing his fingers. "left is probably safety, and forward prolly leads to the enemies"

[Volthawk]

Pocketing the various odds and ends he'd found, Adrian pauses when he finds the map. "Hm. Map here. Might be handy later if we find that town." Adrian holds it up for Emma to take. "He's not been dead long. Few hours. Can't tell you much else, but I can tell you that he didn't die here. He was able to get away from his attackers, walked a bit, tried to stop the bleeding, and then dropped here. Guess that's why those keys are still here. Does mean that his killers might be following the trail here, so I agree with Tomasz. Don't want to hang around this guy for much longer."

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma takes the map. "Thank you." she mouths. She motions for the other two to come over. When they approach she'll confront Tomasz. "I will let you do your job, and you will let me do mine." she says with a low but calm tone. "Listen carefully." She whispers to all of them. "We have limited time. I've snapped up conversations on the radio that leads me to believe that this persons killers will come out when the sun is up, but this intel is not fully reliable. My suggestion is that we to the best and fastest of our ability cover the body and blood traces we find - hoping that snow fall will do the rest - to reduce the chance they will find him and thus our tracks. If they had dogs, they would probably be out right now. Then we do as Tomasz suggested and take the left. The other plan would be to immediately leave as Tomasz suggested, but I feel that it is more risky." she pauses and asks the group "Your input?"

[Metastachydium]

Samia grimaces. "Dawn is near. Ma'am." she says. "And our tracks are all around the place." she adds motioning towards the road behind them. "Whatever we do, I'd rather we be hasty about it." Drumming on the handguard of the Kalashnikov with her fingers, she looks up for a moment, before fixing her gaze on the officer again. "Although… There's something I don't quite get, Ma'am. How on earth did this guy outrun whoever shot him and get a headstart of literal hours? Unless… Could he be our truck driver?"

[Volthawk]

Adrian looks thoughtful as Samia mentions her truck theory. "The ID we found in there doesn't match up with this guy, but that doesn't mean much. Could be that the truck's changed hands since the end, or it could mean that he wasn't driving alone, and that woman's out here, alone or with his attackers. Worth keeping in mind, in any case." Emma's plan needs a little more thought. "If we leave now, they'll find the body, but our tracks out will have had more time to be obscured by the snow. We stay and work, our tracks out will be less well-hidden, but there's a chance they won't find the body and come looking for us..." Adrian shrugs. "I'm not sure. Depends on how well we can hide the body. Your call."

[bramblefoot]

"your call, but my vote is pick up and get as far away as possible" tomasz muttered, still peering through the gloom

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma simply nods. "Sounds like we are in agreement. Let's get moving." She nudges Samia as the troupe pass her. "No lights now, unless absolutely needed." and then does the same with Adrian, but only with a grateful nod before taking her position in the back.

[Metastachydium]

Samia really wants to be annoyed by the no light policy and the blunt comment at this point, but to no avail. Emma's her commanding officer right now. She talks like a commanding officer. That's part of her job. It's also not like they have all the time in the world for polite conversation. Being able to see would be nice and comfortable, of course, but her eyes got kinda-sorta accustomed to the ambient level of light, and with the sun about to rise, visibility can only get even better on the long run – which gives her an idea.
"Ma'am? Can I have the map for a moment, um, a bit later? Like, when I'll be able to see what's on it. And around us, for that matter. I've got a compass on me, and I might be able to tell if we're anywhere near any major landmarks it shows."

[Lacco]

The "no light unless absolutely needed" policy meant they had to walk in almost absolute darkness. Tomasz led them, showing a good deal of skill picking a way forward through the deep snow. The road was not visible here - it looked like a dirt road through forest, not even gravel.

Walking uphill, they entered a large clearing and passed it, trying to keep to the treeline, but following the road as far as possible - the terrain was relatively even, although the deep snow made walking anywhere but the road a chore.

The clearing was long, but after a hundred meters Tomasz stopped them. Near the road stood a small house - single story, two windows and a door in the middle - mostly covered in snow. It was in terrible state - basically a ruin. The roof has broken under the weight of the snow, and most of the building was snowed in.

But it was a first sign of people living around here.

Although it looked long abandoned.

The road seemed to wind around it and uphill.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma nods at Samia "Here." She presses the map against Samia, only letting go when she feels Samia having a stable grip.

[bramblefoot]

"we got a ruin up ahead" tomasz says calmly, shouldering the rifle and moving through the dark towards the ruin

[Lacco]

Tomasz

There was no movement in or around the ruined house - and there were multiple signs of forced entry. It seemed the house has been looted - and not once - already.

No signs of warfare. And no signs of any vehicles around.

The house itself seemed like a normal brick & plaster house, normal also for the area Tomasz lived in previously. He noticed a hump in the snow, few meters ahead of the building - probably an exterior water pump. Other than that, there was nothing: no tracks in the snow, no visible items or anything interesting. It could be used for basic protection against the elements, but as the windows were broken and the roof was broken, it would offer little comfort to the four of them. Tactically, not the best spot: in the middle of a clearing, with nowhere to run in cover.

However, he was quite sure the house had a basement - and that would have a relatively stable temperature and could provide a hiding spot for moment of respite.

[bramblefoot]

"there is prolly a basement there in that ruin" tomasz says, popping out of the darkness. "permission to do a quick search for equipment and other sundries?"

[Metastachydium]

Samia clutches the piece of paper and quickly stashes it away for the time being. "Thank you, Ma'am." she whispers back with a little smile. That was easy. As well as a small boost to her confidence, for that matter. Being acknowledged as a potentially useful asset for the team beyond serving as a walking source of light (whenever she's allowed to do that in the first place) feels good. So, all in all, yet another reason for looking forward to actual sunrise.


♣

Samia's grip on her rifle tightens for a split second as she hears Tomasz stop abruptly, but she relaxes slightly when the man speaks up. It's just some ruin. Probably not even a big one. It's not like it has to be an ambush point or anything and it is definitely a new sign of their drawing near civilization or, at any rate, what's left of that. She can appreciate that.
She can't help but shudder and grimace again, however, when Tomasz brings up the likelihood that there's a basement. Some small, damp, dark hole under the ground. That's the last thing she needs in her life right now.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

"Permission granted. Bring Samia with you." Emma nods. It was cover, but she did not like its position. "We cover them." She nodded at Adrian and pointed out a position for him to take, while moving to cover from another angle.

[bramblefoot]

"yes ma'am" tomasz says and stalks into the ruin. he will do a quick search a trapdoor or similar, and if found, will open it and head down

[Metastachydium]

Samia clenches her teeth in desperation. Damn. This is a disaster in the waiting. Nonetheless, even with the pounding of her heart growing louder and louder, she knows that no is not really a valid answer here. She's not going to be the load. She must not prove useless. She must not defy orders.
Not quite confident that her voice won't betray her, she nods at Emma (or rather what she assumes to be Emma) and readying the AK, she forces herself to press forward, moving behind Tomasz, watching his left flank as the soldier zeroes in on the ruin.

[Volthawk]

Adrian nods and takes the indicated position. He hoped that the basement investigation worked out all right - ideally, they'd all be able to get in. It might not be ideal, but finding some decent shelter against the elements would be handy going forward.

[Lacco]

It takes him several uncomfortable minutes, but Thomas soon returns with news: the house is empty. Anything that was in the attic is not reachable, and the back room of the house took most damage when the roof collapsed, enough that there is no chance of recovering anything from that part without a pair of shovels, a crowbar and few hours of work.

The kitchen has a larder attached to it, where the entrance to the basement is. Through a trap door - and it seems to have been already mostly looted. Few broken items, no real furniture left. Still, there are few boxes in the basement, a few cans in the larder. There still could be few items.


Whoever wants to loot/scrounge, we're going according to the rules.
General scrounging: 1 check per person per 10 minutes; you get 1 item per 1 MoS
- you check for useful items
- you will generally be looking for useful items, and those are what you get

Detailed stripping:
- 1 person does the check, others may assist; 1 check per 100 minutes; you roll also Forensics (AWA) and multiply the amount of items
- you check for anything and everything that can be used
- you will get also building materials and anything that can be found here

[bramblefoot]

tomasz will scrounge through the wreckage looking for food, bullets and medicine

[roll0]

[Volthawk]

When Tomasz returns with news that the basement is clear, Adrian's eager to get in there and get to work. If nothing else, it'll probably be warmer down there, and even if they weren't the first to look in there, every little helped. He takes a methodical, analytical look through the remains, happy to spend the extra time and effort in the hope of finding anything and everything they can that might be useful. "We should try to keep in mind where this place is when we set off again - if we don't find anywhere better, I'd rather sleep down here than out there."


Both the rolls involved in detailed stripping succeeded by a MoS of 5 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25349887&postcount=13), so multiplied together that's 25.

[Metastachydium]

Not quite confident of the structural integrity of the unnecessarily cramped little hut and not even considering to go anywhere near the basement, Samia decides to content herself with watching Tomasz's back from a safe distance, close enough to the larder, to hear Tomasz if the man calls for backup, but closer yet to the easiest way out, in case fleeing is going to look like her best option.
This arrangement lets her calm down to some degree, and by the time the soldier declares the building safe, she gathers the necessary presence to do a cursory search of the area around the entrance while she kepps an eye on the perimeter.


Fieldcraft: [roll0]; AWA 10.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma keeps a careful eye on the situation, and the radio channel that premised they would heat out at sunrise. She suppresses the anxiety that it's taking to long. Even though her head doesn't rest, her body does, while feeling nice is not ideal with the cold. As they seems to have finished their search, she approaches and makes another tactical impression of the house, and how well it would suit their purposes.

[Lacco]

The four of them split: Emma kept watch above the ground listening to the radio, accompanied by Tomasz and Samia as they walked through the ruins to find at least something. Samia joined Emma after her cursory search, and Tomasz was finished almost at the same time.

The list of items they found was relatively long - most of the items were removed, but some were either under the rubble, or were in hard to reach places.

Tomasz found a small first aid box (mercury thermometer, 2 rolls of sterile adhesive bandage, a camomile-based burn ointment and small flask of hydrogen peroxidee), a boxed set of 3 toothbrushes (already opened, looking a bit used), an unopened can of tomato soup (2 servings), a can of pate (a bit banged, with expiration date somewhere 2 months ago), and a small box with 6 x 12g shotgun shots.

Samia found a cast iron pan (a bit rusty and banged-up), a pair of leather work boots in a box (worn, a bit dirty and scuffed, size 43), a badly damaged, half burnt, torn and dirty softcover book titled "Najedzte sa do štíhlosti" (Eat to get Thin), a pair of pearl earrings in a small box (a bit damaged), a can of paint thinner (half-empty) and another box of 12g shotgun shots (this time almost new box containing 10 rounds).

As they were recounting their findings, Adrian joined them, with his own list of items, and some potential additions. He looked tired, but he managed to find a lot of items, including something like a secret stash behind one of the shelves.

He found a HB pencil, a damaged wooden cutting board, half-empty bag of feed corn, a blunt and bit rusty garden hoe, a boxed model - metal construction kit for a model airplane (which looked almost new), a small stack of adult magazines (badly damaged), and a small hacksaw (missing few teeth and rusty), a badly damaged alpaca wool hat, a box of steel nails (half-empty), 3 bottles of red wine (no brand, and a bit dusty, but looked well), a frame of a bike with the chain and gears intact, but no wheels or seat, a civilian sleeping bag (which looked a bit... used, but otherwise fine), a jar of pickled peppers (1l, after expiration, but no mold visible), 4 jars of pickles (7dl, still consumable), 1 jar of pickled sausage (1l, still looked consumable), dried herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage; some looked a bit moldy, but more than half of them would be salvageable for a pocketful of herbs), a simple RC toy car (looked broken, with batteries leaked, but could be salvaged for components), a worker's jumpsuit (damaged and torn), a large sack of potatoes (ca. 50kg - looked almost untouched by the frost and well preserved), and a bottle of vodka (missing two or three shots, including a small shot glass).

He also checked for building materials and deduced there would be a dozen planks, some firewood, at least two dozens of usable iron nails, a pair of hinges and a dozen loose, unbroken bricks that could be removed from the basement: but that would take some work and time.

As they looked at the small pile of dubious treasures, Emma heard the radio come alive. The voices she heard before - the aggressive, irritated one, that used a lot of profanity, and the other one - a tired sounding, with a hint of submission - the aggressive one was checking on the progress. The answer was simple: "What? We just went to sleep, it's not even light out!" Curses, few good hints at where one can put this kind of excuses... and silence. "We'll start as soon as it's visible out. No sooner. Makes no sense to go without looking, even if we have a car. Give us an hour or two, so we can see where we are going." Silence. "All right. You lose him, I'm coming there and taking over with my boys. Over and out." There was no answer.



Looking at their current location and situation, Emma was doubtful about the utility of the building. It was sufficiently visible - and would become even more so during daylight - to serve as a hideout, as their tracks lead directly here. There was an uncertain time limit to completely mask their tracks, so their location would be known to the enemy. A single building in the middle of a meadow provided no good escape route (although one could "tunnel" into snow... but again, time was of the essence).

As a defensive position, she had seen worse, but also better. There would be only a very small value of the building as ambush point - the building would most probably attract the enemy as potential hideout - and while the walls were relatively sturdy, they would be trapped here. If a larger force came, they could hold them, but would have to board most windows and prepare basically for siege - they would also spend most of their time working in bad conditions, and would not even gain a significant location: the house was a ruin and offered them no real advantage, save for the walls.

The field of visibility was good, but there were blind spots - especially on the south-western side, where only a small bathroom window was present. Enemy could easily sneak through that side, especially when that side was covered also by treeline.

The enemy could have a grenade launcher or superior firepower: and that would mean they would be pinned down without any guarantee of safety. Worse: the remains of the roof looked relatively unstable. The enemy also could have an armored vehiclee able to cross the meadow quickly, and that could very easily spell doom for her small force. She crossed the thought - the enemy did not sound like someone who had an armored vehicle. Still, her mind was trained to take such things into consideration. No source of water, no source of heat.

But they could use it as a trap: leave it behind, set up an ambush with it as a focal point. The treelines beyond offered some protection and camouflage. If only they knew if there were some other buildings beyond the hill, to retreat to...

Still, from tactical point of view, staying inside was something akin to fighting over a dumpster. No real value in it.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

"Alright, we need to get going." Emma stated as she heard the radio "This place is not a safe spot." She had wanted to camp them out here, to offer some comfort, but they needed to get going. She watches the troupe as they exit, handing out the caffeine tablets she found previously to Samia and Adrian.

[bramblefoot]

"yes ma'am" tomasz murmurs and stalks through the rubble to take point

[Volthawk]

Adrian gestures over to the things he'd found. "So what are we keeping out of that stuff? Don't know about you, but I can't see myself carrying much more and still hiking at a decent pace."

[Metastachydium]

"Understood, Ma'am." Samia is more than a little relieved to get out of the house before it would get a real chance to crush her and some of those other people she really needs for her continued survival. That she didn't have to set foot in the basement at all is a nice boon. "Thank you, Ma'am" she adds when Emma gives her a convenient excuse to do so alongside the tablet she's quick to swallow.
Adrian, however is just as quick to kill her enthusiasm. "That's a valid concern." she remarks with a nod. "I'm not exactly built to carry load like that either." She's definitely keeping the book, though. And the earrings. She's definitely keeping the earrings.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

“Decide if we need something and if it’s important enough to carry it. You got one minute.” Emma wanted to get moving, but they might have seen something they could have use for, and they should probably know by now if it was something vital.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz will sling the shotgun shells in his pack and stalk out

[Lacco]

It took them a bit over a minute to stuff the items into backpacks and be on their way. Outside, the wind calmed down a bit, doing wonders for the visibility. The first signs of twilight were visible directly opposite the front door of the building - they could finally see the mountains on the horizon, eastwards.

They walked, first across something that felt like a snowed-over gravel trail, but then, as the path disappeared, they just trudged across the snow, to the treeline on the hill. Up the hill, through a saddle between the two peaks. By the time you reach the saddle, sun is just reaching the the horizon.

You are in a middle of a forest, going downhill, but as soon as you reach a meadow, you observe the horizon. There are dark clouds, rolling in from the north, a covering the opposing hill - some smaller buildings are visible that way, near the top of the hill. To the west, you see mostly forest, and something that looks like a road, few kilometers down the hill, heading westwards. To east, before the sun rises and it becomes too bright to look, you see a settlement - roads, houses - somewhere around a kilometer down the hill.

At the moment, there is no movement, save for few stray birds on the horizon. That's when you hear the radio come alive again. They - whoever they are - are reporting the start of the search.

Few moments later, the sound of a motor revving cuts through the silent freezing air. It sounds distant, coming somewhere from the east.

[bramblefoot]

"i dont like this" tomasz mutters to emma. "ma'am with all due respect can we rescind the order on friendlies? if they're coming, id rather be able to open fire without fear"

[Metastachydium]

Suavely positioning herself between Emma and the loot pile, Samia removes her rucksack and sinks the can of soup and the first aid kit into it; once Tomasz scurries off, she shovels the book in it as well, before pocketing the earrings and slinging the backpack back well, on her back.


♣

Samia's switched off her lamp unprompted the moment it became obvious they don't need it anymore to properly observe their surroundings with a relieved little sigh. Atop the saddle, she lets go of her rifle to reach into her coat pocket and remove her compass as well as the map Emma gave her, studying first the piece of paper and then the landscape, the hills and buildings and roads visible to her, to see if the village below and the one depicted align well enough with each other for her to be confident in concluding that the two are one and the same…

And she tucks both away real fast, grabbing the AK and giving its grip a tight squeeze. Someone's coming.


Fieldcraft: [roll0] against an AWA of 10.
Education (geography): [roll1] against 9, if that helps (am I doing it right?).

In other news, Samia's now officially Heavily Encumbered! No more running, no more sprinting!

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

"I am not comfortable with it either right now, but if we're the first to fire we remove any chance of them being friendly. We are strangers here and at least in name these people are supposed to be our allies. The likelihood of the four of us making it to civilization - or what remains of it..." Emma grits her teeth and her eyes tears up slightly as memories of her private life resurfaces, before she compartmentalizes it. These three were her family right now, she could at least keep them safe. "... the odds of us making it back to civilization without aid are simply not great." She left out that odds that they were still alive and unharmed were even smaller. Emma paled as the recollection of the crash came back over here, but she pushed that memory aside too. She was getting tired. Without pause she took one of the caffeine tablets herself, even as she craved something stronger.

"Movement shouldn't be hard to spot. Keep a low profile and make sure there something other than the sky to the west." She stated, mostly for the two civilians. She pulled up her binoculars and started scanning east, looking for hints of movement and direction.

[bramblefoot]

5.5 fatigue

tomasz nods once. "i dearly hope your not wrong ma'am, because it could cost us our lives." with that he tucks the nvg in its case and leads the way.

[Metastachydium]

Samia pales and gulps as she hears Emma, of all people, biting her remark concerning their chances of getting out of this alive in half. She drops into a startled semi-crouch, doing her best to look even smaller than she actually is but still able to move – forward or otherwise.
"Ma'am?" she calls out to Emma in a hushed tone. "I checked the map. I don't know about civilisation," whatever that means at this point "but I checked the map and I'm fairly sure we are out of the wilderness. Hill to the south's Malu Kopech;" which she's probably mispronouncing "Novot and a major road should be just south of that."

[Lacco]

The treeline covered most of the town, so even with binoculars it was hard to spot anything. Still, Emma managed to catch few small signs of human activity, mainly on the hill, on the opposite side of the valley. There seemed to be some kind of barn, and it looked that there were people moving around.

But the engine sound came somewhere from behind the hill - 110 to 130 degrees.

The forest in front of them looked quite different than few hours ago. It looked almost inviting, calm, with branches covered in heavy snow.

[bramblefoot]

"****" tomasz mutters and flattens himself against a tree assault rifle against his shoulder

[roll0]

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

"I have a visual on human movement." Emma whispers, pointing out the direction. "Maybe a barn." She missed the darkness.

She turns to Samia and gives beams a smile. "Excellent work. Coordinate our movements with Tomasz so we can keep it smart, find cover, stay covert and get something in our bellies."

She turns towards all of them "I get that you're worried. But even if these are hostile, we're in their territory, and we need to be smart about it. Let's and keep our eyes and ears sharp." She nods at Tomasz "Take us out."

[bramblefoot]

"yes ma'am" tomasz murmurs and does so

[Metastachydium]

If Emma missed the darkness, Samia really doesn't share that sentiment. She does, in fact, like the thought of finding some other form of cover and the forest all around does indeed look inviting. Picking a direction is not her decision to make, though and she knows that, much as Emm's smile and little acknowledgement may warm her heart. "Thank you Ma'am. I'll do that." she replies to the officer, her voice less sharp and much less scared than mere moments ago.
And so, she follows the point man's lead, staying low and staying ready, checking her compass and the map from time to time so that she can feed the odd bit of whispered intel to the soldier.

[Lacco]

The walk downhill was easier when compared to the past few hours, but the deep snow slowed them down. They no longer could hear the engine of the car, but could hear crows somewhere ahead.

As they reached the treeline, they could see the first few houses - a back of a large, two story house, a row of detached two-story houses, most of which looked abandoned, and to east, a three burned down houses.

Further east, following the road, they could see more houses and barns, seemingly abandoned. Across the road, there seemed to be some kind of a garage, surrounded by few trees, and behind it some kind of small sheet metal warehouse. Further houses were visible also up the hill.

The radio came alive again. They reached the body and reported. "There are tracks - seems like a small group. We found no keys, no map - should we follow?"

The answer came almost immediately. "Find them. Kill them."

[bramblefoot]

"well that's not good" tomasz murmurs. To the rest of the group "may i suggest we find cover and set an ambush? I'd sit much better knowing these guys were six feet under"

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

The blood in Emma veins froze as she heard the order being given. She didn't want to do this. But ****, she needed to protect these people.

"Good suggestion." Emma glanced around them. They had kept away from the road the last bit, so any pursuit of them would have to be on foot, possibly with the vehicle slowly matching the the one following their tracks. They would need an open area and then double back so they could perform an ambush. They needed to seem like they were avoiding the houses to not give their pursuers possible cover when they sprung the ambush. It was going to be loud, and there was no telling how many more elements this leader had, but they were unlikely to be able to respond fast to the scene.
Even if they did, there would be no outrunning a vehicle.

"Map, please." She removed her glove, and traced her finger on the map. "Okay, we walk to this this clearing, and having past that we double back to here, which should be that hill." She pointed at the real hill. "We setup an ambush point and a fallback point."

"We will become very loud once we drop the hammer, but that is a lesser problem for now. Rules of engagement change: you may return fire if fired upon, and may start and exchange if ordered to do so. Let's get moving."

Just as they were about to head out, she stopped Adrian. "If you have a medic band to place around your arm, now would be a good time." She did not want to spell out the implications of that, but a doctor would be to valuable for them to just kill.

[Metastachydium]

Samia is not entirely sure she properly understands what, exactly, is happening, but even then, it is immediately evident to her that whatever it may be, it is bad. Really bad. Firefight bad. While she does have the training, thus far she was lucky enough to mostly avoid combat and the thought that her lucky streak will, as it would appear, soon be over makes her nervous.

She hands the map to Emma as requested, striving not to tremble any more than the weather would warrant her to, and sees about following her instructions, albeit more jumpily than before, scanning the landscape around the four of them for any sign of movement and doing her best to pick up every suspicious little sound.


Awareness: [roll0] against 10.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz nods once and will start setting up in the best place he can

[roll0] tn 11

[Volthawk]

Adrian just shakes his head when Emma mentions the medic band. He might have had something like that in his full kit, he wasn't sure, but if he did it hadn't survived until now. He didn't understand a word of what was coming over the radio, but Emma's change in attitude and the things she was saying didn't exactly make it hard for him to realise the situation. Dammit. He wasn't a bad shot by any means, and the last year had given him some lessons in the way the world worked now, but he still didn't like the prospect of getting into a gunfight if he could help it. Hopefully they'd be able to put up a good enough defence that the people after them rethink their attack. He doubted it'd be that easy though.

[Lacco]

As they were moving out, the radio crackled with static again. "Damn. There's a house here. They are maybe hiding inside. We'll watch it before we move out - they could have heard us coming with our car."

"If they heard you, send Mouse to scout the place. He's green, but he's a good scout - and if he dies, that irritating voice of his dies with hi. That's why I sent him to you. And be quick about it, no looting: you can loot the place when you find the key and find out where the old guy had his hideout. Understood?"

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts. Report everything."



The wind was picking up, changing direction - clouds were rolling in from the north now. Heavy clouds. Samia looked around. Her back was starting to be a bit sore from the heavy load, but the backpack still felt relatively comfortable. For a moment, she smelled something very pleasant. Smoke? Bacon? It was strange.

Unfortunately, the trees, loaded with heavy snow, obstructed her view back to the forest. Up on the opposite hill, the one with the barn or a farm, she still saw some movement, but as the wind blew from that side, she could not observe their movements well.

To the other side, the forest looked like a solid wall to her.

She knew her hands were not shaking only due to the weather, but... she could use a bit of warmth. The cold was starting to seep through the clothes.

Whether it was adrenaline, rushing through his body in anticipation of a firefight, the fatigue or just the freezing wind doing its nasty, insidious work, Adrian no longer felt cold like before. It was still there, but no longer he felt it so bad. Excitement, yes. Fatigue. Yes, sure. But cold... not so much now.

He wondered whether it was the first sign of hypothermia or just general tiredness. Or the caffeine tablets.

Oh, at least they would now see the enemy - the feeling of being stalked by some invisible force was most probably more unnerving than fighting off even more superior force. Maybe.

Their current surroundings were unsuitable for an ambush: they were near a treeline, which provided cover to their pursuers and denied a suitable ambush point. They would have to backtrack or go forward. Ambush from a building... some of them had windows to the right side. Or ambush in the forest.

That was the question.

Luckily, he was not the one solving it: he only had to find a suitable place wherever the leadership decided to have the ambush. His job was easier, but he could still voice his doubts or opinions.

After all, he was the point man.

Finally, the enemy would no more be just a voice on the radio. If it was an enemy. Maybe it was just some misunderstanding.

Wishful thinking.

No real misunderstanding: they were told to find and kill her small group without asking.

Now the question was, where would they set up their ambush point. Going back to the forest meant having a small chance of meeting their enemy before setting up properly. Thinking about it, she was sure it took her small group more than hour to get here from the building. And while the enemy had a vehicle, she did not lead her group through a road - she was sure they passed some forest roads on their way here, but the snow and their path would make it impossible to be followed on wheels.

Maybe.

One thing she was sure about was the enemy did not know about them having a radio and listening in. That was a kind of advantage.

The caffeine tablets worked their miracle and she felt her brain working on full power, even if the ghost of her fatigue loomed over her, somewhere in the back of her head and in her muscles.

Looking over the others, they would need rest soon. But not right now. It was time to fight for their survival.

[Lacco]

Emma's orders were quickly followed: the presence of an enemy made her small 'unit' move with a purpose. They started walking down a path, with Samia giving few suggestions.

As they followed the route set by Emma, with Samia giving her pointers using the map. They copied the path across the backyards of the houses - it was obvious that most of the houses were in similar state as the one they found in the forest. They also noticed that the markings on the map were for the houses - the houses marked with "x" were either ruined - by weather, or by something else - and looked abandoned or completely empty. The house with "O" marking looked almost intact - a nice, two story with a saltbox roof.

The two ruined houses opposite were taller, but a bit more narrow. Behind them begun the treeline, marked on the map. As they were closing in, they heard a new message on the radio.

'They went up the saddle; can't really follow them in a car. We split our group - the car'll go 'round and try to catch them in the village. Mouse and Lucky go on foot, tracking them. They have a radio, so we'll know where they are. They can't be too far.

No response came.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma flinched as the plan collapsed. If they went loud now, they would be chased to the end of the world. She needed another plan. “Vehicle heading to village” she told the team. “I will try to get the two on foot to surrender, I think we have a real chance to turn them into assets.” Despite that the world had gone to hell, she refused to believe that everyone surviving was a cold blooded psychopath, and if that was the truth, what was she fighting for? “Tomasz, if you judge them to be a direct threat to me or I make a fist gesture you may engage freely. But if we need to try to make this silent, so I ask you to give me as large chance as possible. If I go down, I trust you to take these to safety. You… “ she pointed at both Samia and Adrian “will get targets from Tomasz, and if he orders or gives fire, do the same. I will separate myself from you to not give your position away. If I make a motion for you to come.” She displayed the motion. “I only want Samia to come, the rest stay.” She removed her packs and pulled out the zip ties, putting them in a pocket.

——

Emma felt her heart race. But this the only way she could figure out to buy them an advantage. As the men passed she felt an almost out of body experience. She wanted to stay put, to hide away and cry, but at the same time she felt her body rise. She kept her weapon in a low ready position, one hand on it like she’d be trained. She’d rather not have it, but if they looked at her and she didn’t look the part she was going to play, they might do something rash. And then her feet moved and she heard her voice, sounding perfectly still as if this was just another day at office, using her father’s Czech “Stand still and put your weapons down, or you will be fired upon. We are NATO troops here to rescue and supply. Understand?” Despite being so exposed, she trusted mankind enough that they would just not shoot her in cold blood.

[Metastachydium]

Despite her best effort to stay (or at least seem) firm and resolute, Samia pales considerably at the news. The enemy knows where they are, they are about to surround them as they speak, and there's a non-zero chance that Emma is about to get herself wounded or worse. The rational part of her brain is doing its best to convince her that killing those two would be easier and voicing that thought could save them all some trouble. Still, pocketing the map and compass, she goes with the usual "Yes, Ma'am." She can't help but find that reason can be disturbing.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz takes charge, businesslike as usual "lets find some cover, see if we can catch them in a crossfire. doc, set up in the second floor of the saltbox. stash your packs somewhere safe, because excess weight can mean the difference between life and death" samia, set up in the shelter of one of those ruined buildings, preferably closest to emma. any questions?

[Metastachydium]

"No, Sir. On it, Sir." Samia barks back with practiced simplicity and a firm nod. It is happening. She must keep her cool (damn, it's cold!). If Emma and Tomasz can do it, so can she. Hopefully.

She hurries into cover and pulling out one more spare magazine, she stashes her backpack behind a heap of rubble. Ditching it feels mighty good; that rucksack grew heavier and heavier with every step – or so she felt. She rolls her shoulders (it's a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless) and gets into position, as ready as she'll get.

[Lacco]

They started moving.

Samia went over to the ruined building. The walls were mostly intact, but the roof has collapsed. She found a good hiding spot, with a good view of the street ahead, towards the direction they came from. She looked around, her backpack by the back door. The good thing was, that she could just move few meters and she would also cover the other direction.

Meanwhile, Doc and Tomasz reached the saltbox. The door was ajar, pried open, and the building has been already searched by someone, but the interior was otherwise undamaged. There were still bookcases, a wardrobe... and upstairs, the rooms were intact. Tomasz quickly stalked the house to ensure nobody was inside, while Doc set up in upper bedroom, by the balcony. The balcony offered them a good view of the surroundings, while also providing some cover. They could see Samia and she could see them.


Radio again. These guys were too talkative for a non-encrypted frequency. "Lucky, come in. See someone? We're by the Tribune."
Few moments of silence. A new voice. Gruff, sounded tired. "Uhh. Lucky here. Yeah, Mouse sayz the traxcks go your way. Yu could set up a trap there."
The other side was obviously considering this. "Right. Good idea. Now shut up and try to find them - I want them caught. Not walking around us for the rest of the day. Over and out."

The waiting was tiresome. It was cold and it was again starting to snow - the clouds were getting nearer and nearer - and a light wind was picking up.

And here they were. No car, but two men, just walking right in the middle of the street. Military fatigues, but the older one of them wore the old "rain" pattern and the other, a young, lanky guy, wore a mismatched jacket and pants, with two different camo patterns, and old "baranica" hat.

The older one looked almost 40, and walked with the learned readiness of a former soldier. He was not in a top shape, but looked aware, even if tired. He had a carabine rifle, the CZ 527, military patrol ready. The youngster had a vz.58 submachine gun, on his shoulder, and seemed to silently talk, nervously, almost all the time.

When Emma addressed them, they immediately stopped. The youngster, pale, almost jumped and then started fumbling with his gun, readying it, while the older man just stood there, looking at Emma with a thousand yard stare.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz sets up on the first floor, setting his pack somewhere hopefully outta the firing line. shouldering the bren gun, he scans through the front and back with the practiced eye of a soldier

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber
Initiative=9 (moderately encumbered from clothing) + 0 -3 (communicate, short phrase?)
Standing, to exposed for her own comfort, behind the reverse L-shaped house near them to the west.

Emma takes another step forward, projecting confidence was the most important part even though she didn't feel like it.
"Surrender." She was probably butchered the Polish and she hoped she remembered the right word. While it could be a risky move, things did not look good as they were, she addressed them in Russian. "Surrender, final warning." She wasn't sure if it was the final warning or not, but good or bad, it would force a decision point.

[bramblefoot]

actions: assess 2 ticks

tomasz peers out the first-floor window, eyes straining to pick up any movement

[roll0] tn 12 MoS 4

[Metastachydium]

Surrender, final warning. Not long before, Samia would have loved to hear a few words in Russian. It would have felta bit like home. Emma's words right now have pretty much the opposite effect, nevertheless. At this rate, soon there'll be blood.

Pressing herself against the wall and keeping her grip on the AK tight, she cautously peeks out from behind her cover. If this comes to blows, she'll have to know if she has a good enough line of fire; what rate of fire to expect from the hostiles; how fast can they dive for the closest cover of their own and the like.


Same as Tomasz, 2 ticks to Assess: [roll0] against 11.

Initiative 9 (Moderate Encumbrance)

[Volthawk]

Leaving his rucksack with Tomasz', Adrian murmurs a few instructions to the other man as they get set up. "If I go down or you otherwise need them, my waist pack has enough for one GSW. Rucksack has everything else." Once upstairs, he lies down on the balcony, watching the situation through his sight (leaving the magnifier off for now). It still felt a little strange having people in his sights rather than animals, even after a year of it, but it's not like they had a choice at this point.


Prone, Initiative 11

Not using the bipod, since it doubles Speed at this range (and with the reflex sight, Adrian's rifle is 5/7/10 so he can't afford that kind of increase). To confirm, he's also not using his reflex sight magnifier, so his sight is functioning as a standard reflex sight.

Guess I'll follow the others in making a 2-tick Assess, TN 9 (AWA 8 + 1 time)
[roll0] - Success with a margin of 7

[bramblefoot]

"gotcha" tomasz murmurs, setting up on the first floor behind something heavy and hopefully likely to stop or slow oncoming fire

[Lacco]

The older man just calmly let go of his rifle and slowly, in a calculated manner, put his arms up.

The young one looked at him, surprised, but when she stated her command in Polish, he looked at Emma.

"We surrender." the older man stated, his voice tired and raspy. "I have no death wish."

The young one laughed. "To hell with you, coward." and raised his weapon, trying to chamber a round.

There was no other movement from this side of the road. The older man looked tense, but seemed not to be a threat for the moment. The younger one, however, seemed to be spooked, almost panicked, and with a weapon almost ready.

Something caught her eye for a moment - a bit to the side - but it turned out to be just a piece of cloth hanged inside a window of a building up the road. Looking back, she saw the two men, both still armed, even though the older one looked like he was surrendering.

The older one had the look of someone who is beyond fighting - not really broken, but not interested in dying. The young one troubled Adrian. His movements were jerky, his demeanor was obviously nervous. He seemed on a verge of nervous breakdown.

Not the best way to behave on a battlefield.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz will snap-fire two rounds at the gun toting one then duck behind the refrigerator

[roll0] tn 12 MoS 7 unless modified by snap shot

make that MoS 9 actually

[Metastachydium]

Samia winces as the gunshots are heard from above. It looked like Emma had things under control. Was that a ruse on the old one's part? The gunshots must have been Tomasz's doing; it came from the hideout he and Adrian shared and Doc's rifle didn't look like it could put out that rate of fire. Unless, of course, their trap is within another trap, set by the enemy. Clenching her teeth, she sjakes her head. That cannot be. That must not be.

In which case, she's under orders. Follow Tomasz's lead. Engage his target. She shifts out of cover ever so slightly to line up a shot on the young one.


Longarm: [roll0] against 6, I think?

[Volthawk]

Right. Here we go. Adrian didn't have a clue what the details of the situation was down there, but one raising his hands and the other his weapon wasn't a difficult puzzle to solve, so a shot from his rifle joined those heading towards the younger man.


Action: Snap shot at Mouse
Prone, upstairs balcony
Initiative 11-8 (snap shot, base 8+1 close range-1 reflex sight)=3
Recoil 2 (weapon 10 - (4 Muscle * 2 stance))

Attack (Coordination 10+2 reflex sight, Expert Longarms for 3d20L): [roll0] - Success, margin 9
Damage 17 (weapon 8 + margin 9), Pen x2
Hit location: [roll1] - Centre chest

[Lacco]

First shot sounded too loud, deafening, and a spray of blood came from the arm of the young man. He dropped his weapon even before he could raise it and as he went to clutch his belly a moment later when the second shot hit him.

After that it was just like a thunderstorm: Emma could hear the ridiculously loud AK 74 and the thunderous voice of the 7.62 hunting rifle.

The boy dropped to his knee. No shot seemed to miss its target - something that even most professional outfits can't always pull off - but they were definitely known to the enemy now.

As soon as the shooting started, the other man seemed to panic and started running to the side, his arms still raised above his head, mumbling something incoherent.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma heard the shots ring out she wanted to throw up, to hide away, but soon the rush of adrenaline came and against all better instincts she set off at a brisk pace towards the pair. The wounds on the young man did not look good. She had not wanted this for him. Her eyes darted to the old man. She knew she was dangerously close to friendly fire, but she could worry about that later.

Intention: move close, kick away dropped weapon and zip-tie older man, verbally encouraging him to surrender. Unsure if there is time for it all. If the young man continues resistance, she will probably shoot unless Tomasz solves that problem before.

[bramblefoot]

"cease fire, cease fire" tomasz bellows. he looks around, scanning for others

[Metastachydium]

Well, that order could mean good things or very bad things. Samia peeks out from behind the safety of her portion of wall to survey the scene. One's down, she notes with a relieved little nod (realizing with a degree of surprise that his death (if he's dead, that is) somehow fails to upset her in any way), the other's running around unarmed with Emma about to tag him. That's nowhere near the worst way this could have went. Still (and her stomach nervously contracts at the thought), there's more to come. Smelling the air, she sticks her head out of cover with a sudden, morbid curiosity to try and pick up something: a glimpse, a sound, something that confirms it, that they are coming for them.


Were we waiting for me? Please tell me we weren't.
Anyway,
AWA: [roll0] against 10

[Volthawk]

With the immediate problem solved - as least, solved to the stage that he couldn't help from here any more - Adrian turns his attention to the direction the two of them came from. There was probably more of these people out there, and they might be heading towards the sound of gunfire.

Action: Snap shot at Mouse
Prone, upstairs balcony
Initiative 3-3 (Assess) = 0

3-tick Assess, TN 10 (AWA 8 + 2 time): [roll0]

[Lacco]

As Emma turned around the corner, she saw Lucky, with his hands still up in the air and his weapon hanging on his sling. He was no threat, and only mumbled about her not shooting. He obeyed all commands, and was tied in a manner of moments, his rifle taken away from him.

Meanwhile, Mouse just lay on the ground, slowly trying to understand what happened. He seemed to be aware of his surroundings a bit, but he had no power to move or to speak and was fading quickly.

Samia looked down the street, trying to watch their surroundings, judging if anyone else was coming, but her ability to focus seemed to be temporarily shattered by the quick one-sided firefight. As she surveyed the surroundings, her heartbeat slowed down and the ringing in her ears slowly subsided.

Adrian watched the street too - there was nobody coming from the direction the two men came. The other side though... he did not see anything yet. But he was sure he heard *something* from that side. Maybe the car engine, again? But it was from a long distance.

Tomasz kept watch, his weapon aimed at the man on the ground. He noticed his movements slowed down considerably, and so he moved towards the other one - the one Emma chased and now lead out to the street, with his arms bound. The rifle was laying on the ground, but he still could have other weapons.

The radios - the one stashed on Lucky's belt and Emma's radio - suddenly came alive, with the same message. "Lucky, we heard gunshots. What's happening? Did you catch them?"

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma motions for Samia to come, and soon there after makes hand signs towards where Tomasz should still be hidden to indicate that a threat might come on the road. As the somewhat expected radiocall came in, she immediately talked to Lucky a in smooth tone, explaining what he should say.

"Call it in. You got them. They shot Mouse, and it's not looking good for him. Tell them where you are."

One lie, three truths. It would do.

It was a gamble, but they had already gone loud, this was their only option to retain initiative. She held up his radio, and pressed transmit.

[Metastachydium]

Her head clearing at last, Samia emerges from her hiding place and clutching her rifle, its barrel trained on the ground for now, she trots over to Emma and Lucky. The old man was probably expecting someone taller, and somehow, she finds this morbidly amusing. Even then, however, her mood is far from light and she consciously avoids looking at Mouse as the youth struggles with death. "Orders, Ma'am?" she looks up at Emma instead expectantly from a mere pace away.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz nods once, and sets up in the place Emma said to. he lets Adrian know about the plan

[Lacco]

Lucky looked at the radio as if he saw it for the first time. He than stared at Emma for a moment. His expression changed from pure confusion through panic, defiance and into acceptance quite quickly.

He hesitated only for a second and then spoke. "Lucky here. We found'em and got them. Mouse got shot, badly. We'll need the car so we can drive him to Doc, fast - the idiot's bleeding. Over."

There was a brief pause. "You got all of them? ****. Great. We're off to you."

Lucky looked back at Emma. "You have around five minutes before they are here. I did what you wanted. Let's remember that."

In few moments, they heard the car revving from the distance.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

The crash hit Emma hard and she nearly swayed as all adrenaline left. She felt exhausted, and nearly sat down. It was done. She mustered the energy she could.
“Check him for weapons, grab his rifle, empty it and place it visibly against that wall at the side.” She told Samia.

“We have incoming, five mikes before they get here.” She said loudly.

“You did good. I would loosen your bonds, but with another potential conflict incoming, I can not risk injury to my team. As soon as that situation is dealt with, we will discuss your situation, and I will remember this. What can you tell me about the people in the vehicle?” Emma wanted to ask more specific questions, but an open one might reveal something that would not otherwise have been.

She started drawing out the landscape in the mud, to setup an ambush for them. She would rather just leave it someone else, but this was her responsibility. She could just sleep now. How nice it would be to just sleep. But, no, this was the closest she had to a family. The thought sent a spark of panic through her head. How was her family doing? Where they even alive?

[Metastachydium]

"Yes, Ma'am." Samia nods obediently. She pushes the rifle farther from the old man and begins a search as diligent as the apparent urgency of the situation allows while trying and failing to figure out what a "mike" is, hoping it's no more esoteric than something like minute (a likely candidate). Once she's done with Lucky, she picks up the rifle and starts fiddling with it to remove the bullets just as she carries it over to the indicated wall, silently praying that her relative inexperience with bolt-action ordnance doesn't show.


Eh, better safe (or, knowing my luck, unsafe) than sorry.
AWA (I suppose?) [roll0]
and Longarm [roll1] against COG 11

[Volthawk]

As Tomaz gets up, Adrian does as well but doesn't follow him, instead heading downstairs and out to the others on the road. He catches enough of the conversation the others to hear the five minutes part, so he doesn't stop walking towards where Mouse fell and kneeling down, examining the injuries. He doesn't directly talk to Emma or Samia, just stating out loud "World may have died, but I'm still a doctor. Not leaving him to bleed out if I can help it. Will be done in time." as he works to stabilise the man.


Stabilisation takes a minute, so Adrian's going to try to do that for Mouse before the others arrive - after all, he has Code (Medical Ethics), which compels him to give medical aid to anyone injured (even foes) when possible, and this seems very possible to me. First aid proper will have to wait until after whatever happens next, since it takes five minutes in and of itself (although valuing his new patient's welfare presumably means he's going to be opposed to any plan that puts Mouse in further harm). It doesn't cost Adrian any supplies.

Medicine (TN COG+2+degrees-wound severity, presumably -3 for critical wounds and +2-3 from relevant degrees [Anatomy 2, maybe Biology] to make TN 16 or 17): [roll0]

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma nods to Adrian as he walks by. She wanted to say that even if they did stop the bleeding, there was no hospital around to handle these sort of injuries. While no medical expert herself, she had never seen anyone return after wounds like that, and that was back when they still had hospitals. She had already mentally registered him as dead, and saving him now would probably leave them off for worse. Their medical supplies would go to someone without hope, and just keeping him alive would slow them down and make them vulnerable - and yet the doctor's words rang true. If the world collapsed, and their morals with them, what hope was there for any survivors?

She pushed the thoughts aside and instead focused on the task at hand - this was something that would have to be resolved later.

[Lacco]

Emma

The man looked at her, considering the question. Then he nodded. "There's four of them: Pavol lead us. He's an ex-con. A good shooter, but not an army man. Most of us just work with him because who he works for. Then there's Marek. They call him "The Elephant". A big guy, aggressive. Likes to get up close and personal. Then Smoke. A Polish guy, likes to joke around and likes his pyrotechnics. He's not really funny, and he's a theoretical pacifist: he'd prefer to explode empty buildings to full ones, but does as he is told to. Lastly, there's Mule. Jozef. He's kinda slow, hard worker. Strong, too." He sighs. "What do you want to know more?"



Samia

Samia quickly searched him, but the body behind her and the oncoming threat of another firefight made it hard to focus. She found an old combat knife, small first aid kit, two bottles of pills - painkillers and analgesics, a swiss army knife and a small packet with a picture of a chocolate-covered wafer, called "Mila". She was sure she overlooked few pockets on the man - but time pushed her on.

She quickly removed the bullets from Lucky's firearm. It looked like his carbine loaded 7,62x39mm rounds.



Adrian

It was a mess. And a strange feeling, having to treat a wound he himself had caused. He quickly dressed the wounds the best he could - but the boy was fading fast. He was quite sure the broken rib, lacerated lung and heavy damage to chest cavity was his doing - his rifle packed quite a punch and was on the heavier side, caliber-wise.

But he was a professional. A doctor. He swore. And so he worked as fast as he could, using the meager tools at his disposal. The boy was almost sure dead without a surgery - it was a decision between moving him and most probably causing further damage, and letting him freeze to death if left on the ground.

Still, he did what he could And it took less than five minutes, which was - considering the conditions - extremely fast.

The boy was alive. For now. Unconscious. Critically wounded. But at least he was not bleeding to death now. Temporarily.



Tomasz

While the others were doing what they were told to, or what they found most important, Tomasz focused on the thing he was trained to do: work as a point. Be the ears and eyes of the group. He changed his position only a bit, to make sure he had the best vantage point on the road, to be able to inform the others as soon as the enemy was visible.

He heard the car before he saw it - and here it was. An old army all-terrain UAZ-469 - the old junk with removable roof. Reliable as hell, this one looked like it passed through one.

The men inside were careless. They were headed their way going as fast as the snow-covered road let them - they had less than 3 minutes to prepare. And the wind was picking up.

It was getting cold again.

[bramblefoot]

"we got incoming" tomasz barks, pointing out the vehicle. he will find an ambush spot and make ready

[Volthawk]

Getting up from the boy, Adrian sighs as he hears Tomasz' shout. Right. This wasn't over yet. Adrian looks around for somewhere to shoot from - if he can get back to his spot up high (or another similar spot) in time, he'll go there, but if not he'll just go to be best-looking spot nearby.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

Emma took a moment to ponder it, trying to calm herself and finding a second breath. She could not find a way this did not end violently. They had been two against four, and it had still, despite her best efforts come to shots. This Pavol figure seemed to work for someone unpleasant, and by the sound of it, there was no redeeming features. She hated feeling this cold and logical. She wanted more time, preferably a few hours to debrief their captive, but this would have to do. They were cornered, and now they had to bite. "Thank you." She said before she rose and started to express the plan she had formulated on how to most easily funnel them.


Tactics [roll0] vs Cog 12 +2 Small Unit Tactics -3 Adrenaline Crash = 14 MoS
The idea is to create a trap where they can see Lucky, but he should have a fighting chance to get to cover.

[Metastachydium]

Sensing that her blood's steadily running into her face as she fumbles around with Lucky's gear. She's half glad at first that circumstances keep the eyes and thoughts of the others off of her, but then she realizes what, exactly, she's happy about, prompting her to wince. There's a deathsquad closing in on them; some kid riddled with bullets dying in the snow close by and, most alarmingly, Emma doesn't seems… Unfocused. Strangely melancholy and unfocused.

As she pockets the old man's belongings, including the bullets and especially those sweet, sweet little painkillers before she'd pick up the carbine to place it against the wall as instructed, she begins nervously looking around to find a defensible spot close enough for her to reach in time and offering a clear avenue of escape away from the road in case she'll be forced to improvise.


Tactics: [roll0] against COG 11.

[Lacco]

Emma

Barking orders, she arranged the small unit in the same way, but turned the other way: Samia on one side, this time from a small side window, this time with Emma on the corner of the building, hidden behind a pile of debris, Adrian and Tomasz through the balcony window and door on the opposite side, to be sure the enemy gets caught in the crossfire, but her unit does not. Unfortunately, there was no time to build up a barricade, so they had to stop the car - either crash it or make it stop.

To have a bait, she could either hang the empty rifle on Lucky and tell him to stand on one of the corners, so he can be seen, but his hands bound. . The man looked like he was almost glad to be their captive, so he could be talked into helping them bait the others. Maybe. After all, he surrendered.

She just had to talk him into it. In less than a minute.

Just another Monday on the job.

The UAZ was coming close.


Please, do a FIT check according to the Adrenaline Crash: this new situation may cause it to temporarily go away.

Also, no speech check necessary as you managed the last one so well. Just let me know what instructions you give to Lucky & if you go with the plan from your tactics roll.

Also: initiative check! ...for later use.



Adrian

He was on his way even before Emma gave the order. He got up to the balcony right in time - the junker turned the last corner and was speeding up to their position. Tomasz took the closer spot in the window, so Adrian had to take the balcony door - which gave him a bit better vantage point.

As he looked out, he saw the car was still around 500 meters from them, going almost on a straight line towards them, gaining speed on the snow-covered road. He only had few moments to prepare as the car seemed to go rather fast. The hunt was on.


There were four men inside. The car was battered, and the windows were quite dirty, but he noticed that the driver was a burly man with really unfiendly look and a big scar across his face, in a dark blue parka and dark green ushanka. Next to him, riding a shotgun, was a calm-looking guy that smoked a cigarette, looking like he was coming from a successful sales meeting. He was wearing a bright yellow ski jacket and a red beanie.


Let me know if you are standing/sitting. If you want to lie down on the balcony, you'll get the best cover (the balcony has wide horizontal boards as railing), but less mobility and the modifiers to shots as per rules.

And please: initiative check!



Tomasz

The enemy was here. Emma gave orders, and while she sounded more tired than she should be - after all, she was in military - her orders were good, came at the right time, and made sense. Tomasz did not need to find a better vantage point - he had a good view of the road due to the position of the balcony, and he was hidden behind a good wall. The only thing that could make him move away from it would be enemy advancing too fast and closing the distance to the front door.

Even then, he could just grab the backpack and run down the stairs to the back door.

But the car, even when speeding, went relatively slow: the snow was deep and even the UAZ had trouble. Tomasz knew the vehicles, they were used in the past even in the Czech army - but were switched for more modern solutions. They were workhorses and one could fix everything on them using duct tape, some creative welding and some spare parts from other vehicles - which was often necessary. But they were no racing cars.

Somewhere in the back of his head he noticed another drop of temperature. They needed to get this over quick, or the others would be in trouble. He knew he could hold out more - this was closer to his home than any of the others - but even he was starting to feel a bit cold.


Let me know if you are standing/sitting and if there are any other preparations. I assumed Tomasz would pick the window as it offers a good protection and good overview, second only to lying down on balcony.

And please: initiative check!




Samia

Emma seemed to momentarily slip out of the melancholy while she gave the orders. It was back to the ruined building for Samia. No warm, cozy sitting for Samia - just a broken window on the side of the building. For a moment, as the wind picked up, she felt shiver run down her spine. She knew her face, exposed to the unpleasant environmental conditions, was suffering already, and her hands, while not shaking, were becoming a bit numb from the cold.

For a moment she thought about a fire. Cozy, warm... but there was work to be done. Orders.

Her mind cleared after a second or two, as she moved through the ruined building, noticing where the others were, and seeing a clear escape route, covered from potential return fire.

Through the window, she could see the car coming closer. Less than a minute, she thought. And maybe it would be over after that. Maybe.

Let me know if you are standing/sitting and if there are any other preparations.

And please: initiative check!

[bramblefoot]

tomasz picked the window. it was a good spot for shooting, and offered the best cover and exit route. he stood there in his overwhites, willing his hands not to tremble

ooda roll tn 9
[roll0]

curses

[Volthawk]

Adrian didn't have much time to prepare, so he just made sure he was back in position on the balcony. Back to it, he supposed. He still didn't like it, but it was the kind of necessity that happened all too often these days.


Yeah, Adrian's prone - he's not using the magnifier though.

Init, OODA 4: [roll0]
As expected, that's a nope.

[Metastachydium]

Relief washing over her as Emma bursts out of her brooding, Samia hurries back into position, glad to have a wall between herself and the road, not to mention her pack nearby again. She also likes to believe the inside of the ruin has a somewhat less unpleasant temperature, though if that were the case, she doesn't quite feel it yet.

She presses herself against the wall by the window on the side that will hopefully be behind the car when push comes to show, and takes a few quick breaths trying to calm herself down. This is going to be a long minute.


OODA: [roll0] against 6.

[Harmony]

Lt Emma Weber

It was a judgement call. Using the captive as bait was questionable as it was, but she could not trust him enough to release him. Could she? And putting him overly in harms way would needlessly endanger him. She closed her eyes and made her decision, cutting the zip-tie. “I remember what you did. When they come, wave them towards here.” She points, “and then you leave in that direction with the same pace you normally do when in hurry.” Trusting him like this was a massive risk, but like the doctor said, if they behaved as cold as their opponents, what point was there to anything? She nodded and made a sign towards Tomasz “Your call again.” and went into cover, so she could keep their prisoner in her peripheral vision.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz nods. "wait till they disembark, then give em hell"

[Lacco]

The car slowed down as the driver spotted Lucky, and turned left. All four men started to get out - the driver pulled a handbrake and stepped out - a burly man with really unfiendly look and a big scar across his face, in a dark blue parka and dark green ushanka. As he stepped out, they saw a pistol in a holster on his side. He reached inside for something.

On the other side, a calm-looking guy that smoked a cigarette jumped out of the car. He was wearing a bright yellow ski jacket and a red beanie, and was looking around as if he suspected an ambush as he picked a Vz. 58 submachine gun out of the car.

In the back, a hairy, weird looking guy stepped out towards the group. He was tall, barrel-chested, chuckling and scratching his lower back. He was wearing black cargo pants and oversized camo jacket, wore an underarm holster with a pistol and dragged another vz.58 out of the car.

On the further side, a large, muscle-bound and tall man stepped out. Wearing a builders' overall, heavy coat and construction helmet over a beanie, he looked a bit confused, and moved rather slow.

Lucky did as he was told to and disappeared behind a corner after getting their attention - but focusing on him made them miss a beat. The group was getting out of the car faster than expected.

[bramblefoot]

tomasz will three-round burst on the cigarette-smoking one

[roll0]

i believe that is MoS 4

[Metastachydium]

Give 'em hell. The words continue to ring in Samia's ears as she hears the car arrive and stop, and then the doors creaking and the footfalls. She'd like to gulp, but her mouth is incredibly dry. They may have the tactical advantage for the moment, in theory, anyway, but right now, this is four against four and panicked incompetence or quiet resignation are probably too much to ask from the newcomers.

Filling her lungs with air, she slides out of cover and taking aim at the exposed back of the driver, pulls the trigger.


Longarm: [roll0] against 6. Let's go with aimed this time.

[Volthawk]

Once more into the breach, huh. Adrian might not relish this, but it won't make a difference to the man in his sights. The fact that he had no choice wasn't much reassurance.


Action: Snap shot at the hairy man
Prone, upstairs balcony
Initiative 9-8 (snap shot, base 8+1 close range-1 reflex sight)=1
Recoil 2 (weapon 10 - (4 Muscle * 2 stance))

Attack (Coordination 10+2 reflex sight, Expert Longarms for 3d20L): [roll0] - Succcess, margin 11
Damage 19 (weapon 8 + margin 11), Pen x2
Hit location (first horizontal, second vertical): [roll1] 6,6 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25453136&postcount=27) - Right ankle/foot

[Lacco]

The three men - the driver and the two in the back, just left the vehicle. The driver was stretching his back, the hairy guy laughed at something and the guy with construction helmet slowly took out third vs. 58 submachine gun.

The smoker looked around, and stepped away from the vehicle, just as the first set of shots sounded. Like a doubled thunder, Emma and Tomasz fired both bursts of bullets.

Both hit their target.

Tomasz's shots hit the man with the cigarette. He collapsed on the ground with a scream - they saw his leg give way, bleeding from a wound on his knee and his hip. Next to him, the laughing man clutched on his stomach, looking surprised. Three holes, placed with extreme precision, into his abdomen, made him reel on his feet and lean on the car, leaving a bloody mess on the ground and on the chassis.

Moments later, Samia and Adrian made their shots.

First, the driver gets hit - a hit to his shoulder makes him drop his weapon on the ground, the one to his belly makes him scream in pain, and the third one makes him stumble back a bit, but he regains his balance.

Then, the hairy man gets hit - and the shot goes through his boots, practically destroying his foot. He goes down, screaming.

It takes just few moments, but only the large man in construction helmet seemed unharmed.

[Metastachydium]

Samia's low-key surprised to see all three of her bullets finding their mark and, apparently, not the car she'd rather keep in one piece, but, needless to say, even with all the gore, she doesn't exactly mind. Rather, it mostly serves to embolden her so much so that she ends up testing her luck again to sneak another peek at the outside world, mainly in hope of finding that it's over, with all hostiles down and as few new punctures on their vehicle as possible.


Assess with all remaining tics (I'm not sure if it's 1 or 2): [roll0] against AWA of 10(+1?).