[Savage Worlds] Weird War II: The Norweigan Campaign

[Morgan_Scott82]

The year is 1940. Europe is ablaze. The war machine that is the Third Reich has swept across the continent, conquering Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Norway. The British Ilse stand as the last bastion of hope for the free peoples of Europe. The blitz is on, London is Burning and the air war shows no signs of stopping.

In other, darker, corners of the world the cogs of dustruction are turning up strange reports and unconfirmed occurances. At first dismissed as the ramblings of shell shocked troopers, these reports of strange creatures, and unnatural events have been occuring with greater frequency. To investigate these so called "Irregular Threats" the Special Opperations Exective has, by order of Secretary of State and War, issued an order for the creation of a Section for Irregular Threat Response, to be headquartered out of the Arisaig Asylum for the Infirm and Criminally Insane, in Arisaig Scottland

For the last several months you’ve trained in the Scottish Highlands with the No. 3 Commando, participated in mock combats and endured hours of grueling PT, and sometimes more grueling instructional periods, you’ve fired countless rounds on the firing range, you’ve trained with Mills Bombs, Sticky Bombs, Mortars, and AT guns. For four months this is how you’ve filled your days, knowing only that you’d been select against all your peers for a special detail. Today you finally got your orders.

ATTN: You are to report to the Arisaig Asylum for the Infirm and Criminally Insane for briefing and deployment. Transportation has been arranged. See you at 0730.
Col. August Tavington

At the Institute you’re ushered down long, white, sterile hallways past padded rooms to a locked steel door, which opens onto a narrow stair leading down into a musty basement that smells slightly of old mildewed papers and tobacco. Every inch of wall space is covered by documents, maps, and grainy reconnaissance photos, short two drawer filing cabinets line two of the walls. Several easels and rolling chalkboards are scattered about the room, and a sand table sits in the forward left corner, while a radio set monopolizes the nook under the stairwell.
In the center of the room is a large rectangular table. All told you estimate chairs to sit maybe 20 people surround the table, only four of them are empty. The occupied seats are filled with gentlemen of every variety, military officers, enlisted clerks, runners and support personnel, civilians, and even several people in religious raiment. The man at the head of the table is a slight gentleman, in a trim and proper uniform of the 2nd Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He wears his moustache neatly trimmed, and his hair is clipped short, he has a scar running vertically from his forehead through his left eyebrow, but his most distinctive feature is his lack of a left arm below the shoulder, his uniform sleeve has been doubled back on itself and pinned up, leaving only a fold of tweed where his arm should be. His badge of rank shows him to be a colonel.

As you made your way down the staircase you could hear that the room was bustling with energy and activity, but as you entered the room everyone fell silent and took their seats around the table. The colonel at the head of the table rises to his feet and gestures for you to sit. “Soldier’s welcome to the Arisiag Asylum for the Infirm and Criminally Insane, or as we call it ‘The Institute’. I’m Colonel Tavington, formerly of 2nd Battalion Kay-Oh-Why-El-Eye, and your new commanding officer. You’ve been training together and hopefully know one another quite well by this point, but most of us in the room only know you from your files, so for our benefit why don’t you take a moment to introduce yourselves before we tell you why you’re here and begin the briefing.

[Alton]

Cail walks down in front of the small group that he's begrudgingly leading. "Morning sir. My name is Company Sergeant Donahue, thats a Staff Sergeant for all you Brittish folks." Cail's voice was a very carefully practiced neutral accent that seemed difficult to place, though his red hair made it obvious that he was Irish. He moves into place behind what he assumes is his chair, and continues. "I joined the IRA when I was still a minor, and I've been part of both the Revolution and the Civil war. I stayed in for sixteen years before retiring. I moved here for economic reasons. I tried a normal job, but the war started, and killing is in my soul now." He takes his seat, and waits expectantly for the next introduction.

[HardboiledJJ]

Jacob resists fidgeting-not sure who these people are, and not wanting to break protocol in front of them. Nonetheless, the brief silence weighs like and anvil so the green Yank steps forward.

"Morning sir. Howdy gentlemen. . .er. . .sirs. I'm Jacob Tremell, Private."

He looks around, and oddly enough some weight leaves his shoulders as he sees the folks in religious raiments.

"I'm here on volunteer up outta Missouri in the States. I ain't no natural born soldier. Ain't rightly sure this would normally be the place for me. But, there's business afoot that can't be ignored, and . . .things. . . I just can't leave be."

Jacob takes his seat, glad to let the next person do their share of the talking, and also anxious to see what mission they would be deployed on.

[Ascension]

The next to step forward is a skinny young man, his facial features marred by some kind of terrible birth defect.

"Lance-Corporal Pedro Sanchez," he says, with a slight bow, "scout."

"Sanchez" speaks with an exaggerated accent. It's meant to be Spanish, but it wanders a good bit from its source material. It's obviously abnormal, but anyone who's actually heard an actual Spanish accent can tell the difference immediately.

[Meat Shield]

Cameron MacMalloch, Corporal

The musty atmosphere of the basement made his throat tickle, but he stifled the cough as he entered the dim meeting room. Bout time we hear' what all this aboot. He cursed agin the sickness in his chest that would not go away.

Snapping to attention, Cameron saluted with open palm to the Colonel. "Corporal MacMalloch, scout/sniper, Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment, reporting for duty, sah."

Please, ye uppity officer - be sendin' me ta somewheres wheres I can gets back some fer me friends. Ain't doin' no good here wit' dis bloody trainin'. Of course, his face betrayed none of this.

[Meat Shield]

Cameron MacMalloch, Corporal

Cameron MacMalloch appears as a very fit and tanned but otherwise not unusual example of Scotland's finest. He wears normal issue uniform, but proudly wears the distinctive red hackle-bearing Tam o' Shanter (think beret with a bright red three inch feather) and insignia of the Black Watch on his sleeve:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Black_Watch_slim.png


Video of the Black Watch marching (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMxtmzPA63o&feature=related)
Wikipedia of the Black Watch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Watch) - includes a good pic of the Tam o' Shanter
Another video, much better quality than above (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUSnFIIs2Lo) - 1:34 starts the part on the Black Watch, the rest deals with the other battalions in the Royal regiment of Scotland
Still looking for good quality pics of Black Watch from WWII, these are modern day

[Morgan_Scott82]

"Thank you Lads" The Colonel returns salutes, tugs at his unform to make sure everything is in its prim and proper place and then takes his seat. "Please have a seat" he waits a moment for everyone to get situated and then continues.

"Situation's bad, boys. Jerry, got the upperhand in Europe, and Hitler's bombs fall all around us. Maybe worse still Intel has been getting more and more strange reports from our contacts in Europe. Call it bollox if you will, but we're hearing tell of Nazi weather control machines, Super-Soldier projects, and well take this one" He grabs the file on top of the stack at his left and lets it flop down on the table. "Reports of unkillable german soldiers"

"We've dubbed what these reports describe as Irregular Threats. Problems that lie beyond the scope of conventional warfare, and sometimes outside the realm of plausibility, but the Prime Minister has determined 'Better to be cautious and proven wrong, than foolhardy and surprised.' This command has been created for the purpose of gathering intelligence on, responding to, and if necessary eliminating these so called Irregular Threats"

"Any Questions thus far, gentlemen?"

He pauses and looks about the room, inviting comments or questions from the collective group.

[Meat Shield]

Cameron MacMalloch

Cameron had leaned slightly forward over the table as the Colonel started his briefing, but bolted fully upright upon the mention of "unkillable soldiers". "Wha' mean ye by 'unkillable soldiers', sah?" he said slowly, not believing that he may get the chance to revenge his friends and possibly find out more about what happened that night near Dunkirk. "Unkillable, or jus' really hard ta kill?" His heart was beating much faster now.

[Morgan_Scott82]

"Truthfully We don't know, Corporal." Tavington opens the file folder and flips through several pages.

"Ah, here we are, the report comes from a Captain Weigraf of the South Wales Borderers, 148th Infantry Brigade, he describes seeing several platoons of Germans advancing on a position in the defense of Lillehammer mowed down by the Company vickar's gunner, only to get up again seconds later to continue the advance, his report is confirmed and corroberated by the vickar's gunner and several company NCOs."

[Ascension]

"Where do we fit into this picture, sir?" Pedro asks.

[Morgan_Scott82]

"You're our field team. It was decided that much like SOE, this command would need small units of well trained soldiers. You're our first such team. For larger operations we've been permitted to call on the newly formed Number 2 Commando Troop, but for the most part you will be operating alone in enemy territory to gather intelligence on and mitigate any credible report of an IT."

After a short pause he gestures around the room to the other people sitting around the table "This is our analyst team, experts in everything from the hard sciences, to parapsychology, to world religions. We're hear to determine what constitutes a credible report, analyze its impact and report to the Minister of Defense and War."

[HardboiledJJ]

Jacob clinches his jaw at the mention of these unkillable soldier. Hard lines draw across his face, and his knuckles pop-tightening their grasp around a weapon that isn't there.

"This event-was it night or day? And if'n we meet these "IT's", is priority more on puttin' 'em down, or bringin' one back fer study. My preference is pretty obvious. . ."

[Ascension]

"I should hope that our priority is observing them and withdrawing to report the data while we're still alive. From the sound of it, if we try to face these... these creatures with our numbers... The result would not be pretty."

[Meat Shield]

Cameron MacMalloch

"Weeee-ill, let's nae be too hasty, Corporal Sanchez. Of course we want to observe, but we also need to observe exactly wha kind o' punishment they canna handle."

Yes, let's see how much they can take. Yes, let's. And maybe there be nae more demons in me dreams, and th' ghost o' Connor be finally able tae rest. His jaw setsin a hard line, belying the soft tone he used with Sanchez.

[Morgan_Scott82]

"You'll be expected to use your descretion in dealing with Irregular Threats. When possible neutralization is our ideal aim, and destruction is the most obvious means of neutralization. Capture seems unlikely, but if a potential and managable asset becomes available securing it would be acceptable. In short the units standing orders in order of priority are: The identification and neutralization of Irregular threats, gathering material and human intelligence regarding Nazi development, deployment or use of ITs, or intel regarding the German war effort in general, Preserving the secrecy of this unit, and where possible providing assistance to partisan and allied forces."

Col. Tavington looks about his audiance making eye contact with each of the collected civilians and military personnel seated about the table, his eyes linger at one point in his sweep before he says "So down to business then? Lets begin the breifing" Corporal Sanchez notices that the Colonel's gaze paused when he locked eyes with a particular member of the assembled individuals, an extremely slender man with a narrow hawkish face and small wire framed spectacles. The man was clothed in what must have been a very expensive black suit, looking at his open pocket watch and makeing a Hurry it up gesture with his right hand.

The Colonel gets up and rolls one of the large slates front and center, the slate is covered in chalk notations in several languages, you're able to pickout Latin, German, French, and Spainish, though several other's you can't seem to place. Even the english notations which you can read perfectly well make little sense. However when Tavington flips the slate over, the reverse bares a large and unmistakable map of Norway, with two points circled in red (Lillehammer and another point in central Norway). "Corporal MacMalloch," The colonel begins, "its fitting that you should ask about the reports of unkillable Nazis, its going to be your first assignment."

"In addition to the corroborated reports from Lillehammer, we recieved a similar account by radio during the seige of Hegra Fortress, however due to the fall of the fortress and the subsequent capture of all soldiers present we weren't able to debrief any of them."

"We've arranged for members of the Norwegian resistance to ferry you from Shetland into Norway, near Stavangor. At that point you'll be mostly on your own. We don't have any concrete information to offer you, or avenue of assault. Work with the resistance who you can identify by the paperclip they wear on their lapels. Were I you I'd try to make my way to Oslo where the Wehrmacht, has set up command. I'm sure you have more questions, I just hope I have answers for you."

[Ascension]

"Will we have a translator with us, sir? I don't think any of us speak Norwegian..."

[Meat Shield]

Cameron MacMalloch

"Sanchez has a point, sah. As well, do he have any info on what type of facility we are gonna hit? Any good intel at all? Or are we's jus' gonna hae a straight 'seek and destroy'?" The hunter was attempting what all good hunters do: to learn his prey, his habits, his traits. The better to kill him in the end.

[Morgan_Scott82]

"Unfortunately I don't have a qualified translator to send with you, but luckily the resistance contacts assisting in your infiltration both speak passable english. They'll assist you as much as they can, beyond that you'll have to make do."

Turning to Corporal MacMalloch he answers "We haven't much information about these ITs, their origin or locations. Wehrmacht command for the Nowegian theatre has set up in Akershus Fortress, in Oslo, so it'd likely be a good place to start your search, of course I needn't tell you getting into the fortress is likely to be difficult. Another option might be to work with the local resistance and engage targets of opportunity to see if you could draw out a response from our quarry. I'll leave the decision to you."

[Meat Shield]

Cameron MacMalloch

Bloody 'ell! It's a suicide mission! He cannae be serious 'boot sendin' us in there wi' nae for intel or support!

Cameron looked thoughtful for a moment, then "Sah, this seems a mite long odds for me liking. We will have full discretion once we survey the scene, yes? I'd also imagine that our normal kit would be nae sufficient for such and expedition. Don't suppose the boys at Bletchly have anything special for us to help out do they?

He sits back in his seat to receive the answer. I know it not be our ta reason why, and but tae do an' die, but Lord, I prefer to at least have a chance!

[Alton]

Cail gives a slight sigh as the corporal takes charge. Cutting in after MacMallon's last question, Cail answers his question. "I'm sure that if they had anything to give us he would have brought it up during the initial brief. And you're overreacting to the mission. It would only be a suicide mission if we get a time hack that we need to follow. As it is now, we just need to try and do it asap. That means if we need a month to get in, we take a month. If we need a season, we take a season. Hopefully, it'll only take a few weeks, but that's a touch optimistic with the way these IT's are sounding. I fail to see why you think we need more resources when we're supposed to be doing recon and intel gathering. Easiest thing to do is set up shop in a nearby town, and then take down anyone with a shiny uniform."

[Ascension]

"I once heard one of the fellows in our freak show, half of a pair of real live Siamese twins like ol' Chang and Eng, say that back in his country they had a saying 'He who steps on tail of tiger must deal with tiger.'"

Pedro leans forward and looks Cail right in the eyes.

"If our plan to flush out tigers is to go stomping on every tail we see, we're gonna end up cat food."