DAY 0 – APRIL 17, 2000
KALISZ, POLAND
The green-grey HMMWV stops in front of the house preceded by the beams of its front lights. The layer of grimes and dirt is barely visible in the moonlight, but the smell of oil, grease and dirt cannot be hidden. A man is standing on the footboard, his hand clutching the stump where the side mirror used to be. He steps down and taps the side of the vehicle twice with his fist “thanks for the ride”
“Yeah, yeah, sure” says a male voice from the inside of the vehicle “better start packing, sir”
“So I’ve been told” replies the man stepping away from the HMMWV.
“Okay sergeant, where now?”
A female voice comes from the other side of the cabin “anywhere out of this town corporal”
The driver steps on the pedal, and the vehicle resumes its noisy march into the night.
NASCAR has rolled up his fatigue’s sleeves and is scratching his tattooed forearms “what’s the latest LT?”
First Lieutenant Leonard ‘LED’ O’Donnell is a 41 years old man of average height with short, light blond hair that are starting to turn to a more greyish tone. He’s wearing standard issue combat boots and fatigue pants, and a brown/olive hunting jacket with a folded boonie hat sticking out of one pocket. He has a cluster of small scars on the side of his neck that he once said are ‘a souvenir of a previous life’. A veil of beard surrounds his mouth and covers the lower part of his face complementing his usually observant – almost cold – stare.
“Well” he says stepping on the porch and stopping just before the broken floor planks “good news is we got two hours to catch some sleep. Bad news is they want us ready to move in three hours. The 5th is leaving Kalisz”
“Leave? We just got here” protests NASCAR.
“Yes, we did, but apparently Ivan doesn’t like it…”
An explosion, smaller than the previous, is heard coming from somewhere East.
“… and he’s voicing his complaints. The 5th has been fighting for the past 12 hours, and they have been slowly pushed back to here. We got lucky finding them; had we picked any place East of Kalisz, we would have ended up in Russian territory”
“So, we’re leaving… where to? Wrocław? The Oder?” asks DONNA.
“I don’t know, Bonaugurio didn’t say. Somewhere West I guess, we need to link up with friendly forces. Get some shut eye, then we move to the train station; it’s possible command will re-assign our unit”
LED pauses briefly and takes a deep breath “I won’t lie to you, situation is dire: 5th division has been declared combat ineffective as of tonight. Supplies are down to what is in our pockets and there’s no way to mount an effective defense if the Russians press their attack”
“Any word from command? Reinforcements?” asks NASCAR with little hope.
“Nothing on the net”
Another explosion echoes in the air while everyone takes in the information.
“You’re sticking with us, LT?”
“I am” nods LED “at least for the time being. I guess that means you’re stuck with me”
NASCAR and DONNA briefly look at each other.
“We don’t mind, really” says DONNA and NASCAR agrees with her by nodding.
“Good” says LED “you guys did good in our little detour; I couldn’t have done it without you. I’m glad you were assigned to my command”
“How’s our V.I.P.?” asks NASCAR “the guy we pulled out of that mess”
“His name’s ALEX” says DONNA “it’s been ALEX for the past three days”
“I know that. So, what’s up with him?”
LED thinks for a moment “he should have been debriefed by now. Physically he’s alright” he turns to DONNA “right DOC?”
“Yeah, he was fine” says DONNA.
“That guy is lucky to still have his toes. Remember that place? All it needed was a car battery and a set of jumper cables to be like one of those caves they tortured P.O.W.s back in Vietnam”
“Yeah, that’s fuel for nightmares” comments LED.
“Do we know anything about the juicy intel he has?” asks DONNA “was it worth the trouble?”
“Sorry DOC, can’t say” answers LED.
NASCAR glances at DONNA “what’s that? Some top secret, eyes-only s**t for spooks only LT?”
“No, I just don’t know”
A muffled indistinct sound is heard, quickly followed by an explosion and debris falling to the ground.
“That was a tank” says NASCAR with a hint of concern “and it wasn’t far”
He and DONNA are in the backyard facing a burnt down house in the next lot, trying to get a glimpse of what’s going on at the eastern fringes of town. A line of trees about 100 meters away blocks most of the view. The explosions are now getting closer both in space and time, and they have started to hear machinegun bursts and engine noises. Another explosion arrives from beyond the trees, its sound vaguely resembling metal on metal.
“You got anything from up there, LT?” yells NASCAR.
LED has used a collapsed part of the roof to get on top of the house, and is now scouting the darkness with his binoculars.
“I think our guys just knocked down a BTR with an AT4”
“Good”
“Not really, it means the Russian are closer than I thought. You two better start packing”
“I thought we had a schedule” says NASCAR.
“So do the Russians apparently. We have to cross the river, and there’s only one bridge left in town. I don’t want to play who gets there first with them”
“Copy”
NASCAR and DONNA move back to the front porch and start gathering their gear, they hear confused voices from the next row of houses as bright green tracers travel the black sky.
DONNA is putting on her combat webbing “do we still have the pickup?”
NASCAR nods “yeah, I left it in an old garage just a couple of houses down the road”
“Alright, then I say we get to the bridge fast and give a ride to anyone on the way. Are you listening?”
NASCAR is looking the other way, towards the road. A solitary figure emerges from the darkness into the moonlight: a man with work shoes and beige trekking pants, with an olive cargo jacket. A hunting rifle is slinged to his back. He walks slowly, checking every house.
NASCAR steps down the porch to the edge of the road “well, look who’s back”
“Ah, good” says the man covering the last few steps with a jog. Aleksander ‘ALEX’ Krasinsky is a 36 years old Pole, light haired with just a few days of beard covering his face. He smiles and shakes the hand NASCAR is offering “I had almost lost my hopes of finding you guys”
“Man, I thought by now you would be on a secret stealth plane flying straight to the White House or something”
“Yeah… no, and it looks like anything man-made that could fly has disappeared about one year ago”
DONNA steps closer “I wouldn’t count on the White House being still there either. Your wounds?”
“I’ll be fine” says ALEX “and thank you again doctor”
“It’s DOC, or DONNA” she notes as multiple shots crack in the distance.
“Okay, sure. Is the lieutenant here?”
“That would be LED or LT” says DONNA.
LED arrives from the backyard, appearing from the side of the house “there’s a fire in town, North of here, is everybody ready?” He stops noticing ALEX “still alive?”
“That’s a common curse these days” observes the Pole.
“True, what can we do for you?”
“You could tell me what to do, I’ve been assigned to your unit”
NASCAR is securing his Kevlar helmet “nice, now we can play beach volley”
“Shut it” says LED “did Bonaugurio say it? The C.O.?”
“The man I spoke to in the theater, yes. I don’t have any paperwork…”
In the darkness at the end of the road, a machinegun opens fire in an unknown direction.
“… I think the printer was out of toner” finishes ALEX raising his brows.
“Or rather the army was out of printers” LED shakes ALEX’s hand “good to have you with us”
Everybody turns to the road when they hear someone running. A young corporal sees them and stops in front of the porch. He is wearing worn out fatigues, no helmet and only carries his M16A2 with no extra magazines.
“You guys have a rally point?” he says between heavy breaths.
LED steps forward and nods “train station”
The soldier waves a finger while trying to get some air “they’re pounding the bridge… everyone on this side of the river has to follow the water South… keep going… until you reach a rail bridge”
“Is there an officer there? Do we have a passcode?”
“What?” asks the soldier evidently surprised “no… just… go” he spits on the ground “I have to warn the others” and he disappears running down the road.
NASCAR leans into DONNA “is ‘combat ineffective’ a fancy way of saying f**ked up?”
“We have to move, come one” says LED getting on the road “single file, NASCAR you open”
“LT, we still have the truck, there’s half a tank in it”
“You haven’t reported it?”
A shell lands on the next raw of houses, creating a fireball and lighting everything in orange. The ground is quickly shaken with a sudden tremor.
“F**k it, let’s take it” agrees LED.
The group moves on the side of the road as more shells land on the neighborhood. NASCAR leads everyone to a wooden white garage and lifts a blue tarp revealing a civilian pickup the group had appropriated a few days before.
DONNA, having experience in driving ambulances, takes the wheel while ALEX and NASCAR check if the equipment in the back is still there, specifically a jerrican full of gasoline and an M136 AT4 anti-tank rocket launcher.
“Are we really just driving south until there’s a bridge?” asks DONNA while trying to clean the dirty windshield with her sleeve.
LED’s helping her from the outside “If it’s the rail bridge servicing the town’s station, it’s not nearly far enough”
“Great, then what?”
“I have a map of the region” says ALEX from the back.
LED is distracted by the sound of an approaching engine. “With me” he says pointing NASCAR, and the duo moves to the street. Gunfire coming from somewhere behind it.
An HMMVWV is approaching fast; LED waves an arm lit by the beam of the front lights and the vehicle abruptly stops in front of them.
“What’s going on?” asks NASCAR.
“What do you think? Does it look like the fourth of July to you?” says the private driving the vehicle.
The gunner is a thirty-something African-American with a bandaged head under a Polish steel helmet; he rotates the M240B towards the back “they have broken the lines, we’ve lost the bridge, we’ve lost the theatre, we’re just tryin’ to get out of here”
“We lost the theatre?” asks LED “what about command?”
Another explosion lights up the intersection at the dark end of the road; the gunner pounds the roof “c’mon, we gotta go”
The driver looks impatient “listen, I don’t know what happened to command, okay? Last comm we got said you are on your own, got it?”
The HMMWV speeds away as the gunner shouts “you better get out of here”
LED and NASCAR instinctively duck as a machinegun fires two rapid bursts just a few houses away. DONNA brings the pickup to the street. LED enters the cabin in the passenger seat and NASCAR jumps in the back.
“Left here” says LED taking out his compass “then just keep going”
In the back NASCAR is thinking aloud “That’s it? You are on your own. They couldn’t even say good luck?”
FINAL COMMENTS
This Twilight: 2000 campaign has been officially kicked off. Being the only one at the table, I opted for a completely narrative beginning for the adventure (have I had players I would have prepared something more interactive, at least in the dice-rolling sense). The group leaves Kalisz with a functioning vehicle, a handful of rations and limited weaponry and ammo. The travel map included in the boxed set is divided into hexagonal boxes, or hexes, and I rolled a D6 to determine which way my group was going (starting with 1 being North and moving clockwise). It came out 3: they’re moving South, so I adjusted the narration accordingly.