DAY 5 – APRIL 22nd 2000
PRASZKA, POLAND – NIGHT
The duo moves downstairs to ground floor, noticing that the gunfire is decreasing in intensity. They retrace their steps moving through the dark suburb of single-family houses, then across the street back to Garage Hotel.
They’re moving down the row of units, sticking to the side of the alley and proceeding toward the faint light of the fire, when a voice comes from the shadows just up ahead.
“Buddy”
LED and NASCAR stop and reflexively take a knee; it takes a couple of seconds for both to remember, then they say “Holly!” at once, their volume higher than what’s recommended by the circumstances.
“Okay guys, two coming out, don’t be alarmed” says a familiar voice.
LED and NASCAR watch as two figures emerge from the darkness of a unit and step forward in the dim light. ALEX has his hands raised in front of his chest, his hunting rifle slinged on his back “easy, easy, good to see you again, you alright?”
LED looks at the other man who has remained a step back, “We’re fine” says LED, “how are things here?”
“We’re okay. I think you guys remember our sherpa”
The other man steps forward, he’s thin and tall, with a thick, grey and brown beard. He has an AKM pointed at the ground. It’s the guide who escorted them from the checkpoint to Garage Hotel. LED nods, still cautious, “yeah, I remember”
“He brought us all the way here to Everest, and now he’s looking for some intel”
“Sure, okay” says LED calmly, having recognized the code word.
“Where were you two?” asks the guide.
LED keeps his AK-74 pointed down, “we wanted to help, so we went to a nearby building. The attackers had a machine gun there, we took care of it”
“Where?”
LED’s mind is at work, when he’s interrupted by NASCAR “Fabryczna 9” he says butchering the word, “though, you know, my Polish sucks”
“It’s just north of here, overlooking the river’s bank, across the road there’s one of your outposts” explains LED.
“I know” says the guide seriously, “then what?”
“The attackers had an armored vehicle, and it showed up just outside our windows, so we took care of it”
“How?”
“Remember we had an AT tube?” says LED.
The guide nods.
“Well, we don’t have it anymore, we put it to good use”
“Yeah, you guys are welcome by the way” quickly adds NASCAR, his finger still on the trigger of his M249.
LED turns and waves his hand to shut his buddy.
“Keep talking”
“I guess the attackers didn’t appreciate our intervention, because a group followed us in the building and we defended ourself”
“You killed them?”
“Yeah”
“How many?”
“Four”
“In total?”
“Well, there were 3 in the machine gun team, and 4 in the group that attacked us” counts LED.
“Plus the guys in the technical, we didn’t see anybody bail” adds NASCAR.
“Right” says LED, “there’s a good chance we killed the guys manning the technical too. After the last group stormed the building, we decided to get back here”
There’s a few seconds of silence, then LED slowly adds “so, here we are”
The guide nods, “okay, let’s go”. He then gestures toward the fire and starts moving in its direction.
ALEX waves his arm to tell the others to follow and then goes after the guide. NASCAR and LED look at each other, then nod and start trailing ALEX.
NASCAR raises his eyes as the moon briefly appears in between the clouds, it almost full disc layering everything in a thin blanket of pale, almost imperceptible light. “Moon is out” he says.
LED briefly looks up as well “is that good or bad?”
“I don’t know LT” NASCAR shrugs “it’s just the moon”
Once they are in the vicinity of the fire, dark clouds have taken back the sky completely.
DONNA and the prisoners are on the unit directly in front the one with the fire. The prisoners are lined up against the wall, with the wounded leader laying in the middle and DONNA seated with her back against the opposite wall, her blood-stained hands resting on her knees, and her M16A1 and backpack right beside her.
Standing at the entrance is another man with combat boots, military pants from a soviet uniform and a hunting jacket. He has dark hair, a short beard, and is holding a PMK-60 close to his chest. He turns quickly when the four men appear from the corner but relaxes as soon as he sees the guide.
LED looks inside the unit, “you good?” he asks DONNA.
“Yeah, I’m alright; the locals just wanted a chat with our guests here”
LED nods. He then looks at the enemy leader, “him?”
“I did what I could, bought him some time” DONNA rubs her hands together “he still needs surgery asap”
LED nods again. One of the prisoners has a black eye and bruises on the left side of his face. “Those are new” he says turning to ALEX.
“As I said: our sherpa wanted some intel” answers ALEX.
“Unarmed rank and file men are usually pretty talkative; did he really need an incentive?” asks LED pointing at the bruised prisoner.
“Information is very valuable” says the guide, “sometimes people don’t want to share it. So, they need… a little push” Then he turns to the prisoner and says something in Polish, by the tone something threatening.
“I told you their story” says ALEX, “I told you why they’re here”
“You told me what they told you, we will know soon enough if it’s true” The guide turns to LED “when the sun rises, go to our outpost near ulica Fabryczna, do you understand where I mean?”
“Yeah, it’s the outpost they’ve been pounding, I got it. But why?” asks LED.
“Someone wants to talk to you” the guide and his companion start moving away; a few steps then the former stops and turns “do not be late, it is rude”
LED, ALEX and NASCAR watch the two militiamen disappear into the darkness of the night. A couple of shots crack somewhere to the East.
“Rude, uh?” says NASCAR “guy didn’t even say please”
FINAL COMMENTS
Looks like someone has noticed what the players have done so far in (and for the) town. The group has received a formal(-ish) invitation, yet the way it was delivered could spell trouble.
My plan as a Referee is to broaden the players’ horizon here: there has been a battle in town and they have only seen a fraction of it, yet there’s more.