DAY 9 – APRIL 26th 2000
SOUTH of DOBRODZIEN, POLAND – NIGHT
The group is escorted to the second floor and instructed to leave their gear on a small table and wait on a couple of old sofas in a corridor. They are stained and worn out, yet the most comfortable thing they have sat on for quite some time, and when the light breeze comes in from a broken window, the place feels like a grand hotel. Only DONNA is occupied with more pressing concerns, so the sergeant empties a metal trash can and hands it to her receiving a short moan in return.
A tall man with a US captain uniform comes out of a thick wooden door that screeches as it opens, he briefly looks at the four before saying “Lieutenant Colonel WARREN will speak to you one at a time”
He then points at DONNA who right in that moment starts round two in the bucket. After she’s done, the captain, seemingly unfazed, says “you are first ma’am” and then holds the door open as DONNA cautiously walks into the next room while clutching the metal bucket.
She emerges a handful of minutes after, paler than before, and lets her body drop on the sofa.
“So?” asks NASCAR “how’s the top dog?”
DONNA breaths heavily “I’m not sure I made much sense in there” then she pauses while trying to remember something “I think she called me ‘sister’ at some point”
“She?”
The 116th Cav captain looks at NASCAR “get up corporal, you’re next”
NASCAR is in the room for less than five minutes before the door screeches open again and he gets out. LED looks at him raising his brows.
“That broad is smart” says NASCAR “like scary smart”
The captain steps out of the room “Kapral KRASINSKI, twoja kolej” he says speaking good Polish.
ALEX stands up and enters the room, then NASCAR sits on one couch with LED so that DONNA can lie down on the other.
“LT, she’ll have a lot of questions for ALEX, but a lot more for you” says NASCAR.
LED nods “any idea why?”
“I don’t think she’s trying to play us, I just think she wants some intel about recent events. I told her the truth, just from Kalisz to here, no major details”
“Good” comments LED.
“Oh, ahm, I’m not sure but… she looked interested in that burning house we saw in the afternoon. I don’t know, really, she asked a lot of questions about it”
LED nods again, his mind at work.
“One more thing: I told her you are in charge LT”
“Any particular reason why?”
“Well, there’s rank, and I figure you’re the best equipped to deal with that psy-ops s**t”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence”
“Anytime LT”
LED touches DONNA’s boot “DOC, are you still with us?
DONNA is covering her eyes with her hand “sadly” she replies.
“Any words of wisdom before I go in?”
DONNA lifts her hand to look at LED. “Tell the truth”
After a few more minutes the door opens and ALEX comes out. LED gets up and moves for the door; as ALEX passes by him, he briefly grabs LED by the arm and whispers “she’s not the only one listening”
The room is gloomy, only catching the dying light coming from the west. It probably used to be an office: there’s a wooden desk with neatly organized stacks of paper, a series of filing cabinets, a table with matching chairs and a low cabinet with drawers on the opposite side of the sole window. A soldier stands by the door, while a woman in civilian clothes is casually leaning against the door opposite to the one LED came in, her figure partially hidden in the dark and her eyes already scanning the new guest.
LTC WARREN is busy turning on a couple of lamps sitting on the low cabinet and LED can only see her back: a thin frame of average height and dark hair gathered in a tight chignon. She turns and deposits one lantern at the center of the table, then steps towards LED.
“Lieutenant Colonel MOLLY WARREN, C.O. of the 1/116th Armored Cavalry” she says offering her hand.
LED shakes it “First Lieutenant LEONARD O’DONNELL, 5th Division, if that’s still a thing”
WARREN shows LED a chair and takes a seat on another one on the adjacent side of the table. He nods and then moves the chair just a couple of feet so he can see the other woman in the corner of his eye.
Artwork from The Black Madonna Manual by Free League
A smile seems to curve WARREN’s lips for a fraction of a second.
“Your men speak highly of you” says WARREN gesturing towards the door.
“I can speak highly of them, yet I don’t think that’s why I’m here”
WARREN starts counting on her fingers “spring offensive, Russian counterattack, Kalisz, Praszka, is that correct?”
“To make a long story short, yes ma’am”
“The 116th Cav was supposed to rendezvous with 5th Division in Łόdż, but we never made it there. We got lucky and evaded the Russian in Wieluń, and then we got here. And now you are here, and I’d like to know why”
“The people of Praszka told us we may find a US Army unit in the vicinity of Dobrodzień. After Kalisz we’ve been on our own, cut off from chain of command, assuming there’s still one. Finding another US unit is our best chance of getting back in the loop”
“So you’ll still do your part in the war?”
LED ponders his options for a second, then settles on honesty as his best policy. “Ma’am, in all honesty, my most pressing concern is keeping my men alive. I think if there’s still some operational capacity left in the US military, my best chances at succeeding are within its confines. That’s what history tells us at least”
“I can hardly think of a precedent to this situation in history. We’ll live and learn I guess”
LED nods “ma’am, If I may, I’d like to know If there’s still some level of… coordination. Something operating on a scale wider than a messenger running from one side of town to the other”
“You want to know if they have nuked EUCOM?”
“Or if they still know how to operate a radio” concludes LED with a grin.
“I’m afraid I can’t help you there. The thread that links me to the US Army has gotten…” WARREN pauses while glancing at the other woman “… thin. The people of this town welcomed us and now I’m responsible for them as much as I’m responsible for the 116th Cav”
LED decides to venture in a suggestion “friends and allies might make that task easier”
“When someone thinks they have the bigger picture, and when they have authority over you, they start giving you orders without giving you context. Command has told me to send my men in combat without reason one too many times”
WARREN glances at the other woman again. LED catches the latter crossing her arms in the corner of his eye.
“Now I have the big picture” continues WARREN “which brings me to this: I understand you helped the folks in Prazka solving a problem”
“That’s one way of putting it” nods LED.
“And coming here you saw a burning farmhouse?”
“That’s correct, about two clicks N-NE of where your men found us”
“What did you see there?”
“There were corpses scattered around the farmhouse, all in civilian clothes. Men, women, and three children. Some had been shot, other beaten to death. Some had ligatures marks around their wrists, and some had been shot in the back of their heads”
“How many bodies?”
“Nine. Whoever did that stripped them of anything useful and set the house on fire. I’m assuming they rifled through it as well, but we didn’t enter”
“Did you see anyone around the farm’s area when you got there?”
“No, ma’am”
“Are you sure?”
“We didn’t see anybody” confirms LED.
WARREN goes a bit back in her chair and stares intently at LED, who doesn’t say anything while looking back at her.
“We’ve been having troubles with a particular group in the past weeks” says WARREN “at first, they looked like typical marauders, but these people are… something else. They’re ruthless and don’t seem interested in any kind of negotiation. And when all you do is murder folks and destroy property, it’s hard to see some kind of logical purpose to your actions”
LED nods while narrowing his eyes “sounds familiar”
WARREN gets up and takes something from a filing cabinet. She then deposits on the table in front of LED two white armbands: one with a cross traced in black, the other with a cross traced in red. LED rotates the armbands so that now the crosses are upside-down.
“Yeah” he says “I see you met the Sheperd’s Flock”
As the Sheperd’s Flock has taken over the conversation, LED offers a briefing about the group’s activities in Praszka and specifically about their multiple confrontation with the Flock’s fighters, ending with what happened at Wanda Chotomska school.
In return he is informed that Flock’s soldiers have roamed the countryside around Dobrodzień for weeks now, pillaging small villages and communities, killing everyone was trying to resist them and taking those who surrender with them. They have been especially active East of Dobrodzień.
There have been multiple skirmishes between the Flock’s soldiers and the 116th Cav patrols, with casualties on both sides. Some of the people living in the countryside have moved to Dobrodzień, where they are better protected, while others have remained where they are hoping for the best. It seems folks in Dobrodzień are not happy about the influx of new people.
Multiple communities have asked the American unit for help, but LTC WARREN has limited forces and cannot extend an effective protection to the whole area. The 116th Cav conducts regular foot patrols to keep in touch with friendly settlements in the area, both for gathering intel and for hearts&minds purposes.
It is not clear what the Flock is planning, but all evidence points to the fact they’re gathering men and supplies somewhere between Dobrodzień and Czestochowa.
“The people who died at the farmhouse, were you in touch with them?” asks LED.
“It’s possible. That house was abandoned long ago. It’s possible they moved there to find refuge from the Flock. Maybe they were trying to get here. I’m afraid my next patrol will find some burned down town from which those people fled”
“Any clue as to the Flock’s whereabouts? Do they have a base of operations or something?”
“We’ve narrowed the area down, but it’s at the edge of our territory, assuming we can call it that way, and long-range patrols are a gamble these days”
WARREN takes a military map from her desk and opens it on the table. She puts a finger on it “roughly here”
LED is studying the map as it shows more details than the one the group is using, trying to memorize as much as he can for noting it on their own map later. After a while he notices WARREN is looking at him with the hint of a smile on her face.
LED is quick to realize and a forced smile curves his lips “I guess this is the part where we volunteer for a… how did you call it? A gamble”
“Your men told me you were smart. But I have something more definitive in mind”
“Care to share, ma’am?”
WARREN turns to the soldier standing at the door, “PFC REES, your beret” The soldier hands his commander his black beret and she deposits it on the map. The beret carries the DUI (Distinctive Unit Insignia) of the 116th Cav. On it is written Move. Strike. Destroy.
“You may want to add ‘find’ to your plan, ma’am” notes LED pointing at the beret.
“Then we’re damned lucky to have you here lieutenant”
FINAL COMMENTS
LTC MOLLY WARREN was introduced in The Black Madonna expansion module as the commander of the 1/116th US Armored Cavalry. I personally really like her character as portrayed in the expansion book: she is described as having the respect of her troops as well as a talent for leadership.
She is a great leader for an army unit that finds itself stranded in a foreign land acting with full independence.
I played out the scene with no dice rolls, as I had envisioned the 1/116th Cav to be friendly towards the players. It is stated in the module that WARREN personally interviews all American personnel herself, which proved an easy way for my group to get straight to the top of the command structure.
Of course, the 1/116th Cav has its own priorities and WARREN her own agenda, one in which the group may play a role…