DAY 11 – APRIL 28th 2000
EAST of DOBRODZIEN, POLAND – MORNING
LED and NASCAR are taking inventory just outside the church, while ALEX is conversing with FATHER ŁUKASZ and DONNA is peacefully sleeping on a church bench in a corner of the main nave.
“Hey LT, these Flock goons had amassed quite the arsenal; are we getting any of their stuff?”
“We are, I made sure of it”
“What? Like half of it or something?”
LED frowns his brow “what? Half of it? We wouldn’t even be able to carry half of it”
“Right… then we should get the truck too”
“I’m not sure it works that way, but we’ll get our share” LED looks at the two backpacks lined against the church’s wall “though they could start with an extra backpack and some MREs”
“I’ve seen where they keep the MREs, I’ll be right back” says NASCAR.
“We should ask first”
NASCAR stops and turns “really LT? We assaulted the place, caught the bad guy, freed the hostages, and I can’t get a meal out of it?”
“I can’t argue with that. There’s a couple soldiers inside taking inventory, at least tell them what you’re taking”
“You got it sir” says NASCAR entering the church.
LED shakes his water bottle hearing little water splashing around, then hears footsteps coming from behind. He turns and sees ALEX closely followed by a little boy dressed in ill-fitting clothes, wearing sneakers and a dark beanie.
“There’s someone looking for you” says ALEX.
“Really?”
ALEX gets closer “he said he’s looking for pan Leonard, mister LEONARD”
“Alright” LED turns to the kid who’s showing a vaguely curious expression on his face.
The kid says something and ALEX is quick to translate “he has something for you”
The kid produces a folded paper from one of his pockets and hands it to LED.
“And who’s that from?” asks LED immediately followed by ALEX’s Polish translation.
“Kobieta o ciemnych włosach”
“The dark-haired woman” says ALEX, who then asks “jakaś nazwa?”
The boy shakes his head while still holding the piece of paper in front of his face.
“Dark-haired woman, that’s all” says ALEX “no name apparently”
“Dark-haired uh? Maybe it’s from my high school girlfriend” comments LED taking the object from the kid’s hand “dziękuję”
It’s a standard sized piece of paper that has been folded multiple times and appears to contain another, slightly thicker piece inside. LED unwraps it and when he finally gets to the final half-fold, he sees there’s something written inside: meet me at the cave.
The thicker piece of paper is actually a playing card. LED turns it revealing the four of diamonds. His mind is already at work as he passes the folded paper with the card inside to ALEX.
ALEX takes it and clears his throat, then looking at LED he nods towards the kid who’s still standing there.
“I think he wants something for his services”
“Right” says LED as he starts to rummage in his pockets “it’s been a while since I had to tip someone”
He then gets both hands out closed in a fist, extend his arms and says “okay kid, pick one”
No need for a translation as the kid is already pondering which one to pick. After a moment he taps LED’s left fist which opens revealing a spare bullet.
“Good pick” says LED.
The kid takes the bullet as his eyes bright up and then runs away.
LED watches him disappearing in the crowd of people camped in front of the church, then turns to ALEX who’s watching him. ALEX nods at LED’s right hand, still closed in a fist. LED opens it revealing another spare bullet.
ALEX smiles “I just wanted to be sure”
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Bullets act as currency in TW2K; all the characters have a handful of them since the beginning of the campaign. After completing day 11 of the campaign, I updated LED’s character sheet and I notice he only had 1 spare round in his gear…
Yet I liked this little scene with the kid so much that I kept it unchanged. For the sake of balance, I also removed one spare round from ALEX’s gear.
“Yeah, I don’t have kids, but I know a little about them. You checked the note?”
ALEX unfolds the piece of paper, reads the message, then flips the card “interesting”
“Agreed”
“Well, the cave is obviously…”
“Obviously” nods LED.
“I see our name, or at least your name is going around”
“I think it’s our business card actually” says LED pointing at the card.
“Who knows about it?”
“Well, there’s MARIA, the counsellor back in Praszka, it was her idea. And WARREN, I told WARREN back in Dobrodzień when we were….” LED stops briefly “oh”
“What?” asks ALEX.
“There was another person, back in Dobrodzień. Remember what you told me? WARREN wasn’t the only one listening”
LED, NASCAR and DONNA are outside the church, seated around the ashes of a small fire under the cloudy morning sky. Just beside them the shrubs are gently oscillating in the light breeze. LED has taken off his combat boots and is massaging his right foot while DONNA, who has just woken up, is still struggling to awake fully.
NASCAR is contemplating the note and the included card once more. “Meet me at the cave. Just that? Not even a hint of who this person is?”
“They obviously didn’t want to say” answers LED “but they mentioned the cave and they had our card, so the possibilities are really limited. As I said, I think it was that woman back at WARREN’s HQ, but my guess is as good as yours”
“Do we have any idea who she was?”
“None, well… not really. She looked interested in our recent vicissitudes, but I got little more than that. And frankly I hadn’t thought about it until now”
NASCAR scratches his neck “I thought she was like a senior officer or something, you’re telling me she was a spook?”
“I didn’t want to go that far, but…” LED leaves the sentence lingering, his eyes trained on the ashes.
“But that’s what you think” finishes DONNA.
“You got that too DOC?” asks NASCAR.
“Back then I was a bit busy emptying my stomach in a bucket… I didn’t even notice she was a woman”
“And now?”
DONNA yawns while covering her mouth with one hand “now I’m thinking that chalice we found is more important than we thought, and that man’s diary doesn’t tell the whole story”
“The golden cup? We’re back to that? Really, LT?” asks NASCAR turning to LED.
“The message mentions the cave: the chalice and the diary where in the cave. The diary doesn’t seem to carry any useful intel, so perhaps the chalice has more than meets the eye” says LED. “Anyway, now we have to decide whether we want to meet the mystery woman or go straight back to Dobrodzień, get our share of the loot, and plan our next move. Personally, I’m for going back to the cave. If we have to travel with that chalice, I’d rather know what we’re carrying with us”
“Whatever you decide LT, we’ll follow” says NASCAR calmly.
“Same here” adds DONNA.
“I was really hoping for a consensus… that’s just obedience, and mine wasn’t an order”
“What does ALEX say?” asks DONNA.
“He’s for going back to the cave”
“Then you got your consensus” says DONNA, who then raises her hand “which we are all giving willingly, and so help us God”
LED looks at NASCAR.
“What she said”
“Okay, I guess we’ll talk about the risks of falling into an ambush later, grab your stuff, we’re leaving”
“What happens to the people here?” asks NASCAR.
LED turns towards the small camp in front of the church “half of them is going back with the 116th, the other half is moving South. They’ve received some provisions and weapons; they need some luck now, and there’s not much going around lately”
“Splitting up, that’s a fool’s move” comments DONNA with concern.
“But it’s their move” replays NASCAR “and it’s the first they get make in a while. I say let them go and whish ‘em luck”
ALEX exits the church’s main door and joins the group just as LED is putting his boots back on.
“What’s the latest?” asks LED.
“They’re getting ready to move. FATHER ŁUKASZ is going to Dobrodzień with the Americans” ALEX looks around the group “what’s our next move? Do we have a consensus?”
“Well, apparently the consensus is that the mystery message was very well written, and we’d like to meet the author”
“Good, I’ll get my stuff” says ALEX moving for the church.
“Wait” says NASCAR “what about the KNIGHT and the other prisoners?”
ALEX gets back and lowers his voice “ELK is leaving their fate to the people. And the people are going to hang them before they leave”
NASCAR shrugs and a brief silence follows.
LED gets up “grab your stuff, I’ll talk to ELK, get a few supplies. See you back here in thirty minutes”
ALEX and LED leave, while NASCAR and DONNA move up the stairs in front of the church. NASCAR is still looking at the note on the folded piece of paper “meet me at the cave” he says to nobody.
He then smiles and turns to DONNA “you know DOC, this would be a lot cooler if it was signed by batman”
FINAL COMMENTS
Among the many possibilities that emerged from the group’s action at Flock Camp, I decided to guide their next steps and move a bit forward in the Black Madonna campaign.
Moving back to the 1/116 HQ seemed like a logical step: it’s a safe town controlled by allies, there’s the possibility of obtaining more intel from WARREN, and the group is still owed its share of the loot.
A note about the KNIGHT: I fleshed him out to the degree I though I could use it after the fight, but with the expectation he would not survive it (I know, it’s odd…). In the end, I couldn’t find a way to incorporate him in the narration, and it seemed unrealistic to just let him go. I thought about what he did to the people kept captive in camp flock, and what they would do to him in return. That informed his fate.