DAY 15 – MAY 2nd 2000
LUBLINIEC, POLAND – EVENING
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
The group has reached the Barracks of the 1st Special Operations Commando (SOC). LED has been recognized as the highest-ranking member of the group and allowed to meet the Commander of the unit.
The base, as the surrounding area, has been clearly touched by the war, though the main structures seem to have suffered only minor damages. The office building shows a decaying façade, with patches missing in the light-chocolate colored front and some shut windows, usually a sign that the glass behind is shattered.
The courtyard is well kept, the grass recently mowed and the sentinels look sharp and ready. Past the main building a small unit is training at the obstacle course, vaulting over logs and climbing ropes.
LED is escorted up a ramp of stairs and along a corridor, both clean and in good shape, up to a shiny wooden door with a bronze plaque carrying the insignia of the 1st SOC. The escort, a Polish soldier in his fifty with recently polished boots, knocks twice, waits for permission from the other side of the door, then turns the shiny brass knob opening the door for LED to get in.
The office is a perfect square. A big glass window opposite the door lets in the sunlight and offers a view over the motor vehicle pool and past that a grassy area. The right side is entirely occupied by a wooden library that spans the full height of the room, with the top shelves accessible via a metal ladder. On the left side is a glass display containing a sword, the medieval-type with a large blade and straight cross guard. Above the display on the wall is a black banner with the 1st SOC insignia traced in crimson red, perfectly centered over the glass case. The far corner next to the window is occupied by a flag pole carrying the Polish flag, with a marble base and a brass eagle on the top.
A large dark desk is set in the middle of the room, with three small stacks of paper perfectly aligned along its edge, a typewriter on the side, and an empty white marble ashtray next to it. Two chairs are lined with the desk on the door’s side, while on the other side a heavier chair with armrests is partially hidden by the man sitting on it.
Lieutenant Colonel BRANIECKI puts down the pen, makes sure it is aligned with the sheet of paper he was writing on, stands up and briefly adjusts his outfit. He is in full-service dress uniform, including shirt and tie, with ribbons and medals orderly displayed on his chest. A tall man with short hair and pale skin, his figure blocks a good part of the light coming in from the window.
LED can almost smell the discipline and order pervading the office. He straightens his back keeping his helmet under his arm, and salutes with his right hand springing to his forefront.
BRANIECKI reciprocate, his figure still for a couple seconds, then turns to the escort “zwolniony”
“Tak, proszę pana” replies the soldier before leaving.
BRAKIECKI moves to the other side of the room and offers LED his hand “Lieutenant Colonel LUCJAN BANIECKI” he says in good English.
LED takes the hand and shakes it “First Lieutenant LEONARD O’DONNEL, US Army”
“I understand you are here to help us with some troublemakers from the East”
LED nods “we heard you have some Russians in your backyard, yes sir”
“What else have you heard?”
“That you have reached a forced truce. You have one of their men, but they have one of yours, so now everyone keeps quiet and the hostages remain alive”
BRANIECKI nods without losing composure “they have one of my captains, we have a chorąźy”
“Sorry, sir, a what?”
“A chorąźy” repeats the commander “a starshina” [Russian: First Sergeant]
“Got it. I’m assuming you will not try an exchange, sir”
“Prisoners are exchanged. Hostages are released, or killed”
LED nods, pondering “these Russians, any idea who they are? Where they come from?”
“Deserters lieutenant, they are deserters” says BRANIECKI with a hint of disrespect “20th Tank Division; I don’t know how they got here or why. They probably had their reason and waited for the right opportunity”
“How many?”
“Twenty, thirty, or something in that range, that is an estimate based on our reconnaissance. Some are probably wounded, but we have no way of being sure”
“I’ve been told they occupy a military facility”
“A former missile base, two and a half kilometers Sout-West of here. It was decommissioned just before the invasion, and it had been abandoned for years. A couple of two-story buildings for administration and troop quarters, a radar dish which was destroyed, small launch bunkers, all non-functioning, a depot for assembly. A fence all around and guard towers. Terrain is mostly flat, with dirt accumulated around the bunkers for deflecting the blast; open areas are now unkept, with knee-high grass”
“Fence intact?”
“Everything was in a state of decay even before the war, and the Soviet struck the old dish for good measure anyway. The fence is rotting, and it has collapsed in some spots” BRANIECKI stops briefly “those spots are mined now. My scouts confirmed it. So if you are planning a rescue…” the sentence is left lingering.
“Actually, I was wondering if you had considered a raid” says LED.
“I have 51 men. As of now, 46 are able to fight. Ten to twenty of them are in town at any time, patrolling, manning checkpoints, staying in touch with the population. At least fifteen are needed for manning the perimeter of our base here, plus we need to farm, forage and hunt. We are stretched thin as it is”
BRIANIECKI moves to the window and looks out “we were planning a night operation, sabotage. We wanted to destroy their stockpile of food and maybe their ammo, forced them out. Then they captured Captain WALICH… He is a good soldier, a good man, liked and respected by everybody. My soldiers would attack if I ordered it, but the truth is nobody here likes the idea of him being killed because we broke the truce”
The commander pauses before adding “sometimes I wonder how it is for him out there”
LED looks out the window, past the broken vehicles parked in orderly lines, to the grassy area where he notices a line of crosses. “From what I understand, part of the deal is that each side has to treat its guest decently; you got reason to think they are not?”
“I do, and yet I have no proof of it. In two weeks we are supposed to give proof that we are treating their man… decently, as you said, and they have to do the same”
“Much can change in two weeks”
“Precisely. My guts tell me they will ask for something, food, weapons, supplies, and threaten to kill Captain WALICH”
LED goes one step forward following this logic “you think they don’t value their man as much as you do yours”
BRANIECKI turns “lieutenant, I had the doubtful pleasure of speaking to their so-called leader when we arranged this agreement. I looked him in the eyes. I know he doesn’t care much for his men”
“Sir, I would like to recon the missile base, with your permission of course” asks LED.
“What kind of action do you have in mind?”
“Nothing definitive so far, just the initial steps; I need to get the full picture first”
“Strictly speaking, you do not need my permission”
“I could use a guide”
BRANIECKI shakes his head “getting close to their camp would violate the truce”
“What if we move at night?” proposes LED.
“No lieutenant, I cannot risk them spotting one of my soldiers, they could execute Captain WALICH. If you want to see the place with your eyes, you will have to go alone”
“Understood, sir. I would also like to speak to your prisoner”
“You can, but he will not say more than I have already told you. And the current circumstances are limiting our means of pressure”
LED nods “still, I’d like to talk to him”
“Why would he talk to an American?”
“Because this particular American speaks Russian, and has a Russian uniform in his backpack”
FINAL COMMENTS
I kept this scene short by design. The group was already aware of the impasse between the 1st SOC and the Russians, and BRANIECKI added a few more details to the situation, telling the players that things are a bit more personal than they thought.
While The Black Madonna expansion book states the 1st SOC is in Lubliniec, commander BRANIECKI is my own creation. His appearance and demeanor (as well as his office) are meant to hint at the way he manages his unit. The players can infer what they can expect from their Polish allies under the commander’s rule.
Now it’s time to try and get some first-hand intel, with a bit of role-playing within the role-playing.