DAY 15 – MAY 2nd 2000
LUBLINIEC, POLAND – EVENING
The two men in Russian uniform stop right outside a metal door guarded by a sentinel, preceded by a corporal from the 1st SOC. The soldier turns and briefly inspects them “tvoye oruzhiye” he says.
The two men wait for a couple of seconds “khorosho” says the first who then slowly draws his Makarov pistol from the side holster and passes it to the corporal.
The soldier turns to the sentinel, a young man wearing a red beret, armed with an SMG. “Mają 15 minut” he says. The sentile nods and produces a key from one of his pockets, unlocks the door and steps aside.
The Russian Mladshiy Serzhant enters first, followed by the Kapitan. The 1st SOC corporal takes a look inside the room, the PM pistol still visible in his hand, then says “15 minut”
“Da” nods the Serzhant.
The prisoner is standing, and by the look on his face he had listened to the few words of Russian spoken from the other side of the door with anticipation. The book he was reading is now opened face-down on the small desk in the room, and the chair he was sitting on is angled towards the door.
There is an army cot with blankets and a pillow, a sink and a toilet in the corner, and a small shelf with a couple books. A single small window lets in the daylight, projecting stripes of shadow from its metal bars onto the side wall.
The prisoner appears in good physical conditions, with no evident signs of injuries.
“Tovarishch” says the Serzhant “ya Serzhant PANARIN” he then gestures towards the other man “eto Kapitan VORONOV”
The prisoner straightens his posture and salutes the Kapitan “starshina ALEXEI PAVLOVSKI” he says.
We’re off to a good start, thinks LED while saluting back.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
So far it has been only a brief exchange of words, but as we’re about to enter a conversation in Russian (which I’ll write in English, don’t worry) I need to see whether LED and ALEX can pass for genuine Russians.
My plan is for ALEX to speak as little as possible, leaving the bulk of the conversation to LED, I will therefore only have him roll (and house-rule that ALEX’s Russian doesn’t raise any suspicion). LED has the Linguist specialty, and can pass for a Russian native speaker on a successful PERSUASION roll. The agreed theatrics played with the help of the 1st SOC and the uniform will amount to a +1 on his roll.
PAVLOVSKI, the prisoner, has EMP C and no skill level in PERSUASION. LED needs more successes than the prisoner.
- LED rolls [D12+D10] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled 3 and 10)
- PAVLOVSKI rolls [D8] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 2)
LED’s Russian is good enough. This is just for LED to pass as a Russian officer, any other attempt at persuading the prisoner for something specific will generate its own PERSUASION roll.
Now, time to rehearse the story LED and ALEX have prepared for the occasion.
“Are they treating you well?” asks LED while looking around the room.
“Yes captain” nods the prisoner.
LED takes off his hat “comrade, we have travelled a long distance, and we have little time, so I will tell you why we are here and I want you to listen carefully”
The prisoner nods while keeping his head slightly down.
“Our division is going home; we are gathering supplies and vehicles and rallying forces. After the next harvest, we are going back to the Motherland”
PAVLOVSKI’s eyes widen for a moment “did Colonel KAZANOV give the order, comrade captain?”
LED gets fractionally closer and lowers his voice “things have changed, KAZANOV is not in charge any more” he briefly glances at the door “there are things I cannot say in here”
The prisoner nods again.
“Small teams have been dispatched to rally all soldiers who have strayed from the Division. Some scouts reported a group in the vicinity of this town and we were ordered here. I understand there is a group of soldiers from our Division in a facility not far, is that correct?”
PAVLOVSKI nods showing some anxiety “yes comrade captain, a few kilometers from here”
“I have spoken to the Polish commander of this base” says LED “he says you were part of that group”
“Yes” says the prisoner lowering his gaze “we are… we are deserters”
“Comrade PAVLOVSKI” says LED pausing until the other looks him in the eyes “we are going home. We are all going home. We don’t care about anything else. We are making an effort to reach every single soldier. That is why we are here, and nothing else”
PAVLOVSKI nods repeatedly “yes, comrade captain”
“I will not force anybody to come back if they don’t want to, but I would like to reach as many Russian sons as I can and let them know they have this possibility” LED pauses briefly “this group you were part of, do you think they would like to go home?”
PAVLOVSKI seems to ponder for a second, his eyes darting to various spots on the floor “I cannot speak for all of them, comrade captain. But I think most of them would like to go home”
LED nods slowly, seemingly taking in the information “how many soldiers are we talking about?”
“When I got captured, our group had 23 men, myself included”
LED turns to ALEX “23… our truck will not be enough”
“No comrade captain” says ALEX who then turns to the sergeant “can they all walk? Anybody wounded?”
“We had two wounded men two weeks ago; if they have not improved, they will not be able to walk”
“Were you captured in a firefight?” asks LED
“Yes, comrade captain” answers PAVLOVSKI keeping his head down “two weeks ago”
LED turns to ALEX “there may be more wounded. Anybody who cannot walk goes in the truck; the rest take turns”
“Yes, comrade captain”
LED goes back to the prisoner “at first, I wanted to bring you with me at the facility your group occupies, but the Polish commander will not let you go until we bring back a Polish soldier who has been taken prisoner. We will bring everyone here, let the prisoner go, get you free and leave. That is, assuming you want to go back home”
“Yes, comrade captain” quickly nods PAVLOVSKI “I would certainly like to”
“Now, how do we approach this facility without getting shot?”
“Well, the main gate is closed shut with a chain, there are some breaches in the fence, but we have booby-trapped them. All except one we use to get in and out; there are guards there and you need a password, but they change it every couple of days so the one I know is old now”
“What if I approached the fence alone, with my hands up?” asks LED.
“They will spot you for sure”
“And what if I had my uniform on?”
“They would see that”
ALEX takes a half step forward “comrade, the captain is asking if your group of deserters has any particular reason to shoot an officer on sight”
“If your last officer was a svoloch’ and that is why you… left, I don’t want to remind you of that man” says LED.
“No…” says PAVLOVSKI “it’s not like that. I think they will not shoot you”
“Good; you said you use a passage to get in and out. So is it possible that if I go there tomorrow morning some men will not be there?”
“Yes, comrade captain” confirms the prisoner “we let out small groups every day for hunting and foraging in the forest. They usually leave at dawn”
“So if I go there tomorrow, we may be ready to leave the day after” says LED thinking aloud, then to ALEX “I need to speak with the Polish commander, find a place to stay here in town”
ALEX nods in return.
“Comrade PAVLOVSKI, if everything goes according to the plan we will be back here in two days”
“Thank you, comrade captain”
“One last thing: is someone in charge of your group?”
“Captain SMIRNOV appointed himself commander when we arrived” answers the prisoners.
LED nods “thank you comrade first sergeant PAVLOVSKI, you have been helpful”
And you have no idea how much thinks LED.
EVENING SHIFT [click to expand]
The group spends the Evening Shift at the 1st SOC barracks. Everyone consumes 1 MRE and 1 water ration; NASCAR, ALEX and DONNA get some shut-eye, while LED remains awake pondering the group’s options.
FINAL COMMENTS
Looks like the dress made the part, though LED certainly played it convincingly. The success of the deception hinged on a single Persuasion roll; once that was in the bank, the rest was just roleplaying. Or at least that’s what I would have done with players around the table, and decided to follow the same approach here.
LED had planned for a bit of theatrics, and it paid off. They have learned a few key details about the Russians occupying the base, which will come in handy no matter what approach they decide to take.
Gathering intel is a crucial step in preparing for success, and I figure LED would know this better than anyone else in my group. Question now is: what’s the next step? And what role does this knowledge play in it?