DAY 15 – MAY 2nd 2000
SW of LUBLINIEC, POLAND – NIGHT
PHASE 1
BIANKA leads her two companions, LED and ALEX, up to the fence, following it for about ten meters until after a slight bend she starts to probe the fence itself, by pulling at it with her hands.
After a couple of tries, she finds what she’s looking for: a section at the bottom of the fence pulls away from the rest, big enough for someone crouched to get inside. LED is quick to grab the section of the fence and hold it in position for his comrades to get in. ALEX briefly removes his helmet so that the NVGs and IR illuminator don’t get caught in the upper part of the fence.
Once inside, BIANKA takes twenty seconds to make sure the cut in the fence has its two sides aligned, just like before their entrance.
LED can see the profile of ALEX’s helmet turning left and right. He gets closer to him and whispers “were to now?”
ALEX grabs the other’s arm and lifts it, pointing in the direction of the dirt berm around the closest bunker.
“Got it” says LED.
When BIANKA has finished, ALEX takes her hand and puts it on LED’s shoulder, then places LED’s hand on his.
LED taps BIANKA’s hand and she taps his shoulder, then he taps ALEX’s shoulder. Ready to move.
They advance cautiously in a grassy area, then across a formerly paved track, and another grassy stretch before reaching the berm. They all line up against it and move to their right, around a curve and then stop.
They all take a knee and observe what’s in front of them: a fire has been lit up in front of the two main building, now a couple hundred meters in front of them. Only the tip of the flames is visible, meaning the fire is inside a container of some sort, wider than the other fire they had spotted before.
The red light shows the bottom part of the two buildings, where some shadows seem to indicate windows and doors.
ALEX closes one eye and briefly lifts the NVGs to make sure they are well outside the circle of light projected by the fire. Then dons back the goggles and scouts around. Nobody is in sight.
PHASE 2
ALEX turns, grabs LED’s arm and points it towards his front and right. “Second bunker” he whispers.
LED gets his hand back on the comrade’s shoulder and taps it once.
They all stand, and once again confirm they are ready to move.
ALEX leads them across the open grassy area, slightly crouched just like his followers, his heart accelerating as his brain tells him to get back to cover soon.
They get back to the track, follow it staying on its side, and arrive at the berm around the second bunker. They stack up as before, only this time exposing themselves as little as possible.
The two buildings are now about 100 meters in front of them, their features slightly more defined.
To their South they have now direct line of sight on the two sentinels standing by the fence on the opposite side. By the look of it they are engaged in conversation, both standing close to each other, facing the fence.
ALEX tilts his head to widen his field of view fractionally, then scans the entire surroundings, including the group’s back. He then sets his eyes on the buildings and observe them silently for five full minutes.
After that he turns, grabs LED and pulls him closer “all clear, but I can’t see the roof” he whispers “need to get closer and observe for a bit”
LED nods, remembering BIANKA told them there’s usually a sentinel on the roof of the barracks at night. “Fifteen minutes” he says quietly “if the patrol shows up, get back”
PHASE 3
ALEX reaches the edge of the dirt berm and crouches down, stopping to slowly scan around. He knows the beam projected by the illuminator is in infra-red, and therefore not visible to the naked eye, but he can’t totally shake the idea that he’s projecting a beam of light everywhere he looks, telling everyone where he is.
He then slowly moves along the berm towards a corner of the fence, steps forward until he reaches the edge of some low bushes whose branches are protruding through the fence. He positions himself as low as possible while still being able to see above the grass.
The boxy container where the fire has been lit is flanked by two stacks of branches: probably fuel collected during the day to keep the fire going through the night.
The barracks and the offices buildings appear as simple, utilitarian, soviet-era concrete buildings. Both three story tall, with tall windows and no balconies. Some damage is visible through the NVGs, but surely they are both more rundown than what can be observed.
The barracks have an entrance on the fire’s side, a few steps leading to a closed door. The office building is past the fire, and ALEX cannot tell whether there is an access on his side.
ALEX can clearly see the line of the parapet on top of the barracks, and is confident that is a sentinel shows up, he will probably lean against it (or at least stand right past it) and make himself visible.
Following the fence on his right is a guard tower. It appears to be empty, but ALEX gives it a look every once in a while, just to stay on the safe side. According to BIANKA’s map, just past it is the main, locked, gate, but it’s hard to see from this angle.
Minutes go by, with ALEX controlling his breathing and working on steadying his nerves. To his left, in the distance, the two sentinels are still visible by the smaller fire, and ALEX checks regularly on them, using them as proof that life in the base is proceeding undisturbed.
Eventually, a silhouette shows up on the barracks’ roof; a half bust looking down towards the fire.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
ALEX and the SENTINEL are within visual range of each other. An opposite RECON roll is required to see if ALEX stays undetected.
ALEX rolls with a +1 on account of his clothes blending in with the vegetation, and another +1 for having set among some bushes and tall grass (this last bonus is house-ruled).
The SENTINEL (INT C and RECON C) rolls with -2 for starlight night, and +1 for his elevated position.
- ALEX rolls RECON [D12+D10] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled 6 and 7)
- SENTINEL rolls Recon [D8+D6] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 5 and 2)
Just another boring night for the SENTINEL.
“There. You. Are” spells out ALEX to nobody, the IR light’s beam trained on the newcomer.
The sentinel lingers for sixty seconds or so, then slowly moves to the right side of the building, indulges again at the corner, turns and fades from view. ALEX starts to count mentally, his head oscillating slightly left and right every second, so to keep the rhythm.
He is up to 232 when the sentinel shows up again at the S-E corner of the roof. Again, he lingers looking down at the fire, moves to the next corner, stays there for thirty seconds or so, and disappears, triggering a new count.
It’s 204 seconds before he reappears, still moving counter-clockwise.
A third round takes 209 seconds from the N-E to the S-E corners.
A couple minutes on this side, thinks ALEX, and three to four minutes for the rest.
After all, it’s only natural he should prefer to be on this side, where there’s light, and not on the other sides where he probably can’t see much.
PHASE 4
ALEX slowly and carefully retraces his steps back to his comrades.
He sees LED’s carbine partially raised, protruding from behind the corner of the dirt berm. “Buddy” he whispers, loudly enough for it to be heard.
“Holly” comes the response.
ALEX gets closer “single sentinel, barrack’s roof. Spends two minutes on this side, three to four minutes for the rest of his round”
“Copy” whispers LED in response.
ALEX leans towards BIANKA “widziałem strażnika na dachu”
Through the NVGs, he observes BIANKA looking at the buildings. “Mόj mąż jest w lewym budynku” she says.
“Tak, poszukam wejścia” is ALEX’s response, who then turns to LED “I’ll move South, scout the other building, fifteen more minutes”
“Same deal as before” whispers LED.
ALEX scans the area around himself, then crosses the track and the grassy area towards the berm surrounding the third bunker. He follows it until the next corner; to his left is the small fire and the two sentinels, apparently still immersed in their conversation.
He turns his gaze and sees, right in front of him, a Soviet BTR-60: an armored, wheeled vehicle. No turret is visible on the top of its silhouette, but a number of antennas spring from the main body. The vehicle appears in order, the four visible tires on its right side intact, but this is a very superficial assessment.
Past the BTR is a partially collapsed, one story building, likely the depot from BIANKA’s map.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
The office building is at the edge of ALEX’s field of view, but is illuminated by the large fire. I’ll have ALEX roll RECON to see if he can spot the window of the cell holding Captain WALICH. No penalties on account of the NVGs and IR light.
- ALEX rolls RECON [D10+D8] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled double 8)
ALEX can clearly see the façade of the building. And thanks to the extra success, he spots something more…
From this new position, the front of the office building is clearly visible, lit by the red light projected by the fire. The ground floor shows one door near the right corner, and two windows to its left. Above it is another row of three identical windows, with the one on the right showing vertical black bars blocking it.
The central window of the floor appears to possess a faint glow when looked through the NVGs. It’s subtle, but ALEX is sure something is there. He puts one hand over his right eye blocking it, and lifts the NVGs with the other. He waits for a minute for his eye to adjust to the surrounding darkness and the light of the fire. By looking again at the office building, he can now confirm the presence of a light source coming from an opening above ground floor, its faint glow painting a yellow aura on the frame of the central window.
The light appears to be steady, without any flickering, contrasting with the dancing red emanated by the fire.
