DAY 15 – MAY 2nd 2000
SW of LUBLINIEC, POLAND – NIGHT
PHASE 9
ALEX scans the strip of terrain right next to the building, his head going up and down while trying to locate any potential hazard. The stakes are high, as he has to lead two functionally blind companions along the perimeter.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
At this point, there are no enemies with line of sight over the players, but the trio has to proceed as silently as possible in order to avoid detection.
Rolling for every round of movement would be unfair: the more you roll, the higher your chances of failing. I’ll bundle the movement along the two sides of the barracks in one RECON roll. I am focusing on noise, so there will be no bonus for light or camouflage: it’s an unmodified roll, and they need at least one success.
According to the rules, for a group roll the member with the lower skill rolls for the whole group. ALEX, LED and BIANKA all have INT B and RECON C, so it’s really indifferent:
- Roll RECON [D10+D8] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 1 and 2)
Not good, they push the roll (the D10 cannot be re-rolled):
- Push-roll RECON [1 FAILURE + D8] = 1 FAILURE + 1 SUCCESS (rolled 8)
They got lucky; now I have to decide who suffers 1 point of damage (the 1 I rolled). I’ll roll a D10: 1-2 is ALEX (lower chance, on account of the NVGs), 3-6 is LED, 7-10 is BIANKA.
- Roll [D10] = 1 -> ALEX
The point man, which makes sense. ALEX suffers one point of damage.
The trio proceeds crouched under the row of windows up to the corner. ALEX checks the guard tower on the corner of the fence, then peeks around it: all clear.
He steps around the concrete edge, raises his foot to move forward, but gets tangled in a pipe protruding from the side of the building, loses his equilibrium and falls forward, his right hand grasping only air, and his left scraping the rough surface of the concrete building, followed by his forearm. He puts both arms forward and breaks the fall, stopping with the tip of his NVGs an inch from the ground, in push-up position.
Everybody stops and remains immobile. ALEX controls his breathing as his heart accelerates, shocked by the sudden spike in adrenaline. He stays there until his arms start shaking, then feels LED tapping him on the leg, and returns quietly to his crouched position.
He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, adjusting to the pain in his left arm. He feels LED’s hand on his shoulder, and taps on it with his own. Ready to move. They proceed with caution, reaching the S-W corner of the barracks. The building has another door on its Western side, but it’s closed and judging by the amount of debris on the steps in front of it, it is not in use.
The PATROL [click to expand]
PATROL:
- Roll [D10] = 10 -> the patrol proceeds
PHASE 10
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Same deal as phase 9 for the trio to move silently, and again, rather than an opposite roll, this is an unmodified RECON roll in which they need to succeed to remain silent.
- Roll RECON [D10+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 2 and 6)
That enough to get to the area in between the two buildings.
The trio steels its nerves and proceeds; one more corner and they are in the space between the two buildings, and soon enter the circle of light cast by the fire. LED and BIANKA wait against the barracks, their eyes checking the windows on the ground floor of the office building. ALEX crosses the alley slowly, his NVGs trained on the roof of the barracks, until he reaches the corner of the office building.
He peeks around the corner, nobody in sight, and even better, the view of the two sentinels down South is obscured by the depot. The sentinel up in the guard tower has a clear line of sight on the entrance of the office building, well lit by the fire, while the tower itself is outside o ALEX’s field of view.
There is no way to tell If and when the sentinel in the tower is looking their way; entering the main door means taking a(nother) risk.
ALEX checks again the roof of the barracks: nobody in sight. Luckily, the building has no windows on this side, so they don’t have to worry about the other floors and their fifteen or so occupants.
He peeks inside the window on the ground floor of the offices, checking the main door: it is open, and no sign of traps. He turns, checks the opposite roof again, then looks at his comrades, one hand pointing at the corner of the building, the other at the window. Time to make a decision.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Here’s how I’m house-ruling this part:
- Should the players decide to enter via the door, they’ll have to succeed at a RECON roll (unmodified) to remain silent, plus there will be a small chance the guard on the roof looks down their way (5%) and a small chance the guard in the tower is looking their way (10%). There’s nothing they can do to avoid being spotted as they are in the area lit by the fire.
- Should they enter the window(s), they will each have to make a MOBILITY roll (unmodified) to enter quietly (I’m bundling together moving silently and vaulting over an obstacle); if they fail, they attract the attention of the guard on the roof, or anybody who may be on the upper floor of the offices… Also, there is still a 5% chance of the guard on the roof deciding to lean over the parapet right where the players are.
At this point, there is no way to determine where the roof guard is in his round, so I’m playing it by percentage.
In a situation such as this, LED will be the one called to decide, and I think he already knows which way to go.
Also, yes, I am throwing a bone to my players by deciding there are no windows of the barracks facing the office building. I think they are risking enough already…
The PATROL [click to expand]
PATROL:
- Roll [D10] = 5 -> the patrol proceeds
PHASE 11
LED briefly looks at the fire to his left: the door around the corner is too exposed.
He raises both arms pointing at two of the three windows on the ground floor, all open and accessible (frames, glasses, shades and covers have long disappeared), looks at his comrades and received a nod from both.
LED points up looking at ALEX; the latter checks the roof once more, then gives a thumbs up.
They all sling their weapons, and go for the windows.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Dice time. Straight, unmodified MOBILITY rolls, as house-ruled. LED and ALEX both have AGL B and MOBILITY D, BIANKA has AGL B and MOBILITY C:
- ALEX (window closest to the door) rolls MOBILITY [D10+D6] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 8 and 1)
- LED (central window) rolls MOBILITY [D10+D6] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 5 and 3)
- BIANKA (last window) rolls MOBILITY [D10+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 4 and 7)
LED (obviously) pushes his roll:
- LED push-rolls MOBILITY [D10+D6] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled 8 and 6)
Last thing, 5% possibility of the sentinel on the roof peeking down at the office building, just out of boredom (1-5 on a D100):
- Roll [D100] = 40 -> still clueless
No comments, I will take my luck and bring it home…
ALEX gets on the ledge of the windows, briefly observes the large room opening in front of him, then climbs down inside, kneeling right beside the window.
LED is about to get down from the window inside an empty side room, when he notices something shimmering on the floor, and realizes part of it is covered in broken glass. He takes a few extra seconds to put his feet down silently, sidestepping the hazard.
BIANKA finds an old wooden desk pushed against the window, probes it with a foot and judges it sturdy enough. She steps on it, and then gets down on the floor right next to some debris.
Enough of the fire’s light enters the room for BIANKA to see LED’s silhouette; she sees him raise his hand with the thumb up, and responds with the same gesture. LED takes his M4 carbine and makes sure the bayonet is solidly attached to it, then side-steppes the visible debris littering the floor and takes a couple steps towards the opening leading to the next room. BIANKA is a few feet behind him, both hands grasping her pistol, and her knife ready in her side holster.
ALEX is in a large room, debris and old furniture piled up against the opposite end, and the light of the fire coming in from the windows on the left, creating red stripes on the opposite wall. He moves just a couple feet, and on his right he sees his comrades. In between him and them is what appears to be the beginning of a corridor; he lifts the left hand from his AK and points in that direction. In the faint glow provided by the fire, he sees a nod confirming his intention.
They get back into formation and proceed carefully down the corridor, which ends with a closed door in front of them. They can smell the concrete dust in the air, but the stale atmosphere of other buildings is absent, thanks to the ventilation provided by the broken windows. They stop for about ten seconds, and just listen: no sounds save from the crackling of the fire outside.
The first two doors on the right are both broken open, and lead to small offices with remains of furniture, some rubbles and concrete debris. The third door, or rather passage, leads to what probably used to be a third office. The wall which had the door has collapsed, and so has another wall, creating a passage towards another room littered with debris.
ALEX judges it too risky to proceed on the rubble-covered floor, and continues down the corridor. The door on the front is closed, as is the door to the left, with no sounds coming from either. A third door on the right leads to the same room they saw from the passage.
They cross the threshold and see stairs going up on their right. On the left are metal shelves lining the wall, mostly empty save for a few small boxes. ALEX reaches the stairs and peeks up: the steps are clear. He peeks around the corner past the stairs and sees the room follows the perimeter of the building, with three windows facing S-W, and a door barricaded with a metal desk and some boxes. The rest of the room has broken furniture, stacks of old papers, metal shelves, and chunks of broken concrete scattered all around.
ALEX points at the windows and LED pats his shoulder in response: they agree those are good exit points.
Returning to the stairs, ALEX peeks again, this time without the NGVs, keeping one eye closed to save night vision. Again he sees the faint, steady light he noticed from outside. He touches the side of his face, right next to his eye, and points up at the end of the stairs. LED looks up and nods in response. He extends his thumb and index finger in the basic shape of a gun, and points up: there is probably someone upstairs.
No point in everybody going up, so LED points at BIANKA, then the floor. She nods and steps aside a few feet, looking for the best spot to keep an eye on the ground floor.
LED turns to ALEX and points the way: they are going upstairs.
