Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Sheb]

And then *BOOOOM* your head is blown by a sniper.

[Comrade P.]

((Hey. I'm lying on the ground and staring at the sky while smoking.))

[Helgoland]

((For the machine gun, what is the caliber?))
((For Alice's sniper rifle, what is the caliber and scope magnification?))
((What type of Ammo do the shotguns have?))
((Any other relevant information?))

((Dude, I know next to nothing about ballistics and stuff - it's a heavy machinegun, the sniper rifle is good to about 1000 meters, shotgun ammo is buckshot. Technical details will be filled in as needed.))

((Did I see where on the map the AA fire was coming from, at least roughly?))

((He was shot down on his way back to the front. Probably ~10km from your position.))

Head to the top of the hill, keeping low. Use the binoculars to watch the village for anything useful.

You crawl to the edge of the forest to observe. Before you even get out your binoculars, you notice something odd - while most of the fields have obviously not been tended for years, there's some patches of wheat, vegetables, onions... Someone's been gardening. It's not much, certainly not enough to sustain any number of soldiers, but it's quite clear that someone has taken care of these plants.
Just then, a cow walks into your field of vision and drops a pile of manure. Luckily, you're not hit by the splatter.
Looking at the village, you see nothing too unusual: A church in the middle, one or two ruins, and several houses that are quite obviously occupied. Most agricultural buildings are falling apart, not being currently used for anything, but on the right side of the river on a hill you see two barns that must have been erected recently.

Check the condition of flamethrower to ensure there is no fuel leaks or anything as dangerous. Roll myself another cigarette, light it. Hide all my stuff exept shovel and flamethrower under some pine nearby, cover it with leaves and branches. Remember that place. Smoke.

You find a tree with a small cave beneath its roots, which you promptly use to store your stuff. Then you roll it up, light it up, and promptly fall asleep.
You're woken by someone prodding your ribs. You look up, and into the face of an old man carrying two buckets.
"Hah, it's been a year and a half since I last saw that sort of uniform! Mind sharing that smoke? The naval blockade prevents the gentlemen in the village from obtaining much, and so I can't trade for it - must've been six months since my last cig..."
He must be a native - his accent is horrible, but he's not an enemy civilian. This is occupied territory, after all.

[Sheb]

Ahah, it reminds me of a comic I read about a Belgian village under German occupation that was turned into a kind of agricultural experiment, to find the cheapest way to feed people in terms of labour. The German answer? Mostly cabbages. :p

[Comrade P.]

- Sure thing. Here's some... How bad are the things here, by the way?

Give old man some tobacco to smoke, just enough for one cig.

[GiglameshDespair]

Alice headed back and reported what she saw.
"... so no soldiers that I saw, but there's definitely occupants."

[Helgoland]

- Sure thing. Here's some... How bad are the things here, by the way?

Give old man some tobacco to smoke, just enough for one cig.

He rolls up, and lights his cigarette on yours.
"Eh, you know - life goes on. When war broke out, they came with infantry and cavalry, and half the people from this village fled. Then our own came back, with gas and artillery, and practically everyone else went away - or died. D'you know what mustard gas does to cows? You don't need no more mustard for their meat, that's for sure. Hell, I used to have ten of 'em - and I still got two left, but only because I hid 'em in the forest when the front came back. At least they didn't gas us, but an aeroplane shot the village priest - right after the morning mass!
But nowadays it's pretty liveable. I grow a few things, I get milk from my cows, and I trade that stuff with the occupiers in the village. They're not bad people, really - just yesterday two of them helped me dig um potatoes. My back's all stiff, I'm really not cut out for that kind of work. The front's far enough away, you barely hear the sound of artillery in the distance when you're trying to get to sleep. If we just had enough tobacco..."
He stops and eyes Alice.
"... so no soldiers that I saw, but there's definitely occupants. Who's that?"
"I'm just an old man who lives on while younger man die, m'dear. And you're right about the occupants - they wouldn't be up at this time, though. About a dozen soldiers, and just as many eggheads. And the commander, of course - great chess player, by the way. By day most of them are busy in the new-built barns - they have some electro-magnetronic thingamajiggers up there, one of them told me. 'Horcher', they call 'em. After all, there's not much fighting going on right here - this is the first time I've heard this beautiful language spoken in years!"