Wing and Sword: Chat et Souris (Prologue)

[The Shaman]

The thunder of the jets reaches a crescendo as a pair of Mistral fighters, the tricolore visible on their distinctive twin-boom tails, sweep over the gully, four 20mm cannon under the nose of each aircraft spitting death. Vidal’s coordinates prove accurate as the fellaghas in the gully disappear in a cloud of dust and rock fragments.

Pyotr searches for movement among the fells to the north of the hill, but dust from the grenade blasts as well as drifting purple smoke obscure the view.

Among the legionnaires grouped on the hill, Cpl. Lavareaux exclaims, “That’s more like it, Fortier!” as he lets off a long blast from his submachine gun at the fellagahs in the gully near Vidal and Duval. Normand fires his rifle as well – from their position on the hilltop, the legionnaires can enfilade the fells in the streambed now. Normand sees his man still moving however, aiming his rifle at the jumpmaster and his radioman just a few meters away.

Vidal fires his rifle, sees the fellagha’s head jerk back then fall still. "Are we holding here, Sergeant?!?" he yells above the gunfire. "The aircraft might provide us with a good opportunity to move when they start laying down the lead." Duval fires a burst from his MAT-49, and a fell collapses. In a flash the sergent-chef tosses another grenade at the fells among the rocks, and more smoke, red this time, billows forth. “Go!” he yells.

Four of the fellaghas in the gully surge forward toward the two legionnaires among the rocks as their comrades attempt to provide covering fire. A submachine gun clatters and Marcel hears the bullets snapping around him. Marcel: Reflex save, DC 15 - +3 bonus for being prone among the rocks. As the legionnaires on the hill watch three of the fells swarm Sgt. Duval – two of them swing their rifles like clubs while a third, clutching a knife in his hand, slashes at the sergent-chef. The ancien legionnaire rolls with the blows, and suddenly the fell with the knife goes flying and crashes to the ground as Vidal trips him with a swift kick to the leg.

Bullets explode around Vidal as he lies among the rocks, then suddenly a fellagha appears in front of him – with a yell the Arab swings his rifle butt at the prone légionnaire. Twisting frantically Vidal narrowly manages to avoid the blow as the fellagha looms over him. End of round 34.

For the start of round 35, range from the legionnaires in G6/7 (Marcel, Normand, and Lavareaux) remains the same – range for Vidal is 5’! The map is a little tricky to read – each F represents an individual fellagha. (It’s finally come down to this...) Five are in the gully in E/F7; two are in the rocks in E7 behind the red smoke; three surround Duval; and one is attacking Vidal.

The dust from the Mistrals’ cannon fire obscures the surviving (?) fellaghas in D5.

 

[Barak]

Normand lets out a huge sigh of relief as the air support finally reaches them to even the odds a bit. At the same time, he's a bit frustrated at seeing the fells engaging two of his companions in hand-to-hand. Given his earlier lack of accuracy, he's reluctant to fire into the melee, and he wishes he'd be closer, knowing himself to be pretty good at such engagments.

Better than with a rifle, anyway.

But with the remaining fells still firing upon him, he's also pretty reluctant to try and move right at the moment, so instead he turns and fires upon them.


OOC
Will fire upon the fells in F7.. Not sure of the range, but I think it gives me -4, so I'll go with that, if I'm wrong, please adjust accordingly.
to-hit:3
Well. At least I'm glad I didn't fire in the melee.

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Pyotr's spirits lifted when those two angels of death tore up the gully with their cannon fire. That should have permanently shut down that machine gun. Quickly searching the thick smoke near his comrades, the chaos of the fight taking place there was too much for Pyotr to risk a shot into. Then something clicked in his mind. Behind you.

Looking down into the valley, he saw the other group of fells still taking potshots at him and his compatriots. Forming a tactical thought in his mind, he decided to engage them.

Not sure if it will take another move action to spot a target in F4, but either way, I want to start a Dead Aim.

Spot: 19

 

[знаток]

To suddenly have direct contact with the fells sets Vidal's nerves on fire. It's a relief of a kind to have one target - one immediate concern - rather than having to juggle priorities and make decisions. Suddenly it's a match. No more lucky shots or stray bullets.

Of course, all this doesn't manifest as words or even brief thoughts in Vidal's mind. Everything is a heated rush - an instant regression to animal's instinct, refined with that which a soldier's training provides. He scrambles to rise and put a couple more arm-lengths between the Arab and himself while trying desperately to draw his pistol, knowing that time is critical if he is to aid the sergent-chef.

 

[Bobitron]

Marcel lets out a whoop of victory as the aircraft pound the insurgents with 20mm shells, unable to stop himself from pumping a fist into the air like a 6 year-old child watching the Tour from the cobblestones.

"Haha ! Maintenant vous voyez la puissance de la France !"

Standing and shouting draws some fire from one of the fells, and small caliber rounds shower the area around him. Leaping back onto the ground, the bullets barely miss his falling body. Still smiling, he puts his whistle back in his pocket and taking aim at the distant fells not yet in close combat (F4).

ooc: How do you like that mangled French, Barak!
Avoid Autofire: 15
Attack roll: -2.

 

[The Shaman]

The thundering jets fade as the two planes climb and bank. As the dust clears three fellaghas can be seen moving among the torn bodies of their fellow insurgents – one rises and races down the gully for the oued as the others seek cover.

Pyotr studies the distant fellaghas lying among the rocks that only a minute ago had been his own refuge and carefully draws a bead on one of the fells firing at the legionnaires. Marcel and Normand each fire at the same section, bullets passing high over the prone insurgents.

Lavareaux meanwhile fires at the fellaghas in the gully below – one of the Arabs stops moving as the 9mm rounds enter his body. The caporal-chef sets down the MAT-49. “I’m out,” he says simply as he draws his pistol from his holster and wracks the slide. “Follow me!”

Two of the three fellaghas surrounding Sgt. Duval drop their rifles and attempt to grab the prone legionnaire while their companion with the knife recovers his feet. Even prone Duval is a tough opponent – he manages to evade the grasp of one of the fells as he draws his own knife – the second insurgent manages to grab the jumpmaster awkwardly, and Duval whips the knife at him, slashing him lightly across the arm and shoulder. The third fellagha thrusts his own knife at the entangled legionnaire, and it disappears into the folds of Duval’s jump smock.

Vidal scrambles to his feet as the fourth fellagha swings the rifle at him again, the butt passing inches from his head. As the radioman steps back to draw his pistol, the fell raises his rifle and fires at Vidal. The blast is deafening from little more than a meter away but the hasty shot goes wide. The fellagha frantically works the bolt to chamber his next round.

Two of the fells in the gully charge forward as there comrades fire at the legionnaires on the hill. A bullet cracks loudly as it passes by Normand lying beside a limestone knob at the top of the hill. One of the two fells drops into some rocks near the bottom of the hill and raises his rifle – the other continues to race toward the base of the hill itself.

Out of the swirling red cloud of smoke created by Duval’s second smoke canister come three more fellaghas, charging toward the rear of the hill. End of round 35.

There are eleven fellaghas in E7 – two in the gully, two charging toward the legionnaires, three charging for the back of the hill, and four engaging Duval and Vidal. If you decide to attack in round 36, just tell me who you’re firing at and make an attack roll – I’ll calculate ranges for you.

 

[Barak]

Knowing himself to be almost out of bullets, Normand redirects his attention to the fells that are a clsoer range. Seeing some coming his way, he decides to fire upon one of them, and then he stands up, readying himself to move in their direction.


OOC
Alright, Normand will fire upon one of the fells in E7 that is moving towards him, and then he'll stand up. As instructed, I'll calculate the "to-hit" as being at 0 for the purpose of range

to-hit:18 Wow!
damage:10

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Gathering his breath, Pyotr fires again into the crowd of fells. More specifically, he targets one that has been sending deadly lead in his direction. Gaining a full view of the man's torso, he pulls the trigger.

Dead Aim +2, Dex +2. Remember Pyotr has Far Shot too...

To Hit: 18
With an Action Point added in for good measure

Possible Damage: 12

7 Rounds remaining in clip.

 

[знаток]

Vidal is more amazed after the fact that he was miraculously able to gain a solid footing and draw his pistol without suffering an injury from the rifle butt or its bullet. He quickly advances on the fell with his pistol aimed and his vocal chords exercising at full capacity, hoping that keeping the pressure on the fellagha will promote the ineffectiveness of panic in his unlucky enemy. He hopes also that his scream might draw the attention of any comrades that may not yet be aware of their struggle.

Ranged attack: 5
Damage (as if…): 11

 

[Bobitron]

Marcel reloads his rifle, inserting hs last fresh magazine, and fires another round at the fells swarming towards Duval.

ooc: Attack roll is a 4.