Wing and Sword: Chat et Souris (Prologue)

[The Shaman]

Sergeant Duval listens closely to Pyotr’s report, his scarred face thoughtful. “There is a village about 12km south of us. Could be someone from there.” He looks out across the plain. “Or they could be fellaghas.”

As the legionnaires form up, the jumpmaster raises his hand, motions for them to stay low – the men drop to one knee. “We’ve got possible contact with at least two people to the east of us.” The sergeant’s voice is soft but clear as he looks at Lavareaux. “Corporal, take Fortier, Martinez, Dinter, and Berg, and extend a line this way,” he says, gesturing northward. The lanky Frenchman nods. “Neumann, Kerenin, Mador, Gonzalez, envelop right. Get about 100m out and hold there. We’re going to sweep these guys toward you. Watch for fells out there in the shrubs.” He looks across the plain – the sky is growing brighter. “Sunrise in about fifteen minutes. Get in position quickly. Light and noise discipline. If there are two guys out there, we need intelligence – take ’em alive. Go.”

Neumann, the husky German sergeant, taps Pyotr and Normand on the leg, nods at Gonzalez. “On me. Stay low. Eyes open. Double-time” he orders in thickly-accented French. The detachment moves forward, running through the sparse grass and scattered shrubs, staying as low as possible until the sergeant holds up his hand and drops to one knee, motioning the others to do the same.

Lavareaux motions to the other four legionnaires to establish their line. “Watch your dispersal, but don’t get too far apart – we don’t want them to get between us,” he says quietly. The legionnaires spread out in a thin line as ordered.

Duval watches them go, glances at his watch, turns to Vidal. “Stay close. The company ahead of us is Trident – we’re Hour-glass. They’ll be on channel eleven.” His words are almost a whisper. “If everything went according to plan yesterday, they won’t be monitoring for another forty minutes or so. If it didn’t…” The jumpmaster doesn’t finish the thought as Lavareaux’s line jumps off, moving forward slowly in the dwindling twilight. Sergeant Duval readies his submachine gun . “Stay close, radio.”

Please post Spot, Listen, and Move Silently checks for me in your next posts - Pyotr and Normand should post Hide checks as ell. As знаток noted, to save time only one linked score is necessary.

 

[знаток]

"Roger, Sergeant." Vidal can feel his blood pumping in his veins now. He hunkers down next to the sergeant, quickly turns the radio volume down to the minimum listening level and switches to channel eleven. His nervousness is nearly negated by the confidence he gains from the quick, smart decisions made by Sergeant Duval in light of this unexpected development. He tries to discreetly check his weapon to see that it's locked, loaded, and free of sand.

Senses in tune, he fumbles with the handset as he follows his squad leader, watching the precision movements of the legionnaires. Two we can handle, I just hope that's all that's out there.

"Trident, this is Hourglass. Radio check, over," he says clearly and quietly into the handset.

OoC
Rolls at http://krisinchico.brinkster.net/searchroll.asp?username=Vidal#142759
Spot: 23
Listen: 20
Move Silently: 21
Knowledge (technology): 20

I don't know if you require a check for radio usage, so for this first time I made a Knowledge (technology) roll.

 

[Barak]

Normand Mador

What? I hope this is part of the exercise..

Normand follows the others, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, which isn't overly easy for him. As they move out to take position, an idea comes to him, and he tries to get close to Neumann, so he can whisper it to him.

"If we want them alive, I can knock 'em out, Neumann."

Confident that if it's needed, he'll be let know, he goes back to his skulking attempts.


OOC
Spot:7
Listen:12
Move Silently:15
Hide: 1

 

[Bobitron]

Lavareaux motions to the other four legionnaires to establish their line. “Watch your dispersal, but don’t get too far apart – we don’t want them to get between us,” he says quietly. The legionnaires spread out in a thin line as ordered.

Marcel nods, excited and anxious at the prospects of combat. He had yet to ever fire his weapon outside of training. He went through the normal checks, making certain the rifle was ready to fire, then moves out with the rest of the legionnaires.

Please post Spot, Listen, and Move Silently checks for me in your next posts - Pyotr and Normand should post Hide checks as ell. As знаток noted, to save time only one linked score is necessary.

OOC: Spot: 18 Listen: 8 Move Silently: 8 rolls

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Pyotr Kerenin

Nodding in recognition of the commands he was given, Pyotr made his way out to the line he was to hold with his fellow squad members. If the other group was able to push the unknowns towards him, he would have to be ready.

After finding a place to hunker down, as there wasn't much room to hide in such a place, Pyotr sighted his rifle towards the area he was to watch. He knew he was supposed to take them alive, but if they had weapons, he wasn't about to risk a bullet to his chest. Besides,he thought, a good shot to the knee will take anyone down and keep them alive long enough to be questioned.

Taking a deep breath, Pyotr readied himself.

Rolls
Spot= 6
Listen= 12
Move Silently= 10
Hide= 27 (woohoo natural 20!)

 

[The Shaman]

Lavareaux's line advances slowly, quietly through the scattered brush. The eastern sky is azure - twilight gives way to the sun lurking just under the horizon as the legionnaires' eyes strain to pick out movement among the shrubs.

Vidal listens intently to the handset but there is no response from Trident, only a soft hiss. Before he can try again, he hears a clatter, like rocks scraping together, then sees a figure, crouched down next to a shrub, a rifle held at the ready.

Initiative checks, please.

Relative positions of the combatants- north is toward the top:
Cpl. Lavareaux
^
|-3m
V
Pvt. Dinter
^-1m
V
Pvt. Berg
^
|-3m
V
Pvt. Fortier (Marcel)
^
|-3m
V
Cpl. Martinez
^
|-3m
V
Sgt. Duval
^
|-3m
V
Pvt. Gaspard (Vidal)<--- 10m --->unknown figure with rifle
^
|
10m
|
V<--------------- 70m --------------->Pvt. Kerenin-Pvt. Mador-Pvt. Gonzalez-Sgt.Neumann

 

[Barak]

Normand Mador

Normand takes his place in the line, trying to keep out of sight while keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

Is this part of the training? I sure hope so...

OOC: Init check = 18

 

[знаток]

Maybe Vidal had never realized what he had volunteered for, but the moment he saw the menacing crouched figure, realization flooded in. He glanced quickly at Sergeant Duval to see where his attention was focused, hoping to catch his eye.

Initiative: 8 http://krisinchico.brinkster.net/searchroll.asp?username=Vidal#142885

 

[Bobitron]

Marcel moves as quietly as possible, staying about 10 meters from his other team members. Lavareaux moves with stealth and confidence, and Marcel tries to emulate his motions as best as possible. The twilight makes the scrub covered terrain difficult to read, and Marcel catches himself watching his step more than the area. How am I supposed to see an enemy if I don't look up?, he thought, scolding himself.

The silence is broken by the crack of a rifle. Marcel quickly ducks, but rises quickly once he realizes the shot is not at him. Raising his rifle, he moves forward, finger on the trigger. Time to put all that training to use.

OOC: Marcel rolls a 9 for initiative.

 

[shadowbloodmoon]

Pyotr Kerenin

Pyotr had been too busy finding the perfect hiding place to really pay attention to what was going on around him. After a moment of rearranging his position, Pyotr decided it would be a good idea to look where his rifle was pointing.



Initiative= 5