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"True enough, true enough. Nothing for us to be concerned with, I suppose. I..." he is cut off by the sound of gunfire, coming from the edge of the camp. "What the devil?!"
A glance in that direction tells you that the camp is under attack! There are ten men, armed with swords and rifles, and dressed as Berbers. Thus far, they have only fired into the air and no one has been harmed (as far as you can tell from here). The camp is in a state of panic, with people being rounded up at gunpoint as they emerge from their tents and the tomb. So far, you've escaped the notice of the attackers, but you can be sure it won't be long before they reach your area.
"Hmmm...it's mid-day, so we won't have the cover of darkness, but what say we get back to the entrance of the tomb, crawl the last few feet to the opening, lay down, and try to pick 'em off?" Bobby asks Aleksei.
Aleksei perks up at the sound of battle nearby. He grabs his weapons and follows Bobby. "Yes, is better than being found here. Perrin, we go."
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The party quickly maneuvers to the entrance of the tomb and hunkers down. From here, you can clearly see the goings-on in the camp about 60 feet away. SOme of the Berbers are rounding up the archaeologists and porters and appear to be questioning them, while others go through the tents and belongings. They are definitely searching for something.
Aleksei hunkers down, looking at the others. "Should keep heads down. They haven't killed anyone yet. We start shooting, so will they."
"Well, if we do nothing, they'll eventually get here to the tomb, and then we're at they're mercy. What if it's the professor they're looking for? On the other hand, it's 3 against 10, and I don't like those odds. If we're going to start shooting, it's probably better if we pick them off at a distance. That way, it'll take them some time to reach us. And they might be scared off by some resistance."
Aleksei smiles, aiming his weapon. "This is also true."
Bobby picks out a target, takes a moment to Aim, and fires :
Doing
= 16
= 17
Aleksei sights one of the soldiers harassing the civilians and squeezes the trigger on his Russian rifle.
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As Aleksei, Perrin, and Bobby prepare to fire, they are surprised to see a familiar figure crawling through the dirt towards them. It's Daniel! "Heya, guys. HQ sent me to catch up to you and it seems as though I'm just in the nick o' time, as usual."
Dan, go ahead and take your action and I'll update when I have the chance.
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Four shots ring out from your position, and four people drop in response. If the raiders were not aware of your presence previously, they certainly are now! They quickly assume positions of cover or drop prone (-2). Six raiders remain.
INITIATIVE
Bobby (Joker)
Daniel (QC)
Perrin (7S)
Aleksei (7C)
Raiders (2C)
Bobby picks out another target, lines him up in his sights, and fires :
Aleksei grins to himself as he drops a raider, saying a silent prayer that the next shot also does the same job.
Bobby points his gun at one of the last two raiders, wondering why they haven't fled yet, having seen 8 of their comrades fall in mere seconds :
= 9
And does
= 26
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Dan considers switching tactics, but seeing as how the enemy is neither too numerous nor entrenched, he sees no reason to mess with success.
He aims down his trusty rifle at the last of the raiders, anxious to police their bodies and try and find some reason for their attack.
= eleventy billion
= 22
Aleksei relaxes his grip on his weapon for a brief moment, scanning the field before rising to his feet and walking over to the nearest soldier. "Would seems Germans are scared to show faces now." He kicks one to make sure it is dead before rifling through his pockets.
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"Boy howdy," Dan exclaims, poping a fresh clip in his weapon before joining Aleksei in his policing up of the bodies.
"Or, mayhap they were gonna leave survivors, and wanted someone to think th' Bedouins gone an' done it. Or sumpin. I'm thinkin' we might could try to track these Gerrys back, see if they came onna truck or camel or sumpin'."
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Aside from their rifles, bayonets, several clips of ammunition, a handful of grenades (12 in all), and a total of 30 Papiermarks between them, the Germans have nothing of value. A search of the area reveals that the Germans came by truck from the direction of Cairo. You find the vehicle abandoned several yards away.
"Well, I suggest that we get a message to the government, asking for troops to guard this camp from future invasions. Or, professor, do you not want to involve the local government? In which case, do you know of any local mercenaries for hire?"
Aleksei, lighting up another of a seemingly endless supply of cigars, shakes his head. "Troops would be good, but government slower than Volga in winter. Will be German forward base before reinforcements arrive. Unless we have a way of forcing them to respond right away."
Bobby writes out a message on a piece of paper, giving his name, rank, serial number, and current organizational affiliation (Doyle's group's name, unless that's a secret, then whatever group Doyle told him his cover was). He then says that an important archaeological find is under attack from the Germans, and requests that perhaps a dozen troops with adequate provisions be sent to help guard the site (and gives directions to the site). He then puts it in an envelope and seals it (with wax, if that's available), and asks the professor to give it to his most trusted assistant, telling him to go to the American embassy and hand-deliver it to the American ambassador, and tells the messenger to request that the ambassador contact the proper channels to accomplish the task. If the messenger doesn't know how to use a gun, Bobby suggests to the professor that someone who does know how to use a gun accompany him.
Bobby will tell the group what he plans to do before he does it, and asks if it sounds ok.
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Aside from their rifles, bayonets, several clips of ammunition, a handful of grenades (12 in all), and a total of 30 Papiermarks between them, the Germans have nothing of value. A search of the area reveals that the Germans came by truck from the direction of Cairo. You find the vehicle abandoned several yards away.
Dan rummages around in the abandoned truck looking for more clues. "Well, we could drive this back to where it came from and see if anyone comes calling after it?"
If nobody has any comments on Bobby's plan, he'll go ahead with it.
Aleksei pulls a long puff on his cigar. Let's just hope they arrive on time." He then helps Morgan inventory everything.
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Noting that they may be here for a while, Dan starts going around the dig site and begins making fighting emplacements. With just a shovel he can make a hasty fighting position pretty quickly. If any holes are sizable enough, he'll convert them into foxholes.
Eventually he could run a protective wall around the entire area, but we'll see what happens.
"Professor, what's your weapons situation here? Do any of your hired men have a gun, and know how to use it? I'm thinking we could continue to explore the ruins below until help arrives, but I wouldn't want to do it without some more fire-power."
Alexei looks at the remaining members of the site. "Perhaps we can give some weapons to some of these men. Teach them to shoot straight and they can help hold off anyone until reinforcements arrive."
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Kirkee shakes his head. "We're all scholars, I fear. While I've no doubt that most of us could handle a weapon, I don't know that any of us could be considered proficient."
"Actually," a voice responds from within the camp, "I fought in the Boer War. The Hun's rifles aren't far removed from what we used. I could probably handle one of them."
A bearded man steps forward. He is in his mid-fifties and walks with a pronounced limp. His brown hair is greying, but his blue eyes still shine with the vigor of youth. "My name is Kent. Eugene Kent. I was unable to enlist to serve my country in the war because of my injury, but I can still serve a purpose. I'll help hold down the fort." He takes up the rifle of a fallen German and quickly empties and reloads to show that he is capable.
"Granted I'm not the marksman I used to be, but I can put lead in their direction."
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"Wonderful. You are now Private First Class Kent of the European Expeditionary Force," Dan says, taking in the man's proficiency. "You are relieved from all archeology duties, and are now commander of Fighting Position Three," Dan says, pointing out an open hole with a wall of dirt piled in front of it. Compared to the shallow-grave Hasty Fighting Position scattered around the dig site, FP3 looks rather comfortable. "Take these Gerry grenades. You know how to use 'em, yeah?"
Dan makes sure PFC Kent is set up in FP3 before continuing his entrenchment of the perimeter of the dig site.
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"Robert, Aleksei, this is gonna sound odd, but I want you two to get some shut-eye. We're gonna need to be at 50% watch--that means half of the trigger fingers are on the line, half are sleep.
You don't hafta sleep, you can grab chow or dig more, I've only started on FP's 3 and 4, and I figure we'll need six to do it up proper, but in ten hours Imma crash meself."
Dan keeps working on the defenses, not sure what the future may hold.
Aleksei realizes as Morgan speaks that he hasn't had much sleep in a while. Nodding to his comrades, he finds a rolled up set of equipment to lay his head on and before he knows it, he is fast asleep, his weapon laying across his lap.
Bobby grabs a quick bite of food, then sacks out on one of the cots , and quickly falls asleep.