Guys, maybe there's a future out there for us! I'll contact high command, someone HAS to stop them damn Nazis! :)
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The guard stops and peeks further into the darkness, unable to spot the now well-hidden Ivan. After a moment the man just shakes his head, shrugs and goes back to his sentry point.
The guard seems not satisfied with his comrade saying nothing and so he flips his cigarette away and moves closer, suddenly there is tension on the moonlit face of the man...
What the hell is Ivan doing... The major's left eyebrow twitches nervously as he waits in the shadows...
Stumbling backwards Ivan tries to find a hold, but the door knob he grabs is an old and rotten thing and so he falls on his back with a muffled shout of anger. The Italian guard, not expecting any enemies in this forlorn desert village, asks Luigi? Sei bevuto ci risiamo? Italian: Luigi? Are you drunk again?
As Ivan sneaks north he runs right into one of the gray cats the Egyptians are so fond of. The surprised animal meows loudly and runs away. The guard right in front of Ivan turns around and peers into the darkness..
Meanwhile Oskar has found a pack of cigarettes, and some pin-up photos besides a rifle and some ammunition.
The Italian soldier is totally caught by surprise, even the fact that Oskar crunches some kind of sand/stone thing under his boot right before his attack is not enough to warn the man. There is only a short gurgle and weak resistance as you close the garotte around his neck. After a short time of weak struggling, the man slumps down.
As Oskar departs, the Major whispers You're right. Give us a sign once you're up and on the roof. The cpative glares at Liam, but he quickly remembers what Gregori said and prefers to stay silent and looks away..
The Major has nothing to add to Oskar's reasoning, only remarks What about freeing them? Could cause some chaos, but endangers the villagers.
Oskar: They led the people into the cellars of the other houses - but they have guards and there are a lot more of them than in your small squad!
Oskar: [b]You're one of the English soldier, aren't you? It is Malik, they put us into this cellar - I mean, some of us. Are you coming to rescue us?
The Professor grunts as he overhears what Liam just said and turns away. The Major grins and points at Ivan, Gregori and Phillip and leads you into the village, following Oskar in a distance of about 30m. Oskar: As you approach the first hut, you suddenly hear a whispered Psst, Psst! Come over here You spot a small cellar window. Someone in there must have noticed you.
Well, the plan looks about as good as it can get. Your suggestion sounds wonderful Mr. Hargreaves. Is everyone ready then? Oh dear, I completely forgot that someone should stay with our captive, Liam, what about you?
Night comes rather quickly in the desert and the temperature falls significantly as the sun finally disappears. Soon the night is illuminated by hundres of stars and a nearly full moon. The sand looks like a sheet of white linen with tiny dark spots where palms and houses are placed on it. OK, the time to strike is nigh, from where shall we enter the village?
The Major ignores Liam's correction and seems satisfied now So, we have Gregori, Ivan and me who believe they could sneak into the village. Mr. Hargreaves should accompany us to take out the tank. Liam, you and Oskar you should search for a nice spot to give us cover. Even if you don't see well enough for a clear shot that will enqable us to distract them, ok?
The Major furrows his brows You're all special forces soldiers, don't tell me, you don't know how to stab a conscript in the dark, mh?
Ok, we have heard some different opinions, we should start to decide now. I guess waiting for nightfall is a good idea. Once it has become dark, we could try to kill them one by one - gentlemen, how many besides me have brought their silencers along?
I doubt the Italians know about the value of the Professor...and I doubt they wouldn't try to doublecross us...I don't trust them from Rome to Milan...umm, as we say in Germany - whatever. Are you sure you want to do the camel trick again? Has worked out last time, that's for sure, heh. Your second thought Ivan is a very interesting one. Either they have somehow spotted us when we left the village or someone must have called them, maybe not all villagers are friends of our friend, huh?
@ Phillip: The whole machine is one large weakness: - under-armoured
You can't tell how the Italians will react, most probably they will gather around the tank once they realize their enemy does not possees heavy wepons.
Oskar moves like a shadow and soon has scouted the whole village. Upon his return, he is able to produce a pretty good and detailed map, describing the positions of about two dozen Italian soldiers, a truck and a semovente 75. The villagers must have been imprisoned in one of the houses and you guess the Italians wait for more trucks to drive them away. There hasn't been a real battle, only two of the houses have large holes where the tank shells hit them, after that the villagers must have surrendered imediately. Oskar has not seen any bodies. The Major pats Oskar on the shoulder and says Good job, we have to decide what to do - AND we have to order Phillip some kind of anti tank weapon...
The Major glares at Gregori and hisses Stop that, we need you focused.
Keeping in mind that our prisoner and Ivan have already formed such a close relationship, we shouldn't split our new couple...ok, we wait here until we hear of Oskar how the lay of the land looks like. The Major pulls out his pistol, looses the safety and crouches behind a low dune.
The major nods and dismounts Oskar, we need some reconnaissance. Gentlemen, I propose we attack from two sides - north and south. One of us has to stay with the prisoner though.
Gregori, Ivan, Oskar?
The Major's expression hardens as he hears what Oskar has noticed. Gentlemen..time for a tough decision: We could just skirt the village and head back to the base, forsakening the villagers...or we could investigate, but as a consequence risk the success of our whole mission...ideas?
The way back does not take much longer than the ride to the temple and so you pretty soon reach the outskirts of the small hamlet next to the oasis. While you are still some hundred meters away, the Major speaks about some strange kind of sausage called "Pinkel" from his home area...the thing is stuffed with oat, ham, grits, onions, lard and other things...and he promises that it is fantastic... Perception DC 20: Two thin wads of smoke rise from the village.
The Major shrugs Orientation is not one of my greatest talents, lead the way, Oskar. And Oskar was right, after moving through the jungle for a couple of hours you reach the desert again. At first the vegetation just got smaller and smaller until it was only grass and then even the grass vanished and now there's only sand ahead of you. As discussed and agreed on with the villagers, the camels already wait for you, bound to one of the last palms.
We're not here for ornithology, Mr. Li. the Major looks up to the now starry sky and lights the last of his cigarettes Gregori, you know the way back to the desert?
You have reached the last corridors as there is a big BOOM behind you. Even the German prisoner is not even a bit reluctant to come along and so you quickly escape while the whole ancient temple complex begins to crumble behind you. Accompanied by a bis cloud of dust, smoke and small debris you jump through the opening, while behind you the jungle seems to cave in! After the dust has settled there is a large depression now behind you where the temple once stood. Great fun Mr. Hargreaves - but never do that again. The Major grins, contentment all over his face.
The Major arches an eyebrow Mr. Hargreaves, this is an ancient burial site with an unbelievable archaeological value. It dates back several thousand years and might hold tons of secrets most precious for scholars from all over the world. Permission granted. he grins and hands you his burning cigarette.
Absently the major hands the charred ankh over to Liam and replies to Ivan Ok, you're right. We will drag them to the village, leave the landser there and try to find another camel for the Professor. That being the final statement in his talk with Ivan the Major turns to his soldiers Good job everyone - mission accomplished without casualties. We should quickly return to the village now and then head back to the base to extract as much information as possible out of the things we uncovered. He lights another cigarette and puffs with a grin on his face.
The Major walks to the back of the statue and searches through the half-burned remains. After a minute he shouts He said the truth, the ankh is here! The German POW exhales audibly and says Please don't shoot us - just let us go, ok? The Majos has meanhwile returned and whispers Ivan: Shoot them or not? We won't be able take them back with us...we could drag them along until we reach the village though.
The man gulps - he certainly has heard news from the Russian-Polish front in the late days of 1939...he surely knows that the Russians are no gentle lovers. The man harrumphes and stammers Uh...yes we found se ankh...it's behind the statue in a crate...and I don't know what it does, only know the legends. I was working here for Geheimauftrag Operation Ewigkeit. It is somesing about collecting relics of a certain kind. I got my orders directly from Alfred Rosenberg and se Amt Rosenberg. The machine over sere...it's a Mjollnir Kriegsanzug - se latest development of German engineers.
Stop it! The German officer looks really terrified now I tell you everysing, just put sat knife away, yes please? The Major walks over to Ivan and pats him on the back soothingly. A sly grin flashes over his face...
Phillip:
Oh yeah, that sounds cool - I love it. I say add another D10 + 2 damage to the normal bomb. It's a demolitions roll dc 20 to prepare them though.
The professor looks to the ground and just mutters Know no ankh...
After looking at the guns you realize that these must be modified MG151 - a mchine gun type normally used in bombers and heavy fighters. The callibre is 15mm and you can hardly think that a man-sized weapon could use such ammo. The professor sneers at Ivan, but the Chinese can clearly see the fear in the eyes of the man We were only searching for archaeological pieces of minor interest for soldiers like you.
The captured soldier grows pale as milk and stammers something incomprehensible until the officer suddenly shouts Stop it! Zis man knows nossing! The Major whistles cheerfully and moves over to Phillip.
The major nods and pulls a silver cigarette case out of his breat pocket So, Ivan, do your magic... Then he offers the whole squad a cigarette.
No, you got me wrong, I knew the Mjollnir project existed, but I assumed these things were radio controlled, like the tanktrap drones already used on the Eastern front - but I never thought they would produce these things with an option for a human to sit in them. Liam: You knew that robot-like contraptions like the Goliath-drone for example existed, but you have never heard of such a thing like that battlesuit. It's way more sophisticated than the things you would have thought possible.
The Major nods and before Ivan is able to answer, replies Good idea Mr. Hargreaves - by the way, have you ever seen a contraption like this? I know they were doing a lot of tests and experiments back in the Waffenschmieden, but actually I have never thought they are working on robot-warsuits.
The Major joins Ivan and takes a bit of tension out of the situation Yes Ivan, no problem...I guess the professor knows exactly in which kind of situation he now is... Then he whispers to Ivan Ivan:
I want to know where he keeps the documentation of the excavation and the relics. Furthermore I want to know everything he knows about Operation Ewigkeit... Turning to Liam, the Major adds Good job Mr. Hargreaves, I think Gregori could need a bit of help too.
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