To Albion: Session 1
Sep. 11th, 2008 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tegyrius11 July 2013:
The sun rose far too early on the PCs' encampment a few kilometers southeast of Keila. After having spent the past few months fighting, bleeding, and running away from the Russian invasion of the Baltic states, the past few weeks had been blissfully uneventful. A recent scavenging run into the rail yard at Keila had yielded a bonanza of diesel fuel - full tanks for both the Tatra and the Fuchs, as well as a full 750-liter tank trailer. Food, water, and ammo supplies were adequate, if not spectacular.
After poking at the map for a bit, the PCs decided that their best bet was to start heading out of Estonia with the intent of eventually linking up with friendly forces. The last word they'd received from Riga, six months or so ago, was that it was still under EU control; it seemed like as good a destination as any.
As they prepared to leave the campsite, the NBC sensors on the Fuchs picked up a slight increase in radiation. Some tweaking of the computers identified it as medical cesium - not something one would expect to find as fallout. As the PCs moved out, the readings tapered off.
The team headed east to a rail line and began running south along it. Forest gradually gave way to bogs and fallow farms, a few scattered homesteads showing signs of paranoid and insular life.
In the early afternoon, the PCs were coming down a slight grade toward the town of Keava when Lee spotted a Russian patrol - four cavalrymen and three goons in a battered Mercede van - approaching the town from the west. After some grinding of gears and nearly jackknifing the fuel trailer, the team got the vehicles back up the slope and under cover behind a hill. Dillon moved up to the hilltop to observe and watched the goons in the van shake down the locals. After releasing a woman from the back of the van, they "recruited" another and took delivery of a supply of foodstuffs, after which they moved out to the west.
After waiting an hour, Michael and Casimir went into town on foot, disguised as less dangerous travelers trying to evade the Russian occupation forces. They made initial contact, ascertained that the locals wouldn't immediately kill them, and brought up the vehicles and the rest of the team. Some commerce took place: the team traded wild food for preserved food and swapped a spare RPK and two drums of ammo for a small supply of antibiotics and anesthetics.
Further discussion of the local geopolitical situation ensued. 'twas revealed that a good-sized contingent of Russians - about 60 men - is occupying a military installation to the west of the town. The garrison is running a protection racket on six or seven still-inhabited villages within its sphere of influence. None of the locals was personally familiar with the installation, but discussion revealed that it's a fenced compound with a half-dozen or so buildings and a large antenna farm. As Lee noted, that's likely a way for everyone (except maybe Dillon) to call home. The PCs also learned that a couple hundred Russians are stationed south of their current location on the Latvian border.
After some discussion of heroism versus pragmatism, the PCs decided to wait in Keava for a week and ambush the next regular Russian shakedown squad. Their intent is to gather enough of the local Estonian partisans to be able to take down the base and at least temporarily secure it. With a week, Lee and Roz should be able to turn the town into a deathtrap for at least a platoon of Russians, so long as they don't have heavy iron.
Next week: a training and fortification montage, and hopefully a brief and one-sided firefight.
The sun rose far too early on the PCs' encampment a few kilometers southeast of Keila. After having spent the past few months fighting, bleeding, and running away from the Russian invasion of the Baltic states, the past few weeks had been blissfully uneventful. A recent scavenging run into the rail yard at Keila had yielded a bonanza of diesel fuel - full tanks for both the Tatra and the Fuchs, as well as a full 750-liter tank trailer. Food, water, and ammo supplies were adequate, if not spectacular.
After poking at the map for a bit, the PCs decided that their best bet was to start heading out of Estonia with the intent of eventually linking up with friendly forces. The last word they'd received from Riga, six months or so ago, was that it was still under EU control; it seemed like as good a destination as any.
As they prepared to leave the campsite, the NBC sensors on the Fuchs picked up a slight increase in radiation. Some tweaking of the computers identified it as medical cesium - not something one would expect to find as fallout. As the PCs moved out, the readings tapered off.
The team headed east to a rail line and began running south along it. Forest gradually gave way to bogs and fallow farms, a few scattered homesteads showing signs of paranoid and insular life.
In the early afternoon, the PCs were coming down a slight grade toward the town of Keava when Lee spotted a Russian patrol - four cavalrymen and three goons in a battered Mercede van - approaching the town from the west. After some grinding of gears and nearly jackknifing the fuel trailer, the team got the vehicles back up the slope and under cover behind a hill. Dillon moved up to the hilltop to observe and watched the goons in the van shake down the locals. After releasing a woman from the back of the van, they "recruited" another and took delivery of a supply of foodstuffs, after which they moved out to the west.
After waiting an hour, Michael and Casimir went into town on foot, disguised as less dangerous travelers trying to evade the Russian occupation forces. They made initial contact, ascertained that the locals wouldn't immediately kill them, and brought up the vehicles and the rest of the team. Some commerce took place: the team traded wild food for preserved food and swapped a spare RPK and two drums of ammo for a small supply of antibiotics and anesthetics.
Further discussion of the local geopolitical situation ensued. 'twas revealed that a good-sized contingent of Russians - about 60 men - is occupying a military installation to the west of the town. The garrison is running a protection racket on six or seven still-inhabited villages within its sphere of influence. None of the locals was personally familiar with the installation, but discussion revealed that it's a fenced compound with a half-dozen or so buildings and a large antenna farm. As Lee noted, that's likely a way for everyone (except maybe Dillon) to call home. The PCs also learned that a couple hundred Russians are stationed south of their current location on the Latvian border.
After some discussion of heroism versus pragmatism, the PCs decided to wait in Keava for a week and ambush the next regular Russian shakedown squad. Their intent is to gather enough of the local Estonian partisans to be able to take down the base and at least temporarily secure it. With a week, Lee and Roz should be able to turn the town into a deathtrap for at least a platoon of Russians, so long as they don't have heavy iron.
Next week: a training and fortification montage, and hopefully a brief and one-sided firefight.