[Raellus]

Over dinner, the Diamonds discuss their experiences with the newcomers.

"Something's off. That Townes, he's pretty squirrelly," Walker opines.

“One of the sick guys- Branson, I think it was- dropped a bandana full of jewelry when I was looking him over,” Deacon starts, “Pretty sure I saw a West Point class ring in there. He noticed I saw it, said it belonged to a friend who died.”

“Guy I was talking to said his CO got fragged right after Kalisz,” Honeybear chimed in. “Said it was 'his time to go'.”

“Yeah, these guys are trouble,” Sarge says. “We need to keep a close eye on them. Two on watch tonight.”

The sun goes down, darkness falls…

Bird and Captain Walker are on second watch. Bird hears a scraping noise coming from the quarantine compound (aka the guest house), looks north spots a flash of movement in the road. He lifts his rifle, scopes the area, sees a second figure, crouched over, carrying a rifle, running across the road towards an overgrown lot to the north of the Diamond’s current residence. He pans left, sees dark shapes- human- against the white-painted exterior of a building. Then another figure starts creeping across the road, this one clearly armed.

“Don’t take any chances with these guys,” Sarge had said, “You see something off, shoot first, ask questions later. I'll take full responsibility.”

[Round 1]

Bird fixes the third figure in his crosshairs, squeezes the trigger. The M21 bucks, the target stumbles and falls in the road.

[The first two figures make it to the overgrown lot and drop prone behind some thick brush.]

A muzzle flash erupts from the south-facing window of the guesthouse. Bird is knocked backwards by what feels like a flying kick to the chest. He drops to the ground, gasping for breath.

The sleeping Diamonds are jolted awake by the spasm of gunfire. They scramble for weapons and body armor, start moving to their posts.

Shouting for everyone to stand to, Captain Walker moves down an alley between two buildings to get eyes on the north. She takes a knee at the corner, scans for threats.

Something explodes about 20m short of the open-sided garage structure on the north side of the Diamonds’ compound.

[Round 2]

Captain Walker hears movement in the underbrush 20m north of the compound. She takes aim at a clump of bushes and waits…

The enemy SAW gunner spots the Diamond CO, takes a shot at her, but the burst goes wide.

Sarge and PR join the fight. They each take aim at the muzzle flash and open fire, driving the enemy SAW gunner away from the window. Deacon rushes to Bird’s aid, drags the wounded sniper behind cover. Grease takes Bird’s place at the front (west, facing the road) of the compound; Honeybear joins Cap on the northeast side.

[Round 3]

Deacon open’s Bird’s PAGST vest, finds the wound. Fortunately, Bird’s Kevlar body armor kept the bullet from penetrating deeply. Part of the jacketed round protrudes from the sniper’s left pec. Deacon squeezes the slug out like a blackhead and slaps a field dressing on the flesh wound. [Successful Medical Aid Roll- all damage healed]. Bird can rejoin the fight.

Walker sees a rifle barrel protrude from the brush, just 30m away from her position. She squeezes the trigger of her M4A1 twice, but the second 3-round burst is cut short by a stoppage [Pushed roll results in jam!]. Sandy spots a figure rise up from the road and start running west towards the quarantine compound. After firing off 15 rounds, she too experiences a jam. The team grenadier did, however, force her target to dive prone in the road again, short of reaching cover. Unfortunately, the Diamond’s firepower is now reduced by a quarter.

The two hostiles in the brush open fire. The one on the left empties his mag at Sandy. Despite being only 20m way, the shooter doesn’t score a single hit! His counterpart is a better shot (or just luckier), hitting PR in the helmet with a shorter burst. The team radioman/translator drops into full cover behind a stack of old tractor tires.

The enemy SAW is silent, but two M16s start spitting rounds at the Diamonds from behind a wooden fence that encircles the quarantine compound’s back lot. Sarge appears to be their target, but both shooters miss badly. Grease and Sarge return fire and drive one of his antagonists away from the fence.

Honeybear, prone next to Cap, sends a long burst into the underbrush, producing an anguished yelp from his target.

[Round 4]

Captain Walker clears her jam quickly; Sandy, however, struggles to clear hers. Bird takes aim, waits for his prey to break cover.

A 40mm HE round sails long, exploding against a long storage shed at the back of the Diamond’s compound. The tormented runner in the road finally makes it to cover. The shooter behind the fence has another go at Sarge but misses again. Grease and Sarge both return fire, tearing up the fence and knocking the man down. Both Diamonds are confident that they hit their target.

Honeybear follows up his first burst with another, tracers disappearing into the dark shape of his target. It's almost certainly a kill.

[Round 5]

The enemy SAW gunner reappears in the guesthouse window; Bird is waiting. He squeezes the trigger, notes a puff of brick dust just below the windowsill. The SAW gunner returns fire, hitting Sarge in the left arm and knocking him down. Grease avenges the Diamond’s senior noncom, hitting the SAW gunner with a burst of fire before his weapon jams. The window is once again vacated.

Walker fires at the second shooter in the brush, producing a cry of pain. PR, having recovered his wits, takes aim and fires several bursts (15 rounds) at the same target, likely scoring at least a couple hits before his weapon jams. The brush is still and silent.

Honeybear takes aim at a figure leaning out from behind the northeast corner of the guesthouse, knocks the target down with a 16-round burst.

[Round 6]

There’s some indistinct shouting coming from the quarantine compound, but no more visible movement or gunfire. Sandy calls for Deacon, on behalf of Sergeant McNulty. The team medic bandages the senior noncom’s wounded arm. [Another successful Medical Aid roll, this one healing 2/2 damage; Sarge is good to go.] Grease wrestles with the borrowed M16A2 (Sarge’s old weapon), trying to clear the jam. The rest of the Diamonds remain vigilant, enemy compound in their sights. After a minute or so, they hear the sound of an engine coughing to life.

The visitor’s Humvee exits the north end of the quarantine compound, engine sounds rising in pitch as it accelerates sharply. Only Bird has LOS and a functioning weapon. He takes aim and sends a parting shot after the speeding vehicle.

Four of the village's freshly minted militia have congregated at the crossroads in the middle of town. They open fire on the fast-approaching Humvee but their marksmanship isn’t up to snuff. The Humvee speeds away.


Ref's Notes:
This was the logical conclusion of the random encounter, Murderous Bastards, which began in the previous post. Although the engagement was 8 v 8, this firefight didn't go nearly as well as the Diamonds' previous two. Darkness imparted a -2 penalty to all direct fire. Rolled direct fire hits yielded very few multiple successes, and the 3 ammo dice I rolled for every assault rifle burst turned up very few sixes. The OPFOR, being US soldiers, all wore body armor, so the lack of multiple successes and/or sixes on ammo die meant that hits didn't do enough damage to Crit. Nearly every pushed direct fire roll resulted in a jam. All three PCs hit by enemy fire failed their CUF rolls. Body armor really helped the party, again. I find myself rooting for torso or head hits because of this. Deacon did great on Medical Aid rolls, so all WIA PCs were able to return to the fire with full HP, and no one took any lingering damage.


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