Play@YSDC

The five of you stand on the threshold of the camp with the three MT-LBV's behind you. When there is a slight drop in the whirling snow, you can just about make out a silhouette of a building straight ahead of the gate. To the right of that is what could be a radio tower, though you cannot be certain with all the snow and ice blowing around. Behind the silhouette of the building in front of you is a massive pile of ... you cannot make out what it is, partly because of the snow flying around, but also because the pile is snow-covered.

"Maybe we should try the tower first," suggests Viktor. "There ought to be someone there at all times, though with everything else strange that's happened, who knows?"

Keep footing,35% chance 1d100 → [40] = (40) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4455451/

Melnikov slowly picks himself up from where the sudden blast had deposited him, his first instinct is to shake free any snow from Lara. With that accomplished he looks slowly around trying to pinpoint where the howling sound was coming from, while maintaining his cover of his advancing comrades.

If there are any sudden nasty suprises here he's damn sure the nastiest suprise will be on their attackers.

Kozlov moves in the direction of the radiotower.

Secure the tower first, we'll look to the building after that.


He peers into the distance at the pile of whatever.

"And whatever the hell that is."

Viktor nods and follows the captain towards the tower, keeping alert.

As you go past the building, and as you near it you can see that it has a flagpole with the tattered remnants of the red banner of Mother Russia still aloft, though torn and ravaged by the weather conditions. There is a covered overhang at the front of the building with a raised platform large enough to accommodate two people.

As you get nearer the tower there is a eerie wailing sound, your past experience telling you that i is the wind blowing through the steel beams. Although you cannot see the top clearly, you 'guestimate', from the size of the base that the structure is over fifteen metres tall.

Melnikov continues to watch the left flank as he moves towards the tower. There is something comforting in the weight of the machine gun and he feels a surge of adrenalin fueled warmth course through his body with the anticipation of action.

Viktor looks around for a means of ascending the tower.

Korovin continues looking everywhere. There should be someone here, it's not normal the place being deserted.

OOC:   Note;- Praporshchik Sirko is the second NPC which I shall use sparingly ... today being one of them days.

Viktor,You see a rickety old ladder along the north eastern face of the radio mast. Babenko, seeing what you are thinking of shouts over to you [color=#FF4000]"Don't be a bloody fool comrade - that wind nearly blew us off our feet back there, just think how exposed you'd be up there!"[/color]

Korovin,You scan the site and sees nothing moving that has not been disturbed by the high winds

.

Kozlov,You have a tight feeling in your guts ... this just feels wrong.

Melnikov,You look over to the left and can see past the building. Seeing the outline of another building straight in front of you. [ooc]Spot hidden please[/ooc]

Kriptoshenko,,and Sirko grow impatient in the back of the crowded MT-LBV - what is going on out there? Sirko looks at Kriptoshenko and says [color=#FF4000]"I cannot sit here idly doing nothing when our comrades might be in danger out there. I'm going out."[/color] Sirko directs the MT-LBV's to enter the compound slowly and park up. Once they have done so he orders the troops in the other two MT-LBV's to sit tight unless there are signs of trouble. He then orders four of the troops from his own vehicle to follow him and looks at Kriptoshenko, arching an eyebrow he asks [color=#FF4000]"You coming?"[/color] before wrapping his face up in his winter gear not waiting for an answer.

Korovin join his comrades. He try to get safety in numbers.

Kozlov didn't like this one bit, it felt as though something was terribly wrong and his entire being wanted to flee. The flag, tattered though it was, helped him collect his nerves and he scowled at the circumstance.

"Whoever lives here, is probably inside hiding from this storm. Unless anyone thinks they can scale that thing without being blown off, we'll go check out the big building."

"Believe me, Comrade," says Viktor, "I have no intention of climbing that flimsy ladder in this wind. Anyone up there probably would have been blown off anyway. I think we should head for the main building next."

Melkinov focuses his eyesight in an effort to clarify what he is seeing.

Spot Hidden,63% 1d100 → [31] = (31) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4461345/

Kozlov holds his raised fit up and points to the main building gesturing towards the front. The group moves forward, and Kozlov notices that Melnikov does not follow, instead peering intently off to his right.

Melnikov,As you peer forwards, you notice that the mound seems very tall and the snow around the base is tinted ... is that red or pink, you cannot quite make sure from this distance.

"Melnikov, didn't you hear me?"


Kozlov peers into the storm in the same direction Melnikov is looking.

Spot Hidden,[dice]0[/dice]

Korovin follows to the main building, weapons ready.

Melnikov continues to stare at the snowy mound, but now down the sights of the machine gun. Tenseness shows in his voice as he shouts back to Kozlov.
"Da Comrade Kapitan, I heard you. But look, at the base of the mound the snow is pinkish like blood perhaps"

Kozlov didn't see anything in this weather and nodded at Kriptoshenko's description.


"Let's go have a look."

Viktor nods and accompanies the others to the mound in the snow.

Kriptoshenko thinks it over for a moment before agreeing--he's never been one to wait around while others may be in trouble. He will follow Sirko.

As you edge closer to the mound you can glimpse through the swirling snowstorm you can see that it is in fact a mound of what looks like human bodies ... surely that cannot be right. You estimate that there must be over four, probably closer to five hundred bodies there. They are all naked and appear to be frozen into grisly contortions and cemented into their resting place by frozen rivers of blood and what appears to be frozen bits of brain tissue, though it is hard to be sure. As you take in the horrid sight, you cannot tear your eyes from the grisly vision in front of you. As you continue forwards you trip on something in the snow.

OOC:   Luck roll to maintain balance as well as an obvious SAN roll costing 1D2 / 1D4+1 loss from seeing the brutalised mound of souls before you, even for those hardened individuals inured by the ravages of combat. How far from the mound are you all and can I have some Spot Hidden rolls please?

If you fall you land face first into the bloodied snow taking in a mouthful as you land.

OOC:   (SAN roll 0 / 1 loss)

Looking down you espy two gore encrusted sledge hammers.

Melnikov keeps a steady line of advance towards the mound.

Luck Roll,55% 1d100 → [46] = (46) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4473323/

As he advances, keeping his machine gun pointed forward and ready for action, the sight of the heaped bodies causes even him to swallow dryly and start to sweat despite the intense cold.

San Roll,50% 1d100 → [71] = (71) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4473329/ Failed Sanity Loss 1d4+1 → [3,1] = (4)

Spot Hidden,63% 1d100 → [60] = (60) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4473360/

Viktor maintains his footing as he approaches the mound, hanging back somewhat out of caution and habit: snipers are supposed to keep their distance. The sight is just a little too much for him, and his face goes pale. He does, however, remain alert to his surroundings.

Kozlov kept his footing as he approaches the mound, his mind is reeling and he feels bile in his throat, so much so that he fails to notice anything.

Luck,[dice]0[/dice]

Sanity,[dice]1[/dice]

Spot Hidden,[dice]2[/dice]

Sanity Damage,[dice]3[/dice]

Those who made their spot hiddens,As you look down in the snow at what snagged your feet you find that you have uncovered what seems to be several pairs of boots containing mummified feet and are awarded with a SAN roll causing 1/1D4 SAN loss from witnessing the buried horrors

Sirko falls flat on his face and scrabbles away from where he fell, a mummified and booted foot in his left hand the look of terror on his face is palpable though he just about manages to maintain control. This despite the frozen bloody snow, slowly melting in his open mouth, something he is totally unaware of. The blood trickling from his mouth may or pay not be his own.

Finally realising he has something in his mouth he spits it out and all but shouts "What the F*£k ..." waving the booted foot in front of him like a talisman.

Viktor gapes in horror, but soon comes to his senses. " Bozhemoi!" he cries. "How is this possible?"

Kozlov rubbed his chin with a gloved hand.

"Impossible to say how long they've been here, or what happened."


With considerable difficulty, he pulled his eyes away from the mound of murder.


"Let's see if we can find anything inside the building."

Luck:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4476206/
Sanity Loss:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4476207/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4476208/
Spot hidden:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4476210/

Sanity:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4476212/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4476213/

Korovin is careful and avoid loosing his feet. But then he look at all those horrors. He have already seen terrible things. Men all mangled with wounds from explosives. Some were so hurt that were only pieces of meat. But he know what have done those wounds. Here was something behind his compreension. And the words from the radio echoed in his mind... He follow the others.

Viktor gladly turns away from the carnage and advances towards the main building, suppressing a shudder.

San Roll,46% 1d100 → [39] = (39) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4477518/ passed so -1

Melnikov grunts at the sight, then grins wolfishly at Sirko spitting and swearing.
"If you love me comrade you'd swallow"

Sirko glares at Melnikov for a moment then laughs before saying. "Da comrade, like you have swallowed for me so many times in the past!" He throws the boot at Melnikov before he bends and retrieves his AK-74 from where it fell. He looks down brushing the snow off the gun before catching Melnikov's eye and nodding. He then starts towards the main building

Melnikov - As the boot comes towards you, you can swat it away easily, but as you do something falls out of the boot ... what's that - a foot? If it is, it is dried and desiccated beyond anything you have seen before.

Everyone seems to be heading for the building now.

As you all round the corner of the building you see the flagpole with the ragged flag of Holy Russia flapping in the strong winds buffeting the area. You quietly ascend the steps leading to the cabin and listen at the door, and hearing nothing you enter to find yourself in a short corridor with a door off to either side and one front of you.

Melnikov grins at Sirkov's comment, then the grin turns to a grimace as he watches the dessicated object fall to the snow. Slowly and with renewed caution he sweeps the area with his machine gun, finger resting alongside the trigger for instant response to any threat. Covering the other of the teams entry to the building.

He is not liking this, it's too quiet, too odd, but he knows his business. He can feel the short hairs on the back of his neck bristle. He swallows, dryly, then takes two shallow breaths, ready at the slightest provocation to unleash hell from Lara's barrel

Viktor keeps the doors covered with his Dragunov, awaiting further orders.

Kozlov hand gestures for them to clear the left door first.

You slowly open the door and peer in. Silence descends. Silence, other than your heavy breathing and the ever present howling in the wind outside settles on you all you quickly advance into the room in standard, well practiced formation ensuring everyone is well covered. Before you you see desks and filing cabinets scattered around the room in disarray, papers lie randomly strewn across the floor.

A gust of wind blows through the open doors and swirls papers around the office. A door lies partially open on the same wall as the one you have just entered and weak light filters through the high windows.

Viktor keeps an eye on the hallway behind him, to make sure nobody sneaks up on them from one of the other doors.

Kozlov gestures to go towards the light, one hand firmly on his rifle as he advances in formation.

Viktor advances towards the light as ordered, his rifle at the ready.

Korovin is ready for any action...

As you head towards the high window all you can see is the swirling snow outside. It dawns on you that this room is almost as cold as it is outside, you can see the breath of your comrades crystallising in the air in front of them. Suddenly there is a loud bang behind you and as one you all spin round towards the part open door weapons aimed and ready to fire. there are several more bangs in quick succession.

Roll your Luck please

Successful rolls,As you are in a position to see through the part open doorway, you can see into the room beyond and see that a window is open and is banging against it's frame. From what you can see the room looks as though it could be some sort of radio room perhaps.

Failed rolls,the heightened tension of the situation, and the banging from the unknown source adds up to ramp your tension up a little more. You are starting to sweat a little, despite the freezing conditions in here SAN roll please 0/1 SAN loss.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4484508/

Korovin is relieved with what he saw.
-It's just this cursed wind. I'l go see if there is anything there.

Viktor is positioned well to see through the door.

"It looks like a radio room," he says.

Luck,55% 1d100 → [79] = (79) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4485459/

San,Current 46% 1d100 → [54] = (54) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4485460/ Fail so current san now 45%

Melnikov jumps at the sudden noise and spins fast to cover the doorway - just the wind. Still he was getting nervy his finger had momentarilly rested on the trigger of the PK, he had been within a hairs breadth of unleashing a hail of lead towards the doorway.

He grinned, nervously, and turned forward to cover the others as they move forward,

Melnikov thinking:   This shit is beginning to get to me

Luck,[dice]0[/dice]

Sanity,[dice]1[/dice]

Kozlov's heart skipped a beat. Instinct made him spin around and aim his weapon at whatever was making the noise.

He's acutely conscious of the bead of sweat slowly rolling down the side of his face.


"Radio room? See if you can find any transcripts or logs. After that, we move on, we still have some distance to cover to the objective."

"Da, Comrade Kapitan," says Viktor. He enters the room beyond and makes sure it is clear before starting a search.

The equipment in the offivce appears to be very old, for example the manual typewriters are at least 25 years old with the ribbons having been re-dyed several times n the past. The cast iron stoves do not appear to have been used in a very long time.

On the wall by the doorway into the radio room is a calendar, obviously hand made, with the last date marked off being the 19th August 1991, the day of the announcement of the coup in Moscow.

Sirko looks through the filing cabinets, which open with a loud screech, followed by a low curse. After a moment or two he calls out "Comrade Kapitan, this may be interesting ... I cannot see any staff movements since 1979." After a few moments more he adds, "And that goes for the prisoners as well! No-one in and no one out either."

Viktor,A look at the radio room reveals that it has been designed to receive long range transmissions, but not to transmit them. The radio has been damaged. The room is freezing cold and you shut the window to try and shelter the inside of the building from the storms outside. There are no logs or transcripts visible.

Kozlov moves up to Sirko and looks at some of the papers.

"Weird...who was the last commander of this base?"


He casts another look around the room and then nods at his men.

"All right, time to move out. Let's head back to the vehicles. Eyes open!"


He wasn't liking any of this, corpse heaps were one thing, but this blasted wind...

"The radio is useless to us," says Viktor as he heads out with the others. "It is not only damaged, it can only receive and not transmit. I saw no logs or transcripts. We are not going to see what is behind the other doors, then?"

Melnikov continues to watch the doorway.

Melnikov thinking:   Let others do the looking, I'l do my job and cover their backs.

"We have wasted enough time in this hole as it is. We need to get to our objective."


Kozlov starts moving towards the exit.

"Yes, Comrade Kapitan," says Viktor, following. He appreciates the need to get there quickly, and now that he considers it he's relieved to be getting out of this place.

Korovin nods and prepares himself, happy to leave this place of strange deaths.

As the group start to head out of the building Sirko slowly pushes the door in the corridor and sees a spartan set of living quarters containing a bed, some drawers and wardrobe and a desk. On the ceiling above the bed is a mural, a stylized image of some giant being appears to be standing astride the onion-topped spires of St. Basil’s cathedral and the walls of the Kremlin. Lenin’s tomb is crushed underfoot and men and war machines are scattered like leaves before a gale.

Here the camp commander would lay in his bed as he contemplated the will of the giant. It is his own vanity that saw the giant’s will as complimentary to his dreams of revenge against the men who left him here to die.

That mural could be regarded as treasonous, thinks Viktor. It doesn't matter much now, though. The man is most likely dead,

You head out into the cold once more and the sound of the whistling wind through the radio tower sounds mournful ... almost as mournful as the morbid atmosphere that permeated this labour camp. What happened here you may never know. It actually seems warmer out here than it did in the cabin ... not by much, but slightly warmer.

OOC:   Spot Hidden roll please.

Viktor, ever very alert, notices something and trains his sniper rifle on it, peering through his scope. "Comrades, there is another building in that direction," he says, "and I think I just saw movement in a window."

"Da.", Kozlov confirms coldly. "Fan out, keep all angles covered. Melnikov on me."

Instinct suddenly took over, half-crouched Kozlov started the familiar approach pattern of occupied compounds, keeping his rifle trained on their objective. He was glad for the sudden diversion.

Korovin has saw something.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4501264/

As you spread out you pass what appears to be a coal mound, probably used to fuel the cast iron heaters you noticed in the first cabin. Before you lies a cabin that, from those at the sides, appears to be longer than it is wide, it's greater length running away from you. Facing the direction you come from is a door to the left and a window to the right, with windows running down the sides.

Behind the left hand side as you approach are several long sleds ... half buried in the snow at the edge of the building. As you approach quietly, there it is again ... movement behind the window apparently a man dressed in furs by the bulk of his silhouette.

Viktor keeps his rifle trained on the figure as he advances. "Well, at least someone here's alive," he says. "He'll have to know something about what happened here, but we'll need to tread with caution. He may be responsible for it."

Spot Hidden,63% 1d100 → [81] = (81) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4503066/ Fail

Melnikov, at Korovin's command moves alongside him still sweeping the area for hostiles.

Kozlov hand gestured to Viktor to put the man down in case of any hostilities and then ordered a man to each side of the cabin, to cover the windows on the side.

Once they were in position, he'd take the rest to the door.

Viktor takes up a position covering the unknown man with his sniper rifle. "If it's possible, we should try to bring him in alive," he says. "He can't tell us what happened here if he's dead."

Melnikov nods with satisfaction as he watches the others move to their positions with military precision. He takes a position near Kozlov ready to spray the door with lead if necessary.

"At your orders Comrade Capitan", he cannot keep the excitement from his hushed voice.

At the prearranged signal the door is burst open by Babenko before he flattens himself against the wall, allowing the others to get in before he follows them. As you enter, shouting for whoever is inside to lay down their arms and kneel on the floor, hands behind their heads you see the startled faces of a group of on man and five women which you recognize as being of Nenet descent, though something does seem odd, you cannot put your finger on it just yet. Also there a group of dogs ar rhte rear of the cabin. It appears to be some kind of mess hall. The tables and benches mainly being used to corral the dogs. In the centre of the room is a disorganized pile of assorted guns, tools, ammunition and canned goods. and the old man was busy going through the pile when you entered.

In not too fluent Russian, the old man says "We surrender good Comrade. there is no need for you to use violence, we chanced upon the camp and decided to wait out the storm." The women look on confused at this unexpected turn of events. It is slightly warmer in here than it is outside, but not by much. The cast iron stoves seem to be in better repair in here, though are not lit, it is still a few degrees below freezing.

OOC:   A spot hidden roll please

Mr Handy,Yes please wrt the spot hidden roll thank you.

Those who pass the spot hidden roll,You notice that the man and at least some of the women are wearing a well polished stone medallion round their necks that depicts a footless running figure etched into it, very similar to the graffiti above the camp commandant's bed.

As you look among the Nenets before you then among your own men, you can see the breath from your group fogging the air as you breath out. However, the same cannot be said for the Nenets. Furthermore, they seem to have been looting the camp, hence the pile of goods in the centre of the mess-hall.

Viktor notices something out of the corner of his eye. He speaks to the others over his radio headset: "Comrades, those stone medallions they wear have a similar design to that mural over the commandant's bed: a running figure with no feet. Do not trust them. Just a hunch, but you might want to look at their feet."

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4506883/

Korovin is soo suspicious that he fails to nottice anything.

Spot Hidden, 63% 1d100 → [27] = (27) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4507049/

Despite his obstructed view Melnikov is aware of the occupants. At Victor's warning he looks downward at the feet of the Nenets.

Those who look down at the feet of the Nenets notice little out of the ordinary. All the time the women look to the old man, hardly daring to look at the party. In halting Russian the old man continues;

"We got caught up in the storm and having lost three dogs to the cold I didn't want to lose more so we chanced upon this place. It seemed deserted so we gathered what we could that would prove useful to us.

Kozlov kept his gun trained on the old man, his voice cold and imperious.

"Step away from the equipment! Slowly! Where did you come from and where are the rest of you?"

Viktor holds his position, keeping his rifle trained on the man he can see through the window. "Try getting them to take off their footgear," he suggests over the radio.

"Where are we from? Our tribe is a wandering bunch of nomads, and in the storm we got totally seperated from the rest of out tribe. This is my family and we managed to get here as our sleds, which you may have seen outside, were tethered together." The old man dry-wrings his hands and nods obsequiously "Move away, certainly comrade. I'll stand over by the door." He nods as he shuffles past you.

He hears the comment from Victor as he passes. "Take my boots off, why yes comrade. Of course comrade whatever you say." He sits down and removes his boots which reveal a pair of dirty, smelly feet.

Korovin remembers what the officer told in the radio and understand Victor demands. But what about the others? And even if they are nornal, they can be looters, a serious crime...

Melnikoz thinking:   Too many people are watching the Nenets, this is bad

Slowly and deliberately Melnikov scans the surrounding area, watching for other movement

Mr Handy / Viktor,I assumed it was over open radio channels, not sure if such things as earpieces were commonplace in 1991. Thinking about it I worked in the Prison Service at this time and we had earpieces so I can edit the above if you like ... it's not that important to the story-line.

"What time is it?" asks the old man in his by now familiar halting, heavilly accented Russian.

"Get over there in the corner with the others. It is time for answers. Who are you really, where are the others, what are those things around your necks and what the hell happened here."

Kozlov's voice is cold. He didn't like it that there were children too, that always made it harder...not harder, just more lingering.

Korovin is thinking that maybe not leaving any witness would be better? After all in this case, they may be traitors. Why would they enter in a place like this anyway?
-Why did you enter here in the first place? How did you knew that nobody was here?

Melnikov points the barrel of his machine gun at the old man, making sure he gets the message.

The old man continued to dry-wring his hands. "We entered seeking shelter as I said. as we looked for signs that someone was around it became clear that there was no-one here. Surely you have reached the same conclusion ... you have been round the camp good comrade?" The man's eyes narrow and he shifts from foot to foot. "Can you tell me the time please ... I need to perform my religious devotions."

Viktor keeps his rifle trained on the head of his target, watching him and the room around him warily through the scope, but also keeping an ear open for anything else in his surroundings.

Something is not rigth. You don't go to a gulag looking for shelter. They could have been arrested or shot. On the other hand with such a tempest... But the word, religious duties make him suspicious again.
-What religion are you? Orthodox? Muslin?

Kozlov's voice is even icier than the weather.

"Answer the questions."

"I ... No good comrade, I am of the old ways and am not of the more modern faiths. I worship the nature Gods and would try and make some plea to at least abate this storm. A lot of the more Northerly tribes are worshipers such as myself. Look - just let me go into the corner over there ...," he indicates the far corner with a nod of his head, "...and let me make my devotions. I won't be any trouble, and neither will my daughters and grand-daughters We will only be five minutes or so and you can stand watch if you wish, all I ask is that you do not interrupt us during the prayers. Hopefully we can get out of here and back to my tribe again. I'll even leave all the goods we were going to take behind if that would help allay your fears about stealing from the camp. All I wanted was to take something that might save our lives, and those of my tribe, out there in the wilds, surely you understand this comrade; sir?"

Modern faiths- christians and muslins? The tribe was made of pagans like the officer had said in the radio...
-You don't happen to know the way to another base near this place? It would be very helpful if you could explain how to get there...

Kozlov assessed the man, he couldn't help but loathe him. Something in his manner made Kozlov's skin crawl.


"Go stand over there with the women, have them take off their shoes and answer our questions. What happened here, where are the rest of you and what are those medallions."

Melnikov clicks off the safety with an audible click. He has a feeling that things are going to get hot real quick, and if it does his first target is going to be the old man. He grins that wolfish grin, and hopes that the old man will move in nice and close to the others. That way he can get them all in one burst, just the way he likes it.
Braaap, all over.

The old man turns and says to the women in the Nenet tongue My family, "These soldiers want us to take off our shoes for some reason ... quickly now, you know how impatient these Russians can be."

He turns back to you as the women quickly comply. "I am Nyalku good comrades, these are my daughters Anna and Olga with my granddaughters Zhanna, Lyudmila and Galina." he says indicating each of the females in turn. "As to what happened here, it is like I said before good comrade, The storm hit us hard, we got separated from our tribe and chanced upon this camp. We found it pretty much as it is now. I went in search of someone manning the camp and found no-one. So I'm afraid I cannot tell you what occurred here before we came because we weren't yet here."

By this time the women have their boots off revealing disgusting feet, blackened with dried sweat and grime.

"The medallions are sacred relics of our tribes patron God, Kotura, whom we call Lord of the Winds. So you see, with the terrible storm, how I see it important that we perform am appeasement ritual, to try and get him to lessen his rage against us. Who knows gentle comrades, it may well be your very presence that has offended Kotura being as you are not from this area or his faith? Perhaps if we can perform the ritual, he will better guide us."

Korovin is unsure at the beggining of what to do. Of course the idea of the locals having deformities in the feet and being dangerous was just a suposition after what they heard in the radio. But even if they are not so dangerous, nothing says they are telling the true. And they have commited several crimes: they entered a forbiden camp and were caugth stealing things that belong to the state- and they confessed. It's severel years of of jail. But there is no police here and they are in a hurry, and can't leave witness. Korovin knows now what it must be done, but it's a decision to his superiors...

Kozlov scowls at the offensive presence remark.


"Line up and march outside, single file.", his eyes didn't leave the old man, "and leave your shoes."

"Of course Comrade - of course, but if I may, why should we leave our shoes? After all it is below freezing out there, or is it your intention to maim or slay us?" asks the old man as he dry-wrings his hands. The women continue to look from the soldiers to the old man and back again.

Melnikov looks towards Kozlov, "May I humbly suggest comrade captain, that we shoot one or two. It may stop the old man from arguing every command?"

The old man stands in front of the women. "Now then Comrade, we have complied with all your wishes, I have asked for two things which you have refused. The last being to allow us to don our shoes before we get herded out into the blizzard. This tells me you wish to kill us so why should we comply, if we are to be slain anyway. I am going to lead my girls in the ritual chant now ... if you wish to slay us in the meantime then you will have to shoot us in the back." He turns to the women - come my lovelies. He squeezes the shoulder of on of them and nods "It will be alright, if we die, we will die safe in the knowledge that Kotura will accept us in his arms." They start to head towards the far end of the mess hall

Melnikov grins and swings the muzle of the machine gun directly towards the old man and his daughters, "Well grandad you'd better hope that this Kotura of yours is ready for you. Comrade Captain Kozlov I await your orders to open fire on these traitors to the Soviet Union"

The old man herds his daughters over to the far corner where they all kneel down and start to chant - swaying from side to side.

OOC:   Is it your intention to intervene this religious ceremony or do you let it run it's course ... which the old man told you would be about five minutes?

About halfway through the ceremony ... should you choose not to interfere, the old man starts to drum his hands on the floor in a strange rhythmical fashion ... which is slowly taken up by the women ... apart from one who continues to chant though her eyes start to become glassy.

"To hell with this"
Frustrated at the lack of command, and not liking the way this is going, Melnikov opens fire.

Cearlan,okay what do I need to roll for firing a burst from the machine gun?

Korovin will only shoot if any of them try to escape. No need to waste ammo...
"What kind of traitors are they, do defy a order directly this way? Not even the terrorists in Afghanistan would do that"- thinks Korovin

Firing,1d100 → [91] = (91) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4523381/ Bloody hell that was close!!

Melnikov, face twisted into a snarl of hatred and pleasure, opens fire. Four five round bursts, as he had been taught in basic and used to effect in Afghanistan. Like hitting straw targets, he watches as human flesh is torn by the 7.62mm bullets.

Cearlan,how do you want to work the damage?

Melnikov grits his teeth as he sets his body against the recoil of his weapon. His face a mask as he strafes the group kneeling and facing away from him during their observation of their religion. The stench of cordite, so familiar to you all now fills the air, mingled with the smells of coppery blood and human waste as the slain relax their bodily functions. The dogs start barking and yelping excitedly as some of them attempt to attack but are repelled, either by the 'table corral' or the echoes of the machine gun fire. The rest of them cower against the far wall, their fear stemming from either the fierce look of the crazed Russian or the noise or some other more sinister reasoning.

Nyalku, the old man takes most of the damage as his body is nearly torn in half by the repeated hits against his frail body. The women are now in a state of distress as their 'father' has been slain in such a brutal fashion. Three of the women lie dead, you dimly seem to think their names are Lyudmila, Anna and Galina, whilst the remaining girl cowers against the wall crying. The one with the glassy stare continues to chant and drum her hands rhythmically, despite her being hit in the left shoulder.

The manic look on Melnikov's face remains fixed.

Korovin goes near the women and shoot her at blank point.