It’s Monday, August 19, 1991. Yesterday, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev was removed from office in a coup arranged by hard-line communists in his government.
Protests against the coup are breaking out across the Soviet Union. Nationalist insurgents in the various Soviet republics are declaring independence from the illegitimate “State Committee for the State of Emergency.”
The Investigators are members of a Soviet Spetsnaz, or Special Purposes Forces, unit. They were selected for this elite military service due to their political reliability and physical fitness. After intense training and as much as two years of service in Afghanistan, they are hardened combat veterans. Many suspect that the coup plotters intend to use Spetsnaz units to bully the opposition into line. However, fate has intervened and the Investigators’ Spetsnaz unit has been kicked out of bed for a less political, but even more pressing, assignment
On Monday morning, August 19, 1991, the Investigators were awoken to the news that Premier Gorbachev had been relieved of his duties and a “State Committee for the State of Emergency” had been created to run the country during the transition of power. Their Spetsnaz unit, in Norilsk for Arctic warfare training, is put on alert; but being so far from the centers of power in the U.S.S.R., no one can really imagine them going into action unless they are airlifted back to Moscow or Leningrad.
OOC: I am npc-ing two characters but will not be (consciously) lead the group. One of the characters is an out and out bigot and I will be playing him as such. This does not reflect either my views, the views of the other players, the site nor the writers of the scenario. If any offence is caused - well it is his character and it is just a game, but I apologise in advance.
Outside camp Norilsk, snow is driven hard and fast in heavy winds, and as the sun is high very early in the morning, but of course you are all up and ready, settled in the mess hall where the delicious food, (heavy sarcasm there), is served by happy smiling mess staff, but then again, being stuck out here permanently would be enough to drive any man like that. But you are back on the soil of Holy Russia so it's not all bad, apart from the leaking roofs, the eternal chill in the air and the lack of any colour other than the eternal drab landscape which seems to reach to the horizon in every direction. Situated close to the border between the central Siberian Plateau and western Siberian Plain, more notably the Putoran Mountains, which contain some of Russia's prime nickel mines.
Senior Lieutenant Babenko sits in silence as the news of the coup filters through. A lot of the men in the mess tent are getting somewhat excited by the news, both for and against the news. Standing up he Calls for calm. "Comrades, the politics of those who run the country are by and large irrelevant. Out here we are so far from Moscow that we may as well be on the far side of the planet. What we need to do is keep our heads here and not show any signs of division within our ranks. Remember we are on standby and may be called into action at the drop of a filthy Afghan rebel. Sing with me comrades, sing with me our national anthem (translated into English)
Russia – our sacred homeland,
Russia – our beloved country.
A mighty will, great glory –
These are your heritage for all time! etc
Playing;
Paris: City of Tears
Horror on the Orient Express
Kapitan Sergei Borisovich Kozlov leans back in his chair and drinks his cup of whatever passes as coffee in these parts. He didn't like the way the men reacted to the news. He wasn't sure how to react to it either, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachov had done good things for the country, but he was a moderate, maybe too moderate for Russia's needs.
Regardless, this kind of division was bad for morale in normal circumstances, let alone in the frozen wastes of Siberia.
With some appreciation he looked on as Babenko tried to rally the forces, observing the men's reactions. He didn't like the man, he was obnoxious, but he was a good second in command, he could read people exceptionally well and he knew how to react efficiently when situations turned.
"He said we were all cooked but we were all right as long as we did not know it. We were all cooked. The thing was not to recognize it."
Praporschik Viktor Sergeyevich Muradov is at home here. While most Soviets wouldn't like being in Siberia, he is from there and relishes the freezing weather and isolation. Here he is in his element. He listens to the news of the coup with concern, as he likes Gorbachev, whose reforms have made it easier for him to practice his faith. He sings along to the national anthem, loudly and boisterously.
Nikolay Vladimirovich Korovin is relieved by being here. Not that he likes this place: he is from the south and like to see the green in spring and yellow on summer. But he hasn't made his mind yet about the situation: he is a patriot and Gorbatchev is the legal leader. But the country seems to falling apart, and it seems that a more energetic leadership is needed
Praporshchik Andrey Alexandrovich Melnikov uses his fork like a weapon to stab a piece of the cold, grease dripping bacon that the cooks have so lovingly prepared. He does this for three reasons; one, he wants to make sure that the thing is dead; two, the liberal coating of grease makes it hard to get hold of; and most importantly three, he's bored.
At the lieutenant's words he smiles grimly, still playing chase with the bacon, he doesn't care about politics as long as he gets to use 'Lara' his beloved PK to fire more than blanks.
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
Vladimir Olegovich Kriptoshenko jumps into singing along with the anthem as well. He hasn't yet thought about his feelings on what's happening back home--those thoughts have been neatly filed away for a better time--but he knows the others certainly have. His duty, first and foremost, is to these men around him.
I'm a smooth criminal and a neurotic lawyer with a crush on a pretty-boy author, and I'm being controlled by my creepy older brother (twice!) while I worry about not having a can opener.
"лайно" (shit) shouts Melnikov as he pulls his razor sharp combat knife from his boot and spears the bacon. The profanity loud and at odds with the patriotic singing causes others to look around. Melnikov favours them with his half insane look, almost daring a response. He looks at Kriptoshenko and smiles enigmatically.
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin
The day is spent doing the usual drills and routine continues as normal ... the standby is not dropped though which it normally is after about 6-10 hours and as you all retire for the night there is the feeling that as well as the coup in Moscow ... this time, it just may be more than the usual stand-by - stand-down routine. Tension seems to be hitting the non-Spetsnaz harder than the more elite, the higher trained men, but this is exactly what Mother Russia would have expected. Kapitan Sergei Borisovich Kozlov had orders to drill his men hard today and he duly complied.
Sleep is still hard to come by though as adrenaline is still present in your system due to the hard Kozlov had put you through. Still it was all good ... good to get laziness out of the system and good to get you ready for for action. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Silence and blackness descends, well it would apart from the damnable snores emanating from Babenko's bunk, as one by one you drift off into a dark and dreamless sleep.
This blissful state lasts till exactly 0100 hrs when the group is literally kicked out of bed and ordered to assemble in full arctic warfare gear immediately. Like the well oiled machine that your unit is, you realise that this is no drill so you fully comply and within fifteen minutes you are all piling into the back of several UAZ trucks and are being rushed to the nearby Soviet Air Defence Forces Base. Waiting in a hangar for you to disembark are a number of high ranking generals from the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces, the arm of the military that is responsible for all land-based strategic and theater nuclear missiles. They don’t look happy. One or two look drunk.
One of the older top brass present steps forward and speaks in a gravelly voice. "I am Lt. General Suslin of the Strategic Rocket Forces."
"This is a full Spetsnaz Briefing for Operation White 36 Date The time of the Briefing: 20/08/91 - 0130 hours." he adds looking at his watch.
Operational Forces to Deploy:"We are deploying members of the 4th Special Purpose Brigade, elements, Red Army as well as 82nd Special Purpose Airborne and Arctic Warfare Company, Red Army. The 124th Heavy Lift Wing, elements, Red Air Force and 1st Platoon, 18th Special Signals Company, elements, Strategic Rocket Forces will also be deployed."
Strategic Situation:"Site 6 is home to the an ICBM silo of the 123rd Strategic Missile Wing, located in the foothills of the Byrranga Mountains of the Taymyr Peninsula at 76° 12’ N and 106° 18’ E. Strategic Rocket Forces Command lost all telemetry and radio contact with Site 6 six hours ago. Site 6 has not responded to any subsequent attempts at communication. Site 6’s last communication, at 18:30:22 Moscow standard time, was that the facility was under attack by forces unknown. We can only assume now that Site 6 is in the hands of terrorists, counter-revolutionary or imperialist forces. No demands or ultimatums have been issued at this time.
"Further complicating the strategic and tactical situation is the presence of a violent storm over Site 6. Air reconnaissance of Site 6 is extremely restricted. High winds combined with low visibility and an unknown amount of snowfall over the site mean that a successful air insertion at Site 6’s landing field via aircraft landing or para-drop are rated as extremely low-probability. No appropriate military resources are near enough to reach Site 6 by ground within the time constraints.
"The final factor arguing against air insertion is that Site 6 is equipped with four SA-12 ground-to-air missile batteries. If Site 6 is in the hands of hostile forces, they may have control of the air-defence system, making an approach by air impossible without extreme casualties."
Mission Objective: "Your Company must reach Site 6, regain control, assess the technical situation at the facility, and re-establish communications and data exchange with Strategic Rocket Forces command at Sverdlovsk. The objective is time-critical. Communications and data exchange must be achieved by 14:45:13 hours, August 22, 1991."
Deployment: "The task force will deploy from Soviet Air Defence Forces base at Norilsk.
"The task force will be divided into two equal teams consisting of two platoons of Special Purpose Forces. Each team will include three personnel from the Strategic Rocket Forces, who will deal with any technical issues at the silo complex once it is secured by the Special Purpose Forces. The use of two separate teams using two different approaches to Site 6 will ensure the success of the mission.
"Team number one will attempt to reach Site 6 via Mi-26 helicopter launched from Norilsk Air Defence Base. Team number one will proceed via nape-of-the-Earth flight in order to avoid the radar systems and air defence batteries at Site 6.
"Team number two will be inserted 114 km from objective, beyond the worst of the blizzard conditions, by an Antonov-124 transport aircraft launched from Norilsk Air Defence Forces Base. After performing an open-field landing and disembarking, Team two will proceed overland to the objective using four MT-LBV multi-purpose tracked vehicles.
"Whichever team reaches Site 6 first will immediately secure the facility and then re-establish communications with Strategic Rocket Forces Command Sverdlovsk. The second team to arrive will provide support. Task Force will remain in place until the weather permits safe extraction."
Security: "All information about, and even the very existence of, White 36 is classified Top Secret."
Expected Weather Conditions:"The area of Site 6 is experiencing unseasonable weather. A violent blizzard has reduced visibility to less than 100 meters. Sustained winds are estimated at 65kph with gusts over 100kph. Air insertion directly into Site 6 is an extreme hazard."
He clicks his fingers and maps of the area and a copy of the briefing are distributed to the commanding officers by an adjunct.
"In closing I have to stress how critical time is ... this mission must be completed within the next two and a half days. Now gentlemen, Russia acknowledges your mission, at least those who know of it. The dangers you will be facing are immense and some of you may very well not be returning. The Motherland will take you to it's heart." He will not brook any questions so the information you have is all you are getting.
"Now load up onto the Antonov-124 military transport jet where you will be going overland in four MT-LBV armoured Personnel Carriers." You all troop onto the plane and sit on the 80 person passenger compartment behind the cockpit of the An-124. Kozlov tells you to perform final equipment checks whilst the plane is loaded and awaits take-off.
Finally the plane taxis onto the runway and the heavy military jet struggles to get off the ground before heading off northeast into the Byrranga Mountains of the Taymyr Peninsular. Wheels up at 0300 hrs.
Playing;
Paris: City of Tears
Horror on the Orient Express
Still in the mess hall,[img]http://i.imgur.com/NwctueU.jpg[/img]
[b]Kozlov [/b]didn't like that two men weren't joining in the singing. Politics were nasty, especially in Russia. He didn't doubt that his men would step to when they finally got something to do in this Arctic wasteland, he only hoped it would happen soon.
Looking around one final time to assess the crowd, he finally rose himself to join in the singing, his deep sonorous voice mingling with that of the others.
Last edited by DrPeterson on Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"He said we were all cooked but we were all right as long as we did not know it. We were all cooked. The thing was not to recognize it."
After the equipment check, Kozlov checks his watch.
"Time is now 0305, synchronise watches."
He looked at his men and observed the expressions on their faces closely. He was glad that they finally received a briefing, idleness was no soldier's friend.
He stood and holding himself steady on one of the overhead rails, he speaks:
"When we touch down, we take formation Delta. I take point, Kriptoshenko is left wing, Babenko right.
Muradov, you screen with Melnikov at 50m interval at 10 o' clock from the main group, fade left on contact and we punch through. Each MT-LBV of the main group will take one of the rocket men.
Clear?"
"He said we were all cooked but we were all right as long as we did not know it. We were all cooked. The thing was not to recognize it."
Kozlov in the mess,You are not the only one who notices that some are not joining in the singing of the glorious national anthem. You are aware of the close scrutiny of several zampolit scattered around the room, watching and mentally noting everything.
Several of your former colleagues led by Senior Lieutenant Ivan Sergeivtich Poliakov who was a close friend, well as close as any other Spetsnaz soldier, to quite a few of your group as he was an amiable and affable man, A career soldier who never gave too much thought about climbing the ladder just yet as he revelled in the camaraderie of the unit. There was always time for climbing the greasy pole in years to come. Junior Lieutenant Dimitri Aleksayavich Samoylenko, a stern yet fair zampolit, or political officer who has in previous tours of Afghanistan has saved quite a few lives with acts of bravery and derring do.
They as well as many other former comrades are assigned to team one, who were assigned to reach site 6 by a Mi-26 helicopter,
The investigators, along with other former comrades are assigned to team two, to be inserted 114 Km from the objective via an Antonov-124 and four MT-LBV multi purpose tracked vehicles.
It takes about 90 minutes to reach the disembarkation point, and the pilots Call back to the commanders "We are here Boys ... Get ready. We are going to look for a landing site that presents a credible chance for a open field landing just outside the near total white-out of the blizzard. It looks as though this could take some time as the blizzard looks damned severe." About twenty minutes later they call back again. "We found what we think is the best chance up ahead."
OOC: Make two rolls please everyone ... a Spot Hidden, and either Navigation or Military Science - whichever is highest.
Playing;
Paris: City of Tears
Horror on the Orient Express
I'm a smooth criminal and a neurotic lawyer with a crush on a pretty-boy author, and I'm being controlled by my creepy older brother (twice!) while I worry about not having a can opener.
Although this is no passenger flight, it seems to those who can see outside, (read as those who passed their Spot Hidden rolls), can determine that it seems fuel is being dumped by the pilots. Trails of aviation fuel stream out behind the wing tanks. At the rate it is being jettisoned, there could not be much fuel left. You believe that there may well be not enough fuel to attempt another field landing.
Those who passed their navigate or military science rolls are of the opinion that the field the pilots are heading for is far too short, (about 300 - 500 m short), for a plane of this size.
An Aeroflot AN-124 showing the size of this behemoth.
OOC: But it is dwarfed by the more modern AN-225
If you succeeded at any of these rolls, roll SAN to realise the implications ... that the plane is crash landing. This realisation costs 0/1 SAN.
Playing;
Paris: City of Tears
Horror on the Orient Express
Viktor's eyes go wide when he sees how close the ground is. "Brace for impact!" he warns the others as he tries to brace himself. "We're coming down hard!"
OOC,My character sheet lists my POW as 14, so my starting SAN should normally be 70, but the character sheet lists it as 65. If I've somehow lost Sanity before the scenario started, then I failed that roll, but if that's an error and it's really supposed to be 70, then I succeeded.
Victor,Call it a result of the rigours of Afghanistan that may have taken their toll upon you ... one SAN point here or there will not make any difference. Also don't forget the eternal paranoia that existed in Russia would probably have contributed to this as well. Everybody has less SAN than their max starting SAN so the results of the Afghan wars would probably account for that. One down mwuahahaha ;-)
Playing;
Paris: City of Tears
Horror on the Orient Express
Kriptoshenko is horrified by the potential implications of what he sees. He braces for impact and fervently hopes for the best.
I'm a smooth criminal and a neurotic lawyer with a crush on a pretty-boy author, and I'm being controlled by my creepy older brother (twice!) while I worry about not having a can opener.
