Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

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max_vale
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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#61 Post by max_vale »

In the woods/stream near the intersection of Route 93 and the Big Lost River not far from Chilly, Idaho; approx. 3:30 PM-Midnight, Thursday, 18 June, 1987


The resistance fighters wait in the woods for a very, very long time; many of them taking turns drifting off to sleep as the Soviet traffic along the highway is fairly steady thru the daylight hours and even into the night with several APCs and many more civilian cars and trucks that had been hastily painted in Soviet army colors driving by and stopping at the tanks' position every hour or so.

Finally, around midnight, the perfect opportunity came when two of the tank crew, one from each tank, walked over to the side of the woods that the resistance band was on to relieve their bladders. Saul motioned to Raffy to take one down while he would grab the other and meanwhile Billy kept his Rifle trained on the remaining tanker who was visible poking his heads and upper torso out of the hatch on the top of the closer tank's turret. The commander of the farther away tank was one of the two men who had come to the woods to take a leak, leaving the hatch open as he did so....

Saul waited with his survival knife in hand while Cabrera did the same with his switchblade at the ready. As the two soldiers tiredly said a few words in Russian and then moved to take a leak, Silverman stepped out of the woods behind one and with a meaty hand put around his target's mouth, he plunged his weapon into the poor man's throat with his other hand, quickly dispatching the Russian....

Raffy did much the same, using his switchblade to rapidly cut the man's throat and the two bodies were very quickly dragged into the woods and Saul rapidly started to tear off the uniform of the taller of the two men and then put it on while whispering the plan that popped into his head to the others. He asked Jenny to find a stone and to get ready to toss it across the street into the woods on the other side of the street to get the attention of the remaining Soviet soldiers. When that happened, Raffy would rush with his tools to the closer tank and get low out of sight of the men to the top of the turrets and get underneath the tank to disable it. Billy would cover them with his Rifle the whole time and in case the heavy machine gun turret started to swing in their direction, he could take them out.

Saul's part was the trickiest. He would, in Soviet uniform, blood-spattered as it was, but hopefully not so obvious in the dark of night; move to the tanks and climb up on the top one where he would press the pistol to the tank commander's body and pull the trigger to take him out and then toss a grenade into the other tank's open hatch to eliminate the two crew still in that one. That would leave only 1 man in the tank that Saul would be on, but he should be relatively easy to deal with if everything went according to plan....

A few questions were hurled in their direction as Saul put on the uniform and whispered the plan to the others. Silverman used what little Russain he could remember having learned from his parents; mostly curse words, in reply; which drew a few tired laughs. Then he nodded to Jenny and she hurled the stone into the woods on the opposite side of the street and it had the desired effect; drawing the attention of the tank commander who swung his weapon around that way and Raffy sprinted forward and dove down to lay right beside the tank treads with his tools in hand while Saul walked casually to the tank in his appropriated uniform; his hand clutching a grenade in one pocketed hand, while the other clasped his pistol held slightly behind his back and out of sight.

Hopping up onto the tank, the tank commander threw a question over his shoulder towards Saul, presumably about the noise on the opposite side of the street, but Silverman just put the .357 revolver flush against his back and pulled the trigger. The shot was largely muffled by the poor Soviet's body and he dropped quickly down into the tank as Saul took careful aim, took a deep breath and with a perfect lob, dropped the primed grenade down the open hatch of the other T-72, which soon exploded with a strange, somewhat muffled sound as well; leaving a small smoke trail rising from the open hatch a few moments later....

Saul couldn't believe his good luck, but then remembered there was still one more Soviet when some angry and confused yells came from the interior of the tank he was standing on; followed a moment later by the sound of a Makarov pistol being fired and and a 9mm round ricocheting off the open tank hatch door a few inches from Silverman. Out of the corner of his eye, Saul could see Raffy slithering underneath the tank with his tools and his mind raced as to what action to take next....

Billy was anxious watching the whole thing unfold through his deer rifle's scope, but he was very happy to see Saul take out 3 men in the blink of an eye. They didn't call him 'Slick Sliver' for nothing the singer thought to himself. Then the sound of the pistol shot echoes over the road and the young man traded worried looks with Jenny, who was nervously clutching her AKSU nearby....


*I spent one of Saul's Hero Points for these actions, hope you don't mind. :)

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#62 Post by Dram »

Saul thought quickly. Stomping the radio antenna so that he is able to call out for help. Trying right pronunciation of the few Russian words Silverman taught them. Seeing if the russian will pop his head out of the tank. Taking position to surprise him. While motioning to Silverman to spout off a few words to help draw him out.
Last edited by Dram on Tue Mar 21, 2017 4:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#63 Post by Nuke66 »

'Crap' Raffy thinks, change of plans, maybe. Then he thinks, we can still fire without the engines, so he crawls below and look to the access panel for the oil pan.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#64 Post by Monsieur Rose »

Jenny looks at Billy, then makes up her mind.
"I'm going to check the other tank. Keep an eye out!"

Jenny pops up and rushes over to the hopefully empty tank. She'll make sure things are quiet, then try to figure out the turret.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#65 Post by Scott308 »

Billy Barstowe

Billy will maintain overwatch with his rifle.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#66 Post by max_vale »

In the woods/stream near the intersection of Route 93 and the Big Lost River not far from Chilly, Idaho; approx. a few minutes after Midnight, Friday, 19 June, 1987


The freedom fighters continued thier battle with the tank crews in the dark of midnight on a road in southern Idaho….

Saul shouted out a few words in Russian, attempting to get the attention of the last remianing Russian soldier who was in the tank, but he only got a choice curse word in return and then a moment later, he saw the radio antennae start to rise up from the top of the tank turret as that last Russian was clearly about to get on the radio to call for help. Letting loose a curse of his own, Saul Silverman took a tight grip on his .357 Revolver and dropped down into the turret to finish off his last foe….

The Russian, sweating as he nervously tried to get the radio working with his off-hand while his other hand held a shaky Makarov pistol, screamed in fear and anger as Saul dropped down into the tank with him and he let off a shot that was near deafening in the confines of the turret. The 9mm round grazed the top of Saul's shoulder and left a burn trail, but did no lasting damage to the veteran soldier. In return, Saul's shot caught the unlucky Russian tanker in the middle of the chest and dropped him to the floor of the tank, never to rise again. Silverman's ears rang and he knew it would be quite some time before they stopped due to the loud reports of the gun shots in the confined turret….

Underneath the tank, Raffy could hear the gunshots, but could only hope for the best as he accesses the tank's vitals and punched a hole in the fluid lines to ensure that the tank wouldn't be rolling anywhere anytime soon….

Rushing over to the second tank and climbing up on it, her heart hammering in her chest, Jenny clutched her AKSU with sweaty hands and she took a deep breath before dropping down into the tank turret to ensure that no more Russian were ready to cause the any problems. The inside of the turret was a scene of bloody destruction as the grenade that Saul had tossed in had pretty much shredded the two unfortunate Soviets inside, leaving them bloody pulps and quite a bit of thier insides plastered all over the tank's equipment. Though as a nurse, she had seen some horrifying stuff, the scene certainly made the young woman have to swallow hard to keep from throwing up. She climbed back up out of the tank and queasily signalled the others that everything was okay.

Billy had kept his Rifle covering his companions the whole time and he breathed a lot easier when he saw Saul and Jenny both climb out of the T-72 tanks and signal that they were both okay. A moment later, a fluid stained Raffy climbed out from under the tank with a grin that clearly signalled he had accomplished his goal of immobilizing the armored vehicle. He shifted his weapon's scope over to the BTR and he could see a couple of soliders looking down towards the tanks, though clearly the couldn't see much in the darkness and being almost a mile away. They DID seem to be moving back towards the vehicle though and one knocked on the hatch/door, so it appeared they might be trying to get the attention of whoever was inside….perhaps to radio these tanks? Either way, Billy knew it couldn't be a good sign.

Moving over to tell the others, he saw the kayaks back at the river's coastline and it occured to the young rocker-turned-actual-REBEL that they could problaby quietly row the boats under the bridge and up to just outside the town of Chilly and it would be so quiet that it would be unlikely the Soviets would notice them….

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#67 Post by Nuke66 »

Raffy jumps up on the tank in order to get insidee and target the BTRs across the bridge. ""We gotta hurry, need to get off a couple of round, and quick like."

He jumps in and hurries to the turret station, looking to lock on the russians across the bridge.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#68 Post by Dram »

Saul- Lets see if we can take out the BTR in one shot from each tank. Jumps into the other tank and loads a round.
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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#69 Post by Monsieur Rose »

Jenny

Jenny leaves the bloody tank, and moves over to the other one. She tries to find a headset to give to someone who can speak a bit of russian.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#70 Post by Nuke66 »

Raffy spends a hero point identifying the controls before taking careful, computer controlled, aim at the right BTR and firing off a round.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#71 Post by Scott308 »

Billy Barstowe

Not being familiar with tanks, the young rocker is hesitant to try getting inside one right away. Instead, he will get near the disabled one, hiding behind it in case the Russians across the bridge glance this way with a pair of binoculars.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#72 Post by max_vale »

In the woods/stream near the intersection of Route 93 and the Big Lost River not far from Chilly, Idaho; approx. a few minutes after Midnight to approx. 12:30 AM, Friday, 19 June, 1987


In a series of moves that might have been funny if the circumstances were different; several of the freedom fighters passed each other as they went about attempting to fire tank cannons at a Soviet BTR a few thousand yards away….

Saul jumped up and out of the disabled tank to move towards the one with the pulped crew inside of it as Jenny moved out of the 'bloody' tank to move to the disabled one. At the same time, Raffy moved out from underneath the now-immobilized tank to scramble into its crew compartment as Billy moved to stand behind the tank that Raffy just got in and Saul just got out of…

Billy could see through his scope that the Soviet crew of the BTR were rotating the turret towards the Tanks they were in/on/hiding behind and one of the crew members on the outside of the APC was looking his way with a pair of binoculars, though the young musician doubted the Russian solider saw him….

Inside the tank, Raffy quickly deduced that the tank's main gun was loaded by a strange looking contraption that took up quite a bit of the inside of the turret and he pressed a few buttons and sure enough, the tank's cannon barrel suddenly elevated slightly as the sound of a shell being loaded into its breach from a circular ammo tray ehoced throughout the turret. Jenny moved into the tank turret as Saul passed her and she could hear the radio suddenly crackle alive from a seat just inside the turret as she saw Raffy pressing buttons and moving levers that apparently resulted in a shell being loaded into the T-72's main gun. The radio crackled and questioning voices in Russian came calling out in a tiny accent through a pair of headphones wiht attached mouth-piece near her station, but she could make little sense of it. Looking over at her Latino companion, she saw him plaster his eye to a tube and grip a lever with buttons and she had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen next….

Raffy couldn't help a grin from splitting his lips as he quickly deduced how to load the main gun and then saw where you used the scope to aim and the lever with the buttons to fire. He lined up the BTR, visible due to its own lights being lit, and lined up the cross-hairs in the scope to center on the Russian vehicle. With a bit of a hoot, he pressed the button and the tank's main cannon let loose a deafening blast as it sent a shell racing through the night to slam into and go through the BTR like the machine was made out of tissue paper. A moment later, the Soviet vehicle exploded into a fiery ball that blazed into the dark night and the strange sight and sounds of machinegun ammo cooking off could be heard, even through the open tank hatch a couple thousand yards away….

Saul had raced over to the tank with the pulped crew and he moved into its turret, ignoring the stench of blood and death and he did his best to try and figure out how to work the turret, but while he was pure-hell-on-wheels in the bush, on his own two feet, he had never so much learned how to drive and he was utterly hopeless just jamming a few levers and pressing a few buttons with not much of anything happening. A moment later though, the can't-miss-it sound of a tank main gun firing and the secondary explosion of the BTR told him that Raffy and/or the others had figured out how to fire the other T-72's main gun and he popped back up out of the tank's hatch and took in the sight of the wrecked BTR burning bright in the night sky….

He then noticed that poor Billy was on his knees, clutching his ears as they rang like a gong from being so close to the Tank when it fired its main gun. He also could hear up in the hills the distinctive sounds of helicopter engines being turned on, and he KNEW they had better get moving QUICK!

In a matter of minutes, the four rebels were in the two canoes, loaded with explosives and rowing into the waters of the Big Lost River, under the bridge that seperated the two T-72s on one side and the shattered BTR on the other; and upstream towards the town of Chilly, where the helicopters were located; and not a moment too soon as a HIND gunship helicopter suddenly came roaring through the night sky, its searchlights illuminating the smashed BTR and the two silent T-72s before the lights moved towards the tree-line they had come from on the OPPOSITE side river from where they quietly rowed now, and then followed the road south….

Billy's hearing slowly returned, though he wasn't sure if the faint ringing he stil heard in them would ever go away. Some 20 minutes later, at perhaps about half-an-hour after midnight though it felt like it had been hours ago to the freedom fighters, the boats had come up to the base of the steep hill that the town of Chilly was nestled behind. Dragging the canoes ashore and hiding them in a grove of Trees and thick bushes, the four freedom fighters took a moment to catch thier breaths before they made the climb to see what awaited them on the other side fo the hill….

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#73 Post by Dram »

Saul- If the base can be seen from the top of the hill they will set up a watch. If not they will rest and keep a lookout for trouble I will take first watch. We will need our rest for tomorrows actions.
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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#74 Post by Nuke66 »

Raffy, happy to be in his element for a git, is pleased with the result of the firefight. However, once he is water born, he becomes anxious, "Let's just get to dry land." he suggests.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#75 Post by Scott308 »

Billy Barstowe

Raffy, that was pretty awesome, blowing up that Russian truck! Never realized how loud a tank was. I figured I'd end up with ringing in my ears, but always thought it would be from loud amps. Still, it was totally bitchin' and totally worth it.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.

https://www.extra-life.org/participant/Scott Peterson

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#76 Post by Monsieur Rose »

Jenny

"Seriously! How did you even know how to use that thing? All I saw were levers and dials!"

She looks around at the remaining group. "It's been hard, but maybe we should push on tonight?"

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#77 Post by Nuke66 »

Raffy answers, "Some times it just kinda comes to a guy, given just a little bit of basic understanding" He sits quietly, not really liking the whole boat thing. "Let's just get there and rest" he says.

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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#78 Post by max_vale »

Outskirts of the town of Chilly, Idaho; approx. 12:30 to 1 AM, Friday, 19 June, 1987


In the black of night, Saul was glad there were thick clouds that evening, as he felt like his team of 4 freedom-fighters was really exposed as they climbed from the base of the hill where they hid the explosives-filled canoes and made thier way to the town of Chilly. The loud sounds of the HIND helicopter hovering over the area they had just been in was nerve-racking to all of the rebels, but they did thier best to ignore it and they soon managed to gain the top of the hill and move to a small copse of trees while taking in the sight of the small 'town' of Chilly….

Essentially, they were looking at about a dozen buildings, half of which were houses and the other half were a Ranger Station with attached helicopter pad; a small motel; a car mechanic shop; a small bar/restaurant; and two clearly newly build improvised buildings including a sheet-metal 'hangar' and another 'garage-pad' under which some Jeeps and BTRs in soviet colors were parked.

The Ranger Station had a pair of HIND gunship helicopters on it while the rescue helicopter that had used it before had been pushed off into a field and was half-stripped of parts. The makeshift Hangar currently had another HIND helicopter and a pair of much larger HIP transport helicopters parked under it. Patrols of Soviet soldiers were roaming the little area, which seemed to be on alert….though not FULL alert as clearly some troops were still taking it easy and many others were probably sleeiping in the Motel or houses….

The freedom fighters couldn't see any signs of any civilians out and about and they guessed that most of them had been evicted from thier houses or from the Ranger station or Mechanic shop for use by the troops; though Saul guessed there motel and restaurant/bar staff were probably still being utilized. The other immediate thing of interest to the freedom fighters were the two Anti-aircraft vehicles they could see….

On the side of town closest to them, on a raised hill that had a commanding view of the river valley behind them AND the whole rest of the area was a Quad-cannoned tank that Saul called a ZSU-23. It had a built in radar and the four 23mm rapid-fire cannons in the turret were VERY effective at shooting down low-flying aircraft and helicopters. Saul also grimly reported that the Russians had been known to use them against Infantry in Vietnam and Afghanistan as well, and they could easily chew through large formations of troops or lightly-armored ground vehicles in a hurry….

The other vehicle on the opposite end of town had treads like a tank, but no turret as the top of the vehicle was dominated by 3 large missiles. This vehicle Saul knew as a mobile SA-6 "Gainful' SAM launcher that could fire the very long range and powerful SA-6 missiles which could engage aircraft from very low to very high altitudes. The freedom fighters also quickly realized that there were several cables runing from the SA-6 vehicle to the ZSU-23 vehicle and Saul said that this was becuase the SAM vehicle didn't have its own radar and it was hooked into the one on top of the ZSU-23.

The freedom fighters all had the same realization that waiting for daylight to hit this place would NOT be a good idea…

SA-6 'Gainful' vehicle:
Image

ZSU-23-4 AA vehicle:
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Re: Price of Freedom: Chapter 2: Your Own Private Idaho

#79 Post by Dram »

Saul- Once Saul finds a concealable vantage point. I shall take first watch. As before we need to watch and learn there schedules. Everyone get some rest.
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