November 16-27, 1942; Brisbane Australia
The members of SST 4 were all coming down from the crazy adrenaline high of the Mission and the crushing sadness of Roger and Hal being KIA and all were soon snoring in the bunk beds on the Tigershark and the kindly sailors didn't bother them and let them all sleep in through late the next day. Two days later, late on the 19th of November, they made port in Brisbane and were soon escorted by a waiting-for-them Commander Marsden to a comfortable Hotel where they all had a wonderful night's sleep and a delightful meal.
The following day, they gave their briefing to Commander Marsden and soon the Intel about the 'Shrike' Jet Fighters was sent up the chain and the somber task of having a military funeral for CPL Myers was undertaken with a posthumous Purple Heart and Silver Star being awarded to the Marine. After that, they were all given a 5 day pass to do whatever they liked before they were to report back to the base....
Some of the men hit the bars and delighted in the strong Aussie beer and wonderful accents of the Aussie 'Sheilas' while another of the group; Charlie "Dutch" Van Horn paid a visit to one Kate Allan; Hal's sister' and told her of her brother's heroic death and attended the funeral for him a few days later; along with the others.
For a few short days; the men of SST 4 reveled in the delightful feeling of being alive and not in either a war-zone or in a military environment.* All good things must come to an end though and on the morning of Thursday, 26 November the men assembled back at base and got in their uniforms again and reported to Commander Marsden who surprised them with a smile and the news that he had gone to great lengths to ensure the men got a proper Thanksgiving Day meal. The men all looked at each other in surprise and with the realization that they had entirely forgotten about it being Turkey Day and the meal was a magnificent feast, complete with Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings of home!
Naturally, it was AFTER the fantastic feast that the bad news was sprung on them.....they'd be departing Australia tomorrow and headed on a long, long trip to North Africa of all places! Marsden didn't tell them anymore that night, but the following morning he laid it all out to them....
"Well men; the Intel that you all gained from that mission has been sent up the chain and apparently, those other 3 German 'jets' are being tested in Tunisia right now, against our boys and those of the Brits. As I'm sure you all know, we invaded North Africa earlier this month and after a couple of days of fighting the Vichy French, they surrendered and we've been trying to push as many of our troops as possible to hit the big Axis bases at Tunis and Bizarte from the West while the Brits keep up their offensive from Egypt to the East. The Jerries and Italians are caught in the middle in Tunisia; but with the supply line from Sicily they got; they're getting reinforced and these are veteran, crafty troops with top line equipment. This includes, if reports can be believed; of these 'Shrike' Jets that you all came across and sent some of to the bottom."
"Orders from the Top are to send all of us to Tunisia where your first hand knowledge of these aircraft will be used along with your proven abilities to finish off these planes once and for all. You'll have some help from both some of our troops over there along with a group of Britsh Talents you'll hook up with. I don't know much else as we're to learn it from our people on the ground when we get there."
"It's gonna be a long couple of days of continuous travel, so I'm sorry to say you're gonna have a lot of cramped sleeping on a plane; but hopefully you all had a nice mini-vacation these past few days to have some nice memories to think of. Okay, at 14:30, we'll be getting on the C-47 at the airstrip so pack your stuff and don't be late. LT Acme, a word", Marsden finishes with a dismissal to the rest of the men.
"Lieutenant, I wanted to personally congratulate you on leading a truly phenomenal mission and to let you know that I've put you in for the Navy Cross; though I haven't heard back yet from the Brass about that. I wanted you to write up your recommendations for awards for your men. Now, get packed up and assembled and I'll see you on the plane".
A few hours later, the men were all packed up and not long after that, they board the plane for the long trip to North Africa. Marsden was going with them, but he moved up to the cockpit to talk to the flight crew for a bit, leaving the other members of the team to rack out in the seats in the back.....
OOC: Okay, anybody who wants to expound on their time in Aussie-land can certainly do so and I also wanted to make sure that this next adventure (and some of the last one) have been HEAVILY inspired by an adventure called "The Rats and the Shrike" that was created by a Mark Cummins for the Godlike RPG game.
WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
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Monsieur Rose
- Rider of Rohan
- Posts: 6099
- Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2015 4:26 pm
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Acme
"Thank you, Commander. That means a lot, and I'll get right to work finishing those recommendations."
Acme spends most of his time fidgeting, interesting in getting back to it. He suspects that he'll have to eventually find some line of work that allows him to blow things up. The war can't last forever, right? Does private security pay well? Maybe he can create some sort of special projects division and stay in the service. The recommendation for the Navy Cross was a surprise, maybe he could see a career here after all.
After what seems like an eternity to Marvin, he rejoins the gang and is flying to the next adventure.
"Thank you, Commander. That means a lot, and I'll get right to work finishing those recommendations."
Acme spends most of his time fidgeting, interesting in getting back to it. He suspects that he'll have to eventually find some line of work that allows him to blow things up. The war can't last forever, right? Does private security pay well? Maybe he can create some sort of special projects division and stay in the service. The recommendation for the Navy Cross was a surprise, maybe he could see a career here after all.
After what seems like an eternity to Marvin, he rejoins the gang and is flying to the next adventure.
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Dutch
Dutch was restless. He'd enjoyed his leave time- except for the remarkably potent Australian beer- and had rested fully during his days in the sun.
Like a lot of Yanks, he'd gotten conned into trying to ride a kangaroo- the big red ones, that actually looked like they could be ridden. He had a healing bruise on his gut from the 'roo correcting his mistake. But there had been that one sweet little redhead....
Dutch put all that aside and went back to studying maps. When he couldn't sleep, he studied maps of the AO they were heading into.
Dutch was restless. He'd enjoyed his leave time- except for the remarkably potent Australian beer- and had rested fully during his days in the sun.
Like a lot of Yanks, he'd gotten conned into trying to ride a kangaroo- the big red ones, that actually looked like they could be ridden. He had a healing bruise on his gut from the 'roo correcting his mistake. But there had been that one sweet little redhead....
Dutch put all that aside and went back to studying maps. When he couldn't sleep, he studied maps of the AO they were heading into.
FA FO
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Gurung
Gurung just relaxes and tries to recover.
Gurung just relaxes and tries to recover.
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
November 27-30, 1942; Brisbane Australia to Gafsa, North Africa
The members of SST 4 spent a miserable couple of days mostly in the air and occasionally landing with JUST enough time to step out of the plane, stretch a bit while the plane was being refueled and then it was 'all aboard' and taking off again for more of the same. Eventually they landed, somewhere in Algeria and were soon herded into some trucks and rolling along on a VERY bumpy and uncomfortable road....
When they were finally able to shake off the lag and tiredness and take a look outside, they saw an arid land of rolling hills, rocky narrow passes and scrub plants all over the place. It was also, much to most of their surprise, quite chilly. Finally, after a solid two days of travel, they pulled over and were hustled into some tents outside of a small airfield near a squat little town that consisted of some rather squalid looking little houses and here and there were some ancient ruins. The airfield had a U.S. flag flying over it and some U.S. troops could be seen here and there, most with the jump wings that indicated they were Paratroopers and a few half-track vehicles with a large gun on the top of them could be seen here and there. In the background were the junked remains of a few German vehicles and it was pretty obvious, this little town and airfield had been captured by the enemy. Pretty soon, the members of SST 4 all drifted off to sleep and were told that the mission would be explained to them in the morning....
November 30th, 1942:
After waking up, an extremely curious-looking Corporal named Fallon came to bring them to a building that had apparently been the Headquarters of the German unit Fallon's Paratrooper unit; the 509th Parachute Regiment had captured and then defended against a German/Italian Counterattack in the previous week. This was the 'tip of the spear' of American Operations in North Africa at the moment; and dust could be seen on the Western Horizon as American and French forces were moving to reinforce the area and conduct more operations against the Germans in Tunisia. Fallon was OBVIOUSLY extremely curious about this Talent Unit coming here, but he was disciplined enough to follow his orders and bring them all, including Commander Marsden, to a secured office in the inside of the building....
The office had had all windows shutters and blocked off and inside the room a large table with numerous chairs; stacks of documents and a large easel was waiting for a briefing for them all. Three officers were waiting for them inside as well; an American Brigadier General; an American Colonel (both from the U.S. Army) and a British Major. They introduced themselves as General Morris; Colonel Raff and Major Raines. Morris was the ranking S.S.O. officer; Raff was the leader of the 509th Parachute Regiment and afflicted units that had captured the Gafsa base (which included Anti-Tanks units from the 701st Tank Destroyers and members of the 26th Infantry Regiment that affectionally called themselves 'Raff's Army'. Finally, Major Rains was a member of the British Commandos and was the representative for the British STS or Special Talent Sections.....
First, a map of North Africa was provided and a quick rundown was given to the members of SST 4 to familiarize them with the area:
The small German airbase the Shrikes were operating out of was located about 10 miles to the West of the coastal town of Sfax and about 140 miles from Gafsa. While the Shrikes were obviously the reason why SST 4 was here; the bigger problem was that the Germans were feeding more reinforcements into Tunisia than the Allies were able to bring forces from Morocco and Oran where they had first landed on 8 November. Morris and Raines were quite convinced that as Winter set in (which mostly meant strong rains that turned the arid land in the region to thick mud and made moving vehicles and large units of men extremely slow and unpleasant) the Axis would be able to essentially stall the Allied Advance for a few months. Raff was visibly agitated with this attitude and he disagreed and explained how he and his disparate units had managed to defeat the Axis several times over; though to be fair, they were rather small engagements.
At any rate; the SSO and their British counterparts in the STS believed that a special Commando Strike mission was warranted to attempt and knock out the 'Shrike' planes at the German Sfax Airbase. Recent aerial pictures showed the base was quite small and seemed to operate about a dozen planes out of 4 hangars that each held a trio of planes:
The Shrikes were last seen operating out of the most Souther Hangar; while the North West hangar was home to a trio of ME109 prop fighters and the other two Hangars held a trio of Junkers JU-87 'Stuka' dive bombers each. The base was believed to house about 200 personnel total; half of which were the pilots and service crew of the planes; another 50 or so were the base HQ and admin staff, etc. and the final 40 were a German SS platoon of troops that included a couple of Half-tracks and a Panzer IV tank. Finally, special Intel seemed to indicate a German Ubermensch group of Talents was located at the Base; and such units almost always were composed of 4-6 members.
The Shrikes themselves were quite compact little planes and had a limited range of about 400 miles total and were armed with a quartet of 20mm cannon. However, they were faster than anything the Allies had in the sky; quite nimble and seemed rather rugged and dependable. Pictures showed the strange looking 'jets':
With a distance of 150 miles to the enemy base; the plan was for the members of SST 4 and a squad of Raff's paratroopers to board a C-47; the only one Allied HQ would spare them' and make a night parachute drop about 5 miles south of the base in the soft sands located there and where they would be met by a team of British Talents; STS 7; who had been working with the famous British 'Long Range Desert Patrol' units for over a year. The next day; a heavy bomber attack would be made right before Nightfall (about 6 pm) with the idea being to provide cover for the the combined unit to get into position to make its attack on the base. The suggested/working idea was to use the Paratroopers as a distracting/Anti-Tank unit as they'd be armed with the new 'Bazooka' Rocket Launchers while the combined Talent Teams would infiltrate the base and destroy the Jets by any means at their disposal; but the unit had free-rein to alter the plan as needed. Extraction was the REALLY tricky part....
All three officers told them that high command was decidedly NOT thrilled with this entire mission and deemed it highly unlikely to succeed and therefore, few assets were on hand to accomplish it. The British LRDG had a group of 3 'Desert' Trucks, they had agreed to take within 5 miles South of Sfax at a known watering hole location and they would be there at night to pick up the group. However, the entire mission was taking place DEEP behind Enemy Lines and so therefore, the entire mission was Volunteer Only....
The members of SST 4 were told that all 6 members of STS 7 had already volunteered and were on the way in specially modified, heavily armed Jeeps they used to conduct raids all throughout the desert. Raff quickly spoke up and said he had 8 of his best who had volunteered as well. With that, the three officers and Marsden turned to look at the men of SST 4......
The members of SST 4 spent a miserable couple of days mostly in the air and occasionally landing with JUST enough time to step out of the plane, stretch a bit while the plane was being refueled and then it was 'all aboard' and taking off again for more of the same. Eventually they landed, somewhere in Algeria and were soon herded into some trucks and rolling along on a VERY bumpy and uncomfortable road....
When they were finally able to shake off the lag and tiredness and take a look outside, they saw an arid land of rolling hills, rocky narrow passes and scrub plants all over the place. It was also, much to most of their surprise, quite chilly. Finally, after a solid two days of travel, they pulled over and were hustled into some tents outside of a small airfield near a squat little town that consisted of some rather squalid looking little houses and here and there were some ancient ruins. The airfield had a U.S. flag flying over it and some U.S. troops could be seen here and there, most with the jump wings that indicated they were Paratroopers and a few half-track vehicles with a large gun on the top of them could be seen here and there. In the background were the junked remains of a few German vehicles and it was pretty obvious, this little town and airfield had been captured by the enemy. Pretty soon, the members of SST 4 all drifted off to sleep and were told that the mission would be explained to them in the morning....
November 30th, 1942:
After waking up, an extremely curious-looking Corporal named Fallon came to bring them to a building that had apparently been the Headquarters of the German unit Fallon's Paratrooper unit; the 509th Parachute Regiment had captured and then defended against a German/Italian Counterattack in the previous week. This was the 'tip of the spear' of American Operations in North Africa at the moment; and dust could be seen on the Western Horizon as American and French forces were moving to reinforce the area and conduct more operations against the Germans in Tunisia. Fallon was OBVIOUSLY extremely curious about this Talent Unit coming here, but he was disciplined enough to follow his orders and bring them all, including Commander Marsden, to a secured office in the inside of the building....
The office had had all windows shutters and blocked off and inside the room a large table with numerous chairs; stacks of documents and a large easel was waiting for a briefing for them all. Three officers were waiting for them inside as well; an American Brigadier General; an American Colonel (both from the U.S. Army) and a British Major. They introduced themselves as General Morris; Colonel Raff and Major Raines. Morris was the ranking S.S.O. officer; Raff was the leader of the 509th Parachute Regiment and afflicted units that had captured the Gafsa base (which included Anti-Tanks units from the 701st Tank Destroyers and members of the 26th Infantry Regiment that affectionally called themselves 'Raff's Army'. Finally, Major Rains was a member of the British Commandos and was the representative for the British STS or Special Talent Sections.....
First, a map of North Africa was provided and a quick rundown was given to the members of SST 4 to familiarize them with the area:
The small German airbase the Shrikes were operating out of was located about 10 miles to the West of the coastal town of Sfax and about 140 miles from Gafsa. While the Shrikes were obviously the reason why SST 4 was here; the bigger problem was that the Germans were feeding more reinforcements into Tunisia than the Allies were able to bring forces from Morocco and Oran where they had first landed on 8 November. Morris and Raines were quite convinced that as Winter set in (which mostly meant strong rains that turned the arid land in the region to thick mud and made moving vehicles and large units of men extremely slow and unpleasant) the Axis would be able to essentially stall the Allied Advance for a few months. Raff was visibly agitated with this attitude and he disagreed and explained how he and his disparate units had managed to defeat the Axis several times over; though to be fair, they were rather small engagements.
At any rate; the SSO and their British counterparts in the STS believed that a special Commando Strike mission was warranted to attempt and knock out the 'Shrike' planes at the German Sfax Airbase. Recent aerial pictures showed the base was quite small and seemed to operate about a dozen planes out of 4 hangars that each held a trio of planes:
The Shrikes were last seen operating out of the most Souther Hangar; while the North West hangar was home to a trio of ME109 prop fighters and the other two Hangars held a trio of Junkers JU-87 'Stuka' dive bombers each. The base was believed to house about 200 personnel total; half of which were the pilots and service crew of the planes; another 50 or so were the base HQ and admin staff, etc. and the final 40 were a German SS platoon of troops that included a couple of Half-tracks and a Panzer IV tank. Finally, special Intel seemed to indicate a German Ubermensch group of Talents was located at the Base; and such units almost always were composed of 4-6 members.
The Shrikes themselves were quite compact little planes and had a limited range of about 400 miles total and were armed with a quartet of 20mm cannon. However, they were faster than anything the Allies had in the sky; quite nimble and seemed rather rugged and dependable. Pictures showed the strange looking 'jets':
With a distance of 150 miles to the enemy base; the plan was for the members of SST 4 and a squad of Raff's paratroopers to board a C-47; the only one Allied HQ would spare them' and make a night parachute drop about 5 miles south of the base in the soft sands located there and where they would be met by a team of British Talents; STS 7; who had been working with the famous British 'Long Range Desert Patrol' units for over a year. The next day; a heavy bomber attack would be made right before Nightfall (about 6 pm) with the idea being to provide cover for the the combined unit to get into position to make its attack on the base. The suggested/working idea was to use the Paratroopers as a distracting/Anti-Tank unit as they'd be armed with the new 'Bazooka' Rocket Launchers while the combined Talent Teams would infiltrate the base and destroy the Jets by any means at their disposal; but the unit had free-rein to alter the plan as needed. Extraction was the REALLY tricky part....
All three officers told them that high command was decidedly NOT thrilled with this entire mission and deemed it highly unlikely to succeed and therefore, few assets were on hand to accomplish it. The British LRDG had a group of 3 'Desert' Trucks, they had agreed to take within 5 miles South of Sfax at a known watering hole location and they would be there at night to pick up the group. However, the entire mission was taking place DEEP behind Enemy Lines and so therefore, the entire mission was Volunteer Only....
The members of SST 4 were told that all 6 members of STS 7 had already volunteered and were on the way in specially modified, heavily armed Jeeps they used to conduct raids all throughout the desert. Raff quickly spoke up and said he had 8 of his best who had volunteered as well. With that, the three officers and Marsden turned to look at the men of SST 4......
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Gurung
Gurung steps forward immediately. "I volunteer Sir."
Gurung steps forward immediately. "I volunteer Sir."
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Monsieur Rose
- Rider of Rohan
- Posts: 6099
- Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2015 4:26 pm
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Acme
While chuckling at the haste of Gurung, Marvin nods. "Night drop into a desert march is a long way to go to blow stuff up, but you sure know how to sell me. I'm in."
While chuckling at the haste of Gurung, Marvin nods. "Night drop into a desert march is a long way to go to blow stuff up, but you sure know how to sell me. I'm in."
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Dutch
"If God wanted us to jump out of working aircraft, he'd make them stay on the ground. "
Dutch chuckles, shakes his head, and steps forward.
"If God wanted us to jump out of working aircraft, he'd make them stay on the ground. "
Dutch chuckles, shakes his head, and steps forward.
FA FO
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
"I will go with my fellows.
RD2 Tucker
RD2 Tucker
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Roker looks around at his mates and then at the officers, trying to figure out if not "volunteering" is really an option. Oh, sure, he could probably say no, and the alternate duty probably wouldn't involve peeling potatoes or cleaning latrines...but why risk it? "Because they want you to jump out of a perfectly good plane, that's why," says the voice in his head, "and that's not even the really dangerous part."
But then he gets a mental image of himself parachuting out of a plane in werewolf form. That's something other people ought to be able to see once in their lives. Who is he to deny his fellow soldiers the chance to tell their grandkids one day about the time they saw a parachuting werewolf?
He chuckles at the thought and sighs out loud. "Oh, why the hell not...sirs."
But then he gets a mental image of himself parachuting out of a plane in werewolf form. That's something other people ought to be able to see once in their lives. Who is he to deny his fellow soldiers the chance to tell their grandkids one day about the time they saw a parachuting werewolf?
He chuckles at the thought and sighs out loud. "Oh, why the hell not...sirs."
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
November 30-December 2, 1942; Gafsa to Outside of Sfax, North Africa
Doc quickly volunteered as well and with that, all of SST 4 was locked in for the mission.....and what a crazy one it would be indeed!
The men spent the rest of the day training and learning about parachuting; with the first tests being to jump from a 10 foot high building with a parachute pack on and learning how to drop and roll upon landing and then leaping out off the back of a moving truck and doing the same thing in some soft dune sands. Despite the bumps and bruises, the men ALL doubted this was really preparing them for the effects of free-fall and the smiles on Raff's paratroopers seemed to confirm their fears....
That night, as they rested their sore bodies; they listened to Major Raines tell them about Special Talent Section 7 and the men of the LRDG or Long Range Desert Group. They were men who were extremely experiences in living in the desert and who had the courage to travel 100s of miles away from friendly lines; in the middle of a desert to attack and enemy and then deal with the usually more dangerous problem of having to survive the 120 degree; waterless, trackless 'sand sea' to get back again. The men of STS 7 came from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and India and from the Major's stories; it would seem they had seen quite a bit of action in the past year and a half.....they seemed like kindred spirits to the Talents of SST 4....
A rainy, cloudy day dawned on 1 December and a radio message was soon received that the C 47 would NOT be able to fly into Gafsa today, so the mission was postponed until tomorrow. This was met with both annoyance and relief by the Talents of SST 4; and when the rains cleared out in the afternoon, they did some more Jump training AND got to do some impromptu weapons testing; including launching a couple of rockets from the 'Bazooka' and Dutch getting to familiarize himself with the Aussie/British 'Bren' Light Machine-gun he had been assigned for the mission.
The eight man squad of Raff's that had been assigned them looked to be savvy combat vets and they were led by a 1st Lieutenant named Ellison who was tall, wiry, and had an intimidating squint to his eye and who wielded a Scoped Springfield Rifle with an insane amount of ability. At the range, he put rounds in the center of the target from 200, 250 and one from 300 yards out and to hear his men talk about him.....he also pretty regularly did that when the lead was flying as well....
The senior NCO was 1st Sergeant Fox; who ironically looked like much more like a bull....he was only about 5 and a half feet tall, but he was barrel chested and had broad shoulders and he carried a big BAR that he used with consummate skill as well. For the jump, he'd also be lugging the 'legs' of a 60mm mortar that Ellison had decided to bring along in lieu of a second Bazooka. CPL Horowitz was a tough guy from Detroit who proudly had a large Star of David drawn on the back of his Field Jacket and he was carrying the Tube of the mortar along with an M1A1 Folding Carbine and PFC Barthlemas, a quiet, studios type from Annapolis was carrying the base-plate for the Mortar along with some rounds for it and another M1A1 Carbine. A smiling, jokester type named Smith "Smitty" he introduced himself as; was from Florida and wielded the Bazooka with a dour, angry-looking type named Devlin from 'Bashstin' carrying the Rockets and an M1 Garand. Finally a Puerto Rican with an infectious grin named Mendoza was lugging a .30 cal air-cooled LMG while his assistant from St. Paul named Allison had some extra belts of .30 cal ammo and a Thompson SMG on his person.
Finally, around 8 PM, they were told to get some sleep as the C 47 would be landing in a couple of hours and they would take off and make their jump right before dawn at about 5:30 AM and everyone drifted off to a nervous sleep.....
Everyone was woken up at 4 AM and after a quick meal, they all struggled into thier gear; including Parachute Packs and boarded the C47 'gooney bird' on the landing strip. As they all took their seats, LT Ellison took the fist position near the door while 1st SGT Fox took the last. After a seemingly long time spent getting up off the ground and flying East in the dark night, the light on the roof of the passenger bay turned on and everyone shuffled up and 'hooked' up on the line running the length of the plane's ceiling as this cable would ensure their chute opened. Ellison checked each man and when the light near the open door went green, he would yell into each man's ear as they stepped up to the doorway; "GO!" and help shove them out into the cold night and then do it over and over again until Fox was leaping out of the plane and a moment later, Ellison joined him....
For the men of SST 4, leaping out into space was either an exhilarating feeling or a terrifying one.....but all of them felt MUCH better when their chutes all deployed and they lazily drifted down and down and down....As they fell, they could see some lights off to the North that they HOPED was the airbase....and then, more alarmingly and closer to their landing zone, they saw a small, flickering light and a trail of smoke that could JUST be seen against the sliver of the moon when the clouds let it peek out....
As each man hit the ground, all dropped and rolled, but some suffered some twisted ankles...but luckily, nobody was seriously hurt. As the chutes were cut off and quickly buried, Ellison moved to Acme and whispered in his ear while pointing in the direction of the smoke to the South East...."That's coming from our rendezvous point with STS 7........I'd recommend we move quickly to figure out the situation, but it's your call".....
Acme was senior to Ellison by a couple of days, so though they were the same rank, technically, he was in command.....
Doc quickly volunteered as well and with that, all of SST 4 was locked in for the mission.....and what a crazy one it would be indeed!
The men spent the rest of the day training and learning about parachuting; with the first tests being to jump from a 10 foot high building with a parachute pack on and learning how to drop and roll upon landing and then leaping out off the back of a moving truck and doing the same thing in some soft dune sands. Despite the bumps and bruises, the men ALL doubted this was really preparing them for the effects of free-fall and the smiles on Raff's paratroopers seemed to confirm their fears....
That night, as they rested their sore bodies; they listened to Major Raines tell them about Special Talent Section 7 and the men of the LRDG or Long Range Desert Group. They were men who were extremely experiences in living in the desert and who had the courage to travel 100s of miles away from friendly lines; in the middle of a desert to attack and enemy and then deal with the usually more dangerous problem of having to survive the 120 degree; waterless, trackless 'sand sea' to get back again. The men of STS 7 came from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and India and from the Major's stories; it would seem they had seen quite a bit of action in the past year and a half.....they seemed like kindred spirits to the Talents of SST 4....
A rainy, cloudy day dawned on 1 December and a radio message was soon received that the C 47 would NOT be able to fly into Gafsa today, so the mission was postponed until tomorrow. This was met with both annoyance and relief by the Talents of SST 4; and when the rains cleared out in the afternoon, they did some more Jump training AND got to do some impromptu weapons testing; including launching a couple of rockets from the 'Bazooka' and Dutch getting to familiarize himself with the Aussie/British 'Bren' Light Machine-gun he had been assigned for the mission.
The eight man squad of Raff's that had been assigned them looked to be savvy combat vets and they were led by a 1st Lieutenant named Ellison who was tall, wiry, and had an intimidating squint to his eye and who wielded a Scoped Springfield Rifle with an insane amount of ability. At the range, he put rounds in the center of the target from 200, 250 and one from 300 yards out and to hear his men talk about him.....he also pretty regularly did that when the lead was flying as well....
The senior NCO was 1st Sergeant Fox; who ironically looked like much more like a bull....he was only about 5 and a half feet tall, but he was barrel chested and had broad shoulders and he carried a big BAR that he used with consummate skill as well. For the jump, he'd also be lugging the 'legs' of a 60mm mortar that Ellison had decided to bring along in lieu of a second Bazooka. CPL Horowitz was a tough guy from Detroit who proudly had a large Star of David drawn on the back of his Field Jacket and he was carrying the Tube of the mortar along with an M1A1 Folding Carbine and PFC Barthlemas, a quiet, studios type from Annapolis was carrying the base-plate for the Mortar along with some rounds for it and another M1A1 Carbine. A smiling, jokester type named Smith "Smitty" he introduced himself as; was from Florida and wielded the Bazooka with a dour, angry-looking type named Devlin from 'Bashstin' carrying the Rockets and an M1 Garand. Finally a Puerto Rican with an infectious grin named Mendoza was lugging a .30 cal air-cooled LMG while his assistant from St. Paul named Allison had some extra belts of .30 cal ammo and a Thompson SMG on his person.
Finally, around 8 PM, they were told to get some sleep as the C 47 would be landing in a couple of hours and they would take off and make their jump right before dawn at about 5:30 AM and everyone drifted off to a nervous sleep.....
Everyone was woken up at 4 AM and after a quick meal, they all struggled into thier gear; including Parachute Packs and boarded the C47 'gooney bird' on the landing strip. As they all took their seats, LT Ellison took the fist position near the door while 1st SGT Fox took the last. After a seemingly long time spent getting up off the ground and flying East in the dark night, the light on the roof of the passenger bay turned on and everyone shuffled up and 'hooked' up on the line running the length of the plane's ceiling as this cable would ensure their chute opened. Ellison checked each man and when the light near the open door went green, he would yell into each man's ear as they stepped up to the doorway; "GO!" and help shove them out into the cold night and then do it over and over again until Fox was leaping out of the plane and a moment later, Ellison joined him....
For the men of SST 4, leaping out into space was either an exhilarating feeling or a terrifying one.....but all of them felt MUCH better when their chutes all deployed and they lazily drifted down and down and down....As they fell, they could see some lights off to the North that they HOPED was the airbase....and then, more alarmingly and closer to their landing zone, they saw a small, flickering light and a trail of smoke that could JUST be seen against the sliver of the moon when the clouds let it peek out....
As each man hit the ground, all dropped and rolled, but some suffered some twisted ankles...but luckily, nobody was seriously hurt. As the chutes were cut off and quickly buried, Ellison moved to Acme and whispered in his ear while pointing in the direction of the smoke to the South East...."That's coming from our rendezvous point with STS 7........I'd recommend we move quickly to figure out the situation, but it's your call".....
Acme was senior to Ellison by a couple of days, so though they were the same rank, technically, he was in command.....
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Dutch
Dutch struggled to his feet, having had the wind knocked out of him when he landed. He snapped his fingers and pointed, directing troops to the four points of the compass. He took a knee near Acme and Ellison, listening.
Dutch struggled to his feet, having had the wind knocked out of him when he landed. He snapped his fingers and pointed, directing troops to the four points of the compass. He took a knee near Acme and Ellison, listening.
FA FO
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Monsieur Rose
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Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Acme
Marvin was still debating the enjoyment of the last few minutes as Ellison focuses his attention on the ground. "Agreed. Let's take a minute and reposition gear, then head out. We can't afford to be caught with our pants down." He's just making sure that everyone has weapons out and the heavy equipment is as ready as it can be after being stowed for the jump.
"Dutch. Are you able to spot anything, or hear?" Acme motions to the spot where the smoke is trailing off.
"Let's advance, but keep it low and quiet. I want to see them before they see us." If Dutch spots something amiss, we will spread out and move quickly to engage.
Marvin was still debating the enjoyment of the last few minutes as Ellison focuses his attention on the ground. "Agreed. Let's take a minute and reposition gear, then head out. We can't afford to be caught with our pants down." He's just making sure that everyone has weapons out and the heavy equipment is as ready as it can be after being stowed for the jump.
"Dutch. Are you able to spot anything, or hear?" Acme motions to the spot where the smoke is trailing off.
"Let's advance, but keep it low and quiet. I want to see them before they see us." If Dutch spots something amiss, we will spread out and move quickly to engage.
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Gurung
Gurung quickly spot checks his gear, chambers a round in his Enfield and moves out. Trying to be stealthy and quick.
Gurung quickly spot checks his gear, chambers a round in his Enfield and moves out. Trying to be stealthy and quick.
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Eloas had volunterred to carry 3 motar rounds, it was only about 12 extra pounds. He knew he would feel it later on.
He checks his gear and nodded to the LT to show he was ready.
RD2 Tucker
He checks his gear and nodded to the LT to show he was ready.
RD2 Tucker
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Dutch
Dutch nods when Acme asks his question. He tries to engage his Talent, specifically his Enhanced Hearing. He'll report what he finds to Acme.
Dutch nods when Acme asks his question. He tries to engage his Talent, specifically his Enhanced Hearing. He'll report what he finds to Acme.
FA FO
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
PreDecember 2, 1942; Tunisian Desert near German Airbase outside of Sfax, North Africa
The dark skies of a desert night were JUST starting to brighten up with the light of dawn as the members of SST 4 and their attached squad of Paratroopers buried 'chutes, gathered up gear and began to move towards the dunes that marked the rendezvous point with the Special Talent Section 7 of the British Long Range Desert Group. The smoke trail made LT Acme nervous and he asked for 'Dutch' to utilize his Talent abilities to see if he could 'suss' things out a bit first....
SSGT Charlie "Dutch" Van Horn reached deep within himself and activated his Talent Power of Telescopic Hearing and he concentrated on the area a few hundred yard away where the smoke was coming from, behind the sand dunes. He could hear faint 'crackling' sounds that he realized was that of something on fire and then, VERY faintly, the sounds of labored breathing. Nothing else. He reported this to his C.O. and with a frown on his leathery face, Acme nodded and had everyone move VERY cautiously towards the area....
Soon enough, the 14 men advanced and burst around the dune, weapons at the ready and they came across a strange and foreboding sight....
A jeep lay utterly smashed, on fire and lined up nearby were 5 bodies, all shot up and badly burned none were wearing any kind of German uniform. Not far from the jeep was a Chevy Truck, which like the remnants of the jeep, matched the descriptions of the vehicles the LRDG typically used on these types of raids. This Truck had been shot up and was leaning low on its front left side, where a tire had been utterly shredded and the damage to the surrounding areas CLEARLY showed the effects of a land-mine. The Truck had a mounted Lewis Gun on a pylon in the open bed, along with numerous other bits of gear. The destroyed tire had been taken off and an intact spare was lying on the sand next to the truck along with a man lying unconscious in the sand who was leaking blood from several bullets holes in his side and whose breathing were what Dutch had heard.
LRDG Truck:
German Opel Blitz truck:
Across from this scene was a shot up German Opel Blitz truck with the body of the driver slumped across the steering wheel and shattered front windows and numerous German bodies lying the sand all round the truck, most with bullet holes or the distinctive wounds from a grenade, but a couple showing signs of having met their ends in different ways. One was crushed by a large boulder; MUCH too heavy for any normal man to lift, let along throw with that kind of force; while another looked as if a perfectly circular hole had been burned through his middle....
While some of Acme's men checked the Germans to discover that yes, all 12 were indeed dead, Doc rushed to the fallen man by the truck's side and he quickly used his Talent Powers to heal the man. At first glance, he might be mistaken for an Arab as he had a long beard, deeply tanned skin and was wearing the kind of head gear associated with this part of the world....but as he came too, he quickly identified himself as SGT Bruce MacCrae; who Major Raines had described as 'Mad Mac; Super-Strong and a helluva gunner and mechanic'.
Mac looks like one of these guys (REAL LRDG members during WW2):
Mac's got a Scottish accent, which makes it a bit hard to figure out EXACTLY what he's saying, but the gist of it was that STS 7 was doing fine and almost at the rendezvous point, when they ran into a previously unknown mine field. One mine had completely destroyed the well-armed Jeep, killing 3 of Mac's team, while another mine blew the front tire of the truck to pieces and hurt another of his 6 man team. Before they had much time to get any repairs done, a German Truck brining water back from an oasis a few miles away saw the smoke and came rushing in, belatedly responding to the presence of British supers by dismounting and making an attack. Mac and his companions were able to take out all of the German squad, but at the cost of all of them save Mac...who had been wounded pretty badly himself.
Nothing if not determined, Mac had lined up his friends for burial later and started the repair work when the blood loss had led to his falling unconscious. With the sun getting brighter and brighter, Mac hurriedly leads the others in putting out the fire to prevent the smoke trail from being seen and gathers up some water and directs the others to get under the canvas of the German truck to get out of the heat and rest up for the attack at nightfall. He curses when he realizes the 'Lewes bombs' they were going to use to destroy the planes have been destroyed in the Jeep explosion. He DOES have a silenced Sten gun (British SMG); Webly Revolver and large knife along with a pair of grenades to utilize and the Truck has a Lewis Gun (MG) with several Double Drum, 96 round pan magazines for it.
The dark skies of a desert night were JUST starting to brighten up with the light of dawn as the members of SST 4 and their attached squad of Paratroopers buried 'chutes, gathered up gear and began to move towards the dunes that marked the rendezvous point with the Special Talent Section 7 of the British Long Range Desert Group. The smoke trail made LT Acme nervous and he asked for 'Dutch' to utilize his Talent abilities to see if he could 'suss' things out a bit first....
SSGT Charlie "Dutch" Van Horn reached deep within himself and activated his Talent Power of Telescopic Hearing and he concentrated on the area a few hundred yard away where the smoke was coming from, behind the sand dunes. He could hear faint 'crackling' sounds that he realized was that of something on fire and then, VERY faintly, the sounds of labored breathing. Nothing else. He reported this to his C.O. and with a frown on his leathery face, Acme nodded and had everyone move VERY cautiously towards the area....
Soon enough, the 14 men advanced and burst around the dune, weapons at the ready and they came across a strange and foreboding sight....
A jeep lay utterly smashed, on fire and lined up nearby were 5 bodies, all shot up and badly burned none were wearing any kind of German uniform. Not far from the jeep was a Chevy Truck, which like the remnants of the jeep, matched the descriptions of the vehicles the LRDG typically used on these types of raids. This Truck had been shot up and was leaning low on its front left side, where a tire had been utterly shredded and the damage to the surrounding areas CLEARLY showed the effects of a land-mine. The Truck had a mounted Lewis Gun on a pylon in the open bed, along with numerous other bits of gear. The destroyed tire had been taken off and an intact spare was lying on the sand next to the truck along with a man lying unconscious in the sand who was leaking blood from several bullets holes in his side and whose breathing were what Dutch had heard.
LRDG Truck:
German Opel Blitz truck:
Across from this scene was a shot up German Opel Blitz truck with the body of the driver slumped across the steering wheel and shattered front windows and numerous German bodies lying the sand all round the truck, most with bullet holes or the distinctive wounds from a grenade, but a couple showing signs of having met their ends in different ways. One was crushed by a large boulder; MUCH too heavy for any normal man to lift, let along throw with that kind of force; while another looked as if a perfectly circular hole had been burned through his middle....
While some of Acme's men checked the Germans to discover that yes, all 12 were indeed dead, Doc rushed to the fallen man by the truck's side and he quickly used his Talent Powers to heal the man. At first glance, he might be mistaken for an Arab as he had a long beard, deeply tanned skin and was wearing the kind of head gear associated with this part of the world....but as he came too, he quickly identified himself as SGT Bruce MacCrae; who Major Raines had described as 'Mad Mac; Super-Strong and a helluva gunner and mechanic'.
Mac looks like one of these guys (REAL LRDG members during WW2):
Mac's got a Scottish accent, which makes it a bit hard to figure out EXACTLY what he's saying, but the gist of it was that STS 7 was doing fine and almost at the rendezvous point, when they ran into a previously unknown mine field. One mine had completely destroyed the well-armed Jeep, killing 3 of Mac's team, while another mine blew the front tire of the truck to pieces and hurt another of his 6 man team. Before they had much time to get any repairs done, a German Truck brining water back from an oasis a few miles away saw the smoke and came rushing in, belatedly responding to the presence of British supers by dismounting and making an attack. Mac and his companions were able to take out all of the German squad, but at the cost of all of them save Mac...who had been wounded pretty badly himself.
Nothing if not determined, Mac had lined up his friends for burial later and started the repair work when the blood loss had led to his falling unconscious. With the sun getting brighter and brighter, Mac hurriedly leads the others in putting out the fire to prevent the smoke trail from being seen and gathers up some water and directs the others to get under the canvas of the German truck to get out of the heat and rest up for the attack at nightfall. He curses when he realizes the 'Lewes bombs' they were going to use to destroy the planes have been destroyed in the Jeep explosion. He DOES have a silenced Sten gun (British SMG); Webly Revolver and large knife along with a pair of grenades to utilize and the Truck has a Lewis Gun (MG) with several Double Drum, 96 round pan magazines for it.
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Tucker will take off his pack and begin digging for Mac's buddies.
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Dutch
Dutch joins in burying the dead, then makes quick work of putting the good tire on the Jeep. While we're doin' this, a couple of you search the Kraut truck and the bodies. Take anything we can use- then disable that truck for good.
Dutch joins in burying the dead, then makes quick work of putting the good tire on the Jeep. While we're doin' this, a couple of you search the Kraut truck and the bodies. Take anything we can use- then disable that truck for good.
FA FO
Re: WW2 Supers d6: Mission Four: It's a Shrike Hunt!
Gurung
Gurung helps with the bodies, keeping his Enfield close by just in case.
Gurung helps with the bodies, keeping his Enfield close by just in case.