WW2 Supers d6: SST 11: Mission Four: Snow Patrol & Monte Majo

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December 29th, 1943-January 5th, 1944; the area around Monte Cassino and Monte Majo, Italy


The week following Ortona was a crazy one for the exhausted surviving members of SST 11. No sign of the Teleporter Talent Ehrlicmann had been found, but they'd keep a look out. They did their best to get fitful sleep over the 2 day trip back to First Special Service Force, up in the mountains overlooking the Liri Valley, near a famous Monastery called Monte Cassino. Shortly after they arrived, right before New Year's Even, they were given winter gear, including a heavy parka and gloves and thick bedrolls and they soon found themselves sleeping in tents in the snowy foothills of the mountains, near the German lines with artillery in the not-so-distant-distance as they drifted off to sleep....

As 1943 gave way to 1944 they were unexpectedly treated to a surprise visit by Colonel Frederick, Lieutenant Colonel Walker and the ranking Canadian Officer, Leftenant Colonel Gilday. They were thanked profusely for their service at Ortona and every member of the unit was promoted with Phil Heuron now a full Corporal; Tom Nado and John Porcupine both Sergeants, Koda made a Sergeant and the new second in command of the team and SSGT Nahum Chisholm was given a field promotion to 2nd Lieutenant and new Commanding Officer of the team. In addition, they welcomed the return of SGT Mark Battaglia, fresh from having his wounds from 'Million Dollar Mountain' treated.

After a quite rowdy New Year's spent with some 'medicinal' liquor mysteriously having found its way to most of the unit, the following days were mostly light, with just under 20 new 'Weasel' vehicles finally arriving to help out with carrying supplies thru the snow; along with the usual mule teams. Bringing up all the extra ammo, food and warm clothes and blankets could only mean one thing.....they were about to go back into action.....

[imgurl=]https://arsof-history.org/weasel/images ... sel_03.jpg[/imgurl=]

Sure enough, the 3rd and early part of the 4th of January were spent moving into position near Monte Majo; the next enemy held mountain they were assigned to hit. In the late afternoon of the 4th, Colonel Frederick called up SST 11 and they soon found him with LT COLs Walker, Gilday and a trio of NCOs. Walker waves you over and quickly lays it out....

"Okay, Colonel Frederick is giving my 3rd Regiment the task of making the assault on Monte Majo tomorrow at dawn and 1st Battalion under Tom here-" (he nods to the Canadian LT Colonel Tom Gilday, C.O. of 1st Battalion) "-will be the advance force. Now, SGTs Hawkins and Stewart here-", again, he nods to two of the three NCOs, "-have just come back from a patrol and well....tell 'em." Hawkins nods to Walker and then turns to the Talents. "Right...well, the Krauts are dug in tight all over Monte Majo, from top to bottom with pillboxes, rifle pits and machine gun nests....if we advance into that, it'll be hellish and we'll lose a lot of men." Walker nods and then turns to Gilday, "Tom here has an idea about that."

Gilday's accent tells Heuron and Koda that he's from the Quebec area as he replies with, "Quite so...okay, this here is SGT Tommy Prince", and here he nods to the last NCO, a Native American solider. "He's one of the best infiltration men we've got and I think he'd be perfect for leading a small patrol at night to quietly silence some pillboxes and machinegun nests to help with the assault tomorrow morning. I'm thinking you Talents could be quite a help in that department."

Walker nods and says, "I agree whole-heartedly with this plan...which to be clear, is to as-silently-as-possible eliminate several German positions and bring back any intel you can as well....unit insignia, any papers, pay books, maps, that kinda thing. Now, regardless of rank, SGT Prince is in command of this patrol, which is to set out at 9 PM....and be back to our front lines at dawn, which is when we start our assault. This is a Knives only, with Grenades as last-ditch backup option, as it's possible they could be mistaken for the night arty both sides fire to annoy each other...but guns are to be on safety, got it? Okay then, get some rest and then go take out some Hun bastards. It's your patrol Chief", he says in an almost subconsciously condescending way to Prince, who doesn't respond.

Prince just motions once and then moves to some tents while saying in a deep, quiet voice; "Only take what you must....we must keep noise to a minimum and unless you have to, don't use your Talent Powers as I understand any Jerry Talents might be able to sense it.....is that correct?" he asks....

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

"That is correct, Talents can sense each other when activating our Talent. Since weapons are safety on, should we strip to lighter weapons'? Say M1 Carbines?"

[ateno]

Koda, suprised that he was given a leadership position among the Wasicu. "Just tell us where you want us, we will make it happen.

Koda will make sure he has his 3 javelins before going on the trip.

[Urson]

Porcupine
Why us? If we're not to use our Talents, why not send a crew without Talents?

John will take a carbine, and will spend some time ensuring that his knife is razor sharp.

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

Nahum takes a M1 Carbine and seeing Porcupine working on his knife, does the same.

"Can we get one of those fancy knives the Brits use?"

Wondering about a Sykes-Fairbairn Commando Dagger.

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OOC: If you look at your character sheets, all of you have a 'V-42 First Special Service Force Stiletto Knife', which is basically the same thing as a Syke-Fairbairn

[imgurl=]https://image.invaluable.com/housePhoto ... 141940.jpg[/imgurl=]

And sorry, I didn't make it more clear....you're being assigned to this mission just in CASE you come across any German Ubers....plus, you've got QUITE the rep as a potent group of 'go off on your own and get it done' types....

[kipper]

Phil readily accepts the mission, and any recommendations by SGT Prince.

[Urson]

No problem. Porcupine just missed the 'just in case' part, I guess. (I know I did)

[Zhym]

Nado looks a bit confused. "No shootin, no powers...y'all sure you want me on this mission? I mean, I can stick a knife in a guy as good as the next man—assuming the next man ain't, like, got knife superpowers or something—and y'all are the ones who do the thinkin'. Just don't seem a mission without guns doesn't play to my strengths, is what I'm sayin'."

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Night of January 5th, 1944; the area around Monte Cassino and Monte Majo, Italy


The night was dark and overcast as the men of SST 11, led by SGT Tommy Prince and a late addition to the party, one SSGT Jerry Balsano head out with M1 Carbines (except Balsano who has an M1 Thompson) strapped to their backs to ensure they don't make noise and their V-42 Knives at the ready....

Moving slowly thru the snow, the members of SST 11 are quickly impressed by Prince's tracking ability and ability to move silently thru the crunching snow as if he were a ghost. After a long, slow trudge towards the German lines, Prince stopped the group and waved everyone over where he spoke with a whisper...."Wait here a moment", and then he moves forward into the dark, snowy night alone....

As the group waits for an agonizingly slow half-hour, Balsano whispers to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear...."I hope that Injun didn't forget about us....we're likely to freeze out here....". Appearing out of the dark as if a ghost, SGT Tommy Prince silently steps up and whispers to everyone; "Alright....up ahead there's a Jerry pillbox on one side and a Rifle Pit on the other. There's 3 German soldiers in each....1 of them is asleep in each location....the other two are chatting, but not paying close attention. I'll take the 3 in the Pillbox, you take the 3 in the Rifle Pits. Remember, knives only....move quietly up and make SURE they don't get any yells or any gunfire off."

Balsano rather snidely replies with a "You got it Chief". At that, Tommy Prince gets right in the NCO's face and he coldly says, "Don't call me Chief" with a glare from his dark eyes that made Balsano's eyes bulge and his face go pale as he swallowed quickly. A meek, "You...you...got it", he replied, before Prince turned away and he drew his Knife and he motioned towards the Rifle Pit for the others to go as he silently moved towards the Pill Box....


*OOC: Okay, basically it's gonna be a Hide/Sneak roll to move up to the Rifle Pit unnoticed (assuming people want to do that) and then (NOT in the same round).....a Melee Combat Roll. No need for any roll before all of you get close enough to see that in a shallow pit, 3 Germans are located there. 2 are sitting down talking, one is laying down in a bedroll.

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

Nahum tries to sneak up, knife at the ready. He will go for one that is awake if at all possible.

[kipper]

Phil doesn't like knife-work, but steels himself to the task and approaches the germans as quietly as he is able.

[ateno]

Kodo will get close and pull a javelin and not empower it, but will cast it at any German that does not go down immediately or might cause alarm.

[Urson]

Porcupine
John glances at Balsano, marking him for a little wall-to-wall counseling later. He creeps through the snow, silently approaching the rifle pit.

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Night of January 5th, 1944; Perimeter of German positions on Monte Majo, Italy


As SGT Tommy Prince silently moved into the German Pillbox, V-42 Knife in hand, the Talents of SST 11 and SSGT Balsano moved as quietly as they could towards the nearby rifle pit with 3 German soldiers in it....

Koda and Phil Heuron moved towards one of the two awake German troops, Phil moving deftly and silently over the snow, but his companion Koda's foot made a CRUNCH sound in the snow and the soldier spun around, his eyes suddenly going wide with shock and fear. Phil attempted to bury his blade into the man's chest, but instead the point deflected off a rib and all he got was a hiss of pain and a blood stain on his knife that dripped into the snow, unseen. Next to him however, Koda managed to expertly slam his little javelin's tip into and thru the man's throat, dropping the German gurgling onto the ground where after a few horrible thrashes, he lay still.....

2nd LT Nahum Chisholm quietly moved towards the other awake German solider, his fellow Forceman John Porcupine right next to him. Both managed to get into position without drawing attention to themselves and then both launched attacks with their 'Commando' Knives. Chisholm's cut was deep, but not fatal while Porcupine's managed to slam into his heart and end the threat from THAT particular Nazi forever.....

Tom Nado impressed EVERYONE on his team with his super silent moving and expertly quick 'throat cut' on the sleeping German solider; done in one quick, smooth motion. It was only AFTERWARDS that the rural NCO started shaking from what had just happened....

Balsano quickly moved from corpse to corpse, gathering papers and any kind of personal bits of info that might help Intel figure out what unit they were fighting, etc., etc. He, along with everyone else nearly jumped out of their skins when Tommy Prince spoke quietly to them, having appeared as if out of thing air. "Okay.....Pillbox is taken care of.....gather up what you can from the Jerries and let's move....."; as he silently moves to continue on down the path......the pillbox door slowly opening and closing in the wind behind him. Anyone glancing over when the door opens fully can see a pair of German bodies lying on the ground, not moving.....

[ateno]

Koda will follow orders and follow the SGT.

I just put points into sneak.... honest!

[Urson]

Porcupine
john spares a glance at Balsano, suspecting the man may be taking "souveniers" along with mission-critical documents. Then he follows Prince silently, remembering all the snowy mornings he stalked elk and rabbits back on the reservation.

[kipper]

Phil is still calming himself down after the close call, and follows SGT Prince.

[Rex]

Nahum Chisholm

Nahum withdraws the knife with a slashing twist and slams it home again, trying to finish the German off quickly and quietly.

[Zhym]

Nado calms his nerves, quickly checks the bodies of the Germans for anything useful, and follows the sergeant.