0117 - The Great Escape - Part VIII - Meeting the Commander

 1230 08 AUG 2000, Zdunska Wola, Poland
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After a great solo game of Team Yankee, the attention turns back to the team. We have determined that the commander is on his way with another squad as a reaction force. We also know that some of the ambushers escaped and that not all of the Poles are in on the plan to kill any Russians they saw, which lead to the loss of Can-Can.

Now we can continue with the journey.

Scene 8 – Meeting the Commander (CR 5)
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Scene Setup
As the reaction force approaches, Klasha and Wally, with the two POWs in tow will move to the center of the street and watch their approach. When they have come to withing shouting distance, Wally will request a parley.

When the Poles agree, the two will explain that they are just there with the group to recover the POWs. They will offer to return the Polish POWs and leave town with American POWS, taking them off the Poles hands.

Scene Resolution

The roll for the scene resolution is an 3, meaning that the scene is modified. Not going to be as easy as we thought. Time to think about what has changed. The most obvious answer is that the attitude of the Poles may be different than we assumed. It is possible that the survivors of the ambush have met up with the reaction force. To be sure, we can ask the GME:

• [GME: Did the survivors of the ambush meet the reaction force? - Chaos Rank 5 - Likely (75% - there are not that many Polish soldiers currently in the town) - 28% - Yes]

So they have encountered the commander. It is possible that they concocted some story that the characters fired first to cover up the fact that they fired first without orders.

• [GME: Did the soldiers lie to the commander about the cause of the firefight? - Chaos Rank 5 - Likely (75% - this is a big breach of orders) - 48% - Yes]

So the Poles now believe that Russians came into their town and attacked their troops. One possible reaction is that the Poles may come in ready for hostilities. They may also assume the characters will attack them too.

• [GME: Do the Poles assume the characters will attack them? - Chaos Rank 5 - Somewhat Likely (65% - not everyone is trying to kill you but it pays to be cautious) - 92% - No]

They are not necessarily expecting an attack, but that does not mean they won't be wary. They are also probably aware that some of their men may have been captured and rushing in guns a'blazin' is proably a good way of ensuring they get killed, either in retaliation or just by being caught in the crossfire. This does not mean that they will not make a show of force.

• "In this world, when you hear the clop-clop of hooves it generally means trouble if it is not accompanied by the creaking of wagons. We did not hear any creaking. The call went out of approaching cavalry and everyone found the best available cover with a good field of fire. Some of those horsemen could be darn quick.
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• The Poles drew up opposite your position and sat there watching us watch them. Although not overtly hostile, they kept their weapons ready. Our Polish guests heard the hooves too and started chattering among themselves until Potato gave them 'The Eye''. Still, it seem they figured help was on the way.
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• After an eternity of staring at each other (or maybe it was just five minutes), a UAZ zipped by the troopers and slewed to a halt, disgorging a Polish captain of exceptional height. He and what appeared to be his command group approached, a white flag dangling listlessly from the radio antenna of a manpack. Seems they wanted to talk."

As planned, Klasha and Wally will approach the Poles. The captain will be interested in the return of his men and getting the team out of town as soon as possible. Rolling randomly, we can determine that 80 of the troopers stationed in the town are currently out on patrol. If we also count in the 10 that the group fired up, the captain does not have a lot of combat power to push the issue.

The group wants to secure the American POWs and transport out of town. They will ask for two fueled trucks and the prisoners.

We will use a persuasion roll to resolve the event. The following modifiers are applied:

• +1 The group has POWs to exchange for the Americans
• +1 Getting rid of the Americans would eas the burden on the Poles
• +1 Klasha points out that the Poles can claim they handed over the POWs to a group of Russians
• -1 Despite most of the Poles being on the patrol, the captain still has more men
• -1 The characters requested two trucks, which are valuable

The total modifier is +1. Klasha as an Empathy of B (D10) and a Persuasion of B (D10). She also has the specialty PSY OPS, which gives her a +1 bonus to PERSUASION rolls for changing someone’s mind about a particular issue. Bothe die are upgraded to A (D12). The results are 3,8 (one success).

• "Wally and Klasha gabbed at the Poles for a long while. What finally convinced the group what that the guards had attacked us without being provoked and the POWs were a beig strain ont he community and getting rid of them would settle some of the nerves that had gotten a bit testy since the Poles started collecting the POWs. The agreed to give us two old trucks but made it clear they wanted to see brake lights leavin' and NEVER coming back."

So, the group have been given the prisoners and two old trucks. Time to go home.