Dancing in the Desert

[Heiko Alkema]

Location: Algerian-Tunisian Border
Time: 5:00 am
Weather: Clear and cool; Low light with the Sun rising in the East.

Map Explanation


Afrika. Verdammt Afrika. Heiko had reached a very strange relationship with Africa. He hated it with undying passion yet felt an emptiness whenever he left the continent. A kind of love-hate relationship, if you will. Heiko may kick the sand in a fit but it was nice to have the dry even spray fly into the air, almost like doing the same to water. The irony of that comparison was not lost on Heiko.

Heiko surveyed the land about him through his goggles. He had no idea of where he was. A sandstorm the day before had separated him from the rest of the division. Out of his platoon of 10 Heiko only made Amsel, Buamgartner, and Faust by the time the sun had set yesterday. All around him were the dunes. Massive, indomitable, and ever shifting dunes. Something up ahead caught his attention. A tiny green speck on the horizon barely visible in the darkness just before dawn.

Heiko pulled down the scarf around his face to speak, "Baumgartner! Take point. Let's see if this is an illusion or not." Heiko hoped it wasn't. His canteen was feeling a little light, and with the Sun rising this could be a very bad day without a fresh supply of water. Baumgartner nodded, his scarf coming loose in the process. "Amsel, watch our rear. I don't want any surprises." Amsel nodded as well and dropped back a few metres behind the rest.

Heiko could almost taste the water as they approached. "It seems that Fate is smiling upon us today" A muffled cheer rose from the covered mouths of the men around him. From the looks of it, this was an old French outpost. Heiko and company might be able to find a map or two to help guide them back to the division. "We'll rest here for the day, and try to find the others tonight. Enjoy your day off, boys." The small company approached the ledge cautiously but with a jolly air.

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

OOC: The edit was fixing the spacing of the paragraphs so that it was easier to read.



Here he was again in the barren and vast deserts of Africa, the same place that his last failure occurred. The same place that he had watched as a well placed mine and a careless mistake caused the death of one man and the brutal decimation of another soldier. At least this time they had been kind enough to put him near a base that had a grand oasis sprouting out right next door.

Why do they continuously put me in these endless deserts Owen thought as he looked at the grains of endless sand that spread out in all directions from the rock. At the early hour, the heat had not begun its passage into the skies of the air, but it was easy to tell that it would not be long before it became intense and pushed against all surfaces in the sand-covered wasteland.

In opposition to what would be expected, Owen was loving his experiences in the terrible continent of Africa. This was not for the sake of being there; it was for the sake of being away from everywhere else. Even though he hated the wasteland, it took him away from the horrible life that he had in place anywhere else.

In the desert sands, he was almost alone. There were three others that he had just recently been assigned. Luckily for Owen, all the men were also very artistically inclined and were very easy to relate to.

The first of the men was Private Elton Seacoal who was one of the greatest musicians that Owen had ever heard. Elton was able to play the saxophone like none other and could easily express himself much better with music than he could with words. After realizing this early on in his life, Elton became a very quiet person, but would completely change personas when he had a reed and mouthpiece against his lips.

Another one of these new soldiers was Private Leo Montague. Leo was brilliant at drawing diagrams of any sort in perfect proportions. It was as if he had a ruler built into his mind, as he was able to gauge distances and sizes as quickly as he saw them and could redraw the same figure with almost perfect sizes. Owen had thought that this was what made Leo a great member of the trio of privates, becoming the unspoken leader among the three.

The final of the three was Private Henri Capulet, a bridge between the gap that separated the personalities of the other two. One of the last impressionist painters, Henri was born a generation after his talent was appreciated. The outdoor environment always gave him a cool head in more challenging situations, causing him to bring together the radical Leo with the outspoken Elton.

The quartet of soldiers found themselves gathered on the Southeast side of a large granite rock. The rock was only a few feet off the ground not enough for thorough cover for most soldiers, but high enough for Owen to rest his scoped Springfield rifle on easily. After surveying the area around with his gaze, Owen set himself up in the rough center of the rock. Going straight to the rock, this put his sight roughly over the pool of unexpected water before him.

The strategy he had chosen from the mapwork that he had seen of the base, was a way to make sure that the area was secure in a relatively safe and quick manner. After taking his position behind the rock, with his gun positioned watching the land across the lake, he gave commands to the others. “Elton, take a prone position on the eastern side of this rock. Watch for any attack. Leo and Henri, get to the buildings. Use the trees as cover and move quickly from place to place, but pay attention to all surroundings. Stay on your toes guys.” he said to the men, choosing their positions based on the training that they had all received.

Quickly Elton took the prone position, and gave watch for any enemies to that side, while Leo and Henri dashed to two nearby palm trees, resting there, hidden by their foliage, which started only a few feet off the ground. As Owen and Elton watched at further distances, Leo and Henri were to keep watch on all the surroundings, giving their most immediate attention to those around them.

The men had protection by the tools of war they carried in their hands. The tools they had were ready to kill, were they?

[Heiko Alkema]

Clean Version ; little things on them just show which direction they're facing. Thought it might be handy for the mod.

The little ridge surrounding the encampment only came up to about shoulder-height giving Heiko only a limited view of the buildings. The desert was in the process of reclaiming nearest one, while the other seemed to be valiantly holding the desert at bay. If there had been anything in the first hut, nothing of use probably remained.

Heiko's heart sank as a faint English voice wafted through the night air to his ears. He was lucky he'd removed the scarf from around his head when he spoke to the men, else he might have missed it all together and walked right into a trap. Gottverdammt, he hissed quietly to himself. He ducked down behind the ledge and motioned for the other to do the same and come closer.

"It seems our little vacation will have to wait," he whispered to those gathered around him. "Faust, you're on point this time. We're going up and over this, and going to make our way to the open hut. Drink up the last of your water, I don't need you passing out in the middle of a firefight." They all unclipped their canteens and drank up the last drops of water. The lack of water wouldn't be a problem if they pushed the enemy out of here. If they didn't accomplish that feat then... Heiko would deal with that when the time came, right now he needed to focus on securing this place for water and intelligence.

"Leave anything you don't need here and tighten up any loose essentials." the group quietly obeyed abandoning things like mess-kits, tent gear, etc. Canteen, helmet, and ammunition straps were tightened to keep them from making noise. Satisfied with his men's preparations, Heiko tapped Faust and pointed him to the intended building, "Stay low and quiet." Faust nodded, put his rifle across his back, and lifted himself over the ledge with a little help from Heiko. Faust in turn helped Heiko up, then began moving to the hut while Heiko pulled the other two up over the ledge before setting off after him.

Like phantoms in the night, Heiko's squad glided across the cool sand making as little noise as possible. Faust reached the building first and took up a position behind the northern most window pushing the shutters out only enough to allow a narrow field of view. When Heiko arrived he moved further south motioning for Baumgarter to do the same at the southern window. Tapping Amsel, Heiko slipped out of the southern doorway quickly flattening himself against the second building.

Taking a quick peek through the doorway, Heiko saw nothing but a few dusty tables lining the walls. An undirtied set of radio equipment in the corner let Heiko know that this place wasn't as abandoned as it had seemed, assuring him that what he heard was in fact a real person, not just the night playing tricks on him.

"We have company," whispered Heiko more to himself than Amsel, who was scanning the area with his hawk-like eyes for anything amiss.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

Moderation Mark

Been a while since I've done one of these...

Unteroffizier Alkema

• Upon your man's observation, he has spotted only two of the enemy, although their position has made him slightly nervous, as they are hunting prey.
  
• Alkema has also spotted one more man, glancing through the door way and the window opposite, he has spied one more soldier.
  
• At the present time, three Allied soldiers seems right for the amount of chit-chat in the air.
  

Corporal Pearson

• Unfortunately as you set yourselves up, you failed to notice the movement of German soldiers towards the buildings, however the German being caught in the air has alerted to you to their presence.
  
• You noticed the shutters of the building move, however that could be down to the heavy winds which are known in the desert. The heat coming off the the sand is also hampering visibility.
  
• It seems plausible that the German soldiers are tucked up in the buildings, so that is a general opinion in your men.
  

- Strum

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

OOC: Sorry that it’s kinda rubbish. My muse must be busy with something else…


Clean-img22.imageshack.us/img22/6097/ditdround2clean.png

“See anything?” Owen whispered to Elton, who was looking out over the eastern sands. After an almost inaudible “no”, he gave quiet orders for Elton to make his way around the curved end of the rock. Slowly and cautiously, the man made his way around to where he was directed surveying the areas that he wasn’t able to see before.

Leo and Henri continued onto the path they had decided upon before, staying low, and moving to the next cover quickly, Leo making his way to the nearest wall next to the closest door, and Henri heading to the wall of the nearest building. How Leo was able to look in through the doorway of a building that could possibly contain the enemy was something that Owen could not imagine, but someone had to do it.

As soon as Leo knew that no one was in the first room, he would need to do the same for the second. After finding out that there was no one there, it would be so hard to take the peek around a second door. He would get to it, but very slowly.

Henri would need to take a look around the side of the building to survey the other building, another task that would be nearly impossible because of the fears that would need to be ignored. Either way, he would look, if even just to get over what could be around that wall.

The night was turning to day, slowly as it may turn, and the heat would be in full swing in possibly the next hour or two, but when that happened, Owen knew he wanted to be inside one of the buildings.

In search, Owen scanned the area with the scope, seeing the world though cross-haired eyes. While the cross went past the furthest window, the shutters burst themselves open, of course, it could easily have been the wind, but by reflex, he moved the hairs to the opened window.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

Moderation Post

I’ve decided to move this battle on a little bit, with a few drops of blood spilling on both sides.

Corporal Pearson

• Private Montague (do him and Capulet have something going on there?!) moved into the first room and checked it. However, his long shadow (sun rising in the east) penetrated into the second room, alerting the two enemy soldiers outside of his presence.
  
• Thinking fast, the Unteroffizier leaned around the door way and fired a clumsy shot. It struck the adobe wall which Montague was hiding directly behind. The wall shattered, ripping a huge chunk away, however the bullet did not hit him. The dust thrown up in his face forced Montague back towards the way he’d entered in a coughing fit. He has scratches to his face, is fighting to breathe, and his eyes are watering. His fighting effectiveness has reduced slightly, but he will pick up in the next round. The two Germans are unsure if they’ve killed the man, and it is impossible to see through the thick dust.
  
• Private Capulet leant around the side of the building to checking the northern position. However, as he was exposed the commotion within the building erupted, and he exposed himself a moment too long. Grenadier Baumgartner saw his juicy target and fired. The bullet struck the American in the right upper chest, tearing a hole through his ribcage and pulping his right lung. It exited out and struck the tree behind. Capulet fell to the ground seriously wounded. Without medical treatment, this man will day in one round.
  
• However, by attacking one target, Baumgartner made one of himself. Corporal Pearson quickly adjusted his aim, and the only warning Baumgartner received of the impending doom was a slight twinkle of light as the sun reflected of the scope. “Scharfschü-!” he tried to shout, but was cut short as the bullet struck his upper neck, ripping his head clean off. His corpse clattered to the floor, jerking erratically. This has more than worried Amsel…
  

- Strum

[Heiko Alkema]

Clean Map

Heiko's head snapped back to open hut just in time to hear the second, distant shot and see Baumgartner's headless body fall backwards. The massive pool of blood pouring out of the man's neck enraged him, such brutal acts were unnecessary in even war. Heiko turned his attention back to the hut he'd just fired into. Signalling for Faust to follow him, Heiko quickly ducked inside rifle raised and ready to fire. Thankfully there was no one waiting for him on the inside and he was able to slip from one side of the room to the other without resistance. He signaled Faust again, this time to move to wall opposite them, Heiko himself broke away and flattened himself against the northern wall.

One more shot rang out from the broken hut, distracting Heiko for a moment. He couldn't see Amsel and prayed for the best. Turning back to the small room, to his horror the man he'd fired at wasn't dead at all, instead he just stumbling around heading for the back exit. Heiko cursed himself for exposing himself to the enemy so easily; to rectify the mistake he raised his rifle once more and but the man into his sights. It wasn't a difficult shot, the man was only a few metres away and seemed completely unaware that a rifle was aimed at him. Heiko hesitated for a moment, it just seemed dishonourable to shoot a man in the back. Heiko compromised.

Heiko aimed a little lower, placing the sights over the man's lower back and away from the vital organs then pulled the trigger. Working the bolt and adjusting his aim further, Heiko fired another round into the man's kneecap.

(Only happens if Heiko's shots are successful)

Heiko motioned for Faust to follow him and ran to the fallen man kicking his weapon to the wall. Heiko grabbed the man's collar and drug him to a corner, propping him up into a sitting position before smacking the side of his head with rifle butt. It wasn't meant to kill, just knock him unconscious if he wasn't already. Heiko stripped the man of any weapons and his ammunition, then slung his own rifle and retrieved the enemy's. He looked over it for a moment, he'd been trained to use captured weapons but he'd never actually used one in battle before. It should prove useful.

***

Amsel was momentarily stunned by the sight of Baumgartner's head separating from the rest of his body. Amsel had seen already decapitated bodied scattered about battlefields but he'd never actually see it happening. All he could do was gape at the rolling head for a moment. The feeling of shock was quickly replaced with unbridled rage as he looked out the window and caught a glimpse the sniper's silhouette against the the blood red morning sky. He was going to enjoy putting a bullet through this man's head.

Amsel rested his rifle on the windowsill just as he'd been instructed during training. He calmed his breathing as he brought the man's silhouette into his sights. He waited a moment savouring the moment. He'd been wounded in Russia and this was his first chance to the repay his enemies. Taking a deep breath and releasing slowly, Amsel squeezed the trigger. Amsel quickly worked the bolt and brought his sights back into place, to his dismay the silhouette was gone. To avoid Baumgartner's fate, Amsel quickly ducked back behind the wall to avoid retribution.

Timeline: 1) Heiko/Amsel rush the room; 2) Amsel fires at Owen; 3) Heiko fires on and subdues Montague

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

Moderation Post

This is how I like battles, not too big, but still very interesting.

Unteroffizier Alkema

• Charging into the room, the settling dust took both men by surprise. Alkema’s first shot hit Montague in the base of the spine. The man was thrown forwards, his lower body paralysed. The second round passed clean out the window. Montague, is now permanently paralysed from the waist down. He began shouting, scared he had lost all feeling. The knock around the head did indeed send him out cold.
  
• Amsel's shot never took place, seeing as there is no direct line of sight between the deceased soldier and Pearson. Therefore Heiko, the part of your post I'm afraid is void. Please post a new map with the northern soldier dead.
  

- Strum

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

OOC:Sorry about the extremely sad first paragraph. I thought he deserved something nice.

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Owen had just watched as Henri fell back to the ground gaping for air and knew that the man could not be helped in anyway at all. The blood had spurt out from behind the brave soldier’s ribcage and splatter across the ground. With a vengeful heart, Owen had taken out the man who had caused such misery to befall the young private. Having seen a man die in front of him before, Owen knew that sparing as many as possible was the main goal, but the man who was trying to intake a last breath would die in the pool of blood that formed around him on top of the sands. The man’s eyes showed a great pain, a pleading for help, but to save him would mean the possible sacrifice of another man, and now was not the time for any more bloodshed. Henri’s face would never leave Owen’s nightmares.

Moments later, just as he had come to terms with what was happening to Henri such a small distance away, a few shots rang out from the second building, so Owen adjusted himself so that he could aim into the nearest window of the building. He would shot anyone that moved in front of the window since the shots had subdued and he knew that Leo would not need to travel by there again had his side been victorious in that shootout. The crosshairs were trained on the opening with the open shutters. He would not miss anyone going by.

Meanwhile on the far end of the rock, Elton was slowly making his way around, scanning the new places he could see closely in search of threats. By know he was sure that they were not alone in the desert. He had heard shots fired by Owen, from where Leo and Henri were headed, and from much further away. The last of these kept him the most worried about what he would be seeing up ahead. Once the first window was in his view on the large building, he could make out the headless body gushing blood as it draped on the window ledge, a gruesome picture to see laid out on the battlefield or anywhere. Elton moved even more cautiously now, knowing that there were likely going to be others near the first Nazi that hung limply out of the window. The door of the building poked out from behind the rock’s face and he studied it closely, making sure that it carried no enemies, hiding by the cover of its frame. When the final window came into view, the sun soaked the second Nazi’s face. Quickly, Elton set the gun on the ground in front of himself and shot many times at the terrible creature before moving back into the cover of the rock that protected him from the man’s sight while bullets sailed over the pool that separated the two, trained in the direction of the window.

Owen was trained on his own choice of window, but had made sure to keep the door of the building within view just in case. His heart was with Henri, the gaping hole inside his chest would be ruthless.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

Moderation Post

I’m a little surprised that the first paragraph actually had no effect on me….

Corporal Pearson

• Needless to say, Private Capulet is dead. At least the bloke who killed him is also in hell. However, Private Montague isn’t dead, just very badly wounded and knocked out. He’s bleeding from the back, and will die in two rounds time, but is not dead at the moment.
  
• Private Seacoal’s actions were a partially success. He moved forward slowly, now becoming dehydrated from the heat as the sun continues to rise. As the German appeared in the window, Seacoal fired twice. The first bullet was aimed, and managed to strike a shutter, which exploded into splinters before the German’s eyes. The second shot went high over the building with the recoil. Amsel, after he had collected himself began to return fire. Seacoal began to move back firing shots at the hip. Three struck the adobe structure, the rest went over head.
  

Unterofizier Alkema

• As the adobe was torn apart and dust began to fill it, Amsel fired off two aimed shots at his standing target. The first struck Seacoal in the thigh, a nasty shot which tore a lump of muscle off the bone. The second simply struck the rock. Seacoal fell to the floor in agony. He is losing blood fast.
  
• The dust choked Amsel, whose eyes also began to run. Unable to see the door and desperate for clean air, he threw himself out of the window of the hut. He needs a little time to recover.
  

I want to say that what happened could have been avoided if you’d been more descriptive Owen. You seemed to be firing tonnes of shots off, two on the ground and the rest from the hip as far as I could see. Descriptive shots are far better than many shots. By the way, thanks for editing the map.

*I ADVISE CORPORAL PEARSON TO RETREAT. WITH THREE OUT OF FOUR SOLDIERS WOUNDED OR DEAD, YOU ARE OUT NUMBERED AND DISADVANTAGED*

- Strum

[Heiko Alkema]

Clean Map

After stripping the man of all his weapons Heiko found the real treasure, a full canteen. He took a drink and handed it over to Faust for his share. Heiko stared at the unconscious soldier trying to figure out what to do with him. And then the thought struck him. It would be a reckless and potentially fatal feat, but if it succeeded he might be able to bag himself a few more prisoners.

To accomplish this Heiko first stripped over his tunic, pants and helmet and donning the partially blood-stained uniform on his enemy. It was a close fit but he only needed it to cross the distance between here and the rock. Heiko opted to take the M1 only, leaving his rifle resting against the northern wall.

"Wait five seconds after I leave that door, then start firing on that rock, I do not care if you actually hit anything, I just need the distraction." Heiko whispered to Amsel. Moving to the windowsill, Heiko took the American helmet in hand and waved it in front of the window to get the sniper's attention, "God help me," he whispered before placing the helmet back on his head and crossing the window. He had placed the helmet low over his face to try and obscure it. He waited at the door for a moment, taking another drink for the poor bastard's canteen. Heiko was going to need every last drop for this. With a nod to Amsel, Heiko pasted through the threshold into the abyss.

Keeping his head low to obscure his face even further, Heiko managed to make it to the trees before the first shot rang out, and rounded the southern tree with the second shot. His heart raced with the uncertainty of the whole thing; his mind going over every possible negative outcome in an instant. The rock was so close, and the sniper turned to look at him a puzzled look crossing his face. Heiko raised the rifle placing the forks of the unfamiliar sights over the man's chest and pulled the trigger. Then a second time. Heiko sprinted the last metre to the rock, dropping behind it for moment before popping back up with the rifle ready to fire.

"Halt! Legt deine Waffe ab!" he screamed, Heiko didn't know any English and prayed that the American would get the idea.

***

Baumgartner gasped for air, the wooden splinters all over his face. He lost, confused, and panicking. He crawled groping for a wall, not even realizing he'd dropped most of his equipment. He found a wall quickly and followed it to a doorway before rolling inside out of the cruel Sun's reach and waited for someone to find him.

----
Translation:

"Halt! Legt deine Waffe ab!"
- "Stop! Drop your weapon!"

The edit was just me changing the names 'cause I screwed them up somewhere along the line.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

Moderation Post

“This is a military operation. Nothing ever goes to plan”

Unteroffizier Alkema

• Drinking the canteen, you have replenished your water levels, but any more weight on that bladder of yours may make you feel uncomfortable. You threw the American’s kit on, but missed some details about how American’s wear a uniform, being unfamiliar with the fatigues.
  
• Dashing across to the tree, your enemy spotted you, noticing that the soldier’s build, the way he walked, and the way he wore his uniform suddenly seemed to change. Just as he was about to question it, he came under fire.
  
• The rounds kept him low, but as Alkema closed, the American sniper realised that not enough things added up. Thinking quickly, the American aimed roughly and fired at Alkema.
  
• The round took the Unteroffizier in the left shoulder, throwing him backwards and tearing a clean hole through the flesh. He fell between the tree and the rock. Alkema is still armed, but he has lost power in his left arm.
  
• Amsel continued to fire rounds at the sniper, keeping him suppressed, and trying to protect his superior.
  

- Strum

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

OOC: The first two paragraphs are more or less recap, just to show where they are and how they reached that point. Also, with the maps, This first map only covers the action before it splits. The Actions for these are mapped on the image that is linked before the beginning of that alternative. Sorry that it is a little confusing.

Map for first portion:

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Quite frankly, the Allied side was losing the small skirmish. With one great painter having become sprawled out on the sands, still showing a terrored but now blank stare back towards his commander’s position, and one great drafter likely suffering the same fate behind the outer wall of the nearest building. Another soldier was likely to join them and suffer whatever circumstances befell the two who lay upon the battlefield in shambles. This third soldier had received a painful shot to the leg and had been in agony on the ground, but would soon need to realize how important it would be for him to continue to fight to get out alive as much worse circumstances were on their way to the duo behind the rock.

Owen was about to retreat from the skirmish when a man dashed out of the building in an American Uniform, had Leo been the victor in the firefight was Owen’s first thought as his mind’s view brightened up slightly. The same thoughts were crushed down upon realizing the change in build from Leo’s character, but were able to trigger the firing of a roughly positioned shot, which was able to pierce the impostor in the left shoulder creating a paralytic limpness to come over the arm of the man who now lay on the sand with a hole cutting straight through the tissues of the joint muscles and nerves. Had another not noticed the shot on his companion, Owen would’ve had another shot on the man, but instead was receiving suppressive fire from the window of the building forcing Owen to stay in a prone position close to the ground.

Elton noticed the scene from his position behind the rock and could see the suppressive fire that was holding Owen back from firing another shot at the reckless enemy that had tried making his way to the Allies singular cover by becoming an impostor of one of the Allied ranks. By the placing of the pieces together, he could now assume that Leo had been slaughtered by the same man who now wore his uniform, giving Elton a vengeful spirit for a lost friend. In a prone position, Elton made his way around the side of the rock, noticing as it came into site, that the man whom had shot him had left the window. The slow trek continued around the corner as he saw the desecrated remains of Henri sprawled out across the desert, fueling his passion ever further along. He knew of the window, buried behind the tree that gave him cover from a shooter using the wall’s opening, which the suppressive fire came from blocking any shots from Owen at the time. Being safe from that enemy the search continued for the impostor, a slow crawl further. When the man came into sight, Elton aimed at the man and fired from the prone position that supported the gaping hole that would last eternally inside his heart. The shots would give two purposes in their firing, the distraction of the fraud along with a few possible lacerations of the Nazi’s deceitful skin to accompany the wound that bleed out from his left shoulder. Elton knew that it would only be a short time before the other arm attempted firing back, and positioned himself to provide a small target for any shot that came out from the crippled man, by leaning around the rock more instead of exposing more of his body with a prone position further away from the rock.

Owen knew from previous study of the area, that the window from which the suppressive fire came out from only had a small view of the rock that made up the whole of Owen’s cover. It was a terrible flaw in the placement of the building, but gave Owen the chance he needed to take down the impostor that lay on the sands. A simple solution, Owen moved to his right a short distance, keeping the prone position. When clear of the space that he could be reached by suppressive fire, Owen calculated the approximate direction of the fraud that lay on the sand, knowing that he may not have as much time as he may need. Just as he got in position for where he could go up for the shot, his own side’s suppressive fire kicked in on the target, giving Owen less worry about any risk of being fired upon by his target. He took a breath and held it into his lungs for a steady shot, as quick as it may be. The gun came up to position on his body before moving up so that it could come above the rock. Quickly, Owen centered the familiar lines upon the upper right side of the deceitful chest and let a shot ring out of the gun. Exhale, as he saw out of the corner of his eye, the tree that gave him safety from the man who had laid the suppressive fire moments ago, Inhale, Hold. Repositioning the lines upon the man’s pelvic region, he let another shot come out from the barrel of the gun.

=====If the previous works=====
Continued Map-img5.imageshack.us/img5/3748/ditdralt1.png

Elton heard and saw the shots that Owen had placed upon the man that lay on the ground and stopped the suppression shots that rang from his own gun. Now, he knew that they would need to be getting out soon, as he knew that Owen must have known that two of the Soldiers had drifted away from life, and that any more lives would be ludicrous. He moved left ward along the rock, back the way he came from, his gun and eyes guarding him while he surveyed for any more reckless enemies. Upon reaching Owen, commands were whispered, “We need to get out, but we want to take from them more than they took from us. Elton, lay suppressive fire on the window so that I can grab the man that we have taken down as a P.O.W.” Elton did exactly what was asked of him, reloading and then positioning his gun trained shooting on the window to prevent an enemy from reappearing in the opening or leaving the building while keeping himself almost completely hidden behind the rock, save his dark eyes and the helmet above them. He gave the Nazi’s no reason to show up, either above the windowsill or from the doorway, and a distraction from what Owen would be doing.

Owen quickly prepared himself for his objective, taking a drink from his canteen and moving around the necessary equipment to make the recovery as safe and as fast as he could. Peeking around the rock, he surveyed the area quickly and upon seeing no others besides the man that he was going for he made the sprint to the dying man. Picking the man up with a fireman’s carry, while leaving the mans rifle behind, he ran the prisoner off the battlefield followed by Elton, who gave protection for the men while running on painful legs.

(If successful, Owen will not be receiving Heiko's weaponry)

=====If it does not work=====
Continued Map-img4.imageshack.us/img4/1763/ditdralt2.png

Upon the failure of the shots that had been laid out by Owen upon the man, Elton was able to see that they needed to retreat quickly. He moved back to Owen, staying low as he moved back to his commander. Upon the regrouping of the two, orders came in whispers from Owen saying, “We have reached failure. We must retreat.” with a sad mood lingering between the two. This was a mood that both celebrated the lives of the ones who had fallen, while grieving over the loss of the same lives.

The two sprinted off the battlefield towards the newly rising sun, their hearts heavy and their memories horrifying. They had failed.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

Moderation Post

Wow, quite an eventful post for such a small battle. Either way, a good end to a very good battle.

Corporal Pearson

• Firstly, Private Seacoal suffered a major wound to his thigh and therefore his actions are going to be far reduced in effectiveness.
  
• Crawling around the rock, his blood was slowly soaking into the sand. His left thigh is almost none existent and the pain is extreme. He aimed, almost close to passing out and fired three (not specified) shots. By luck, one struck Alkema in the rips, deflating his left lung. However, the American’s shots did not go unnoticed…
  
• Grenadier Amsel spotted the even greater threat to his superior’s life, and fired at Seacoal. His first shot went high, ripping a lump of rock out in a splinter. However, his second shot struck the weakened American in the helmet. The thin steel could do nothing to resist the direct hit. Seacoal was finally put out of his misery.
  
• Firing in the prone position, on a man who was also prone (?!), the Corporal’s bullets found their target, to a degree. The first round hit Alkema in the right buttock, the second glanced over his right shoulder. Too wounded to react and beginning to regurgitate blood, Alkema is within a hair’s width of death. (Just a little note, but holding your breath is actually incorrect when shooting. It’s an error which most video games promote. It raises your blood pressure so is counter productive. You should fire just after exhaling, but before inhaling. That two second pause. Don’t worry though; I didn’t penalise you for it. Just bare it in mind.)
  
• Realising that yet another soldier had been claimed, and it would be too risky to go after the wounded German solo, Corporal Pearson retreated from the battle, a few men down, but also having bloodied the enemy.
  

Close Axis Victory!

A simply great battle, with a few twists and turns. I didn’t really expect Heiko to be put through so much pain though. Anyway, everything went pretty smoothly, with just one or two hiccups. You must remember I haven’t modded to many battles in my time, so I appreciate having an easy one.

Unterofizzier Alkema: 40CP
You performed well for the majority of the battle, but I think you played it very risky close to the end of the battle and I suggest you don’t try a trick like that again. Take a leaf out of my book and get some other poor bastard to do it for you. I would have awarded you more points except for the lack of judgement at the end. I have two points though.
1. Amsel has been promoted to Corporal for his actions on the field. He killed one man and protected you. You owe him your life.
2. Before you start any more threads neutral or hostile, you must make a neutral thread in either Hospital area. You came very close to death, and I am frankly surprised that Owen didn’t finish you. So make and finish a thread with someone in the Hospital area, call it medical confinement.

Well Done.

Corporal Pearson: 25CP
I suppose you can’t win them all. You performed well, but the major flaw I saw was that you didn’t combine your men’s actions, until your last post when it was too late. You threw men away one after another, while there were a few points in the battle where you could have taken the lead. I also felt that by holding back at the rock, you allowed Heiko free reign over most of the map. So call it a learning curve. You lost three men in that action, but at least it means that both you and Heiko can have major grudges against one another.

- Strum

[PuNk! ™]

Strumfelder,
Have you requested someone issue the CP for this battle as of yet? If not, I'll do it as soon as you say.

Unit promotions; Have they been promoted on the designated divisional rosters? (prefer it if you done the deed, then leaving it down to member edit). Please! But yes, just wanted to make sure the following have been completed, because Owen has notified me that no CP has been distributed yet.

~Danny

I've sorted everything division wise. With the CP, Owen asked Dan in the C-box and I assumed he'd done it, so I didn't follow it up. So, yep, could you issue it to them?

Never mind, I got this.