A hunting we will go(Falkenbëck)

[Franz Albrecht]

Southern Ukraine, fall 1941

Weather: Cold, recent rainfall, late afternoon.

The air was cold and fresh, a shower had come earlier that morning. The sky was darkened with grey clouds, in some places the sun broke through but provided no warmth. The grey Kubelwagon continued to cruise down the dirt road with the top down. Franz had been up late the previous night in Kiev, he was in the company of some old friends. They ended up drinking too much champagne which resulted in a head ache this accompanied with a sickly feeling in the stomach.

Franz took a deep breath while glancing around at the passing surroundings. The countryside was covered in trees, their leaves had already fallen leaving them bare. The dirt road on which they traveled was bumpy and covered in tire ruts and pot holes. Leaning around in his seat Franz looked back at an Opel Blitz troop carrier and a radio truck.

After watching the convoy for a moment Albrecht looked down at a file he held in his gloved hand. He used his left to open the cover. The orders he read basically told him to reach the rendezvous point, acquire more man-power then head to a known hideout/partisan camp. The partisans in the area were vicious and attacked frequently. They were responsible for the deaths of many German soldiers and policemen. Most of the time they would rather fight to the last bullet then surrender, none were usually taken prisoner for long anyways.

The Führer declared them enemies of the state, terrorists, no quarter or mercy was to be given. This type of mission was Franz’s specialty, he took pride in hunting down the resistance cells. The army’s intelligence agency the Abwehr had listening vehicles positioned everywhere, when a radio contact was made Franz and his men were sent in. Recent reports took him into the hills, the hunt would soon begin.

The SD Untersturmfuhrer lifted his leather greatcoats sleeve and glanced at his watch, Albrecht set the file on the seat beside him then reached forward tapping his driver on the shoulder, “Driver, pick it up.” Over the noise of the engine he continued, “I want to move in to the forest before dark, do you understand?”

The sound of the convoy echoed through the air. The three ton Opel Blitz LKW was a loud vehicle, a dozen SS Einstatzgruppen soldiers filled the open back wielding sub machine guns and rifles. They spoke to each other, smoked cigarettes or scanned the countryside for any signs of danger. The radio truck moved at the rear of the convoy, two operators occupied the front seats.

[Friedrich Falkenbëck]

He felt like he had done a lot of work recently, having driver skills proved to give a lot of work, some close to the front line, some not. It had even shown that he also needed to drive officers to and back from staff parties, it had given him a lot of reading lately. Waiting long hours outside the headquarters gave a lot of spare time, and only rarely had he needed to fight while acting as a driver, not that he disliked fighting, but he had a great passion for vehicles.

Now he was the chauffeur to a SD Officer, there was always something amusing to see an officer having hangovers, specially when they had to drive on a mission in the noisy kubelwagen. Although he knew he had to act properly, although there wasn't that great a chance that the man would background check his driver, being a luck for a soldier who had lied about his age in order to sign up, he was getting closer to actually being eighteen but was still looking young.

As he was tapped on the shoulder and ordered to drive faster he nodded "Javol, Herr Offizier. We'll be in the forest before you know" He answered before speeding up hoping that the 3-ton trucks would be able to keep up, he had before seen the trouble with the 3ton trucks in the muddied earth, sometimes caused the trucks to get stuck, slowing the move and halting the front. He some what envied the officers though they got Greatcoats, all he had himself was his usual uniform, and of cause he also had a duster but he wasn't using that currently and it wasn't as warm, more to protect against mud and rain.

So far it seemed that the trucks could keep up with them, he himself was looking around in the area for trouble, he hated driving in 'hostile' area, specially with all the rumours of enemy movement, though now they were hunting and not being hunted. "I take we're hunting enemies of the reich?" he asked curiously, although not being the usual fanatic SS person he believed in some things needed to be done, as long as he didn't need to shoot someone in the back.

[Franz Albrecht]

The vehicle sped up and Franz responded to the young drivers question, “Today we hunt enemies of the state, Rottenführer. They are the scum of the earth and will be treated as so”, the Kubel rocked back and forth, the suspension on the vehicle was perfect for harsh conditions. Albrecht leaned closer to Friedrich as he spoke, “This area is crawling with resistance, they will show no mercy to men of the SS. Fear has been driven into them”, after a brief pause he continued, “Today we deliver them a devastating blow. They will not be able to continue operations for long”, Franz smiled and patted Falkenbëck on the shoulder. The forest loomed ahead on the horizon.

A slight drizzle began as the convoy turned a corner and reached a strait stretch of road headed into the woods. All of a sudden a loud roar was heard at the rear of the convoy, the powerful Opel Blitz sped up and changed gears. The driver of the truck flew past Albrecht’s staff car taking the lead while the radio truck fell in behind. The Opel left behind the smell of fuel as it continued to gain speed, the soldiers were all standing keeping watch.
It would be dark soon.

The darkness would aid this mission greatly, the initial attack was planned to go quickly and smoothly. The armys intelligence agency had picked up radio signals in the area, local civilians looking to make an exta dollar had also made legitimate reports of resistance activity. Once these terrorists were exterminated members of the local police, Army and SS could be at ease. A resistance attack could occur and anytime, anywhere, at any place. You never knew when the hidden enemy would choose to strike. By now the clouds had completely darkened the sky. The light drizzle continued to fall as the convoy motored onwards.

Franz glanced up at the sky, “Driver, it’s getting wet in here. Let’s put the top up, pull over to the side right there”, suddenly there was a massive explosion. The front end of the Opel Blitz exploded in flames over eight feet in height, the frame lifted off the ground then instantly slammed back down, the Blitz had clearly hit a mine. Two SS soldiers were thrown from the back of the vehicle, muzzle flashes lit up the forest on the left flank.

Franz was suddenly slammed into the back of the front seats, the radio truck collided with the back of the Kubelwagon. A dozen shots from the woods echoed , the sound of bullets striking metal rang out, tracers whipped by . Albrecht ducked down on the back seat and opened the rear passenger door from the inside, “Rottenführer! Get out the passenger side, move, move!”

The SS troops disembarked from the Opel truck and returned fire, Franz had already seen some of them fall. The column had been successfully ambushed by the partisans they were seeking, the hunted had become the hunters. Automatic and rifle fire was exchanged between the two partys, SS men were now constantly dropping.

[Friedrich Falkenbëck]

He shrugged silently as the officer used the same words, and then added some himself. They might be partisans and enemies of the reich but when all came to it, they were just civilians protecting their home against a foreign oppressor, he thought to himself. If Germany had bin attacked he too would end up being in the same place as these, causing havoc behind enemy lines being considered the enemy. He was alright hunting them, and capturing them, but killing them unarmed if they caught any wasn't for him, but he knew that they wouldn't surrender they'd fight to the last man, much like the SS.

He thought for a short moment "So we are hunting, an unknown amount of enemies, in unknown territory with a couple of trucks full of men and a radio truck?" He said with a curious tone, to him it sounded like bad odds, now he was only a Rottenführer and night-fighting wasn't his speciality but it seemed like poor odds, even to the loyal and hardened men of the SS, though they had more training and better equipment, hopefully the sicherheitsdeinst had some secret ace in his sleeve. Of cause if they made the initial attack then they would have every advantage.

As it started to rain and the officer asked him to pull over he nodded "Javol, her offizer." He simply replied and pulled over. Then suddenly the front opel blitz took a heavy hit from possibly a mine, was a great surprise to him when suddenly the shots started flying and the sound of bullets hitting the staff car could be heard. As well as the sudden bump from being hit by the truck behind them. When the officer ordered him to come out he was already on his way out the passenger side, crouching down with his back to the car quickly taking on the helmet which was laying on the seat and loading his rifle.

He quickly made sure observe the surroundings, a good habit he had gotten by all the fighting he had been in, knowing where the enemy was, or at least firing from and how it was looking down ones own line. And he felt that this was a terrible fight for them, they had already lost valuable fire power and surprise. "So what is the plan, herr offizier?" He asked before making an attempt to take aim but a shot hit the hood making him quickly cover his head thinking it was a close one.

He took a deep breath to remain calm, not liking the situation he finally felt he had a chance when he popped up from behind the car, opening fire in the direction he saw the muzzle flashes. After a few rounds he popped down behind the car again. Looking over at the officer.

[Franz Albrecht]

The wounded cried out in agony, the dead and dying lay scattered about the road. The smell of smoke filled the air as it rose higher in the sky. Franz reached in the open rear door from which he escaped and grabbed the leather strap of his MP40. With a quick jerk he pulled it from the staff car and held it on his lap.

The fighting sounded like it was in full swing, After taking a deep breath Albrecht looked at the Rottenführer and got up in a crouching position, “They are advancing up our left Flank”, he glanced over at the Opel which was under heavy fire. They managed to set up an MG-34 and were laying down a suppressive amount of fire.

On the opposite side of the truck 5-6 men made a stand, one was seen running off towards the forest. Franz lifted his MP-40 towards the enemy and fired a couple bursts. His ejecting brass exited the right side of his weapon and bounced off the metal Kubelwagon. He ducked down once again, this time the sound of grenades exploding could be heard close by.

Without looking Franz blindly fired the MP-40 over the top of the staff car, “We are about to be overrun, listen to me”, with a serious facial expression on his face he spoke, “Do you want to live Rottenführer?”, suddenly another grenade went off at the head of the convoy, the SS machine gun had been taken out. A few loud crys echoed out as the shooting begin to die, “Nicht schießen!”, shouted a German voice. Franz recognized the voice, it was a Hauptscharführer by the name of Schreiber. Untersturmführer Albrecht carefully peered in their direction, as the smoke cleared he saw two SS men getting up off the ground, hands held high. Two shots rang out and the soldiers fell, basically on top of each other.

Franz watched in horror as the men were killed in cold blood. In a crouching stance he turned from Friedrich and pulled the radio trucks door open, a severely wounded Army operator moaned in pain, “Shh, common. Quiet soldier, we are getting out of here” Albrecht pulled him out. After a quick glance at the driver the Untersturmführer could see he had been shot in the cheek. On the passenger side of the Kubelwagon a steep embankment was to be their only escape. Franz carefully laid the operator down and whispered to Falkenbëck, “We can’t help the others now, we will fall back into the forest”. Help me with this wounded man"

[Friedrich Falkenbëck]

He was glad to the slight sound that something was going well, at least until the MG fire had been silenced, was always an ill omen. Was a great weapon of the German infantry at least as long as they fired. As the officer told him where they were being flanked from he simply shrugged and nodded "I know Sir" He simply replied before popping up and giving a few rounds again being forced to give cover, he didn't know if he had hit anything or anyone but he most likely hadn't.

Then the officer state the obvious, they were about to be overrun and he wanted to live, so he simply didn't answer just to avoid sounding annoying at him, it wasn't a good way to sound to a superior. As the grenade blew up nearby he responded by covering behind the car. As more men had died the fire seemed to concentrate on what was alive. As he heard the German soldiers surrendering he stopped himself from revealing himself more, he knew that he would be the next target if he showed himself there, and he wanted to stay alive for this entire battle.

He quickly followed the officer closely to the radio truck, so far it seemed like they were living on borrowed time, which most likely were true at least at current moment but he liked to stay calm or at least seem like it. As he was told to help he shouldered his rifle and quickly helped lift the man with a whisper "Of cause sir, sounds like a good plan" His normal calm tone had changed for a more nervous one though he did his best to keep a calm facial expression.

He started to drag the wounded to the embankment so they could go unseen into the forest, where they hopefully could help this man, but currently all he were, was dead weight, but he felt nice actually helping another soldier, he hated to flee and leave men for dead, but was better then dying himself, this battle was lost before it had even really started, they weren't going to do much, an officer, a Rottenführer and a wounded man. "Hope you got extra plans when we are out of here" He whispered curiously.

[Franz Albrecht]

The men slid down the embankment and fled into the forest. After several minutes of running Franz dropped to one knee, struggling for breath he stuttered, “Wait, wait, stop..We rest for a moment.” Franz and Falkenbëck lowered the wounded Wehrmacht officer to the ground slowly, for the first time Franz took a moment to study the man’s wounds. It appeared as if this man had been injured in the accident, he was conscious but his pulse was dropping rapidly. The man gasped for breath and lifted a bloody hand that shook violently, Untersturmführer Albrecht grasped it in his own. Franz shifted his eyes toward Friedrich and shook his head.

The forest that surrounded them had been alive with gunfire then fallen silent. The wind past through the tree branches, Franz looked up at the cloudy sky, the drizzle wet his face. The wounded man started to mumble and reach for his left jacket pocket, a second later the life disappeared from his eyes and his head fell to the side. Albrecht lowered the man’s hand to his chest and released his grip.

After the officer had died Franz opened the pocket he had reached for, after opening the flap a white piece of paper stuck out. Untersturmführer Albrecht removed it and unfolded the paper, a photo of the Wehrmacht man’s wife fell out, she was pretty with blonde Hair and blue eyes. In the photo beside her stood a young child, a boy, wearing an HJ uniform. Franz flashed the photo to Friedrich then placed both items in his own jacket pocket.

Nervously Albrecht glanced from left to right, “We must go now. When we make contact with our troops we will get him a proper burial, until then I need you to keep your head in this.”Franz quickly pulled the long leather greatcoat he wore off and placed it beside the Lieutenant. Next he un-buttoned his grey SD tunic as he spoke, “I am switching jackets with him for now. I would rather they shoot me instantly, rather then ask questions I cannot answear”.

Albrecht pulled the soldiers jacket off and put it on himself, he then placed his own uniform tunic over the dead man’s face. He threw his officers cap into the woods, in response to Falkenbëck’s question he answered, “Right now the plan is to keep moving. We headed south of the road during our withdrawal, if we head North East we will reach a company of SS, they were supposed to come with us on the raid. They must know something is up by now, search parties will be dispatched.”

Franz looked around, “It’s getting dark and those Partisans will be looking for us.” Albrecht reached in to his trousers pocket and removed a small Walther PPk pistol, he pulled the slide back chambering a bullet then slid it back in his pocket. The SD officer got to his feet. He put on the Wehrmacht officers pistol belt in place of his own. He offered the spare Luger to Friedrich, “He don’t need it now, here Rottenführer.”

[Friedrich Falkenbëck]

As the lieutenant dropped to his knee he was close to falling himself because of the sudden stop but remained on his feet with some luck. As they decided to put him down he nodded and gently put the wehrmacht soldier onto the ground before looking back at the lieutenant. As the lieutenant shook his head he knew what it meant, another man dead because of some ambush, being hunted by the pray, there was some philosophical irony in all this.

When the picture of the Wehrmacht soldiers family was shown Friedrich looked with some regret on the kid in the Hitler jugend uniform, he was glad that he hadn't been there, there was just something strange about them, he had met some before but had been far from happy with the meeting. Although he was in the SS he wasn't a 'true nazi' as many where rumoured to be inside the SS, but he was loyal to the fuhrer.

As he said he'd changed jackets with the dead man Friedrich shook his head "Well you'll be trialled if you are caught by our own forces... Wearing the uniform is a risk we take every day... We'll get shot by the enemy no matter what we wear... Including Wehrmacht." He spoke with some contempt about the thought of one fleeing from his uniform at the time of danger, specially when he had to inspire courage to his men, even if there was only one. "Herr Untersturmfuhrer." He quickly added to talk with the correct conduct to a superior, before correcting his own uniform. He knew that the way he had just talked most likely wasn't well seen by the officer.

He still wasn't sure if this officers actions was out of fear for his life, he had after all quickly changed clothing abandoning everything that had something to do with the SD while he was walking around with a soldier wearing the SS Collar symbol and his helmet which also carried the symbols of an SS soldier although his Jackets symbol was covered by the Kradschüzen coat which he wore because of his usual assignment.

He took the pistol and put it into his belt before nodding to the officer "Well lets find that SS Company and get out of here... I don't quite feel like being on unknown territory while being hunted by a superior force..." He sounded more calm now, finding an SS Force which was more prepared would certainly help the task and reduce the risk of being killed. "So which way do we move?" He asked curiously hoping the officer to know how to find his way around this place and to the SS Soldiers.

[Franz Albrecht]

Franz looked over at Friedrich upon hearing his comment. He let out a sigh and shook his head slightly, he then wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve. He maintained eye contact with the young SS Man and spoke quietly, “Don’t question what I do because you don’t understand Rottenführer, be careful now”. Franz started to head off North East direction, brushing tree branches aside in order to clear a path.

As the two men continued to walk Albrecht continued to speak quietly, “My job in the East is slightly different than that of the general SS. My department handles more, how can I put it? Ahh, sensitive, matters”. After a brief pause he continued, “I am not attempting to save my own life by switching my jacket. In fact, I remain very aware that we will both be shot if discovered no matter what uniform we wear. We don't know one another, I have been chasing terrorists all over Europe. I can assure you that the local fighters would value the company of a prisoner such as me, for a short period of time anyway. It would be, most un-pleasant”.


Franz carefully scanned the area around them. He was paranoid, his nerves were on edge. The partisans could appear any moment, spring from cover and shoot the driver and himself, however it would be a quick death compared to if by some chance he were to be taken prisoner. He maintained a stone faced expression on his face as the two pushed on through the forest, determined to make it out alive. It got dark after a while. Eerie shadows were cast all around the two men, and they were surrounded by darkness as the moon offered little light. Franz adjusted his grip on the MP-40, his fingers were getting cold. Upon hearing a twig crack they slowed down to a tactical advance.

A few moments passed and nothing happened, another false alarm. Albrecht exhaled and watched his breath in the air, “it’s fucking cold here. I wish I was in Austria right now, at home with my family at our estate. It’s been awhile since I have been at home. The thought keeps me going”, Franz said in a low voice. He closed his eyes for a second and could see his family home in the summer, the lake was sparkling blue. Upon opening his eyes he saw nothing but trees, branches and darkness. “I never got your name driver. We are survivors you and I”. Albrecht glanced over his shoulder quickly at Falkenbëck. All of a sudden their surroundings changed, the trees disappeared leaving them in the open. Upon noticing this Franz's heart skipped a beat but he simply flicked his wrist motioning downwards. The Untersturmfuhrer whispered back turning his head to the left, "There will be a village ahead, shhh", he turned slowly creeping forward deeper into the shadows, MP40 raised at the ready. Franz kept his finger on the trigger, ready to pull it should he need to.

OOC: After checking with Falkenbëck we have decided to continue this thread.

[Friedrich Falkenbëck]

He narrowed his eyes at the officer feeling annoyed and he had noticed the SD marks on his sleeve "Don't you think I am stupid Herr Sicherheits Dienst offizer, I know to well about your job, and what things you have done, and what will happen to either of us if we are caught, but you will also know what will happen when we get back and you show up in some random uniform, and now I know we are in a lot of trouble out here, but how do you think I feel as an NCO seeing my superior being scared" It was obvious that he was still annoyed.

He took a deep breath to calm himself knowing that he was overstepping his boundaries talking like that to an officer "I'm sorry" he mumbled looking around while keeping a good hold on his carbine, while they moved. After a few moments as the conversation had seemed to have calmed a bit down while the officer told about Austria, was nice to hear something different then the conversation they had before.

Then he was asked about his name "SS-Rottenführer Falkenbëck, Herr offizer" then the officer made the motion to fall down and he did so quickly and silently keeping a good eye on his surroundings knowing that he would want to go home in one piece. He silently followed Albrecht aiming his gun around and also ready to defend himself. "You plan on us moving through the city? Or try to get a vehicle and get moving fast?" he whispered curiously to his officer.

[Franz Albrecht]

Franz understood where the Rottenführer was coming from. People didn’t normally speak to him like that, maybe he needed it once in a while. Albrecht didn’t hold it against him, men did over stepp their bounds in a time of chaos. The Untersturmführer decided he would accept the Rottenführer’s apology. As for the day’s events he wondered how did something like this even happen? It had been Karma that eventually caught up with Franz and some of his men, they had it coming to them. For these terrorist actions there would be serious reprisals against the population.

The two men crept forwards under the cover of darkness, “Falkenbëck eh? Alright let’s do this”. The silhouettes of houses became visible in the distance although no light could be seen. Franz turned slightly to Falkenbëck who quietly moved up behind him, “Its pretty dark over there, these villages are not usually blacked out”. As the two men advanced closer Franz suddenly stopped in his tracks, “There is no one here”, he said with a normal tone. The journey had lasted a few hours, it mostly consisted of freezing and sneaking around the countryside. Soon their own patrols were bound to stumble upon the two survivors.

As Albrecht walked down the dirt road toward the town, he responded to Friedrich’s question, “The farmer peasants from this area could not afford automobiles”. They could thank Stalin for that”.We will continue on this road, I know it. Our forces will eventually head this way, and hopefully they think before they shoot”. The rendezvous with the SS company was a mile from here, not far now”. The village got closer and sure enough it was deserted just as Franz had said. It was medium sized with roughly 30-40 houses. “I bet you are wondering where they went? Well, my unit was here last month. They are all gone Rottenführer, they figured it would be a good idea to support terrorist activity”. Franz kept walking casually down the left side of the road, “It’s a ghost town”. The village was silent, with the exception of a squeaky door or window shutter somewhere.

[Friedrich Falkenbëck]

He was indeed surprised as they reached the town and how careless the officer seemed to be. He remained alert though, he felt something was very wrong in this picture who again tossed away the jacket. Falkenbëck walked over and picked up the jacket while looking around while listening to the story, though he felt something was wrong in that story starting to loose more trust in this officers competence in command, the man who he had envied in the start of the evening and felt good trust in his word.

He shrugged "I see, I have been a part of one of these operations before, and seems you forgot the most important thing... Burning down the village in order for it not to be used, we do it for a reason you know?" he said before taking a few steps forward looking at the buildings breathing calmly to listen to the natural sounds of the town, though he didn't know if anybody was here he didn't expect it to much.

He looked back at Albrecht "If this is a ghost town I don't think we should expect to many of our own patrols around here, they got more important places to look right now... But we can wait or see or if we find a place where we can attempt some kind of communication I'd be able to help but I think we do need to make notice of our location." he sounded a bit nervous still keeping an eye out with the area and now and then looking at officer. "With a bit of hope and prayers you'll be able to come back to Austria" he said with a nervous chuckle while trying to make up his part of the plan but he was more assuming that the officer was going to figure something out.

[PuNk! ™]

The following CP has been issued to both parties of this thread, with the new rule of 2CP a post:

Franz & Friedrich: 12CP (each)

~Danny