Post by Rhys Bevan on Nov 22, 2008 21:17:12 GMT
OOC: The red counter is Rhys, the green with a cross is Corporal Reid and the greens are the privates. Sorry it's taken so long. Decided to commemorate my newfound activity to IO by crushing Nathan's face into the dirt. Enjoy, now.
The dark grey squares are higher levels.
CAN YOU START ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE MAP, PLEASE, DARLING?
Staff Sergeant Rhys Bevan of the 7th Armoured Division, 2nd Infantry, 2nd Platoon was extremely pissed off. Perhaps it was the fact that the unmerciless African heat was bearing down upon him and his wary band like a vulture encircling its prey. Perhaps it was the fact that in the past twenty-four hours, he had been shot at so much that he was questioning whether it was his quite tight military shorts that seemed to be attracting the Nazi forces like midges. Perhaps it was the fact that mosqutoes had been gnawing away where no one else had ever gnawed. Or maybe it was a combination of the three. It was tricky to tell when you were fighting for survival every minute of your life. But maybe that was supposed to be the fun part...
"How's about we sing a rising song, eh, men?" said Corporal Matthew Reid optimistically, some ten feet behind Rhys. The blank looks on the four privates' faces was answer enough and Reid fell silent. Reid was not particularly popular with the men, that much was certain. He had been trying to step into Jack Diaz' shoes for some time now and they seemed to be blistering his feet so to speak. Reid was an able soldier but his roots as a proud supporter of communism had never earned him many friends. Nevertheless, war turned petty enemies into close companions and at least the men didn't throw rocks anymore. Well, not when Rhys was looking, anyway.
The privates were an interesting bunch as well, to say the least. The only one known to Rhys particlarly well was Richard Griggs, a young man from Carmarthen who was one of the most popular figures among the rabble. Taraman Rudesh and Rabdesh Abdul were cousins, firm gurkhas from Nepal who scared the shit out of most of the men which could, admittedly, be very enjoyable for the NCOs to survey. Bringing up the rear of the small party was Jude Archer, a weasel-faced private soldier who was grumbling incoherently to himself about the heat. Rhys looked at his men with a certain fondness. A Welshman, two gurkhas, a communist and, well, an arsehole. And they said they were fighting for His Majesty, the King of England. War certainly was a strange little thing.
The detatchement found themselves at a small, semi-Western village. The Staff Sergeant felt a lump in his throat. It had been practically burned to the ground; only a few wooden houses still stood. The men had also come to a halt beside their leader, staring wide eyed at the destruction before them. "Who would do this?" croaked Abdul in his thick accent. Archer shot him a spiteful look.
"Father Christmas, who d'you think?" he spat, staring eerily at the charred village gates. "Obviously, Wolfie thought it'd be a great way to pass the time. I mean, the rent boys must run out some time, eh?" He spat on the sandy floor once more for good measure.
Rhys took a step forward and shook his head. "I've seen this before," he whispered. "At Malassa, d'you remember? The SS-Ahnenerbe. They've taken the natives away for testing,"
"Shit," said Griggs, glancing behind his shoulder as if expecting to see a Nazi behind him with a big net.
Rhys nodded grimly. "Yeah," he said. "Very, very shit. And d'you know what-"
Rhys drew to a sudden stop. He could hear voices. Voices just around the corner. Instinctively, he ripped his Bren Machine Gun from his shoulderand signalled for the others to follow him cautiously towards the small house to the East. He checked behind his shoulder to check whether everyone was following and when he turned back to face the front, he found himself staring straight into the face of a German captain, who stood dumbfounded before him, flanked by a gaggle of tough-looking companions.
"Open fire!" roared Rhys instinctively, sending a bullet from his Webley straight into the face of the stunned Captain, shattering his skull and sending him crumpled to the floor. The German force seemed to surprised to discover their new company to even go for their weapons. At least, until it was too late. It was the biggest bloodbath Rhys had ever seen. And he wasn't complaining, seeing as neither he nor any of his men came out with more than a scratch on them.
"Well, that's certainly lifted the mood a bit," muttered Rhys to himself, before turning strikingly towards his own men. "There could be more around here; in fact, I'm almost certain. Get behind those tress; now!"
"You heard the Staff Sergeant, get behind the trees!" echoed Reid, driving the privates towards a large cluster of trees to the far south of the village. Taking comfortable cover behind the great trees, Rhys handed his water canteen over to Abdesh so that he could take a swig and brought his binoculars to his eyes. All there was too do now was wait.