Character #3 Gen for Twilight 2000 4th Edition
Scene #01
Mandy
Kielce, Poland
7th of July 2000
Operation Reset
Mandy hugged the dirt from the quarry. Most of the arty incoming was falling below over 100 feet down deep in the quarry. But the reverberations and the odd round landing on target were enough to inform her that this was going to be her last technical support gig, how she ended up in slots like this mystified her.
3ACR was always at the pointy end and her skills always seemed to be needed somewhere near the front. Squeezing her eyes shut helped. Shaking with absolute fear did not. She hugged her antiquated M16 like a dog in heat. Tears washed the quarry dust down her cheeks in muddy yellowish streaks, it tasted like limestone [she had a thing for rocks ever since dating that goofy geologist].
[Kielce, Swietokrzyskie. Kielce ([ˈkʲɛlt͡sɛ] ) is a city in central Poland with 204891 inhabitants (June 2009). It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Voivodeship) since 1999 previously in Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939 1945–1998). The city is located in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains) at the banks of Silnica river in northern part of the historical Polish province of Lesser Poland. Kielce was once an important centre of limestone mining.]
She really did not want to cry, but it was gunna happen anyway. Her stocky athletic frame shook, more so when shells landed nearby. She heard the cries of men bleeding out, screaming about a limb lost or their entrails falling out. Those movies that talked about grown men calling for their mothers….It was true. They did. Why are we doing this?
Would death be quick? She really didn’t want that sort of pain she could hear right now. No sir. Not what I signed up for. I’m supposed to interpret and analyse. But only what the commander wants to hear the arrogant fuck. Anyway that prick was dead and a real soldier the “Boss” was leading what remained. A good change but too late she mused..ick, always the analyst aren’t you Mandy she said to herself. Krashshooom!! A round landed impossibly close. Hugging her gun tighter, she thought through recent events.
3ACR had just kicked the living shit out of the 20th Soviet armoured. But that was not their mission. No sir. No sir. We were flank duty for 2nd armoured. What had happened to them and our comms relays? They had gone silent.
BOOM again damn that was closer. She chanced a peek and saw others hugging the dirt, some trying to scrape holes in the sides of the quarry. BOOM, closer again…They had to run out of ammo soon. Didn’t they?
Her intel from CIA via DIA had said that 20th was a shell, with no resources. WRONG bitches. WRONG WRONG. “WRONG” she roared. She pushed her glasses back up her nose as they slid down again. Taped together, scratched lens covered in limestone dust, but better than being blind. She valued them more than her gun. A huge body slammed down beside her. ‘ Hey good looking! Having fun yet? Get ready because they will come soon. Stay low, don’t be a heroine. Use burst and try to remember the few weeks of training the 3ACR gave you!’ The Lt flashed a handsome smile, full of white teeth and soft whiskers. Paused with a sad look of regret, then he rolled away before she could answer.
She checked her weapons selector, and safety again. Patted her few spare mags and tried to inch up the quarry edge. How many she wondered? 20th had a few thousand men and 109 vehicles but no hard count on AFVs. We were what? 400? 500? Plus some civilians and less than 20 vehicles now.
Screwed by any math.
They were just south of Kielce allegedly covering 2nd Armour’s advance, who were leading the way for 1st… But they got separated or the advance was stopped. The last she had heard was 2nd was in Deblin. Would they try to come back this way and help? The soviet 20th had attacked them from the south west. BEHIND us! Up E77 they came bursting out of the woods, thankfully scouts had given us enough warning to lay a quick ambush and blunted the initial assault. The sky still showed the signs of burning off AFV hulks. She shuddered. Then realized the shelling had stopped. Looking up Mandy saw troopers scrambling back up to positions. It seemed the Soviets did not know or did not care about the quarries. They were fixed on hitting the town. We were dug in watching the cross road and had bradleys and a lot of man portables for a unit our size. She assessed that 3ACR would hurt them but could not stop them. The shelling stopped..silence until the rumble of tanks. How many she wondered?
Here they came, Tanks up front, followed by loads of BMPs probably full of troops. She could stay low until they disgorged.
She shrieked at a tap on the shoulder.. “What the Fu…oh Lt.” ‘Move it kid, command wants you back in town. I cant spare men to guide you or escort you so hump it solo. Cross the quarry, parallel the road, the head due NE to town. It’s a roughly radial township, hit the centre find Jana Pawla avenue or what ever its called. Follow it to the Museum, boss man is there he has a job for you. You got it? Here, take these MRE’s while you are at it, and get going. Good luck you are on your own. ‘
Then he was gone.
What. The. Fuck. She looked around wildly. Everyone else was starting to shoot, didn’t she belong here? What about the wounded? What the hell do they need me in town for now?
A trooper looked at her and said. ‘Miss you better get along, do as Lt says, we got your back and don’t worry we are gunna give them hell with ya or without ya. Now git!’
She ran. Low, and fast. Weaving as she started to hear shots high overhead. She started to cry again…OMG again? Really? Terrified or relived she knew no difference. She ran. Fast at first then quickly out of breath with her almost empty back pack except for those precious tools she relied upon. Slowing now. She ran parallel to 762 that she knew ran into town. The battle receded. Once she hit the trail on at woods edge she stopped for water and to regroup. If she hugged the edge of the woods while a bit slower, she would be concealed the entire distance to town.
She opted for Splintered trees, craters and the stink of the dead filled her vision and her nose. Making the going hard. By her reckoning it was going to take an hour and half to get there, less if she threw caution to the wind and jogged at a decent pace.
Twenty minutes later she halted for water and took in the surrounds. On the way out to the quarries she had been so absorbed with getting her kit squared away she had not really taken in the devastation around her. Some people glanced her way and moved on, other eyed her ancient kit upon her sling. She instinctively gripped her weapon harder. Others rummaged around and moved with some purpose. All were thin. All had a worn desperation in their eyes.
As she progressed up the main avenue of town, she sidled over to the more covered tree lined area and sought to be as invisible as possible.
As she stepped onto the Jana Pawla II avenue two men leaning against a shattered stone wall stepped forward and barred her way.
“Where are you going little soldier girl?” said the taller rake thin one with really greasy hair. Using pidgeon English he was clearly going to be a problem. ‘Yes little one that gun looks heavy for you. Why don’t you give it to us?’ said the other more rotund pig eyed looking scumbag.
Putting on a braver face than she felt, Mandy swung her weapon up from its sling and pointed at it at the two men. “Please back off, I have to report to the commander. Get out of my way please.” She spoke in perfect Polish to them. This cut their smiles, they looked at each other. Then straightened. ‘You speak good Polish. We are sorry for troubling you. God Speed. But you know Commander and his fancy Humvee and trucks are all gone.”
Both backed up and away. Mandy passed them and keeping her weapon at the ready, moved briskly past them. No doubt the look of horror has not been lost on the two men, Mandy had a sinking ache in her belly that there was something amiss in a real bad way.
A few minutes later she was close to the Museum, cutting across the remains of a once grand strolling park she came up to the ruins of the now vacant museum. Behind her she could her to booming of tanks and the rapid fire of 70mm cannons from APCs, the chatter of small arms. She dropped to a knee and wretched. Gasping for breath she knew her compatriots were dying to a man, yet another heroic last stand.
Behind her, closer, was another sound. The crunch of boots on gravel. “Fuck this” she said through clenched bile covered teeth and salty tears. Just fuck this and fuck you too. ”
Mandy turned angry and defiant to face her destiny.