>>5977488
Apologies for letting the quest fall off the board. For those joining us and anyone who wants to check on what has happened so far, the quest is archived here: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/5940975/

I am counting the votes from the last thread on this decision, so please continue your discussions here as if there was no interruption.

You have just finished a basic search of the District Administration Building, which housed the occupational government of Republia in this region, but did not find anything resembling radio equipment.


The question before you to what to do now. Do you stay and continue searching this building or do you continue on and search the police station?

>There is no radio equipment here, move onto searching the police station, where you will hopefully have better luck

>There is no radio equipment here, but that does not mean nothing here is valuable. Take something you want and then move on to the police station [Select items to take with you]

>Radio equipment or not, this building represents the headquarters of the hostile occupational government. It is surely full of valuable information and supplies. You should spend more time here [Select what room or area to search]

>WRITE IN

>>5977489
>>There is no radio equipment here, move onto searching the police station, where you will hopefully have better luck

We need to get into contact with the 216th, that's more important than looting shit.

>>5977489
>Radio equipment or not, this building represents the headquarters of the hostile occupational government. It is surely full of valuable information and supplies. You should spend more time here [Energy office.]

Same guy, reposting from last thread: the energy office could narrow down the base' location if we fail to find a radio. Additionally, the basement is worth investigating with its locked door behind a computer room, and its furnace that is still warm despite current intel suggesting it can't have been maintained for a period anywhere from a week to a month and a half.

>>5977489
>>There is no radio equipment here, move onto searching the police station, where you will hopefully have better luck

When we rendezvous with the Captain we should split one of his platoons between the courthouse and the admin building.

I'm assuming the police force has disintegrated as well, we'll have to remedy that soon.

>>5978073
Yeah, Cpt. Hasanaliev informed us the police left with the occupiers.

>>5978073
>>5977645
>>5977510
Counting the votes from last thread, I have this tabulation:

Move onto the police station: 3
Take something from here and move on: 0
Spend more time searching this building: 2

I think this is right, I did not quite know how to count >>5977757 your vote in the last thread.

I will write us as moving on to the police station, but -- since people are interested -- we will check the furnace first because this is quick and easy to do

Expect an update late tonight

>>5978465
Neat, thanks Ivan, looking forward to the update.

>>5978465
Sorry, update will actually be tomorrow. I still have work to do tonight and tomorrow morning. My apologies.

>>5978465
Even though I didn't vote to double check anything I love your weighted voting, gives me a vibe of the players being something like voices/trains of thought, very satisfying.

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Your search has been far from fruitless – there are many things here which caught your eye, Gennady, and you will return for them later – but you also have not found any radio equipment. If radio equipment was here, you would expect it to be in a central room or the office of a senior official, but there is nothing of the sort to be found. Before you continue your search over at the police station, however, there is one small matter you’d like to address before leaving.

Thudding down four flights of stairs in army boots produces a racket that reverberates through the empty building then cleanly cuts off when you set foot on the painted basement floor. You make your way to the large black furnace and rest a hand on its painted surface – yes, still warm to the touch, just above the temperature of the room.

From your village childhood, you know that old iron furnaces – like this one – can hold onto residual heat for long periods of time. The larger, the better they retain heat. With one this size, designed to heat a whole building, you don’t know how long it could remain warm after use – a few days at least, maybe more. But for it to be as warm as it is, there must have quite a fire going and quite recently, which does not accord with the dry hot weather that has persisted all March across northern Republia. You lift the oversized lever locking the furnace door in place, tug open the door, and peer within. As soon as you begin, ash pours out onto the floor. The furnace is stuffed to the brim. Either it has not been cleaned in a long time or a large amount of material was burned all at once fairly recently.

Hot air from the furnace interior wafts out into the basement room, carrying with it small flecks of ash. Distinctly absent from that air are the expected smells of smokey wood or acrid and cloying coal. This all must be paper ash, then. Curious: not that someone would burn files in advance of an invading army, of course, but it raises the question of where the files came from, as your brief tour of the building testified to masses and heaps of papers and records remaining unburnt.

You stare into the remains of the great mass of paper before again closing the furnace door, locking the remaining heat inside, and continuing back up the stairs to the ground floor, where Matsukov waits.

>>5979213
You look at Matsukov as you surmount the stairs: “Nothing. Let’s go.”

He nods imperceptibly and opens the door for you to make your way back into the square. You make straight for the awaiting jeep, pulling open the back door and leaving it ajar for Matsukov to join you. The driver starts the vehicle. When Matsukov gets in, you begin issuing new instructions to the driver, plumbing your memory for the location of the police building and directing him, slowly, north along the main thoroughfare which has the high school as its southern terminus. You see the police station again and call out for the driver to stop. He pulls up on the edge of the road in front of the stout two-story concrete building.

There are not many windows on the building’s ground floor and those that do exist are protected by metal bars; windows are more plentiful on the second floor, although the bars are still present. To the north of the building, there is an asphalt drive leading off the road and into the alley between the police precinct and the furniture wholesale store to its north. A red-and-white painted metal bar on a concrete stand sits a few feet into the asphalt drive, blocking access, although it could be easily lifted up. There is a single metal door at the front of the building, next to a sign reading “POLICE” in all capital letters and, below it, “Gordon City Subdistrict Precinct”. Below that is another separate sign: “Police District of Gordon”.

You warily check the visible windows. The place looks abandoned, but it is best to exercise caution when entering one of the nests of the occupation regime’s forces; you didn’t make it to ripe middle age by being incautious. Matsukov stands back towards the street, keeping his own watchful eye on the police station and surrounding buildings. You try the door. It is locked. You try it a second time just to be sure. It is still locked. Bitch door. Fuck.

After your breeze through the courthouse and the district administration building, this is an unexpected – although perhaps not too unexpected – impediment to your search. Faced with your first tangible foe since being pulled from the front, how will you react, Gennady? What will you do?


>There has to be another way in. Or, there doesn’t have to be, that’s wrong, but there may be and right now you just don’t know. Work smart, not hard, and see if there is an easier way to gain access to the building than through a locked door

>You will show this Republian door the same fate you have meted out to scores of Republian men. Draw your service weapon, Gennady, or better yet borrow Borya’s, and vanquish this door

>WRITE IN

>>5979214
>WRITE IN
Get one of the men to breach the door. It's almost certainly trapped.

Then have a squad run around the building to set off any other traps. A noble sacrifice.

>>5979214
>>There has to be another way in. Or, there doesn’t have to be, that’s wrong, but there may be and right now you just don’t know. Work smart, not hard, and see if there is an easier way to gain access to the building than through a locked door

There's bound to be a roof access or at the very least ventilation.

>>5979214
First: Look for an antenna. Absence doesn't fully prove anything, but it informs how desperate we are to actually get in right this moment.

Plan A: If the building's designers did something silly like make the door open outwards, tap the exposed hinge pins out and use a rope to pull the door out of frame from a distance. Fire exits are especially guilty of this, if one exists. Simple and effective countermeasures exist, but who would install them on the least likely criminal target in the city in normal times?

Plan B: Scout the exterior fully. Some enterprising criminal may have already staged a break-in of their own.

Plan C: Rooftop access. If the furniture store is tall enough, it presents an alternate route if necessary.

Plan D: If an antenna has been spotted, consider coming back with more people and the means to break in through a window.

>>5979498
Support.

>>5979498
>>5979284
>>5979291
These are all very fun. Thank you for enjoying the quest! This is exactly the kind of creativity and open thinking I was hoping players would bring when I made this quest.

Update up shortly

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First, before you put in the effort to gain access to this building, you should try to ascertain if there appears to be any kind of radio equipment inside. While most radio equipment is just mobile equipment, lying in a room somewhere with no visible sign of its presence, a fixed installation will have an antenna. So, you will start by looking for an antenna.

There clearly isn’t one in the front of the building. You walk north to the asphalt strip leading into an alley. You can see the road continues along the side of the building, stopping at the gate of a chain link fence laced with barbed wire at its top. You see no sign of any antenna on this side of the building; there are also no windows. Crossing in front of the main door, you walk to the other side of the building and peer down the narrow gap between the police building and the building to its south – which appears to be residential. Peering through the half-meter gap, you see two first-story windows without bars set into this wall and, running beside one of the windows and up to the roof, is the thin line of a simple radio antenna.

Terrific, you have confirmed the presence of radio equipment inside the building – whether it will be the correct kind is yet to be confirmed, but this still a better sign than anything else so far. Now that you know it’s worth expending the effort, you set about finding a way into the building. The windows on this side are without bars, but the gap between the buildings is pretty narrow which would make the approach both difficult and uncomfortable. You aren’t under enemy fire right now, Gennedy, you can take your time and examine all possible points of entry before making a decision at your leisure.

To complete your survey of the building, you cross back again to the north side of the police precinct and walk down the asphalt road past the barrier pole and up to the fence gate. From what you can see, the chain link fence encases an empty asphalt-paved lot abutting the back of the police building. The gate has wheels attached to the bottom and is meant to slide open. You give the gate an exploratory yank and it slides open a hair. There is no track set into the ground for the wheels and going against the open ground is rough, but with enough force you manage to haul open the gate and gain access to the back lot. The concrete wall of the building is slightly stained, especially towards shin-level, and there is only one window in this wall, at the far end of the lot; like those in front, this one has bars. Slightly more than midway to the window, the wall falls away and there is a path towards not one, but two backdoors to the police station. Exiting out onto the path and straight into the paved lot is a metal door, with another on the left-hand side of the path.

>>5979950

You try the main forward-facing door. It is locked, just like the one out front. You try the side door. To your surprise, the handle easily turns. This feels too easy; it feels like a trap, like someone wanted you to find this door. You take a slow deep breath as your adrenaline spikes and your heart rate ramps up, like it has a thousand times for the thousand times you have felt danger well up in your gut. Keeping one hand tightly gripped on the door handle, you use the other to draw your service pistol. It’s not much. Fuck. If you had thought this search operation would even potentially involve clearing a building, you would have brought more men than just Corporal Matsukov and the driver, whatever his name is. Still better to use what resources you do have. “Matsukov!” You call out in a loud voice, higher than normal from the effort of projecting across the building. You hear the jostle and thud of an equipped serviceman running and see Matsukov run past your location before spotting you and doubling back. He sees your hand on the door and weapon drawn and cocks his automatic rifle.

“Room has an open door, it could be an ambush, trying to draw us in. Go around front and collect the driver, then return here.”

Matsukov affirms your order and rushes back around the building. There is no sound from inside the room nor any movement on the handle. You continue to grip it tight, holding your body slight away from the door. Matsukov returns with the driver, who has brought his own service rifle. The tag on his uniform reads “Meliev N.”.

“I will release the handle on this door and open the door. At that time, enter the room as quickly as possible.” You are mainly addressing your speech to the driver, whose face is blanched white, “Fire on anything that moves. Matsukov will enter the room first, I will follow, then Meliev. Matsukov, take up the left position, I will take right.”

You stare into the frightened eyes of the soldier opposite you. You wait, unmoving. Eventually, he nods, then again more vigorously and places his finger inside the trigger guard of the rifle. You take in a deep breath, then… in a motion practiced and executed times without count, the door is open, Matsukov is in, you are in, you are in the corner of a dingy and windowless concrete room. There is no one here beside Matsukov and, after a second pause, Meliev. The air is heavy with the fumes of motor oil and gasoline.

“Room clear. Stand down.” Meliev’s exhalation is the loudest and you can see the twenty-something man tremble from the adrenaline.

>>5979951
The empty room appears to be a storage unit for maintenance supplies, particularly those for police vehicles. There are no other doors in the room, which explains why they didn’t lock it. Which means you are still left grappling with the question: how do you get in?


>You have inspected all the ground-level entrances to the building, but you would be remiss if you ignored the roof. Let us hope that, like many before them, these police have ignored the roof

>The gap between the residential building and the police station is narrow, but the unbarred windows are too tempting to pass up. Breaking and entering through here seems the easiest way to gain access to the building, providing you can fit

>Before finding a way into the main part of the building, you should spend time in the one part of the precinct to which you have access: the maintenance room. Search this room first and then worry about the rest

>The best way into the building is still going to be through one of the doors. You like the prospects of the back door more: notably, it opens out, meaning its pins are exposed. If you can figure out how to pry them out, you can just rip the door out. Or you can shoot it, either way

>This experience with the door to the maintenance room has soured you to the idea of unknown doors. At least you *know* the front door leads into the building. You should go back to the front and shoot it until it opens

>WRITE IN

>>5979953
>The best way into the building is still going to be through one of the doors. You like the prospects of the back door more: notably, it opens out, meaning its pins are exposed. If you can figure out how to pry them out, you can just rip the door out. Or you can shoot it, either way

>>5979953
>>WRITE IN
They are not going to leave somewhere important un-protected - but they seemingly have. This leads me to conclude it's trapped - I mean, why wouldn't it be? A site of interest that enemies will poke around is the best place to trap.

So we need backup - people with actual weapons, explosives clearing devices, etc. Or, at least, someone with a really long stick to poke the tripwires with.

Meliev, get a stick. A good one, long and sturdy. One you'd be proud to wield.

>>5979953
>>5979965
Changing to
>>5980000
The quads of truth and let's be honest it's a good write in.

>>5980070
It seems to be the only building in the town so far with a radio, so that makes it high priority, defencability, utility, and whatever is left inside notwithstanding.

Support >>5980000 but also I want to search the maintenance room for any tools (hammers, wire/boltcutters, broom, ladder. etc.) that might be helpful to enter and clear the building. Back door first.

>>5980000
>>5980019
>>5980154
Okay, I will write that we are going back for reinforcements to properly clear the building. Before that we will search the maintenance room because we are already here

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It is empty, Gennady, but there is also nothing important in this room, just spare parts and motor oil. The police precinct is clearly an important location - not just to you, with its promising radio antenna, but to its Republian inhabitants too - and it is unlikely that it is left unprotected. You don't know that for certain, but police are dangerous and there is no need to risk anyone's life by being incautious. For now, you should treat the police precinct as potentially occupied or dangerous and treat it accordingly. That means it needs to be cleared and you will be damned before you conduct any clearing operation that does not meet and exceed the standards of professional excellence. You will return here later with a properly equipped force of an appropriate size to conduct an operation of this type.

In the meantime, you holster your pistol and look around the one room you have cleared. It is what you would expect from a windowless maintenance room. The air is exceedingly acrid because the fumes have nowhere to go. There is a fluorescent light in the ceiling but, like everywhere, the power appears to be out. Two metal cabinets sit against the back wall, there is a vacuum cleaner and a mop next to one of them. On the left-hand side is long metal bench with sliding drawers. The right-hand side of the room is a random assortment of industrial fluids - you can distinctly smell gasoline and motor oil, but the diversity of containers suggests more substances than that - as well as a pile of rags in a woven basket and some oil-stained pieces of cut wood.

You pull open the doors to the metal cabinets. Both have a number of shelves filled with spare car parts, all in a rough organization. There are more cans of automotive fluid resting on the bottom of the cabinets. You can clearly make out air filters, lights, tubing, and a fuel pump, as well as less recognizable components from some part of an engine. Moving on to the bench, you pull open each drawer at its own time, beginning with the top one. It contains an assortment of basic tools: wrenches, pliers, wirecutters, and, to your surprise, a set of keys on a large hoop keychain. Turning away from the desk, you decide to try them out, somewhere safe. Meliev, who has been milling in roughly the same spot as when he entered the room, steps aside to let you near the door. You try the first key, which doesn't fit; and the second, same thing; and the third, which goes in but won't turn; and the fourth, which twists easily in the lock. You turn it back, the door unlocks again.

>>5980749

You smile to yourself and a self-delighted chuckle nearly escapes your lips. Whoever secured this place clearly forgot about the janitor or maintenance worker or whoever he is. You haven't seen any other doors on the property besides this one and the two locked ones so you feel fairly confident that these are the keys to the building. But just because you have access doesn't mean you *should* access the building right now. The dangers of explosive traps and ambush haven't gone away just because you found some forgotten keys. This just make the whole thing easier, however; a smile once again creeps across your tight, thin lips.

Stepping back out into the fresh clean air outside the room, you glance at your watch. The face reads 19 minutes past 5 o'clock - 1719 hours - meaning you have over an hour before your scheduled rendezvous with Captain Hasanaliev and Krasvyov. You could go back now, grab the men you need from the 7th, and return to the police station before that time. But Hasanaliev may have a report about finding radio equipment which would make you recalculate the costs and benefits of an immediate operation to clear this building.


>The police precinct is important not only because of the radio equipment and it has to be cleared sometime; why not now? Return to the high school, collect a sufficient force from the 7th, and return to clear the police building

>You have already decided, Gennady, that your top priority is locating RF transmission equipment, not clearing strategic buildings. You have an order of events *because* it makes sense: finding the radio equipment will facilitate contact with the 216th, which will give you the soldiers needed to effectively occupy all strategic locations in the district. Accordingly, you should wait until the meeting with Hasanaliev before taking any action here [Prompts vote on how to use the remaining time]

>WRITE IN

We should just bust in. I'm sure nothing will happen.

>>5980753
>>WRITE IN

Just open the door and check it out. Maybe tie a rope or something to a stick to pull the door open from a distance.

>>5980753
Ah, negligence. Friend of all misbehavers. Wonder what the police did with any jailbirds when they fled.

Tempting to just get started, given how likely it is that the place is abandoned. But we need manpower to handle potential trap accidents.

>Come back with more people from the 7th. Leave a message that Hasanaliev is to find you at the police building if he returns before you.

>>5980919
+1, we still need to get power setup & we should be able to send someone to follow the power lines simply enough, I doubt the town has buried fiber. Dispatch anyone from the 7th with electrical knowledge in fireteams with vehicles to follow powerlines converging at a central point or leading out of town. Have them report their positions & any pertinent finds.

>>5980919
Support.
We are still on uncertain ground until we have established control over the situation, so time is precious.

>>5980957
The idea so far is get a generator from somewhere. The week-or-more-long outage doesn't seem to promise an easy fix to the grid. We do need to know eventually and we've got idle manpower, just saying we have a more direct answer for the task at hand.

>>5980753
>>The police precinct is important not only because of the radio equipment and it has to be cleared sometime; why not now? Return to the high school, collect a sufficient force from the 7th, and return to clear the police building

If we end up with multiple radios, that's better. Two is one, one is none.

Also, securing a site like this is good for other reasons - it legitimizes us, gives us a strong building to operate out of if needed, might have useful intel or otherwise inside... Clearing it is a low-cost operation that's a no-brainer when the alternative is to waste time.

>>5980919
+1 to this as well.

Okay, so far the vote is:
>Bust on in: 2
Come back with more soldiers: 4

On the suggestion of this anon >>5980957
there will also be a later vote about instructing some of the 7th to follow the power lines to help determine the source of the power outage.

>>5981282
To address this, I will summarize what Gennady Lipstov knows about the power situation. The power is currently out for the city, determined on the basis of power being out everywhere he has been so far. He does not know what the issue is. Electricity in Gordon City and between it and Elmsford is carried by above-ground-wires, which Gennady would have seen driving south on the road. Based on his own experience in Antegria – where power outages are also frequent – there are likely to be a number of diesel/gasoline generators in the area.

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With the keys falling into your lap, you are sorely tempted to just unlock the door and enter the police building, but you have to stop yourself. Easy entry has not negated the dangers inherent in an uncleared and unsecured building that saboteurs and wreckers would have every incentive to rig into a trap. You will take the time you have to assemble a proper team, take and secure the building, and only then search it for the radio equipment you know to be inside. This plan also has the additional advantage of familiarizing you with the units under your command; you will get to see just how the 7th operates in the field.

Pocketing the key ring, you wave at the other two men: “Come on, we’re going back to 7th Company HQ.” Matsukov nods wordlessly, but Meliev looks perplexed and stares at you, finally saying: “Sir, aren’t those the keys to…” His question trails off as he meets your uncompromising gaze. He looks down and away and takes up a position at the tail of your little group heading back to the jeep parked out front.

When you are all fitting back into the vehicle, Meliev starts up the engine and turns back towards you: “Just a moment sir, I’m going to radio ahead so they expect us at the school.” He then picks up the dangling radio mouthpiece and, after experimentally tapping the breaker button several times, speaks out: “SGCMVD-1217 transmitting. Request copy. Over.”

You hear the buzz of the radio and vaguely hear a string of numbers read out in response. Meliev picks up the mouthpiece again: “1217 swim upriver. Over” Hmmm… you don’t recognize the code – which makes sense that the Internal Ministry would use a different one than the Army – but it is reassuring that they are speaking in code, and transmitting quickly too. You hear another short response from the imbedded radio speaker and then Meliev returns the handset to its nook.

>>5982152
A thought carrying a new possibility floats into your mind Gennady, do you even have to drive back to the high school? Couldn’t you just use the short-distance radio here to call for assistance?

>Yes, good idea Gennady. Very good idea, to use the radio to assist in your search for the radio. In fact, you should really be taking advantage of radio communications more fully [Gennady will use radio comms as a default when available; you will have to specifically WRITE IN to not use the radio]

>No, you shouldn’t. In fact, you should avoid the radio unless you have to use it. Yes, it may be convenient, but radio traffic can be intercepted. Face-to-face is much safer and you should instill that habit in your men [Gennady avoid radio comms as a default; you will have to specifically WRITE IN to use the radio]

>Yes, you should do just that. You can request the men from here and also inform Hasanaliev of the update via the radio in his vehicle – assuming he is in a vehicle [Does not set default stance on radio usage]

>No, you should still go to the high school in person. Radio comms have their place, but this is your first time working with the 7th and you should be there in person to see them assemble, check their equipage, and lead the platoons to the station [Does not set default stance on radio usage]

>WRITE IN

>>5982154
>>No, you shouldn’t. In fact, you should avoid the radio unless you have to use it. Yes, it may be convenient, but radio traffic can be intercepted. Face-to-face is much safer and you should instill that habit in your men [Gennady avoid radio comms as a default; you will have to specifically WRITE IN to use the radio]

An abundance of caution hurt nobody - but a lack has killed many.

>>5982154
>>No, you shouldn’t. In fact, you should avoid the radio unless you have to use it. Yes, it may be convenient, but radio traffic can be intercepted. Face-to-face is much safer and you should instill that habit in your men [Gennady avoid radio comms as a default; you will have to specifically WRITE IN to use the radio]

>>5982154
>No, you should still go to the high school in person. Radio comms have their place, but this is your first time working with the 7th and you should be there in person to see them assemble, check their equipage, and lead the platoons to the station [Does not set default stance on radio usage]
I feel radio comms are important, hence our search, but the fact we need to search and commit so much just to get the system working is indicative of its unreliability.

>>5982235
>>5982240
>>5982896
Okay, we will not be using radio comms. In case you do want to break this rule and use them, you can still WRITE IT that suggestion and it will go up to a vote

I am writing the update and it should be done tomorrow evening. I will post in the general thread when it is ready

>>5983776
Scratch that, I got more work than expected. I will post in the general thread when there is another update

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You think about using the radio and even incline your body slightly forward as if to reach up front and towards it, but think better of yourself. You know nothing about the operational environment here. The brief warned about the continued presence of wreckers and saboteurs - is there any reason those wrecker-saboteurs couldn't have been supplied with radio listening equipment from the stores of the Republian army? At the present stage, there really is no way to tell. Besides, you have yet to fully assemble the military forces available to you. If you are going to shine like a beacon on the RF band, you must be fully prepared first. It would not do to broadcast your positions and activity at this early and immature stage in pacification operations. So, for now at least, you will remain radio silent unless the situation specifically calls for a radio.

Instead of intervening and requesting the radio, you do nothing. You lean back into your seat and let Meliev pull away into the street and take you slowly down the main road until you arrive back at the high school. There are many more people on the streets now than there were when you first arrived in the city. A least a dozen other cars pass you on the street and you can assume a similar number were behind or in front of your own vehicle. Pedestrians were also more active and, compared to earlier in the day, you see many more men and many more children. You hadn't realized it before, but most of the people you saw on your earlier walk were women, sometimes with a child or three in tow; now there are swarms of children being corralled by parents and grandparents along the sides of the road. In a chain reaction, that realization sparks another: you have seen no young men or women in the town yet. You peer more intently out of the window, but the children you see seem to age out at around their mid-teens and then there is a demographic gap until the parents in their early 30s. The likely cause is conscription, Republia has gathered all of its youth into the army and they pulled back from their homes when the army pulled back from this front. Trouble brews at the edge of this thought - such widespread conscription must tie people to the Republian cause; out the window, every middle-aged pedestrian now has sons or daughters that can only return with a Republian reinvasion. The brief was right to warn about potential spies and wreckers, you can imagine they would be rife in a social environment like this.

>>5985546
The jeep parks in front of the school and you disembark from the door facing the school, Matsukov first. This time the sentry salutes you and holds it until you dismiss him - this is a welcome change in discipline. Your obvious next action is to find Shcherbin, now acting C.O., and have him assemble the soldiers for the clearing operation at the police station. You want to use two platoons for this operation: one to clear the building and one in reserve and to secure the surrounding area. Assuming the Internal Ministry's company are organized like the Army's, they are then there should be three to choose from: two rifle platoons and one machine gun platoon, the difference being that the eponymous platoon carries belt-fed machine guns.

The real difference between the squads is not, however, their equipment, but the caliber of men leading them. This all-important variable is not known to you; you have never met any of the platoon leaders, at least not to your knowledge. Accordingly, this choice about deployment is really more about who you wish to see in action, which unit would you like to gain a working understanding of?


Choose ONE OR TWO platoons from the list below

>Rifle Platoon "A" - Lieutenant Nikolai Masherallah

>Rifle Platoon "B" - Lieutenant Abel Bakriev

>Machine Gun Platoon "V" - Lieutenant Artyom Rashidov

While you are conducting the clearing operation, you can choose to send some members of the 7th Company on a separate mission to follow the power lines and determine the source and/or cause of the power outage. Do you want to do this?

>Yes, we can have the unit conduct multiple operations simultaneously, especially since the search operation should draw little manpower or resources

>No, you would like at least one platoon to remain behind at HQ and you would prefer if that platoon were at full strength. Not to mention that sending an isolated group south of the city - where you yourself have not yet gone Gennady - puts them at risk of ambush

>WRITE IN

>>5985548
>Machine Gun Platoon "V" - Lieutenant Artyom Rashidov
>Yes, we can have the unit conduct multiple operations simultaneously, especially since the search operation should draw little manpower or resources

>>5985548
>>Rifle Platoon "B" - Lieutenant Abel Bakriev
>>Machine Gun Platoon "V" - Lieutenant Artyom Rashidov

>>Yes, we can have the unit conduct multiple operations simultaneously, especially since the search operation should draw little manpower or resources

I say that we only take B platoon with us to the police station. I would assume that V platoon is made up of more seasoned men, considering they have the most firepower in the company, we should send them to investigate the power situation.

>>5986626
+1

>>5985704
+1

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5985704
>>5986626
>>5986719
>>5986839
Okay, this is a tie and I have already had this up for a while so I will "flip a coin" to determine what Gennady does.

Everyone seems agreed on only bringing one platoon to the police station and sending another south to look for the source of the power failure. Here is what will happen with the roll:

On roll of 1: Gennady will take Platoon "V" with him and send Platoon "B" south

On roll of 2: Gennady will take Platoon "B" with him and send Platoon "V" south

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>>5986850
Pushing through the doors into the school, you make a steady line down the unlit hallway towards where you remember the principal's office is located. Around halfway down the hallway, however, you are met by Senior Lieutenant Shcherbin, who is approaching from the opposite direction. Seeing you, he stops and salutes. The Senior Lieutenant breaks into conversation as soon as you are within distance: "Lieutenant Colonel, we were informed of your return. Captain Hasanaliev has not come back yet, but I will assist you in whatever way I can, sir." He looks at you, expectantly; he is breathing heavily, as if he just exerted himself.

No need to keep him waiting on his orders: "We are conducting a clearing operation at a former site of the occupation regime, Lieutenant. Prepare the company's machine gun platoon to conduct an urban clearing operation and have the platoon's commander report to me to receive a briefing on the operation."

Shcherbin lightly taps a waiting private on the chest and audibly whispers: "Alert V Company and bring Lieutenant Rashidov here for the colonel."

You wait for the private to go scurrying along the hallway and then continue: "In additional, prepare one of the rifle platoons. I would like them to drive south and attempt to find the source of the power outage affecting the city."

"A whole platoon, sir? Isn't that the sort of thing that can be done by one or two bitches in a jeep?" Your face freezes in the middle of starting the next sentence.

"No", drifts into the front of your mind, "this cannot be done by 'one or two bitches in a jeep'". It could, if the Internal troops were assisting with a forest fire outside of St. Marmero, but not in unknown and, therefore, potentially hostile territory. Sending one or two men is asking to have them returned home in body bags. There is a reason here to send men out in force, a reason clearly escaping the company's lieutenant.

The short and wide man in front of you instantly senses his mistake - or what he perceives to be a mistake - "So sorry, sir. You know best. I am deeply sorry for speaking out of turn.

>>5986887

He looks up at you, a shred of apprehension leaking into his hitherto docile expression and small bored-looking eyes. He is wondering where he stands with you, Gennady? Clearly, he is used to speaking to his CO in a particular way and unsure how you will react. In short, he doesn't know if you are going to take this Gennady? Well, Genya, are you?


>The hell you are!! Authority flows in only one direction in the military: up to down. The idea of a subordinate talking back goes against the core ethos of military organization. You do not tolerate insubordination or 'advice' from inferior officers and that includes Senior Lieutenant Shcherbin

>You know what, you will 'take this'. Shcherbin may be wrong in this case, but a good commander takes advice and information from all quarters. You have seen senior officers who sit in their headquarters tents and issue orders without regard for the on-the-ground situation - you have even had the misfortune to serve under some of them - and it always ends in a lot more dead boys. This commander is not you, Gennady, you listen and that is what makes you effective.

>WRITE IN


This is a character-decision and determines the course of some of Gennady Lipstov's future interactions. In particular, this vote will make him more or less willing to tolerate unsolicited advice from his officers, which it turn will impact their willingness to speak their minds freely and to act without your prior approval. It will determine the model of military organization you are running. I will try to have another post up tomorrow so that the clearing operation does not last an extremely long time

>>5986889
>>You know what, you will 'take this'. Shcherbin may be wrong in this case, but a good commander takes advice and information from all quarters. You have seen senior officers who sit in their headquarters tents and issue orders without regard for the on-the-ground situation - you have even had the misfortune to serve under some of them - and it always ends in a lot more dead boys. This commander is not you, Gennady, you listen and that is what makes you effective

>>5986889
He's not exactly defiant, just still thinking like an IM. Needs a readjustment, and his focus should be the mission, not avoiding our displeasure.

Impress on him how alone we are. Messages can cross the old border no faster than mail, the populace has only ever known the old regime, and an entire army battalion is unaccounted for. We are all we have until proven otherwise, and we will act accordingly.

He is not in Antegria, and we are not Internal Ministry. He's free to say two bitches are enough again, but he'll do it with some tact.

>>5986889
>You know what, you will 'take this'. Shcherbin may be wrong in this case, but a good commander takes advice and information from all quarters. You have seen senior officers who sit in their headquarters tents and issue orders without regard for the on-the-ground situation - you have even had the misfortune to serve under some of them - and it always ends in a lot more dead boys. This commander is not you, Gennady, you listen and that is what makes you effective

>>5986889
>>You know what, you will 'take this'. Shcherbin may be wrong in this case, but a good commander takes advice and information from all quarters. You have seen senior officers who sit in their headquarters tents and issue orders without regard for the on-the-ground situation - you have even had the misfortune to serve under some of them - and it always ends in a lot more dead boys. This commander is not you, Gennady, you listen and that is what makes you effective.

>>5986912
>>5986996
>>5987029
>>5987438
Okay, I am closing this question and starting to write.

I know that I said I would make this quick, but then I write and I realize that there are more decisions to make that I feel you the players should have an input on. So there will soon be another question! On the plus side, that means updates are shorter and should come out maybe once a day

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>>5988172
Meeting the anxious gaze from the Senior Lieutenant’s small sharp eyes, you wave your hand in a gesture that dismisses all offense. “I always appreciate insights from my staff, Senior Lieutenant Shcherbin.” The tension dissipates. “The search platoon will be moving into unknown territory to the south and therefore exposed to unknown threats, accordingly any reconnaissance missions should be reconnaissance in force.”

Shcherbin bows his large head in agreement, “Yes sir, of course sir. I will have Platoon B readied to conduct the operation. Do you wish to speak to that platoon’s commander as well?” You think, yes, it would be good to know more of the staff; you communicate as such to Shcherbin, who promises to have both platoon B and V commanders meet you at the assembly area for the operation in front of the school.

“Anything else sir?” asks the senior lieutenant.

You press your lips firmly over your teeth to prevent any hint of a smile from showing, “Yes, Shcherbin, there is one more thing that comes to mind: these soldiers are not ‘bitches’, they are brave young men defending the Antegrian Patrimony. I expect you to avoid comments like that in the future, is that clear?”

The anxious look returns to Shcherbin’s face. He nods his affirmation. “Yes sir, perfectly clear, sir.” You both stand together in the hallway for a moment. Taking the initiative, you make it clear that, with that comment, the meeting is over. The Senior Lieutenant salutes again, then turns and briskly waddles back down the hallway, presumably towards the principal’s office.

For your own part, you walk back out to the front of the school, now the designated assembly area for the two operations you wish to run. You are not kept waiting long, within 10 minutes a man in his early thirties with a badly receding hairline is approaching your one-car convoy. He salutes and presents himself as Lieutenant Abel Bakriev, commander of Platoon B, 7th Glorian Internal Ministry Company.

Placing the man at ease, you outline the plan for the operation: “The objective is to locate, if possible, the power supply for the city and identify any possible damage or sabotage causing disruptions to that power supply.” You see the lieutenant nodding along. “Your platoon will proceed in force south down the main road.” It is helpful that, being without the aid of a map, you can simply point to the road right next to you. “You see the electrical line there?” You point to the wire running between two poles next to the road. Bakriev looks: “Follow that south, sir?”

“Yes, exactly, follow the line south and record any damage to it.” From your experience with Shcherbin’s comments and with Meliev, it is manifestly clear that this unit has not operated in a combat environment before; they are much too complacent about threats in a contested operational zone.

>>5988457
“Lieutenant Bakriev, I would like to remind you that the area you are entering should be considered hostile territory. I want you to keep your men close together, avoid having them separated by too great a distance, and when possible maintain radio silence.”

You judged right about the unit’s lack of combat experience. To an army soldier, this is standard operating procedure and doctrine, but Bakriev has received the orders like a death sentence; you can see the clamminess of his skin and hear a nervous tremble in his breathing. Underneath this coat of fear, however, you detect a resolve in his response and its tone: “Yes sir, I will do everything I can to protect my men and bring them home safely, sir.” His greenness aside, a commendable attitude for a military officer: “Good, see that you do Lieutenant Bakriev.”

“And sir,” The man’s nervousness is forcing itself into his speech again, “if we should encounter enemy fire, what…umm…dis-disposition..” He is clearly trying to come up with an appropriate military term, something that sounds better than ‘what do I do?’. You finish the thought for him with the direct language most suited to the military: “Are you asking what you are meant to do, Lieutenant?”

A fair question, Gennady. The Internal Ministry obviously has its own way of doing things and that way of doing things obviously doesn’t include teaching combat doctrine to its soldiers. Abel is now entering a different world and, sensing this, asking an appropriate and reasonable question. So, what *is* he meant to do?

>He is expected to stand his ground and fight! You don’t know how things are done in the Internal Ministry but in the Army you meet fire with fire. B Platoon is expected to live up to the standards of the Republic – Antegria ever victorious!

>He should retreat if he encounters armed resistance. This is a reconnaissance mission, not a combat offensive. You aren’t about to send a single unsupported and untested platoon into combat alone nor recreate that scenario by other means. If there is armed resistance to the south, you will create a new plan to deal with it.

>Leave it up to his own judgment. The best person to make decisions on-the-ground is the person on the ground, not some far-off superior. You won’t be there, Bakriev will, so Bakriev should make the decision.

>WRITE IN

>>5988458
On one hand, they're all we have, and proper aggression is not trained in a day. On the other, I'll be shocked if they find themselves outnumbered or outgunned. Panic and confusion are the real likely killers, so:

>To the extent of his training, swat the fly, flee the rabid dog. Above all else, he is to speak as firmly to his men as he did about their lives to you.

>>5988820
+1
Specifically personal discretion regarding engagements and cohesion, keep them safe, but they are still armed soldiers.

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For the most part, this isn’t really your decision to make. You have no knowledge about the area south of the town beyond that the highway you came on continues south towards the city of Lesrenadi – and that the front is somewhere north of that city. You don’t know what Abel will encounter on his reconnaissance in force and, without that precious on-the-ground knowledge, you can’t tell him the best decision. However, seeing how he has not seen combat before, you can give him a least a little general advice.

“The purpose of this operation, Lieutenant, is to conduct a reconnaissance of the territory south of Gordon City and determine the cause of the ongoing power outage. This operation is conducted in force precisely to prevent limited armed resistance from impeding successful completion of the mission; your men should be able to defend themselves and complete the assigned task. This is not, however, a combat mission and you have permission to retreat if you feel enemy resistance is too strong or unit cohesion is disintegrating.”

“And sir,” A confused and apprehensive expression remains on the lieutenant’s face, “if I make this judgment, do I radio for permission? Can Captain Hasanaliev grant permission?”

Ah, so it is this kind of unit. Not the first you have been it, so you see where he is coming from. It is surprising it took you this long to notice, Gennady, he is scared of being punished. Shifting blame is a crucial part of any military operation and Lieutenant Bakriev is fearful of having it weigh solely upon him. He doesn’t realize it yet, Genya, not like you do, how alone you are out here – the chain of command, at least for now, stops with you. So long as you do not find fault with the man, he will not be punished.

“Lieutenant, you have my full permission to retreat if you feel the situation requires that action. You do not need to radio for permission beforehand. I entrust the decision entirely to you, and” You attempt to allay his fear of post-combat retribution, “I will take personal responsibility for having given you that power. Does that make sense, lieutenant?”

“Yes sir.” The tension in the lieutenant’s face has been replaced by a faint shock, you can’t imagine that he has heard many commanders promise to take responsibility before. With that question answered, you dismiss Abel Bakriev, who jogs back to the high school to finish assembling his platoon.

>>5989923
Another five or ten minutes pass. Still no sign of Lieutenant Artyom Rashidov, the V Company commander. You hear the sound of diesel engines roaring to life somewhere behind the school. You turn your head to follow the sound as it heads south and see the truck emerge from behind the school and make its way along a dirt track south of the school to turn onto the road. However, instead of turning left and continuing south, as per your orders to B Platoon, to truck turns right and pulls over beside the school entrance. It comes to a juttering stop but does not switch the engine off.

The passenger-side door is pushed open and a dark-haired man with strong, sharp facial features steps down and salutes you: “Lieutenant Artyom Rashidov, sir! V Platoon is prepared to start the operation, sir!”

Hmmm… You had wanted Lieutenant Rashidov to come to you first so that, knowing the mission, he could equip the platoon appropriately. Now that they are here and assembled, however, there is no time to save by doing so; better just check that they have everything they need for an urban clearing operation.

“Lieutenant, I expected you to meet with me before the platoon was prepared.” You glance towards the idling truck containing V Platoon, “Are they prepared and equipped to conduct an urban clearing operation?”

The lieutenant nods and apologies for being late, “Sorry sir, we had to perform an equipment check and I need to personally be in attendance for that. I can assure you that the unit is equipped for an urban operation, sir.”

“Good. Are you familiar with the operational plan?”

“We are clearing the city police station, sir.”

“Yes, exactly. The main objective of the operation is securing the radio equipment inside the building, which appears to be on south side of the ground floor. Secondary objective is clearing the rest of the building to prepare it for future search and occupation.”

“Understood sir.”

>>5989924
You remove the key ring from your pocket and begin to offer it to the lieutenant, along with an explanation of its significance, when you stop, keyring still in your hand. You know, Gennady, you don’t actually need to give him the keyring. You’ll be there with him at the police station. Really, you don’t *need* Lieutenant Rashidov here at all. You could lead the operation yourself. The keys rest heavy in your hand. Like an ancient totem of authority, they will go to the operation’s commander: who will that be?


>Gennady Lipstov. You are going along, so you should conduct the operation. You probably have more experience than the entire platoon combined and besides, you are a man of action: how could you be so close to the fray and just sit it out?

>Artyom Rashidov. One of the major fringe benefits of this operation is meant to be seeing one of your units in action, something which will give you insight into its capabilities and leadership. Replacing the leadership means losing an opportunity to observe.

>WRITE IN

>>5989926
>Gennady Lipstov. You are going along, so you should conduct the operation. You probably have more experience than the entire platoon combined and besides, you are a man of action: how could you be so close to the fray and just sit it out?
Like you say, we have a lot of experience, both to be put to use and to share. It would be good to ingratiate ourselves a bit with our forces, though with so few speaking the local language we probably don't have to worry about defection much at any rate. Also it would help us to develop a bit of a reputation locally that it is not strange to see the local governor in the field so we can put our secret knowledge of understanding the language to more use.

>>5989926
>Artyom Rashidov

We may be highest authority, but it doesn't do to interfere with command except where there is clear fault in procedure or competence; even good people perform differently if they suspect their work will be taken out of their hands. Rashidov shows confidence, skipping out on briefing based only on what he heard from a runner and evidently not as hung up on permissions or danger as Bakriev. He clearly thinks he's got the goods, so let's see them.

>>5989926
>Artyom Rashidov.

Let's see just how bad Interior Ministry troops are.

>>5989926
>Artyom Rashidov.

>>5990861
>>5990591
>>5990531
>>5990067
Okay, I am closing this vote in favor of letting Artyom Rashidov lead the operation.

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You do extend your hand and plant the keyring in Rashidov’s outstretched palm; his hands are small for his size.

“We got lucky, these are the keys to the police station. But –“ you pause for emphasis here, “you are still to treat the precinct as an uncleared building with potential hostiles and traps. We don’t know what to expect from the occupiers.”

He fiddles with the dozen or so keys threaded on the large steel ring: “Any idea which one is… ummm… the one for the…”

“No, not yet. The fourth opens a maintenance shed at the rear of the building, accessible from the motor pool lot. There is an entrance to the building there too, in addition to the one on the street front.”

“Understood, sir. We’ll act as if the building is occupied until it is determined otherwise. And sir, on the drive there, should I take point?” You nod, letting the powerfully built truck lead your little convoy up the street. With that settled, he salutes again and, seeing as you have made no comment nor any attempt to stop him, walks back to the waiting truck and hops in the cab. You enter your own vehicle and, seeing that you are ready, the transport truck lurches forward with a plume of dark exhaust.

>>5991741
The roads are narrower here than in Antegria. The truck takes up more than half of the street and oncoming traffic is forced to come to a halt and cling to the street edge to let you pass. The truck driver seems to know the way better than Meliev and you reach the police station without issue. Taking a hard right turn, the driver positions the truck perpendicular to the street, blocking it off. The back panel of the truck swings down and a dozen men, half leaving in pairs and supporting a machine gun between them, jump out of the back.

You see Lieutenant Rashidov leave the truck’s cab and shout something at two men, who run past you and over to the other end of the street. You get out of your own jeep, as do Matsukov and Meliev. You see the two men from V platoon are standing in the street some distance from the precinct; when a car approaches, they point their rifles at it and menacingly wave it away.

Most of the men who left the truck, you count ten in front of you, have lined up in the street in front of the police building. Six of the men are hard at work setting up tripods and attaching ammo belts into three PK guns. The other four stand behind them, glancing between you, Rashidov, and their comrades working on the machine guns.

Once the guns have been assembled, the three of the soldiers slump themselves on the road and take aim at the building. The others who were assembling the guns squat next to them holding the feed belts. You watch from a safe distance, waiting for Rashidov’s call to approach the building. He cries out: “Ready?” The men on the ground repeat the order. Rashidov cries out: “Fire!”

The front of the police building explodes in a rain of gun fire and noise. Every window on the building’s front shatters and small clouds of dust shoot up from the façade as the bullets cut into the cement walls. After a couple of seconds, one of guns stops firing and the squatting man next to it fits in a new ammunition belt, all amid the din of the other two guns.

Your eyes are on the disaster in front of you, but your mind reminds focused on the slim single radio antenna emerging from the south side of the building. The antenna seemed to be from about midway through the police building, but without knowing the internal layout there is a real chance that it is exposed to the barrage being launched by the PK guns.

>>5991742

>Say something, Gennady! Stop them! The way in which V Platoon is conducting the assault is totally inappropriate to your objectives. They risk damaging the radio equipment you mean to acquire and, even if that were not the case, an approach like this risks injuring civilians when conducted in an urban area.

>Saying nothing and let the operation proceed. You aren’t happy about the way in which V Platoon is operating: it poses unnecessary risks to the radio equipment and, potentially, to civilians. But to intervene now would humiliate Lieutenant Rashidov in front of his men, which would hurt morale in both the unit and among the 7th Company generally.

>WRITE IN

Well, then. Probably the gentlest we can afford be about this is order Rashidov to call it off, compliment the men on a Stage 1 (tm) well done, something something establishing threat and presence. Have Rashidov assign the MGs to overwatch and give us two rifle squads, and make sure that his preparations included medics. We're taking care of the rest of the foreseeable mission.

Of course, do we want to be this gentle? It's certainly my inclination.

>>5991742
>say something, Gennady! Stop them! The way in which V Platoon is conducting the assault is totally inappropriate to your objectives. They risk damaging the radio equipment you mean to acquire and, even if that were not the case, an approach like this risks injuring civilians when conducted in an urban area.
Cease fire. Only fire when you come into contact or see the enemy

>>5991743
>>5992133
+1 also mention physically fragile mission priorities

>>5991743
>Saying nothing and let the operation proceed. You aren’t happy about the way in which V Platoon is operating: it poses unnecessary risks to the radio equipment and, potentially, to civilians. But to intervene now would humiliate Lieutenant Rashidov in front of his men, which would hurt morale in both the unit and among the 7th Company generally.
Mentally note Rashidov as useless.

>>5991743
>Say something, Gennady! Stop them! The way in which V Platoon is conducting the assault is totally inappropriate to your objectives. They risk damaging the radio equipment you mean to acquire and, even if that were not the case, an approach like this risks injuring civilians when conducted in an urban area.
Potentially damaging the radio is a big no-no, and we want this place intact for later use. We need to upbraid this soldier for engaging without seeing the enemy, lest we find ourselves in a boy who cried wolf scenario.

>>5991743
>>Say something, Gennady! Stop them! The way in which V Platoon is conducting the assault is totally inappropriate to your objectives. They risk damaging the radio equipment you mean to acquire and, even if that were not the case, an approach like this risks injuring civilians when conducted in an urban area.

The fault is ours for not clearly communicating our expectations, and ignoring the tools at our disposal.

We went into this expecting their performance to mirror army troops with which we are familiar, they simply are not the same.

We mustn't be harsh, but we must correct the action and establish expectations.

>>5991758 me

>>5994511
Backing this, as it's my rationale.

>3 votes for Rashidev
>6 votes for damage control
you should have listened

>>5991758
>>5992133
>>5992234
>>5992387
>>5992827
>>5994511
>>5994939
>>5994978
Okay, I am closing this in favor of order them to stop firing immediately, even if it means we have to take control from Rashidov right at the start of the operations.

I have had more work than I expected, but I hope to get something up here on Monday -- I will also post in the general thread

>>5995229
Looking forward to it!

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“Halt! HALT! Cease fire! Cease fire!” Gradually, over the pounding rhythm of the automatic guns, two of the teams hear you and obey. One of the guns is still going. “I said cease fire, damn it!” You have to grab the assistant machine gunner and shout near directly in his ear before it too is silenced.

Covered by a dull ringing in your ears, the town seems totally mute – a quiet scene in which all eyes in the platoon are focused on you. You are focused on Rashidov, filled with a penetrating sense of disappointment that all of the barracks jokes and gossip about the Internal Ministry seems to be coming true. He looks as confused as the rest of them, tinged with some other emotion, fear perhaps, or irritation. At any rate, you cannot parlay with Lieutenant Rashidov now, not with the eyes of the whole platoon on you. Unless you are willing to find a replacement and deal with the resultant fallout, Rashidov is the V Platoon commander and you need his troops to follow his authority. Your mind races for a way to redirect the attention and move on: “Prepare for an assault, we’re storming the building!” Some of the men look at Rashidov, some start to move but then see their immobile comrades and stop again. You too look at Rashidov. He meets your gaze and his eyes widen; he joins in: “You heard the Lieutenant Colonel, move! Don’t stand there, move!” He walks along the line of men, now hustling to-and-fro in some planned formation, pushing on their backs to move them along faster.

As Lieutenant Rashidov reaches your side of the formation, you walk up and pull him brusquely aside: “That barrage could have damaged the radio equipment,” you snarl in a tight-lipped whisper, “Starting now, I’m taking over the rest of the operation.” The flesh is taught over his angular and chiseled features when he looks at you again, he gives a curt nod and a quiet “yes, sir.”

Your first thought is you shouldn’t have trusted him, but your second is that it is better you did; now that you have seen him in the field, you know not to trust him in the field. The ringing in your ears has lessened gradually, you can now make out the sound of a child crying somewhere north of your position, frightened by the gunfire.

>>5996917
The men of V Platoon have reformed now: six remain squatting or laying down by the machine guns, although the assistants now have their automatic rifles in their hands; two men are still guarding the south side of the road, although traffic has stopped entirely since the gunfire; another four men are in a square, one of them holding a metal battering ram. This won’t do at all for a clearing operation. You doubt anyone left inside is alive, but even so – only four men to clear a building! And, you look at their uniforms, all privates to boot! You start with the machine gunners: “Get up soldiers. Get up.” They have a dreamy confused look in their eyes, only one starts to move, “I said ‘get up’!” They all stand to attention now, still exchanging worried glances, like frightened school boys, “Return the PK guns to the truck, I want you inside that building with the rest of the platoon. Now go, GO!” The men are back in their element packing up the PK guns at least, moving with speed and practiced ease. The last thing you need clearing a building is machine guns facing your own position.

Moving back to the south end of the street, you point at Rashidov, who is standing on the sidelines of the operation now: “Lieutenant, I want you next to me. We’ll be going in first” You also gesture at Matsukov and Meliev, “you too, join the formation.” The driver; you remember the other driver, the one for the Internal Ministry truck. Pulling open the passenger’s side door, you encounter a squat man with a thick neck, one private L. Cheskin, he too is to ready himself to enter the police building.

You do a light jog back to the column in front of the building, which, still two wide, has grown from a square into a respectable line of fifteen soldiers, counting yourself. Your instinct is to divide the column to breach all entrances at the same time, but, with an untried unit that has already shown itself too trigger happy, this does raise the risk of friendly fire.

>>5996918
Is it worth dividing the column? How do you want to dispose your men?
>There are *TWO* choices here. Please cast one vote in each choice

CHOICE 1
>Don’t divide the column, although you might want to leave a few more outside. After a machine gun barrage, it is likely anyone not hiding behind a metal door or desk is dead or dying, so there shouldn’t be any resistance anyway. In other words, you don’t need to worry about both doors

>Standard practices exist for a reason and you deviate from them at your own risk. Even if everyone in the building should be dead, send a squad around the back to cover the other egress. And trust that your first day will not include a friendly fire incident

>You do want to have all your bases covered, the thought of an unguarded back door that you could have accessed during a clearing operation just doesn’t sit right in the pit of your stomach, but after their earlier performance you don’t want these men bumping into each other or you in a dark room. Split the platoon in two, but have the other men guard one of the doors from the outside of the building.

>WRITE IN


CHOICE 2 [This is a choice of which door Gennady will enter, which may also be the only door being entered]

>Go in the front door. This is the part of the building most severely impacted by the gunfire, so it should have the least surprises and the most damage.

>Go in the back door. People never expect the back door, Gennady. It also happened to be further on the south side of the building, meaning it is potentially closer to the location of the radio.

>WRITE IN

>>5996919
>You do want to have all your bases covered, the thought of an unguarded back door that you could have accessed during a clearing operation just doesn’t sit right in the pit of your stomach, but after their earlier performance you don’t want these men bumping into each other or you in a dark room. Split the platoon in two, but have the other men guard one of the doors from the outside of the building.

>Go in the front door. This is the part of the building most severely impacted by the gunfire, so it should have the least surprises and the most damage.

Keep an eye on the privates

>>5996919
>>Don’t divide the column, although you might want to leave a few more outside. After a machine gun barrage, it is likely anyone not hiding behind a metal door or desk is dead or dying, so there shouldn’t be any resistance anyway. In other words, you don’t need to worry about both doors

>>Go in the back door. People never expect the back door, Gennady. It also happened to be further on the south side of the building, meaning it is potentially closer to the location of the radio.

And use the damn keys.

>>5996919
>Don’t divide the column, although you might want to leave a few more outside. After a machine gun barrage, it is likely anyone not hiding behind a metal door or desk is dead or dying, so there shouldn’t be any resistance anyway. In other words, you don’t need to worry about both doors

>Go in the front door. This is the part of the building most severely impacted by the gunfire, so it should have the least surprises and the most damage.

Best to keep potential blue on blue to a minimum.

>>5996944
>>5997528
>>5998083

Okay, I am calling the vote in favor of:
>>Don’t divide the column, although you might want to leave a few more outside. After a machine gun barrage, it is likely anyone not hiding behind a metal door or desk is dead or dying, so there shouldn’t be any resistance anyway. In other words, you don’t need to worry about both doors

AND

>Go in the front door. This is the part of the building most severely impacted by the gunfire, so it should have the least surprises and the most damage.

And yes, we will be using the keys
Expect an update sometime tomorrow

File: Gordon Police Station 1st(...).png (99 KB, 615x456)

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You survey the bullet holes studding the exterior of the building and the broken glass of the windows behind their iron bars. If there was an ambush waiting for you – and it seems unlikely that there was – it cannot have survived the earlier salvo. Accordingly, as much as it goes against standard doctrine, there really is no reason to place a guard on the back door. Walking the line of soldiers, you tap three of the men, two of them corporals, and direct them to remain outside and assist in cordoning off the area. You then grab Rashidov out of the formation and take him with you to the front of the line, where you slide in alongside him as the second pair of soldiers in the column; the private with the battering ram is in front.

“We approach by the front entrance!” You shout loud enough for the whole column to hear you. “First six with me! The rest of the group should stay a few meters behind!” You look behind you and see a slow backward shuffle in the rear of the column. You are grasping your service pistol in your hands, but it feels wrong: “Lieutenant Rashidov, do you have an additional rifle in your truck?” Rather than answer, Rashidov passes an order along to the man behind him, who leaves the column to run to the truck and returns shortly afterward with an AK-74, which he hands to Lieutenant Rashidov, who hands it to you. Your hands feel the familiar wood and gunmetal and find their proper places; the weight feels natural in your arms. Now you are ready, Gennady.

“First three rows advance with me!” Led by the battering ram team, you, Rashidov, Matsukov, and three privates approach the front door of the police station. You order a halt when you reach the door and fish in your pocket for the keys. Moving ahead of the soldiers, you try each key on the large ring, but not only do none of them fit, none ever manage to fully insert; they all get stuck around half way down the blade. Noticing a large bullet hole near the handle, you eventually just try the door, which pulls open after only slight resistance, the lock probably shot to pieces.

Retaking your second-line position in the group, you allow the first line to open the door and enter the police station. This first room has a white-tiled floor now covered with glass shards. The walls are a cratered mess, as is a partially-destroyed wooden desk at the rear of the room. “Antegria Police” is painted in bold lettering on the back wall. On the right side of the back wall is a metal door covered with dents from the barrage. Making your way to this new door, you glance over at the destroyed desk, but see only scattered paper, a broken mug, and multi-line phone with two holes punched through its receiver. At the second door, you again fiddle with the keyring, but this time find success, as the first key twists in the lock and gives you access to an unlit and nearly pitch black corridor.

>>6000082
As you cross into the darkened corridor, you call back for the next group to follow but maintain distance. You see the front of the next column enter the front room as you walk into the corridor. It terminates in a T-fork. You instruct the private with the ram to head right and you reach for the keys again, but the door is unlocked. It opens onto the view of a carpeted staircase heading up to the second floor and a metal door at the bottom landing. The room is large and filled with desks and filing cabinets. Its floor is not carpeted, although the tiles are now covered by glass shards, wood splinters, dust, and paper debris. There are three doors on the south wall, the right-most is metal and the other two are wooden.

You recall the radio antenna sticking out from a window in the middle of the building, so it should be behind one of the two wooden doors. You pick the one closest to the stairs and find it also unlocked. It leads down a narrow hallway covered with framed pictures of Antegrian policemen, most from decades back. At the end of the hall, on the left side, is another wooden door, locked, but, after several attempts, opened by the keyring. A quick scan of the room reveals a window, but in the wrong wall. An intact window is placed high in the back wall, without a view of the motor pool, but there are none in the right wall facing the alley. What the room does have is a large wooden desk with several phones, as well as a few filing cabinets and potted plants against the walls. Most of the floor is covered by a large carpet.

“It isn’t here,” You tell the men around you, “we go out and move to the next room down.” You stand aside as the column inverts itself and, passing between you, the soldier holding the battering ram takes lead again. When you enter the large room with the desks, you see the other column. Holding up your hand to signal their attention, you call out: “Take the other door at the fork! Clear the ground floor then take positions at the base of the stairs!” There is a chorus of ‘yessir’s in response.

The other wooden door is also locked but, again, its matching key is on the ring. This office is much smaller and mostly occupied by two desks that have been pushed together. Across both desks are six phones, basic office supplies, and binders full of paper. And, at the far edge of the desk, is a bulky radio transmitter with its antenna snaking out of a window in the south wall. Advancing past the soldiers, you crouch to unplug the unit from the wall. “Clear the area; I need some room.” The other members of the column back out as you grab the cumbersome piece of machinery and carefully maneuver it backwards so that the flexible antenna is allowed to slide inside without warping or breaking.

>>6000084
Mission accomplished, Colonel Liptsov! You have secured the radio from inside the police station. Of course, your technical knowledge in this field is still lacking and you will need to consult again with Specialist Officer Kolovokov to determine if this police radio is capable of contacting the 216th Battalion. The question now is how urgent of a priority this is: do you need to leave now, before the raid is concluded?

> You don’t have to leave now, Gennady, but you also don’t have any good reason to stay. The radio has been secured, which is what you came to do. Mission accomplished! Time to pull everyone out and return to the high school.

>You don’t have to leave now, Gennady, but you also don’t have any good reason to stay. The radio has been secured, which is what you came to do. You and your entourage will return to Company HQ and leave Rashidov in charge of finishing the raid and occupying the building.

> You don’t have to leave now, Gennady, but you also don’t have any good reason to stay. The radio has been secured, which is what you came to do. You and your entourage will return to Company HQ and leave Rashidov in charge of finishing the raid; he can return to HQ once the building has been cleared.

>Yes the *primary* mission objective has been accomplished, but without any pressing time concern there is no reason to leave while the operation is still in full swing. You should see the operation through to its conclusion and remain here to direct both the clearing operation and the subsequent search and occupation.

> Yes the *primary* mission objective has been accomplished, but without any pressing time concern there is no reason to leave now. Stay to finish directing the clearing operation. Then you can pass things back to Rashidov to set up an occupation force.

> Yes the *primary* mission objective has been accomplished, but without any pressing time concern there is no reason to leave now. Stay to finish directing the clearing operation. Once you are sure the police station is host to no stay-behind partisans, you can end the operation and lead the troops back to Company HQ.

>WRITE IN

>>6000087
>> Yes the *primary* mission objective has been accomplished, but without any pressing time concern there is no reason to leave now. Stay to finish directing the clearing operation. Once you are sure the police station is host to no stay-behind partisans, you can end the operation and lead the troops back to Company HQ.
Bit of an embarrasment for the ministry troops, but oh well. We at least know they won't be any good in a fight. Probably not much better as an occupation force either. Clear the station, which is probably empty, then head home.

>>6000084
>>6000082
Two mistakes here, FYI. The sign in the front lobby says "Republia Police" and the photos in the hallway are of Republian police officials.

>>6000087
>Yes the *primary* mission objective has been accomplished, but without any pressing time concern there is no reason to leave now. Stay to finish directing the clearing operation. Then you can pass things back to Rashidov to set up an occupation force.
Still need to meet the Captain to get his report.

>>6000120
>>6000451
Okay, I will start writing now. We are definitely staying here to run the clearing operation. If the tie is not broken by the time I post the update, I will flip a coin to determine whether we leave Rashidov behind to set up an occupation

>>6002378
I am sorry, I still have not had time to write this. I have a lot of work this weekend. I do not know when I will have the time.

I start a new job with normal hours in July, I may have to break this off and continue then

>>6008710
Sure, that's fine. It's a neat quest, don't push yourself and burn out.

>>6008710
It's ok OP, I hope you get a break sometime soon.