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Campaign:Gamma Company
Adventure:Behind Enemy Lines
Send To:Cal, Erict, Mack, Marko, Peter, Rock, Shooter
Turn Start Date (ex. 12/31/6565)11/08/6569
Turn Number:4.6
Combat Turn:
Subject:Night at the Warning Barrier
The small hill that Rock used to carve out a small cave is adequate for the evening. It sits among other, smaller hills and mounds, with occasional bushes and stands of trees in otherwise grassy terrain. As usual, lookouts are posted.

And so it is, that about two hours after Rock has made the cave, and most of the group are inside discussing their next move, that one of the lookouts sees an aircraft in the distance. Quickly the group takes cover.

The aircraft is an Aerospace Fighter. It is flying directly above the warning barrer at an altitude of about 2000 meters. It sweeps in from the east and disappears to the west.

Several minutes later, the aircraft reappears from the west and then disappears to the east. It seems fairly likely that the aircraft, which was obviously Maginite, was patrolling the Warning Barrier.

Twice more during the night, a Maginite aircraft flies overhead. At no time does it seem to sense the presence of the group hiding in a mound of dirt some 10 kilometers to the north of the barrier.

The duration between the first overfly and the second was four and a half hours. The third overfly came three hours and fifteen minutes later at about 01:45 in the morning.

It is now dawn and no aircraft have been seen since the third overflight. The morning is damp and cool with overcast skies and a thick fog blanketing the land. Sometimes the fog is very thick, cutting vision down to just a few meters. Other times it opens up and allows vision to about 30 meters.

GM: The fog has no effect on Spatial Awareness.

ERICT: Ordinarily I might suggest that this would be an ideal time to scout forward and find a closer staging area, but it is likely those aircraft have radar, which is probably similarly unaffected. We might still try to get down to the 1km distance, but listening (and watching, for those of us unaffected by the fog) carefully for more aircraft. It seems they patrol every 3-5 hours, somewhat randomly... If any one person is good to have on point scouting besides myself, I would be able to teleport us both almost 200m away from the wall at the slightest sign of trouble. I just can't do it for more than 2 of us in a single trip. Perhaps Shooter? He seems the most perceptive that I've seen... Otherwise Rock with his Earth Sense to hopefully help me spot underground sensors, as well as scout out the placement of our forward staging area "camp".

PETER: "In some ways the fog hurts us more than it does them. As you say, they almost certainly have radar, while aside from you, we're blinded by the fog. But we're not totally out of the fight. I've been practicing over the last few months and I think my illusions can trick their radar - though we won't know until the rubber hits the road. That means that we can take a small group of two or three of us out and have a reasonable chance of keeping hidden. I could make myself and one or two others look like local animals - best if we use the deer they have. I've sen them travel in smmall groups. There's also Rock in his mud form. That should be fairly inconspicuous as well."

PETER: "My thought is to make staging grounds every few kilometers. We should be able to move up in short stages - say about two hours at a time - and thus avoid the overflies. Once we're close to the Barrier, the ground should be solid enough for Rock to dig under it. Or we could have Eritc jump through it if necessary. But first, let's get there. What I propose is to have me, Erict, Rock, and maybe one or two others, go ahead to set up some closer hidey holes. We need my illusions, Erict's senses, and Rock's ability to craft earth. Anyone else who thinks they have something valuable to add to a scouting mission should speak up now.

PETER (OOC): Peter won't assign Cal to any further scouting duties until he gets a response to his question about the effectiveness of Cal's invisibility against radar.

GM: Cal is not invisible to Radar

PETER (GM): I am assuming that there are wild animals along the land bridge, including largish ones. Please let me know if this assumption is mistaken and I'll restate my plans. If the land bridge is curiously devoid of fauna, I'll have to rethink things.

GM: Yes, that is a safe assumption

ROCK (GM): In general do aircraft have radar capable of finding human sized targets on the ground. In today's technology that is not possible but I'm not going to assume that's the case here. What do we know of that?

GM: Yes, modern imperial and zhodani aircraft do have radar that is sophisticated enough to find human targets on the ground.

ROCK (GM): How tall is the vegetation in the area? Is there much cover to use while moving?

GM: There is enough vegetation to cover your movement most of the time. There are stands of trees, tall grasses, mounds of earth, etc.

ROCK: Rock supports the concept of slowly moving the group ahead a kilometer at a time. It only takes a few seconds to shape a shelter so that's a non issue. There's also no rush. If we spend two days getting over the barrier that's fine in Rock's opinion.

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The group takes their time in moving up to the barrier. Peter, Erict and Rock form the advance team that scouts ahead and fashions out a new shelter to allow everyone else to come up. Meanwhile, the overflights continue. Over the course of the next three days, there are 23 overflights. However, by proceeding cautiously and using the terrain to your advantage, you are never caught out in the open during an overflight.

Three days later, you have advanced to within half a kilometer of the barrier. Your current shelter is in a small mound within a large stand of trees. By this time, Erict has ascertained that the barrier is 40 meters thick and seems solid. Rock is not able to sense through it, indicating that it is made of a composite material. Although the barrier has a foreboding look to it, it does not seem dangerous. You have spotted bird nests in some of the nooks and crannies of the barrier.

The barrier itself is not a simple wall. It is a strange mishmash of stone blocks, spikes, columns, ridges that look to be the result of an architect gone mad. In any language, the barrier seems to be saying "Danger" and that was no doubt the intent of the structure. The architecture of the barrier prevents it from being a true barrier because a determined person, with only a little bit of skill in climbing, would not find it much of a challenge to cross.

GM: Let me know how you want to get past the barrier. You could attempt to tunnel under it, you could attempt to have Erict teleport everyone past it, or you could simply climb over it.

ERICT (GM): Let me know what, if anything, I have sensed beyond the barrier now that we are closer, and the details of the top of the barrier, etc. Can I sense a nice convenient niche right near the top but not exposed out on the top of the barrier itself? What of a nice secluded spot with some concealment beyond the barrier for a potential teleport target zone?

TECH: PER roll 15- (+2 vs range), [rolled 8] for beyond the barrier.
TECH: PER roll 15- (+2 vs range), [rolled 9] for the nearby upper reaches of the barrier itself looking for niches and such.

GM: Yes, you are able to find a place of concealment on the other side of the barrier as well as on the top of the barrier. There is no guarantee that either will completely conceal you from an overflight, but there is certainly a chance of it. The place of concealment on the far side of the barrier is a copse of trees large enough to cover the group. In fact, you can find a few different places that would conceal the group.

ERICT: (reported to LT in semi-private (military only)): "LT, I can sense the upper reaches of the wall, and even beyond the wall, pretty well, there is one place in particular near the top of the barrier that I think would serve well as concealment from casual observation, in case we wanted people up there to take a good look around. Beyond the wall I can sense several such places that would make very good concealment, copses of trees and such, I should be able to reach it with a Far Move without a problem, assuming the wall doesn't block such movement somehow. Now we both know that I can't do that dozens of times in a row without a rest break, but I should certainly be able to handle it if we go across piecemeal. I have not sensed anything dangerous or hostile that does not belong there, but at this range I can be certain of nothing.

ERICT: The carts are another problem though, I can't take much non-living mass with me when I use that Far Move, we will either have to disassemble them, or take them up and over the wall. Given its height, I can't reach the top with much mass either, unless I try multiple teleports, which adds to the chance of an accident.

ROCK (GM): How's the ground water content? If I tunnel will it start filling with water? My guess is that Rock can easily see where the water table is and if the ground is saturated with water.

GM: Very good question. Since Rock's N-Ray vision does not let him see through the barrier, it makes it easy to follow it down into the ground. It is built on a deep foundation that extends about 30 meters into the ground, which is below the water table. Thus, if Rock is not able to tunnel through the barrier, then that means tunneling is pretty much out.

ROCK: Rock reports that the barrier extends 30 meters beneath the surface and below the water table. Furthermore, the barrier is made of a composite material, which he is unable to tunnel and see through. Rock explains that he can easily climb the structure if necessary though.

SHOOTER: "Sir," Shooter says to the lieutenant, "maybe a couple of us could climb to the top to see what we can see?" (TECH: Climbing 14-, +9 vs. Range for Normal Sight).

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CLIMBING THE BARRIER: The barrier is not a particularly difficult thing to climb. Anyone with Climbing skill or a familiarity with Climbing gets a +2 to their roll to climb the barrier. Someone without any climbing skill can climb it on an 8 or less. A total of 5 successful rolls are required to reach the top (making a roll by 5 or more counts as 2 successful rolls). If you fail your roll by 4 or less, then you failed to make any progress and can continue rolling. If you fail your roll by 5 or more, you fall.

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PETER: "If we can't go under it, I think our best bet is to teleport past the Barrier. Not everyone is suited to that big a climb. To that end, I think we need to first get a bolt hole as close to the barrier as we can [OOC: 500m might be as close as we get, so maybe we're at it] and use that as our forward staging point. The first two to go through are Erict and Rock, and first thing Rock sets up a new bolt hole in the best spot possible. Then we shuttle people and equipment through as best we can given Erict's abilities. I'll stay on this side and Rock will stay on the other to serve as escorts between the Barrier and the respective bolt holes. As best I can figure we're the only two who could quickly hide three people - me with my illusions, Rock by quickly moving a shallow pile of dirt over them. We'll try and time things to avoid the fly-overs, but it never hurts to be careful. I'd also like to move some of the military types over first since we have no idea how safe the other side of the Barrier is. We can take as long as we need for this. If we need a couple of days to do it safely, so be it."

PETER: "That having been said, there's also some merit to Erict and the sergeant's suggestion of scouting out the top of the Barrier. If nothing else, it'll be the best view of the area we're ever likely to get, and might help us better plan our route. The sergeant is our best long-range scout, so he should definitely go. Once again, I'd be able to provide the best cover if I we had a suprise fly-over, and I have the map skills to make sense of what I see. Unfortunately, we don't do much climbing in the Navy, so I'm not that skilled at it. [OOC: just a familiarity] Other good people would be Erict, who could teleport up and down, and Cartographer Caerlina, who also has the skills to use her observations to help plan our path."

ERICT: "I don't serve much purpose at the top, but I will be happy to Far Move up there to that niche I sensed, with or without someone else who can't climb as easily, and secure a rope to assist the climbers.

PETER: "My final concern is with the larger equipment - mostly the carts. Will you have the strength to teleport them, Erict? If not, we'll have to either disassemble them or haul them up and down the Barrier."

ERICT: "Thankfully since we put them together we can take them apart and do it again, or at worst we can just make new ones once we're sure we're well past the barrier. I'm sorry I can't handle the distance and the mass at the same time.

PETER: "Any thoughts on that plan?"

SHOOTER: Shooter nods in agreement with the plan. "If Erict can teleport both of us to the top now, then I can take a good look and can keep watch from up there. It looks like there are plenty of places to hide if a plane does fly over."

ROCK: Rock agrees with an initial scan from the top. After that we should verify that Erict can get across to the other side with his teleportation. If that works, then we should use it. If the only viable option is to climb then we should go in groups. Assuming the barrier doesn't have some ability to keep Rock from sticking to it, Rock is happy to carry a person and gear while he climbs the structure. The groups should be comprised of our best climbers and those that can't climb so they can be helped. Using tethered ropes should help the weaker climbers a lot.

PETER: Well, then, if there are no objections from Insecki, how about we have Rock and Shooter climb up and Erict teleport up with Peter. I'd prefer a scouting team of three, but with only four active players it seems a shame to leave one of them out of the fun. If we keep Rock, Shooter, and Erict close enough to each other [TECH: within the same hex], Peter can cover them with an illusion at need. He can take care of himself separately. In fact, it would probably be best if he put up the illusions as soon as everyone got to the top. The observation planes can come in pretty fast, and we'd hate to get caught by surprise.

ROCK: Rock is good with Peter's plan.

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ERICT: Have we been able to sense any Burrowers during all this time and overflies and such? Base PER 15- (+2 vs range) [rolled 10].

GM: You have not senses any burrowers.
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