The Longest Night (Act 3 - Bear)

The house vibrates for a moment as the soldiers check through it, then a crack of plaster, wood and brick can be heard as a T-72 passing to close to the front of the house clips it, it's mighty bulk crushing its way through the houses porch and front wall. The powerful vehicle strains for a moment, then its tracks find grip and continues to tear itself out of the building headed south towards the silos and as it pulls away the house audibly creaks as the planks try and hold up the two story house from fall into the eastern side over the gap left by the tank. For a little while the house creaks and shivers violently, but remains standing defiantly its timber obviously straining against the weight pressing down on its now unsupported front, after the initial shock the soldiers inside release their grip on the walls and push back standing again.

The tank continues to roll south, its turret rotating as it views the length of the railway track now a mere ten meters from the house, its terrible rumbling causing the house to continue to shift somewhat.

Bear gives a short whistle, not too loud, and speaks in lowered tones.
"Grab what gear you have found, this place is gonna come down on us if we stay 'ere. Hustle men - lets move!!"

He begins to gather his gear and slowly shoulder it, in obvious pain.

Outside the rumble of the tank is still noticeable as it continues its path south, Dyke pulls open the backdoor from the room with the stairs and slowly checks outside, looking around he gives a slight nod. "Clear, besides that tank, it's checking out what happened to the silos though I bet."

Nodding to Dyke, Bears regroups with him. " Got any eyes on any of our men or the frogs? Sounds like there still be some fightin' out dere, we need tah make a beelin for those woods .. though tha' damn tank be a problem."
He looks to the LAW carrying ranger. "You any good with that thing?"

Private Gallows gives a affirming nod, "Although Sir, if I was going to shoot, it better be soon before it gets further away. Usually takes a few shots to kill one, but one usually stops them from moving."

Dyke kicks his boot on a dead Russian soldier beside the back door. "We killed what? A platoon? Two?, got to be more if they got so many tanks on the go." He glances north at the massive hulk of the damaged T-72 just meters from the house obviously driving past when it was taken out.

Bear shakes his head quickly. "Not plannin on tacklin' tha' if we don't have to. That LAW is an 'in-caser'. I was just 'opin' ya knew how ta use it. We're in no position to tackle much at the moment." As he says this he looks over his own bloodied bandages, Millers bandaged shoulder, and the various other wounds visible on the small squad of men. "gather yer gear boys, as soon a we get a clear run at it, we need tah 'off it from cover to cover and get outta this shit fore the rest o' tha' Russkies get 'ere. We bloodied 'em well and good ". he looks around at the scattered dead, his gaze lingering on the many dead allied soldiers in the mix ; "But they took our own fair share of a lick too it looks. Saddle up boys, as soon as we can, we are outta 'ere."

Rain pours down upon the soldiers parka's as they step outside. Fires burn around the shed, silo and over the field. Bodies both Russian and allied lay meters apart covered in muck, their last moments evident upon their features. The group keeps tight as they move, the tank roaring in through the ruins of the silo mere forty or fifty meters south, somewhere south more gunfire can be heard as a armored vehicle with headlights some eight hundred meters away engages troops in the forest with muzzle flashes of supporting Russian troops.

The group keeps low and moves carefully, private Miller breaks the silence as the group meets the raised group that the tracks run along for the railway; "You know I got asked why I signed up for the Rangers back in the states, why you wanna be a hero they asked. Why fight some war that's got nothing to do with you." He bites down on his lip as he glances over those others with him. "It's a fine line between wrong and right we walk hey?"

Beyond the BTR-80 continues to exchange fire with the other group at the tree line, the muzzle flashes from the supporting Russian unit can be seen as well. Somewhere off to the left four men walk towards the woods mere three hundred meters away with a fourth supported between two shoulders. The rumble of the third and even a fourth tank can be felt more then heard as the T-72's hunt the night like predators.

Miller sighs, "Well I'm coming home now, I reckon we can win and we can fight."

Bear looks to Miller a moment, obviously deep in thought, before shaking his head slighlty and responding. "Aye, many things I've done in mah time 'ave made me wonder ... but I'm a soldier, its my duty to do this shit and not secondguess myself. Lets stow this shit, and get our arse into those woods alive. Least we know some of our men made it." He looks around at the scene of carnage. "Looks like the BTR's attention is elsewhere, we just need tah get into those woods fore them tanks decide tah turn up. Lets go!! No one falls!" with that he begins the careful hunkering run towards the woods, dodging from whatever cover is available and keeping a close eye to make sure they arent seen.

As the group moves to the forest, they do not seem to encounter much resistance, dodging the attention of several Russian squads of men on the prowl for fleeing allies, the path is mostly clearly. From behind them they hear the oddest thing, the tanks stopped driving, one of their large caliber MG's fires for a moment then an enormous explosion follows soon after. As soon as the men push past the first thirty meters the forest becomes so dense that they can barely see between two and ten feet in some patches.

Bear and his small group of men pause for a moment to regroup. "Lets head back to the treeline an' watch for a bit, might be some of our boys we can help or regroup wid. We won't see shit in 'ere if we don't. Let's stay down n quiet unless anyone needs help, but I say lets see if we can regroup wid that other unit we saw draggin' tha' wounded tropp wid em. Lets go"

As Bear and his rangers approach the forest line once more, he sights a small group of allied soldiers, a pair of paratroopers from the 16, a pair of 5th division Infantry - Pilks and Vance and a Guns. The 5th division boys and Guns look worse for wear their uniforms covered in blood, muck and filth and one of the paratroopers has suffered a gunshot wound at one stage. Although conscious Guns barely able to stand and even Sergeant Sanchez has suffered a nasty wound on his right arm, the blood trickling off it in a steady flow.

Private Dickens of the 16 Air Assault Brigade, the wounded paratrooper moves to greet Bear once the groups meet up. "Orders from the Captain, set up a few hundred meters into the forest with sentries up in a concealed position. Password is Charlie Oscar Oscar Papa - Challenge everyone moving into the location, I need to get back to the Captain but Raker here will stay with this team. Can the Captain count on you?" He motions to the other Paratrooper "Raker" who carries his L85 over his back and two steel brief cases in both his hands.