Red Winter IC

[darktimes]

it was cold, but that is to be expected from the Russian winter. the flat, empty land they're driving through gave off a feeling of loneliness, of desolation, a few black trees stand out of the monotony of the white snow. through the viewing slits in his command cupola Werner could see clouds coming from the east. they were black and heavy, almost touching the ground. things don't start well, thought Werner, as he musters the storm coming from the north, where they are driving towards. barely twenty minutes of scouting and bad weather is coming. they were at the first checkpoint. a old farmhouse, abandoned as the inhabitants seeked refuge in the bigger cities. Werner let himself sink into the commander seat situated below the cupola. the main 75mm cannon right in front of him, to the cannons left sat Jakob, the Tanks gunner, and to the right Heinz, our loader.
Werner can't say really much about Heinz, he's the new guy, barely out of his teens, shy, doesn't drink or smoke. kind of characterless.
the only noise was the humming of the engine and the rattle of the treads.
"stop. chrrrrrmhh... STOP."
he had to clear his throat after the long time of no speaking. his voice had to carry over the sound of the engine all the way down to the Tanks driver, Dominik. Werners voice wasn't a gentle thing, it was rough, hard, and smoky after years of smoking fags. however, you would be surprised how loud he can speak in the heat of battle, over the sounds of blasting MG salvos, thunder of heavy Cannon fire, the roaring of the engine, the screams of dying men...

"turn around. there's nothing here."

====


the truck was about to get stuck. it began to snow over the already deep layer of white, and the old ZiS-5 truck's wheels already had a hard time. two lucky Russian soldiers were in front, in the warm and dry drivers cabin. one misfortunate soldier however has to ride on the back, and while the layer of plastic wool stretched over the compartment held off the wind, it did not so with the biting cold.
however, all three are misfortunate. while their comrades can stay in the warmth of the bunker, drinking and chatting, they were chosen to investigate a possible german position, based on intercepted german radio chatter.
a heavy winter storm is approaching from the left, to the north, and after grinding up a hill slope, you could see a farm house in the far distance, right in the direction where they are driving. (the tank is behind the farmhouse)

((if anyone got a map, please send me one!!))

[the red soldier]

Akilina

The truck advanced slowly as it rocked back and forth, the poor soldier in the back couldn't help but swear for every bump the truck hit as he, or she, covered itself with much of everything that could be found. "Why am I always stuck in the back?" You couldn't see any features of the being as heavy clothing and a mask covered much of the distinguishing features. "Good thing I took this pilot mask from that wreckage a few months back. Great Stalin Wouldn't have given me one..." The truck began to grind to a halt as grinded up a hill slope, the figure started banging in the back of the truck. "Whats the hold up?!"

[Doom114]

Without directly responding to the command, Dom pulls one lever while pushing the other, giving the tank some gas, spinning it 90' to the right, away from the farmhouse. "Heading, Commander?" he shouts over the engines. He begins the tank rolling away from the farmhouse, down the side of the hill, waiting for the Commander's response, hoping they could head back to base sometime soon, Dom was beginning to cramp. He feels the tank slip on some slushy mud and slowed them down to a crawl.

[Jigajig]

Dmitrii sighed. He glanced behind him at the figure. "The snow is falling much more now comrade. This truck won't be going much futher now, but I see a farmhouse in the distance. Perhaps we should head inside there ay?

Dmitrii stared outside of the truck looking into the gloomy area. Things were not going so well for them. First they had to come out in this weather to check on a patrol that might.. might not be here, then the stupid truck beging to die and now a storm. What else could go wrong?

[darktimes]

Werner frowned as Dom wanted specifications."just follow our tracks back for now." he grabbed his binoculars and stood up, lined the glasses up with his sight and scanned the area through the viewing slits. it had begun to snow, however the deep tracks of the Tank's treads were obviously visible.

the farm is in the middle of a rather flat area with occasional trees sticking out of the snow, to the north is the approaching storm, which leaves a strange feeling on werner, as if something wasn't quiet right, but he couldn't get his finger on it. to the east was a small strip of forest, about seven kilometers away, to the south, about 50 kilometers away was their battalions current position, however, a Road from east to west cut to the tread markings in the snow, just one kilometer away. Werner remembers that the road leads to Kursk in the east, and on it lay many small villages, Russian bunkers and AT positions. however, most of them were undermanned and abandoned. to the west that road lead to Gral, a city Werner never heard of before, and eventually Moscow.
the west was hilly blandness with a few trees scattered around. the road winds through them and hides anything that travels between them.

[Der Kojote]

Alexander looked at the snow then looked at the truck, "Gahhh snow...i had enough of you in Siberia..." He jumped out of the drivers seat and went to the back. "Akilina grab your gear...the farm house will be better than this truck will be in a hour or two." he reached into the back and grabbed his pack. "Dimitri can you see anything near the farm or is the snow coming in too fast?"

[the red soldier]

Akilina

Grabbing her rifle and wrapping the blanket around her like a cape, she got up and slowly ade her way out of the back of the truck. Looking in all directions, the snow really started to fall and made it hard to see anything. "Coming, coming." Jumping off the back, she looked at the farm house, seemingly not worried about the snow storm. After you spent some time at Stalingrad, a little snow storm was the last of your worries. "I doubt the germans will come through here comrade. We would have seen some sign of them by now. A scout or... several panzers. Maybe even a tiger if were lucky." There was a not so subtle bit of sarcasm in there as she started to make her way towards the farm house.

[Der Kojote]

Alexander smiled laughed the white cloud expelling from his mouth showing how frigid it was, "we would be lucky Comrade! my brother on the front wrote that those tigers do pack a punch so long as they don't break down, he wrote that at one point he and a few of his squad were about to get run over! then as the tiger was right in front of them it stopped there was smoke from the engine. Germans, they may make good tanks, but they can't keep them in good shape!" though slowly his laugh faded and the smile stopped, "but knowing our luck...the tiger we see would be the one to work...another three bodies to the pile ehh? Poor Ivan...last letter he sent me too..." he shook his head muttering something under his breath and pointed to the farm and started walking, "lets go comrades, i wish not to dwell on sour memories."

[Jigajig]

"Nay I cannot see anything out there Alexander, the snow is coming in to fast. Dmitrii sighed getting out of the truck wrapping a mask over his face. "LET US GO COMRADES!" He has to shout as the wind was howling now and even he could barly hear his voice. Slinging his rifle over his shoulder and gribbing his other weapon he began walking to the farmhouse aiming infront of him. He could see trees and snow. Nothing else. As he walked he had a small flashback. He was in Stalingrad.

Dmitrii ducked down as another shell rained down on his squad. "Come on you scum fight like real men!"He stood up throwing a greande at an advaning group of germans. He smiled as he heard screams. Getting up he grabbed his gun and fired. "FOR MOTHER RUSSIA. LETS GO COMRADES!" He roared as he and his squad ran forwards into a hail of fire.

Dmitrii gasped and shook his head.

[Geo_&_Bio]

Heinrich laid upon the tank with his rifle, scouting out the area. He was cold, freezing, wishing he were inside and not out. He felt tired, yet he was not able to fall asleep; overlaying coat, the heat from the engine, and the bumping over nature, made it warm and relaxing enough to sleep like the dead, but the bitter cold against his face made it so he could not rest a bit. He was in a daze, nearly asleep and nearly awake. He sniffed a bit, so he went to rub the snot off his face, but it was rawed by the freezing cold. He was in pain, but he couldn't do anything about it. He looked upon the other two Panzergranadiers and asked, "How are you guys holding up there?"

[y7h65]

Luka's POV
Luka looked around, his rifle in hand. He heard Heinrich asked a question. "I'm doing fine! Just wished I was back in France instead of being out here in the middle of nowhere, freezing, but not to death!" He chuckled a bit. "But hey! At least no-ones shooting us!" He took a quick look at the surrounding area. Nothing but white and gray. He slung his rifle over his back and turned back to Heinrich. "So where do you think we're headed? I hope it's some place with heat and hot food!" He looked up at the sky and started to let his thoughts wander. He hoped his family was okay, he hoped that his letters were getting through, and above all, he hoped that this war would end soon. At the very least, he hoped he'd get to go home soon, but that didn't seem likely. He sighed and sat back up. "I hope we get their soon... Snow's starting to pick up."

[darktimes]

(I'm speeding this up a bit)

The panzer turned around after Werners order, and through the front viewing slits the crew could see their old tracks. the snow is picking up, and the storm approaching fast.
Werner stands in his cupola, and now opens the hatch above him, letting the freezing cold in. he hauls himself halfway outside, turns around to the three Panzergrenadiere on the back of the tank, waves at them and informs them "we're going back to base guys." it was way too cold out here, and Werner only wore light clothing, freezing he sinks back into the tank and closes the hatch again. "Forward!" he says down to Dom, and shortly after the tank moves again, the engine roars up, and the German Panzer H moves south, towards the road.

a few seconds later, a completely unexpected thing happened to the russian scouts: behind the farmhouse emerged a German tiger! its hard to make out in the falling snow, the distance and the snow the treads throw into the air behind the tank, it was German, had that distinctive look, and a very long gun.

[Jigajig]

As Dmitrii was at the front of the group he saw a figure heading towards them first. He squinted trying to see what it was then froze. "немецкого танка? Черт возьми!" He span around running at his comrades. "German panzer get down now over here!" He grabbed both of them and began running trying to drag them to a snow bank.

[the red soldier]

Akilina

Akilina just had the time to turn around when Dmittrii grabbed he by the hand only to lose grip. The sudden act caught her off guard as she lost her balance and fell face first into the snow. "Whats your problem?! Warn me next-- Did you say Panzer?" Turning around, it indeed was a german tiger. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" It didn't matter how fast she tried to run, the snow just hindered her movements. "This is why I hate wide open spaces!" She managed to scream to her comrades before diving head first into a bank of snow, covering herself in the fresh snow as she seemed to disappear.

[Der Kojote]

Alexander could only silently mouth a few curses before slamming himself down into the snow attempting to cover himself in snow as Akilina did, he hopped to a. be hidden and b. not be a patch the tank would drive over all the meanwhile he kept on whispering under his breath, "God, will protect us...my family has lived through programs, the purges, further Intolerance, I will not die until God, Stalin or I say so..." he looked at the tank again. "comrades, anyone have anything anti-tank?