Continuing their local reconnaissance, the PCs cross the river at the abandoned village of Mysiakowiec and head east along the Pilica’s north bank. This time it’s Ellis, Pettimore, Magda, Minka, Leks, and Red in the field.
A couple of hours’ walking brings them to what appears to be an intact bridge supporting two rail lines which run north-south. A few artillery craters around the northern end of the bridge indicate that something went down here – and the shattered remains of a truck make it evident that someone lost big-time.
Closer examination of the bridge indicates that it’s rigged for demolition, with charges and wire still in place. There’s discussion of salvaging the demo but the PCs decide to leave that alone for now – that’s not what they’re here for. They continue north, following the rail line for a while before breaking off to go cross-country. The area is more of what they saw on their last expedition across the river: open countryside dotted with abandoned family farms.
Early in the afternoon, they come across an unpaved farm road and follow it. It intersects with a two-lane paved road running east-west. As they pause to choose a direction, they hear gunfire from the west – it sounds like a lopsided gunfight.
Moving quickly in that direction, they crest a small rise. On the north side of the road, a small force of what appears to be civilian irregulars is defending an intact gated facility of some sort. They’re under attack from a larger group of better-armed troops in Polish uniforms. Scanning through binoculars, Magda recognizes the uniforms as ZOMO – regime protection and riot control troops, very few of whom went over to NATO. Based on this information, the PCs decide to enter the fight on the side of the underdogs.
Leks and Pettimore set up for long-range support while the other PCs close up on the ZOMO flank, using trees for concealment. A nasty close-range gunfight ensues as the ZOMO troops turn to face the new threat. Leks and Miko take wounds and Pettimore is hit hard, with an arterial bleed severely cramping his marksmanship. The PCs prevail, though, and Red gets to Pettimore before the sniper bleeds out.
In the aftermath, the PCs make wary contact with the surviving defenders, who introduce themselves as the local militia. They’re all farmers, probably none under the age of 50 (the eldest, who looks to be about 120, cheerfully brandishes a scoped Mosin-Nagant and informs Leks that he doesn’t have to be able to walk very quickly to kill communists).
The team checks the bodies of the fallen enemies. They’re all wearing insignia of the ZOMO force out of Radom, which the PCs believe to be about 30-40 kilometers east of Poninkla. They were well-equipped, with wz.88 Tantals (including one mounting an underslung grenade launcher), a PK MG, and a SVD sniper rifle.
Ellis and Magda, who’ve gone forward to open negotiations, quickly realize there’s something off about these dudes. They’re not using the facility they were defending – they’re keeping everyone out of it, even at the cost of their own lives. When asked, they state that it was some sort of government biological research facility. The scientists left a few years ago but they’re afraid there’s still a crop blight or other genetically-engineered hazards locked up in the labs. They burned the fields outside the fenceline to keep any genemod evil from spreading, but they’re afraid to enter the buildings. A couple of them suggest that the place’s agricultural research might have been a cover for bioweapons development.
Red is treating their wounded while this conversation is happening, and that’s enough to give him some cred with these guys. He stretches his medical credentials a bit and suggests that he might be able to give them an accurate and safe assessment of what’s inside the fence. The oldsters confer and tentatively agree, on the condition that the PCs not bring anything out of the compound.
Red, Magda, and Ellis enter the facility to investigate while the others stay outside. Their first stop is the office, which was stripped of scientific records but not administrative records. They’re quickly able to deduce that the research here was legit agronomy. A large quantity of basic office supplies is here, along with a copier that looks like it might still work.
Moving on, they locate the on-site commissary/break area. Some canned food is still on the shelves and the small catering kitchen is well-equipped. The break room contains a number of agronomy- and agriculture-focused science journals, which Red mentally marks for later acquisition.
Finally, they peek into the lab and grow-house. Most of the specialized equipment is gone but there are some basic tools and a lot of lab glassware and similar supplies – the sort of thing you wouldn’t bother to take with you if you still believed the war was going to be over soon. The building is fitted with a 20-kilowatt diesel generator, which looks like it’s been sitting there since it ran dry on fuel.
From a few remaining lab notes and evidence in the grow-house, the team pieces together that the scientists here were working on drought- and pest-resistant corn. Nothing suggests bioweapons research or any contamination hazard. The PCs exit the facility and report their findings to the locals, who reluctantly concede that they may need to re-think their stance on the lab.
That’s where we wrapped up the session, but we did have some follow-on discussion and worldbuilding on our Discord channel:
The farmers all come from seven large family farms in the area. Not all of them are inhabited by their prewar owners; some families abandoned their original properties to move closer for mutual support. The total population across those is about 50, roughly the same as in Ponikla, but more spread out (and with a higher concentration of actual farming knowledge – the seven patriarchs have several centuries’ collective experience). They’re about 2/3 original families, 1/3 urban refugees who’ve proven themselves willing to learn and take orders from country folk. As with Ponikla, there’s a distinct lack of able-bodied young men. They are agriculturally self-sufficient and probably running a slight surplus, though they’re cagey about specifics.
The PCs hand off most of the captured ZOMO gear and weapons to them, though Leks does reluctantly hang onto a PK and its belted ammo (he foresees the day when he’ll run out of 7.62mm NATO for his MG3). Red then opens negotiations for the contents of the lab. After some deliberation, the farmers decide that they will try to work up the courage to start using the complex as a greenhouse during the winter months. They think they can handle converting the generator to alcohol fuel and building a still to keep it supplied. They have no use for the lab equipment and are willing to offer it to Red in exchange for his services already rendered and a handshake agreement for a monthly doctor visit and on-call services for extreme trauma cases.
During their stay with the locals, the PCs notice that everyone in the farm community has similar cognitive issues to those they observed in Fryderyka’s crew. They do not have good recall of prewar events. They aren’t sure when they last traveled beyond their immediate area and aren’t aware of events outside that area. There are no reading materials in their homes – they don’t seem to notice the scientific journals from the lab if no one draws their attention to them. Basically, their whole awareness is confined to their farms and the immediate foraging/hunting area, with the exception of their dogged insistence on protecting the lab (which fades over the three days Red spends working with them on medical aid and packing the lab equipment for transport).
Moreover, they don’t notice or question any of these mental lapses unless someone points it out to them.
Red finds this damned peculiar and starts discreetly doing detailed interviews of the other PCs and some of the residents of Ponikla. He determines that that everyone on the list was having some similar symptoms until about a month ago. The PCs’ arrival at the village seems to coincide with the memory issues abating – for both the PCs and the Ponikla NPCs.
This session felt a little flat because I wasn’t really prepared for roleplaying in the post-gunfight phase. It’s progress, though; contact with other nearby friendly residents; and acquisition of some useful resources for rebuilding/recovery.