Sergeant Gothmog was exhausted. He and his remaining men had
staggered countless miles through thick brush and woods for several
days now, slogging their way through the rain and heavy fog.
Although the relentless and brutal fighting - mostly tough,
unforgiving close quarters urban warfare - had finally ended, they
had been on the move for 72 hours straight now, ever since they had
fought their way from the encircled cauldron at Miracle Mountain.
Although they were utterly spent, their arrival at the emergency
arms cache sparked some little life back into their eyes. Would
anything - anything at all - be left inside?
With his men in a hasty defensive perimeter, Gothmog reached
into the brush and retrieved the small camouflaged container which
held the key to the arms cache. He and his corporal approached the
hidden hatch and when he was sure it hadn't been tampered with, he
drew a deep breath and turned the rusted latchwheel. With great
effort, he pulled the heavy hatch open, and the two men carefully
walked into the stale, dry air of the cache.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could make out a very
few forms scattered about. He squinted and wiped the sweat from his
brow, and began his inventory: An Arwen gas launcher, pretty wicked
looking but of extremely limited value. A Russian Udar U-94. A
British light mortar like their infantry has used for ages. A
dusty, antique Lefaucheaux 1853 pinfire revolver - are you kidding
me? A Mauser MG151/15, pulled from some Bf109 carcass no doubt. Or
stolen from a collection somewhere. A Mauser 1871 rifle. And
finally, under a large tarp, something he had only seen in books
and old newsreel clips: a sleek PAK 38 anti-tank gun.
Almost imperceptibly, the sergeant lowered his head and cursed.
"This stuff belongs in a museum, not in a war zone," he said
coarsely. "But it's better than nothing I guess. Hell, anything is
better than surrender. I don't give a d*mn about how long we have
to live and fight in those hills. We still have a job to do.
Corporal, let's get moving."
The battle was long over, but the will to fight still
burned.
Note 6/12/06: This cache is now on it's third container and
location. It's about 10 feet from where it used to be and the camo
now is in-theme with the puzzle. Sign-only, please bring a pen. The
hint has been updated and because some puzzle cachers don't like
difficult hides it's now a spoiler, and I have lowered the cache
difficulty accordingly.
