The sun rose in the east around 0615 hours, heralding another glorious spring day.

In his sleep, McRae had a recurring nightmare about the wound that he received in his fateful sniper duel, while over and over Jagelis felt the horror of watching the fratricidal artillery rounds landing on his unit's position.

Fox had his own recurring dream of trying to see his wife's face from across the kitchen of the small home in the PMQ (Private Married Quarters) area they shared at CFB Petawawa, but it wouldn't come into focus. The closer he got to her, the deeper the shadows of the rented 50's bungalow became.

Lee's dream was far more peaceful, steeped in her memories of being a Mountie in rural Alberta fresh out of Depot. Some Asian and urban elements of her home town of Richmond blended in with the Native reserves and small farming communities in the foothills of the Rockies.

It seemed a world away, enforcing the law and helping settle the disputes of ordinary people. The pervasive drug and alcohol abuse on the Native reserves and especially among the young had bothered her the most, and she'd spent a lot of time working with disadvantaged youth. She'd gotten through to some, but not all could be saved. Her subconscious mind still remembered the Mountie she'd always dreamed of being instead of the pretend-soldier she'd become.

For the first time in a long time, Taras dreamed about the time he spent in the cramped and squalid garrison in Bella Coola. Food was running low, partisan attacks were unrelenting, and the knowledge they had been abandoned pervaded the demoralised troops.

Having gotten a night's sleep under their belt, the team prepared breakfast and planned the day's activities.

Taras woke up. Next to him was a small table containing a bunch of old newspapers: Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, National Post,.. a thick Oxford dictionary also nearby. One of the favoured activities to improve his English skill was reading old news and comparing different views from that previously heard back home. Comics were also quite appealing. He turned a few pages randomly.



Look! A little game of chess!

A small chequered square divided in rank and file presented a barely escorted black King surrounded by a swarming little legion of white Pawns under sniping cover from a distant Bishop.

Poor little fellow!

The original excitement quickly dissapeared. He lamented that the sport was not as popular as back in the Motherland. Certainly the post-War era, after 1945, brought to the World a Soviet dominance of chess only challenged by the genious of Bobby Fischer between 1972 and 1975. Taras remembered how his uncle taught him how to play. In one of the early sessions uncle Boris surprised his nephew with an striking opening raid conducted by the Queen that devastated Taras forces to the point of not being able to continue to play for long. A decade was gone since then. The Ukrainian look through the window.

The impressive armored vehicle was parked not too far below.

There is the Queen. Is a risky business. But, if executed with the benefit of the surprise and maneuver, while the enemy is not expecting it, it can wreak havoc.

Scratching the back of his neck he darted to the nearby library looking for some chess book but he could only find a small booklet without great expectations. He turned to page 7:

Strategy in chess consists in setting and achieving long-term goals during the game — for example, where to place different pieces — while tactics concentrate on immediate maneuver. These two parts of chess thinking cannot be completely separated, because strategic goals are mostly achieved by the means of tactics, while the tactical opportunities are based on the previous strategy of play.

Good reminder. Said slipping the booklet in his left breast pocket. The small sticky note previously found with commentaries on the "The Republic" of Plato was now marking the seventh page.

Time to have some tea.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:47, Sun 24 Feb 2008.

After eating, Fox gets up and leans up one shoulder up against the wall and looks out of the window. He's wearing his best set of combats and actually took some time before going to bed to fix up his boots.

"Shall we come up with a time table of events we're going to try to get done today?" he asks Ben without looking away from the window. "You mentioned yesterday some things you'd like to get done, but I mean more structured... or do you just want to go at it as it comes?"

After Ben replies he remembers something he thought of last night while cleaning his boots. "Since the risk of attack here is minimal, and they don't really have a any need to get their militia up to speed on claymores and such. How about this?"

"We give them a bit of training related to patrolling and operations they can support us on outside of the perimeter. Setting up cordon and searches, PW handling, field formations and movements. This way if we need additional manpower, we know at least a section of them will be able to integrate with us easily."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:31, Sat 23 Feb 2008.

Lee sits at the table, while Robert talks to Ben. She doesn't say anything, but nods about his idea of a slight change in the training.

Starring at her now empty dishes she wonders about her upcoming missions. While some pre-deployment prep is useful, she can't ignore the anticipation of being placed on the ground and getting to work. Her past Mountie roles have imitated that desire for tension and and challenge... anti-gang task force and the ERT.

Despite her annoyance at something that reached its peak at last night's dinner, she allowed herself to accept today as a new day and did her best to be a friendly to all of the team.

Breakfast was eggs, bacon and sausages with fresh cold milk and hot tea. There was a small quantity of fresh-ground coffee (mixed with hoarded free-dried Starbucks).

While beef was apparently relatively thin on the ground, pork products were apparently not.

By the TV was a schedule of programming. It was mostly re-runs, but there was a half-hour "current events" program that was locally-produced. Out of curiosity the TV was switched on and it wasn't a surprise that the team was the focus of the morning's news.

There was footage of Lee's statement, shots of the team unloading, and their tour around the campus. The coverage was edited to be flattering and very favourable, and the reaction from the local population (streeters) was positive. Although one middle-aged man expressed some reservations about a possible "militarisation" of the campus, most people seemed to view the introduction of government control to be a positive thing.

In the middle of the discussion, there was a knock on the unit's patio door.

Alain Belanger, clad in a green military-type sweater (epaulettes and patches) and khaki cargo pants, was there with Taras.

"Good morning! Sorry to bother you!"

"As we said last night, we are more than happy to assign a local community liaison to assist you in aligning your efforts with our needs as efficiently as possible."

"Taras was kind enough to volunteer."

"I will be back in say, 45 minutes, with some volunteers like you asked."
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:38, Sun 24 Feb 2008.

Seeing the newcomer at the patio, Chris invited him in. He was dressed in his combats and beret, but unarmed.

"Morning! Come on in, Mr. Sheverenko. Er, Shevchenko. Taras."

"We're just about to start a discussion of the day and our plans in general."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:42, Mon 25 Feb 2008.

"Yeah, I think we have some fresh-squeezed orange juice. It's nice that you have a citrus grove here. Can't get a can of McCain's frozen concentrate from Safeway anymore, eh?"

"So we, you know, had some suggestions last night about what to do here."

"I guess the big question in, what do you need us to do? So we're not stepping on peoples' toes?"

"Our only plan at the moment is to work with your Militia in a few key areas as advisors, and get the LAV into better shape."

"Angela mentioned some kind of boat trip to North Van? Some kind of community there?"

She offered to pour some juice or tea, whichever Taras preferred. She too was dressed in combats, but otherwise unarmed.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Mon 25 Feb 2008.

The attitude of the ex Soviet combatant was visibly different from the previous days. Somehow the old Officer was showing again. Neatly pressed uniform and headgear. Flap holster on his right hip, trimmed facial hair and energetic posture reflected quite a departure from yesterday.

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen! The tone of the voice commanding business.

The University of British Columbia has been a lonely oasis compared to the lack of accountability for the rest of the Lower Mainland. For quite a long time the Council, with me included, has been developping a program to implement and restore normal life. Due to the lack of personnel, weather conditions and proper contact with the Federal authorities this was not possible.

He was standing next to a map of the city. For effect, sometimes pointed with an extended hand to the explicit location mentioned.

Now that we have your presence here and the authority given by Ottawa and Duncan in the Island, we have the ability to start doing the job

A sip on the juice cleared his throat.

Thankfully we are fully aware of the geographic conditions of the City. We have plenty of maps for that. But, regrettably we lack understanding of the human terrain . A throughout and current understanding of the individuals and their communities is necessary in order to win the support of the Government that we represent and allowing this authority to meet their needs. To gain this information we have in mind three different types of approach:

#1 - By intelligence operatives. He paused and looked at the sharpshooter member of the team. In this case this will be you, sir. We are going to need a good soldier with excellent observations skills to provide first hand account of certain areas to guarantee a minimum of security for the team before moves in.

#2 - By operators on patrol. Taras looked in the eyes of all the crew. This is pretty obvious. We'll meet the people and will ask questions. Lots of them.

#3 - By or from the population directly. The ex Officer pointed towards the window. Implementation of Vancouver I.R.O.N. Project will facilitate insight in the communities. By the way I.R.O.N. stands for Integrated Reconstruction Operating Network.

He took a seat at the edge of one of the tables.

As you can see this acknowledges the role of traditional military intelligence but then goes beyond it.

The he looked, for no apparent reason, towards Rachel:

Media will be embedded at all times .

The most elemental way to learn about the population is to carry out a registry census. That, sirs, means that we are going to take names . Lots of them.

The core of this registry-census will be five basic lines:

At this point Taras expected that somebody will be taking some notes.

#1 - A basic census: who lives where, sex, age, birth place, marital status, etc.

#2 - Relationship of the individuals. We are talking families. The basic elements to form communities.

#3 - Health. We need to know mobility status for evacuations, medical conditions, routine medical attention, emergencies, etc.

#4 - Work . How this people make a living. We are aware of commerce centres around the Lower Mainland but we need every bit of info on this to gain the pulse in the current economic activity in the Lower Mainland.

#5 - License. We need to gather information about people licensed to: drive, hunt, fish, operate heavy machinery, etc. This will include a weapons registry.

Another sip went through...

Besides this we are going to need extra intel on status of buildings and incidents as in crimes, etc.

This will form the base for a next step that will be the creation of a PIC or Provincial Identification Card. At this point we can count with a Picture ID type but we are also willing to create a fingerprint database as well. This step is already in progress with the native band. We have created a NIC or Native Identification Card . So the girls at the printing shop are having a good time with our PIC/NIC program!

Taras couldn't help a laugh. Only to recover the seriousness of the briefing.

During the contact with the locals we are going to encourage the use of the telephone land lines available in order to keep UBC informed of any new occurrence as part of the mentioned "IRON" program.

Taras was now imitating the gestures of a cameraman.

The TV crew will be present. We need it for several reasons: First is accountability. We need to know any time a weapon is cocked and locked, we need to record any critical event and use this taping to analize the patrol conducted, we'll learn lessons with that. Cameras will inhibit unwanted behaviour. And we'll meet people of interest as well.

Taras stopped for a while. Damn, I need a cigarette .

As you can see we are going to gather lots of information from diferent sources. From our own military intelligence undercover. Again he pointed towards the sniper. From our patrols and the media embedded and finally through the communities as well. All this information will flow under IRON and will serve the purpose of creating not only a registered census but also offer the services that the UBC can provide. .

Taras took a piece of paper from one of his pockets.

These services are:

- 911: Fire, Ambulance and Police.
- Management and administration of established communities.
- Transportation.
- Health services beyond medical emergencies.
- Environmental services.
- Laundry and billeting. Oh yes!
- Equipment maintenance. From small appliances to urban infrastructure.
- Food inspection.
- Communications access and maintenance.
- Power supply and distribution to a limited extent.
- Limited water supply and or water treatment.
- Construction. At this point only at repair levels.
- Waste management.
- Facilities, roads and grounds maintenance.
- Licensing for driving, hunting, fishing, etc.
- Correctional/Penitenciary. Well, it truly is a service for the City.
- Issue of PIC/NIC cards.

This is what the Council and the UBC has to offer. As you can see we are not going out there asking a lot without also offering a lot. Your job is to convey this and win the hearts and minds of the survivors, refugees and whoever is out there and bring the city to a normal status.

Pausing for another gulp of lemonade he continued:

Profesor Alain will give you more detail in the ROEs. Just to let you know that depending on heavy armor or aggressive raids will have a low pay off. But if necessary, we are ready to act with lethal force according to the threat and our capabilities. There will be ROEs for civilians, RCMP and Military. I hope you can understand this. We are on the side of the Law and we have to use it as a tool for our own benefit and the public we are trying to serve.

Ladies and Gentlemen. Take a minute to think about it before you start with the questions. I belive it is more clear now for you what we have in hands. I expect to give you some answers but the real answer has to come from you. Please, feel free to make a well thought decission. After that we can work on small details.

Another pause helped to recover some breath.

And Thank You. Thank You for responding to the call and coming here to help. If you decide to stay, that will make us happy. The path towards normality is inevitable. Is a matter of time. And I believe this is the right time.

Ben mulled the ideas over for a moment.
"We'll stick with the weapons training. All they really need to know is how not to stuff it up and shoot one of their own."
Or us for that matter, he left unsaid.
"Shouldn't take more than half a day, probably less if they're swtiched on."
"Once that's done we should certainly move on to small unit tactics and so on. We'll need to see what they can do before we start of course and go on from there."
"With a little luck the local RCMP should have given their volunteers the basics."
It wasn't as if they hadn't had the time over the past couple of years. Weapons might have been a bit thin on the ground, especially support weaponry, but it would have nearly been criminal for their military and police advisors to neglect operational training - you never knew in this brave new world just who might come knocking on the door with less than honourable intentions.

The arrival of Belanger and Taras was almost a relief after the uncertainty of the previous day and a half, made all the more welcome once Taras entered into his spiel.

"So, we're to go knocking door to door with clipboard in hand, asking questions, taking names and offering help on behalf from the government. That about sum it up?"

Well, it beat getting shot at by the Russians and Americans....

The sniper in question nodded in understanding. His job wasn't only to kill at a distance, but to gather intelligence through independent observation in support of the mission objective.

Gentlemen, in order to restore normal activity we depend on the support from the Federal Government, the Military and Law Enforcement and the population. We can count with the first two. To win the hearts and minds of the citizens will be a difficult task. After years of abandon, some people will refuse to cooperate with us at first. What is worst is the rooted crime and overall anarchy. We may expect criminal elements armed and dangerous. We will have to deal with this as the mission cannot be compromised in this respect.

Taras tried to give more information in his briefing...

I believe at this point that your combat vehicle is in need of serious repair. That may take a long time as this is not very common and easy task for the guys at the shop. In the mean time the Council can offer some pick-up trucks and other platforms, even armoured trucks to collect money from banks that could be used!.

Looking at Rachel added:

Another option is to start with the North Shore. The Council is aware that there is a small community that can be reached and they are willing to work with us. In that case we will deploy a special boat to reach that place. No other vehicle will be necessary since this community is located near the shore.

Now was the time to address the Lieutenant.

Sir, most of the work will be conducting information recollection. This can be tedious and time consuming but that is why we will have the help of the local militia. But the teams to do the job will need previous overall intel of what may expect in the area, such as human activities, presence of armed people, etc. They will also may need escort and if things get ugly and need to be "defused" the presence of your crew will be integral part of the success of this project.

Ben nodded along.
"Then it's obvious where we start then - the North shore. If we can show that some communities have joined in the overall effort, others may follow easier."
"Doesn't hurt that we won't been needing the LAV for it either although we should still take a decent load of weaponry."
Machineguns, grenade launchers, rifles, knives, and just about anything else that might show anyone with unfriendly ideas they were ready to respond in kind. Just because this community was supposed to be receptive didn't mean they wouldn't encounter somebody who wasn't during the boat ride, not to mention the community might contain elements with "other" ideas for their future...

"I guess I can shed some light on the North Shore, for the easterners."

Kelsey, having lived in the Lower Mainland, had some personal knowledge of the area.

"The North Shore is basically on the north side of Burrard Inlet. The cities of North and West Vancouver ("North Van" and "West Van") are on the shoreline between the water and the North Shore mountains, which are actually pretty big. (Three are ski hills: Grouse Mountain, Seymour Mountain and Cyprus Bowl.)"

"The mountains are pretty rugged, and form the watershed for the city's reservoirs. Clevelnad Dam is at the main reservoir, Capilano Lake. I dunno if it's a hydro dam or not."

"For example, I heard there are only 2 paved roads between them and the North Pole. There are a lot of fjords throughout there, like Deep Cove and Indian Arm."

"North Van is north from Vancouver and across the water and went to the east to Indian Arm, and it was basically middle-class. West Van stretched along to the west, and was a very wealthy suburb. One of the richest neighborhoods in the Lower Mainland was located there, the "British Properties"."

"The recce a few weeks ago said they believed there was a community around one of the marinas in West Van."

"I guess that would be the best place to start."

Taras' mention of armoured bank cars reminded the Airborne personnel of stories from back east where in the Maritimes, there had been considerable success in converting such vehicles into APCs!

They all looked at the map of North and West Van.

http://tinyurl.com/3yjmvr

The small community looked like it was located in and around Eagle Harbour and the marina there. Located on the water, it was probably a fishing community. It was close to the ferry terminal and marina at Horseshoe Bay.

A little while after breakfast was over, the local militia showed up (some riding bikes, a few walking). There were 6 young men, 2 young women, dressed in a mixture of surplus camouflage (mostly US woodland-pattern and one in faded Bundeswehr fatigue pants and shirt, as CF combats were not sold as surplus).

They seemed adequately-trained in at least the basics of the infanteer's trade. However, they had little range training, mainly due to a lack of ammunition for practice.

The phone rang, startling everyone but Taras.

Belanger sent his regrets to Taras that he was busy with other pressing matters, and wouldn't be able to make it over until perhaps the afternoon.

"Sorry I can't be there at the moment. Something's come up that might interest our friends. I'll let you know when we get more information."

"They can bring the LAV over to the garage at any time. I made sure they're ready for it, and they're pretty excited to get a look at that beast!

It was mid-morning, and although the day started out beautifully clouds started gathering and soon the light drizzle of the rain that Vancouver was famous for had begun.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:46, Tue 26 Feb 2008.

The arrival of the 8 person detachment pleased Ben. At last there was something to do besides sit about, look at old maps and talk.
"Sergeant Fox, organise these people into a work party and unload all ammunition and stores still in the LAV."

"Corporal McRae, I want you to drive it over to the mechanics once they're done. Take MacDonald with you and see what they can do with it in say....three days?"
Hopefully they'd be able to make some headway in that time and have taken enough measurements and so on to begin fabricating the more major components. Ben was hoping that the LAV would only really need to be off the road while actually fitting the new parts and making any required adjustments but, as with any good plan, accepted that this was unlikely to pan out.

"Lee, would you and Champlain scrounge about and see what maps and other intel you can find on the north shore? I'm sure there must be a library or something around here somewhere that'll have what we need."
"Once you're done with that, see if you can rustle us up some transport, probably for tommorrow."

"Sergeant Fox, you and I will start on the heavy weapons training as soon as the LAV is unloaded."

If all went well, the assigned tasks would probably all be done by early afternoon....
This message was last edited by the player at 09:21, Wed 27 Feb 2008.

Lee nods to Taras - "I need local maps... good ones. Who can can I see about getting two or three issued? And I need to know who I can speak to on whatever data has been collected on the North Shore."

Once she has the names and their whereabouts, Lee says - "Grab your rifle Champlain... lets go." Slinging her MP5 she rises from the table and double checks to make sure her pocket notebook was on her. Once the two are ready she walk out past the assembled militia and seek out her contacts.

"Be with you in a sec."

She finished up what she was doing, then slung her carbine with an unreadable expression on her face.

Fox got the UBC Militia moving and unloaded all the extra stores from the LAV.

The drizzle became a light rain.

There was a billow of black smoke as the engine started up, coughing and sputtering as McRae nursed it into life. Finally, it settled into a rough idle. MacDonald climbed up and they exchanged looks. The rebuilding of the engine wouldn't come soon enough!

They slowly drove the LAV over to the garage, then decided to stay to give what assistance they could to the mechanics (although Kelsey was the team mechanic).

At Taras' direction, Lee and Champlain headed off to the library. It was a few blocks away, a short walk by foot. With the help of the friendly librarian, Tara, they gathered up various maps (street, relief and topographical) and other material of the North Shore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N...%2C_British_Columbia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...%2C_British_Columbia

Taras called Alain Belanger by radio, who promised to get back with any current intel on the North Shore.

Meanwhile, Fox and Jagelis trained up the Militia. Some Mounties (who were serving as NCOs for the militia) in camouflage fatigues showed up to observe and be brought up to speed. They seemed to be pretty proficient already, but were attentive and appreciative.

[OOC: the Militia are roughly "Experienced". The Mounties are all "Veterans".]

By the time the mid-afternoon came around, the sub-groups were finished their various tasks. The rain petered out, and the offshore breeze blew the clouds inland.

Driving an SWB Land Rover, Belanger also showed up at that point. He explained he'd been outside the wire dealing with some business.

"I know you're interested in the North Shore. I had a friend that drives up there every now and then over the Lion's Gate bridge, and so I visited him. He says there's a small market on Lonsdale, the more urban part of North Van, on the water. Pretty small potatoes."

"He's hasn't been to West Van in about a year, but did hear there's a fishing village over there, somewhere near the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay."

"He also said he's not visited the North Shore in the last little while because the Lion's Gate's been blockaded. There's a gang operating in Stanley Park, that's been harassing people trying to cross the bridge."

"Also, we need to get you on-line. Makes sharing information a lot easier! I'll have someone over tomorrow to take care of that."

He had typed up all the information his friend had given, plus added the man's address and telephone number.

A faded Canadian Airborne tattoo showed on his forearm, blue ink faded from age. Unlike the former Pats', the motto of "Death Before Dishonor" was in French.

McRae and MacDonald showed up. McRae didn't look happy. Chris said, "in three days they can do a lube-oil-filter and tune her up. Service the turret hydraulics. They want to give 'er an entire rebuild, top down from engine to exhaust, chassis and suspension."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:45, Wed 27 Feb 2008.

The news of the LAV was basically what he'd been expecting. Three days would effectively get them a touch up of the paintwork and an oil change.
"I think we'll have them start on the engine. Might even be an idea to have them convert to this "biodiesel" stuff we've heard they have."
If it were anywhere near as efficient as real diesel, it'd be stupid to keep running their fuel guzzler on alcohol.

Belangers appearance came just as they were winding up the last of the classes. They'd run through the basics of the Mk-19, C-6, C-9, Carl Gustav 84mm, M203 and finally claymores and he was reasonably comfortable they now knew how to find the safety... Out of all of them, it was the claymores they'd spend the most time on. They were the weapon most likely to be deployed in defence of the university and therefore most likely to be fired by the militia.

"Sounds like a job for us then doesn't it," Ben commented on the report of the bridge blockade.
"But it might have to wait a week or so until the LAV is in a bit better condition."
There was no way he wanted to risk "his" team clearing what was likely to be a well defended position without the heavy support offered by the LAV. Sure they could do it now, but the risk of their vehicle breaking down halfway through any offensive action was just too great.

"I think we should go ahead with the north shore for now, travel over by boat and see what good we can do there. That will give the mechanics time to work on the LAV and proper recon of the bridge and it's defenders can be done."
No doubt Belangers information was good, but it was always, always, ALWAYS advisable for a unit commander to lay eyes on the target before any operations. At least that's what the texts and history books he carried about said.

Fox commandeers two rooms in the group's dorm. A walk in closet which he stored all of the team's surplus weapons and ammo (including those from the LAV's weaponry), and a spare bedroom which became the stores room.

After the brief familiarization training he sat down at the table and studied one of the topo maps that Lee had acquired.

Training on the sports field of Thunderbird commons went well.

Interestingly enough, of all the weapons the Militia were shown, it was the Claymores they were the most familiar with. Taras, a combat engineer, had thoroughly instructed them on how to use the directional mines he'd brought with them (and build improvised ones with the scavenged dynamite). They were already passingly familiar with GPMGs, although the Carlie G had different ballistic properties than the RPG-7 Taras had given them. (The rocket propelled grenades used a 2-stage motor.)

Belanger commented that the Stanley Park gang was also called "the Stickmen".

Also, the friend that was giving Belanger his information went by the name "Shepherd". Shepherd traded with a small group of American survivalists holed up on "Deadman's Island". Before the war the "island" had formerly been called "HMCS Discovery" and was a Sea Cadets training facility, connected to Stanley Park by a causeway.

There were survivors lurking in the downtown core nicknamed "Undergrounders" that Shepherd traded with. They lived in the underground malls and basements that honeycombed the business district, connected by corridors and tunnels (including the transit tunnels).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Park

[OOC: click on the photo map, lots of good info there! The unnamed area opposite the park on the North Shore is are industrial areas, including enormous yellow piles of sulfur. The causeway is the main connecting avenue through the park, although there is a shore road that circumnavigates the sea wall (now both are somewhat worse for wear without regular maintenance).]

Fox studied the maps of the North Shore. It was fairly straightforward terrain: a long narrow east-west urban coastal strip bounded by mountains to the north and Burrard Inlet to the south, Indian Arm on the east and Howe Sound on the west. Where it wasn't urbanised it was rugged and heavily forested, and sometimes the terrain merged in the many parks and wooded areas in North and West Van. Several rivers and streams bounded by green spaces cut through the built up urban and suburban terrain.

Aside from the ski hills, prominent mountain landmarks included "The Lions", a pair of twin peaks that reminded early English settlers of the twin lions from Westminster Abbey.

Even this late in the year, many of the North Shore mountains (the higher ones further north) still retained their snow caps, unusual but not unprecedented. Those would soon disappear if the weather continued to be as fair as it had been the last couple of weeks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:24, Thu 28 Feb 2008.

"They called it "Deadman's Island" 'cause it used to be a burial ground for Indians before the white man came. Tseil-Waututh Nation, probably. All their reserves are on the north shore now. Were on the north shore. They sold it off for industrial areas, to the city for the bridge supports (Lion's Gate, Ironworker's Memorial, the rail link.)"

"I was curious about that bio-diesel stuff. They swear it's as good as the real thing, it's even better on an engine than regular diesel. Say they have a tank with 2000 litres of the stuff."

"Well, I'll tell the mechanics to go to town on the LAV."

Bearing the LT's suggestion in mind, he addressed his next comment mostly to Sergeant Fox.

"Can't hurt to have them convert the engine to bio-diesel, try it out, eh?"

Leaving his rifle in his room, he packed his pistol.

"I talked to the librarian. Aside from an Elementary-Secondary school program, they also teach courses in English, Mathematics, Medicine, Power Mechanics and Electronics. Although the last two are pretty basic courses."

Kelsey added some other trivia about the North Shore.

"I took an urban Geography course in college. I remember the Lion's Gate bridge was built by the Guinness family. You know, the brewers. They had mansions up in the British Properies in West Van and didn't want to keep taking the ferry. They also owned buildings in the downtown, like the BC Marine Building. Highest tower in the British Empire before WWII!"

She saw that Sergeant Fox was thinking about how best to organise the team.

"Sergeant, do you want me to stay and oversee the mechanics with the LAV? I'm sure they're good guys, but they're probably not familiar with a beast like that."

"Or, if you need a Signaller along then I'm your girl!"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:46, Thu 28 Feb 2008.

Fox folds up the map, so that the area of operations will be on the top. "I think its best we all go out on the first operation. Our first experience in the field should be done by everyone. The mechanics can start off on something simple, which won't require your help. I don't mind them messing around with the LAV, but anything major, you should be there."

"How about me?" asked McRae. "If we're not in a big hurry, we can hold off for at least a few days and you can insert me on the north shore for a little recce. Locate the community at least, have a look at the defenses." As a sniper he was used to operating independently, gathering critical intelligence through direct observation. It would feel good to get out in the field again, after the long waitover at HQ in Duncan.

Taras was watching in disbelief the behaviour of the troops in front of his Officer and decided to jump in.

Lt. Ben, I agree that starting with the North Shore is a good idea. If we are able to secure the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay and the elbow of the Trans Canada Highway we can count with an strategic victory that will make you proud in front of your Command at the Head Quarters. This location could serve as a landing site for a large force that could sweep the entire shore from West to East easily.

The Ukrainian was trying to grab the attention of the team before they jumped in into personal arrangements.

We believe there is a small community up there and shouldn't be problematic as they appear to be a fishing village of some sort. But we have to consider that the highway could bring serious risk very fast. We certainly need more detailed information before we reach that shore. To launch the boat and arrive there only to find a nasty surprise would be unwise in our part. The luxury of Deering Island cannot be repeated and we cannot overestimate the troubles that may lay ahead. I will recommend to send our more valuable asset in recon here. Lets trust the power of observation of your sniper. I suggest to use one of the speed boats to make a night insertion in a nearby location. A 24 hours mission will do it. From there he will communicate with us via radio in a secure frequency and also will provide the beach head for the visiting party.

Taras looked outside. The rain was falling copiously.

If something goes wrong we can extract him quickly in the same manner. I hope your portable radio equipment will do the job as it is quite a distance from here.

Another issue is the limitation of the main boat. If we decide to bring a maximum capacity of 12 people we won't be able to carry many stores. We have to reach a compromise. Speed is also important. Weapons and ammo are heavy and will reduce the speed. We also have to consider that we are going to need some items to carry with us and deliver to that community in order to implement the I.R.O.N. Project. In this case we have to transfer radio equipment for them since land lines for telephone are not available at this point. Since the communications are a must item we need to provide a generator to be used in case of emergency. We don't know about their power sources. Regrettably the University doesn't have any spare at this time....

Taras paused and look at his watch.

I recommend as well to take a look at the boat to see what we can do...

"As I said, happy to come along to work the radio. Shouldn't have a problem with comms, it's straight across the water."

"The mechanics here can probably work on the engine and do the brakes and some of the hydraulics without supervision. Weapons and so on they can leave alone for now."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Fri 29 Feb 2008.

Chris added some of his own personal knowledge.

"The Trans-Canada turns into the Sea-to-Sky highway north of Horseshoe Bay. That's cause the Trans-Canada continues over on Vancouver Island."

"The Sea-to-Sky goes north along the mountains and Howe Sound. It's blasted right out of the cliffs in spots, wouldn't be too hard to blockade or demo."

"Anyways, from Horseshoe Bay the Sea-to-Sky goes through Lion's Bay, Britannia Beach. Squamish-Brackendale. Then Whistler, Pemberton and my home town of Lilloet. It's all mountains."

"The Soviets occupied Lilloet a couple-few years back. Any deserters in the hills making for the city would come that way. Others coming down from the Yukon would more come down through Quesnel and Kamloops to the east. When I decided to stop playing guerrilla and join the DRI, I came down through Squamish, then across by Kayak to the Island. "

This mention of his trip by small boat over more than a hundred kilometres of water was a reminder that he was probably a pretty good boatsman.

"Corporal, I was a good hunter, and I shot more than my share of Russians. Still alive to brag about it! If you need a partner, I'm willing to go."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:36, Sun 02 Mar 2008.

After a pause, the rain started up again.

The team (plus Taras and Belanger) was getting into the details of how do best carry out the recce of the North Shore community(s). They were located at a covered picnic table off to the side of Thunderbird Commons, closest to their billet.

The concrete table was covered with maps, with a radio set sitting there. A couple of weapons (like Kelsey's C8 carbine and Chris' FN rifle) were propped up under the table, as incongruous as possible given their incongruous nature, like hand grenades at a child's birthday party.

After having put them through their paces, Fox verified that the local Militia and their Mountie NCOs were already familiar with a quasi-policing role and tactics. Not surprising, being that not only were they trained by the ex-Airborne (VanDoo) Belanger, but Khandola's RCMP detachment as well.

"I agree, Sergeant. If you have a sniper, independent reconnaissance is an excellent use for that kind of asset. (Aside from killing people, which we agree is a little premature at this point.) At least, that's what we knew back when I was jumping out of perfectly good airplanes and Trudeau was PM."

"As for boats, we have three zodiacs (small and medium sized), two aluminum-hulled high-performance speedboats. The kind that "beachcombers" use to pull timber off the shoreline and tow logs. Plus a 6m whale-watcher "Rigid Inflatable Boat" that seats 12-13 plus crew, like Taras said. All on trailers and stored here. Lastly, over at the Royal Vancouver Marina there's a 48-foot sailboat (a custom sloop) with crew we sometimes hire out."

"It's true that we don't have any portable generators to spare. These are probably the most important item we couldn't find in this part of the city and the ones we were supplied with during the war mostly broke down. It's the main reason we developed alternative sources of energy. The few gennies we have that still run do so with a lot of effort, but they're permanently assigned to critical facilities like the hospital, RCMP detachment and security centre. We can't really give them away, you understand."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:50, Fri 29 Feb 2008.

Something sprung in Tara's mind. From a military point of view, this was to become the planning of a proactive mission. He couldn't avoid some excitement. As a previous Officer in the Soviet Army the expectation of the planning was exciting.

Gentlemem, lets take a look at the boats!

The boats should be stored and therefore well preserved from the elements. The engines will be tested and the same will go for the structure and handling characteristics and performance as well.

I suggest to ready a zodiac for the insertion. One or two man will be your decision Officer Ben. Apart from the main whale-watcher I suggest to ready another zodiac to serve the purpose of search and rescue. The party will be too precious and will deserve to take all the attention to safety possible. We'll have to structure all the personnel to be deployed. Sniper or snipers, zodiacs handlers, crew and hardware for the whale-watcher and the rescue stand-by party. Lieutenant, any suggestion about the recon element?

Andy seemed impressed by Tara's grip of the proper way to do reconnaissance. He replied to Chris, "Ahhh... No. Not until I see what you're capable of. For now, if I go, I go alone. After, I can see what you're capable of." He didn't know if that hurt the man's feeling or not but he didn't care. The man sounded like a good marksman and killer but that was world's away from being a trained experienced sniper. At least he'd have to check him out, assess his skills.

"I concur, a prior reconnaissance with a trained sniper is by far the best idea under the circumstances."

"You were lucky at Deering Island and the shipyard; that's one of the secure areas of the city in friendly territory. Next time, you might not be so lucky."

"By all means, let's have a look at the boats. You'll be using them either way. The sloop of course is at the marina, but the others are here."

They left the Commons and looked in on the various boats stored on trailers. The Zodiacs  and RIB were deflated, but there was a compressor at the marina that could inflate them. The aluminum-hulled patrol boats indeed looked like the ones on the Beachcombers TV show from the 70's and 80's they'd all watched as kids. The hulls and motors seemed to be in excellent shape, although the big whale-watcher RIB's radar, GPS and other electronics were non-functional and removed.

[OOC: There are 2x 4m and 1x 5.2m "Assault Boats, Inflatable", 2x PBLs, and 1x 6m RIB. http://www.pmulcahy.com/waterc...neric_watercraft.htm ]
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:01, Sun 02 Mar 2008.

Andrew studied the maps for a moment longer and then looked up, he addressed his superiors respectfully, understanding that before they made any decisions that sent him in harm's way, they would want his considered opinion on matters, "Well, gentlemen, and ladies," he began, "This looks emminently doable. I would suggest dropping me off, here, at the top point of Ambleside Cove. I'll make my way overland and recce this side of the coastline and inland a little. I'll also scout out a landing for the main team in Whiskey Cove, sorry, the name wins it for me," he paused to smile for a moment. I'll also make sure I have the Eagle Harbour community under obs for the best part of the day. Once we're sure everything is on the up and up, we can land our main team. If we don't like it, I'll slip out into the current and a boat can pick me up. What do we all think?"

He waited, hoping none of the ideas would get Mrs. McRae's little boy killed.

Taras was listening with interest to the voiced thoughts of the marksman. A profound respect towards this type of soldiers was well earned through history of warfare. He was glad to have the oportunity to count with one the highly trained and disciplined snipers from the Canadian Forces. He trusted his words and skills to get the job done.

If your Officer gives the approval I'm all for it. We'll have to take a look at your schedule, equipment, signals, frequencies and precise zones for insertion. Also we need a list with the information required. If our first contact is succesful you will be returning with us. Once we can count with the confidence of the North Shore community we can come back to recon from there the Lions Gate Bridge and the Northern part of Stanley Park.

At this point most of the faces were looking at the young Lieutenant Jagelis.

Ben thought hard....

Really hard....

So hard it almost hurt....

Planning operations that didn't just involve a handful of soliders, but perhaps the future of the country wasn't something he was very used to. Slowly his mind sifted through the information it was being assailed with, picking out a word here, a phrase there until finally something resembling a plan came together.

"Corporal McRae, I want you and MacDonald to insert into the north shore just after dusk tonight and conduct a recce undercover of darkness of the community at Eagle Harbour. Take an inflatable, enough supplies to last three days and a decent radio."
"Action on contact is to withdraw if possible, otherwise use your initiative."
In other words, if he was shot at, he could shoot back, if it was just a couple of kids, or some fisherman out checking his nets, then a friendly wave and perhaps a chat might be in order.

"The rest of us will recce the lions gate bridge and Stanley park, also inserting by boat under the cover of darkness."
It was a job that would need doing sooner or later and rather than have everyone sitting about waiting for McRae, Ben thought they could at least do the preliminaries for the inevitable confrontation.

"We, plus...extras," he rolled his eyes as he remembered that the media would be along for the ride, "will join you at dawn in two days if all goes well."
That would leave the two of them alone for around 36 hours.

"Eagle Harbour is the primary objective to ensure security of the city's northern approach. Once we have done what we can at the bridge, we will withdraw back here, make preparations based on McRae and MacDonalds initial reports, and head over."

It was rough and had plenty of holes, but kept them all involved. Ben had some reservations about two ops running concurrently, but the benefit of seeing for himself what was going on in the park and bridge seemed worth any possible risks. Besides, if McRae needed assistance in a hurry, they'd be already geared up with a boat waiting.

Taras seemed confused when facing the idea of conducting what appeared to be two patrols at the same time. This will dislocate the team and negate the basic priciples of application of mass effects, simplicity, economy of force, unity of command and safety.

Lieutenant, I would like to suggest to focus in a single operation at that time. We need to coordinate the efforts from Head Quarters and be able to ensure that the scouting recce patrol is conducting its tasks properly. We need to coordinate from here. monitor their call-ins and be able to respond in force if needed. If we split the teams we'll put at risk the operation. The last reports about the Lions Gate Bridge seems to show that the place is dangerous as it appears to be blocked.

The ex Officer tried to sound convincing...

Lieutenant, I believe that you should give a Patrol Order and name the patrol leader. It shall mention the objective of the mission, routes to be followed, civilian location, activity and disposition, set up a rescue team, schedule the time of departure and return and method of reporting.

The previous military experience was paying off. As a combat engineer, his unit had some recce experience, usually associated with scouting and finding ways to move forward the mechanised unit or "burning bridges" in order to secure the rear columns. In occasions his unit was tasked with the ungrateful job of finding minefields and other man made obstacles.

The scouting party will need to be provided with challenge and password and certain specific code words for success, wounded in action or prisoner . I suggest that the team reports on the hour for a 24 hours mission. The zone to be surveyed is small and one day should be enough. Extending the patrol for days will unnecessarily burden the men with extra food, water and batteries and will expose them for long. If they get tired they can be more easily detected and compromised.

After a small pause, the red haired man continued:

Basically we are looking at finding out very basic information:

- Size of the population.
- Activity in the area. Like fishing, commerce, outdoor games...
- Determine the level of traffic in the area.
- Get a description of the type of people living there.
- Write down all of this with the time it took place.
and find out the type of equipment they have including, of course, any visible armed force or weapons.

Once we can establish a secured foothold there, then I'd move towards the more conflictive bridge...

Ben cocked an eyebrow at the former communist.
"I am familiar with small unit tactics and control, and completely confident that Corporal McRae and Private MacDonald can accomplish their task without problem."
"As you say, it's the bridge that's the danger. We're not attacking it, at this time, it's just a recce in force. I hope the bandits will not even know we were ever there."
But if it came to a fight, Ben intended to ensure they had to firepower along to win it.

"Thirty-six hours will be nothing to a seasoned professional like McRae and I've heard good things about MacDonalds ability in that area too. In fact, I tend to think it's not really long enough for them to do the job properly."
They'd have a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time, especially if they only moved under the cover of darkness.

"My orders are as stated. McRae and MacDonald recce the north while the rest of the unit, with the media attachment," he added regretfully, "recce the bridge. With luck we'll see all we need to from afar with binoculars."
And with more luck they'd find themselves a perfect position to have the Mk-19 set up for direct support when they finally made an attack. Who knew, the media might even be of some benefit with that camera they always seemed to be lugging about, poking into other peoples business.

Andy sat back waiting for the officers to thrash out the plan. He had given his input and would now let the officers make the decision.

Alain Belanger crossed his arms, making his own Airborne "credentials" prominent, perhaps subconsciously.

"That does seem risky, having your "reaction element" conducting reconnaissance of its own. That's if you plan to actually land it."

"You might as well take the RIB to check out the bridge and/or support the recce element. It has a mount for either your Mk-19 or the C6."

"Tell you what, we'll have our Reaction Team plus another section of Militia ready to deploy as backup from the marina. Say, with the 2 "Beachcombers", one armed with our PK and the other with your C6 (whichever support weapon you're not using, really), and a couple of zodiacs. That should give us the flexibility to respond to either or both elements if need be. Even if it's just to deal with something like engine failure. They can respond to anywhere around the Lion's Gate area within 10 minutes, or the North Shore within 20 minutes, Whiskey Cove/Horseshoe Bay in maybe 30 minutes. We do have four of pairs of night-vision goggles which the boat pilots can use."

"I'm going to recommend to the news people they back off until you've actually secured the Park (who knows when!). Unless you really want them, it seems a little risky too to have them underfoot if something happens."
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:27, Mon 03 Mar 2008.

Fox pulls out his map again as at least four people provide different suggestions and orders to how their first mission was to be conducted. It was a lot for him to absorb all at once, his experience in planning much different than how it was being put together right now. Trying to remember all the points he wants to bring up when he has a chance to speak, he begins in random order...

"Andy, as the leftenant said, It'll be you and MacDonald together for the North Shore recce. I'm sure he won't slow you down or anything. I don't like having anyone working alone in the field, no matter what they are doing."

Remembering something he wanted to point out he looks at the turncoat and says, "I know junior leadership and initiative are done differently in the USSR... but a Master Corporal can conduct his mission without excessive interference from his chain of command. We don't need to ensure he is conducting his tasks properly... that confidence is invested in him already. He doesn't need someone looking over his shoulder at everything he does with a clipboard in hand like he's on a course. McRae needs only to report in matters of intelligence and his location. On the hour is routine for us, but don't imply he needs someone to ensure his is doing his job properly."

Fox looks down at his map and speaks to Ben, "Sir, I don't recommend we conduct two patrols at once like this. I think its best that Andy goes in first, finds a landing site for us, and then provides the main body with concealed cover. We should avoid the bridge for now, and make it a separate mission later. I think we should focus only on the community on the North Shore area for now."

He pauses for a minute and adds, "Unless our recce of the bridge is just a look through binos from a long distance... and a closer mission conducted later with the entire team."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:05, Mon 03 Mar 2008.

McRae looked at Fox and thought about his words, "That's fine by me. Working with somone else is always better than going solo and gives us more options." he cracked a smile, "As for MacDonald slowing me down, hell, I reckon it'll be me pushing to keep up with him."

"For insertion spots, McRae I think can select his own. For us... well I don't really care. Just as long as its isolated and not in the open."

"Just to make sure everybody... well speaking for myself really... we're gonna need some clear and simplified mission orders. I also think we need to slow down a bit, and limit our objectives and subunit missions. Complicated missions get people hurt."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Mon 03 Mar 2008.

They were back at the team billet, going over the proposed plan.

Belanger frowned at the team leaders' less-than-receptive reactions to Tara's input.

"Leftenant, Sergeant, please! There is no need at all to take Taras to task for trying to be helpful and making suggestions."

"Sure, he may do things differently and dress and talk differently, but he's here for your benefit and it's not meant as a criticism of you." He smiled. "Come, is it not the Canadian way, taking the experiences and expertise of other cultures and making use of it?"

"I was getting around to telling you that Taras is now being assigned to you as community liaison and to provide civilian oversight. We trust you'll make use of his expertise in an open-minded way. Your HQ has assured us that you will be as cooperative as possible to our wishes, and that specifically includes Mr. Shevchenko's."

He looked at the Lieutenant and the Sergeant in a meaningful way. It was obvious from his confident expression that if there was to be a clash of wills between the team and UBC it would probably not be UBC that came out second.

Satisfied that his point had been gotten across, he looked at the map.

"Now, we all can benefit from some clarification. Allow me to state what I think is going to happen as a rough "patrol order"."

He looked at his watch.

"It is currently... 1315 on April 3rd, 2001."

"Leaving at 1945 hours, the team in the Whale-watcher and a zodiac will travel via Burrard Inlet and Howe Sound to Whiskey Cove."

"The recce element in the zodiac, McRae and MacDonald, will insert into Ambleside Park, covered by the team (which will recover the zodiac). They will proceed along the high ground here, westward." he traced a route on the map to the immediate north of the Trans-Canada.

"Some time around twenty-four hundred on the 3rd (tonight) or oh-one-hundred hours on the 4th the recce element should be able to place Eagle Harbour under direct surveillance for around 24 hours, until around 2400 hours on the 4th. After that, during the early morning hours of the 5th ("oh-dark-thirty"), they then relocate north along the high ground and recce the proposed main landing site at Whiskey Cove. They then remain in place for the main element to arrive at 0515, before dawn at 0615."

"In the mean time and prior to that (also on the night of the 3rd), the rest of the team will then conduct a visual reconnaissance of Stanley Park and the Lion's Gate Bridge, traveling by water from the east to west, then south along the seawall. If insertion is desired (but frankly not recommended absent the LAV for fire support) it can be done on the part of the seawall with the low ground behind it here to the immediate east of the bridge, where I believe there is a stairs and trail up to the bridge abutment"

"Once this visual reconnaissance is completed and well before daylight, the main element will retire to the Marina to be held in reserve until they RV with the recce element 1 hour prior to dawn on the 5th at Whiskey Cove."

"Both elements, accompanied at that point by the media team, will then proceed from Whiskey Cove to Eagle Harbour."

"For additional forces, the UBC reaction team and supporting Militia elements will be held in reserve at the Marina for the entire time. They will have as additional equipment night vision equipment and a GPMG from our stocks, as well as a C6 borrowed from the team."

"Comms will include the code words suggested, hourly check-ins, and so on. Arranged by the team Signaller."

Lacking vital information like the presence of possible hostile forces he included every other detail that went into a standard warning order, including the presence of civilians and the need to treat them with care.

"Rules of Engagement are as follows: Rights to Engage in self-defense is always paramount. Civilians and armed forces of unknown (but potentially friendly disposition) will be present. They may be suspicious or confrontational. Weapons are therefore to be kept at "Loaded", magazines inserted but no rounds chambered. (Support weapons above Section Automatic Weapon or single-shot grenade launcher level will be kept loaded and a round chambered, including the automatic grenade launcher on the rigid-inflatable whale-watcher.)

Armed hostile forces (defined as outlaws, criminals, enemy combatants etc.) are to be met by going to Action or Instant (weapons free) as per the aforementioned Rights to Engage according to the situation.

Minimal force necessary is to be used against unarmed threats.

Exceptions to the above restrictions (other than Rights to Engage) would be to defend civilian life and property. Civilian casualties are to be avoided at all costs and collateral damage to property unless necessary.

Any enforcement of the Criminal Code will be done by the RCMP personnel present, at his or her discretion. Although it is worth bearing in mind that the purpose of this mission is reconnaissance and not law enforcement."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:00, Tue 04 Mar 2008.

Belanger presented a piece of paper. "Here, this should clarify your ROEs."

---

Nothing in these rules interferes implicitly with your Rights to Engage or to take appropriate action to ensure your personal safety, the safety of your unit or that of civilians.

1. You have the right to use force to defend yourself against attacks or threats of attack.
   
   
2. Hostile fire may be returned effectively and promptly to halt a hostile act.
   
   
3. If attacked by unarmed hostile elements, use the minimum non-lethal force necessary under the circumstances to accomplish your mission.
   
   
4. You may not seize the property of others to accomplish your mission unless involved in a criminal act (see below).
   
   
5. Enforcement of the Criminal Code, including detention of civilians or the seizing of property and weapons, is authorized only for the attached RCMP personnel and at their discretion.
   
   
6. Weapons to be normally kept at Loaded.

Remember:

• We are not at war with the people of Vancouver and not all armed parties are to be automatically considered hostile.
• Treat everyone with dignity and respect.
• Many people may be unreceptive or suspicious. This does not make them "hostile" under these ROEs.
• Use minimum force to conduct your mission.
• This is a reconnaissance mission, so withdrawal or avoidance is always preferable to confrontation.
• Always be prepared to act in self-defence or the defence of civilians.
• Avoid civilian casualties under any circumstances or the destruction of property if at all possible.

---

"Well, any questions or alterations? Then I'll go get the Militia prepped and ready."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:24, Tue 04 Mar 2008.

Lee watches and listens as the planning is discussed. She walks over to Fox and looks over his shoulder to see the map at one point... but remains quiet. When Belanger asked for patience with Taras from Fox and Ben she spoke quietly, as if to make an observation and not a point, "I think Fox just means to give the men credit."

Andy quickly copied the rules down in his notebook and turned back to study the maps of the area he was to scout. He noted several ideal observation point for Eagle Harbour and marked them on his tac map. if he did decide to use any of these, the pair would have to be extra careful when checking them out. If he could spot the positions, so could the defenders of the community and if he was in charge there, he'd have staked out the most obvious OPs to discourage observers.

Belanger raised an eyebrow in surprise and chuckled.

"My goodness yes, of course that's what they meant!"

"Likewise, I would never imply anything else.  Or that they would fail to respect or give their full cooperation to anyone for any reason. That is naturally beyond question."

"I'm glad we all understand each other fully, Sergeant!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:45, Tue 04 Mar 2008.

"Hey Corporal, whatever you need me to do, anything you need me to carry, I'll be happy to do it." He seemed to be trying hard to get on the man's good side.

Andy smiled again, "We'll be travelling light, a radio, a couple of MREs and our lightest load. I'd suggest you switch your rifle with my assault rifle, its lighter nad handier but if your really attached to that old monster I won't object. We'll need any night vision gear we can scrounge up and binoculars. I'd also like a camera, preferably digital with a telephoto lens, if the Uni has anything like that."

"Sounds good. Guess you won't be taking the ghillie suit."

"I tried a C7, didn't like it, too much plastic. I'll hang on to my old FN. Never know if I'll need to club someone to death."

"Them yanks didn't leave us any MREs, but I have a few of our IMPs (Individual Meal Packs)."

"I already have a pair of binos and some NVGs so I'm good."

"If you want to go over my kit then I would appreciate it. Otherwise, I'm good to go."

He examined the map and the route the Belanger suggested.

"You know, I was looking at the map. If we don't want to hike all the way up to the Upper Levels (Trans-Canada) highway, we can go along the rail line close to the water instead."

"If I was gonna put up checkpoints around Eagle Harbour, it would be on the ridgeline above the 2 nearest exits from the Trans-Canada, here and here. Also, 2 more on NW Marine on either side of the harbour. That would easily control all vehicle traffic in and out."

"Having a gun you're comfortable with outweighs the advantages of the handier weapon. The Ghillie suit is a bit pointless if you don't have one. We can spend some down time making one for the next run. Apart from that, your suggestions are excellent. We'll be extra careful around the checkpoints and use the rail line for infiltration." McRae replied, "As for your kit, if you've survived all this time against the Soviets, there can't be much wrong with it."