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...