Caught in the vehicle headlights and Taras' Mag-Lite, it was clear they had scattered a pack of large, feral dogs. In a few brief seconds they were beyond them, and a couple of the more energetic ones had fallen in behind to chase the 2 SUVs, barking.

Behind the open-topped Land Rover (no machinegun mount) Andy wondered what the dogs were doing out in the middle of the night. Checking out the park as they passed, he saw in the green glow of his NVGs what he thought might have been some trash, or a bundle of clothes, or a body lying a few dozen metres off the side of the road to the left.

Andy used his radio immediately, "Suggest we halt the convoy, Sir, I see a possible body nearby, it's what's attracted the dogs. The body may still be alive, I'd like permission to try for a pickup."

Andy prepared himself in teh open-topped land rover, jumping out in the dark into a pack of feral dogs wasn't number one on his to do list, but leaving a potential man down when he didn't absolutely have to was even lower on the list.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #96):

"Granted.  Take a couple shots and scatter those dogs first.  They may have grown used to hunting humans."

"Roger that, Ma'am." Andy braced himself on the seat and swivelled around to draw a bead on one of the dogs. He shouldered his M4 and waited for the car to halt.

Kelsey also stands, extending the butt of her C8 (far superiour to the m4 if you ask her) and shouldering it, selecting single fire over full auto, and prepares to scatter dogs as well.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #99):

Clarke quickly stuck a couple of earplugs in her ears, charged her pistol, and got ready to help the others run off the dogs.

With a few cracks that echoed through the silent city, the dogs scattered to look for easier prey. They were dangerous in a pack and would instinctively chase someone fleeing on foot, but facing armed people in vehicles was another matter.

They parked, got out and secured the immediate area around the body. It was obvious that the person was deceased, and although they had driven by the area on the way in it had been concealed under a tattered tarpaulin, which had been pulled away by the feral dogs.

The immediate area was a small waterside park by the port, with the road and train separating it from the buildings of the rough part of the city.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:38, Sat 02 Aug 2008.

"Clarke?" asked Lee, slinging her MP5 across her chest.

"I'm sure most of us has seen a dead body before."

"I have experience with a crime scene. Not that the Serious Crimes Unit is going to show up, I guess."

"This was covered before.. someone hiding the body, or something else going on here.  Think they might have been planning on coming back for it?"

*Kelsey shines a flashlight on the body, trying to get an idea of who this might have been.. male, female, maybe someone they recognized, looking at the face.*

"I think we will have to address the problem of those dogs soon."

Clarke climbed out of the Rover.  "Sure, Lee, continue.  The rest of us can set up a perimeter to keep things secure for you.  Do you have anyone you want to call for back up?  We didn't come out to investigate a crime scene.  Do you have the equipment you need?"

She thought for a second. There was so much she should do, but without a crime lab and technicians, what could they do? Take fingerprints, look for footprints, basically police work straight out of 6 decades ago at least.

"Kelsey has a camera. We have a body bag and other bags. That should be enough."

The dogs circled outside the circle of lights provided by the headlights and flashlights. Some sat down and looked, others paced. They were all large breeds: rottweilers, shepherd, pit bulls, some cross-breeds.

Inside the confines of the park, Lee and Kelsey photographed the scene and took evidence. Of course, there was the body in the long grass, a native female aged around 30, naked, with several tattoos on her torso, arms and neck. There was a single gunshot wound to the back of her head, with a large exit wound (hard to tell the calibre). Lee guessed she had been dead for several hours, less than a day, as the course of rigor mortis had begin but had not completed. They collected the tarp that had covered her body and her clothing, which was discarded nearby. There was no bullet casing recovered.

"We could get more people out here in the morning. Make casts of tires and all that.

Belanger lit his pipe.

"Back of the head, classic biker execution. Of course, they aren't the only ones who can shoot someone in the head, but that's their signature. Usually a gangland hit would involve a shallow grave or a water disposal of the remains, but maybe they're getting overconfident?"

A few things became apparent. Blood patterns indicated killing had occurred there in the park, the body had not been moved from elsewhere (no obvious drag marks and the body had bled out in place). There were several prints in the soft earth, including a print that matched her sneakers, and several boot prints led to and from the resting place.

There was no handy parking lot, so whoever had done this had simply pulled in over the curb and parked on the long-uncut grass. Tire tracks in the grass and dirt indicated at least 2 motorcycles and a truck, either a pickup or van. They were lucky, the preceding days of rain had softened the soil, and then the day's sunshine had

The pack was still out there in the cool darkness, and eventually some of the members became bolder. Andy brought his carbine up and nailed a rotty with a quick shot, and the pack faded into the night, leaving the corpse of their mate in the street.

Eventually within an hour, the stiff body was carefully placed in the heavy rubberised bag, and as much evidence they were going to gather in the non-existent light.

As they load the girl in Kelsey seems down*

"Tattoos, motorcycles.  I can't believe I said we could work with these people, what could this woman have possibly done to deserve this?"

*She looks back*

"Is there any way we can get castings of those bootprints, or of those tire prints?  Maybe we can take the entire bit of dirt in a box?"

Clarke shook her head.  "I doubt she did anything to 'deserve' it. We should radio in for someone to come out and spread a few tarps, or those dogs will trash the scene, get prints on everything.  Why don't you take care of that, Kelsey."

"Maybe she crossed the Angels in some way?"

"Owed them for drugs, didn't want to work the streets for them anymore, who knows?"

Lee thought a bit about what they had available.

"Good point about the dogs. We don't have anything to make a cast with. Disturbing the soil will probably destroy the print, it's still soft, not sun-baked. Which is good because baking would shrink it."

Belanger offered,

"We don't have any crime scene technicians, of course. I can get some RCMP out here, backed by criminology students, take plaster casts, dust for finger prints."

Kelsey made the call, and an ad hoc team was assembled and dipatched. Although the trip was not too far, it was still around midnight when they arrived in an SUV and police cruiser. The 4 students and 2 Mounties (as guards) starting processing the crime scene, looking for anything that might have been missed.

They would be done sometime around dawn, maybe before.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #110):

Clarke nodded to Belanger.  "If they use this spot often it could be the dogs do most of the clean up for them.  They've gotten lazy about tidying up with the general lawlessness that has been going on.  Without a crime lab you have a point.  This will be solved by good old fashioned gum shoe detective work.

Back in the day, even with the high-tech stuff that's how most things were solved.  Maybe we can work on the forensics later.  For now, let's get Jane* to what passes for the morgue here and leave the rest to the RCMP.  We'll let them gather the information and review later.  We have other fish to fry."

She looked at Kelsey.  "We have already heard that sometimes girls go out to the Pig Pen and don't come back.  We might want to check the grape vine and see if there was a party recently.  Since she was stripped of her clothes, maybe she had something they were looking for."

Tony, what was the condition of her clothes?  Did it look as if they had been searched?  Were they folded neatly or thrown aside?  The position of the body?  She was covered by a tarp, not left in the open?  Was the body repositioned after she was shot?  What were the tattoos like?  Did they indicate membership in the HA or a Native group?  What about the clothes themselves?  Please describe them.  Any jewelry?  Indications that jewelry might be missing? (ring indentations, torn ear lobes, scratches on the neck from a necklace being torn off)

They handled the body with surprising care and tenderness as the team disembarked for UBC.

The doctor at the UBC hospital's makeshift morgue worked through the night under Belanger's direction to get some answers.

She had lived hard, malnourished limbs emciated and skin loose, hair short, beginning to grey, stringy and matted. The faded blue tattoos were not tribal but crude ones typical for people (especially drug users) who'd been to jail. There were needle marks on her arms, festering sores from the infected puncture wounds, and others on her face and legs.

There were teeth marks from canines like the wild dogs. Surprisingly, while many had been inflicted post-mortem some had been made before her death and were even infected.

She still had on some native-style jewelry (a necklace and earrings) but was no ID in her clothes, which had simply been crumpled up and discarded beside her. Soil on her knees indicated she had been kneeling, then shot from behind and above with the bullet exiting her upped jaw, falling forward. Her still-warm body was covered as she bled out. The wound had a powder ring, indicating a close-range shot.

The next day it was Thursday morning.

At breakfast Clarke was updated by Belanger on the preliminary findings of the autopsy over bacon and eggs.

"We'll have to compare her fingerprints and look up her dental records. Police work straight out of the 60s! Luckily, if she's been in the system then her fingerprints will be on file."

A call to the UBC Pavilions hospital confirmed that Sebastian was awake, although still going through withdrawal and going in and out of consciousness.

The LAV-III still had some work to on it to do, mostly with the turret hydraulics. It could now be turned but had to be done slowly, cranked by hand.

Josh's report about conditions in the Stickmen camp was basically more of the same. Cyrus seemed to have an idea that a police/military assault would likely involve a night action and the use of tear gas. Therefore he was reducing the perimeter watch during the day and increasing it at night, and stockpiling gear that might help against chemical agents; however, there weren't enough gas masks and filters to go around, and Cyrus was thinking of trading for more downtown and also seeing if the Survivalists had any.

Ed, the Survivalist, confirmed that earlier in the morning (Thursday) that a representative from the Stickmen had shown up and asked if they had charcoal cartridges and gas masks to trade.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:18, Sat 09 Aug 2008.

"We get this taken care of, and I have a request on our next priority.  This ends."

After breakfast Taras went to check the RCMP and militia main building. The old habits of an Officer barely go away. The staff had cleared the desks of dispatches and all the members were in proper uniform, but the lack of presence of high rank personnel as they were dispatched last night made discipline to slack and a young militia named Peters leaned agaist a window to smoke his pipe. At just that moment Shevchenko swept into the room sporting his embroided ranks and Soviet Officer stance. Peters startled, tried to dump the burning dottle of his pipe into an ashtray, but it settled on the top of the desk instead, where the embers raised a cloud of black smoke. While Taras fixed him with a wooden stare, Peters swept the dottle into a nearby metal wastebasket, forgetting that it contained a loose pile of old documents, which quickly ignited. His next maneuver, under Taras unremitting stare, was to stomp the flames with his size-twelve foot, which promptly became wedged in the basket. As flames leaped up his trouser leg, Peters banged the basket against the floor until, at last, the fire went out. By then the ukrainian man turned and departed. The inspection of the operation room was over. Staff officers crowded around Peters to congratulate him. It was his first day in active duty.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:51, Sun 10 Aug 2008.

Shevchenko met Khandola on his way out of the dispatch room after the ritual hazing of the new personnel.

"Good morning, Sergeant. It is a pleasant day today, is it not?"

"Last night's operation seemed to be a success. According to Clarke's report this "Ed" should make contact. She is confident he will cooperate, if given the chance. We shall see!"

"The UBC Provost (Belanger) mentions that MacDonald left today for his trading mission to New Westminster via Southwest Marine Drive. With some luck, we will get information and pictures from the "Bridge Trolls" at the Airport, the "Free Market" on Annacis Island, and of course New Westminster."

He sniffed the air, then eyed the prominently displayed "NO SMOKING" sign on the dispatch room door.

"Is someone smoking around here? By God I will put a stop to that! We may be having a bit of a rum go, but there's no excuse for a relaxing of the rules and discipline!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:51, Sun 10 Aug 2008.

Belanger, it is time to see what we have on hands here and share with the HQ in the Island before they decide to move the troops in the city.

Taras started a conversation with the Provost exposing his thoughts:

After yesterday's meeting with Ed I believe that we have an international problem here. Being so close to the frontier and due to the political situation in the USA I believe it would be a more sound strategic decision to secure the border rather than deploy the forces randomly and prosecute crime with them.

Seems that the current government in the States is illegal and that put Canada and the government that we represent and defend in a difficult situation. An unprotected border is bringing here political refugees that are out of the scope of the Canadian Law that we enforce. There is smuggling of weapons, fuel and probably drugs and more... all of that is completely out of control. This reminds me of the problem that was to secure the border with Pakistan when the Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan.

Think for a moment that the Lower Mainland is a square. We have already secure the Northern limits or upper side of that square. There is a matter of time that we can get control of the Western shores. As soon as the Airport is negotiated we'll get another side of the square. It will be a matter of securing the border with the troops to get a hold of the lower side of that square. Finally, when we achieved the return to normal life in the cities of: West Van, North Van, Stanley Park/Downtown, Vancouver itself, Richmond (airport) and New Westminster is a matter of redeploy our forces, RCMP and militia to the East, as far as Chilliwack and having secured the four sides of the square we can start mopping up the interior from different fronts and with different allies at the same time for a bigger tactical advantage
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:28, Sun 10 Aug 2008.

*Kelsey drops in on her communications people when she gets back in, to check on received transmission, making sure the tracking equipment is up, and making sure monitoring of all traffic is on the money, getting a full report on any traffic.*

*She will stop by after some sleep to check again, trying not to act like some hardass, hell she didn't have any rank officially over them anyway, and she plays it off as a liason sort of.  For the moment at least, trying to get a real feel for her people as a comrade for now.  What she wants is any and every transmission, content, and direction.  Triangulation expected if there is time.*
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:51, Sun 10 Aug 2008.

After getting some rest, Andy settled down to a pile of paperwork and started to sort out those that might be suitable for his unit.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:51, Sun 10 Aug 2008.

The survey teams headed out into the rest of Vancouver, covering the rest of the city up to Boundary in the east, the downtown in the north, and the river in the south. The previous day's survey counted some 5000 people up to around the north-south line of Cambie.

Meanwhile, the van and other vehicles were ready to go on their covert survey of the downtown.

Dr. Chandra at the hospital called Clarke to confirm that the rape kit turned up negative, the victim hadn't been raped before death.