Ok, then. We are not going to move any cleaning team inside the building until we get more information from the suspect. The place is rigged with explosives and we cannot risk the lives of our people if we can learn more about the surprises inside. As soon as we got something I'll go myself to clear the place.

The prisoner was about to being brought in. In the mean time, Taras, continued to give more instructions to the team over the radio:

...attention please...We are going to wait to find out more about the building before we move in...alley team continue to keep watch...Andy: Get an ERT on standby...Sgt. Fox: Keep watch for any movement in the thermal...At all troops: stand by for further instructions.

The perimeter was secured and somehow heavily reinforced with the arrivals of back-up. Being far from finish, Shevchenko understood that time shifted to their advantage this time. They were in position to make their moves and it was a better option to be on the safe side. A little bit of patience and intel from the insider could help avoid unnecessary casualties. More eyes trained on the house will help to locate any possible hidden threat getting nervous and making a mistake.

Then there will the the matter of clearing the explosive traps. Working from the inside and possibly with the tips earned from the suspect, the task will be easier. Taras would expect boobytraps wired to doors and windows as a way to protect the possible entry points.

After those thoughts he turned to Clarke:

We are going to need an update on the status of the WIA. Very soon we are going to deal with people asking questions, specially the "Hell's Angels". We are in need of absolute OPSEC on this. The only way to deal with this matter is in the high level. We still can make them believe that the americans shoot him while escaping. After all dead people don't talk back...

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #211):

"Roger that, Sergeant."

As the wounded man was brought out and moved on a stretcher to the ambulance, Fox raised the rear ramp.

He repositioned the LAV to E. Georgia to where it could directly observe the front (north) and west side of the building. The 25mm autocannon raised up and sighted on the structure, bringing the thermal sights to bear.

Fox radioed, "in position."

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #210):

"Dry? That's not a big part of life on the west coast. We don't tan, we rust!" Even so, he was starting to feel a little chilled in the cold rain, kneeling on the wet pavement.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #211):

Lee made sure the ERT was standing by and under Andy's direct command. She directed a sharpshooter element to cover the front, where Andy and his partner had been.

In reply to Tyler Gabriel Hope (msg #213):

"This cold and this kind of night.. we are in beds, or pubs"

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #211):

An EMT (Paramedic) walked over, pulling off her blue latex gloves and pulling back her hood. "The biker guy, came in first, he's in serious but stable condition. Some internal bleeding into the abdominal cavity, but we've got him on an IV drip and he should live if we get him to hospital. Same thing with the new guy, gunshot wound to the abdomen, some internal bleeding into the abdominal cavity, not life-threatening. They're both unconscious. We're going to evac them back to hospital now."

Well, Clarke. I guess we can evacuate the wounded to UBC. Everybody is in position so lets get information from the prisoner about those traps.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #217):

Lights and sirens off, the ambulance with the injured prisoners pulled away, under police escort. There was no need to clear nonexistent traffic, and some element of concealment was desirable.

The remaining prisoner was brought out of the SUV. Without prompting he ventured, "okay, look, I wanna cooperate. I didn't have nothing to do with that girl, Understand? Or that chick the Angel capped? A few days ago? By the water?"

"I'll tell you what you want to know now about the booby traps inside, but I'm not saying anything else without a deal. Can I, uh, get a lawyer for that?"

It seemed that almost every sentence this man uttered turned into a question at the end. It was quite aggravating.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:01, Mon 09 Mar 2009.

Taras got relief as soon as he saw a glimpse of cooperation from the suspect. He was obviously in distress but so were all of them. Not only that, he was in the losers side and didn't want to get out without a fight, or deal.

What's your name, buddy? Listen, we know well what's going on with the Hell's Angels and you are not one of them. But it is too bad that you were hanging around, don't you think? We are not the bad guys, remember. We want to help people around and bring this city back to normal. That's why we don't want anybody to be hurt by the explosives inside that house. Your cooperation will be much appreciated. From now on you are going to need protection also from Hell's Angels my friend...So I guess is your call...

Sgt. Shevchenko was playing "good-cop/bad-cop" with the suspect. Getting to address him by his name will help to win his confidence through attention. Taras wanted to remark the fact that he was really in a bad situation, not onky because he was caught but also because the HA now could be after him. An interesting sort of bluff. On the positive side he wanted to highlight the good-hearted nature of the Law Enforcement and their willingness to remove the explosives for common good and how this could be achieved with the prisoner's help.

In the end the police work was accumulating. Taras felt that the initial task of the team assembled by the HQ in Vancouver Island and put under Government jurisdiction may be losing his North in police calls whereas the true nature of their mission was a radical departure from this.

Clarke: We acted in a ruthless manner tonight but I don't believe we didn't have another option. In any case, I believe that we are risking the integrity of the plans while devoting our efforts to combat street crime instead of bringing the ideal of reconstruction back on track. So far, we are aware of the criminal element that the HA suppose and we were working in the infiltration and penetration of their structure. As far as we know, there is a huge amount of recce that needs to be done before we start a systematic crackdown. There is a russian nuclear sub sitting somewhere and a large amount of illegal trade of dangerous military goods across an unprotected border. I suggest to finish business here as soon as possible and concentrate in more important tasks like the effective elimination of the stickmen presence in Stanley Park and the recce of the rest of the terrain around.

It was a matter of retaining the initiative. Police work mostly relies in the reactive perspective. In the case of the team it was mandatory to gain the upper hand through gathering of information in a stealthy, pro-active manner to avoid confront bewildering experiences like the one just went through. They were lucky enough to have the right people and tools to do the job and that was a long stretch from the haunting ambush under the Lion's Gate Bridge but in the mind of Shevchenko this kind of job should be delegated more and more to the ever increasing in skill and numbers of the embryonic Vancouver Police.

The next day will dawn with a clear necessity to focus in the road map. Still, a nerve wrecking final reckoning of the Apocalipsys Now restaurant building was looming ahead...

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #219):

"Ah, okay. My name is David Carerra.

"Inside the front and rear doors there's grenades rigged to go off. There were Claymores on the rooftops pointed down, but the ones covering the back and front are gone 'cause you shot 'em.

"Except there are 2 more set to go off by a clacker thingy, uh, to fire across the rooftops to the east and west, 1 each direction. Also, they used to get in and out by coming in windows on both sides of the roof, and the rooms you come in and our are booby-trapped, too. Not the windows, but grenades on tripwires in the rooms themselves so guys could come and go through the widow without messing with a trap, but if you didn't know where the tripwire was and got in through the window... boom! There's also another Claymore in the restaurant, pointed at the front window. If you pulled off the plywood to get around the door, they could set it off."

David had pocked, sallow skin, and greasy hair that stood on end from lack of washing. He also had strong body odor, the mark of someone who hadn't bathed in weeks.

Taras called a meeting with Andy, Rachel and Clarke. The precious information will help to give the proper access channels and details to dismantle the whole fireworks castle.

We are ready to move in now. ERT first to confirm that nobody still inside. I'll remove the traps. Will give instructions to keep open eyes to the troops watching perimeter just in case...

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #221):

"Sounds good. The ERT is on standby, they can go in the front, rear, or over the rooftops left or right (as seen from the front). Do you want me to lead the ERT? Will you be coming in with the ERT?"

She motioned to the prisoner back in the SUV.

"Do you need any help with squeezing him, or are we waiting to see if his information is good before we make any deal?"

In reply to Zhang Rachel Lee (msg #222):

Clarke made sure she was out of earshot of their prisoner before speaking to Lee and Taras.  "Let's see how good his intel is before we cut him any deals.  If everything checks out, then we'll offer reasonable adjustment to his sentence." Clark grinned wickedly.  "He's full of it if he thinks we believe he was just 'hanging out' with the Hells Angel's.  He wouldn't know the traps that well unless he was in deep.  I say, reduction of sentence for what he's given us here, a deal if he gives us information we can use for a murder conviction on our Jane Doe."

Clark paused and rubbed her eyes.  "One thing at a time, though.  Let's get this area cleared and get our people out of here.  It has been a long night for some of us."

Andy nodded at the discussions and waited to see if the brass wanted him anywhere in particular, if not, he was happy to stay out of the rain.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #224):

Kelsey looks around a moment and ponders if they could have found a drier place to set up this machine gun.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #225):

"Hey, let's think about dragging this fucker so we can cover the streets. If there's no hostiles left inside the perimeter, then we just have to worry about outside the perimeter!"

This being Vancouver, there really wasn't a drier spot to set up the machinegun! The perimeter kept an eye on the surrounding streets, in case someone decided to rescue what they might think was trapped comrades.

The ERT climbed up onto the roof and went in through a window. It was as reported, there was no one inside and clearing the building was quick. The dropped M16A2/M203 was recovered from the street outside, fully loaded and safety off.

Taras efficiently cleared the booby-traps from the entrances on the ground floor and the roof. Anyone could enter the building safely.

There were piles of personal gear strewn about, as if several men had lived there for a short while and then left in a serious fucking hurry.

There was also some womens' clothing, seemingly discarded on a pile of trash in the middle of the unused ground floor dining area (which has started to resemble a large trash-midden with broken furniture and empty food wrappers and plastic pouches). There was an M249 SAW (the US version of the C9/Minimi) upstairs in the front room. In another room was BDUs and sleeping bags were scattered on the floor. Another room held 4 ammo cans of 5.56mm NATO ammunition, 4 cans of 12.7x99mm belted ammunition, 3 cases of 40mm grenades, 2 cases of M67 hand grenades, a case of M34 WP grenades. Another room had an AN/PRC-119A SINGCARS radio set. Also left behind were several cases of MREs, the US equivalent to the Canadian IMP, although not as well-liked. There were also some lanterns, electrics and so on.

In the alley, the Harley Davidson motorcycle was recovered. It was a custom chopped job, a real work of art (now slightly dented).

In the saddlebags was a small mahogany case with a .44 Magnum Ruger Redhawk revolver, and an illegally suppressed Glock-17. Aside from miscellaneous riding clothes (a bandanna, heavy gauntlets, goggles, etc.) there was also a small partitioned container with what looked like cocaine, pot, and pills, a 26er of Jack Daniels, also a 2-way radio, NVGs and some shotgun shells. There was an scabbard behind the seat on the left with a sawed-off over-and-under 12 gauge shotgun, and in a holster strapped to the gas tank was custom scabbard for a 9mm MAC-10 submachinegun. A spare full magazine positioned so that the SMG could be reloaded 1-handed. An illegal suppressor and several spare magazines for it were also in the saddlebags.

In reply to Tyler Gabriel Hope (msg #226):

"I think we just need to pack it up, and help pack up the rest of this contriband, and get the hell out of here.  Can you believe all the crap that biker had on him?  Like a small arsenal.  Scuttlebutt says he was the ass responsible for that girl in the park.  I hope that bullet makes him a cripple for life."  She spits.  Funny how things get around by word of mouth.  And how little use she had for rapist/murderers.  "Maybe letting him out paralyzed in the streets would be a good punishment for him, without his weapons.  Whatta ya think?"

Taras collected all the explosive devices and ammunition crates after being rendered safe, i.e. removal of fuzes, inspection of safety pins, visual inspection of packaging,etc... There was a large cache by all means, including some highly dangerous compounds like the WP grenades. Help from the militia and auxiliaries proved very valuable. The SUV with its large trunk capacity was a suitable transport but the suspension quickly noticed the weight increment due mostly to the ammo cans. As far as it goes, he would take of the tools of his trade while the most dedicated Law Enforcement people would be collecting evidence related to the possible victims and illegal substance charges.

As a final move to clear the scene, Sgt. Shevchenko convened the necessity to clear the vehicles as well. The LAV III will tow away the blown up humvee and the bombastic Harley would be spirited away. Tonights prizes will be enough to set up a museum of crime fighting in the grounds of the University of British Columbia. It also accentuated the dangerous nature of the enemy that they were facing.

Enough for today! Time to go to sleep!

Taras returned the shotgun and secured his own Smith & Wesson lowering the hammer on an empty chamber then, flipping the safety catch holstered the compact pistol back home. Inside the vehicle the stress, unlike the strong curry smell, will slowly fade away. He felt in need of some distraction but the radio tunning was useless. Clicking the CD player into life, Sgt. Shevchenko found himself cruising the city of Vancouver at the wild cadence of the banghra drums remixed with a familiar tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...&feature=related

Unreal...

Andy made sure that the scene was secure and that all of his people were accounted for. Once everything was ready, he hopped on his transport heading back to the campus.

After debriefing his teams, he sat down ad wrote up his after action report before cleaning his weapons and checking his kit. The maintainence was like a mantra to him and he felt the tension of the night flowing away. Before he went to bed he found the people guarding the wounded prisoners and asked to be informed when the HA had been treated and was likely to regain conciousness.

He left a note for the Commander:

Commander, after we interrogate the wounded HA, I'd like to "manufacture" some time alone with him. I'll reveal my affiliation with the HA and see if we can get more from him that way. We'll need to discuss exactly how we play the long game before I do this. See you in the morning.

Everything he could think of done, he went to bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #230):

Kelsey will want to latch onto the HA's radio, get the freq, check any possible modifications.  Radio, theirs.. this might be something, and she wants to check it out asap.  Then she'll sleep.. unless she actually finds something, in which case midnight oil will be burned.  Also, she will try to salvage what she can from the US Army sets, especially freq's and codes, and codebooks if they can be found.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #228):

"Right now, as long as he wears the "Death's Head", that fucker will be safe as kittens. If we break them, who knows?"

He looked relieved. "Good thing, I guess no one's going to bust up the party."

"I'm going to stay here and help secure the scene, see if we find anything else. See you back at the ranch, Taras."

She got ready to go back in, scouring the premises for anything they'd missed.

In reply to Tyler Gabriel Hope (msg #232):

"Ever since we found that body... I have had it in for those jerks.  And if he is the jerk in question.. well."  She smiles and shrugs  "I am just hoping all of them don't have this kind of inventory"

Clarke was bone-tired after the long night, but wanted to finish up with her personnel before heading back to UBC.

"Who knows, Kelsey?  They've had years with no one really minding the store, and now they are recruiting deserters to cross the border with military grade equipment." She sighed and shook her head.  "What this 'Angel' has may be the tip of the iceberg.  It would be amazing if we could solve the murder of our Jane Doe so quickly.  It would go a long way to winning friends with the community."

She turned to Andy, to respond to his comments.  "Andy, get some rest.  It will probably take a while for the prisoner to get out of surgery and recover enough to be coherent.  After that you are free to talk to him."

"Tyler, good job.  I'm sorry we weren't able to talk the Americans down, but I think they had chosen their path before we arrived.  There wasn't much we could do to turn them aside from it and still preserve the peace."