In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #45):

"Seth? I can answer that, to a degree." He looked at his notes.

"The Musqueam band's "Rez" (Reservation) is just across the North Arm from YVR, to the northwest. The Musqueam have kept them under direct observation as best they can, but it's hard because YVR is so big and the terminal buildings are in the middle-eastern of the island. Plus, there are dikes surrounding the island, so you kind of have to go uphill a little to look down on it, which increases the range a lot. Most of what we know is from Musqueam fishing boats.

"I also visited there last week, on a little recce/trading mission with some band members. The tolls they charge are pretty reasonable, about equivalent to $30 in gold or silver to pass through along the North Arm, $10 to go via the South Arm the other way. Like has been said, there are even more ways up-river through the Fraser delta but so far it's not economical for people to use them because they are shallower and full of hazards.

"The Billy Goats seem to have two working M113s, one an APC with a fifty-cal and another an ACAV with fifty-cal and two GPMGs in back. The APC is parked at the bunker on the Arthur Liang bridge they use to block river traffic. The ACAV is at the terminal buildings during the day, although it moves to "Burkeville" during the night."

"We think there's around a hundred personnel as part of the gang, give or take, probably mostly or all ex-military from what I could see, which wasn't much. They don't live in the terminal; to the southeast of the airport itself but still on the island is a subdivision (Burkeville). We think there's at least a hundred non-combatants."

The map showed that the Fraser flowed west down the Fraser Valley. Starting at New Westminster, it split around around larger Lulu Island, otherwise known as Richmond/Queensboro. YVR was on Sea Island, at the very mouth of the Fraser to the west of Richmond and separated from it by the South Arm. The North Arm of the Fraser separated YVR from the Musqueam reserve to the northwest.

The only bridge that was known to be open to traffic was the Morey Channel Bridge to Richmond, all others including the Arthur Laing, were closed to vehicle traffic by permanent barricades and blocked at the island end by concrete barriers, razor wire and a bunker made of sandbags and metal siding.

http://tinyurl.com/y4df4n3

"There has been one unconfirmed sighting of a group of four Hells Angels bikers coming onto the island. This was three days ago. We don't know how long they stayed, what they did or where they went, but there wasn't any firing heard."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:22, Wed 21 Apr 2010.

"Huh, one one threes."  Kelsey stabs the table idly with her pencil eraser

"Easy to defeat the armor on them, they are just a tin can.  Of course, it's Ma Deuce we are worried about.  Excellent weapon for a wide open space like that.  We have at least one of those ourselves, though, and those one one three's don't offer much protection from it, even at range."

She stabs the table a few more times with the pencil eraser then nods "If they are soldiers, then let soldiers parley, eh?"  She shrugs  "I'm no negotiator but I'll volunteer."

Seth was a bit surprised at the estimated number of enemy forces and the scale of the operation that would be needed to defeat them.

"If the Billy Goats have got a couple of working APCs and about a hundred guys, most of whom have military training, then diplomacy seems like a good starting point to me!  How many guys do we have?  What's being proposed here is more than a simple skirmish and is going to result in casualties on our side for certain."

He glanced around at the people in the room, doing a quick count of the number of people here.

"That doesn't mean that an assault is the wrong option but is it the only option?  From the sound of the tolls these guys ain't getting rich doing what they're doing so I wonder how they're feeding themselves.  Have they started farming any part of the airport?  There must be a lot of flat open land alongside the runways.  If they're just trying to get by and survive then it might be possible to recruit them."

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #48):

"People, let's not keep asking questions that have been answered already. A strike is not the only option, please remember that Chairperson Kwan has said we're willing to negotiate."

"Just because we plan for a strike contingency, that doesn't mean it's the only contingency. Bear in mind we may not have time to enter into lengthy negotiation. If the dikes fail, then innocent lives will be lost."

"We have about three hundred militia and police available, including three APCs, two of which have significant anti-armour weapons. That's not counting New Westminster, assuming we can get them on side, although we've yet to talk to them. They may have militia and police, plus they seem to have a Russian nuclear submarine tied up at the Quay. Of course, that may represent a whole set of other problems we know nothing about at this time."

He turned to Mac. Mac had not only visited VYR and the Free Market on Annacis Island in the interest of trade, but New Westminster. He'd brought word of a Russian nuclear strike submarine, the K-121 Kursk, tied up at the wharf and flying modified pre-Soviet naval and national insignia.

"Mac, any idea about agriculture?"

Mac shook his head at the question of agriculture on the island.

"No sir, no agriculture aside from truck gardens that we could see, and they don't fish more than a little.

"We think they take what they get from trades and make a run to Annacis Island every weekend."

"Sorry to keep going over things Sir," Seth replied to the older man with the mutton chops.  "I'd suggest that you have a three pronged approach running at the same time.  The first prong is another attempt at negotiation, even if that's just for the purposes of gathering intel.  The second prong is actual intel gathering from a team who possibly even make a landing on the island to do some scouting around.  The final prong is the preparations for a full out assault, involving gathering what armoured vehicles and artillery together you can.  All of those run at the same time and if the carrot doesn't work then the stick gets used!"

Kelsey shrugs a little, the moves to stab at the map with the eraser of the pencil.

"Quick solution?  Threaten the Dike then.  That will put it in sharp perspective for them."  She shrugs a little, then grins lazily  "If the dike is the chief focus of the negotiation then make it a focus, regardless."  She humms a few bars of Led Zepp's When the Levee Breaks and takes her seat, muttering just loud enough for Mac and maybe a few others to hear "Just so long as the dyke isn't the chief negotiator, that joke won't die for a while."

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #51):

Angela answered, "I'm glad we're all on-side about negotiations being reopened, it's certainly what I would prefer."

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #51):

Nodding to Seth, Belanger quickly added, "no need to apologise. Angela wanted to negotiate over a strike, and I'm glad people think it's a viable option and are eager to move that idea forward while we make other contingencies."

He thought about Kelsey's suggestion. "Wow, not bad, not bad! I don't know, they know we went there for salvage before and might be smart enough to guess whatever value the airport holds for anyone is gone if it's flooded. Then again, it's a good bluff, threatening the dikes like that."

Lt. Cdr Clarke-Sullivan jumped in.

"Well, we need to know a few things, then."

"Who wants to go? I can't, I'm under orders to stay at UBC and coordinate intelligence-gathering and communications."

"What do we want, what are we willing to give up? That would largely be up to UBC and we don't need to finalise that now, but of course we need to go in with a firm idea what we're trading for."

"What's our timeline for a possible strike? If negotiations can't drag on forever, then we need to set a cutoff date at some point. Should we tell the BGs they have a deadline of some kind, or if we don't think negotiations will work keep things going just to preserve the element of surprise? This would be the "Gulf War II" approach."

"As well, are we going to contact New Westminster (upstream from VYR), try and get them on side?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:52, Wed 21 Apr 2010.

"Honestly, I am betting what they are living off from is salvage.  So we are asking to take their lifeblood.  But.. if we point out the problems with the d.. levees, then they might be willing to look at it from a joining point of view.  Handled right, these folks could be a valuable addition to our community.  Was why I was thinking sending in a more.. normal sort of parlay group might be best?  Let soldiers talk nitty gritty and real with them?"

 To get out in the field again was better then staying around the base but he remembered the restored car out in the garage and almost wanted to stay to play around with that beast before duty overcame greed.

 I will take a ride up that way, still i might offer this cavet, Send one group to be the real talkers and another off to the side, close enough to see whats going down or to help extract the first team in case the billygoats want to get rowdy.

"Maybe send a few of us, like sortof unofficial like?"

She grins a little at Tyler "Sides, I want a closer look at that Cougar"

Fox addressed a few of Clarke-Sullivan's questions.  "I don't think we'd have to 'give up' much, Lt. Commander.  If these men are good soldiers, trying to provide for their non-com families, then we offer them asylum and jobs.  Have them join our forces.  Some of them could even still live in Burkeville, if they wanted to.

Or, if they want to retain their independence, we offer to transplant them.  We just have to make it clear that they can't stay at the airport and by themselves.  They need to give up one or both.

And if we need someone to get in touch with New West, send whoever it was that the BG's rejected.  They're not a para-military group, they'll talk to anyone we send."

In reply to Robert Duncan Fox (msg #59):

Belanger looked pleased at Fox's suggestion. It was logical, and Kwan had already said that some kind of amnesty could be on the table.

"I can tell you who went out to YVR before... it was Inspector (then Sergeant) Khandola and I, plus a salvage party. They assaulted us but thankfully, didn't kill us. Embarrassing, but we lived."

He continued, "unfortunately, as things have progressed here at UBC, neither one of us are free to travel to New West. Your team are the trouble-shooters, you're best suited for this mission, we believe, because there are reports of banditry on both SW Marine and Kingsway, the most direct routes from here to there. Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone by opening a land route to New West and talking to their leadership, while we conduct additional surveillance on YVR."

"I'm available to join in with one of the teams if you'd like me to," Seth contributed to the conversation.  "I'm obviously new to a lot of you though so I'm happy to go with whichever team you feel needs an extra guy."

He smiled slightly before continuing.

"I ain't much of a technical guy though."

Kelsey grins widely

"That sounds like a mission for my little Lovin Spoonful  The finishing touches on her command net and turret should be ready now, care to take her for a spin."

Unauthorized, but present on the port 'bow' of their apc is the fancifully painted 'lovin spoonful' and picture of a spoonful of bullets above the scrolling.  Likely, none of the team have noticed, unless they have been checking up on it.

Gentlemen, I want you to think for a moment who is the enemy across the board. They are military types like us.

Taras style was always in the manner of an experienced chess player. Patient and with a a problem solving, quasi fatherly tone.

If we start negotiations they will smell rat. They occupy the airport because is an strategic location and they know well how to protect it. The whole area is a large base. Battalion size i would say with good OPs, checkpoints over bridges well protected and a reaction force. I can believe that they also posses their own contingency plans if their formation and training is good. They are smart enough to keep a low taxation system and not to favor rough treatment but they remain a threat. From their position they effectively block communications with the South and therefore the border with US and seems like they are directly involved with trade with criminal elements.

He knew that in the mind of the concurrence he was challenging the negotiations. But that was not his true intention after all.

Now think what would you do if you were their Commander...Do you really think that they are going to drop the weapons and let be "re-located" and provided with food and shelter after being the overlords of the largest airport facility and fuel depot in the entire Western Canada? I will certainly conduct a counter reconnaissance operation. By now they should be already aware of our strength thanks to their friendship with the Hell's Angels. Based on this intel they could attack first or do whatever in order to disrupt our effort.

"Never underestimate your enemy. Especially the NATO type" was one of the true lessons that Taras learned through the war. His decimated unit paid a big price in blood up North.

If negotiations are to be open I recommend to be strictly firm in our offers and do not compromise any future military operation. I wouldn't give much time between a clear demand from them and a even clearer response from us.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #63):

"Sounds like a white flagged vehicle in front of an invasion force.  You can either try civil, nice, contact and offer a place in society, or you can smack them in the face in society and possibly establish a 5th column within us, considering their size and population.  I'd think more sincere negotiation might be the best action, with a prepared armed response ready, like you say.  I think we should try to play nice, because these sound like good people, they are probably realizing now that we are backed and part of what they might want to be a part of, so let's give em a chance, at least."

"It sounds to me that you need more intel about the Airport and the Billy Goats set up before you try any assault.  It's a large open area for a hundred men to patrol and they won't all be on duty at the same time.  Therefore there are bound to be bits of it that aren't actively patrolled and gaps that we could slip through.  How about several of us do a recce of the island tonight to see what the lay of the land is."

He didn't know many of the people in the room so he couldn't suggest who that recce patrol would comprise of but there looked to be enough people with appropriate training present.

"They have the bridges onto the island tied up with blockades but do they actively patrol the rest of the island?  Have they mined it or set out trip flares?  There's a risk of tipping your hand in case the recce patrol is discovered but it's probably worth that risk to find out more about their set up.  We might even be able to grab a prisoner or two to interrogate about the defences and the best levers to use in a negotiation.  I mean what's the state of medical care amongst the Billy Goats compared to here at UBC?  If they've got someone in need of serious medical attention then helping that person might benefit us in a negotiation.  What do you think?  Does a recce patrol sound like a good idea?"

"A recce patrol sounds like a very good idea." Andy said, "In fact I'd suggest several. The first should be by scuba units in the river to ensure we actually can use one of the beaches to land on, if that's not feasible then all bets are off on Plan A anyway. After that, a land recce would be good but I'd advise against deliberately trying for prisoners. A HUMINT operation of some sort needs to be arranged too, although I'm not fully sure how that might pan out. Does the Faculty have someone on the inside yet?"

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #63):

"I can see your point, Taras. In their place, would we assume the government is negotiating in good faith? After our clearing the park and scaring the HAs from downtown, they could think they're next. That could work in our favour, if they think we're dealing from a position of strength. If nothing else, if they are now in league with the HAs, then their level of alertness will go up. As of this time, out "Coast Watchers" haven't seen regular patrols of the outlying areas of the Island, just movement around the YVR terminal, the toll booth, the one bridge to Richmond and Burkeville."

"One thing to take into account is there are huge mats of logs in the river leftover from the before the war. Some of the rafts are still chained together and intact, but a lot of those logs have broken free and choked the shoreline all up and down the Fraser. That makes beaches like MacDonald Beach unusable unless cleared."

"The Musqueam use boats to clear all the loose logs from their own shoreline and Celtic Shipyard. They use the logs for building, firewood, and so on. The Musqueam haven't touched the opposite shore, so it's still littered with debris and logs. If we try some kind of amphibious landing, then any beach or shoreline will have to be cleared of loose timber."

"I don't suppose we could try a little radio contact?  Think it'd hurt?  If they really are ex Canadian and US forces, they might just be old comrades of someone's?  Heck, there might be some folks from the Canned Scots in there!"

The discussion was heating up. The conclusion Taras felt was going to be obvious so he wanted to point out some details about join operations:

If you allow me I'd like to take some time to clarify the Red Army night capability:

As a senior Lt. in a Combat Engineer unit I was usually attached to support a tank battalion of a Motor Rifle Regiment belonging to the 62nd MRD. Night operations were normal activity. Same drills and formations are kept. Usually darkness is used to exploit the element of surprise and avoid surveillance detection. Our equipment was mostly dated but still useful. Our main tank is the T-62 in a modernized version. Most of the T-72s and better models were doing the fighting in China and Europe. Most of our equipment is active Infrared. It can be easily detected and it is not utilized for targeting but mostly for driving and navigation. If our units were compromised then artificial illumination is used. Also white light can be used if worst comes. My unit mark routes with colored lights and flares. That includes beach heads. Night orientation is helped by the use of gyros in the vehicles and following of given azimuths.

Officers are fond of extensive use of infrared binoculars and there is also a few night vision goggles for the scouts. I don't think there should be any problem to operate at night if necessary. Just to clarify.

Since this chapter is named "Consolidation" I will have Taras to work upon those lines in terms of leadership and organization.

...since we have come a long way since the arrival of the team from the Island in the GB Church and the beginning of the operations I suppose now is a good time to consolidate the structure of the ranks and formalize a staff. The capabilities of the Government had been vastly improved with the alliances of many communities and it is necessary to put everything in order before we move forward.

Canadian Forces, Survivalists, Natives, ex Soviet combattants, Mounties, militias, The Steve Miller band...All of them were in a good need of structuring to function properly. Numbers were growing. Effectiveness shouldn't be lost.

As a contingency plan, the takeover the airport will require a good deal of coordination. I'm afraid that a positive outcome will result in the Hell's Angels taken a firm stance against us and we should be prepared for this.

Shevchenko went to propose the new roles:

To form an effective Head Quarters staff we already have an overall Commander in Lt.-Cmdr. Clarke and a Executive Officer in Mr. Khandola. Now we need an Adjutant responsible for preparing the personnel estimate and effect of our human resources in operations. I believe Mr. Belanger is the most apropiate for this matter. He will also maintain strength on the ranks, take care of casualties and help with the processing of POW. His experience will be most valuable in maintaining unit morale, discipline and overall Law and order.

What we really need now is a dedicated Intelligence Officer that will be the driving force for all the operations. Without intel we cannot plan anything. The role includes maintaining current intel gathering, developing and interpreting information Determine likely and suspected enemy targets and prepare possible operations: This position is currently open...

Since we are really short staffed I'm taking charge of Operations and training. We already conducted some under my command and they appeared to be succesful. I will be closely interacting with the intel officer and other staff members. I can also take care of the logistics involved in the operations since our strength still small enough to be manageable.

Another open position is for a formal Civil & Military operations Officer. This will relate to the civilian affairs and will mostly interact with our Government officials to ensure that our operations are consistent with the lawful authority. Up for grabs folks!

Finally we are going to need a fire support officer. So far I'd trust Capt. Bezhov for this role. He has the proper military background and remains commander of the most powerful rocket system in our hands.

This is the minimum bare bones military command structure that I can think of. Once the staff is completed we can start operation in every aspect: From recce to mech assault, civilian reconstruction, etc. All of this operations will be under approval of superior command in the island (DRI) and civilian government.