Thursday 19 April 2001
Game Time: 0600 Lima

Just before 0500 the starry night sky began to barely lighten over the eastern end of the Fraser Valley.

Many of the Faculty (as the community at UBC was called) were already stirring, as it was time for another day in the fields. The few Stickmen prisoners that hadn't been released still slept.

The personnel of the DRI detachment known as URIEL were already up and going, having gotten breakfast and showered (hot water being available at their billet), then making a final check on the vehicles, their weapons, going for a jog, or whatever was their personal bent.

Team muster was at 0600, departure from the start line was 0645. In the CF considerable pride was taken in never jumping off late, and there was no reason to this time.

Meeting them in the briefing room was CDR Clarke-Sullivan, Provost Belanger, the 2 Militia that were coming along (Privates Sheeler and Droz), the 2 RCMP Auxiliaries they'd been assigned (Constables Chau and Bajorek). As well, the technician from the detachment's signals section, Private Mahanadi, was also there.

Under the circumstances, everyone was dressed for the upcoming mission (combats for the Militia, RCMP patrol dress for the Mounties). Heads were bare and everyone was unarmed except for sidearms (on the Mounties).

Chris woke late, showered and shaved.

After dressing, he grabbed some breakfast, joking around with Master McRae, Sergeant Fox, the yanks (Tyler, Keith and Gunny Conklin).

At the meeting, he yawned and tried to look focused. He was actually interested in the mission, but it'd been a long time since he'd needed to get up so early!

As per usual, Rachel was up at 0500.

She went for her morning run, cajoling Kelsey and anyone else who wanted to into joining her. When done, she showered and dressed.

At breakfast she sat with Inspector Kham Khandola, the local RCMP detachment commander, and the other Mounties. Khandola was a fierce-looking middle-aged Sikh man with dark skin, a neatly-kept long grey beard and RCMP blue turban. As usual, his uniform was spotless.

In the meeting, she was dressed differently than the RCMP Auxiliaries. She was wearing her dark ERT assault jumpsuit (with RCMP/GRC on the back) and body armour, with a black ERT helmet sitting on the table in front of her.

Rob seemed a little uncomfortable, but for once hadn't shown up to breakfast fully strapped other than his sidearm.

He was tasked for airport surveillance today, but he would follow the team partway down SW Marine and would form part of the reaction element that would be supporting them. So it was important that he attend the pre-mission team meeting to be fully in the loop.

 Following his normal routine he had done his jog and then shower and shave, before setting his rifle into the apc. With a quick stop at the mess hall for chow, he found he was back at the vechicles with 10 minutes to spare.

 Spotting Kelsey, he smiles at her, Good day for a drive, isnt it?.

Seth slept deeply, the result of a comfortable bed and being able to relax for once while someone else provided security.  He awoke with an alarm going off, feeling slightly groggy and initially confused as to exactly where he was.  After a few moments of uncertainty he woke up enough to remember where he was, why he was there and what he was supposed to be doing that day.  Now fully compos mentis Seth started getting himself ready for the operation, dragging himself out of bed and into the shower.

A short time later he joined the others for breakfast before returning to his room to gather his final bits of equipment and to clean the firearms he was taking one last time.  He arrived at the briefing room shortly before 06:00, fully armed and looking like a soldier preparing for an extended combat mission rather than a day's patrol.

Seth was dressed in an US Army issue woodland pattern BDU and combat boots with CF body armour over the top and Soviet green tiger camouflage chest harness on top of the body armour.  The chest harness looked to contain a few grenades and a number of curved mags for the RPK he carried, though the RPK was currently fitted with a drum magazine and Seth appeared to have a second drum mag in a pouch strapped on his back.  He was also wearing his webbing belt with his pistol on his right hip, his radio and canteen on the left and a butt pack to round it all out.

His appearance was completed by a couple of affectations.  He wore the same green Keffiyeh he had been dressed in when he had arrived the previous day, had a pair of goggles on his forehead ready to pull down should they be necessary and had a set of knee and elbow pads to protect him a little when diving around.  Finally the strap of his kevlar helmet was hooked over his radio, ready for when they set out and it was time to put it on.

Seth took a seat next to Mac in the briefing room and nudged him when his old friend yawned.  "You're getting soft!" he commented with a grin, before clouting Mac round the shoulder in a friendly manner.

He was looking forward to the opportunity to prove his worth to the DRI leadership and those in the patrol he hadn't known prior to his arrival.  The patrol sounded like it was going to encounter criminal elements who were extorting taxes for passage past certain points and the question was simply whether those criminals would decide to engage the patrol or melt away at the threat the patrol represented.  Only time would tell but Seth was half hoping that the criminals would try something stupid!

Kelsey is up the same time as Rachel, a fanatic herself about morning runs, turning it into a bit of playtime with exercise with her antics at times during the run.  She lays on the floor of the main room in the female apartment afterwards, cooling down, and showers after Rachel, also headed to breakfast, lagging several minutes behind Rachel.

She was dressed in her combats, body armor over that, and her glengary carried, her kevlar hanging off her kit.



Kelsey detours with her food and sits across from Tyler with a big smile on her face, the gregarious Canadian Master Corporal looking fresh and healthy, carrying a clean scent as well.  Her kevlar ends up upside down on the table between them, her glengary dropped inside it. "Tyler!  Morning!  It's a bit chilly to just be sitting in the wind, but at least it's clear."

Taras woke up and after a quick breakfast contacted the University for a meeting with the hydrologists. Dressed in his RCMP uniform he also contacted McRae in order to prepare the response team. The BTR was ready for inspection since early morning. He will "introduce" the peculiarities of this vehicle to the Master Sniper.

Andy got his team ready to go and then followed Taras over to the BTR.

"OK," he said, "talk me through what this monster can do."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #9):

Rob came out to get Andy.

"Sorry to break this up, chums! Master McRae here's going along with the recon, I'm going to be the one with the snipers setting up an OP overlooking the Arthur Liang, tomorrow."

He shook hands hello with the men.

"Andy, they want you inside for a bit before ya'all take off. Have a good trip now, y'hear?"

Kelsey will shakes hands as well.  She has a very firm grip.

After Andy went inside, Taras went into the ins and outs of the BTR. The wheeled carrier was impressive in many ways, fast and maneuverable. The rebuilt diesel truck engine was more reliable then the BTR-70's original petrol engines, a noted weakness of the design.

This old girl had 300 rounds remaining for the main KPVT 14.5mm gun, plus the full 2000 round compliment for the coaxial PKT. For the recent operation this carried had also been modified to include a "people catcher" on the front, water cannon on the turret and flexible rubber skirts to prevent tire punctures or accidentally running over people.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #11):

"Morning, Ma'am," he said in his soft Texan accent.

The Marine wasn't by nature a gregarious man and he was uncomfortable with women soldiers, although the US had relaxed it's rules when the draft was reintroduced during the start of the war in Europe.

Rob addressed Andy and Kelsey, "we should all be getting along now, briefing's gonna start soon."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:44, Sat 29 May 2010.

Kelsey grins at the soft accent and nods.  She was well comfortable with male soldiers, fitting in well with the boys for the most part, even when setting herself apart from them at times.

 "Roger that... and that's Corporal, Master Corporal, Kelsey, or Champlain or some such thing, but not ma'm.  I work for a living, so don't forget that." 

she winks at Rob, then turns to Chris "Mac", throwing an arm over his shoulders and weighing him down with herself, kit, and armor.

 "Hey Mac, how's my favorite guy this morning?"

Maybe Kelsey is getting the rest of her goofing off out of the way, showing off to the new guys.. or something.

Andy got out after the tour of the BTR, "That's neat, so when are we getting this show on the road?"

Jokingly, Gunny Conklin sketched a salute towards Kelsey, smiling a little. "Yes sir, Master Corporal, sir!" This was as close to humour as he got, apparently.

After the kibbitzing was done, they were ready to mount up.

The only instructions they had was not to wear battle helmets unless they were getting into combat. The idea was to project a less combative image. So berets, boonie hats, kheffiyahs, glengarries and so on were recommended.

Aside from the LAV and the Jeep (both with Canadian flags flying from the aerials, which Fox/McRae/Delaney all found very familiar from UN and MF Peacekeeping missions) there was a white TV van parked outside as well.

Standing beside the van was Tricia, the local CBC reporter (red-headed and gorgeous). In front of her, framing the vehicles behind her in the shot, was her driver/cameraman Terry, a black man with shaved head. They were doing the standard "intro" part of a segment.

From past experience, this meant that they were going to have company along in the form of the Fifth Estate.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:04, Sat 29 May 2010.

Very good, then! This is where we going and what we are going to do, gentlemen!

This was the patrol order moment for Taras and the response team:

One of our response jeep of the militia will be going with the negotiations team, escorting them at the rear end of the convoy.

They will proceed from the University grounds and all the way to Connaught Heights at the Queensborough Bridge.

The Sgt. was pointing at the map the different locationsto both Conklin and the selected drivers of the ERT fleet.

They will stop there and backtrack using the Northern branch of S.E. Marine Drive instead, they will recon this route, see if its clear and will wait for us at the junction of S.E. Marine Drive and Kerr St. That will be our Rally Point (RP); Everett Crowley Park. We will locate our reaction force there as a forward operation provisional base.

In the event of any emergency we will proceed at top speed using the chosen part of Marine Drive and into our next RP: 6th Av. and 18th St. in New Westminster. Further instructions will be given depending on the situation development to fit our approach.

Every man on the team should remember the Rules of Engagement. I highly recommend to carry as much as non-lethal help as possible. We'll need CS and other crowd control. Don't forget your masks.

I'll be the leading element of the response but I will stay always with the vehicle. If dismounting takes place Mr. Conklin will be in charge and will direct the rest of the militia on the ground as well.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:23, Sun 30 May 2010.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #14):

"Just fine! Man, it's too early. Fuckin' jogging? Shit. No fuckin' way, Kel."

She knew this was bullshit, Mac had grown up on a farm, so early mornings were no stranger to him at all. If anything, war broke down his usual habits.

Mac was dressed in his combats, Kevlar vest, with FN and sidearm. Shaggy scrim-covered helmet attached to the back of his webbing.

Andy listened carefully to the Sergeant's briefing, taking notes as he did.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #19):

This was the planned outbound route of the main body.

http://tinyurl.com/36huykb

The only real instructions was to wear non-helmet headgear, and that there would be a government TV crew accompanying them on their trip.

Andy nodded as he took notes, everything was clear and the opening moves of the mission should be reasonably straightforward. He briefed his team and got them ready to roll. He strapped his helmet to his webbing and pulled on a floppy bush hat. He loaded his rifle on the jeep and readied his carbine.

Keith awakened by the sound of the alarm and by the sounds of his new team members stirring about and getting themselves prepared for the ealry morning mission.  He spent the rest of the previous evening after the BBQ going over his weapons and equipment that he would be taking with him and leaving behind in the hands of Alain Belanger and his people.

After taking another quick shower, Keith dressed and carried his gear outside to where he could see if the others were wearing or carrying their kits with them.  He decided to put on his webbing and gear, slinging his FN-FNC in front of himand throug on his Marine Corps official 'lid' and hanging his kevlar helmet over one of his magazine pockets for the time being.  He made it a point to say good morning to Seth and McRae since that's where that's he's felt his closest connection (so far) to anyone here on this team.

"And when we have to run with all this gear on, who do you think be the most winded, eh Mac?  Bet my shots are steadier?"    She laughs, and lets him go, eying the gunny a moment after the joke, but not replying.

After all, corporals actually run the army.

After exiting the briefing room Seth had made a point of checking the vehicle he was going to be travelling in and the seat he had been assigned.  He checked how easy it would be to fire his RPK from the seat and what he could brace it on to give himself the maximum recoil compensation.

Returning to stand with all of the others, Seth nodded towards the camera crew.

"Keith," he said with a grin to his most recent companion but loud enough for others to hear, "this is going to be a little different to the last few patrols we've been on!  Things must be good round here if they've got a working TV station!"

Andy and his team left the briefing when it was over and got into their jeep. He did a final equipment check and then waited for the convoy to get rolling.

Keith looks at the camera crew with amazement that there was one that was still in existence and with working equipment.  He turns to Seth and asks him,  "They're actually going with us?  Hope they're not all over us like they were in the Gulf back in the early 90's.  Say Seth, what kind of mission is this anyway?  Are we going looking for trouble or just taking a look around?"

Rob asked Taras,

"Hey, you want me to be in that jeep? If they run into trouble when they're coming back alone, they're could be in a world of hurt. I can function in that circumstance, could be the difference between living and dead for them."

"You could take an ATV, once I RV with you at Kerr I could take it and head back to the OP. Or someone could run me down."

He was wearing his full kit, with some gear like his Ghillie suit was stowed on the front and cargo bin of the ATV he'd been assigned.


SVD + 3 Mags
MP5SD3 + 6 Mags
Beretta M9 + 3 Mags
3x M67 Frag, 2x M8 Smoke, 2x CS, 1x FB, 2x Claymore
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:12, Thu 03 June 2010.

0645

Everyone was loaded up. Vehicle engines were turned over.

Kelsey did the radio checks, and verified everything was functioning properly. Fox had already verified that the LAV was good to go, McRae had the Jeep YJ covered.

The reaction team under Taras was by the BTR, Suburban and UAZ-467 jeep. Eight black-suited ERT (like Rachel) members were milling about, armed with C7s, C8s, MP5s and one carrying an RPG-7 and 3-round backpack (with a buddy carrying a backpack with an additional 3 reloads). There were another ten militia, crew for the BTR and the Jeep/SUV.

Conklin was there too, he was leading the 4-person sniper detachment that would be conducting surveillance of the airport. They would be travelling in 2x 4-wheel ATVs, parked there as well. At the moment he was talking to Taras. He had an SVD in a drag bag slung over his shoulder, MP5SD6 hanging across his chest, and sidearm. The sniper/reconnaissance detachment were taking a different route to their OP via the back trails through the Musqueam reserve.

Other militia detachments were assembling there for their own daily assignments.

In reply to Robert A. Conklin (msg #27):

Kelsey finishes the radio checks, then waves lazily over to Conklin "We all have been functioning in this Gunny.  No nuggets in this jeep, eh?"  She winks and pats her trusty C8.

In reply to Robert A. Conklin (msg #27):

The Ukrainian was finishing of tightly packing the recently checked gas mask and packing it in its canvas bag:

Robert, a professional hand will be most welcome. Our intelligence over the area is spotty but seems like there is a technical vehicle moving around. At the very first sight, report it ASAP and get out without breaking contact completely if you can. There is only one cleared route and we can sandwich the bad guys between the BTR from the left and the LAV from the right. It is a rather straight line over the map so we have an advantage in weapons range and armor protection. Trust your instincts.


Taras pat his shoulder: Nice rifle by the way!



Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #30):

"Outstanding! Yeah, she's a nice rifle. Seen me through a lot. Okay, I'll meet you at this location, I'll be on foot." He pointed out the intersection where he'd be waiting.

He quickly made some arrangements, and he and his detachment were gone before the convoy was underway. He would meet the Suburban when the convoy was passing by 70th and Oak, as that was just up the street. In the mean time, he would get the OP set up (in fact, he'd already been there that morning and cleared the location ahead of time).


SVD + 3 Mags
MP5SD3 + 6 Mags
Beretta M9 + 3 Mags
3x M67 Frag, 2x M8 Smoke, 2x CS, 1x FB, 2x Claymore

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #30):

At Fox's command, Rachel pulled out of the parking lot, signalling as she turned onto the street, then laughed at herself.

Behind them, at the wheel of the Lovin' Spoonful, Const. Bajorek pulled out of the parking lot and followed the jeep. The white CBC van followed, and then the reaction force (Suburban, BTR, UAZ) bringing up the rear.

The small convoy left with the brilliant dawn sunlight in their eyes. They were going unbuttoned, so the Jeeps had their tops down, SUVs with windows open and heads out of the hatches of the LAV.

There were several vehicles per block stalled along the route past the perimeter. They had been pulled of the side of the road to form at least one clear lane down the middle. It was a little unnerving for some, as they provided plenty of cover along the route and places to hide potential IEDs. Closest to UBC, the vehicles had been completely cleared, farther out they were still there, but partially or completely stripped. (It looked like the closer they were to UBC, the more salvaging had been done.)

Conklin had gone on ahead with the sniper detachment about 30 minutes beforehand. By the time the other vehicles were heading towards the RV point at 70th and Oak, they received radio confirmation from him the sniper detachment's OP was in position and he was waiting for them. They turned off SW Marine to deke up to 70th to cut across Oak and Granville through Marpole. This way they couldn't easily be seen by anyone on or near the BG's OPs on the Arthur Laing bridge and the positions on Sea Island.

"Nothing to it, they're all set. There's some kind of pre-war government environmental observation station on the roof of the hotel, there." Conklin mounted up the SUV and they continued back down towards Marine.

Near where 70th merged with SW Marine, they saw a party salvaging vehicles in the parking lot of a burned-out Dennys. Tires and a few parts were piled in a hand-cart but this long after, the pickings were mighty slim. They had the proper ID and authorisation, so they were checked and the team continued east into the rising sun.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:47, Thu 03 June 2010.

Before leaving UBC, Rachel checked her gas mask and weapons. The drive out was beautiful and refreshing.

After picking up Gunny Conklin, Rachel slowed to a stop by the group of scavengers. She waited for the RCMP Auxiliaries to check papers, resting her hand on the steering wheel.

"Nice day for a drive, eh, Kel?"

She was wearing body armour over a black ERT jumpsuit, but instead of her helmet she was wearing an RCMP/GRC ball cap.


MP5A3 + 6 Mags, S&W 5946 + 2 Mags
2x CS grenades, 2x FB

"A litle chill, but sunny and great company, Rach."


MCpl Kelsey Champlain, CF
Riding Air/Rear guard in the jeep
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #34):

Rachel smiled in response, then started taking pictures of the area with her camera. It was a new kind of camera, a "digital" one, that had just started coming out before the war. It didn't use film but "flash cards" that could be transferred directly to computers.


MP5A3 + 6 Mags, S&W 5946 + 2 Mags
2x CS grenades, 2x FB
Sitting in a Jeep at 70th and SW Marine
Taking photos and talking

Over the second axis, between wheels 3 and 4, the turret was waiting for Taras. It was armed with a KPVT (14,5mm) and a PKT coaxial (7.62mm. The turret was identical to that of the BTR-60PB or the BRDM-2.

Let me take a look...

Adjusting the seat and sights was next. It was the same impression as peeking out through the periscope of a submarine. The reticles helped somehow to estimate distances. Two different stadias indicated ranges for both the 14,5 mm HMG and the co-axial MG.





Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2
This message was last edited by the player at 06:07, Sat 05 June 2010.

Andy sat in the rear of the jeep and asigned his spotter to the seat next to the driver, "You watch the 90 degrees from straight ahead and to your right."

He put the second sniper behind this spotter and got him to cover the next 90 degrees of the right side arc. Andy took the rear left arc and the last sniper took the forward right arc.

Andy looked over at Fox and said, "The jeep's angles are covered, do you want me to assign sectors to the other vehicles?"

"As far as I can gather," replied Seth, "it's a show of force, designed to demonstrate that the Federal government is bringing law and order back to Vancouver.  I'd say that we're looking for trouble as well, hoping to find some bandits who are stupid enough to engage us.  I reckon that they might melt away though based on the time of day and the level of threat we pose.  We'll see though!"  He grinned as he finished his reply.

---

Seth covered the arc he had been assigned in the jeep, carefully observing the urban landscape they were travelling through.  It was very different to what he had been used to for most of the last couple of years - the combination of an urban environment and the presence of significant numbers of friendly civilians was going to take a little getting used to.  Seth made a point of doing so and found that training and experience of patrolling urban areas returned to him.


Seth
In the jeep, watching his assigned arc.
RPK with brass catcher (75/75 rnd drum) - held
 - 1x 75 rnd drum in pouch
 - 8x 40 rnd mags in chest harness
HP-35 Pistol (13/13 rnd mag) - in holster
 - 2x 13 rnd mag - in webbing pistol mag pouch
C13 Fragmentation Grenade x2
M18 Smoke Grenade x2

After checking the gunner position the burly Sargent moved to the front and next to the driver. He was resting his hand over the lid of the hatch and dangling his legs over the compartment. A borrowed young Moldavian from Bulat's crew appeared to be at the wheel. The rest of the ERT was quick fastening to the hull for a shotgun ride on a perfect day. Goggles were covering the eyes under the tactical helmets and main weaponry rested on the slings readily available.

Get ready comrades! A strage feeling invaded Taras. A Red Army vehicle with moldavian driver and yet a canadian troupe of mounties. The revvs were going up.



Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

This message was last edited by the player at 23:03, Sat 05 June 2010.

The check-stop went well.

As the RCMP Auxiliaries from the LAV dismounted to check IDs, the ERT deployed around the BTR. Rachel took some digital pictures from inside the Jeep YJ.

The CBC van stopped, and the cameraman exited to video the proceedings, framing the hulking armoured vehicles and their heavily-armed crews.

There were no problems, and everyone mounted up for the next bound to Kerr and SW Marine.

SW Marine was a major through-fare and easy to travel. A lane and a bit had been cleared for government and emergency vehicles, so they could travel at around 50km/h, a nice safe speed. The boulevard was in low ground between the Fraser on the right, and higher ground on the left, paralleling both. The high ground was mostly residential with some retail and hotels/motels, with light industrial developments on the right between them and the river.

Within about 4km they approached the Knight Street Bridge, another connection between Vancouver on the left and Richmond to the right. The bridge crossed above Marine on an overpass, and there were on and off-ramps connecting it. Off to their right in the middle of the Fraser between Richmond and Vancouver was Mitchell Island, a long thin strip of land full of junk yards and sawmills. The cut timber that clogged the banks of the lower Fraser had likely broken free from the log rafts that had been anchored here before the war.

After the Jeep checked it out, they continued under the Knight Street bridge on their bound to the Reaction Force's laager point at Everett Crowley Park. They turned left on Kerr and started uphill, with the park on a bit of a hilltop to their right (to the east) and the Fraserview Golf Course to their left (the west).

They turned right and entered the small service road to the park. There were still some trees in the middle of the park and the underbrush had overgrown most of the open areas, but there were also a lot of trees that had been harvested for firewood on the outskirts.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:12, Sun 06 June 2010.

Everett Crowley Park, a 40 hectare (100 acre) parcel of land in southeast Vancouver, was a unique place for recreation, nature appreciation, and wildlife habitat in the city before the bomb. Now it was more a wild bush than anything else. In fact, Everett Crowley Park was Vancouver's 5th largest park, but was Vancouver's main landfill (the Kerr Road dump) from 1944 to 1967. The wheel of karma spinning again...

Located near Kerr Rd. and Marine Way, the park rests on an escarpment and looks out over the North arm of the Fraser River. Nature trails and walking paths offer magnificent views of farms and fields in Richmond, and on a clear day the Gulf Islands and Mount Baker are visible. It was a perfect spot to camp. Away from any form of civilized life and yet so close of the main road of Marine Drive to deliver a quick response. After arriving to a suitable spot, Taras ordered the troops to stand and delivered some further instructions.

Gentlemen! We are on a hunting trip! We are aware of danger lurking out there. We want to have clear our routes in case we have to rush to help our friends going over New Westminster. If that technical vehicle shows up anywhere we will respond in kind. We will be aggressive and we will destroy them. There is a window of time for our jeep to come back. If they find trouble we can recall the LAV and begin our hunt from both sides of the road and finish them off. They are known criminals and we'll show no mercy. Ourah pobieda! Keep your eyes open on the approaches and be ready to move at any moment notice. That's all.


Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #41):

Once upon a time, the park had been a dairy farm. In 1944, it was donated to the city, which turned it into the Kerr St. Landfill. It was turned into the current configuration in 1967.

The road access was on the northwest side of the park. To get to the escarpment entailed some almost off-roading through over-grown trails. Small trees and saplings were now sprouting in what were once pathways more than wide enough to admit parks board vehicles.

Once at the lookout, the view was well-worth it.

It was a clear day with no pollution, of course. Off in the southern distance in Washington they could clearly see a huge snow-covered mountain, Mt. Baker, clouds or mist wreathing the peak. As well, they could indeed also see almost to Vancouver Island beyond the Gulf Islands to the west.

The park held other surprises. Also in the northwest corner was some kind of parks board storage yard for sand. Parked there, under a makeshift shed of plywood, corrugated metal and plastic siding was a tow truck (Mundie's Towing on Edmunds in Burnaby). It was parked on blocks with a missing engine, but this would be very useful for UBC once a new power plant was installed.

There was a little more reorganisation needed, then the advance detachment would depart. This detachment would include the Jeep YJ, the LAV, the CBC TV van and the Suburban with part of the reaction force (which would accompany them partway, then return). If the Suburban got into trouble on the way back they probably wouldn't be able to hear transmissions from Conklin's personal radio, although he could hear the BTR's and LAV's more powerful broadcasts.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:58, Sun 06 June 2010.

Andy went over to Fox and said, "OK, potential bandit country ahead so we need to get frosty. I'd suggest we lead with the jeep with the LAV following at a sensible distance. The TV van can follow that with the SUV as tail end charlie."

He discussed his views with the convoy commander quietly and discretely, whilst their ranks were equivalent, this wasn't meant to be a pissing contest, just a discussion of options that Fox might want to take.

"As for SOPs," he continued, "everyone covers their arcs and we don't allow ourselves to bunch up. In an ambush situation we should have two SOPs: SOP One is if we come under fire but no vehicle is immobilised, in that case we blow through at best speed with guns blazing. Once we're out of the kill zone we should regroup and decide on our exact response."

"SPO Two is if a vehicle is immobilised," Andy said, "in that case, the scout vehicle will exit the zone and double back whilst the LAV executes a recovery. If it's the scout vehicle that is immobilised, the SUV will perform the flanking manouvre and the LAV will still perform extraction. If it's the LAV that's hit, both the lead and trail vehicles will flank, the TV van will run for the hills and we'll try to flush the ambushers before the LAV crew get into serious trouble."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #43):

"Master McRae, what are our arcs? You told us what you'd do if the sniper detachment was here, but it's not."

She looked a little puzzled, and wanted clarification.

"There are four of us: you, me, Kel and Seth. I'm driving, you're in the passenger seat. Seth is up behind at the roll bar and Kelsey's sitting in back."

"How about I'll watch front, you watch right and up, Seth watches left and up, and Kel watches rear?"

"That works for me."

For the time that he was attached to the reaction team's suburban, Rob organised the militia that he was riding with the same way.

He would drive and keep a lookout to the front, the passenger would watch right, the passenger behind the driver would cover the right, and the last passenger would keep an eye on the rear.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:07, Sun 06 June 2010.

"We should do the same for the Lovin' Spoonful, Sergeant," Mac said to Fox.

"I say, ah, me and the driver (Bajorek) cover the forward ground and higher arcs. 2 riders (Sheeler, Droz) check left and up, 2 more (Chau and Tremblay) check right and up. Hope has rear watch. You as team commander be lookin' everywhere and to see the convoy is keeping together. Everyone rides inside with hatches open, I dunno how safe it'll be to ride on top. The SWAT (ERT) guys have practice, we don't.

"Just a suggestion, Sergeant."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Sun 06 June 2010.

"That's fine, carry on," Andy said.

 Glancing at the back of the apc he smiles grimly, Can do boss, always want to see where i have been, plus i will be the first one out to play tag with the bad guys.

The view was not bad at all. Taras trusted his instincts reading maps and this time it paid off. There was a commanding height giving a good lookout and excellent ground for communications. Any shooting sounds would be also easily propagated as well as any flare going up.

Keith smiles at Seth, "So, we're just beating the bushes so we see what comes out?  I can live with that."

Tremblay
FN-FNC [30/30]
Holstered Browning HP [13/13]
Kevlar Vest (Worn)
Kevlar Helmet (Hanging on web gear)
Riding in Kodiak
This message was last edited by the player at 22:46, Tue 08 June 2010.

Seth smiled and then replied.  "We've done that kind of thing before a couple of times."  He looked about to launch into a story reminiscing about a previous operation but seemed to decide that now was not the right time.  Focusing on the mission at hand was the order of the day!



Seth nodded in reply.  "Makes sense to me," he added in confirmation.

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

Fox called in a SITREP and radio check. He noted the presence of the tow truck for later pick up by a salvage party.

After vehicle assignments were made, he looked at the map, frowning.

"I don't like that intersection at all. It's less than a klick away from here as the crow flies. There's the rest of the park, then a subdivision, then Boundary (which is in a cut through the escarpment we're standing on). The intersection of Boundary and Marine Way is at the bottom of the cut. There is a bridge with the "old" SE Marine that crosses it above and to the north of the intersection by about 200-240 metres.

"Driving down Marine Way, you kind of curve to the left and there is forest on either side of the road. Then bam, you're in sight of the intersection within 100-150 metres at most.

"I'm thinking of taking it slow down SW Marine and closing the interval between the LAV and the Jeep in the lead. The TV van and Suburban hang back. That way the LAV can provide a rolling overwatch for immediatefire support in case there's anything there. The reaction detachment is located here in the park and can respond immediately.

"Anyone have any input?"

The birds were singing, it really was a beautiful morning.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:14, Wed 09 June 2010.

"I am good at watching rears"

She chuckles at her own joke and tweaks the radio volume a little, and checks her line of sight and range of movement.  Her Carbine handy in closed quarters like this.



Riding Air/Rear guard in the jeep
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #53):

There were some chuckles at Kel's comment. People were still pretty keyed up. Although they had been taking a short break, they were still tense. A breeze ruffled the trees.

Fox asked Andy as he began to fold his map back up,

"Master McRae, you got any input or are you cool? It's going to be your ass on the line first if there's anything there."

He was ready to get going again. They were actually ahead of schedule but they didn't have time to waste, given the plethora of objectives to achieve.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:51, Wed 09 June 2010.

"That's fine by me, Sir," Andy said, "only having our own asses to worry about will be easier than nursemaiding the media. Just make sure that Taras knows that the Cavalry always arrives in the nick of time in Western Culture, no doomed but noble last stands for us."

He looked at the crew in the jeep, "Is that OK with you lot? There's a lot of experience here and I don't want to hack anyone off."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #55):

Rachel replied, "works for me. Let's get on the road!"

The passage through the intersection of Marine Way and Boundary was uneventful. The large intersection was mostly clear, although there were a several stalled cars and trucks parked haphazardly on the south side of Marine Way.

When the EMP affected vehicles on the road, many that were in transit coasted south down Boundary to Marine Way. The drivers then abandoned them to walk home, and the vehicles were pushed or towed to the kerb.

The area seemed deserted, although there were two partially-collapsed sandbagged positions in the middle of the intersection controlling east-west traffic, possibly dating back from after the war when Marine Way was an MSR and needed to be secured for government and military traffic.

This being low ground at the bottom of a hill, a fair amount of silt and mud had covered the road. There were many tire tracks here, mostly traveling east-west along Marine Way. Aside from smaller vehicles like cars, it appeared there was a heavy truck of some kind that traveled through there a lot, as well as motorcycles. There were cigarette butts near the lesser-collapsed of the two bunkers, and boot-prints in the light covering of dried mud on the road. Obviously, someone had been there recently, something which Rachel confirmed.

"Someone parks here what appears to be a large truck of some kind, or an APC that uses truck tires, like a LAV. Recently, at least within the last few days since it rained."

Those with recon or tracking ability concur. This site was occupied by several men with large vehicles recently, but they weren't there now.

It was unclear if any tracks led anywhere off the road, so after some thinking Fox decided to continue as opposed to sending dismounts to check the area more thoroughly, per his earlier instructions.

After a SITREP, they continued.

East of the intersection, they were in Burnaby. This part of South Burnaby had been sheltered by the long ridge to the north from the nuclear strikes that devastated North Burnaby. The terrain was some light industrial buildings and warehouses, but mostly farms or undeveloped woodland. There was no sign of human life from Marine Way, but smoke could be seen at different points off to both sides above the trees.

This was not unexpected, as South Burnaby near the Fraser was suspected to be inhabited farmland. As these seemed to be wood or camp fires, and not evidence of attack, Fox ignored them. They kept rolling for several minutes East along the empty road, 4km towards the turnoff to the Queensborough Bridge.

---

Back at Everett Crowley Park, the reaction team had dismounted, as the patrol had passed through the suspected roadblock area without incident.

Taras was informed of the SITREP, and that the intersection seemed deserted although it was likely someone with a truck had occupied it recently, within days.

About 5 minutes after the patrol cleared the intersection and was about 4km away one of the Milita alerted Taras.

"Sir, I can hear some kind of truck. It's a ways away, maybe a klick to the east. Towards the roadblock, maybe?"

Listening, Taras could hear it as well, and judged that it may indeed be someone a little over 1 kilometer away, possibly near the intersection. They would have heard someone coming down the hill from the north, and Fox hadn't reported meeting anyone coming the other way along Marine Way. That left either someone approaching west down SE Marine Drive on the far side of Boudary, from the light industrial area to the south of Marine Way and Boundary, or from one of the residential neighborhoods nearby.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:37, Sat 12 June 2010.

Sgt. Shevchenko acknowledged the transmission and gathered the team.

We are going to keep an eye on the intersection and see what it is. Be ready to move at any moment.



Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #58):

All the waiting ERT members and militia mounted up. This time, everyone got inside, protected by the armour.

Cigarette hanging from his lips, the Moldavian driver coughed and leaned out the hatch. He asked Taras in Russian, "you want me to start her up?" The militia driver in the Jeep asked the same thing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:36, Sun 13 June 2010.

The tire tracks and cigarette butts possibly confirmed something that they had been expecting to find.

"Is this one of the points where someone's set up a checkpoint and has been extracting payment to get past?" Seth asked those around him.  "If it is then they're sloppy and can't be bothered to set up a permanent operation."

---

When they continued on with their patrol Seth kept watching his assigned arcs, alert for any threats.  He noticed the smoke as they drove, assuming that it was from cook fires via chimneys from its scattered nature.

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #60):

Back in the intersection, there was general agreement over Seth's assessment. At once time this would have been an army checkpoint, complete with rolls of razor wire to block off the lanes0, now long-gone.

About 4km down the road, they were passing overgrown fields on the left that once were part of a nursery established in 1948. Now it was all huge thorn bushes that he knew would be heavy with delicious salmonberries, and saplings. Any buildings were hidden on the far side. On the right were thick woods.

The next fields were well-tended. As they drew closer past the screen of woods surrounding them, they could see there was a large 10m religious-looking statue of some kind set back in the fields. Behind it was a sprawling temple of some kind, made of pink stucco, brick and wood.

Kelsey remembered this statue from having passed it when she lived in the lower mainland. She seemed to recall there was a Hare Krishna temple on the far side of the fields.



This message was last edited by the GM at 09:59, Sun 13 June 2010.

"Do we need to stop and work out if this lot are friendlies?" Seth asked.  "Also is that statue new or pre war?  Have we got some kind of religious nuts established here?

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #62):

"Looks like the Krishnas are still in business, or someone is keeping up their business.  Seems if it's them we can do a social call, but it may be weird."  She motions with her rifle to




Riding Air/Rear guard in the jeep
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #63):

Rachel agreed as she looked over, then back to cover her sector.

"Yeah, I think there's a Hare Krishna temple there. I remember that statue. Krishnas are non-violent vegetarians, I don't think they're going to be cannibals."

She slowed a little, looking for a turn-off. "Kel, you wanna ask Fox if he wants us to pay a social call?"

They could see that the statue, while painted and well-maintained, had a few repaired scars from bullet holes and vandals.

In behind where two saffron-pink domes of the temple. They looked clean and well-maintained.

There were a few couple thin wiry-looking old men in saffron robes, heads shaved, working in the fields with hand tools. One Indian-looking man (that is, from India) looked over at them and waved hello.




This message was last edited by the GM at 13:10, Thu 17 June 2010.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #59):

No need to start engines yet. Better be silent for now. We need to identify the target.


Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #66):

About that time, the engine noise died away. All that remained at the park site was the chirping of the birds and the rustle of a slight breeze in the trees. At that moment, Fox called to alert Taras he saw people working in the field.

"Romeo One from Hotel Six. Over."

"Romeo One, be advised we are passing, ah, occupied land and people working in the fields. Break. Do you advise stopping? Over."

"Well this doesn't look threatening," commented Seth as they drove closer to the temple.  "But let's keep our wits about us just in case!"

As they drove closer Seth ignored the two men in the field waving at them.  He focused on places of potential concealment, looking for spots where someone could be observing them.  If necessary he used his binoculars to study particular doorways, windows or darkened recesses, keeping one hand on his RPK to keep it steady in case he needed to bring it to bare.

Roger Hotel Six. I recommend to stick to the original mission and proceed to it without delay. It seems like the area is active but remember that you are only on transit. Gather all pertinent information for further missions and respond to any threat on the road according to the Rules of Engagement. Over.

Sgt. Shevchenko then addressed the rest of the crew. It was important to keep the mission original target, an "strategic" one, and not get sidetracked by "tactical" opportunities. The intersection was a key terrain future to keep under watch, at least two members of the team will keep alert for any traffic. Then there was the issue with the bunkers. He made himself a mental note of the size and number of explosives necessary to blow them to kingdom come once this mission was over.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #69):

The ERT NCO asked, "who goes, then? When, how, and by what route?"

Over the radio, Fox replied, "Romeo One this is Hotel Six. Roger. Continuing Mission. Out."

The vehicles sped up as they continued west to their first destination.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:35, Tue 15 June 2010.

Taras chuckled at the snappy ERT NCO:

Seems like the Soviet style of command is quite popular over here...Whatever happened to the Auftragstaktik of the capitalistic school?...He he...

Shifting along the seat, the Ukrainian searched among the bulky gear to find a cigarette. Not without parsimony he produced some matches and puffed the first drag:

We are the response team...Our task is to provide security for the main effort. It is important to select a good location as a starting point. So far, this spot has helped us to realize that there may be enemy lurking out there.

I want to keep an eye on that intersection. Choose two of your people and send them walking to cover it under maximum concealment. We may move down there eventually.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #71):

There was some truth to that, the NCO admitted.

"We are special police. We like planning and being prepared. Soldiers can shoot their way out of problems, kill or be killed is how they get paid. In our line of work we don't like to kill, we try to avoid being killed if at all possible."

"All right, I'll send two of my men down SW Marine Drive. They can check out the intersection from the overpass and have less of a chance to be seen. If they are seen, they will be hard to get at and they can withdraw this way back down SE Marine."

He picked out two of the ERT members, both assaulters, one armed with a C8 and the other with an MP5. After they were instructed as to what to do, they left, walking down the hill on Kerr. They turned left onto Marine Way, and from there they would turn off onto the old SE Marine Drive. After cutting through some subdivisions, they could come to the overpass where they could get a view of the intersection.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #70):

Kelsey chuckles to herself and sticks an arm out instead to wave to the folks in the field as they pass by, maybe they'll visit the Krishna's some other time, meantime, doesn't hurt to wave.





Riding Air/Rear guard in the jeep and waving to the folks in the field
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

When the instructions to continue with the patrol and not stop to speak to the farmers were passed along Seth nodded to himself in agreement and returned to keeping watch on his assigned arcs.

"Sounds like we need to make a series of patrols like this to understand who are neighbours are," he commented to the others in the Jeep.  The need to gather intel about this part of Vancouver seemed readily apparent to Seth.

0715

The LAV and its accompanying vehicles continued past. The men working the fields outside the temple waved back at Kelsey.

At the Queensborough Bridge, Gunny Conklin and the extra suburban turned around and backtracked west, this time taking SE Marine Drive.

The main body continued towards the second bridge to Annacis island. They can see smoke from several cook fires coming from a warehouse complex on the east side of the island. Smoke is also coming from what looks like a factory of some kind on the far side of the warehouse.

Ten minutes have passed since they left the intersection of Boundary and Marine Way.

---

Ten minutes had passed since the two ERT left to investigate the intersection. A transmission came over the radio, broken up by static. The waiting personnel, beginning to get a little bored, straightened up.

Soon, the message was clearer. "Romeo One, this is Romeo One-Two. Ah... we haven't made it to the overpass yet. We're just at the subdivisions to the west of Boundary. We see three men in the street ahead armed with assault rifles. They just turned into the condos on the left (north) side of the road, immediately west of the overpass. We are unobserved. Please advise."

The people waiting in the park came alert. It wasn't exactly clear what was going on, but it seemed that the ERT had found armed gunmen at some point even before they made it to a spot they could overlook the intersection. There were subdivisions of houses and condos to the west of Boundary along both sides of SE Marine, it sounded like one group of buildings were occupied.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:14, Thu 17 June 2010.

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #74):

"MAybe a tour of goodwill?  I spent a lot of time in this area before the war, I look forward to getting back in touch with everyone again.  We really should just... get to know folks.  Don't be freaked if they have guns, only the insane and the really religious probably don't, and even then..."

Seth grinned in reply to the Master Corporal.  "Only the stupid don't have guns!"

He studied the warehouse complex briefly with his binoculars before returning to covering his arcs.  "Any idea who lives in that warehouse?  Another bit of intel to check out in detail later?"

Seeing Kelsey wave at the farmers, Chris followed suit as well.

He covered his arc on the trip towards Annacis Island, wondering what they would find.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:07, Wed 16 June 2010.

Rachel feigned being shocked at his comment on guns.

"Hey! We're not yanks, you know! Next thing you know, you'll start saying "if rocket launchers were outlawed, only the outlaws will have rocket launchers" or something like that."

She looked at the warehouse as well as she drove.

"According to our records, it's the warehouse for Harmer Steel Products Limited, next to the auto terminal. We think someone, maybe the Angels, has the foundry working as well. They made rails and railway products before the war, it's going to be important to secure the foundry, although it's going to be problematical when the waters rise."

Sure enough, there were plumes reaching up from the steel mill's

"What we've been doing is hopscotching between areas where our intervention will do the most good," Andy said, "at some point we'll have to be more methodical and join up the points that we've bypassed."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #80):

"Reconnaissance is our job, not consolidation. Taking the park really helped in consolidating Vancouver and the North Shore, but that's not our job."

"You guys gotta keep in mind Burnaby was pretty nuked, so we did have to get across a "no man's land". We've not bypassed any areas except maybe the Airport, which we are gonna deal with soon, and if we get New West on our side then they'll be isolated."

She grinned as she drove around a tangle of branches and debris that had collected on the roadway.

"Sorry, I need to keep my eye on the road more."

Roger, Romeo One-Two. Continue with your mission and report any other incident. Over.


Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #82):

"Ahhhh... Romeo One. Be advised, we gotta walk by them to get to our observation position. The only other route is walking down Marine Way. We're going to get seen, either way."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:13, Thu 17 June 2010.

Roger Romeo One-Two. Return to our position then. I repeat: Return to our position.






Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #84):

There was a bit more static and the transmission was broken up a bit.

Finally, the ERT replied, "Romeo One, roger. Returning to RV point."

The ERT members returned safely. They reported seeing three individuals, two armed with Kalashnikov rifles and one with either an M16 or C7. They had been crossing the street, going south, and the complex on the north side of SE Marine immediately west of the overpass seemed to be occupied. There were dogs barking, smoke from a cook fire and the smell of food cooking, plus the sound of more voices, indicating additional people.

---

The patrol vehicles stopped at the south end of the bridge linking Richmond to Annacis Island, on the high ground where they could see the warehouse complex housing the Free Market. The warehouses were huge, forming a horseshoe shape with the market in the open space in the middle.

The TV van, travelling alone in the rear now that Conklin in the Suburban had left, stopped as well. The driver got out with a camera on his shoulder and began filming. Further down Cliveden, on the island itself, was a checkpoint manned by what looked to be two police cars.

Fox leaned out of the turret of the LAV and called down to Andy, "so what do you think? We wait here and you go down and say "hi"? We can cover you."

The idling engines throbbed in the quiet air. Seagulls circled over the market. Above them an eagle soared on higher thermals above the river.

Once the men were back, Taras organized his thoughts and decided to give a SITREP update to the main effort of the mission in the LAV III:

..this is Romeo One-One. Detected at least three armed men on the north side of SE Marine near the overpass. Also we have possible heavy vehicle presence. We are standing low and ready for response at our Rally Point. What's your status? Over...


Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #87):

"Hang on, Andy."

Fox listened as Arif advised him of Taras' call. He switched to the secure net and replied, "Romeo One-One, this is Hotel Six. Over."

"Hotel Six from Romeo One-One, go ahead. Over." Taras replied.

"Ahh.... Romeo One-One, be advised we are at point Juliette Four, the south end of the bridge to Annacis Island. Break. Can see roadblock on Cliveden Avenue to Whisky (west) of Juliette Five (the Free Market). Break. Am thinking of sending Lime detachment to investigate while we cover. Over."
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:43, Fri 18 June 2010.

Roger that Hotel-Six. Stay safe.


taff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #89):

"Romeo One-One, roger that. Break. Do you think there are hostile forces in between us? If so, will you be able to react if we have a situation? Please advise. Over."
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:18, Fri 18 June 2010.

This is Romeo One-One. I am unable to say how hostile they are...We are able to respond as long as we can keep the surprise and speed. Over.




Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #91):

"Romeo One-One. I have solid copy. Break. We'll try and keep safe. Hotel Six Out."

Fox pushed up the mic of his CVC helment.

"Okay, Master McRae, what's the word?"

"I was always better at the meet and greet than you anyway you old bugger," Andy said, "Stop where you can cover us and we'll head forward and see what's what."

"Ok," Andy said to the crew, "let's head forward and stop exactly when we're told."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #93):

Rachel looked at the roadblock through her binoculars.

"I count three guards in the rod on Cliveden, all armed with sidearms and Kalashnikovs. Civilian clothing. They're talking on the radio. We got the channel? I see one position of some kind, probably a machine-gun, up on a warehouse roof to the left of the road. I can't see anything on the right."

Cliveden used to be lined with trees. They had all been cut down, probably for firewood, at some point.

She put the binoculars away and started to move out slowly down the off-ramp and onto the island itself.

"Good spotting, Rachel," Andy said, "let's hope they're friendly. Do you think we should tell them we're tax collectors? Taht might put them in a welcoming frame of mind."

Looking through the LAV's gunsight and using thermal, Chris added his observations to Fox.

"Sergeant, I see two cop cars. Three armed guards. Two machine-gun posts, upper left of the roadblock, upper right of the roadblock. On the roofs."

They were on an overpass over the highway, with a great 360 degree view of the area, as well as the huge Alex Fraser Bridge to the south.

He swung the turret back and forth, scanning the area around them with the TIS. "Okay, some more camp fires, in a couple buildings to the southeast of our position. That factory behind the Market is pretty hot, nice thermal plume comin' out of the stack. No  combat vehicles I can see. No more armed positions I can see."

He continued scanning, covering the jeep as it moved out.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #95):

"Or cops! Yeah, that'll go over like a lead balloon."

She smiled crookedly.

Behind them, on the western part of Annacis Island, lay the Fraserview RV terminal, where vehicles were stored for transshipment after being imported from Japan, Korea and the USA.

These huge lots were now either empty or filled with abandoned vehicles of all kinds, paint starting to fade. It looked like some of the RVs were currently being used for habitation, with a couple cooking fires giving off smoke and laundry lines full of damp clothing at different locations.

As well, to the immediate west there were domes for the wastewater management plant.

To the south, the highway continued over the Alex Fraser Bridge, across the south arm of the Fraser River. The Alex Fraser Bridge was named after a local politician, not the Fraser River.

It was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. Perhaps if there wasn't a war another, longer, one would have been built somewhere else, but not in this world.

(This would have been the view as you drove onto Annacis Island, which was a part of the city of Delta. The domes to the right are the wastewater management plant. The LAV is on the overpass in the foreground, facing left. The sign on the overpass identifies it as "Cliveden Ave". The Free Market and  is off to the LEFT of this picture. The trees in the background are across the river to the SE, in the imaginatively named city of "Delta". Across the river to the South and SW of the Alex Fraser is "Burns Bog", a huge peat bog and wilderness area bounded by rural farms and light industrial areas.)







"Okay, Andy, we got your back." He waved them on, picking up his own binoculars.

"Thanks for the report, Chris. Keep looking. Arif, any luck with the radio?"

Kel's comms tech answered, "no, Sergeant. Still searching the common hand-held bands. Nothing yet." He sounded a little frustrated, but kept at it.

Fox continued, "Sergeant Tremblay, deploy your dismounts to provide 360 degree security, as best you can. If we need to we'll provide fire support from here, then on my command we'll advance with dismounts or not, depending on the situation."

Finding positions around the LAV would be difficult, as they were located on an overpass. This was the highest ground available on the small river island which was mostly fill, anyways.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:48, Sat 19 June 2010.

"Ok, Rachel," Andy said, "Fox is making his dispositions, take us in please."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #99):

"Roger that."

She pressed the accelerator a little more, and the Jeep rolled down the slope off the Cliveden overpass.


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).

Jeep YJ, driving east on Cliveden towards roadblock.

As the Jeep rolled forward with Rachel driving Seth kept scanning around, principally watching his assigned arc but also looking for other positions they had missed so far.  He kept hold of his RPK, trying to look inconspicuous with it, something that was probably an impossible task!

"If this goes to shit," he commented to the others in the Jeep, "focus on the MG nests as a priority!"

His tone had taken on a slightly nasty edge to it.  He wasn't looking forward to combat but a certain grimness had come over him - grim determination to get the job done, even if that meant shooting people!  He didn't like killing people but his experiences of the last few years had taught him that putting the enemy out of action as rapidly as possible kept his comrades alive!

He toyed with putting his helmet on but decided against it.  The others hadn't done so so far and it would undoubtedly be taken as an aggressive move by the guards at the roadblock if he did so.


Seth
In the jeep, watching his assigned arc and generally keeping alert.
RPK with brass catcher (75/75 rnd drum) - held
 - 1x 75 rnd drum in pouch
 - 8x 40 rnd mags in chest harness
HP-35 Pistol (13/13 rnd mag) - in holster
 - 2x 13 rnd mag - in webbing pistol mag pouch
C13 Fragmentation Grenade x2
M18 Smoke Grenade x2

Keith perks up when he finally gets something to do (besides just keeping a look out for things that might be going wrong on their way there) and gets up from his bench seat inside the vehicle.  "OK, security team, eyes & ears on me!  I want a 360 degree circle set up on the perimeter of our vehicles.  I'm out first and I'll deploy you from there.  Make sure you got your brain-buckets and you're weapons are safed. Questions?  NO? Outfucking standing.  Prepare to dismount!"

Tremblay ques his radio, "Dismounts ready to deploy copy?"

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #101):

"If this goes to shit, I'm turning left and hauling ass back to the overpass on the side streets. So be prepared. Sounds good, Andy?"

Rachel continued driving forward, slowly and steadily.

"Those looks like Delta police cars," she noted, hands slick on the steering wheel.


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).

Driving forward slowly.

Chris aimed the Kodiak's main weapon at the machinegun nest on the right.

"Sergeant, if this goes south, I'm gonna smoke the one on the right with the 7.62mm, no, make that 25mm, then the one on the right."

He flicked the selector switch on the joystick to the main weapon, then continued looking through the sight.

"Sounds great, Rachel," Andy said, "I'll return fire in between farting in panic so you might want your respirator ready. I hope these guys are more entreprenuers than gunmen, killing people before you trade with them is bad for buisness."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #105):

"We're "the Man" to them. They know we don't want to trade, we want to interfere in their business. Depending on the business, they could be right!"

She continued driving slowly. They were still on Cliveden, off the overpass and on the surface road.


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).

Continuing driving forward slowly.

 Dashing out of the vechicle he turned to the opposite direction of the man in front of him and spotted a raised guard railing big enough to slide behind it and give him some cover in case of Opfor being in the area.

 He takes a second to have a good look over the area he could see and pick out land feature's that might offer cover to an enemy to attempt to move towards their position.

Tyler Hope
CAR-15 (20/20) + 6 Magazines
Colt M1911A1 (7/7) + 2 mags
Colt Detective Special (6/6) + 2 autoloaders
1 M-34 WP, 4 M-67 Frags, 1 M-7A3 CS, 1 AN-M8 HC Smoke canister
On overpass.
Getting out and deploying to cover the west
This message was last edited by the player at 03:58, Wed 23 June 2010.

"Assume police or emergency band, and don't assume handheld, that might be a prick six niner, or a handheld hamm."

She toys with the idea of charging her weapon but decides the savings in time is not worth it when thinking of stance, she keeps an eye out to their rear still.

"And folks, PLEASE don't assume they are unfriendlies, our job here isn't anything but contact, there is good legal reason to have that firepower in this day and age."


Riding Rear guard in the jeep, paying close attention to her surroundings.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

Sgt. Shevchenko appeared to be daydreaming while waiting for any sign of life from the radio frequency. Out of nowhere a sinister, dark creature darted across the sky over the armored personnel carrier and carried recklessly its bombing duties over the left shoulder and upper sleeve of the unsuspected Ukrainian.

ёб твою мать!

The hilarity ensured but a member of the ERT squad came to add some consolation to the "embittered" victim:

Ravens are generally considered good luck because of its high intelligence. The larger the quantity of Ravens that poop on you at one time, the larger the amount of your luck. If a person gets pooped on by Seven Ravens or more, that person should be jumping up and down in glee...a great day Sargent! Getting pooped on by only one Raven, on the other hand, is not so lucky...

You gotta be fucking kidding me...Responded the infuriated Sargent.

Yes, yes...Listen to this...The young militia started to sing:
“One Raven for sorrow, Two for joy, Three Ravens for a girl, Four for a boy, Five Ravens for silver, Six for gold, Seven Ravens for a secret never to be told.”


Taras stood over the top of the BTR scanning for further incoming Luftwaffe.You gotta be fucking kidding me...

Yet another member of the team jumped into the fray:

In Beowulf, the Raven is proclaimed as communicatiing with the Heavens: Turning into a deep, ceremonious voice recited: "They slept until the black raven, the blithe hearted proclaimed the joy of heaven."

Sargent Shevchenko couldn't believe his eyes:
Holy Mother of Kazan! They sure teach lots of shit about black birds in Canada!

On the other hand, seeing a Raven isn't always considered good luck. It really all depends on the circumstances. As any person may correctly assume, seeing a bird suddenly fall dead from mid-air is a very bad sign. It happened to Alexander the Great...

You gotta be fucking kidding me...Said while trying to remove the matter from the uniform.


Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2
Trying to remove as much possible fecal matter from uniform.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #108):

Smiling a little, Lee replied to Kelsey, "that's the great thing. Technically they're not supposed to be armed. But if we like them we can make an exception and let them keep it. If we don't, well, we have every legal right to take it away. If we can."

She shut up and concentrated on her sector. The Emergencies Act had provisions specifically to bust up black market operations and hoarders. The trick was getting  someone who was more numerous and almost as well-armed as you to comply.

All that went out of her mind as she went into "threat identification" mode, looking ahead.


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).

Continuing driving forward slowly.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:12, Wed 23 June 2010.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #108):

As the jeep rolled away, gaining speed, Arif stuck his head out a rear deck hatch and gave Kelsey a thumb's up to show he understood. He was staying and would continue to monitor the radio, she'd be the one in danger!

Slowly, they moved towards the roadblock,. There were three men there that were dressed in black paramilitary fatigues. They had webbing and vests stuffed with ammo, and wore Kevlar vests marked "SECURITY". One carried a C7, another a pump-shotgun and the last an RPK-74, but otherwise lacked a professional edge. They all wore bandannas and sunglasses, and one wore a baseball cap.

The two cars were parked with a gap in between them wide enough for the Jeep to pass.

Not wanting to run anyone down, Rachel drove up and stopped when one of themwaved them down and stepped in front of them. He was wearing a black ball cap and carrying a walkie-talkie.

"Good morning. I'm Darryl, the chief of security. I take it you want to go in?"

So far, there was no traffic over the radio they could detect.

Andy placed his carbine in the back of the jeep and dismounted. He smiled and stuck out his hand, "Good to meet you, Darryl," he said, "I'm Andy, I'm with the people at the University, how are you doing?"

Kelsey chuckles at Rachel's comment "Right, technically we can.  I'm just saying cut some slack if we can.  It's been rough."
She waves to her commtech "Righto Arif, now back to work, chop chop"  She's still laughing softly as they roll to a halt, she didn't care if she was heard by Arif, she's the sort that will say it anyway, though she did make a 'chop chop' motion.  For all her seeming relaxed attitude, she is still very alert to her specified arc, though she does give a few quick glances at the folks at the gate, more curiousity to see if she recognizes someone.


Riding Rear guard in the jeep, paying close attention to her assignment.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

Rachel smiled at the men, but her eyes were quickly scanning the scene, looking for threats.

She kept her hands on the wheel and the engine running.


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).

Idling at the roadblock.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #112):

"Hey Andy, doin' all right."

He had an American accent. Andy couldn't quite place it, but it sounded kind of like he was from the Pacific Northwest, to the south of the border.

"Just out for a drive, or you doin' some tradin'?

"Been a while since we seen any of them eggheads come through here. Noboby with a LAV, neither."

Chris' photos of the market had shown there was a V-150 security vehicle parked in the compound with a biker inside the turret, but any such vehicle wasn't present, and these didn't look like bikers, although some bikers (especially former soldiers) were clean-shaven like these men were.

Still looking through the Lovin' Spoonful's thermal sight, Chris said to Fox, "only the left bunker was occupied. Now they're both occupied."

He switched his aim between the two upper bunkers.


Chris MacDonald
FN + 6 Magazines
Hi-Power + 2 Magazines
4 C13 Fragmentation Grenades
2 M8A4 Smoke Grenades
Medical Kit

In Gunner seat, LAV
Aiming at bunkers.

"Got it!" Arif cried in triumph.

He radioed Kelsey from the back of the LAV, "I have their frequencies. One main one and an alternative. Traffic close by. Nothing more than "keep cool" is going out over the local net but someone's noticed us. Standing by to jam."

After notifying Fox, he returned to his job of monitoring the airwaves.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:07, Thu 24 June 2010.

"Before hitting Jam, transmit 'stand down, stand down' it will add to the confusion. She says on the radio, keeping her voice low "We are tapped in now, not much to report other than they are playing cool and responding to our presence."




Riding Rear guard in the jeep, paying close attention to her assignment.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

"Yeah," Andy said, "it's a pretty impressive piece of hardware. We've found it useful recently, not all of the occupants of the city are as organised and civilised as you. I'd love a look around, but we need to talk with someone in charge as well, the "Eggheads" have some news they'd like to share with you and I'm to set up a meet so they can fill you in on what they've discovered."

Seth stayed in the jeep, keeping quiet and alert.  He occasionally glanced around the soldier's positions monitoring the roadblock, trying to spot anything more substantial in terms of a threat.  He was particularly interested in any AT weapons they might have to threaten the vehicles and occupants with.

Seth could hear Kelsey's quiet radio transmission as she was sat quite close to him in the back of the jeep.  He kept his stony expression, as there were guards watching them, but he was quite impressed that Kelsey's team had obviously managed to obtain the frequency the guards were using very quickly.  Screwing up the enemy comms always sounded like a good idea to Seth and it seems that Kelsey had a wicked sense of humour as well if she was planning to order them to stand down before jamming their frequency.


Seth
In the jeep, watching his assigned arc and generally keeping alert.
RPK with brass catcher (75/75 rnd drum) - held
 - 1x 75 rnd drum in pouch
 - 8x 40 rnd mags in chest harness
HP-35 Pistol (13/13 rnd mag) - in holster
 - 2x 13 rnd mag - in webbing pistol mag pouch
C13 Fragmentation Grenade x2
M18 Smoke Grenade x2
This message was last edited by the player at 23:08, Thu 24 June 2010.

When the dismounts are deployed properly, Keith begins to make his rounds amongst them to make sure they are set and there are no apparent problems or they forgot anything.  "It's Hope right?  You good here soldier?"

Tremblay
FN-FNC (Scoped) [30/30]
[9] 30 Round mags in [3] webbing pouches
[1] FN HP-35 [13/13]
[2] 13 round HP Mags in pouch
[2] Frags
[2] Smoke

 With a grim smile he doesnt turn his head around to answer, Air borne sir, iam always good to go.  Nothing going to get by me here.

 He listened as the top kick moved on down the line keeping an eye on all the other dismounts. Personally he doubted that the locals could field a decent strike force unless they had their own ex military grunts.

Keith leans in to Tyler, "Airborne huh?  Very good!  For future reference  though Mr. Hope, I would prefer Sarge, Sergeant, Tremblay, Keith or any combination there of.  I work for a living and I'm sure if you hit one of your Airborne non-coms with that shit, they'd be pretty fired up too cause us non-coms work for a living.  Carry on Mr. Hope & sound off if there's a problem please!"

"Roger, standing by, over," replied Arif.

Darryl thought for a second. "You'd want to talk to Berringer then. He's not around. You want to leave a message? I can take it for him."

As he talked he was looking them over. Seth didn't return the favour, checking out the rooftop bunkers instead. He couldn't see any obvious AT weapons, and these didn't look like you could fire a LAW rocket inside them safely, anyways. Too obvious. Instead, he checked around on ground level, and he thought he could see two more positions to either side of them, dug in at ground level of the buildings. These also didn't look like they were safe for rockets (due to the backblast in enclosed spaces) but were perfect for machineguns because they could use grazing fire. It was impossible to tell if there were currently guns sited-in or not.

On the overpass, the immediate area looked secure. Tyler and Keith could see a woman with what looked to be a cigarette tray coming towards them through the abandoned RVs and autos of the loading dock. She was in her 20s with a scarf around her head, dressed in a skirt and denim jacket. Kind of Gypsy-ish.

For a second Seth had thought that Darryl had called his commander Belanger and not Berringer but Seth realised his mistake before he commented on the names at all.  The names were very similar and he hoped that no one else would make the mistake he had so nearly made.

He kept studying the two ground level positions he had spotted, trying to work out if either of them was occupied.  One thing was certain about these guards.  They knew what they were doing when it came to preparing a fixed defensive position and that implied military training.


Seth
In the jeep, watching his assigned arc and generally keeping alert.
RPK with brass catcher (75/75 rnd drum) - held
 - 1x 75 rnd drum in pouch
 - 8x 40 rnd mags in chest harness
HP-35 Pistol (13/13 rnd mag) - in holster
 - 2x 13 rnd mag - in webbing pistol mag pouch
C13 Fragmentation Grenade x2
M18 Smoke Grenade x2

Keith notices the movement and nods to Tyler who he is still standing next to as he grabs his radio to transmit.  "Yeah, um, ah, Hotel Five, all radio units.  Have one walker enroute to our location carrying something.  Permission to investigate.  How Copy?"

 Watching the gypsy looking person moving in their direction nagged at his instincts, he could remember the innocent looking civilians who carried bombs in any number of places.

 Shifting the rifle to cover her he taps his com link. "Hotel one this is hotel two, hotel one this is hotel two, got a civilian coming up the road towards our position.

 Now that he had sent a warning out he let his attention begin watching the area all around him, in case the person was a diverson and the attack came from another point of the compass.

In reply to Tyler Gabriel Hope (msg #127):

Fox looked over from up in the turret, but didn't swing the TC's C6 (MAG MG) around.

Not wanting to use the radio for this kind of minor traffic (practicing EMCON), he nodded to Tremblay. "Tremblay, grab Hope, see what she wants? Don't use your radios, they're not secure." He then turned his attention forward.

The woman was now on the overpass behind them, about 40m away. She was moving slowly and not threateningly, with a smile on her face. Pausing, she made sure the goods on her tray were presentable, then continued moving forward.

Keith just looks at Hope after he just made the same transmission and says to him, "Really Airborne?"
=====================================================================


Tremblay looked over to Fox when he got his attention.  He nods and then gives him a thumbs up that he understood what he wanteed them to accomplish.  Keith then taps Hope on the shoulder, "C'mon Airborne.  We gotta make sure this pretty lil lass here doesn't try to blow our nuts off with an I.E.D. or a frag.  No radio contact.  You heard Fox right?"

 Gaining his feet he rise's slowly and takes a quick look over the area before stepping out from his cover and takes the opposite side of Keith with about 10 ft seperating them and moved forward until they were within 20 ft of her.

 Thats far enough miss. May we help you?. His weapon was at port arms but the safety was now off as he waited to see what she might do.

In reply to Tyler Gabriel Hope (msg #130):

She stopped and grinned, as if he'd said something foolish.

"Ah, are you going to shoot me? I'm not doing anything wrong! I just want to see if you'd like some cigarettes, pot, some other stuff I got, too. I'm Wendy, you are?"

Wendy started moving forward, tentatively. Tyler could see she was mostly healthy-looking, if a little on the thin side.

The other personnel were watching curiously, while covering their arcs. In the turret, Fox also kept an eye on the situation.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:20, Sat 26 June 2010.

"I'd really appreciate you giving him a message, Darryl," Andy said, "tell Mr. Berringer that the University people have discovered disturbing news about the river and that the market is right in the path of the worst effects of the new phenomonem. They would like to fully brief your leadership on the nature of the crisis and discuss how we can help."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #132):

The men looked at each other in puzzlement, then worriedly at the river around them.

"Sorry? What about the river? What do we need help with? And how can Mister Berringer get ahold of you? At UBC?"

Whatever they were expecting Andy to say, this clearly wasn't it.

"I'm no scientist, but the eggheads reckon that the river is going to rise substantially over the next few months and lots of areas may be foolded." Andy said, "You're in one of the red zones. The UBC would like to offer exact advice about the risks and help you in any way to either make your land safe, if that's possibe, I really don't know, or help you relocate. If you want you can visit the UBC or I can ask command if they can assign you a channel for communications. Would you like that?"

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #134):

"Hell yeah! Sure, I'll pass along the info, and a radio contact channel will work fine. River's gonna rise, huh?"

He nodded his head in apparent sincerity. The other guys kept their traps shut, but they glanced at each other.

"Looks like it will," Andy said, "I'll rustle up a channel now," he turned to Rachel and said, "can we get Kel to assign us a "Priority One Hotline Frequency" between the Market and the UBC, we want these guys to get top priority."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #136):

(I'm assuming that Kelsey is going to comply.)

Darryl wrote down the information on a pad.

"Okay, ah, thank you." He looked up at Andy. "Well, cool. I mean, not cool. We know we're on low ground here, hell, this is a river island! But it didn't flood last year. Anyways, if Mr. Berringer wants to talk, he's got your frequency. I'm sure if he wants to find you, he can just show up at UBC.

"Anything else? Are you just here to give the good news, or do you want to come inside?"

He gestured to the factory warehouse behind him. A plume of white smoke drifted lazily from the stack above them.

It seemed that the guards weren't intent on an ambush, at least at present, so Seth relaxed a fraction.  He kept alert and scanning around with his eyes but he muttered a question to a couple of the nearest guards other than Darryl.

"What unit were you boys in?" he asked in a friendly tone.  As he spoke he glanced at their uniforms, checking again to see if they were wearing any unit designation insignia or other clues to their background.  Uniforms might change but many soldiers liked to keep the badges of identity that marked them as them.  Seth was a case in point, he was wearing US BDUs but with Canadian rank and unit flashes on them and the flashes of two units at that!

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #138):

When Seth asked what unit they were in, they looked at each other and chuckled. One of the unnamed henchmen scratched his head and said, "well, I can't rightly remember. It was such a long time ago." He sounded Canadian to him, a westerner, maybe a British Columbian.

"What unit you with?"

The other just laughed and didn't say anything.

Darryl continued talking to Andy.

Seth was a little disappointed that these men didn't appear to take any pride any more in the units they had once belonged to.  Part of being a member of a unit was the sense of identity it brought and to walk away from that was something that Seth couldn't imagine doing.  He tried to keep his thoughts away from his face however as he replied to the two men.

"Me, I was with the PPCLI originally but was wounded in Poland in ninety seven and then transferred to the RMR after I recovered."

"I don't understand it myself, but hopefully your boss can sort it out with the boffins," Andy said. When he received the invite to have a look around he said, "Man, I'd love to have a look around this place. Where can we park the jeep and what's your policy on firearms?"

"Sure, tell them we will monitor CB 6 and 222 Mhz,  Hotline forward.  And before we leave, let me trade my lunch to that nice lady for some smokes."

Lima One
Riding Rear guard in the jeep, paying close attention to her assignment.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

Tremblay proceeds forward with Hope as they approach the girl.  Letting Hope do the talking for now, he listens to what Wendy has to say and what she is trying to sell or give away, he didn't know.  He keeps his FN-FNC hanging on its sling and positions it so it is behind him and maybe appearing not so threatening to the girl or anyone else who may be watching.  He nods to her with a polite smile, "Name's Tremblay ma'am.  With all due respect Wendy, we're not trying to be impolite but, we just don't let people walk up to our equipment and our troops without some caution on our part.  I've been many of places where men, women, & children have disguised themsleves or have approached with friendly intentions and wind up killing innocent civilians and soldiers, friends of mine as well.  Plus, I'm under orders here so please, we mean no disrespect to you.  If you wouldn't mind letting us seeing what you have and I'll see if my boss will clear you in or have people come out.  Would that be satisfactory to you Miss Wendy?"

Sgt. Tremblay
FN-FNC (Scoped) [30/30] - Slung behind
[9] 30 Round mags in [3] webbing pouches
[1] FN HP-35 [13/13]
[2] 13 round HP Mags in pouch
[2] Frags
[2] Smoke

Attempting to explain situation in nice way to WEndy so she's not offended

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #143):

After reading out the frequencies, Kelsey could just see the woman approach the LAV a ways back because she was looking back towards the LAV.

Wendly answered Keith, "sure, please feel free to check, sir. I charge reasonable prices, too!"

For her part, the woman stopped and allowed Keith and Tyler search her tray. She was selling some salvaged stuff like a pair of earrings, a dozen almost-dead lighters and two 60 watt GE light bulbs still in their cardboard carton. She also had a pack of unopened pre-war cigarettes and a bag of Old Dutch BBQ potato chips.

The tray didn't look big enough to conceal any quantity of explosives, although her dress seemed loose enough to hide a vest it didn't seem she was wearing anything too bulky under it.

At the roadblock, Darryl continued talking to Andy.

"Follow Cliveden around to the left. Look for an entrance to the warehouse on the right, can't miss it. There's a bunch of buildings in a "U-shape" and the market's in the open area between. There'll be guys there."

After pausing a second and sizing Andy up, he said, "usually, policy is nothing but sidarms. All things considered, you can carry what you like. I'll clear it."

The man talking to Seth answered, "It was a long time ago, man. I was with the 5th Brigade, 104th Infantry division out of Ft. Lewis, Washington."

Seth was familiar with the unit and had trained with them before the war at Ft. Lewis, which was a major US Army base southwest of Seattle. The 104th was a Reserve division that had been activated as a regular army unit during the Russian invasion of Alaska. They'd helped fight the Soviets to a standstill in southern BC in '98 and he'd run into members many times.

Keith smiles at the young girl as he does a basic pat-frisk with the tops of his hands making sure that he doesn't offend her on purpose.  "Ah, not while I'm on duty I'm afraid ma'am.  Perhaps another encounter but right now, we've got other matters to attend to."

Kelsey snorts as she heads to barter with the woman for the smokes, and maybe the chips too.  Mentally going over what she has on her, maybe willing to go over price higher than she was planning.

"Timberwolves.... Reservists, that's the 104th." Catching up with the boys and the lady, still staying alert to the surrounds, she approaches "If you plan on a frisk boys, might want to let me to it, otherwise.. dibs on the smokes."


Lima One
Slipping out the back of the jeep and approaching the woman to barter
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet slung on canteen, wearing her glengary

Keith takes a step back as he watches Kelsey approach.  "All yours.  I would actually prefer you did it Miss Champlain."

"Right on it, then.  So, miss.. Wendy was it?  How much for those smokes?  Maybe those crisps too?"

The woman allowed herself to be searched with good humour. She seemed kind of amused. She was also unarmed, pending a more thorough search.

She replied to Kelsey, "yep! It's Wendy. The smokes are $15. Direct up from Washington."

There was a pack of Marlboro Lights, gold box still cellophane-wrapped. There was no tax stamp.

They were standing a little closer to the jeep than the LAV. Kelsey was still relatively close to her ride, about 5m away. At this point, 2 of the security personnel were moving the police cars to allow the jeep access. The other one, Daryl, looked on at the commercial transaction with amusement.

"You'll get better prices in the market!"

 He slowly eased his weapon back to port arms as the others went to see the woman and what "goods" she was selling, he was still conflicted about the idea if he would have shot her if she had not stopped, that thought bothered him the most.

 He had to think these people around here were not overly worried about armed men, what did that mean to the idea of bandits in the area or raiders floating around?.

 With a sigh, he turned from the distraction and once again began watching the area out in front of his postion for other movement.

Nodding in response Seth muttered aloud.  "You guys fought well against the Russians in ninety eight.  Helped fight them to a standstill if I remember right!"

Seth then turned to the other guard who hadn't been talking.  "You from the same unit as well?  You got a lot of Timberwolves here?"

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #151):

The guy who'd said he was with the 104th got out of his car (to move it aside) in time to hear the question.

"Yeah, that's us. Hell of a fight! You guys did all right, too." He said approvingly.

"Well, that was my old unit. They're in Wyoming, now. Not all of us made it down. Some of us were demobilised. They tried to stop-loss us back in. Didn't go over too well."

He stood aside to let the jeep pass when Andy gave the word. Kelsey was still a little ways away.

"OK," Andy said, "Rachel, follow the man to our parking space then let's go and look around."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #153):

"Yes, Master McRae. Come on Kelsey, bus is leaving!" she called out to the other woman.

She smiled at the men in a friendly way, they smiled back.

Keith stands to the side and let's Kelsey do her thing, watching to make sure that there were no suddne moves.  When the search was completed, he signals a 'thumbs up' over to Fox and awaits further orders.

Kelsey shrugs slightly and calls out behind her "I love an entrepreneur though!"  She pulls out a ten and some candy and offers it up "Not my brand, so best offer." Ten.. canadian, of course.



"Right!  One minute Rachel!"  She offers the trade  "Last chance Wendy, I'd offer to feel you up some more, but that might make people angry.. especially the boys if I show em up again."   She laughs, ready to bolt back to her ride with or without smokes.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #156):

Laughing a little, Wendy looked the Blue Canadian ten.

"Money? Oh no, sweetie! Can't take that! Not until there's an economy. What do you have to trade? Candy's good, ammo or grenades are better. Still fifteen bones in trade."

It's obvious she won't accept cash and won't come down in price. Kelsey hot-footed it back to the Jeep. Fox had the LAV brought up short to allow Tyler and Keith to board.

Fox radioed Taras, reporting that he was bringing both the vehicles into the market area. Unfortunately, if he just sent the jeep in there was no way to support it once it was out of sight.

Once the LAV was behind the Jeep, they rolled forward down Cliveden towards the warehouse complex housing the market. They turned left onto Belgrave, then followed it around to the right.


(Scroll right on the map to see the Free Market Area:)

http://tinyurl.com/24byuk8

They were directed in between the two warehouses that made up the complex, and directed to park near the road. There were a couple wagons there, some horses, a truck and three cars. There were two guards in the lot area, both dressed in back fatigues and carrying pump-action shotguns and one was equipped with a hand radio.

Further down in the market area, they could see makeshift stalls and stores were erected in the van "box" trailers. It seemed pretty dead from what little they could see. There were few people about, and those looked mostly like merchants.

"Okay, dismount," Fox ordered when they were parked.

"Here's the deal. Weapons are at Amber: no round in the chamber but magazines are inserted. Permission to fire must come from either me, Master McRae, Sergeant Delaney or Master Corporal Champlain, unless you are threatened with deadly force."

"Master McRae, you want to take in a detail consisting of yourself, Champlain, Hope, Lee, and Tremblay? I'll stay here and mind the store. You're mostly looking for automatic weapons, explosives, anything military grade but any weapons  or illegal drugs are to be noted for possible actioning. Anything suspicious please note it and I'll decide if immediate intervention is needed, unless it's something like a rape or murder. Lee is the cop and can make arrests, so ask her if you're unsure what action is necessary.

"You got my frequency, any questions?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:04, Tue 29 June 2010.

Kelsey makes a note to score some more smokes somehow, a bit rueful her ploy did not work.  Ah well.

She dismounts with the rest and checks her prick 77 with her counterpart in the LAV, then with anyone that is in the party with a prick 69, checks her weapon, and slings her kevlar on her canteen, then, with a little thought, she purposely puts it in the jeep and loosens her body armor to look more casual, not that she doesn't make sure her Glengary is just right.

"Roger that, amber it is, boss"

 The remounting and drive on down to the market was nothing that caught his attention or he would write home about. As the apc finally stopped and the dismount was issured he stepped out to look around the area.

 All those people going about their business as if nothing was going on they needed to worry about, that had to be a good sign unless everyone here was in on the raiders side, and that didnt work for him.

 He nods and checks the chamber to make sure it was clear and the safety was engaged. Glancing to the others, How much authority will the mounty have here?, how far are we willing to push an arrest?.

Taras acknowledge the transmission and pinpointed the position of the LAV in the middle of the Annacis Island.

So far, so good.

The ERT members appeared to be more relaxed and involved in small talk. Sgt. Shevchenko conversed with the young Moldovam driver. Surprisingly he found out that he was already married.

Yes Sir. I'm from Parcani not far from Tiraspol, in the Slobozia sub-district of Transnitria. About 10,000 people, almost everybody is bessarabian bulgarian. They say is the the largest Bulgarian-majority village outside the borders of Bulgaria. I got married in Tiraspol where my father is a Police Captain.  In good Soviet tradition, newlyweds climb on top of a lonely green tank on the city's main square to pose for photos. Is a way of paying tribute to their grandfathers' victory in the war. Here it is...

From his driver's seat, the moldovan offered Taras the picture for a closer look:



I see...We are almost neighbours...Tiraspol is just a little bit over 100 kms. Never been there, though. But who can forget about the magnificent Kvint cognac! You wouldn't happen to have a bottle stashed somewhere?



Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2
This message was last edited by the player at 07:12, Tue 29 June 2010.

In reply to Tyler Gabriel Hope (msg #159):

Climbing down, Fox replied, "Corporal Lee's a Mountie, and they're federal police. She has full legal powers granted by the Emergencies Act, the Criminal Code, and so on. However, we can exert our authority only while we are there."

As he talked he checked his own gear.

"We have intelligence that the Free Market is run by the Hells Angels. So we can assume they won't want to recognise our authority and even defy it if they think they can get away with it. People here may be smiling at us but expect some scumbags in the shadows, watching us and what we do. They might well orchestrate a confrontation, see how we react. That woman could have been a test, see if we were going to light up a civilian without being provoked.

"Remember, they're going to try and make us look bad. Get us to over-react. So people don't trust us, make them look like they're the lesser evil. It's a load of shit, but it's how they can shape people's perceptions."

"So that's why we gotta play this cool. If you see some pot, hashish leave it. Heroin or cocaine, whatever, confiscate it but don't make an arrest unless you really need to, just threaten to in order to gain compliance. Likewise we don't want heavy weapons floating around out there. Still, if you see heavy shit going down like a rape or murder, do what you have to do.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:46, Tue 29 June 2010.

Seth nodded to Fox in acknowledgement as the foot patrol was detailed.  He was staying with the vehicles so he carried his RPK like a large rifle and checked on the other team members who were staying behind with the vehicles.  He took on a 2ic role to Fox, ensuring that they had a clear perimeter around the vehicles and were able, hopefully, to see any threats before they got to close.  He assigned people overlapping arcs while leaving himself and Fox able to wander and observe where they wished.


Seth
Organising a perimeter around the vehicles and generally keeping alert.
RPK with brass catcher (75/75 rnd drum) - held
 - 1x 75 rnd drum in pouch
 - 8x 40 rnd mags in chest harness
HP-35 Pistol (13/13 rnd mag) - in holster
 - 2x 13 rnd mag - in webbing pistol mag pouch
C13 Fragmentation Grenade x2
M18 Smoke Grenade x2

"That's cool," Andy said, "everyone remain frosty, we're here to look around, not start anything."

The stay-behind personnel were deployed according to Seth's directions.

Everyone else moved into the market, under McRae's direction.

It was a slow day indeed in the market. A dozen or so van trailers had been converted into stores by cutting windows and doors in the sides and building steps to the rear and side doors. The warehouses around them were locked up.

There were maybe a dozen people there, all except two staff or merchants. They looked like fishermen and were looking at rolls of yellow nylon nets. There were no bikers or other mercenary types, other than the two armed guards lounging in the parking lot and a couple more (armed with sidearms) sitting at some stools at what looked like a cafe or food stall. They looked at the intruders with neutral hooded expressions.

The group looked around, poking their heads into trailers and saying hello. The merchants all gave them friendly but non-committal responses, as would be expected.

Only six trailers were currently open. Two were bars or restaurants (where the guards were located). One was a food-seller, including vegetables and fish caught in the river and the ocean. There was even fresh caviar from the once elusive Fraser River sturgeon! Two more sold salvage of different kinds, simple and functional gear with no electronics and a small supply of batteries. One of the "hardware" trailers offered to recharge batteries. The last sold luxuries, like liquor and cigarettes, with a large selection of jewelry and antiques.

The native soldier on the team, Chris, had been here a week earlier as part of a trading party from the Musqueam First Nation. He'd described the market as thriving. At least a few of the closed and locked-up trailers had weapons for sale, with the bigger stuff supposedly being in the now-locked warehouses. Chris was inside the LAV at the gunner's station, as Fox didn't want to compromise his identity if he had to go undercover again.

"Well, it doesn't take Columbo to figure out everything's been hidden away," she commented to McRae.

"Technically, we don't need a warrant to look where we want or confiscate what we like, as this deals with contraband or restricted items under the Emergencies Act. I don't think it would serve any purpose to go busting down doors!"

She had her Halligan tool (for forcing doors) strapped to her back, MP5 dangling across her chest in a 3-point sling.

"This is a bit of a head game, and I wonder how much farther it will go. Expect some kind of scream out of sight, maybe to split us up or freak us out, pull our guns."


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).

Standing in the middle of the empty market, after poking around a little.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:45, Tue 29 June 2010.

"I don't think we are ready for that quite yet, but it's nice to have a look see.  I think I will skip on picking up smokes for now, eh?  Me ready with radio might make them think twice about playing games, though.  Hmm... let me update the boys."

"Hotel Element, this is Lima One, be alert that my next transmission may signal a combined attack, I will transmit status every five mikes, otherwise. over."  She checks her watch and marks the time with the stopwatch feature.
"Right, so that is my job, to check in every five.  They will know if they get an out of place transmission that it will likely be trouble."






Lima One
Holding the middle of the pack, close to Rachel, alert to danger and her radio.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, muzzle pointed down and across her body, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack, with handset attached to the top front of her webgear,left side, radio ON)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet left in jeep, wearing her glengary
Rifle pistol grip in right hand, radio handset activated with left.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #166):

Arif replied,

"Lima One from Hotel. I read you Lima Charlie. Break. I have good copy on your advisory. Break. Will receive radio checks every five mikes. Break. Any code word or stress word to be aware of? Over."

As they were very close, the reception was good.

People, especially the guards, noticed her talking on the radio but didn't react. They seemed to be drinking beer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:19, Tue 29 June 2010.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #167):

"Hotel Net, mark and time on five mikes.  Anything outside one zero Sierras is alarm.  Ready Mark.  Ready Mark.  Five mikes, Mark.  Lima one, out."  She resets her stopwatch.

Andy said, "Let's just get our bearings and see what we can see."

He went up to one of the food sellers and looked to see what fresh fruit they had, "So," he said, "what do you guys use as a means of exchange?"

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #169):

The young man smiled at Andy. "Whatever you got, soldier. Ammunition, chocolate, gold is acceptable. You know, barter. We got plenty of veggies, but no fruit. It's either from local orchards and trees or the Okanagan."

There wasn't any fresh fruit, it was too early in the growing season (only being mid-April or so). There were jars of jams, jellies and preserves of all kinds. Some had labels written in Sharpie identifying them as being from the Okanagan, but most were plain mason jars.

BC's main fruit-growing area was the Okanagan valley, a river valley and lake (Lake Okanagan) in the interiour, not far from the US border. It had extensive orchards and even vineyards. It was warm and temperate, and the mountains cut down on the vicious coastal rains and ensured there was a lot of sunlight for the growing season. There were many vineyards and orchards there, and BC could also count on a good supply of fruits and vegetables from California. When they weren't in season Central and South America were the sources of fruit during the winter months. After NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) loosened trade barriers to the US, Okanagan wines were really starting to take off... until the war.

"You mean you're not flying in fresh strawberries from Africa," Andy smiled, "man, I thought this was a market."

He pulled out the scrap silver and gold he had and said, "I've a sweet tooth, what jams have you got?"

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #171):

"We got raspberry and strawberry jams, and salmonberry, of course. All from last year. $15 for strawberry and raspberry, $8 for salmonberry. Sugar's hard to come by."

Kelsey remembered that delicious salmonberries grew wild all over the city, where they could. She recalled when she lived here going down to the park and picking a bowlful, then stopping at the 7-11 on the way back for some Haagen-Daaz ice cream.

Rachel looked amused and smiled a little.

"Master McRae, sorry to bother you but we don't have a lot of time here. Do you want us to maybe check out what else is for sale?"

The Market had not really been the primary objective, and if they didn't find anything they were to move on to the primary objective: nearby New Westminster.


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).
At fruit/veggie stall, keeping an eye out for trouble.

Ah salmonberries, they grow wild around here.  That really brings back memories.  Makes me crave hagen Daaz too."

She does another radio check, or more, as need, as they look around, resetting her watch alarm each time, and keeping an eye on it as well.

"For Go Sakes woman, I'm shopping!" Andy said, winking at Rachel, "For that harsh reminder of my duty, chose a flavour quickly, I'll have a jar of strawberry and a jar of raspberry please, and whatever my workaholic chum wants."

"OK, people," Andy said, "Dull Jack's right, let's get back to work."

He waited for Rachel to pick a flavour and then paid for them out of the scrap gold he had. Once he'd thanked the shopkeeper he ushered the crew out and back to work."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #175):

"I am such a meanie!"

She laughed, then glanced over at the metal shelves.

"Uh.... raspberry. Thanks, Master."

Still smiling, she turned back to keep an eye on her sector. It wasn't the first time that someone had advised her in a friendly way to lighten up!


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).
Uptight, at fruit/veggie stall, still keeping an eye out for trouble.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Thu 01 July 2010.

He picked up another raspberry and moved back out to the jeep with the others. Once outside he handed the jam over to Rachel and said, "OK, let's get this show on teh road, meanie."

After paying the woman $15, McRae received a wax-sealed mason jar.

"Here you go! From the farm in Richmond. Enjoy!"

That as a minor tidbit of news. YVR was on a small island off the bigger island that was the suburb of Richmond (where Lee had grown up and served part of her career as a mountie).

They checked the rest of the market out, and there wasn't anything too outlandish on display. One of the "hardware" stores had a pair of double-barreled shotguns for sale, with a considerable amount of ammunition for them (hundreds of reloaded shells) as well as reloaded NATO and WP rounds (a half-full case each of 5.56x45mm, 5.45x39mm, 7.62x51mm and 9x19mm).

They'd been checking things out for about 30 minutes. Kelsey and Arif kept up the constant radio checks. Business still hadn't picked up much, although the fishermen were now joined by a female shopper who was looking in the "veggie market".

"Raspberry works, Salmonberry would have been more nostalgic though, for me... ah.. well"  She glances at her watch, then prepares to make yet another radio check.


Lima One
Holding the middle of the pack, close to Rachel, staying alert and making constant radio checks.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, muzzle pointed down and across her body, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack, with handset attached to the top front of her webgear,left side, radio ON)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet left in jeep, wearing her glengary
Rifle pistol grip in right hand, radio handset activated with left.

Tremablay double checks his FN rifle to make sure the chamber is still clear with the magazine inserted into the weapon.  Keith walks behind Chapman and the others as he scans the market to look for any goods that might interest to him or the rest of group.

Sgt. Tremblay - 'Hotel Five'
FN-FNC (Scoped) [30/30] - Slung behind Chamber empty/Mag in
[9] 30 Round mags in [3] webbing pouches
[1] FN HP-35 [13/13]
[2] 13 round HP Mags in pouch
[2] Frags
[2] Smoke

This message was last edited by the player at 04:02, Sun 04 July 2010.

[McRae, Champlain, Hope, Lee, Tremblay, Fox, Delaney]

0900 Free Market

After about a half-hour's looking around, they'd seen all there was publicly available. There wasn't anything too exciting happening. In equal parts the merchants looked glad, resentful and neutral about their presence. No one tried anything, the guards seemed to be on their best behaviour. No doubt there was additional security around, but so far there were just four in the immediate area and the government forces seemed to outnumber and certainly outgunned them.

Radio checks were made without fail between the detachment in the market and the LAV, and the LAV, BTR and UBC.

Everyone loaded up, and they commenced retracing their steps to head back over the Queensborough bridge to New Westminster.

Conklin still hadn't checked in, but was presumably on his way back to Taras' position and not yet late. His ETA would be about 10 minutes.

---

0900, Everett Crowley Park
[Taras]

Taras and company waited, relaxed but with a few in an alert posture. Ready for anything but pacing themselves.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:56, Sat 03 July 2010.

"OK, next job," Andy said, "let's go."

Once they were driving again and out of earshot he said to Rachel, "Sorry about yanking your chain back there, you were exactly right. I've got a front to keep up though. The HAs think I'm pretty laid back and corruptible and I need to play to that. Next time we're involved in something like that with people not affiliated with teh HA we might be able to use the rotten cop, straight arrow routine."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #182):

She carefully kept her face neutral as she put the jeep in drive and pulled out onto Cliveden. "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Without me knowing, that makes my reaction a lot more natural. Good thinkin', Andy."


Rachel Lee
MP5A3 + 6 Magazines.
S&W Model 5956 + 2 magazines.
2 FB Grenades, 2 CS Grenades.
Heavy Body Armour, Helmet (not worn).

Driving back towards New West

It's been about half hour since our friend Robert started to conduct the recce of the North branch of Marine Drive. I will let him know about the presence of armed people on his way.

Taras radioed the message giving carte blanche as which course of action Conklin should take; either return to the Park through the original route or go on accepting the risks.



Staff Sgt. RCMP Taras V. Shevchenko
Response Team Leader. Romeo One-One
AKS-74U (45/45) +4 mags
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenade x2
RDG-2 (smoke) x2
RGG-2Kh (irritant gas) x2

0910 Saturday 19, 2001

---

Everett Crowley Park
[Taras]


The radio operator in the BTR kept trying Conklin's frquency until he came into range. Finally, he acknowledged the presence of possible enemy force, and decided to try for a different route to the north, probably west along Imperial/East 49th and then south on Kerr.

---

Annacis Island to New Westminser.
[McRae, Champlain, Hope, Lee, Tremblay, Fox, Delaney]


As the main convoy passed through the checkpoint, the guard waved them over.

"Market day is usually every Saturday, 8AM to 8PM. See you next week! Sorry it was so dead today."

The main recce detachment traveled back over the Queensborough bridge and into New Westminster proper via Stewardson Way. As they passed the city limits, it was obvious that the roads have been cleared and organised salvage was going on. Still, the outer buildings had an air of neglect and there was graffiti on many walls.

Near where Stewardson Way turned into Columbia Drive, at the intersection of 12th Street, all the buildings in a  had been demolished and the rubble cleared away to make clear fields of fire. Stretching from the river north along 12 St. was a barricade of sandbags and debris topped with barbed and razor wire. There were lookout towers and regularly spaced bunkers and hard points.

At the intersection was a security checkpoint.

Parked there was a police car, a Cougar 76mm AVGP (a Piranha 6x6 mounting the turret from the British Scorpion recce tank) and a deuce-and-a-half truck. Some armed guards in army fatigues patrolled the area.

Fox asked Andy to take the lead on this and talk to the cops. He was going to park the LAV a ways away and cover the other vehicle as it went up. This showed an unavoidable degree of suspicion, but they couldn't afford to lose the LAV if these people really didn't have good intentions.



This message was last edited by the GM at 09:02, Sun 04 July 2010.

Andy smiled as they approached the checkpoint, "OK, people, nice and frosty again, let's play nice with the armed men with the gun that could blow us to kingdom come."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #186):

Looking nervously at the armoured vehicle, Rachel replied, "works for me. Want me to drive up and stop like normal? It doesn't look like they're specifically aiming at us."

Tricia, the CBC reporter, had gotten some good footage of the Free Market. No one was willing to talk to her. Now, she was set up by the LAV, close but not too close. Her cameraman was videoing the wall, and would get a shot of the jeep as it approached the checkpoint.

They were under instructions to hang back out of the way, and they were cooperating.

"Yeah, do that, but if they make any sign that they want us to stop, do exactly as they say." Andy agreed.

Keith made sure he accounted for all of the dismounts and that they were all back into the vehicle before he went over the radio, "This is Hotel Five.  Loaded and ready to move out."

When they get away and pull up to the stop their making now with the vehicles that could do some real damage to them, he looks around the troop compartment and tells everyone, "When the ramp goes down, disperse and find some good cover and return fire as needed!  All of us tracking me here?"

Sgt. Keith Tremblay - 'Hotel Five'
FN-FNC (Scoped) [30/30] - Slung behind Chamber empty/Mag in
[9] 30 Round mags in [3] webbing pouches
[1] FN HP-35 [13/13]
[2] 13 round HP Mags in pouch
[2] Frags
[2] Smoke

The reply was, "yes Sergeant!" although Arif, being under Kelsey and something of a smart-ass, replied, "hoo-ah!"

In the LAV, Fox let the rear ramp down. If they were attacked, they wouldn't lose all the dismounts in one go if the LAV took a hit. Tremblay got everyone out and sorted into finding cover, which was scarce. Mostly the kerb, a pile of broken bricks and chunks of shattered concrete, and the LAV itself. There was more solid cover behind them 20m away.

As they were getting situated, the Jeep continued to the checkpoint where it was flagged down. Aside from the vehicles there were two bunkers set within the rubble berm, and a raisable gate with rolls of barbed wire in front. A dozen militia in surplus US fatigues were in sight in the bunkers, and another half dozen militia on the wall on either side plus more in the two flanking observation towers. The guards looked alert but relaxed. Most weapons were civilian in nature (hunting rifles, shotguns, pistols) with only a few Canadian/US rifles (C7/M16A2) and a couple Russian weapons (AKMs/AK-47s).

One of the two New West police that were also visible walked up to the idling jeep.

"Good morning! I'm Constable Walliford. You must be the government folks we've been hearing about! You can come on in, Mayor Barnes would like to see you down at city hall."

Although there were clear warning signs about personal weapons being checked, Constable Walliford didn't mention them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:36, Wed 07 July 2010.

Kelsey mumbles as they drive up "We are from the government, and we are here to help you."  She chuckles at herself, then as things move along at the gate she radios.
"This is Lima One.  Apparently we are being welcomed by a Constable Barnes, who is taking us to talk to Mayor Barnes.  Will maintain radio checks every ten mikes.  Ten mikes, radio check, check, mark."


Lima One
Keeping up her assigned post facing rear arc.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO)
(rifle in hand, muzzle pointed down and across her body, magazine loaded, no round chambered, spare mags in web gear)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white)  (All grenades attached to webgear)
PRC-77 (w/scr)  (Backpack, with handset attached to the top front of her webgear,left side, radio ON)
Bodyarmour worn, Kevlar helmet off, wearing her glengary
Rifle pistol grip in right hand, radio handset activated with left.

"Thank you, Constable," Andy said, "I'm Master Sniper McRae, it would be an honour to meet your Mayor."

Keith shoots Arif a nasty look and then a snicker as he gets the dismounts out of the vehicle and in some assemblance of a defensive perimeter around the vehicle.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #193):

Fox's reply came back. "Roger that, I have good copy. Break. Be advised you are to proceed and have Lima Three make contact with New West government officials at city hall. Break. We will hold our position here. How do you copy? Over."

The Constable listened and waited for Kelsey to reply, then asked, "okay. Care to proceed?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:37, Thu 08 July 2010.

"Yes thankyou, Constable," Andy said, "I'd appreciate it if you could show us the way."

Kelsey looks up, nods to the Master Sniper  "Roger, Lima One and element wilco.  The team will comply with local officials for meetings.  Periodic Romeo Charlie, or negative?  Over."

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #197):

Fox replied,

"Ahhh... roger, Lima One, continue Romeo Charlies as scheduled. Break. Romeo detachment will hold current position until advised by Lima Three area is secure to bring up Hotel. Break. Will be standing by this push (frequency). Break. Same ROEs as at the Market. Hotel Actual, out."

Overhead, they could see the concrete tracks of the "Skytrain" light rail system that once connected downtown with the suburbs, including New West. There was an OP there now, acting as a kind of observation tower, and to block infiltration down the overhead rail line.

http://tinyurl.com/287v93x

The police got into their car, an older Crown Victoria, and started it up. With the Jeep following, they turned onto Royal Avenue towards city hall.

New Westminster was on the hillside, paralleling the Fraser River. Several bridges connected it to Queensborough and Surrey, across the river. It was old riverport and former provincial capital, it was what passed for "old" in the youngest part of a new country, dating back a century or so to the late Victorian era. In the background were snow-covered mountains, both near and far including the far-off Mt. Baker down in Washington State.

Both older and newer buildings and roads seemed in good repair, windows either intact or boarded up, none of the graffiti that blanketed the downtown. They passed by people on foot and bicycles, with a couple horses pulling a wagon full of salvage. Royal Ave from 12th was a steep hill but at least that allowed them to get a glimpse of the massive Russian Delta III class submarine, the Kursk, between the riverfront buildings (a futuristic hotel, a casino, the New Westmnister Quay market and various condo developments). It was too far and difficult to make out flags or who was standing by it.

As they approached City Hall at the far corner of Royal Ave and 6th St., on their left was the futuristic "Royal Towers Hotel". Built in the 50's, perching on the hillside like an air-traffic control tower for an non-existent airport. In front along Royal was the broad grass lawns of city hall.




The pulled into the parking lot between City Hall/NWPD station and the Royal Westminster Regiment Militia armoury. The "Pats" (Seth and Andy) had both visited the armoury before, as the PPCLI was the parent regiment for the Royal Westminster Regiment (aka "Westies"). In wartime (like now) the Westies would supply replacement personnel to the PPCLI, among other Militia units.

There was a small honour guard of polcie and Militia waiting for them (a dozen total). The mayor and a couple assistants in business suits waited for them, along with the police and fire chiefs, plus the local Militia commander. There were no Russians present, despite the massive (but possibly independent) Russian submarine docked at the riverfront.

The mayor's assistant stepped forward offering a hand to shake.

"I'm Kirk Dupont. May I present the Honourable Mayor David Shellburne." Everyone, including the Mayor, offered their hands to shake as well.

The Mayor said, "it's so good to see you boys and girls! We've been hearing a lot about what's been going on in Vancouver! Please, let's go inside, have some coffee or tea, and a bit to eat if you like."

It was as relaxed and friendly atmosphere as the politician could make it, tempered by a certain strain about the unknown on both sides.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:20, Thu 08 July 2010.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #198):

If this worked out, being the advanced party was a fair advantage.  Kelsey did her ten minute radio check on the dot, set her timer, then stepped up with a bright smile after adjusting the angle of her glengary.  "Are we talking real coffee?"

"It's an Honour to meet you Mayor Shelbourne, Mr. Dupont," Andy said, shaking people's hands firmly, "I'd be happy to sit down and discuss things with you, we have a lot to talk about."

Time was clicking slowly for the response team. Everything appears to be a call to calm. The professional demeanor of the Canadian Forces, after all, did not worry much the senior Lt. now Police Sargent, Taras Vladimirovich Shevencho. He knew that stepping aside would eventually help a smooth flow in the communications between communities. There was still hostility towards the invaders as the war was still hot up and everywhere.

The morning in the park was marvelous, other than the air strike suffered by the unflinching ukrainian it was lacking of any interesting feature and the team was enjoying a good time with plenty of opportunities to exchange experiences and dreams. They were also getting familiar with the odd BTR. A battle wagon in the most classic of the terms. Rough and rough. One by one got their turns, not unlike children on a field trip to take a seat by the turret post and peek a boo trough the periscope associated to the main weaponry. A dual range finder for both the KPVT and the co-axial MG helped to estimate the distance. All of it over the background of the tall grass of the park with a tree line at the end of the horizon:



http://img707.imageshack.us/f/visor.jpg/
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:16, Sat 10 July 2010.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #200):

Rachel got out, shook hands with her counterpart and the others, including the Mayor.

"Master McRae, who's coming in with you? Maybe Sergeant Delaney and I should stay with the vehicle."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #200):

"I'm okay with staying, Master McRae," Seth answered.

He too got out and shook hands all around, looking a little scruffy but neater now that his hair was trimmed.

"OK, Rachel," Andy said, "why don't you stay with the jeep, Seth's with me, does anyone else want to come?"

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #204):

Kelsey gingerly shakes hands, though her grip is strong.  She drops her rifle to a slung position, and keeps close tabs on the time.  "Master Corporal Kelsey Champlain, I'm a local originally, and a memnber of the 3rd Royal Scottish Regiment, assigned to the DRI"

"Wherever you think I am most useful, Master Macrae.  I wonder if it might be useful to have me along as commo relay."

"Agreed Master Corporal," Andy said, "you stick with me too."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #206):

"Oh, sorry, I meant I was okay with staying with the Jeep. You take Master Corporal Champlain with you, Corporal Lee and I should stay here."

"That's fine," Andy said, "let's get down to it."

Andy headed to the meeting, wondering what surprised the Amyor would have in store for them.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #208):

"Right... I'm on you then.  Guess I don't miss out on the coffee.  Anything you folks staying behind want sent out, if I can wangle it?  Oh, and by all means, one of you man the vehicle radio."

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #209):

Rachel nodded.

"Don't worry Kel, I'm on 'er."

She lounged back on the Jeep, looking casual but keeping alert.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #208):

"Have fun, Master Sniper."

To Kelsey he replied, "Master Corporal, if you can find me a scone that would rule."

The meeting went smoothly, the Mayor directing them to his office overlooking the river from City Hall's hillside perch. He was a fit and intelligent-looking man in his early 50's.

The could see not only part of the submarine's dark bulk but there was also a large paddle-wheel riverboat tied up at the wharf.

Coffee, tea, muffins, doughnuts and of course scones were served.

"Fresh from the Tim Horton's up the street!" This was great to hear, as the "Timmy's" coffee shops were a pre-war Canadian institution. Not the greatest, but cheap and ubiquitous and open 24-hours.

The Mayor started off with some small talk, offering a brief story of how they survived the war here in New West. Few original "New Westies" were left after the evacuation, most people were refugees from all over the Lower Mainland. He himself had been appointed BC's Chief Coroner since 1996. He volunteered to stay behind and eventually found himself in New West. In mid-1998 they held an election and he won, and so they built a security perimeter and encouraged river trade. They manufacture some goods in New West, including fuel and some medicines. They mostly relied on river trade up and down the Fraser.

"I guess you're wondering about that sub? According to Kapitan Astapkovich, his sub (K-141 Kursk) was heavily damaged in combat in August of 2000 and presumed lost. At that time the Soviet forces in Alaska were surrendering and not really wanting to return home to be put back in the fight, they put in here for repairs and supplies two months ago in February. Not that we could say no! With the bow damaged they had trouble maneuvering and damaging one propeller, basically stranding them here. Repairs to the bow and screw are ongoing but slow due to a lack of facilities.

"At this time, Kapitan Astapkovich and his crew help out the police and Militia in community defence and they provide electrical power to the city using the Kurk's nuclear reactors."

This tallied with something they had already deduced: the slightly warmer water downstream at UBC suggested the sub's reactors were still operational and using the river water for cooling (there were no traces of radioactivity).

"So, what's your story? We've heard about the government enclave at UBC and that there was a fight with the Stickmen in Stanley Park."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:11, Sun 11 July 2010.

"Hotel Five good copy on same ROE's as market."  Keith looks around to the deployed troops and decides insidtead of yelling to have a runner deliver the message personally to all of the dismounts.  "Mr. Arif!  Front & center please!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:29, Sun 11 July 2010.

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #213):

Fox relieved Arif of the radio watch. He grabbed his ancient C1 "Sterling" SMG and scrambled over to where Tremblay was waiting.

Arif said, "Private Mahanadi reporting, Sergeant."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:11, Sun 11 July 2010.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #214):

Kelsey grins at Rachel "Thanks Rachel, knew I could count on ya."  A thumbs up given to Seth  "I'll see what I can do."

She settles in the background, letting the boys talk, enjoying her coffee and keeping tabs on her radio check, smiling, listening, but not butting in.  Yet.

"I'm impressed Mr. Mayor," Andy said sipping the coffee, "you and your community have come a long way and achieved much. I have only been at the UBC for a few weeks. The people there were also able to keep the torch of civilisation during teh dark days and now, as central Government is starting to re-establish itself they are trying to get the city back on its feet. The Stickmen were violently opposed to the rule of law so we took them out. To do that we had help from several other communities and we hope to expand the alliance throughout the city."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #216):

"Well, that sounds like an incredible operation, I mean that sincerely. Before I was a coroner I was a Mountie since '73, street patrol and then narcotics in Vancouver. I can well imagine the amount of planning and coordination an operation like that requires."

There was a little more small talk about the weather, which was not so small considering the changes that had happened and were still happening.

"Okay, we're willing to listen, for sure. Cooperation in the interests of trade and security of great interest to us here, as well as supporting the restoration of civil order in the Lower Mainland. We know the federal government can't come and answer our every problem, but we want a return to normalcy as much as anyone.

"Our main concerns are the Hells Angels. We had some clashes with them a year or so ago and they leave us alone, but we think they run things in most places in the Lower Mainland. Further, while we appreciate the Kursk and Captain Astapkovich's presence, we appreciate that at some time they will have to decide what their future course is going to be. To be blunt, we don't have the facilities here to get make the Kursk any more than minimally operational, and even if it does leave we would have to find another source of electricity."

This wasn't an unexpected point; Taras had mentioned to fix the sub (from the initial reports of its damage) they would probably need to shift it to the BC ferries yards on the North Shore for the drydocks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:12, Sun 11 July 2010.

"I'm sure that our tech guys can help out both with finding an alternate electricity supply for your community and in rebuilding the Kursk." Andy said, "We would sure appreciate co-operation in making the city safe for people again. There's also another issue you may want to discuss with my superiors, our scientists believe that the river may be close to a catastrophic flood, I would advise you to consult with them on what their models may mean for your community."

He stopped to swallow some more coffee, "The Hell's Angels do appear to be a pernicious element here," he agreed, "I'd be interested to share intel on them at some point. From my dealings with them so far they seem to operate a cell network without necessarily supporting each other. That makes it hard for them to oppose and organised force but it also makes them damned hard to stamp out completely."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #218):

"Fantastic. We'll get radio frequencies and send someone down Marine Way to UBC, I guess. Is the route safe? We've been hearing reports of people being attacked around Boundary.

"That's bad news about the river. Not necessarily for us, because most of our buildings are on the hillside (as you can see) and we can evacuate the waterfront. But many other people live along the river up and downriver and in the flood plains, most people in the Lower Mainland I expect, and they're in trouble."

"As for the HAs, I'm not surprised they've survived. They usually avoid direct confrontation when they can avoid it. We had some armed clashes with bikers and gunmen we believe were sent by the HAs, and we beat them off. They haven't been a direct problem since."

He looked unsatisfied, like he would much rather they have attacked openly so they cold be defeated in detail. But that wasn't how the HAs operated.

"Is there anything else?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:12, Sun 11 July 2010.

Tremblay turns to meet Arif as he reports.  "Mr. Mahanadi, report to all dismounts persoanlly that the same ROE's apply here same as the market.  Understood?"  Once he acknowledges that he understands the order, he dismisses the private and leaves him to deliver the message.

"We've had reports of mechanised bandits on the route as well," Andy said, "that's why we came mob handed. Unfortunately we haven't been able to flush the thieves out yet. We'll keep trying but until we tell you different, I'd use the route with caution."

He stood and said, "It's been a pleasure speaking with you, Sir. I hope our association is long and fruitful."

He stood and saluted the Mayor and then offered his hand.

Kelsey slips over a piece of paper to the men, then does another radio check, by the numbers.  She looks a little unsettled when Hotel Net doesn't answer her calls.

"Hotel Net this is Lima One, radio check"  Upon not getting the response she expects, she immediately will pop alert.  Professionally on the radio she will start with "All elements, All elements be advised that Hotel may be compromised, Hotel I repeat may be compromised.  All stations check in, all stations check in.  Lima One assumes net control, mark.  Lima One One, report."  She will start running down radios and requesting reports, having to assume that Arif is offline due to emergency.

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #220):

Arif nodded his understanding. "Yes, Sergeant. Oh, Sergeant Fox says that if the balloon goes up he's going to withdraw while firing on the move to cover you."

The LAV-III had stabilisation and therefore it would be better to go mobile yet still retain full firepower and he was intending on using that to the Kodiak's advantage. The foot dismounts would just have to withdraw the 20-30 metres to harder cover (more vacant buildings) on their own, but unfortunately the main priority was to keep the LAV safe and in the fight.

Trembley had to remind Arif to keep his finger off the Sterling's trigger, even if it was unloaded.

He made sure that everyone knew what the plan was and the ROEs. So far, so good. No one had opened fire on either side and the perimeter guards didn't seem to be drawing a bead on them, although the area looked well-organised enough they probably already had the area zeroed-in.

The response from Fox was everything was nominal, no alert despite the breach of protocol.

Inside the meeting, Kelsey had sipped her fair share of coffee, reveling in the rich tasting free-dried freshness, fresh milk and honey. As well, the baked goods were actually freshly-baked, although there was no fresh fruit. The radio checks went off without a hitch. Fox replied, apparently Arif was busy. Seth also checked in on the alternating 5-minute interval.

So far, both Kelsey and Andy believed the Mayor was telling the truth and seemed genuine.

The Mayor nodded in agreement to Andy. "Well, Master McRae, it sounds like we're going to be working together very soon. I guess I'll hand the show over to our Officer Commanding of Militia, Captain Harding."

Harding was a rather unimposing balding middle aged man in glasses, wearing older CF combats with Royal Westminster Regiment tabs and badge on his green beret.

"Let me say that I am glad to see you both here, Master Sniper and Master Corporal. Unfortunately, the rest of the Westies (the local New West Militia unit) are somewhere out in the Prairies if I'm not mistaken. So we just had a bare cadre here composed of reservists like myself. I was a Lieutenant in the Westies in the late 80's and was reactivated at the same rank in '97 as part of the general call-up. "Captain" is an honourary title.

"At any rate, we have a platoon cadre of Militia based in the armoury, part of the Ready Reserve. (That is, not active Reserve Force personnel but simply former Militia like me.) We mostly spend our time training the city defence force, based around the New West police, and acting as the reserves. The NWDF has 4 platoons of 30-40 tactical members each, aside from the police force which is around another 400 members. No weapons heavier than machineguns and a few LAW rockets. If needed we can call on the crew of Captain Astapkovich's crew for another company of reinforcements, but we're somewhat leery of playing that card. Captain Astapkovich seems like an honourable man but in the end he is a turncoat, and it's impossible to know where his true interests or agenda truly lies. I like and trust him, but in the end if he decides to do his own thing or one of his officers decides they too can play the mutiny game like he did, there's precious little we could do about it."

"If we're done here, would you like a tour of the armoury?"

He looked at the Mayor, who nodded that things seemed to be wrapping up as he concerned. His assistant moved up to Kelsey with a pad of paper, ready to take down contact information.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:34, Tue 20 July 2010.

Kelsey took a few agonizing minutes on the radio concentrating on her net security, but what it boiled down to at the end is all sounded clear, and she trusted Fox.  "I think we can drop checks back to Thirty Mikes, please put Hotel One back on Radio Ops, it's what he is trained for, no disrespect, but I had him doing about five things, which probably are not being done now"


After it settles she erases the frown with a grin and moves to shake the hand of the LT.  "Master Corporal Champlain, Radio Ops, Infantry, 3rd RSR.  Pleased to meet you Captain.  Are the Russians running your net here?  Any other communications?"

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #224):

Capt. Harding replied, "we have the pre-war police radio band set-up. Analogue, our digitally encrypted signals went out in the war. The Russians have their own net, of course, and we can listen in, or so they say."

Fox noted the change and apologised for the irregularity. He knew he was in for a talking-to when they returned.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #225):

Kelsey lets it drop, after making sure the Lima element at the jeep that was caught in the middle of this was settled back in, makes Fox promise to put Arif back on his job ASAP, and mention to him about 'contact cleaning' as extra duty when they got back for abandoning his post.

"What kind of range do you have on those police bands?  I will set you up with frewq and codes for contact with us"

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #226):

The Police Chief, Alex Barnes, replied, "the police bands are short-range, I'm afraid. Old car radios, UHV, line-of-sight. We do have a bigger set for longer communications. We don't want to go through the sub's radio network if we can help it."

Keith nodded his head in acknowledgement to Arif as he informed him of Fox's plan about withdrawing.  "Outsatanding Private!  Pass that along as well and then get back to your radio station when that has been completed, Hoo-Ahh?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Sun 11 July 2010.

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #228):

Arif grinned. "yeah, too easy, Sergeant." He headed back to his post and relieved Fox of radio duties.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:23, Mon 12 July 2010.

"That would be great,Sir," Andy said to the Militia Captain.

As he and Kelsey walked with the officer, Andy said, "Sir, I'd like to discuss something with you before broaching it with your Mayor." He smiled, "Don't worry, it's not treason or anything, just a few troops in green seeing how the land lies before landing one or the other in a pile of political crap. My bosses would like to form an alliance with you and use our joint forces to retake the airfield."

"There are two reasons for this: One, the occupants are defying the rule of law and acting as medieval robber barons and Two, we'll need the telecommunications that are in the airport and under threat of flooding if we are to rebuild the region." He paused for breath, he was doing a lot more speechfying than shooting these days, they hadn't covered that on any of his courses, "I'm not sure of the plans but I'd imagine using your units as blocking forces and backup to our assault, if we need to assault. I wanted to ask you first before talking to the Mayor about it, do you think your forces would be capable of such an action and would you be willing to engage in it? If you think it's a good idea I'll try to sell it whole to your Boss, if you think it would be too dangerous I'll be more standoffish."

"I think that if we are to get the country up and running again we need to be proactive, but you've trained these boys and girls and kept them alive until now and I don't want to stick your nuts in the vice without warning and teh chance to discuss it."

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

His reaction was not unexpected but more guarded than hoped.

"I can't commit the defence force or the police without consulting the Mayor first, of course. Overall, as you can appreciate, we're stretched thin on the ground and were going to ask you for your help! We don't have the numbers, firepower or communications to operate that far from the city at this time."

The legality of this stance was muddled by the war, and of course Mayors weren't supposed to command military forces or the local Militia. Technically, as there was a new Constitutional federal government, all military forces were under its jurisdiction, and all police forces (even the federal RCMP, to an extent) were under provincial jurisdiction. But no real provincial government had been set up aside from the temporary provisional military-controlled (and thus technically unconstitutional if not illegal) one. The federal government's reach also still far exceeded its grasp.

"The Russians are a great assistance, but given their strength we prefer to keep them on a short leash and not assume too many security duties. Plus, their primary concern is keeping their sub safe."

It was clear to Andy that the Captain was playing it close to his chest, unwilling to commit armed forces to help in any offensive operations.

He told Kelsey he was happy to see her and that her unit, the Canadian Scottish Regiment, had a proud history. The "Westies" had started out as an engineering battalion, sent along with their families by the British to pioneer and eventually settle the rugged wilds of British Columbia. The oldest part of New West was still called "Sapperton". They became the "Loyal Westminster Rifles" after Queen Victoria personally named the city "New Westminster" (giving rise to New West's nickname of "Royal City"). In WWI they were the Westminster Regiment and in WWII earned the "Royal" honourific after hard-fought battles in Italy as part of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division. (Not all units were bestowed this hounour; neither the PPCLI nor the CSR had been bestowed this title, but by now the glories of WWII were well-faded.)

---

Meanwhile, Tremblay detected an unarmed civilian approaching their position from the rear (along Stewardson), riding a bicycle. He was passing the abandoned Scott Paper plant behind them, waving.

The news team in the CBC van filmed the man's approach, then switched back to alternating coverage of the security perimeter and the team's LAV.



This message was last edited by the GM at 09:43, Tue 13 July 2010.

"Thanks for your candour,Sir," Andy said, "I wouldn't want you to commit your forces without a civil authority's say so, I was just trying to establish if you were capable of such an undertaking should your Mayor agree to it. If I read your assessment of your capabilities correctly, it would be wise for me to ask for your forces to act in an advisory element only. Would you object to me pushing teh Mayor to encourage commitment of forces from the Kursk? We have ex-Soviets working for us and we might be able to use them more comfortably than you would."

"I'd value your opinions before I consult the Mayor, Sir, but I won't hold you or your community to them as policy."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #232):

Kelsey smirks a little and finally butts in

"Actually, our task force commander is Russian, and we welcome the inclusion of former hostiles to our country that seek asylum and opportunity here.  We don't USE former Soviet block combatants as much as welcome them here, as military or civilians."

She clucks her tongue a moment, then laughs.

"We may be from the government, but we are not so mercinary.  I am sure he means we would like to talk to the sub's officers, if you will permit us?  Now, you do have a base unit?  What kind of range and power are we talking?  Maybe I can talk to the operators?"

Tremblay turns towards the lone man on the bike and raises his left hand to order the person to stop or slow up his appraoch towards the vehicles.  His rifle still hanging on its sling, he presses the talk button on his radio, "Yeah, Hotel Five all elements.  Be advised, have unidentified male on bike appraoching.  How copy?"

They stopped short of the Armoury's front door. The Captain looked conflicted.

"You can certainly ask, but I think we have our hands full at this time. I will recommend at least a section to assist you, if not the full militia platoon."

"As for the Kursk, I can't speak for them. I'm sure you can speak to their Captain if you wish, we do have a landline connection to the sub from both City Hall and the Armoury. The phones connect the various police and sentry posts, as well as the fire department."

He laughed at Kelsey's comment.

"It's good to hear we're putting the war behind us, at least in some ways. You may certainly talk to the radio operator, but the signals section is quartered about a half-dozen blocks away on top of the hill, in the old BC Tel building."

"Let me know if you want to visit the Kursk, it can easily be arranged right away."

This didn't surprise her, BC Tel had set up microwave relays on the high parts of the city so that's where their buildings and offices also tended to be located.

---

This was something of a difficult situation. They were in a kind of no-man's land and needed to be aware of security, but they were also in an obvious transit area for a potentially allied community. They couldn't stop, much less threaten, everyone who approached.

They weren't exactly blocking the roadway but traffic would have to pass within 10 metres or so of them.

Fox looked back at the approaching rider and responded, with some reluctance, "ah, Hotel Fife (Tremblay) from Hotel Actual, I have solid copy on that. Break. Ahhh... be advised, let's dial this down a notch. Break. Respond in a friendly non-threatening manner if at all possible. Break. If rider approaches directly, then take Hotel Two (Tyler) and determine what he wants. Break. Reminder: we are looking for friends, information, things like that. Do you copy? Over."

Meanwhile, the rider approached near Tremblay and Hope's position and stopped, fixing something.

"Hey, could you guys come over here and give me a hand? It'll take just a sec."

The bored-looking cameraman with dreadlocks swung around to take some footage of the event, literally the only interesting thing happening.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:52, Wed 14 July 2010.

"Hotel Six this is Lima One, copy dialing down, permission to cease timed radio checks?  (over)  Also, Lima One would like to confer with local signal people.  The Bravo Charlie Telephone building.  We ready to trust yet?"

Course, Kelsey was the one who wanted to trust earliest if they could, she believed in the good nature of people, odd for someone with the combat experience she had, one would suppose, but this area had long been her home.

"Aye, I will, if I can get permission, hopefully I will get to ride in a jeep, commo is important and I already got my exercise this morning.  Maybe we can take the Spoonful to the sub and get some parlaying done, you folk aren't enemies, just our folks."  She grins widely and shrugs  "I'm a local, by the way.  I'd like to consider myself back from the war, ya know?"

"Hotel Five that's a good copy.  Five out," Tremblay says as he motions over to Hope to join him and check out the guy on the bicycle.  Once he's near him, he whispers to him, "Go at him on an angle from the left, me from the right.  Watch his hands and any quick movements!"

Keith turns back to the man on the bicycle and says to him with a smile on his face, "Good morning sir!  How can we assist you this morning?"  Tremblay takes an angle on the man from the right and makes sure that Hope follows his direction.  His FN hangs on a sling in front of him with his left hand keeping it tucked into his chest while his right hand hangs down by his holster.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #236):

Harding smiled further, he seemed to like Kelsey a lot.

"Welcome back from the war, then! Things aren't the way they were but we're getting there. Hey, we'll see what your commander says about checking out the old BC Tel building. No one's at the armoury right now other than some staff, everyone else is on perimeter watch. Guess the war isn't quite done with us yet."

"Hotel Six this is Lima One, copy dialing down, permission to cease timed radio checks?  Break. Also, Lima One would like to confer with local signal people.  The Bravo Charlie Telephone building.  We ready to trust yet? Over."

Kelsey read off the map grid so Fox would know where they were going.

"Hotel, ah correction, Lima One from Hotel Actual. I have good copy. Break. Be advised I concur with your assessment, ceasing radio checks. Good call. Break. I think we're ready to trust, so if Lima Three concurs head to the Bravo Charlie Tango Echo Lima building. Reading back map grid: Papa Whiskey Fower Tree Niner Fife Wun Wun. Break. Hotel Victor will hold position. Out."

They entered the armoury and were greeted by a combined regiment and police pipe band playing "The Maple Leaf Forever":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYJqMUJFY1g

---

The man was bearded and scruffy, wearing surplus CF combat pants, boots and a stained t-shirt. His hygiene was a little lacking but he wasn't too funky, just mostly sweat from riding in the warm sun. He kept a neutral expression as he knelt and pointed at the brake caliper.

"I'll make this quick. My name is Todd Forrester. You guys passed me in Queensborough, you didn't see me but I recognised an old section-mate of mine, Kelsey Champlain? I couldn't stop you then, too many lookouts there. Kel was a private in Company B, 1st Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment, I was also a Private in her platoon. You guys are with the government? I need to talk to her about the airport, YVR."

Todd didn't seem threatening but instead kept up the charade of examining his bike for a nonexistent problem.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:54, Fri 16 July 2010.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #238):

Kelsey grins at Andy and nods "Looks like they agree.  WALK with me back to the jeep and let's ride on over and talk to your Commo folks, Andy?"  She was blissfully unaware of a former comrade back at the same position, but she found riding more prudent than walking, if available.
"Thanks for the welcome home, I plan on taking responsibility for it's upkeep, you know what I mean?"

"Yes," Andy said, "that's fine. If we walk back to the Jeep you can take Kel to the comms and I'll chat with your Mayor about the airport and then set up a meet with the Kursk."

Keith moves up a little closer to the man on the bike and tries to appear to be looking at the break caliper.  "Apparently, some more lookouts around here too! I'll humor you for a moment Mr. Forrester.  If my boss says no go then thats what it is!

Mr. hope, please advise Fox of our situation and when you come back after he tells you what he wants to do, bring back a pair of pliers or an adjustable wrench for bike repair please.  A respectable but not desperate please Mr. Hope."