In reply to Robert Duncan Fox (msg #272):

"At least beer isn't deep fried in fat"

1000 Hours
New Westminster


After the two vehicles RV'd at Royal and 6th, they rolled the few blocks down to  Columbia. They went under the riverside parkade, crossing Front St. Ahead of them were train tracks and then a checkpoint manned by Russian naval personnel. The sub lay alongside the wharf, huge and dark.

As they were crossing Front, Kelsey saw a familiar face among the people milling around the few open shops on Front St. It was Todd Forrester, a fellow Private and section-mate from the Canned Scots. He didn't seem to recognise or paid her any notice as he stood by his bike, but it was obvious this was the man waiting for her. She knew that he owed her his life and was very unlikely to betray her.

Looking ahead across the tracks, the others noticed there were no Soviet national or naval flags or insignia flying on the sub or on shore. Instead, there was a tricolour that resembled the French flag (red, white, blue) and another flag that faintly resembled the British Union Jack, although it had a red background. Instead of a red star, a large stylised Imperial Russian eagle was painted on the front of the sail. The area where the sub was located was fenced off, and it was obvious serious work was being done on the bow and aft ends. As well, electrical cables had been strung from the sub to a substation of some sort down the wharf. It seemed what the Mayor had said was true, the sub was supplying electricity to the city as part of some arrangement.




Master McRae was waiting at the checkpoint, as was the CBC van. Tied up behind the  huge sub was a large paddle-wheeler.




The Russians nodded towards the vehicles and waved them through. "As well, you may proceed, if you are being Master Sniper McRae!" said the sailor at the checkpoint as he raised the barrier for the vehicles to drive through and Andy to walk past.

There were a half-dozen sailors there in typical Russian naval uniforms and hats, armed only with sidearms.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:29, Tue 27 July 2010.

Andy saluted the guard, "That I am," he said, "could you point out to me either my escort or the person I'll be dealing with, please?"

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #275):

The sailor returned the salute. He spoke fluent English, with a slight Ukrainian accent that turned a "v" into a "w".

"Of course. Over there you will find Lieutenant Popovkin waiting for you. You may please park your wehicles here and board there."

He indicated a boarding ramp, with an officer waiting there.

As she drove up to the checkpoint, Rachel said to Andy, "hey, Master Sniper. Good to see you again!"

Idling the jeep just at the checkpoint, She waited for some signal from Fox as to what to do. Kelsey was supposed to meet her contact outside the security perimeter, so she thought it was a good idea to wait a little while before entering.

"OK, Fox, McRae," Seth said, mentioning them by name but talking to everyone present in reality.  "Who do you want where?  Who needs to go and get batteries, who's staying with our vehicles and who's going to go and talk to the Russian sub Captain?"

He glanced over at the boarding ramp where an officer appeared to be waiting.

"It looks like the meeting with the Russians is going to take place on the sub so we need to work out if we're taking weapons with us or not!"

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #278):

Kelsey motions to one of the seaside shops
"Maybe I should handle the specifics on batteries, so we get good stuff and not something useless to us."

Fox nods "Alright, get what you can." He then looks over to McRae and Seth "I think Master McRae and I should go see this sub captain. Stay here and keep an eye on the vehicles, we shouldn't be too long."

Fox and McRae were informed that they were to have sidearms only on the sub.

A ways across the tracks and Front St., Kelsey saw her friend duck into a storefront.

The rest of the crew prepared to cool their heels for a few minutes. Arif transmitted a SITREP to Taras and the reaction force.

"No worries," Seth replied as Fox, McRae and Kelsey moved off.  While the rest of them waited by the vehicles Seth moved over to Keith.

"This is a bit different to what we're used to!" he commented to his old friend.

Andy left his weapons in the Jeep, "Keep an eye on these will you?" he asked Seth.

He walked over to Fox and said, "OK, let's do this."

Kelsey takes note of where her buddy ducked, but doesn't make a beeline there, instead she browses a few places, even makes a few procurements, before ending up in that shop.

Seth nodded an affirmative but didn't respond verbally.

Fox put his weapons in the LAV except his sidearm. "Alright, shall we then?"

As they now had a couple of minutes to rest and goof off, Keith happily took one of the doughnuts and ate it with great enthusiasm.  "Holy Shit!  I can't believe that they actually still make doughnuts like this after the apocalypse!  I haven't had one like this in years!  How oftern do we get out here Rachel?"

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #287):

"Fist time I've been here in years! As for now, I guess we'll come out here a lot more if we're helping them out."

She sipped some water and held off on having more doughnuts, although she looked at them with as much wonder as anyone else.

"OK, Mr. Fox," Andy said, "it's time to meet the Bear in his den."

LAV/Jeep: Rachel, Seth, Keith, Tyler.

Those waiting at the jeep took it easy for a few minutes. There were people coming and going from the paddlewheeler next door. "Royal City Star" was painted on the bow. Also visible on the stern above the paddlewheel was some kind of heavy weapon, at least autocannon-sized.

They spotted a pair of sailors armed with AK-74 assault rifles patrolling inside the chain-link fence that cordoned off the submarine dock.

---

Front Street: Kelsey

Kelsey checked out a couple stores that sold maritime supplies. The sign where Todd ducked into had a sign declaring it was a "Chandler". When she got inside and smelled the supplies, it obviously meant general food and provisions for ships, not just a candle-maker. Not seeing Todd, she wandered towards the rear of the store.

"Hey Kel, it's been a long time. How are you?" He was waiting for her, smiling. "We don't have a lot of time. Just want you to know I'm with the Bridge Troll crew."

---

Dockside, K-141 "Kursk": Sgt. (Brevet WO) Fox, Master Sniper McRae

The two soldiers walked up to the ramp and the officer awaiting there. Salutes were exchanged. The sub was massive and throbbed with power, but it was obvious that damage near the bow was being worked on, as well as the stern. Both areas were cordoned off with dockside screens preventing an easy look. Nevertheless, they could see that one of the screws had been removed entirely by crane and it was damaged.

They were led onto the ship, then through a door. Instead of down through the cramped yellow-painted interior of the sub, they were led across an access corridor and then up a series of ladders. Finally, they emerged on the sub's bridge that was located at the top of the sail.

Lieutenant Popovkin saluted the Captain and made introductions. Captain Astapkovich was a lean, middle-aged man, going a little soft around the middle. he was dressed in a Russian naval uniform, with the Soviet emblems removed.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the Kursk. It is a fine day, and I am just overseeing our continuing repairs. What can I help you with today?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:54, Sat 31 July 2010.

While Keith and Rachel chatted Seth studied the paddlewheeler next door to the submarine.  He watched the people coming and going on the Royal City Star, attempting to work out whether it was under the control of the New Westminster council or whether it was being used by the Russians.  Whether it was inside or outside the chain-link fence was also a major indicator!

Seth also studied the heavy weapon mounted above the stern, trying to work out what it was, as well as looking to see how armoured the ship was and whether there were any other heavy weapons aboard.

"Anyone know anything about that paddlewheeler?" he asked the other members of the patrol.  "Looks like it could be quite a powerful firing platform to me."  He didn't say it aloud but it occurred to Seth that if they were making a substantial landing on the Bridge Tolls island then a firing platform like the Royal City Star could be very useful in support.  As well as any immediate covering fire it could provide it also represented a potential elevated position to observe or fire from.  And it might be a good way to use the New Westminster Militia as they would only be required to operate in support.

In reply to Seth Joseph Delaney (msg #291):

None of the other members of the patrol had been aboard the Star, at least since the war had started.

From his viewpoint, Seth could see it had a civilian crew, not obviously Russian, and it was outside the Kursk's security cordon. The half-dozen security personnel visible were very professional-looking, wearing neat black fatigues and carrying MP5 SMGs and AK assault rifles. It was flying the Canadian and British Columbian flags.

In a stroke of luck, he was watching when the gun crew pulled back the tarp over the gun to check something. They revealed that it was clearly an M163 20mm Vulcan air-defence gun.

Aside from the Star (also outside the Kurk's zone) both up and downriver were other boats, big and small, at least a couple dozen. Most were fishing boats but there was a river tug (including the Fraser Queen) and an older vessel called the St. Roche.

Rachel looked thoughtfully at the St. Roche. It was on the small side, likely a small coastal vessel.

"Now, why does that name seem familiar? I think I've seen that boat before, somewhere."




This message was last edited by the player at 12:15, Thu 29 July 2010.

Andy saluted the Captain smartly and said, "Good day Captain. I really appreciate you taking time to see us. Mister Fox and I are representatives of the UBC and by extension, the national government. We have come to visit you for three reasons. The first is to extend our welcome to you and, provided you consider the war between yourselves and Canada over, to extend any aid to you that is within our capacity to provide. The final reason, is less official in the governmental sense, we would also like to enlist your co-operation in helping us to reunify the region. This might seem strange in the first instance, but we're pretty much reliant on marshalling local resources to rebuild the city and your personnel and equipment is a major independent resource that we're naturally keen to work with. The key is co-operation for mutual benefit, we have no interest in absorbing you into our state or in using you as a cat's paw. What we want is to work together to improve both of our lots."

Andy paused for a moment,"At the moment, there are three major things we need to discuss, first, what help do you need in order to make your repairs and get back underway, if that is your wish? Secondly, would you be interested in an exchange of expertise? We could cross-train specialists either here or at the UBC if you thought that was useful. Thirdly, we are preparing to deal with the criminal faction in charge of the airport in order to salvage technical equipment and extend the rule of law, we would be interested in any aid you could provide us in that endeavour, we have several Russian units working with us and I can give you radio frequencies to contact them directly before you make any decisions on that."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #295):

Nodding as he thought about his reply, Astapkovich looked over the river. He spoke in cultured, fluent English.

"I have heard about the amnesty your country is extending to former soldiers like me. We are interested. I have severed my ties to the old regime, we no longer fly their flags or their ensign. Most but not all my crew agree. This lack of unity makes planning for the future difficult. So, I stall the repairs. Not that we can do much more than we have to proceed."

He gestured at the massive multi-bladed screw where it lay under the crane, surrounded by privacy fencing. There were some small sheds and workshops clustered there and at the bow.

"Yes, there are problems here, too. A lack of unity.I am told  New Westminster has absorbed some two thousand refugees in a population of ten thousand. Very dangerous, that amount of despair, poverty, loss of hope. Some criminal elements are responsible for causing much trouble and infiltrating provovateurs, which I find to be believable. The city government here are good people and are not tyrants, but they are worried about unrest and disorder from these poor, unfortunate souls."

"One: A drydock would make repairs go much quicker."

"Two: I would be happy for some kind of technical exchange."

"Three: While we are a naval crew, it is hard to see what aid we could provide, but I think we could discover something that will be mutually beneficial."

At least they could do something. Andy remembered from a briefing Taras gave that the North Shore was home to some intact drydock facilities, including massive ones used by BC Ferries to construct new vessels.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:53, Sat 31 July 2010.

Andy listened to the Captain's needs and observations and nodded, "There are dry-docks on the north shore, I'll task a unit to see what sort of order they are in and then ask my superiors to prioritise getting them back online. In the meantime I'd appreciate it if you liaise with our technical staff on how we replace the electricity you are generating for this community. It would be ideal if we can switch over to alternative means of generation at about the time the dry docks are ready as that would stop any further misery for the refugees. However that is a big task and your priorities are to be respected. As part of the liaison process we should be able to establish a sharing of technical expertise at the same time."

He paused and then went on to the trickiest problem, the military one, "I understand that your sailors are more technicians than infantry and I appreciate that their expertise is not to be frittered away as cannon fodder," Andy smiled, "I get paid to do that, your boys are more valuable away from the front line. I'll arrange for our Operational people to talk to you about the mission."

"In the meantime is there anything you need right now that we can provide?" Andy saked, "For instance, I know someone who's desperate for a good game of chess."

Andy tried to keep things honest and open and establish good relationships. He reckoned others might want the submariners to act as combat troops but that seemed like idiocy to him. He could take a fifteen year old and give him a gun and get him ready to fight in six weeks. The Kursk's crew represented centuries of training and expertise in skills that were irreplacable this side of the Rockies. Andy knew it was callous to think in such ways but the Captain's men were too valuable to stop a bullet, especially when there were so many refugees around that could do the same thing.

Kelsey grins widely and looks around a little more, she'd been taking deeper note of the people than the wares in this place "Friends of yours got this place?"  She shrugs then if he doesn't dodge fast enough she wraps him in a bone crushing hug.  "Damn good to see you alive buddy, you been making it ok?"   She lets go and gives him a grin, voice lowered more "I could use a good hand, I'm it for Commo right now, even picked up MC, me.. believe it?  Think I can steal you away?"  She tried, in the hug, to slip him a note, one with frequencies.. but coded, mixed in with ID's, how to contact her.  "Missed my time with the Canned Scots though, fuck all.. so good to see you looking fit"  She looks him over appraisingly.