Monday 21 May 2001
1200 Hours

Forward Operating Base Cariboo

The month since the defeat of Jagelis and the New America cell at the Ioco refinery, and the subsequent recovery of a partially intact Soviet nuclear warhead, had been a busy one.

Freak warming weather had caused a snow melt on the mountains and glaciers that fed the Fraser River. This, combined with a steady increase in rainfall, had caused a "freshet", a fresh water surge down the length of the river. The water level in the river to rise 8m, flooding the low lying areas that were protected before the war by an extensive but now compromised flood control system.

With no way to warn them and with few possessing any means of transport, perhaps tens of thousands of survivors living along the river were affected. There was no way to know for sure but perhaps hundreds or even thousands had died. The dikes protecting YVR, the airport, had breached, flooding the man-made island at the mouth of the great river.

The team had been busy with evacuation efforts around Vancouver and the mouth of the Fraser. As well, a hurried salvage effort at YVR to scavenge materials to rebuild the city's telephone and communications infrastructure.

More than just telephones had been discovered at YVR. Koldan, the Soviet pilot defector, had salvaged a light aircraft but hadn't had the time to make it operational. They had also found the Coast Guard's two decommissioned SN.R6 hovercraft in the hangar near YVR, along with a quantity of spare parts to (maybe) restore one to operational status. A team of navy technicians from the provisional base at Ladysmith were working on it at the native-owned Celtic Shipyard with no success so far.

Despite or perhaps due to being so successful, the team had been reorganised a couple times over the last month, gaining and then losing personnel and equipment. The river was still in a state of crisis and the team represented the largest pool of unassigned trained personnel in the Lower Mainland who could be loaned out by the federal government to assist the fledgling civil governments of  Vancouver, New Westminster, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, and parts of devastated Burnaby and badly-flooded Richmond.

The B Detachment of the reorganised Team URIEL had been assigned relocated from the government enclave at UBC to their former forward base on the northern border of New Westminster: Cariboo Hill High School. The high school had been damaged in the nuclear attacks on the refineries on and around Burnaby Mountain, but still possessed a functioning gymnasium building. Further, the water supply was fed from a nearby emergency reservoir that was still functional.

B Detachment had the LAV assigned, as well as a Zodiac tied off at the riverside wharf in New Westminster. There was a quantity of bio-diesel available from the UBC labs. They had some electronics gear. Personnel-wise, most of the rest remained at UBC (for now). Assigned to Detachment A after the move to the Cariboo Base were RCMP Staff Sergeant Taras Shevchenko, Master Sniper (WO) Andy McRae, Sergeant Kelsey Champlain, USMC Sgt. Keith Tremblay and Master Corporal Chris MacDonald.

It was morning. Belanger, de facto head of team intelligence, had arrived via Land Rover from UBC to give you a briefing.

The last month was a blur, too much time had been spent along the lower reaches of the river, helping warn and then evacuate hundreds, thousands of flood victims. People who'd lost so much in the war, and now were losing what little they still possessed.

The team had been reorganised into different sections, covering different areas. Assisting them were support personnel based out of UBC, a new base in Burnaby (Cariboo) and another two others that were yet to be established.

---

The concept calls for the leadership of Clarke as an overall Commander of the unit. She is supposed to create teams, coordinate efforts and forward intel to the Government, RCMP and militia as well as HQ.

This new unit is composed by 6 Detachments one of them with 2 special "Elements".

# A Detachment: Deals with HUMINT and is organize considering regions. Agents that are operating within a city (i.e. Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, etc.). Is purely administrative.

# B Detachment: Deals with strategic intelligence and is divided in 6 tasks:

1st task: Tactical level recce.
2nd task: Agent recruitment and development of networks.
3rd task: Special Operations.
4th task: Intel collection, management and analysis.
5th task: SIGINT and ELINT.
6th task: Ciphers and comms security.

# C Detachment: Deals with operational intelligence collection along the US border.  Not yet formed.

# D Detachment: Deals with operational intelligence collection in the lower Fraser Valley. Not yet formed.

# E Detachment: Deals and manages operational intel and intel organisations within cities, fleets and operational fronts. Includes aerial and naval intel. Not yet formed.

# F Detachment: Deals with ELINT. Mostly radio signals. Not yet formed.

We have also 2 "fleets".

* "Air Element". To be created based on a light aircraft salvaged from UBC and the possibility of use of homemade blimps and UAVs. Not yet formed.

and

* "Riverine/Marine Element". Initially divided between the assets available in each city. Therefore (and so far)we have: New Westminster Detachment with 1 Zodiac. "Vancouver Detachment" with all the naval assets in UBC marina and also "North Shore Detachment" with whatever is made available to the team. The idea is to use fishing boats, trawlers, whale watchers, etc as intel gathering platforms. Equip the platforms, staff and conduct operations. In this case both Elements are under E Detachment. Not yet formed.

Initially the staffing is limited and there are several crossovers. For instance a radio operator like Champlain can be working initially in E Detachment as ELINT and SIGINT gatherer but also can be requested to work in a tactical level and be under B Detachment for the limited time of an operation.

As the territory under control of the Council expands so does the intel flux. This structure allows for increasing numbers of operatives that will be reporting, mostly in a part time basis to the intel unit.

---

This message was last updated by the GM at 10:37, Sun 06 May 2012.

"Good morning everyone. Good to see you again. I hope you all had a good couple days off?"

"As you know, we have many ongoing areas of concern. Not that you've been resting on your laurels! The good news is we finally look like we will soon have replacements assigned, our old personnel reassigned, and we'll finally be filling out that org chart that Taras and I worked so hard on and then was completely ignored. Plus, Koldan might be able to get a light aircraft up, and the navy pongoes are working on restoring one of the old Coast Guard hovercraft we found out at the airport while we were scavenging materials to rebuild telecommunications."

"At least the phones are working!"

"We have bikers running around in Surrey and throughout the Fraser Valley, doing God knows what, now they've become more organised. The border is still uncontrolled and drugs and weapons are flowing freely across it. Our renegade US Army sniper, "Mr. Brownstone", remains unaccounted for, along with his personal army of deserters and mercenaries. The neo-Nazi New America is operating here, now, as you found out the hard way.

"At there's the notorious "Pig Farm". Who runs it? For what purpose? We don't know. Allegedly, several women and girls were kidnapped or lured to go there in exchange for drugs, food or medicine. Then murdered. Their bodies... well, it's a pig farm. Meat is an expensive commodity, nowadays. I don't want to imagine any further. We thought it was located somewhere in Surrey as that's where the missing were apparently taken. There were rumours of Hells Angels involvement as well. All unsubstantiated, of course.

"Further rumour has it disappearances of sex trade workers from the roughest parts of downtown Vancouver had been going missing for years even before the war. It stopped during, and then resumed after the nuclear attacks ended most government and policing. This I was able to piece together from surviving records and information, with a lot of trouble before the flood hit.

"By chance I was able to talk to a member of the New Westminster police. He said in 1999 a refugee (a prostitute from Vancouver) told him about a "Pig Farm" where she'd seen a woman's body hung up in a barn and being butchered like a hog. She escaped. She also said it was located in Port Coquitlam, not Surrey. On Dominion avenue. She remembers it was the only occupied farm around. She told her story, but when he went back to find her she was gone from the refugee camp. No name, so far.

"I want you to take the detachment and see if you can find out anything more. No exact address. And the location is not far from the river. It's likely to be partially or even fully submerged."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:43, Sun 06 May 2012.

Andy listened grimly to the description of the HA activities. He was a sniper and naturally drawn to independence and a wide-ranging remit, but he'd always known that he wielded death only as a means to keep people safe. Using violence to oppress the weak went against the grain and the suggestion that anyone was feasting even upon the flesh of the weak that they should be protecting made his blood boil.

the Master Sniper hoped that they would find the perpetrators and that they would resist apprehension, however, despite his thirst for the deaths of such degenerates he knew that he represented the law out here and that if the law began to play fast and loose with the rules then there was no hope of bringing civilisation back to the shattered land that he loved.

He looked over at Belanger and said, "Sir, the environment out here is likely to be more fluid than our UBC Ops, do the same rules of engagement apply or do we have different parameters?"

Kelsey had woken up that morning early to keep up with her physical training regime, calesthenics, push ups, chin ups, situps done by hanging from her knees on the chin up bar followed by several miles circling the compound at a brisk pace.  She didn't do the 'Airborne Shuffle', after all she wasn't an 'elite' soldier.

Her hard work on keeping in shape paid off, her body was hard and focused. She moved with a powerful efficiency that reminded others of a jungle cat at times.  Other times a softness showed through she was unable to completely stamp out, her lovers knew that side better, which meant no one knew it well these days.

She was something most nations didn't allow, but Canada did.  She was a real assault class infrantry soldier, and a woman, pre war.  She was proud of it.  She was also proudly a lesbian, which didn't present her with many prospects lately, she concentrated on work instead.

She had a college degree that said she knows electronics, and a lot of hard tours with a front line infantry unit as their radio ops person.  She'd learned as needed to fix things along the way, and discovered that in an infantry unit that being infantry came first, 'but do bring that radio, private'.

She focused on Andy as he spoke, her blue eyes glinting dangerously from what she had heard.  She hated it when women were victimized, it was one of the reasons she was the way she was.  She fully intended to never be a victim.  Her motivations behind that were never discussed.



She pushed down her disgust, this was like something out of some stupid horror movie.  She didn't try to fool herself, though.  People given a chance were normally good, but some were just bad to the core.

"Oignez villain, il vous poindra. Poignez villain, il vous oindra."  She looked for a moment like she would like to spit, Kelsey obviously is very fluent in French, and apparently might think in it, at least sometimes.  (translates as:  A villain will repay kindness with betrayal, but will flatter those who beat him.)  "Animals like these should not be treated as people.  A person who has treated a person as.. as.. Meat should be slaughtered, not given the civility of our laws.  Treat these villians with respect and they will turn it against you."

She swallowed hard.

"Given those thoughts, I'd like to operate at an elevated pose, but with only orders to defend.  If this place is flooded, likely it is not operating.  We could run into anyone there, I'd be willing to bet our bad guys have already left.  I say elevated because we might run into normal looters, not for our bad guys.  I have a feeling our pig farmers are either cowards, or will try to talk their way out of things."

She frowned a moment, her eyes flicking over her papers.  The last big combat op has seen her as a Master Coroporal sitting in a brevit Warrant position taking command of the op and seeing it through to the end successfully when her commander was killed in the opening salvo of possible ambush.  They'd won, but the cost hadn't stopped there.  Her role in the operation had earned her a permanant promotion to Sergeant, the highest pure NCO rank in the streamlined Canadian Forces Army.  The adrenaline and pace of combat was almost preferred to the agonizing slowness of trying to save people's lives during something like the flooding.  She knew very well, deep in her heart, what was more important.  She also did her best to act and talk that way, instead of dwelling on combat.

"The LAV and the Zodiac can do operations on this at the same time, I know the Spoonful's ready to float if she needs to, and she has the comms, we use her as the Command and Control.  The Zodiac can move more swiftly, and manuever far better in water so that is our assault force.  We might also want to prepare for SCUBA if the commander wishes to gather evidence and investigate.  Has any thoughts been given to teams and assignments sir?  I also am wondering where we can fit in our new personelle?"

Although she was not an officer, Kelsey and her buddy Mac were two of the longest lasting members of this task force.  It was like her family and she had a high personal stake in keeping everyone alive.  She also had a huge respect for their mission, or she wouldn't be here at all.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:41, Mon 07 May 2012.

There is this famous old story about an Austrian military spotting a Russian intelligence man by the way he drank tea without taking a spoon out of it. A lot has changed since that time, paper cups, plastic spoons... Traditionally, it was only black tea that was favored in the Rodina. Now the black tea was having a tough time competing with instant coffee on the one hand and green tea on the other in post apocalyptic Canada. In former times there was a samovar, a kind of kettle for boiling water and keeping it warm and special glasses (not cups) used for serving hot tea. As china cups came to Russia much later than to other countries, Russians used to drink tea out of glasses with metal glass holders, rare examples can still be found in grandmothers’ cupboards. Most Russians drink their tea with jam, honey or condensed milk. You just cannot do without a spoon. What a pleasure it is to drop the spoon in a small bowl with jam, taste its sweet blending with tea on your tongue and after that put the spoon back in the glass. If you have never tried it, you will not understand that Russian intelligence man…

What a bunch of sons of bitches! Three clinking sounds against the mug accentuated Taras statement.

http://soundbible.com/1967-Clinking-Teaspoon.html

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #5):

Some of the "new personnel" were there with them in the cavernous gymnasium where they were setting up the new base for B Detachment.

Everyone was sitting on folding chairs in front of a portable white board. Light was actually from the flourescent tubes overhead. The miracle of electricity and a portable generator! There was also a telephone.

Able Seaman (AB) Lo was an experienced sailor with UDT training. He would be the LAV's new driver. Able Seaman Lo had just arrived via Zodiac from Vancouver Island with the Navy detachment that was attempting to get the old SN.6 hovercraft operational out at Celtic Shipyards by UBC.

As a sailor, he had also been taken aback by the presence of the submarine, an Oscar II boat, although he'd already heard rumours about it back on the Island. It was a nuclear-powered vessel and he heard it would need drydocking to repair battle damage to the bow and later collision damage to the propellers and rudder. The Kursk was not flying the Soviet Union's flag or the Soviet Navy flag, but the pre-Revolution tricolour and naval ensign.

A talkative Russian had said they were no longer obeying Soviet orders but by the same token hadn't quite defected yet. They had been damaged in a battle in the Barents earlier last August with a "loyal" Soviet boat and had hid in the Arctic for months. As the Kurk was too damaged to slip by the loyal boat undetected and their torpedo room was flooded leaving them defenceless, they decided to try the other direction and had slowly made their way to Canada, seeking a safe haven that was far from the Soviet Union but wasn't the USA. Australia was the other main option but the one limiting factor for nuclear submarines was (of course) not power but supplies, and they were almost out.

Corporal William Hawk was a Royal Commando, and a medic with CSAR training. He'd actually been in New West over the winter, working at Royal Columbian Hospital in Sapperton. He helped treate the scavenger who discovered the intact nuclear warhead at Ioco Refinery. That man, suffering from Radiation sickness, had been picked up by the KGB mole, Jagelis, supposedly for transport to UBC Pavillions hospital but instead "died en route" to silence him.

One thing Hawke really liked about New West was the fact that many key buildings had electricity, including the hospital. This was formerly courtesy of the nuclear submarine docked at the wharf. The Russkies were running one of the two "teakettles" and this provided electrical power far in excess of their current needs, so they shared the excess with the city as a form of "rent". Within the last couple weeks the federal government (in UBC) had defeated some New America neo-Nazi wankers out in Port Moody and while they were doing so, salvaged the ancient hydro plant at nearby Buntzen Lake, getting it operational. Within days they would have full power for all occupied buildings in New West and much of Vancouver. The federal government had also repaired the telephone exchange, so communications was so much simpler now!

---

Their team leader, 1st Lt. Matthew Stone was a grizzled outdoors type. This was his first visit to New Westminster. Riding his ATV up south from "Indian Country" over the Skytrain bridge to cross the swollen Fraser River, he was very surprised to see a massive Soviet submarine (K-141 Kursk) docked at the river wharf. Russian Navy personnel swarmed around it, making serious repairs on the bow (old damage) and stern (new damage).



GM Note: in the 90's an actual Soviet submarine was tied off at the river dock in New Westminster, a surplus Foxtrot-class diesel electric that was open for tours. Now imagine a submarine over 2x larger, with obviously damaged bows, Russian navy personnel, etc. Stone is crossing the bridges in the background, from R. to L. (North is on the left, he is coming from the south.

Exiting the light rail transit bridge (the nearby Patullo Bridge being put out of action by damage in the flood) onto Royal Ave., he stopped in at the armoury of the local Militia  unit, the Royal Westminster Regiment, by city hall as instructed to check in and receive new instructions. He was informed that his contact, "Captain Belanger", was further up the hill, conducting a briefing of some sort with a unit that was moving into a pre-war High School.

Stone guessed he should be there for that and remounted, heading further up Cariboo Hill. His directions were simple, continue up 6th St, take a right on 16th. Ave.

He quickly passed through the Militia checkpoint on 10th Ave, the boundary of New Westminster and Burnaby, and continued up the hill. The neighborhood surrounding the school was abandoned residential, showing some signs of fire damage that increased the closer he got to the school (which was just over the crest of Cariboo Hill). When he crested the hill, he saw across a small valley where two Soviet airbursts that had taken out the Chevron and Shell refineries and tank farms that were around the base of Burnaby Mountain. Cariboo Hill Sr. Secondary was right on the edge of the zone of devastation. Trees were knocked down, houses collapsed, fire damage everywhere.

The school itself (Cariboo Hill Sr. Secondary) was mostly collapsed but the separate Gymnasium seemed to remain intact, if badly scorched on the north side.

---

OOC: As your base is on the edge of "pacified" territory, sidearms are appropriate and while you probably shouldn't need to go around in full battle rattle, longarms can be relatively close to hand. Hats are off indoors. (Lo wears a dark blue beret, Hawke a green beret. If Stone wants to make a slightly late entrance for effect, then that would be cool.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:27, Wed 09 May 2012.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #6):

William sat there with a cup of tea going cold in his hand.

"So this is 'sneak and peek' and 'find what you can, kill anybody who disagrees with our poking around?'"  He frowned.  First off, the tea was horrible, even for Americans.  He couldn't understand why the colonies never got the hang of it.  At least it wasn't the Russians with their black tea.  That would eat the plating right off a spoon.  Turks wouldn't even wash the glasses between customers.  He'd stopped at a Turkish tea vendor in Marakesh, and watched as when he handed the glass back, the vendor had wiped it out with a cloth and put it back into service.  He hadn't gotten tea from a street vendor again.

Secondly the ROE were fuzzy, and that bothered him some, too.  Not a lot, as he was accustomed to acting solo.  He'll need to take a closer look at the rules and the terms of the mission, when he had a moment.

Kelsey was a taller than normal woman with dark blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and brilliant shade of blue for eyes.  She was in her 'combats' with the sleeves rolled up, showing off some heavy tribal style tattooing on the exposed skin of her lightly tanned and noticeably muscled arms.  She currently had her Hi Power holstered on her web belt, a magazine inserted, and two noticeable bulges on in the spare pouches of the belt indicating reloads.  A glengary was set on the table in front of her, and CF Sergeant rank was cleanly sewn onto her uniform in the center of the upper sleeves, as well as a tab at the seam of both sleeves, right below the epaulette marked 'Royal 22e R', a subdued olive-drab Canadian flag, worn on the upper left sleeve below the epaulette.  Over the slanted right breast pocket was a name tag reading "Champlain".  The uniform itself was clean and servicable, if a bit worn and patched.

She glanced at Mac, waiting to catch his eye, and winked, nodding to the new folks, eyes running over them appraisingly a moment before raising her own cooling tea in a small salute to Taras and his comments before taking a sip of the thick bitter stuff.  She wondered about the new commander, they'd gone through a lot of those of late, and she had a hand in killing one personally, after he turned on them.

She felt a shiver that went up her spine, a pushed her feelings about what she heard into a corner of her mind to deal with later.  She'd want to hit something, or better yet shoot something later.  Later.

She steeled herself, smiled, and moved to professional talk and her speciality.

"Right.  Sounds like communications will be critical, foot scouting.  Maybe take a jeep in for relay, or the master set on the Spoonful but that big lover is obvious.  I'm the Comm Chief, Sergeant Champlain.  I'll need all new radios checked in before we op, the sooner the better, so I can set them up for my TACNET.  I like to do a radio check before any major op as well, especially considering the old equipment we are using."

She dug into her left breast pocket a moment and fished out a battered looking pack of Players, shaking one out and putting up her pack before striking up a battered looking zippo with the worn logo of the Van Doos on the side, she glanced at Belanger and perked a brow, smirked and set the lighter down on the table in front of her, closed, leaving the unlit cigarette perched in the corner of her mouth.



She looked around a moment again.  "So, I guess the new team lead is fashionably late?  Want to take the floor Andy, you outrank me."  She took the unlit cigarette out of her mouth and played with it a moment, looking to Belanger.  "We got one, right, Captain?  Or did we use up the supply?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:36, Wed 09 May 2012.

Taras deposited on the table his Soviet officer map case:



Then he took the Lower Mainland map and folded it to display the Area of Operations:



Then he took the Lower Mainland map and folded it to display the Area of Operations: "Port Coquitlam" being at the confluence of the Fraser River and the Pitt River. Coquitlam borders it on the north, the Coquitlam River borders it on the West, and the cities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows lie across the Pitt River.



He didn't like it a bit. As a Combat Engineer his specialty was dealing with geographic matters and this was going to be complicated. Cartography could be deceiving. For once he found "Western" availability of precise maps to civilians quite surprising yet he missed the intrinsec quality of the Soviet school of mapping, so rich in detail. His roadmap wasnt military grade of course but some elements were disturbing enough. Taking his bearings he found the length of Dominion Av. and tried to locate the mentioned farm. There was plenty of agricultural land, railyards... even a golf course. Then there was the flooding of the area.

For the look of things... The ukrainian lifted up his chin and directed his speech to Belanger. I would go for a recce patrol with a similar composition as the last operation. The zodiac shouln't have any problem from the water but the flooding of the river banks could turn them into a trap..."

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #9):

"Corporal William, by your frown I see you don't seem very impressed by much! Perhaps it's the tea? Most Brits seem to like Red Rose fine, but it's been prepared Russian-style and all."

"We could always just put a bullet into these people at long range. The objective, however, is to bring in live people to question and hopefully try. Justice needs to be seen being done, and all that. You always have the right to use deadly force to protect yourself or someone else. A warning is not necessary, nor is there the requirement of withdrawing, or prior permission from HQ."

"Kel seems to have the gist of it, normal ROEs with elevated threat posture.

"Under the law we can hold people for six months without charge, so no worries about people taking a walk the next day. (Use the New West lockup for now, we don't have secure facilities here, yet.) You can also confiscate pretty much anything at any time if it's restricted (weapons), or anything involved in illegal activity. Looting, hoarding and black marketeering is illegal, so pretty much anything is fair game. Guns like fully automatic weapons, vehicles that can be used to transport illicit goods.... you get the picture.

"If that's not clear enough, then please, throw some hypotheticals at me!"

Kelsey looked over Taras' shoulder to check out his map, she clucked her tongue softly as she did.

"Good news on communications, the river and the geography there should make it easy to bounce signal back as far as need.  I'll measure it out to verify I don't need to position a relay."

She toyed with her cigarette a moment, then looked to Belanger again.  "The Spoonful is ready to swim, so I see no issue with that, just be careful how you float it."  She watched Belanger a moment, biting her lower lip enough to make it turn white, but she held back whatever else it was she was going to say.

She held his gaze for a few more moments and then dropped it on the cigarette she was holding, finally putting it down next to her Zippo lighter as Belanger spoke.  She glanced over at William, gauging him by his reaction.

"And if we can confirm they have been kidnapping women and feeding them to pigs, Captain?"  Her icy blue eyes didn't meet anyone's gaze when she said that, but she was watching William, still.

The water tastes funny here, that's all.  I'm from the northern end of the kingdom, and the water always affects the quality of the tea.  Red Rose isn't bad, but it's not Barry's.  Most of us are too polite to complain."  He grinned, then sobered his demeanor quickly.

"If we're going in on a hunt and kill, we're acting as judge, jury and executioner.  I want to be clear on our Rules of Engagement.  I don't want some civilian court looking at our actions at some point down the road and determining we were out of line."

Kelsey eyed the former commando and a tight grin hit her lips a moment, and with a lilt of sarcasm in her voice she replied to him.

"So, Corporal Hawke.  Your issue is not with the possibility we might decide to simply eliminate this problem, but being held responsible for it?"

Any trace of smile left her face and voice, the temperature in the room might even have seemed to drop.  "I assure you, I have no issue with that."  Although... she didn't specify what she had no issue with, eliminating, or being responsible.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:31, Wed 09 May 2012.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #13):

"I have spent all my career risking my ass for others.  I don't want some bench-warmer, or worse yet, a politician, to come along when we're done and convince people we were operating outside our Rules Of Engagement.  Despite the problems in governance created by the bombing of our government buildings, and the death of the Queen, I am still responsible to follow legal orders."

Andy thought back to the killing of the New American RPG gunner and the way he had hesitated before acting pre-preemptively. He fully understood the Royal Marine's reluctance about being hedged in by rules.

"I can see your point," he said, "and I understand fully that you want a full run down of our ROEs before getting into action. I'd prefer to be more in my comfort zone when it comes to initiating combat but we're playing a different game here to the one I'm used to. From my time in Aldershot and Catterick on exchange courses I'm pretty sure that we're close to the ROEs you were used to if you pulled a shift in Northern Ireland. We aim to apprehend perpetrators alive and minimise combat but if things get bad we take the gloves off. There's a grey area when it comes to pulling the trigger first," he frowned, remembering his own quandry, "personally I have taken the first shot recently because I felt it was in the best interests of the team. I was lucky that I guessed right, next time," he shrugged, "next time I'll make the call based on the circumstances and my interpretation of the ROEs. I'm pretty sure that we can get you a copy of them if you want to study them."

Kelsey smirked a moment and picked up her cigarette again, looking at it for a moment before looking back.



She listened to Andy talk, and nodded.

"Andy's right, it's a little nervous, but the real rule is you do what is right, and what is right for the team."  She paused, remembering the last action they saw, if only she had shot Jagelis on sight, like she wanted to, but she did the 'right' thing, instead.  "You don't have to wait on them to shoot first, unless we are under that rule, which we won't on this action.  You do what is right, and let the chips fall where they may.  Remember, you aren't alone out there, and folks are on your team.  We will trust your judgement in the field, and you might get asked some questions.  Just be honest.  Some people will probably die that shouldn't have to, but they were in a very wrong place if they do.  Not a lot of real innocents going to be where we are going."

Belanger laughed.

"Yes, that's pure glacier water you're drinking. Gravity fed from reservoirs up in the mountains. Best in the world. Better than whatever pond scum you're used to in the UK. I can urinate in it if you want?"

"The ROEs haven't changed. No "hunt and kill". Everyone: pay attention. Recce. Reconaissance. Gather information. Get suspects for questioning."

He pointed to a list.

"Read that, please."

"You are not Judge. You are not Jury. Nor are you executioner."

"The Crown probably will look at your actions later, so act accordingly. The civilians are back in control here, that's how they like it and personally, that's the way it should be. Oversight not to your liking? I do understand. It's a real shift of perception from when it was the men with guns who made the rules. Plenty of other work to do, there are loyal Soviets over on the Island, still real fighting to do there."

"Again, I'm hearing some doubts but you must be clearer about what you're asking.  Please, give me examples. Can you shoot first? Yes, without warning, if you or anyone else is under the threat of deadly force.

"Can you execute this butcher in the field? No. Can you just shoot someone for being a biker? Not unless they are threatening someone or threatening you, which is a loose definition. Can you shoot a Soviet without warning? Yes, we have seen there are loyalist KGB and GRU agents operating in the Lower Mainland. We'd like you not to shoot any Soviet that's defected, as there's an "open arms" policy, but Soviets under arms and acting in an unlawful manner are fair game.

OOC: ROEs are posted in the Reference Thread.

Kelsey plays with her lighter while Belanger talks, turning it in her hands.  Her face gets a little tense when he talks about Soviets, but somewhere in there she glances at Taras and she relaxes, lips picking up a faint smile.  She liked Taras, and trusted him.

When Belanger finished she flicked the lighter open a few times and waited a moment before speaking.  "Like I said, it's your judgement.  Look out for the team.  If there is a clear threat, you can kill.  No executing folks, but if they pose a danger to us, we eliminate."

She gripped the Zippo in her hand and gripped it tightly a moment.  "There will be times that the hesitation causes your comrades to die.  We try to avoid that."  She eases up her grip on her lighter and smiles, looking at the logo on it.  "Try to be understanding of some folk for not trusting us, try not to kill honest people for posing a threat.  Try not to be an overt threat yourself, aiming at someone openly will make honest people fit the category of threat.  Judge honestly those who you are certain are a real threat.  Try to err on the side of generosity, realize that same thing can cost you your life."

She lights the lighter and stares at the flame flickering a moment before closing it again, snuffing out the flame abruptly.  "Believe in the mission, and our country.  Believe that people are innately good.  You might be justified in killing someone that we might have saved, but if you can sleep well at night afterward, you don't belong in this job."

Well...somebody said "You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs". The truth is that we have plenty of enemies out there that they don't like the idea of returning to normal life and having Law Enforcement around to screw their profit business. To protect the local population is very important then. We need to gain their confidence. I believe that is being working so far...

Changing tune, Taras again addressed Belanger

Before we move in "in force" I will like to have a sniper element forward deployed in the area. Somewhere in high ground with good comms. We can insert a two man team with the zodiac and then move in the ground element. How about a jeep and the LAV III as a fire support? The zodiac can be used to cover the flooded area. Belanger, I need a topographic chart to get a better idea of the terrain...

"I don't like that "omelette" expression, because it implies that a certain amount of waste and destruction is unavoidable, and we know that's not true. We've been able to operate on occasion without causing or receiving casualties."

He pulled out some topographical maps:

http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map

"These are badly out of date, from the before the war and the flooding. Yes, yes, definitely looks like the farm would be underwater, that close to the river and on the flood plain. Still, you may as well go out and see perhaps if there's someone in the area that's seen anything. That much vehicle traffic can't have gone unnoticed.

"For a sniper detachment, Andy and Mac would be your go-to men. Can't say where they'd be able to set up an OP."

Still a little hung over, Mac returned her look and smiled in return. He was an easy-going guy, Native, in OD green CF combats.

"Quit playin' with your damn lighter, Sergeant. Givin' me a headache!"

Sighing, he fixed himself some tea and sat back down.

Well my friend! I guess that "Groceteria" is going to be in need of some serious carprenty after all! But yes, I know what you mean...Is the sniper element a good idea then?

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #22):

"I like it. Let me get this straight:

1) Deploy snipers by Zodiac.

2) Move LAV and Jeep into position where they can provide fire suppression over the farm and block Dominion St. if needed.

3) Then a foot element goes in to investigate?"

He thought for a second. "Why both the LAV and the Jeep? Why not deploy a dismount detachment straight from the LAV? Less vehicles."

The jeep can go first and do several things for us...Basically is a discreet way to approach the area. It can move fast and turn quickly. It will be doing the recce of the road and select the best position for the LAV to provide cover. We have reports of antitank weapons out there and I don't like to send our "Queen" by herself occupying the center of the chessboard without at least a knight to support the move. The farm is going to be a big place and I suspect that we need a vehicle to move around fast and use it to collect whatever necessary while the LAV is keeping an eye for us. More a surveillance and fire support rather than an battle taxi if you know what I mean...

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #24):

"Huh. So the LAV moves into position, scans the objective with thermal and so on. The Jeep does it's bound and if makes hostile contact, the LAV and snipers open fire.

"If Lt. Stone is in favour of a sniper detachment/LAV/Jeep configuration, then I guess they will deployed where they and the LAV can put the farm in a crossfire, cover each other's blind areas. Could be some high ground to the rear, towards the mountains."

Yes, that is, basically the idea

Kelsey pocketed the lighter and walked up with Mac to fix herself a fresh tea, leaving the cigarette on the table.  (softly)"Still hung over huh Mac?  That gin couldn't have been more than a few days old, classic washtub fare.  Should have run with me this morning, it'll sweat it out."  She grinned at him, knowing that the Native American didn't much care for early morning runs, but it was a sure hangover cure.

She sat back down and nodded to proposed plan.

"I'd recommend the UAZ or the HMMWV, they'll do better in high water.  I think the HMMWV has a deep water fording kit, and it does sport a ring mount.  The UAZ will draw less attention, and they do good in deep water with or without a fording kit, though I seem to recall that one having something like that installed.  I'll have to take a look.  I don't trust the American YJ much, too complex.  I think I'd suggest running three vechicles, the UAZ forward, the LAV as oversight, and the Hummer as flank or rear guard, but remember her radio is not a big one.  The UAZ has good range on her radio, antenna up the LAV has the best.  As with most of the vehicles, remember that the radio range isn't much beyond 2K, the LAV being the exception."

Stone walks into the building and catches most of the briefing.  The team may or may not have seen him come in.

Stone, patrol cap in hand, walks to the front of the room.  He wears a heavily patched set of Woodland BDUs, OD green M-65 field jacket, andLBV-88 web gear.  An FN FAL Para in his left hand, and a sidearm in a flapped holster attached to the LBV.  No rank, unit, or qualification insignia on the BDUs.

“Well.  Without studying the map closer I’m gonna say that your plan may work just fine.  But bringing the LAV and Jeep sure gives us a big footprint for a recon job.”

“Errr sorry I guess I should introduce myself.”
Stone walks to the group and makes proper introductions.

“Lieutenant Matt Stone.  US Army National Guard, Alaska.  I was, until recently a Sergeant First Class serving with one of the scout platoons for the 2nd Brigade.  Field promotion”

Stone walks up to each team member, shakes his or her hand and asks their names.  He seem very laid back yet has a, “been there, done that, got the shirt” look about him.  He appears sincere when he greets you.  He also appears very tired.

“Captain Belanger, we’re not gonna give you an ops plan just yet.  We’re gonna mull it over for a few hours in our team house where,” Stone looks around, “not so many unsecured walls.  I’m new here so excuse me if I don’t trust the ops sec here.  I'm hoping we have a team house?”

Stone looks over at Taras and states in a very professional manner, “Eh, Sergeant Shevchenko?  Can we move this little chat to the team house if we have one?”

(awaiting response from either Belanger or Taras)


http://i168.photobucket.com/al...gewehr/Map1.jpg[/IMG]" data-lightbox="images-msg-28">http://i168.photobucket.com/al...gewehr/Map1.jpg[/IMG]" alt=''>
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Fri 11 May 2012.

(Assuming those introductions are something like "Hi, I am your new commander LT Stone")

Kelsey looks a little surprised when the raggedly dressed and bearded man introduces himself as her new commander.  She stands suddenly and comes to attention.

"Ten-hup!  Officer present!"

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #30):

After a microsecond pause to gather his aching head, Chris stood at attention as well.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #30):

The slender reservist comms tech, Arif, stood at attention as well.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #30):

A clean-cut Marine in USMC cammies came smartly to attention.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #30):

The Brit stands to attention.

In reply to Matthew Stone (msg #28):

"At ease, everyone. He waited until people were settled before continuing.

"Ah, our new detachment commander! Allow me to introduce myself, Lieutenant."

"Captain Alain Belanger. I'm head of team security. You can take my word for it." This was a bit of a surprise, as he'd not held military rank as far as he knew, but obviously things were progressing in the team's reorganisation. He was a portly, bearded middle-aged man in outdoorsy civilian clothing, not wearing any rank but wearing a red beret.

"You have no bunk house, this is it. OPSEC is fine. You may finish the briefing here, now. Then, clean up a little if you have time. Beards are permitted, but trimmed."

"May we proceed, Lieutenant? I have some highly perishable intel that I've been waiting to share."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:31, Fri 11 May 2012.

"Yes Captain by all means, I apologize for the interruption and being late."

Stone grabs a chair and pulls out a canteen, a field stripped MRE packet, a small notebook and short pencil.  He continues to listen to the intel briefing

Kelsey stood in place for a bit looking confused, then turned and looked at Belanger, she looked slightly awed.  "Congradulations sir!"  Then she grinned ear to ear.  "I guess that means you get payed more than me sir."

She sat back in her seat, and took a good look at her new team leader before talking to him.  "Sergeant Champlain sir, Communications Chief.  Regular Forces, Van Doos."  She grinned at the new officer.  "And whatever else the Captain has decided I'll do, I collect hats sometimes."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:11, Fri 11 May 2012.

"No apologies are necessary, Lieutenant. Informal address is fine, you can address me as "Mr. Belanger", Al.

"Kel, no no pay grade for me! I'm not the CO here, just drove down to give the briefing and drop off some hot intel. We had a partial hit on those intercepts you got last night. Interesting material, time sensitive. Didn't want to telephone.

"Continuing. OPSEC is a valid concern, we had a close call last month. I believe you were having Private Mahanadi look into it? Private?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:49, Fri 11 May 2012.

"Huh? Right, yes. Ah, Kel, that is, Sergeant Chaplain, had be sweep for bugs last night and today. We're clear."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:51, Fri 11 May 2012.

In reply to Arif Mahanandi (msg #39):

"Good. Kel's section intercepted some radio traffic originating from Surrey last night. We've had someone working on decoding them all night.

"About an hour ago, we had some luck partially decoding them back at UBC. The gist is that someone was thinking about swinging by the Pig Farm today. Time, identity, unknown. Numbers, capability, route of travel, purpose, unknown. Whichever, it's likely to be a person of interest. They aren't likely to stay overnight."

"Yes sir, Captain, sir!  Whatever you say sir!"  Kelsey grinned wide and winked at Belanger.  She nodded to Arif and gave him a quick smile.  "Good work Arif."

She looked back to Belananger and steepled her fingers in front of her "Al, Was that scrambled or was it code?"  She frowned a moment.  "Sounds like we need eyes on that place ASAP."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Fri 11 May 2012.

Stone gives a slight grinn and shakes his head side to side slightly at Champlains comments.  It is definitely a sign of approval not disapproval.

"Looking at the map its not too far away."  He stands and walks over to the map. "Looks like about 12-14 clicks.  18 at most."

He turns to Belanger, "If this is a straight up recon mission the LAV and jeep give us a big footprint.  I'm leaning towards a water insertion north of the AO with a pick up south of the AO."

He turns to the team, "Im not 100% sure of the personnel available aand their special capabilities.  Who are the team's snipers?  Champlain you're lead commo correct?  Who are the scouts?  How about HW guys?"

Kelsey grinned at Stone "I like Commo Chief, I'll answer to Kel or Kelsey too.  I was in the Van Doos for eight years as a radio op, that means infantry and bring that radio too, private, got a cadre post and a promotion right before the balloon went up." She laughs slightly.

She indicates McRae "Andy is your Master Sniper, and I'll shut up and let everyone else speak for themselves."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:01, Fri 11 May 2012.

Stone nods at Champlain, "OK Kelsey.  I'm your back up RTO.  I prefer to carry the spre radio so I'll leave that up to you.  Just give me what you think we need."

He turns and looks for Andy, "Andy, right now I'm leaning towards a sniper who can put down fast and accurate fire ass well as observe."

"Sure Eltee, I'll give you a prick 77 for this op and we'll do something more appropriate later.  The vehicles all have radios."

She looks to Arif.  "Ari, can you spare your 77 since you are running base?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:17, Fri 11 May 2012.

"You got it, Sergeant. There's two base radios so I can spare the manpack. I think all of you have tactical radios, too, and the 77 can relay signals."

"That works Ari, thanks, get it ready.  Or if the Eltee wants, we can hip him with a prick 68 instead."

In reply to Matthew Stone (msg #42):



Sgt. Tremblay, the US Marine, spoke up.

"I can give some specific answers. Master McRae is, of course, a sniper, and Airborne commando. "Mac" (Pvt. MacDonald) is usually paired up as his spotter, Mac's also a backup medic and scout. With the Canucks sniper teams are also their main recon element. Champlain's lead RATELO, as you heard.

"As for heavy weapons, my MOS is 0351 Marine Assaultman. My quals are for AT rockets (including the team's "Carlie Gee"), breaching charges, and ATGMs (like the Dragon and the Canuck ERYX). I also picked up a lot of different heavy weapons, so I can run the 25 mike-mike and the machine guns. I usually carry an M249 SAW."

Propped behind him wasn't the usual US Marine-issue M16A2 but an FN-CAL with telescopic sight.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:31, Fri 11 May 2012.

"I think most of us are pretty heavily cross trained across the board.  I just tend to stick with the radio, but I have done scout and heavy weapons as well."

"Personnel-wise, I've arranged for a few Americans from the "Survivalist" camp as your base security. They are friends of Tyler and should be familiar to Lt. Stone as well. Under their agreement, they can't participate in detached operations."

---

B Detachment Personnel:

1st Lt. Matthew Stone (OF-2); Recce/Mechanic.
Staff Sgt. Taras Shevchenko (RCMP/OR-8); Law Enforcement, Combat Engineering.

Master Sniper Andy McRae (OR-7); Sniper/Recce
Sergeant Kelsey Champlain (OR-6); Comms, mechanic.
Sergeant Keith Tremblay (USMC/OR-5); Heavy Weapons, LAV Gunner.
Cpl. William Hawke (OR-4); Royal Marines, Combat Medic.
Able Seaman Wayne Lo (OR-3); Riverine Operations, Demolitions, backup LAV driver.
Rifleman Chris MacDonald (OR-3); Spotter, backup medic.

Signaler Arif Mahanandi (OR-3); Base Comms Operator.
Contractor Jeff Castro: Base Security (Former USMC)
Contractor DeShawn Walters: Base Security (Former 82nd ABN)
Contractor Mike Fitz: Base Security (Former 3rd ID)

Detachment Vehicles:

1x LAV-III Kodiak ("Lovin' Spoonful") Fully supplied and operational. Added: 2x side-mounted Claymores in wood boxes. Switched to bio-diesel fuel. Full ammo load, electronics fully functional (2x secure digital radios). 25mm CG, 7.62mm coaxial MG, C6 TC weapon.

1x 1993 Jeep YJ (OD Green): diesel engine, soft top. Pintle mount on roll-bar. 2km CB radio.

1x UAZ-469 (OD Green w/black trim): diesel engine, soft top. Pintle mount on roll-bar. 2km CB radio.

1x M1026 HMMWV (USMC pattern camouflage): diesel engine, hard top, basic armour package, recovery winch, M240 GPMG on ring mount. 1x SINGCARS secure radio.

1x 8-man Zodiac inflatable boat.

Support Weapons:

1x Carl Gustav (FFV-551 HEAT, 84mm x6, FFV-545 ILLUM, 84mm x4)
1x ERYX Short-Range ATGM (5x Missiles)
1x M249 SAW (Tremblay's alternate weapon)

Spare Electronics

1x PRC-77 Manpack Radio
This message was last edited by the player at 07:06, Fri 11 May 2012.

Taras stood at attention while introducing himself:

All due respect Sir!

My name is Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko from Odessa in the Ukraine. I was a senior Lieutenent with the Soviet Army with the 62 Motor Rifle Division. I graduated as a junior Liutenant in a sapper Company and posted to the Engineer Battalion organic to the Motor Rifle Regiment stationed in the North of the province.

Taras never went as far in detailed about his past but now he felt confident that he could exorcise the ghosts and come clear...
As the war progressed I was promoted and got my transfer to work in the HQ of the Assault Crossing Company. When things got stalled up there and some units went rogue there was some movement again and I was assigned to the Technical Company but most of our work was digging in and vehicle recovery. Shortly after I decided to walk free and come to Vancouver. I started working as a security contractor helping to set up the perimeter defenses of the University and finally I joined the RCMP. My current rank in Staff Sargent...and I'm here to help!

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #51):

"Yes, as you can see, Lieutenant, the detachment has a large range of available capabilities. Taras mentioned using the Zodiac to insert the sniper team, backed up by the LAV and a Jeep, this is a good example of the mixed approach that's served us well in the past.

"We are not operating deep behind enemy lines here, and although it's not technically pacified, a "large footprint" is not particularly risky. Going with just the Zodiac only on this kind of reconnaissance  The recce element is detailed to take prisoners. They could find people on the banks in dire need of assistance. It's hard to see timely assistance rendered with New West almost 20km away, over roads that may be flooded or blocked or unsafe."

"Okay, here's a topographical map of the farm. The rough location is in the red circle. Golf course to the right, residential subdivision to the left and behind. It's all lowland, probably flooded, if so the water depth is unknown."

Scale 1:20,000

http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/...63335.884332+END+END

Thank you! We can contact the hydrological department of UBC to have an idea of the new levels...

The Combat Engineer was poring over the map trying to make sense of the legend and graphics.

The accuracy of the location as shown on a map is limited by the base topography. It is generally assumed to be plus or minus one-half the increment of the ground contours... At least thats what I learned in the Assault Crossing course.

We can make a chart but it will not provide information on specific hazards, such as land erosion or sudden changes in the channel of the river. That's why I don't like the idea of having a heavy vehicle swimming around. We don't have heavy recovery capability either.

The possibility to recruit a more amphibious platform like a BMP-2, BTR-70 or even the BAZ-5937 based SA-8 "Gecko" as a recovery platform was hampered by the sheer weight of the LAV-III.

Obstructions like debris or lumber can cause flood levels to exceed those indicated on the map too. Land next to a floodplain may be subject to flooding from other small rivers nearby that I see. Hmmm... there is a railyard next to the farm. They are usually at the lowest elevation obviously and generate an avenue for the flooding that could easily extend inland... A site survey should be required to make good the property location, ground elevations, and flood level information. Good coordination between the zodiac and a ground element could help to fix the farm in the area of operations.

Yes, is tricky but can be done. Let me work out the map a bit and I will be able to come up with something...I see "Mount Burke" could be the name of the game for our sniper team".
This message was last edited by the player at 09:25, Fri 11 May 2012.

Right, while you guys are working up a strategy, I think we should be gearing up, or we are wasting good intel.  Might I suggest the LAV comes last and most carefully, the HMMWV will give us a good gun platform if need, as well as speed and mobility."  Kelsey was already headed across the room to check on her rifle and start gearing up.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #30):

Wayne stands at attention along with the rest, although he seems to have been caught off-guard by the command as his movements come a beat behind the others.

If asked about his abilities, he states, "Sir, I'm new here, just transferred from the Island.  I'm a civil engineer, not an infantryman.  My petty officer back at Ladysmith indicated that I would be involved in public works projects out here.  I can defend myself, but I'm no operator."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:56, Fri 11 May 2012.

So basically we have to investigate a crime scene and at the same time we have intel on a person of interest that could be related...

This person, or persons, could be dangerous enough to warrant the presence and support of the Canadian Forces element then. If we want to "bring into custody" the suspect or suspects we are going to need enough force to complete the mission.

Port Mann bridge seems to me that is the only route North from Surrey, where the suspect is coming and then is the best place to either place a spotter or even set an ambush and take prisoners.

Also I see that the most likely ground route to the objective from here is the Lougheed highway.

Those are just a few bits of information that I can get looking at the map. As per the mission I guess the final word is for our new Liutenant. Time is running fast if we want to catch that bird.

"That's all right, I didn't ask for a commando, we already have one. Apparently, you were transferred to help with basing the hovercraft once it gets operational, but until that happens this seemed like a good fit for now.

"I see you're experienced in UDT, that is, demolitions. Good, that means you and Taras have something valuable in common. We've run across booby-traps and mines, it will help having someone with additional explosives-clearing experience, especially underwater. Additionally, you're qualified to drive the LAV, that's something Lt. Stone should be aware of."

In reply to Alain Belanger (msg #57):

"Yes sir," Wayne agrees, "I can operate just about any heavy equipment one might put in front of me, land or sea.  And my demo skills have been getting a workout lately; I've been helping with the disposal of unexploded ordnance."  When Wayne notices that the attention is on him, he nods self-consciously and abruptly re-takes his seat.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:54, Sun 13 May 2012.

Welcome aboard Mr. Lo!

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #59):

"My apologies, Seaman Lo, didn't want to put you on the spot."

"Regarding your security contractors, Mr. Castro (A former Marine) is a trained mechanic, so he'll be performing vehicle maintenance on the LAV and other vehicles with Mr. Fitz's assistance.

"I know it's a little light on the base security, we are still running that undercover operation and there's just not enough trusted resources to go around. You can't use them in the field but at least you know you can trust them to keep things going here at your base."

"OK folks I think Taras has a good plan and, due to the short time span for this op, we're gonna run with the following."
Stone settles down on a chair next to the map.

"The recce element will go in via the inflatable.  That will be Taras, Kelsey, Trembley and MacDonald as sniper detachment.  I need two more for that element for boat handling and security.  Suggestions?”

“Myself and the rest will be in the Kodiak as the support or assault element as needed.”

“Thoughts?”

I can keep the manpack in the boat and use it as a relay, carrying the hip radio and a full combat load to add to security for the team.

Kelsey comes back to the table strapping on her full gear.

"Sounds good, sir."

"Suggest you switch Master Sniper McRae and I, so he's paired with "Mac" (MacDonald) in the Zodiac. I'm experienced with riverine ops but running the 25 mike-mike is really my thing.

"So assignments are: Zodiac with Taras and Kel as RATELO/Signaller, with Andy/Mac as sniper/recon. Wayne as coxwain to handle the boat.

"For the Kodiak, we'll have a full crew with you as the VC (vehicle commander). I'll run the main gun, William drives. The LAV's got working thermal, so that'll be a big help.

"Taras, would you care to draw up a patrol order for the good Lieutenant? I know you suggested an additional vehicle, but any drivers would have to be personnel drawn from either element."

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #63):

"Um, I don't have any experience handling a LAV, I'm more of a 'drop out of helicopter, find the patient, and pray we can get a helicopter out' kind of guy.  I was a R.M. SpecOps combat medic, no experience in armor.  I can run like hell, and I'm not bad at E&E, which is why I'm trapped over here.  I was loaned out to teach E&E and hands-on medicine."
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:17, Wed 16 May 2012.

In reply to William Hawke (msg #64):

"We may have helos again, for now we make do.

"You'll pick it up in no time, I'll be right there. Just remember to keep 'er on the right hand side of the road instead of the left, and it's top heavy so slow down for them turns."

This message was last edited by the GM at 11:41, Wed 16 May 2012.

Operation Orders


1. SITUATION

a. Enemy Forces - We do not know what's out there other than the spotty INTEl we just got. Expect the usual suspects in the form of bikers and other criminal gangs. If we come across any they may not be too openly against us but they are heavily armed and in this one we are going light. Rules of Engagement to be respected.

b. Friendly Forces -
We can count with the support of the RCMP and New Westminster Police as well as the militia. They are aware of our presence here and they can come and help but we are going to bandit country, away from their normal turf. Keep in mind that.


2. MISSION
The mission will be to recce a suspicious farm and surroundings as well as any suspects involved in order to find out if any major criminal or series of criminal offences are taking place over there. Again, we are conducting recce, looking for information about what is going on.

3. EXECUTION
 Concept of Operations
As a part of the overall effort of reconstruction and return to normal life in the city of Vancouver our purpose is to gain overall control of all the Lower Mainland. That's why we are conducting this recce mission as we are expanding our area of influence.


1) Own Troops -Our force is composed of a ground and a riverine element. The purpose is to recce both roads and rivers leading to our objective and being able to provide mutual support.
2) Attachments - Due to the rush for this missions we don't have any attachment from other units as we had before but we may have a limited back-up as I mentioned.

Coordinating Instructions:

The zodiac or riverine team will depart as soon as possible and no later than 10:00. I will be commanding this element and will navigate up the Fraser and Pitt River past the three bridges to a suitable location to drop our sniper team of two people. Then we will continue towards the farm following the sumerged tracks as they represent the lowest elevation following them from the railway bridge and closing in towards the farm. The LAV III will have to use the roads, mainly the Lougheed Highway to get there. Both elements in the area should be under cover and surveillance but our sniper team. After the mission is achieved they will be contacted and extracted initially by the same manner.

1) Timings

Departure time shall be no later than 10:00.

2) Control Measures

Our principal control measure will be the arrival of the zodiac to the bridges, the drop of the snipers and arrival to the farm location. This will be vital reference for the LAV III to keep pace with our progress and as such it will reported by radio.

3) Various Plans

We are not planning in a series of obstacles to isolate the objective and we are not expecting to fight armor. What we are expecting is the possibility of fire support from the LAV and as such the commander should make good use of the surveillance sensors and providing good arcs of fire once the farm is pinpointed.

There will be foot patrols around the area but I only expect to use the LAV crew to provide support and fire suppression as needed.

4) Other Points of Coordination
(a) Fire orders will be transmitted by radio unless self defense is required. Everyone should be familiar with the ROEs.
(b) We do not need to apply much concealment since we are likely to operate in the open and our patrol is by all means also a show of force in the area.
(c) I will recommend Belanger to post a spotter with a radio near Port Mann bridge as this is the only link with Surrey. In the event of visitors we will have a warning.
(d) As soon as this briefing is over everybody will get their combat kit and be ready for inspection. Commander Liutenant will proceed with the LAV and myself I would do so with the boat.
(e) Upon arrival in the farm a will order a dismount patrol with its details.

4. SERVICE SUPPORT
a. Ammunition - Everybody should carry their own complement in good use and ready for inspection.
b. Dress, Equipment and Tools - Regular uniforms and gear to be worn as usual.
c. Transport Arrangements - Both our jeeps here will take us to the wharf. The LAV is parked around here.
d. Medical Arrangements - Royal Columbian Hospital and their ambulances will be ready for any medical emergency. In any case don't forget to carry your own first aid kit if you have it. Seems like we have a medical assistant on board as well, which is a good thing.
e. Handing of Prisoners - Prisoners will be handcuffed, blindfolded and taken for interrogation and custody to the UBC grounds where the RCMP has its main facilites. Prisoners would be handle to the RCMP I repeat.
f. Rations and Water - The mission hopefully will be short but it would be wise to carry at least rations and water for the day.
g. Carriage of Kit - You are authorized to carry your equipment in your current carrier but it will be inspected before departure for weight, noise, etc.

5. COMMAND AND SIGNALS
a. Command
Overall Commader of the mission is Ms. Clarke with HQ over here. Patrol Leader will be our new Lt. and I will coordinate the naval squad. Second in command of the naval squad will be Kelsey. The sniper element would be subordinated to the Lt. Patrol Leader as he is also the main fire support provider.
b. Signals
Kelsey will be in charge to provide a set of codes and frequencies for all the elements involved as she's been doing so previously and she's very professional.
1) Radio Frequencies - Channels would be provided by Kelsey and radio checks would be conducted.
2) Codewords - Arrival of the zodiac to the points of coordination will be radioed with code words also provided by our Kel.
3) Special Signals - No use of other channels or frequencies will be allowed. The Patrol leader would be able to change net but we will consider that local support can be contacted and dispatched by Mr. Belanger as he will be monitoring the mission.
4) Nicknames and Other Points of Reference - Again Kelsey will show her imagination to keep OPSEC to a maximum.
5) Password - Challenge password for the mission will be "BAREFOOT"

And that's all Ladies and Gentlemen. Grab your gear and stand to for inspection as indicated. From now on any question should be directed to your immediate superior. Good Luck and God bless you all!
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:44, Fri 18 May 2012.

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

"Man, okay, beats walking! Hey, Lieutenant, sir, just so you know I've got a lot of experience with small boats."

Sighing, he stood up as the meeting was ended, and they were dismissed. He got out his gear:

Mac slung his FN (C1A1) and holstered his Hi-Power. He put on his boonie hat and vest. He clipped his M1 steel "pot" helmet to the rear of his webbing. Like most Canadian soldiers, the helmet was covered with a thick green "mop" of "dreadlocks" made from camouflage cloth. Kind of like a Ghillie suit for your head!


He checked his combat webbing to make sure it held a knife, angled flashlight, holster with 2 spare Hi-Power magazines, 1st Aid kit, compass 2x ammo pouches with 2 spare FN magazines each (2 more spares are in fatigue pockets) and 4x C13 fragmentation grenades, 2 HC Smoke canisters (Orange/Red), rear ammo pouch with 200 loose rounds (7.62x51mm) and 1 days rations tucked behind, 2 canteens, Motorola walkie-talkie), E-took, gas mask in belt pouch, NVGs in case, rain gear.


As he'd started in the militia (Rocky Mountain Ranger Regt.) he was issued older 1982-pattern gear (like the big FN rifle and older non-CADPAT OD "combats"). The trade off was that it was reliable and comfortable. The 1982 pattern pack was not popular so he'd used his own money before the war to purchase an older 1964-pattern frame and attached the 1964-pattern pack pouches and kit to that.

He made sure the spotting scope was packed.

Chris looked doubtfully at the fibreglass tubes holding his pair of M72A3 LAW rockets. "Taras, you figure I should bring a LAW rocket or two on a recce like this?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:30, Thu 17 May 2012.

Taras didn't have much problem to get his equipment ready. His regular combat load was his trusted "Suchka" or AKS-74U with a 30 round magazine. He was also carrying a sidearm the Royal Canadian Mounted Police standard "Smith & Wesson" Model 5946 in his duty belt with 2 extra mags fully packed with 9 mm hollowpoints.  Although Taras found this weapon to be extremely well made and compact, the trigger pull was worse than that of the Red Army issue Makarov. After a good dose of dry fire and trips to the gallery this was no longer a major problem. Also on the duty belt was a tactical radio, folding baton, handcuffs, pepper spray all in pouches.


But most of his "firepower" was carried in a chest harness or "lifchik" as the Russian terms jokingly referred to ("brassiere"). None of the Soviet Forces had any load bearing vest or chest ammo pouches until Afghanistan. The advantage of having those in a firefight very soon came apparent and it was the Soviet soldier that first started to improvise them out of flotation devices taken from their APCs and accomodate their AK magazines after removing the styrofoam and cutting their respective slits on them. Some were improvised from sewing together four mag pouches but the very best were those captured from the enemy. They were made in Pakistan, Iran and China and it was finally an adaptation from the last that became standard in the Red Army. An ironic sweet revenge in the "copycat" wars if we like...


Taras lifchick was originally designed for a RPK-74 gunner and as such it was carrying 4 mags of 45 rounds each. As well as 6 handgrenades. To compensate and balance the outfit, on his back he was wearing his backpack with an assortment of material including flashlight, NVGs, compass and first aid kit. He added 2 flares, a couple of bottles of water a few granola and protein bars. For the first time he would be carrying around his neck the pair of "Bell&Howell" binocs.

Yes MacDonald, I recommend you to carry at least one rocket. This time we are not bringing heavy machine guns or the Charlie bazooka. I'm packing myself one raketa

Taras shouldered one of his RPO and waited to the rest of the team to be ready for inspection.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:43, Wed 16 May 2012.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #68):

"I will try and firm up some concrete support from the New West garrison and RCMP detachment. Expect a section-sized QRF, that's "squad" to you Yanks. Boat or wheeled-vehicle mounted. No light armour is likely to be available."

"Kel, I'll pass on the QRF's call-sign when I find it out. I'll also have the locals send out a spotter to cover the bridge. Again, call-signed will be passed on through this station."

Chris slung one M72 rocket across his back, FN on one shoulder. He was going in "Fighting Order", the lightest load for combat or short specific missions.

"Ready for inspection."

In reply to Christopher Little Hawk MacDonald (msg #70):

As they talked, Keith readied his own kit for inspection.

Over his USMC-pattern BDUs went his tactical vest with plate inserts, and over that  LBE web gear. He wore a boonie hat (CVC helmet was already in the LAV) while his Kevlar helmet was still handy. He pulled on knee and elbow pads, goggles (on the CVC helmet) sunglasses and gloves.

Keith was going armed with his FN-FNC rifle (mounting a Leitz ELCAN scope) with backup Browning Hi-Power in a shoulder rig. He was carrying 4 spare 5.56mm NATO mags in 2x dual mag pouches plus 4x M67 grenades, 2x Hi-Power mags in a pistol magazine pouch, 1x M6 Smoke grenade (Green) and 1x M34 White Phosphor grenade, 1x M7 CS canister.

On his LBE webbing and went 1st Aid kit/compass in a pouch, 2x canteens, binocular pouch, E-Tool, Gas Mask pouch, AN/PVS-7 NVGs, butt pack (2 days MREs, gloves, rain gear, matches, 10x flex cuffs, etc.), flashlight, 4x spare loaded 5.56mm magazines.

"Ready for inspection."
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:44, Wed 16 May 2012.

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

Wayne carries an HK MP5 with a fixed stock.  He wears OD green combats and a blue naval beret that will be swapped out for a modern kevlar helmet on the op.  His LBE includes various pouches, some of which are obviously for magazines, a holstered automatic pistol, a few hand grenades, and other essential gear.

After inspection, he will take his radio to Kelsey.  "Sergeant, I'm new here.  Did you need to work on my radio?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:30, Thu 17 May 2012.

In reply to Wayne Lo (msg #72):

William says, "I've left me kit back in my digs.  I'll be back in a few."

He returns soon after with his rifle, and tricked out to fighting order, with his first aid kit, carrying his Bergen in his off hand, his rifle in his right.  His pistol is holstered, as it was when he arrived.

"Are we being issued personal comms?"

Kelsey moved to assembly with her gear.

Kelsey is armed with a C8 carbine (no ELCAN sight). 6 loaded spare 30 round magazines, 6 C13 fragmentation grenades are in the magazine pouches on her webbing (Hers is a salvaged US Army style whose magazine pouches fit her rifle well.) or pockets in her combats.  She also carries a Browning Hi Power as a side arm, in a hip holster that has a twin magazine pouch built into the holster, full.

She also has a Kevlar vest, Kevlar helmet, Gas Mask, combat webbing with flashlight, knife, magazine pouches, personal 1st Aid Kit, 2 canteens.  She has on a backpack with the following items - AN/PRC-7 NVGs,  a waterproof bag with various tools for electrical and electronics repair, 1 days of rations (IMPS), along with whatever is compact and quick from mess (Like Taras Granola bars, also two smoke grenades (one green, one white), and her poncho and poncho liner, just in case.

Additionally she has picked up an AN/PRC 68B hip radio, which can be slaved to a vehicle radio, range 1-3 miles, this is worn on her belt with a mic extension clipped high on her LBE.

She grounds an AN/PRC 77 beside her while she adjusts the settings on her 68B, she glances up at Wayne.  "Sure, Wayne, I'll put it on my net if it is capable of doing so.  What do you have there?"

She sits down at the table and starts assigning passwords:



Alpha Element:

Trembley/Gunner - Alpha One
William/Driver - Alpha Two
Stone/Commander - Alpha Six

Bravo Element:

Taras/Commander - Bravo One
Kelsey/Comms/Xo - Bravo Two
Coxswain/Wayne - Bravo Three
McRae/Sniper - Bravo Seven
Mac/Spotter - Bravo Eight

Spotter - Kilo Element (Kilo Four)

HQ/Bellanger - Hotel Element

Bellanger - Hotel Six
Ari/Net Control - Hotel One

Mission related codes:

Target - keyword Kittens.  "We Have/lost/ect Kittens"
Team - Keyword Chair "Chair is against the wall" = Team is in position



She will stand inspection when she is done with the codes.

She says with a big grin when ready.  "Been a bit since I have been foot ops, I'm usually in the armor."  The grin fades when she thinks about the last big op.  Being out of the armor saved her life, and had left her suddenly in command.

"Ari!  Slave set B on the Spoonful to my 68, and set up set A on the vehicle, give them in vehicle commo on their A switch and Broadcast on their B switch, all stations."  She figures if she gets a good hook onto the set on the spoonful she can retrans with it if need, she will have to set the step on the 77 to accomplish this though.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #74):

When Kelsey asks about the identity of his radio, Wayne simply holds it out for her to see.  "It has a 5-kilometer range," he offers helpfully.  It appears to be a AN/PRC-152.

Before excusing himself, Wayne asks her, "Can I call you Kelsey?  Most of the others seem to."  If she replies in the affirmative, he offers a tardy introduction, "Please call me Wayne," forgetting that she already did.

Wayne will check in with Taras next.  "Good morning, Sergeant.  I'll be piloting the RIB for you.  Oh, I'm Wayne, by the way."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:55, Wed 16 May 2012.

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #65):

"Drive on the right, take it easy on turns.  Got it."  Hawke shakes his head.  This would be interesting.

"Sure, Wayne, we are team mates, call me Kel or Kelsey." she says as she receives his radio with a slowly widening grin.  "Umm, yeah, it's almost a waste, but you will be able to talk secure to the LAV.  You know how to use a Prick 77, in the meantime?"  She asks with a bit of concern.  She was planning on leaving the 77 in the boat anyway.  Looking at the state of the art radio, she knew the guy must have gotten it from some kind of special ops unit, or something.  This thing was gold.

"Hey.. Al?  Any lead on those 148's for me?  I really want to run full load ever since we got that SINCGARS upgrade with the Hummer and the El Eh Vee?"  this tone is hopeful, but with a measure of built in defeat.  AN/PRC 148's are near state of the art squad and inter-squad commo, and the big SINCGARS they have can push them to a broader net.  She might just sleep with them.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:28, Wed 16 May 2012.

Belanger shook his head.

"Commander Clarke-Sullivan was promised the unit's comms would be standardised any day. That includes your detachment (and your comms detachment when it gets reorganised). I'll see what I can do back at UBC and make some calls over to HQ on the Island.

"Check back tomorrow, I may have something. Today, if I'm lucky."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:19, Thu 17 May 2012.

"Thanks Al, I can't stress enough the need for secure comms.  Let me know, ok?"

Kelsey makes a few adjustments to Wayne's radio and hands it back  "Not tacnet, but it'll be on like ours.  Give us time and I can put that to full use."

Very well, Mr. Wayne. Firm hand at the helm!

Taras was looking for the rest of the team to report for duty:

Where is Andy?

Then he turned to Kelsey:

Great job as always. After we finnish with the inspection please proceed to conduct a general radio check. We are leaving very soon.

"Yes Sir!"  She grins at Taras and finally awaits inspection before starting a full radio check.

"Here," Andy said as he gathered together his equipment and got ready to go.

He teamed up with Mac and then said, "We need to be very careful on this mission. We'll be facing a nervous enemy on their home ground and we're a new team that doesn't know each others' capabilities. I urge everyone to err on the side of caution whilst we get to know each other. Kel is a great Comms Specialist: you can trust your Comms and its security more than you've probably been able to for a while. If you have a doubt, get on the net and discuss it. I know there's no place for a democracy on a potential combat mission but until we can anticipate each other's moves don't hesitate to over elaborate."


C3A1 Parker-Hale (10x Unertl telescopic sight, ELCAN Black Cat night vision optics, bipod) + 6 Spare mags
Browning HP-35 $150 w/ 3 full mags 9mm P

WP Grenade (2x)
C13 Fragmentation Grenades (6x)
HC Smoke Grenades (2x)
Ghillie Suit
.5km hand radio (Motorola)
Claymore directional mine

Personal medkit
10x Image Intensifier Binoculars w/ tripod
IR Goggles
Nomex Flyer's Gloves
Magnetic Compass
Flashlight (IR attachment)
Multi-tool

OD Green Touque, Boonie hat
OD Green Combats, Parachute smock
Canadian camo pattern boonie cap
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:06, Fri 18 May 2012.

"Thanks Andy.  I'd like to remind you all also that I am also a competent rifle as well, so you can trust me with your back, I will have it covered.  I have made arrangements to bring us up to the 21st century in secure comms, in the meantime I do the best I can with what I have.  Remember to only detail as little as you can get away with on the radio, use call signs!  Write them down if you need to.  If you need clarification, though, ask for it."

"I can probably figure it out," Wayne replies.  "I'm pretty good with electronics."

"Thanks," he says, taking his radio back.

"Welcome.  So.. pretty good with electronics, you say?  How good is that?"  She says with a bit of a gleam in her eye.

Looking at the map, Keith addressed William and Lt. Stone, the other members of the vehicle crew.

"We haven't been out that way since the dykes burst and the river overflowed a few weeks ago. I heard the lower parts of Lougheed highway are underwater, which will affect our ground route."

"There is a route along higher ground that we've taken before, east along Brunette and then north up Mariner Way. Suburbs, mostly. We'll pick up Lougheed (Highway 7) here by Coquitlam Center, then follow that east as long as we can towards the target. There is a possible choke point here where the Lougheed Highway crosses over the Coquitlam river, but there's a rail bridge and another road bridge that can serve as an alternative."

"If that's acceptable, then I'll fire up the Lovn' Spoonful and we'll get on the road."

See Map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?sa...z=12&lci=weather
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:06, Fri 18 May 2012.

After inspection, Chris loaded up his gear in the Jeep, which was in the parking lot beside the gymnasium.

They'd drive down to the river and park at the police wharf. There was little chance of the Jeep being messed around with there, and the LAV would not have to divert to drop them off or pick them up.

"Ready to go."

Kelsey does a radio check with all equipment being fielded and tunes the channels she wants with the best protection she can field, then loads up in the jeep as well.

"On your six, Mac."

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #80):

While his bag is being inspected and he's receiving his load of controlled substances, Walker asks

"Can I have a set of NVG's?  If I'm driving, I probably need a set."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:46, Fri 18 May 2012.

In reply to William Hawke (msg #89):

Climbing up into the turret of the LAV where it sat under the tent-like temporary roofing, Keith thought for a second.

"Ahhh.... I don't think we have a spare set here. Have to look around.

"You're in luck, the Kodiak has low-light vision for the driver. There's also headlights if we're out past dark."

"I'm off to coordinate with the New West police and defence force. As well, track down those radios they were telling me about. Good luck.

"Kel, I might not be available, so you better re-assign my call sign for Commander Clarke-Sullivan, or get her one."

Belanger departed, drivng off in his old Land Rover.

Andy, we have INTEL on this dangerous sniper and I want you to take extra precautions. We still have that anti-tank rifle back in the UBC armory. I believe is the same type he's using. Keep that in mind for the next mission. I know this coming patrol didn't give us much time but I don't want to have my people risking their lives because of the equipment.

That was pretty much the only comment that Taras would make during the inspection. The routine was mostly a morale and discipline booster since most of the team were seasoned troops competent in their skills and veterans of previous combat missions. The radio net appeared to be in good working order.

It took little time to reach the wharf where the inflatable Zodiac was wobbling in the murky waters of the "Mighty Fraser" and, indeed it was, mightier than never before.

We have to arrange the seating. This is pretty damn small boat! Rear left for the driver and next to him someone to cover the rear with automatic rifle. Next is me and Kelsey face to face. The rest sit forward. Select your arcs of fire!

Monday 21 May 2001
1000 Hours Lima
16C
Sunny, with partial clouds

Wind from W (267 Degrees) 5 Kph.

Route Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...pn=0.130489,0.220757

Flood Plain Map: http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=...8060&z=4&t=1

---

River Element:

Distance to travel: 13km
Speed: 15 km/h

New Westminster Police Wharf

The zodiac crew were shuttled down to the river in the Jeep. The buildings of New West seemed intact, people bustled about. They parked at the section of wharf used by the New West police.

Seagulls circled overhead. The normally blue-green glacier-fed river was swollen and brown from the mud and silt carried downriver by the floodwaters.

All the small rivercraft (fishing boats, a few police boats) tied off there and along the riverfront were dwarfed by two casino stern-paddle riverboats: the Constitution and Native. They used to sport some kind of covered heavy weapons on their decks, these were conspicuously absent.

The two paddlewheelers were in turn dwarfed by the massive black bulk of the Oscar II-class submarine, K-141 Kursk. The wharf area where it was tied up was fenced off. Inside the fence were various construction materials being used to make repairs to the damaged bow and running gear.

Manning the gate were a pair of Russian sailors and New West police. It was unsure how much work was being done with the river in such turmoil! The Kursk itself was flying the naval jack of the pre-communist Tsar-era navy. The flag was not the Soviet flag but a tricolour, like the Tsarist flag but lacking the eagle emblem.

The detachment in the Zodiac arranged themselves. Seaman Lo had been at the wharf earlier to check on the "Zod". The small boat was seaworthy, if worn, and the engine was in good repair.

Mac pointed out to Taras that aside from Seaman Lo, only Taras and Kel had automatic weapons. His "FN" (C1A1) was semi-auto, and Andy was armed with a bolt-action sniper rifle. So, he would sit next to Wayne (AB Lo) but wouldn't have an autofire weapon.

"Don't worry, I'll fire fast."

Wayne had them all take off their body armour and webbing, and put on life vests. No exceptions. At this point it seemed far more likely the passengers would fall in and drown (due to the debris-filled water) than be shot. Plus, this was SOP for all water transit on small craft.


Over the course of their journey up the river, they kept in contact with the Lovin' Spoonful via radio. All elements checked in, including the support ones (OP at bridge, NW Police).

The debris in the river from the flooding would slow them somewhat. As they were on a recce and not on a firm timetable, Taras decided not to push their speed and so they proceeded at a leisurely pace upriver.

First they passed the light rail transit bridge and older Patullo Bridge (closed for repairs after a barge carried by flood waters rammed it). It was apparent from the clumps of treetops sticking out of the water in places that there were entire islands underwater. Vast areas along the banks seemed flooded, as well. Close to the city they passed by fishing boats and some tugs towing barges, but soon, they were alone on the wide river. Lo easily avoided the snags, deadheads and debris carried downstream by the floodwaters.

There was a number of sunken and partially sunken shipping strewn about the banks and in the river itself, mostly commercial river vessels abandoned during the war like barges, some tugs and even a few commercial fishing vessels.

Then, they passed under the larger Port Mann bridge, which served the Trans-Canada highway. The massive bridge buttresses and Trans-Canada roadway were all above water, but all the light industrial areas and wareshouses were underwater, about halfway up the buildings (so, about 15-20 feet of floodwaters).

Just past the bridge was the Coquitlam river. They weren't going up this tributary, but the fertile lowlands around it's mouth was all completely flooded.

Past the bridge and the now flooded farmlands around the mouth of the Coquitlam river was heavily-wooded Douglas Island, where the Pitt River met the Fraser. As they were going up the Pitt, they turned left at Douglas Island. Douglas island itself was mostly flooded, with only a part remaining above the flood. A large SEABOARD container barge had caught up in the trees of Douglas Island.

---

Ground Element

Distance to Travel = 18km
Travel Speed (Road/Hilly, OR suspension) = 22.5 km/h

New West-Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam

The late morning sun shone down, but there were clouds that hinted there could be more of the rain that Vancouver and the "wet coast" was famous for.

The Kodiac fired up easily as the Jeep left the former school grounds of Cariboo High. It had a full tank of bio-diesel, which ran much cleaner than fuel refined from petrol. Everyone was issued a CVC (Combat Vehicle Crewman) helmet.

Hawke was driving (VG), head out. Stone was standing in the VC's hatch on the right manning the C6 (M240), Tremblay stood beside him in vehicle gunner's (VG) hatch to his. Both VC and VG could run the 25mm and 7.62mm co-ax via joystick down in the turret, and both had independent thermal sights.

Hawke took it slow to get the hang of it. The roads in the area were littered with debris. Tree branches and some burned trees blown down in the nuclear attack, trash heaps and piles of garbage bags, including burned or wrecked furniture from abandoned homes and suitcases abandoned in the evacuation. This debris wasn't much of a problem for the 18 ton "light" armoured vehicle. Hawke easily swerved around the odd abandoned car, truck or SUV (which were mostly rolled off the side of the road this close to an occupied area).

They easily rolled down off Cariboo Hill through areas less-affected by the nukes that hit nearby Burnaby Mountain, passing through the New West police checkpoint on North Road/E. Columbia. They continued across an overpass over the Trans-Canada freeway along Brunette Ave.

On Brunette Ave., Tremblay pointed out a large burned-out house to Stone. "See that, LT? The local clubhouse of the Hells Angels. They took off about a month ago. Their clubhouse went up one night, not too long after, but it was empty. Real shame. Nothing in there when we investigated, but we found lots of security and surveillance equipment, and an empty armoury in the basement the size of an apartment."


Then into Coquitlam, up Mariner hill on Mariner Way.

This was all suburban area with little noticeable damage. Abandoned homes, the odd park and school. It was likely some structures were still occupied, but no one came out. The wide street was mostly clear with the odd abandoned car or SUV, some fallen trees and branches, trash strewn about.

Not too far from where they would roll down Mariner Hill they came to a major intersection with Como Lake/Spruance Ave.

Suddenly, a man stepped out from behind a wild-growing hedge. He waved at them from the sidewalk, yelling, "hey! Hey you guys! Stop! Stop! Are you with the Army?"

He was dressed in normal if worn civilian clothing, Caucasian, unshaved, middle aged, unarmed. He looked a little wary of the massive vehicle, like if they reacted in a hostile manner he would be out of there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:28, Fri 18 May 2012.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #93):

Upon seeing the guy calling out to the vehicle, Hawke kept driving, waiting for change of orders.

Kelsey sat low in the boat and kept her eyes sweeping forward of Taras over his shoulder, and her rifle at a high ready with the safety on.  Every now and then if an area looked interesting or threatening she would pay more attention to something that seemed threatening or interesting, following it out of her normal arc, especially if all that was in her upcoming arc was just water.

"Taras, I need to tell you something I should have mentioned earlier.  Umm...  But I don't know how to put it.  Let's just say I have been the victim of lethal sexual discrimination in the past, and I might... I might end up in trouble if we run into what I think we might."

She blushed slightly, confessing this.  She didn't like talking about that, at all, she tried to put it behind her as best she could, but she didn't really see herself as the victim, the true victim didn't survive, and she couldn't fully put her behind.  She deserved to be remembered.

Andy watched his sectors carefully and listened to the chatter in the boat. He had been thinking about the rogue sniper and how he could be dealt with, "Taras, Kel, I want you to think about what would be a good target to lure the sniper out. Eventually I'd like to set up a killing ground and take him out before he does more damage. I hate to think of him stalking us."

Kelsey tensed a moment at Andy's voice then shrugged slightly, her eyes staying on her assigned arc.  "Unfortunately all I can think of is us.  Though, thinking about it, when we get more secure comms we can lay in some fake traffic.  Maybe set up a fake op and try to trick him into showing.  It'll still mean putting someone in the line of fire, and they might die.  Remember what he did to the Major."

"Yup," Andy agreed, "I was thinking a prisoner transfer for the perp we have in custody. If we let slip he's turning into an informant and then we put him in a risky situation during the transfer the sniper might bite."

"That's a good idea Andy.  Hey, what I said earlier.  Just.. watch my back, OK?  Um, I graduated from École Polytechnique in 1990, if that explains it to you a little.


"

"Oh!  It's just a hobby, I guess," Wayne exclaims, backpedaling from his claim.  "I took a class at university..."

*A quick rewind back in time to before the mission*

Kelsey grins at Wayne "But you have aptitude, I can use that.  Ok, let's roll out.  We'll talk later."

Andy nodded grimly, "Always Kel, if anyone wants to get to you they'll need to get through me first."

He meant what he said although knowing Kel he'd probably end up protecting the perps from her wrath.

Kelsey chuckles a moment "You might have to protect me by keeping me from executing some perps.  I have three... three little sisters around here somewhere that I haven't been able to find.  The thought these sick... people fed them or would feed them to pigs... "  She leans her head forward a moment, then scans her arc carefully again, bringing her emotions under control.

"Thanks Andy."  She says, heart felt.

Having caught this, Chris cocked his head, trying to remember what he'd head that name before. He seemed to recall some kind of shooting or massacre at École Polytechnique in Montreal about ten years ago. Some psycho took a bunch of women students hostage and then murdered them in his own little bloody war on feminism. Deciding this wasn't something he should butt in on, he kept scanning his sector.



As they passed under the Port Mann, he craned his neck upwards, looking for an ambush. That traitor jerkoff Jagelis was supposed to be covering a recce by him and Andy, but instead had led the rest of the team (including Taras and Kel) off into an ambush from above by Molotov-throwing Primitives.

GM Note: Excellent view upriver. Douglas Is. is ahead, Mary Hill in Coquitlam is on the left, the Pitt River is in the gap between them. Upriver on he Fraser is to the right of Douglas Is.

Imagine that just the treetops on most of Douglas Is. are visible, with a wrecked river barge aground and afoul of the submerged trees on the right (upriver) side of the island. When you get close, a sliver of land is still above water on the left side.


This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Fri 18 May 2012.

When the man appeared, Tremblay dropped down into the turret and activated the thermal sight. They weren't travelling very fast so he was able to quickly sweep around the wide suburban intersection to check for other heat signatures.

The man had come out from behind a hedgerow ahead and to the NW (front-left), there was a church on the NE corner (front-right), a building behind another hedge to the SE (rear-right) and a large thickly-forested park to the SE (rear-left).

"No other targets than him. LT, we gonna stop? Remember our RoEs."

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...pn=0.000978,0.001674

Taras waited for the exchange between the team to die down before speaking:

We are not at war with the "Hell's Angels" just yet. They are out there looking at us but I don't think that sniper will try to kill us for now.

They knew that, sooner or later, the Government and the Army would be back to retake the city. They are criminals but not stupid. I wouldn't take this mission from Belanger and put you in danger otherwise.

Soviet Officers weren't very fond of hasty operations. Military schools drilled them for years in careful planning and rehearsals of well orchestrated combined arms drills and exercises. This was in no small part due to the lack of a solid NCO element in the Armed Forces able to grant the flexibility to adapt tactically to the battlefield.

...But they are making mistakes. We made them believe that we are almost their friends. Remember, we "saved" the life of one of them and they know that. We are taking their territory and liberating people while fighting their allies and they are losing both.

While the North Shore and the downtown were recovered through a mutual agreement of civilian cooperation between these communities and the UBC based Government the team fought and won their battles against the Stickmen, bandits along Marine Dr., the Airport gang and Neo nazis in Port Moody. As a result the "Hells Angels" after losing allies and local support had to pull out from those areas.

The "Hell's Angels" are preparing for a war of attrition. They are regrouping and they think that they will become stronger if they do so. Bunker mentality. We conduct maneuver warfare, we use maskirovka, we move across the chessboard and we envelop...We will give them their own Bagration.

Not only a mandatory element of study for Soviet Officers but also part of Taras family history was Operation Bagration (see Taras bio). The start of Operation Bagration involved many troops from the 1st Ukrainian Front as well as partisans which were instructed to resume their attacks on railways and communications. Large numbers of explosive charges were placed on rail tracks and they had a significant disruptive effect. The partisans were also used to mop up encircled German forces once the breakthrough and exploitation phases of the operation were completed.

Taras motioned towards Kelsey:

I do understand how you feel...Let me tell you something...They say that the pen is more mighty than the sword and I believe is the truth. That's why we are here doing what we do. You are the words. You are the Comms, Kelsey. And that's how you are helping towards victory. If you think that you can risk the success of the mission I can send you to the rear services but I know that you are a strong and intelligent soldier. We count of you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:18, Sat 19 May 2012.

Kelsey grinned a little in reply, but kept her eyes on her arc  "Sure.. thanks.  So.. if they fall and lose their teeth, you know.. by accident?"  She laughs, but it's a little forced  "I'll keep my cool, I have all this time, right?"

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #107):

Scanning his own sector, Chris added,

"Hoka hey! It's a good day to kick some white biker ass!"

"Jesus I feel like a rolling target in this thing Trembley!", giving him a smirk.

In reply to Christopher Little Hawk MacDonald (msg #108):

Kelsey chuckles, shooting Mac a quick grin, then back to scanning her zone.  "Hoo-Rah.  Thanks buddy."

Tremblay grinned and replied, "glad you're back, sir! When was the last time you caught some zees? Don't worry, the place checks out on thermal."

He grinned and pointed out a man that was standing beside the road ahead, flagging him down. They were approaching him at a steady pace but there was still time to stop, Hawke, the driver, seemed to be a robot on autopilot, which was understandable for someone who was inexperienced in driving.

"LT, got a man at our 12 o'clock. Civilian, waving us down. I glassed the area, it's clear. Our ROEs are to assist and defend the population. If his wife and daughter are being gang-raped we can't ignore it and just keep rolling, if he has a lost kitten, we direct him to the police in New West."

"Hoo-rah? What are we now, bloody Yanks? Huh, I guess I got nothing!"

He chuckled, then grew thoughtful as he watched the drowned riverbanks pass them by.

A lot more had been lost in the flooding, not just possibly salvageable buildings and warehouses but entire shanty-towns full of refugees, gone under the water. Most survived the deluge, but many hadn't.
This message was last updated by the player at 03:32, Sun 20 May 2012.

Going up river... Taras continued to keep an eye on the river banks. Occasionally he used the binoculars to scan points of interest like buildings or shipwrecks looking mostly for signs of life. Fortunatelly the markings on the vintage binoculars ("EWA") were not referring to a Polish woman but insteaed hinting at the extra wide angle of the optics that somehow compensated for the relative movement of the zodiac. Nearby floatsam also was a source of interest due to the dangers related to the navigation of such delicated vessel.

We are moving towards the bridges. When we get there we will communicate with the LAV people.


http://marinas.com/view/bridge...Colquitlam_BC_Canada

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #113):

As they were passing under the Port Mann  bridge, Kel heard the radio crackle.

"Ahhh.... Bravo, this is Kilo Four."

"Bravo, this is Kilo Four."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:31, Sun 20 May 2012.

(We are passing under the bridge so this must be our bridge outpost, will test this with the 68, which has limited transmission range)

Kelsey hits her chest mic on her 68, responding to the transmission, keeping her eyes on her arc.
"Roger Kilo four, this is Bravo two, over."

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #115):

"Bravo from Kilo, read you Lima Charlie. That you passing by in the Zod? Over."

Looking, she's unable to see anyone on the bridge, but it's a long ways up and they could be anywhere on the fairly long span.

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #111):

Stone keys up the CVC mike, "Driver slow and stop 50m from the civilian."

"Trembley cover me.  I'm going to get out and talk to him".

Stone starts to remove his CVC helmet and reach down for his rifle.  When the LAV stops he'll go down into the hull and get out the back door (Not the ramp).  THen make his way to the civilian.

In reply to Matthew Stone (msg #117):

"Aye, Aye."  Hawke stops the LAV 50m from the civilian.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:03, Sun 20 May 2012.

"That's a Roger, Kilo.  Waving."

She reaches up with her spare hand and waves up towards the bridge.  "Wave to the nice spotter, gentlemen"

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #119):

Mac looked up and waved with one hand.

"Ya'all have a nice three hour tour and watch out for deadheads, Kilo."

Looking up, they couldn't see the spotter. Kel recognised the voice as belonging to Gunny Conklin, the US Marine sniper. He hadn't been around for weeks, supposedly he was operating north along the coast or on Vancouver Island. It was interesting he could be in position to assist in such a short time.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:35, Sun 20 May 2012.

Tremblay held on as the LAV lurched to a halt. "Whoa!" He looked doubtfully around them. "Seems safe. I'll be here. Chilling." He dropped down into the turret and resumed scanning 360 degrees using the thermal imaging system.

"Hawke, keep a direct eye on the LT. Don't drag out a weapon if you don't see a threat. The old LT had a habit of holding everyone at gunpoint like he was expecting an ambush at any time. That worked out as well as you'd expect."

He switched over to the team tacnet. "Bravo from Alpha."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Sun 20 May 2012.

Kelsey grins when she recognizes the voice.  "Roger Kilo, be countin on you if a storm comes up.  Bravo, out!"

She laughs and looks at her teammates "Boys we have an angel looking out for us."

She hears the transmission from Alpha and pops up the big whip on the 77 quickly reaching for the handset on it, still trying to keep eyes on her sector.

"Alpha, This is Bravo 2, go ahead."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:51, Sun 20 May 2012.

In reply to William Hawke (msg #118):

Stopping at the mandated distance meant slamming on the brakes, although there was little danger of rolling and Hawke avoided locking up the brakes and screeching to a halt. Tremblay dropped down into the turret as Stone crawled down into the passenger compartment, then opened the rear door in the drop-down ramp and stepped out, closing it again behind him.

The civilian looked equal parts relieved and annoyed as he waited for Stone to make his way over. He had greying hair and was wearing jeans, boots, plaid shirt, Gore-Tex Mountain Equipment Co-Op windbreaker. Probably some Coquitlam home-owner who managed to survive the war best he could.

"Uh, don't worry, chief, I'm not contagious! But, thanks for stopping. Look, I just live back there..."

He turned and indicated what appeared to be a suburban subdivision behind the overgrown hedgerow, just off Mariner Way to the Northwest.

"Anyways, some punks been came 'round yesterday in a truck. Looters, I think. They started stripping down the house at the end of the block for salvage. I think they're some gang-bangers I been hearing about. Los Diablos. Used to be in Burnaby, now they're here."

Tremblay transmitted,

"Bravo, ah, be advised we have halted on Route Mike Tree at the intersection with Route Charlie Three. Break.

"Ah, Grid Alpha Golf Six Tree Fower, Romeo Romeo Seven Wun Wun. Break.

"Flagged down by single unarmed civilian. Break.

"Ah, no other signatures around. Break. Bravo Actual is going over to, ah, have a word, see what he wants. Over."

OOC: Assume all your maps have been coded. There would be too many to put so I'm not going to bother! Mike 3 is Mariner Way, Charlie 3 is Como Lake.

She looked to Taras to see if he had anything to add.  Good to know their butts would be hanging out there without support for longer.

"I copy, Alpha."

Very good! I like the idea of having the new Lt. talking with the locals. Probably some poor peasant out there saw a Canadian panzer for the first time in a long time. If our new boss is smart enough he will be able to get some fresh information and ask some good questions...

Taras gave the thumbs up to Kel and after finding out that good old Robert was out there watching out for them, the burly Ukrainian stood up on his feet for a brief moment giving a deep curtsy for the unseen friend. He made sure that no demolition charges were placed in the bridges.

Kelsey please, make sure that we get confirmation from Alpha element when they resume their trip.

The Staff Sargent looked at his Vostok "Amphibia" wristwatch. Watches issued to the military were marked "ЗАКАЗ МО СССР," meaning "By Order of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR." These models were subject to rigorous quality control and sold exclusively through Voentorg stores, which catered to military personnel with identification only.  After a quick check he started fumbling for a map in order to coordinate the approach.


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko was able to plan for tactical operations since he was a Combat Engineer arms Officer in the Soviet Army. These Engineeres were not part of the engineer-technical service mostly found along the logistic units. Also, other troop branches were performing civilian tasks as sanitation, topo-mapping etc. Something similar to the US Corps of Engineers. For Taras, being so close to the enemy, the term used in the Red Army was "Sapper" rather than "Engineer".

Using multiple and overlapping collection means was a standard practice in reconnaissance and as such Taras decided to "multiply" that effort while doubling the approach from both ground and river. Following also the Soviet principles he was using aggresively the timeliness of the intel provided. Continuity of the recon effort was also paramount to the overall reconstruction program and, regardless of the outcome of the mission, each and every bit of intelligence would be of high value for the Government forces. The Soviets were particularly aware of the need for engineer intelligence to assist a rapid advance of the units. The recce resources of the 62nd MRD. combat engineer battalion included mine detection equipment and the means for detailed bank and bed survey of water obstacles. That's the reason why Taras was using the Zodiac or "Bravo" element.

I can see now in the map where they are! He figured out that the chat with the local wouldn't go for too long as it could happen with a group of them providing different views and opinions. With a pencil he started to delineate the contour of the flooded areas.

Keep on going, Wayne. We will have a few extra minutes to choose a good place to land our sniper team.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:47, Mon 21 May 2012.

Kelsey gives a thumbs up and Keys the radio again "Alpha, this is Bravo Two.  Please advise when back on route.  Over.

Thank you, Kelsey. Andy: We are getting close to the objective. See that elevation over there?

Taras pointed Nort towards Mount Burke. Although the Mount itself was located probably too far to effectively cover the area, the closer gentle sloping offered a good vantage point with superb perspective and acceptable concealment. The mountain was a popular destination for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and winter snowmobile trips. Back in the 70's the mountain was the site of a minor ski development.

Wayne! Rememeber that we are going past those bridges and looking for a landing spot for our snipers.

This was the initial approach off the Pitt River and towards the elevated ground. After that they will backtrack and move towards the farm.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Mon 21 May 2012.

"Aye Aye.  Pointing guns at everyone is a bad idea."

With a bored expression on his face, he watched the LT come around front of the vehicle, and plotted in his mind the results of directions available in the event of a problem.

In reply to William Hawke (msg #130):

The area didn't seem to have many promising places for threats to appear. To the front and left (where the LT was talking to the man) was a hedgerow, behind that suburban residential housing. Thermal would pick up anyone behind the hedges, and a sloping rooftop provided little to no cover.

The Coquitlam Alliance Church was to the front right, a solid brick/concrete walled structure with no windows. Someone could move up using the roof but they would be skylighted (silhouetted) as the Yanks would say. Close behind right was another hedge, close behind right was a thickly forested park. Thermal would pick up anyone moving up behind or through either.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...pn=0.001964,0.003396


River Element: I have some detailed information and descriptions for you so don't get too far ahead. You are still back by Douglas Island, Burke Mtn. is to the north and overlooks the farm site. Please make sure to follow on the map, look for the "boat" icon:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...pn=0.063322,0.108662
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:33, Mon 21 May 2012.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #1)

William watched the LT and had options of going N, W, E, on the roads, or if everything else was screwed up, he could go south.  The sports pitch gave him a place he could turn around without driving over anyone's daisies.   However his priority was to pick up the LT, or at least provide cover for him, in the event of a problem.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:48, Tue 22 May 2012.

"Aye-aye, Chief!" Wayne calls out over the spray and engine noise.  "Let me know when to pull over!"

In reply to Wayne Lo (msg #133):

The river was full of floating debris, some pretty dangerous. Many trees had been uprooted and washed downriver. There was also a greater number of logs that were once collected into vast rafts that were floated downriver to the pulp and lumber mills near the mouth. The war disrupted this trade and now they littered the banks of the Fraser for hundreds or more kilometres though the province.

Piloting the Zodiac, Wayne had to take it on the slow side or risk hitting something and upsetting them. He turned left into the Pitt River, not too far from the farm. Soon, they saw the rail bridge and the twin Pitt River highway bridge ahead.

They noted with alarm that pretty much the entire area was underwater. The bridges were pretty much the only structures above water, but their approaches on either side were underwater. The rail yards were underwater, the golf course next to the pig farm only had treetops showing.

The pig farm was, presumably, underwater, but it was hard to tell because the site was obscured by drowned trees.

GM Note: Imagine this.... all underwater, with just the bridges and tree tops sticking out of brown water.

Go to the following link, set it to +9m flood depth:

http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=...;z=4&m=9&t=1

Wow! This is amazing...

The spectacle was dantesque. The rising waters completely flooding the area. The bridges were just a speck above the waters yet seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Only the protruding tree tops were giving a reference of where there was once firm ground. Taras continued to outline the map with the new frontiers and trying to find out a workable approach to the objective. The farm was obviously, long time gone under.

Wayne! There is a green elevation right behind the farm. Keep on going up river until the tree tops dissappear and then turn left. We will make the drop there and then approach the farm location from the North.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #135):

They passed (barely) under the rail bridge, then the twin Lougheed Highway bridges.

Upriver of the clump of treetops marking the former golf course, they turned left over the flooded area, aiming towards a clump of green woods on slightly higher ground to the north of the farm. Unlike the area around the farm, this was above water. Various trees and rooftops poked above the muddy water.

Then, they saw something quite unexpected.

About halfway there, off to the left, Kel saw something odd where the farm should be. They mostly expected a few roofs of the larger buildings to show above the water, but they could see that the large barn-like structure just off Dominion Rd. appeared to be surrounded by an earthen (dirt) berm. It had been piled up in a square-like form to create, for lack of a better word, a makeshift dyke around the barn.

In other words, someone had created an artificial island on part of the farm, around one of the larger buildings. This building had been, literally, a slaughterhouse. The artificial island was not connected to dry land in any way, there was no bridge or causeway linking it to higher ground:



Imagine the large building at top surrounded by dirt dykes:


This message was last edited by the GM at 08:19, Wed 23 May 2012.

Kelsey started to scan the compound she could see and surrounds that might have outposts.

"Heads up, on the port side, this place is important to someone, it isn't flooded."

She had a bad feeling about this, for certain.

As soon as the zodiac was under the bridges Taras told Kelsey to report to Alpha element for reference. The impressive earthworks called immediately the attention of the Combat Engineer. Scanning with the binoculars he identified the suspected site and tried to find any form or sign of human activity. The magnification provided by the eight powered optics brought the farm a little bit over 200 meters from the original 1,2 km facilitating the task. No sign of road of bridges communicating the site was found. Some sort of dock was probably to be found on the blind side.

Wayne! Slow down a bit but keep going North! We need to get a good look around and find a drop for the shooters. Andy! Take a look with your scope. You have a trained eye for it!

"Bravo 1" was getting fixed in the objective now but without losing situational awareness. Following the approach route of the Zodiac, Taras calculated that he could recce the South, East and North sides of the farm and have the sniper element to have a better perspective from above before moving in. The maneuver will give them time to get the LAV into position and cover the road and Western side of the farm. While keeping Andy busy and taking turns with the binocs, the ukrainian was also checking his six for any possible threat avoiding "tunnel vision".

Kel, that is some serious work out there. Somebody's been busy around with an excavator. Be ready to report to the Lt. when they start again.

Port Coquitlam:

The boat cruised over the drowned floodplain. There had been some preliminary development here before the war, but that had ceased, leaving mostly empty land. Still, a few houses were underwater, growing more frequent as they moved towards dry land. The motor echoed off the trees and hills, breaking the stillness..

Coquitlam/Mariner Hill:

Hawke and Tremblay waited in the idling LAV as LT. Stone talked to the civvie. The civvie seemed to be pretty excited about something, pointing the subdivision behind him, hidden by the hedges.

Andy used his scope to scan the area around the farm buildings. He hoped that the place was deserted but if there were people there they'd better be ready to accept that the Law had returned to this part of Canada.

"Radioing details on that will tip our hand if they have a way to listen, Taras."

The LAV III presence will be revealing enough but wait until we get a word back from the Lt.

"Understood.  Standing by and scanning my arc."

She pauses for a few seconds.

"Or I could use Wayne's scrambled handset and contact the spoonful on radio 2, secure and scrambled."

She looks to Wayne a moment.

"Let me borrow your radio, Wayne."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:59, Fri 25 May 2012.

Mariner Hill, Coquitlam

Birds tweeted in the morning sun, but dark clouds were moving in over the mountains.

Meanwhile a few kilometres away and uphill, things were getting strange.

In the LAV's driver seat, Hawke was checking specifically in the LT's direction while Stone talked to the local resident. This made sense as he didn't have a 360 degree view. Up in the turret, Tremblay was using the commander's thermal sight to scan all the other directions, as he could see through the foliage into the park and behind the hedgerow. The Kodiak's idling engine throbbed in the quiet intersection.

The LT began to weave on his feet, as if he was dizzy. After a few seconds, the civilian grew visibly concerned and put a hand out to steady Stone, Stone batted it away but lost his balance, collapsing to his knees, then forward on his hands. The civilian started to wave to the LAV.

"Hey! Hey! Your friend, I think he's in trouble! I didn't do nothin', he just keeled over! He looks out of it!"

The civilian knelt down and started asking, "hey, buddy, you all right? Say something..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:53, Sat 26 May 2012.

LAV Turret

Tremblay stood up, out of the Commander's hatch.

"Fuck! There's nothing out there on the scope, you hear a shot? I didn't hear anything. I thought Stone was starting to doze off a bit on the way over but I just wasn't sure."

"Okay, let's keep it cool. Drive over and park. Get out, do your thing. I'll cover you from in here. Let's not assume the civvie had anything to do with it."

He checked the LT's direction, then looked around. Still nothing.

Birds still tweeted in the morning sunlight.

The zodiac was now moving to the western shore describing a left arc away from the original current of the Pitt river. The first dwellings partially submerged were approaching fast as the inflatable boat would get rid of the strong downriver currents.

Look! Here is a little friend!



This message was last edited by the player at 09:29, Sat 26 May 2012.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #144):

Hawke puts the LAV in gear and drives over to where the LT lay on the ground, driving just past him enough so that when he exits the rear of the vehicle, the door opens right where the LT is laying.  Parking, he gets up and heads out the rear of the vehicle.

Once on the ground, he does a quick assessment of the officer.  He has weak, thready, even, regular, pulses in both of his wrists, and William grabs him and carries him into the back of the LAV.

"C'mon." he says to the civilian.  "I don't know what's going on, but I don't think you want to stand around out there."

The officer's skin is cool and dry, but it's warm enough out that he should be moist under his armor, and it's not.  He starts in with a baseline set of vitals, BP, pulse, pulse oximitry, and respirations.  The officer's vitals are depressed, but not life threatening.

"Tremblay, we may need to scrub the mission.  The LT needs more than we've got here and I can't take care of him and drive at the same time."

"If she's still there when we are on our way out can we keep her?"

In reply to William Hawke (msg #147):

Looking around as if Hawke knew something he didn't the civilian replied, "Okay, you guys come talk to me when you can. I'm just back there. My name is Dave Polliti, I live at the end of Signal Court. I'll leave the Diablos alone, unless they come to my house."

Stone seemed to be responding. He mumbled to Hawke, "uh... so tired... gotta. Wait. Tell Tremblay. Command LAV."


Hawke

"Nice to meet you, Dave.  I'm William.  I don't know what's going on.  I couldn't hear you talking to the CO over the engine.  C'mon in the back of the rig, so I can work on him while I'm talking to you.  What seems to be the issue?  I don't find any holes, so this isn't looking like enemy action."  While he's talking he's running his hands over the LT's body and checks his pupils.  The pupils are round, regular, and reactive to light.



Hopefully, Dave follows him.  William digs in his bag and pulls out an IV set, with a 20 gauge needle set, and puts the tourniquet on the LT's right arm, right over his fatigues.  William is hoping that Dave will explain what he had already explained to the LT.

"No problem, Lefftenant.  There'll be a little pinch here."
William slides the needle into the vein, and there's a flash[1].  He hangs the bag and taps the lock at the top.

Once the IV is secured, he looks up into the cupola.  "Tremblay, Lefftenant says you're in charge.  I've got an IV in and he's about as comfortable as he's going to get on the floor of the LAV.  I can do more, but we  need to sort out what we're going to do next."


Hawke

[1]  "Flash."  Not a flash of light, but a back pressure of blood into the catheter's connection, which demonstrates that he's got a good stick.

I guess it will be up to her, Kelsey. I don't have any problem with that!

Dogs, if properly trained and cared for, could become a tremendous asset for a small recce patrol. The idea of inducting a K-9 unit in the force was for long contemplated by Shevchenko but never come to fruition. Somehow Kelsey's reaction fueled the sentiment and Taras was more than willing to adopt a new member that could bring to bear her own skills and local knowledge of the environment.

Andy shrugged as the others discussed the dog. He didn't object to picking the beast up on the way back if it kept the others happy. Beside, dogs didn't each that much and you could always make a nice stew out of it if things got tough again.

"That's awesome, be great for morale too, don't you think?"

Any question that the dog wouldn't want to go with them has completely deserted her mind

Mariner Hill, Coquitlam

The civilian followed Hawke, helping him with loading Stone into the back of the LAV.

Inside the LAV, Polliti explained what was going on. "There's this street gang, Los Diablos, they used to be in Burnaby before the war. Burnaby got nuked, guess we got the Diabos. So, these bangers are in a car, down my street, breaking into the abandoned house down the street. I already confronted them, they say I don't bother with them, they won't fuck with me. I just want to know what I should do, I got a family to protect and there's no one else around."

Tremblay looked down from the turret. "Christ. Okay, Hawke."

"Mr. Polliti, I regret that we're already engaged on another critical mission. As you can see, our LT isn't feeling too well. I would take the "Diablos" at their word, because if there's easy pickings down the street, they have no reason to bother you. Still, go home, lock your doors. I'll call the RCMP unit in New West and they'll send a unit by as soon as they can. Understand?"

The civilian nodded, gave Hawke his address. "Wow, if you can do that, then things really are getting better! Thanks a lot, guys. Good luck!" He left through the front hatch, disappeared through the hedges.

Up in the turret, Tremblay took the piece of paper with the address, got on the radio to base. They quickly patched him through to the New West police station. The RCMP were still taking over policing (policing in Canada having been federalised) but were able to promise a swift response, especially as the LAV had pre-cleared the route.

"Hawke, what's the status on the LT? He going to be all right? We would Charlie Mike, ah, Continue Mission if he was shot, depending on how bad it was. If he's not going to die then it's still on."

He keyed the radio. "Alpha calling Bravo."


Near the Pig Farm, Port Coquitlam

Andy swept the artificial island as the Zodiac moved to the "high" ground. Well, ground that was above water.

There was a problem with the chosen high ground. Although the large patch of woods that Taras was aiming for comparatively a little higher than the farm and the area around the farm was undeveloped and flat (and underwater) it was effectively masked by an entire housing subdivision in front of it (2-story single-family dwellings of a familiar 70's style).

To get to land that was significantly higher than the farm (and houses), Andy and Mac would have to traverse to the base of Burke Mountain, at least 4-5km away.

Alternatively, Wayne could try for a landing site further SW of their position.

GM Note: all the housing south and east of Cedar Dr. is not there (later development)... but that doesn't leave a lot of good positions for your OP. There is a line of trees along the side of Cedar drive, but most of the trees to the east of Coast Meridien have at least 1-5 feet of water, making the usual "lie on the ground" tactic unfeasible.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:32, Sun 27 May 2012.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #154):



"He's not out of it, we're still working on what's going on.  He doesn't appear to have stroked on us, there's no new holes in him, and his numbers are improving with the fluids, but he needs down time at the very least.  Keep moving forward.  If Stone can promise he'll rest, we can keep going forward.  That or we can contact base to send us another driver, at the very least."

He turns to the patient.  "What about it?  Can you rest here in the back of the LAV, or do we have to get someone else in here?"

--Hawke
This message was last edited by the player at 15:11, Sun 27 May 2012.

Kelsey keyed the borrowed secure handset back.  "Bravo 2, over."


We could check with "god" on the bridge for the kind of view he has... what about opping an the back slope of one of those houses roofs?  If they are in the way, then they must have a view?

(I guess I should not put ooc like that, so I will make it dialogue, she has tactics.)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:05, Sun 27 May 2012.

"That's a possibility Kel," Andy agreed, "we might even be able to set up inside an attic space and make a camouflaged observation slit. We should check out the houses and see if it's feasible."

Near the Pig Farm, Port Coquitlam



While the current area seemed to be screened by a line of flooded trees along both sides of Cedar Drive, further west-southwest towards Coast Meridian Rd. was housing that, while still under a couple feet of water, offered clear lines of sight to the target over the flooded flatlands.

The sniper team could be let off here to wade southwest down Ceder Dr. (behind the cover of the trees along the roadside) or the Zodiac could drop them off relatively close by as they continued south.

OOC: It's somewhat hard to see, but at this time the family who owned the pig farm also owned the land from the farm all the way NW to Cedar Dr. This land was cleared for development but construction not completed on most of the homes. The double line of trees along Cedar Dr. do kind of screen all the older housing to the north or west, although as pointed out there are a couple "new" subdivisions on the farm side of Cedar:

http://www.globalairphotos.com...posters/pqh8004.html

This photo circa 1998 (when construction ceased) is taken with the river at the top, with the farm is in the centre, and Cedar is the tree-lined street near the bottom. The Zodiac is off to the left of the photo.



From what they saw, Conklin could observe where the Pitt River entered the Fraser, but Mary Hill was in between him and the farm, which is maybe 6-7km away.

"Bravo, wait one."

Inside the Lovin' Spoonful, Mariner Hill, Coquitlam



Stone perked up at Hawke's questions, sitting up.

"Yeah, I'll be okay, Hawke. Back behind the wheel. Tremblay, advise Alpha we're on the move. Run the gun. I can observe via the monitor here. Let's get moving, gents. We can see about relief later. That's an order."

Tremblay look at Stone, the Hawke. His expression was, if anything, relieved. "Sir". Getting back up in the commander's station he radioed, "Bravo, have been advised by civilian of gang activity, possible looting. Break. Police advised and en route. Break. We are Oscar Mike (on the move). We'll be in your AOR in seven-ten mikes. How copy?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:32, Mon 28 May 2012.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #158):



"OK.  But leave the line in and take it easy back here.  You're no good to anybody if you're out of the game when the balloon goes up."  He finishes taping the line down and and looks at the bag.  "Let me know when this goes dry, and you'll probably want to take a leak around then."

He looks up at Tremblay and nods as he walks forward to his position.

Kelsey keys the radio  "Alpha, this is Bravo two, I copy seven to one zero mikes.  Break.  We have visual on location, someone went to a lot of work to put a big dike around this thing.

Inside the Lovin' Spoonful, Mariner Hill, Coquitlam

They started up again, rolling down Mariner Hill. Stone hooked his CVC helmet to the intercom so he could listen to the comms chatter while sitting in back. As well, the LAV had a bulky CRT computer monitor mounted on a bracket replaced a long-gone LCD repeater display through the gunsights so he could see what was going on.

GM Note: We'll finish the radio conversation, when Stone stumbled the LAV was 5km out, it should be in position in about 5-10 minutes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:37, Mon 28 May 2012.

Ears perked up, wriggly body and vigorously wagging tail were an unmistakable sign for the fast approaching zodiac crew. It would take many years after the world conflict to define it in a study describing the phenomenon, “Asymmetric tail-wagging responses by dogs to different emotive stimuli”.

The dog wouldn't bark or howl at the intruders presence being tail wagging the only answer. So do her tail show emotional asymmetry, or not? When dogs feel fundamentally positive about something or someone, their tails wag more to the right side of their rumps. When they have negative feelings, their tail wagging is biased to the left. Most animals, including birds, fish and frogs, the left brain specializes in behaviors like approach and energy enrichment.

Slow down, Wayne! Get closer to her...

Some have argued that only humans show brain asymmetry because of the evolution of language in the left brain. The truth is that strong left and right biases are showing up in the brains of simpler creatures and not unlike chickens, Taras preferred to use his left eye to search for food and the  right eye to watch for predators overhead. A nearby submerged housing unit appeared to offer a good observation and shooting platform from the attic overlooking the objective.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #162):

Wayne nodded, the 2 and 3-story houses Taras pointed out seemed fine. They stood in about four feet of water, the upper floors dry. Many of them retained some glass in their frames, in other windows, stained curtains flapped in the breeze that was starting to pick up. Wayne figured on getting as close as he could using the outboard, then pull up the engine and glide in to literally what had been the back yard.



On the way to the proposed hide, Wayne, seeing how shallow the flood waters were getting, swung out into somewhat deeper water to avoid fouling the propeller. This took them close to the stranded dog, tail waving like a shirt tied to the oar of a shipwrecked sailor.

Seeing Taras wanted them to pick the dog up sooner rather than later, Wayne slowed down and expertly maneuvered the boat in close. Cutting the engine he called to the dog,

"Come here, boy! Come on! Jump! Jump!"

With a slight hesitation, the dog made a leap for it, then started paddling for the raft. It swam the 10 foot or so gap easily enough but would need help getting in.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:49, Mon 28 May 2012.

"You should call the pup "Dogmeat"," Andy said, "which house do you reckon would make the best OP?"

Once he'd discussed the merits of each house as an OP, he intended to select one of the sub-optimal choices, a less than ideal post that would avoid suspicion. He intended to try for something that offered good fields of vision but looked inhospitable. He reckoned that the best way not to be found out was not to have anyone look at him in the first place.

"Andy, do overwatch a minute with Taras, OK?"  She took a moment to get her gear settled, then reached for the dog to help it in.

"Come here girl, right to me, right to mama, OK?  Come here girl."

When the dog got close she leaned over the edge, she was no expert but she knew boating, and then couterbalanced to pull the dog into the boat with no thoughts to safety if the dog was not friendly enough.

She checked the hindquarters as she pulled it in "Atta girl!"  and eyed Wayne and winked "Girl."

She digs into her rations to pull out an energy bar and breaks it into pieces for the dog.  "And she'll have a fine name, Andy, like Fancy."

Wayne acknowledges the request by handing over his radio to Kelsey with his free hand.

Добре Русалка. Яка краса! (Good Rusalka. What a beauty!)

The dog, although wet, malnourished and tired, couldn't help the enthusiasm to be aboard feeling the old good human pampering. Taras called her "Rusalka" in reference to the slavic mythology that identified a rusalka as a female ghost, water nymph, succubus, or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway.

Lets get closer to that house over there. Snipers! Get ready to disembark!

While the zodiac was slowly getting closer to the submerged dwelling, Taras explained what a Rusalka was:

A Rusalka is A water nymph... in Ukraine we believe has the appearance of a pretty young girl and represents the soul of a drowned girl or an unbaptized dead child. They are naked, covered only by their long hair or rarely in a full girl's costume. They live at the bottom of rivers and emerge from these only in the springtime, like now! Until Saint Peter's day they play all night long on riverbanks, swing in the branches, run through the grass, dance, and sing. With their singing they attract men and tickle them to death. Their dancing is said to promote the growth of rye...Yeah, Ukraine the breadbasket of the Soviet Union. For protection against them people carry a charmed shirt, kerchief, or piece of cloth. The rusalkas appears frequently in Ukrainian literature, music, painting, theater and movies...I

Port Coquitlam

Kel finished her call to the LAV. After a short stop, Tremblay reported it was rolling.

After picking up the stranded dog, the team welcomed their new member, "Rusalka". "Welcome aboard, miss!" Mac said.

As instructed, Wayne steered the Zodiac towards a row of partially burned-out 2-story town houses just off Coast Meridian and Cedar.

They had three choices: cut the power and glide in, hoping to avoid damage to the propeller, or  let the snipers off in shallow water and have them wade in, but they could injure themselves on underwater obstacles and would be wet.

Lougheed Highway, Coquitlam/Port Coqtuitlam

Within a few minutes, they were down off the hill and rolling down Lougheed Highway. This had been a commercial district of sorts before the war. The LAV passed by a municipal bus exchange, a massive shopping mall with abandoned fast-food and other restaurants on the left, auto dealerships and parts stores on the right.

The LAV crossed the bridge over the Coquitlam river. To the left were trees screening housing development, to the right was a rail yard. Ahead would be the Ottawa Ave turnout for Dominion St.

They could see there was a problem. The flood waters were lapping to within a kilometer of the Coquitlam River bridge. From the edge of the water they couldn't see the farm due to the trees and odd buildings on the north side of Lougheed Highway.

Stone ordered a halt near the highwater mark. To proceed any further, the LAV would have to start to wade into the flood waters.

"Damn, I don't think we can go any further unless we want to swim. Which the Lovin' Spoonful can actually do. I did train for that in a LAV-25." Tremblay said.


Using the radio, Stone informed Taras they couldn't proceed further without swimming.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:23, Tue 29 May 2012.

Okay, okay...Wayne! cut the engine and glide to the house, we'll steer with the oars if needed. We cannot afford damaging the propeller.

Taras acknowledge the radio transmission:

Alpha this is Bravo-1. Stay put. Scan the area and find yourself a good position. Report your visual on the farm. Over.

The new companion seemed to be happy on board tasting her treat. The overboard engine would die down and be lifted out of the water. The usual emergency oars were at hand to safely and silently approach the backyard.

We have time. First we need to put you in position and make sure everybody has a place to cover the rest before we move in. We will move around for a while until everybody is on target.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #168):



"You want to give me the 'No Time, Can't Read' version of that training or do you want to drive?" asked Hawke.

Wayne will kill the motor then tip it forward, elevating the propeller out of the water.

Tremblay thought for a second.

"Nah, better do this myself. This pig doesn't have a splashguard or propellers, so it's more like we're going to wade up to our necks but not actually swim. Going to be tricky enough as it is!

"Man the commander's MG, I'll drive."

In reply to Keith Michael Tremblay (msg #172):

From where he sat, Stone reached over, checked the door and the hatches.

"Rear is secure. I'll let you know if water comes in!"

The LAV, Lougheed Highway

Tremblay and Hawke switched places. Tremblay (more experienced with the vehicle) plugged his CVC helmet in as he sat in the driver seat. The commander's MG was a fully-loaded C6 GPMG.

"Okay, careful, careful..."

The LAV rolled into the flood waters, taking it like, well, a duck to water. They were aiming for Ottawa St, which would put them across an open lot from the SW corner of the "island".

It wasn't going to happen, the water was too deep. They'd be floating long before that point, with the considerable risk of turning turtle. The good news was that there were no leaks, the recent overhaul by UBC engineering students was as good as advertised, the LAV was now probably NBC-proofed again!

Tremblay stopped the LAV, unwilling to go further along Logheed highway.

"Bravo, we've gone as far as we safely can along the highway. About 300m from Ottawa, ah, 450m from the target. We're at about 2 metres depth, the LAV's wheels are just touching. I don't want to try swimming her.

"Be advised we have no LOS on the target from our location. Say again, no LOS.

"I'm going to try turning north but, ah, taking it slow so we don't turn turtle."

https://maps.google.com/maps/m...pn=0.015853,0.026608

Sniper OP, NNW of Pig Farm

To the NNE of the LAV, Wayne eased the zodiac to ground gently against the roof of a flooded half-completed house. With the motor off, the chirping of birds was so loud! Overhead, the sky was now overcast a few drops of rain fell on their skin.

Mac hopped out and held the raft for Andy to get out while carrying his rifle. Boots slipped a little on waterlogged red cedar shingles. A branch and some pieces of styrofoam bobbed at the water's edge, cast up by the surging flood waters.

Rusalka jumped out onto the roof as well.

The silence was suddenly broken by the whine of some kind of large power tool. If it was coming from the island it must be very loud indeed...

GM Note: from your position you can't see the island, as you're on the far slope of the roof.

"OK," Andy said, "I'm going to check out the attic of this place to see if we can make an OP. It'd be better to be inside than out. Mac, you're with me."

He drew his pistol and waded into the water, looking for a way into the house.

"Why do I have a really bad feeling about that sound of power tools?  I feel like I am in the middle of a cheesy horror flick"

This doesn't look good. Kelsey, tell those guys to get the hell out of the water and find a LOS on the farm. Lets see if they don't ruin the show today. Then check on andy and company to see what they have in their scopes.

"Roger that, Taras."

She gets on her 68 with antenna all out

"Bravo two to Bravo elements... get in position ASAP!  Break  Bravo 2 to Alpha, find some Lima Oscar Sierra on the target!

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #178):

The unfinished house was flooded up to the roof. Keeping low to avoid being spotted, Andy found a skylight while Mac was looking elsewhere.

The skylight itself had never been installed. Instead, only the scraps of clear plastic that would have protected the inside of the unfinished home from the weather. The construction had halted when the bombs fell, and it would never be completed. Mac leaned over the side to peer into a window. "Got nothin, chief. Upper floor's underwater up to about three feet."

Looking down inside the house, Andy could see dark water  about 2m below, with a shimmering bright square directly below, a reflection of his silhouette against the sky above him. Even the upper floor was flooded, looking around inside he could see naked wood joists and studs.

Peering further, looking for any kind of attic, Andy could see that there were indeed a lattice of horizontal joists and rafters that would have held fibreglass insulation inside the roof crawlspace. They could handle the weight of fully-equipped men but there didn't seem to be any kind of vent, window or aperture facing the direction of the farm.

GM: Imagine an unfinished 2-story house. It's flooded up to the top floor, where there's about 3 feet of water. There's no drywall or finishing like carpeting or interior ceilings, it's basically the outside shell and roof, with skeletal lines of studs marking the inside walls and wooden board flooring. Under the roof there's naked roof joists but no "floor". You can lower yourself into what would be the crawlspace and then carefully walk or crawl across the joists. If you have time, you can create a loophole of some kind through the outside wall (probably using Fieldcraft or Construction).

LAV III Kodiac

Stone replied, "roger, we'll do what we can but it doesn't look good.

"If we can't find LOS that won't be a serious risk the LAV, be advised you are to continue with the mission. Alpha Out."

At Stone's direction, Tremblay stopped and began backing up. They still had no LOS, they would have to go around and circle left (to the north) and try and find a reasonably shallow or hopefully a dry spot where they had a line of fire on the farm site.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:08, Wed 30 May 2012.

I guess the new Lt. needs to understand that we need cover before moving in and without it we may as well go home. Probably is going to have problems with the terrain. Kelsey, remind him that we have Andy in position and he can ask for advice. Our snipers should have better view from the rooftop to direct them.

The ukrainian scanned all the sectors with the binoculars looking for anything that could represent a threat or a clue about what kind of activities were taking place. Looking West, he would expect the plume of smoke from the LAV III to reveal its position

Larger scale photo: http://oi46.tinypic.com/2941h0x.jpg

GM Note: North is off the left side. The surviving farm building is inside the square-shaped berms near the top. The "safe line" is where the water is shallow enough for the LAV to operate. The LAV is where the blue line intersects the Lougheed Highway on the far right.

Taras and Wayne identified the faint whining sound as that of a bandsaw. It seemed to be coming from the farm. The Zodiac was not too far from the OP where Andy and Mac were getting into position. (The OP being on the roof of a flooded partially-built building.

Kelsey hoped, silently, that the bandsaw was not being used to cut up human bodies.

She relayed, with call signs, the needed information.

"Bravo Eight, this is Bravo Two, please Advise Alpha directly so that they can get Line Of Sight.  Ask Bravo Seven to look over the target, please."

"Alpha please advise Bravo One requires support to commence operations."

She makes a disgusted sound.

"We should have just used the Hummer with the deep water fording kit and the ring mount.

Andy worked on developing a decent observation slit into the roof, he worked quickly and quietly knowing that in this case less was definitely more.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg #182):

In the LAV, Stone replied, "ahhh.... say again, I'm not going to risk the LAV if I can help it. The water's too deep here. Be advised, we are displacing and trying for another location. You have the sniper team for support."

"Do you have eyes-on the target? Any activity? Please advise your SITREP. Over."

The the snipers would be a few more minutes. The Zodiac didn't currently have LOS (behind some houses) but could be maneuvered to get it.

OOC: Everyone, make an Awareness (AWA) check. This means roll 2d20L (take the lowest) and compare to your AWA Attribute. I am assuming you've not started the motor yet on the Zod, as this would of course interfere with your hearing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:16, Thu 31 May 2012.

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #183):

After Andy went down, Chris lowered himself into to the house. His hand slipped. Stifling a curse ("Fuu....") he toppled over and down.

Luckily, Andy grabbed him and stopped him from falling into the water. Carefully, he helped Mac onto the rafters and roof joists. Together, they made their way to the wall closest the farm and started to make loopholes for their OP.
This message was last updated by the player at 19:30, Thu 31 May 2012.

Kelsey sits up suddenly and her eyes go wide.

"I just heard a woman screaming in terror!  Bandsaw, screaming, women being fed to pigs.  We need to go in now, I'll swim if I have to."

In reply to helbent4 (msg #174):

William, now seated in the commander's position scanned the area for threats.  Getting through this water was going to be a problem for the LAV, and getting to a position where we could support the rest of the team was going to take longer than they'd originally planned.

He had to admit, however, that riding in the LAV beat humping through the bush, even if the bush was a swamped development.  The drawback of being easily spotted, on the other hand was not something he was pleased about.

OH MY GOOOOOODDDD!!! LETS GO!!!


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko  Bravo 1
Reading the AKS-74U for action
AKS-74U (30/30) +4 mags in chest rig
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
2 flares

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #188):

"Did you hear that?" Mac had heard Kel and Tara's warnings.

"Shit, you want to continue with the loopholes or just screw it and get onto the roof now so we can get the farm in our sights?"

GM Note: Mac and Andy are still minutes away from creating their loopholes.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:55, Fri 01 June 2012.

In reply to William Hawke (msg #187):

Over the LAV's engine, Hawke heard the whine of a bandsaw. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the farm. Then, from the same direction he heard the piercing shrieks of a terrified woman.

"LO!  Get us to that place ASAP.  GO!"


She toggled the radio "This is Bravo 2, we are moving to engage!

Protocol... hell no.. band saw and a woman's scream put an end to that.  Kelsey was holding back flashbacks.  Oddly, the bandsaw helped with that.



Bravo-Two.
Shouting at Lo and radioing Alpha, cover side arc after.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe on (for now)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.  Life vest.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags

This message was last edited by the player at 12:47, Fri 01 June 2012.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #190):

"Oh Shit." said Hawke, to no one in particular.

He toward the farm.

"I heard a woman screaming, LT.  Came from the farm."

--Hawke

"Looks like we've already screwed the pooch on the stealth side of the mission," Andy said, "get topside and let's see if we can support our comrades."

Andy gave up on his position and looked for a way on to the roof.

Wayne takes Taras' reaction to mean that they're in the biggest hurry imaginable.  He will re-position the outboard, dropping the propeller back in the water, then hit the ignition.  He will pilot the boat as fast as he is able, toward the farm.

"Fuck. Okay! Tremblay, get us back on Lougheed Highway. Hawke, we can't see the farm, but you keep a watch down Lougheed towards the bridge, the southern approach to the farm."

"Do you think it's safe for me to man the turret? Will I die?"

He clicked on the radio. "Bravo, flash traffic: it sounds like a woman is in trouble at the objective . We can't get eyes-on but will cover the southern approach down, ah, Route Lima Seven (Lougheed Highway, Hwy. 7) clear to the bridge."

"It's Bravo One's call if you go in or not."

In reply to Matthew Stone (msg #195):

"Come on, you mother..."

Carefully, Tremblay started to back the LAV up down Coast Meridian, towards the highway.

In reply to Wayne Lo (msg #194):

Wayne rolled on the throttle and the motor roared. The Zodiac, now mostly empty, screamed over the flood waters, throwing up a rooster tail of brown water. Taras and Kel hung on as spray hit them in the face.

Inside the house, Mac and Andy scrambled across the rafters of the flooded house. Standing under the gap of the unfinished skylight, Mac cupped his hands and boosted Andy up with a grunt, and Andy helped haul Mac up. Running across the roof, they thumped down just below the apex. Someone looking straight at the house might see them silhouetted, but there was little alternative.

In the LAV, Tremblay began slowly backing up through the water, until they were on the flooded tree-lined corridor of Lougheed Highway. Hawke could see about 1.5-2km down the road. It was quiet, save for the rumbling of the LAV as it slowly moved through the water, although he could hear the buzzing of the zodiac's outboard engine get louder.

Andy settled himself on the roof and surveyed the artificial island with his rifle scope.

Kelsy grits her teeth and watches towards the farm as she tries to make sure she doesn't lose anything in the sudden thrill ride.




Bravo-Two.
Clinging on so not to go swimming, once transmissions are finished.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe on (for now)
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.  Life vest.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags

In reply to Matthew Stone (msg #195):



"Bring the IV with you.  When you get up here, I'll check the bag.  If you're dry, I'll DC the bag.  It's a liter of fluids and electrolytes.  If you're not just keep it with you as long as you can.  I'd rather put the fluids into you to keep you upright.  Beats a coffee enema."  He pauses a second  "We're all going to die.  I'm pretty certain that I'm doing the best I can to make sure it's not today."

"Speak for yourself, I plan on living forever."

Stone climbed back up in the turret into the gunner's seat, and Hawke checked the bag and it was about half done. Stone ignored him, looking through the sights.

The Ghillie suit camo was better than nothing for Mac and Andy, and there were plenty of driftwood branches that were floating around. They would just look like some flotsam that washed up on the roof. At least the woods across the street behind them broke up their silhouette.

Nothing seemed to be happening at the farm. No one was on the berm or the roof. They could see the upper half of the barn, no movement or persons were visible.

In the zodiac, they quickly approached the NW corner of the square berm configuration. As they got close, they didn't see anyone on the berm, either, but were able to see there were cameras mounted beneath the eaves of the building, probably for closed-circuit security monitoring. (Not full cameras but small dome mounts.)

Everyone could see there was now a little smoke drifting up from a tin chimney on the barn roof.

"Cameras!  Damnit.  Do we count on him not having backup, or not watching the cameras?"

Andy stared down the scope and steadied his breathing, slowing himself down and finding the familiar rhythm of combat, "Mac," he said, "tell me what you see."

DAMN THE STEAM, FULL TORPEDOES AHEAD!!!

The interesting, challenging and absorving situation didn't help Taras with the formulation of classic quotes. The berm was fast approaching and before the landing it would be mandatory to remove the life vest in order to facilitate access the lifchik



Staff Sgt. Shevchenko  Bravo 1
Removing the life vest for action
AKS-74U (30/30) +4 mags in chest rig
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

This message was last edited by the player at 06:00, Wed 06 June 2012.

Beside him, carrying out his role as spotter, Mac peered through the high-powered spotting scope at the artificial island and the building.

"No targets visible."

In reply to Matthew Stone (msg #201):

Hawke drops into the hull of the vehicle, and takes a few minutes to repack his bag and restock the IV from the extras he packed.

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #205):

As the berm approaches, Wayne will judge the slope of the embankment.  If he thinks it will permit the boat to beach itself without undue risk to the occupants, then that is how he'll play it.  If, on the other hand, it looks more like a wall, he will motor down and slide the boat up alongside it.

Kelsey scans the berm for traps and tries to judge when to get out of the boat.  "Taras, I will lead, take the berm, then cover.  Unless you have a better idea."

Down in the troop compartment of the LAV, William packed and restocked his kit.

After he was done, he climbed back into the turret and up through the commander's hatch.

---

The berm was made of dirt, sand and gravel, and stood about a metre or two above the water. The sloped sides were not too difficult to climb, and the loose material made it an easy if slow climb. Keeping low to avoid drawing fire, the Zodic's passengers couldn't see the area within, or even across the berm.

Back at the OP, they were about 2m up and so could clearly see at least across the berm (if not down inside the dry space). Through his scope, Andy caught a glimpse of another boat, a speedboat, just disappearing behind the trees of the drowned golf course. It was heading off to the east, motoring down Dominion heading towards the river.

The speedboat had likely been tied up on the south side of the island. It looked like there was maybe some kind of wharf there, accessed via stairwell from down in the compound. Suddenly, Mac's voice snapped his attention to the right of the berm.

"All units. I see one tango, 300 metres, top of the berm, south side. Visual reference is west side of the barn. To the right from my position, walking west. Armed with a rifle."

The man was wearing a black toque, woodland-pattern fatigues, a black tactical vest, and carrying an HK91 rifle slung on his shoulder. (It was impossible to see if he was a skinhead or not, but HK91 clones were the signature weapon of the neo-Nazi New Americans.) He was walking casually, yet still looking around.

As he was on and across the dyke, and the Zodiac was below the level of the dyke, neither had seen each other. Wayne had cut the motor and gently docked the Zodiac on the side of the dirt berm. From where they were, Kel couldn't see any kind of traps where she was. Again, she couldn't see the man across the berm unless she stood up.

Kel noticed what appeared to be a ladie's purse/handbag nearby on the water side of the bank. It looked almost like it was... discarded.

In the quiet after Wayne cut the motor, the occupants of the Zodiac could still hear the loud whine of the bandsaw down in the open space. Additionally, they could hear music playing (classic rock, Hendrix's "Voodoo Child"). While the woman had stopped screaming, they could now hear the faint sound of men's laughter echoing up the banks from below them.

They could also hear the faint sound of a boat motor, fading off to the east (towards the river).

---

A. Taras (AKSU)
B. Kel (C8)
C. Wayne (MP5)

1. Tango #1 (HK91)

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 06:24, Tue 05 June 2012.

Kelsey crossed gently and scooped up the purse, tossing it back into the boat, evidence.  Maybe what they needed to ID a body.  She didn't want to think further.  She slowly advanced up the slope, taking her rifle off safe and staying low.


Bravo-Two.
Advancing up the slope, staying low.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe off.
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.  Life vest.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags

Kelsey, spread to the left and signal Andy to get the tango if needed. Wayne, spread to my right. Stay low.


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko.  Bravo 1
Giving orders
AKS-74U (30/30) One up the pipe, Full Auto.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

This message was last edited by the player at 06:00, Wed 06 June 2012.

Andy pulled the butt of his rifle firmly into his shoulder and started to aim at the sentry.

"Tell them I'm on the sentry, Mac," Andy said, "also if no one else is doing it, call for back up, we're assaulting a fort with three people, I think we're gonna need help."

Andy
Parker Hale and 10x Scope 5/5
Lying on the roof
Aiming at sentry

Kelsey takes it to the left as ordered, after crouching a momement and relaying Taras order on her chest mic as she scans for targets.

"Bravo 7 and 8, Engage Tangos.  Alpha, please call for backup, we are engaging."


Bravo-Two.
Advancing up the slope, headed to the left.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe off.
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags

"Leave the boat?" Wayne asks uncertainly.  He has looked a little disoriented ever since Taras gave his urgent command a few moments earlier.  Wayne lets go of the outboard tiller and takes up his rifle in both hands.

Wayne will follow Taras' instructions.

Sgt. Shevchenko suddenly stood up over the berm challenging the armed sentry:

Hey you! This is the Police! Drop your weapon!


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko.  Bravo 1
Giving orders
AKS-74U (30/30) One up the pipe, Full Auto.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

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

Genuinely surprised by Taras' sudden appearance and challenge genuinely surprised the man. Pausing in confusion, he quickly recovered and crouched.

He readied his rifle and brought it up to fire at Taras.

Anticipating the actions of the lonely sentry, the burly ukrainian immediately dropped to the ground to add even more distress to the suspect and clear the path for a clean shot. The act of steadying oneself and getting ready to fire a weapon comes with a stillness, nothing short of a golden moment for a sniper, enough for Andy to understand the threatening nature of that action and respond in kind.


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko.  Bravo 1
Dropping to a prone position
AKS-74U (30/30) One up the pipe, Full Auto.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

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

As Andy kept the cross hairs on the sentry he saw the man start to raise his weapon toward where the sniper assumed that Taras and the others would be. He rolled the trigger and sent a round down range.

Andy
Parker-Hale 10x scope 4/5
On the roof
Firing at sentry

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg #220):

"Two from Eight, confirm we have eyes-on one Tango."

As Mac was spotting for Andy and Kel seemed to be relaying Taras's request for Stone to call for reinforcements, so he held off on that part of the conversation.

He double-checked the range manually (Canadian snipers didn't use lasers as they could be detected) and calculated windage. He relayed the information to Andy with a few quiet words.

"One target, front." As they would be reacting to the Tango's actions, and not initiating beforehand, Mac merely confirmed the target and let Andy decide when to shoot.

Chris (Bravo Eight)
FN C1A1 (20/20)
Rooftop, 300m NNW from compound
Spotting for Andy with spotting scope.

GM Note: Typically, when it's up to the team to decide when to fire the cue is, "target, target, target" and the third "target" is the cue to fire. (In the movie Jarhead, the American cue is "fire, fire, fire". In this case, they were waiting for other events to transpire and it would be a more reactive shot.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:08, Wed 06 June 2012.

In reply to Christopher Little Hawk MacDonald (msg #221):

Ranging was accomplished completely manually and not using a laser, as a target could have some kind of laser warning system. With Mac spotting and checking the wind, Andy entered the "bubble" where nothing mattered but the target.

Half a heartbeat later (or was it a little later, or before?) there was a "zweeeethwap!"

His head jerked back, a pink mist spraying out behind him as the gunshot echoed across the water. Andy had placed them so the muzzle report would bounce off the trees on the far side of the compound, obscuring its origin. As lifeless hands let the rifle drop beneath him, he collapsed soundlessly onto the dirt surface of the berm, outstretched leg twitching.

Beside Andy, Mac quietly confirmed, "one".

There was no immediate reaction from down in the compound. Likely, the music, bandsaw and laughter drowned out the far-off sound of the gunshot. Plus, whoever was inside the barn was several metres below the waterline, inside and behind a berm.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #221):

"Bravo from Alpha, roger, Kilo Two is en route. Require SITREP, Ay-SAP."

Up in the LAV's turret, Stone juggled calls on the tactical net from Kel and the longer-range net to the Kilo Two backup detachment, just starting out from New West now in a two-vehicle convoy. He relayed information on the route they just cleared, and as it was cleared they could travel very quickly. Still, it would take about 15-20 minutes to arrive.

As well, Stone had his face pressed to the gunsight, using thermal to scan down the highway.

"Hawke, get up on the fuckin' commander's machinegun. Keep a 360-degree watch."

*Kelsey hits the dirt and while scanning with one hand on the trigger of her C8 she keys the mic again.*

The Chair is against the wall.  One kitten down.  We have a Bravo Oscar Alpha Tango that just took off.  The Kitten house is a bloody fort.  Repeat, Kitten house is a Foxtrot Oscar Romeo Tango.


Bravo-Two.
Transmitting on radio while scanning for targets, belly down on the dirt.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe off.
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.  Life vest.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags

Stay low! I'm going to take a look from that position... The Staff Sargent was pointing towards the eliminated sentry. Taking advabtage of the slope to provide concealment he started a low crouching run.


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko  Bravo 1
Running towards the sentry location
AKS-74U (30/30) +4 mags at ready, Full Auto.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

"Roger, Alpha copies all. Proceed if possible. I can spare one personnel here, if you can come by pick him up."

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #225):

Taras began making his way along the water side of the berm, on the reverse slope. He couldn't afford to take too much care, but he at least made sure keep low. He slipped into the water but didn't go over, only his feet and lower legs got wet.

It wasn't easy, but after about 45 seconds, he rounded the corner without toppling over completely into the water.

Down in the compound, the bandsaw sounded like it was cutting something apart. The saw doesn't sound like it's in the barn, but more closer to the stairs to the wharf. From the corner, he could see a second boat, another Zodiac, tied off at the wharf. There was no one inside.

Roger Alpha, No time for that!   The chair is going under the table.  Fird some Lima Oscar Sierra.  Bravo out.

Kelsey watches taras slip and keeps her left hand out as she copies his movements, but trying not to get wet, but wet would be better than exposing herself.  She's not letting him go this alone.



Bravo-Two.
Transmitting on radio then following/covering Taras.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe off.
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.  Life vest.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags

In reply to Matthew Stone (msg #223):

Hawke slipped up behind the VC's MG and kept the 360 degree watch, as ordered.

As Taras was approaching the corner of the perimeter he could hear a male voice uttering threats as well as female voice seemingly sobbing under stress. Half way of the Southern berm appeared visible a makeshift wharf where an inflatable boat was duly moored. With a simple step up, the ukrainian was able to pop his head out adopting a prone position. The high gradient of the berm offered an unforeseen but rather practical position.

The short length of the AKS-74U helped to obtain a quick posture and a positive cheek weld. Taras run the left hand forward in a half-handguard / half-mag position for a better grip. The rear sight, housed in a semi-shrouded protective enclosure riveted to the receiver's top cover, was sporting the "4-5" markings used for firing at distances between 400–500 m. This apparently over enthusiastic claim was Shevchenko's choice as it offered a great more deal of  accuracy than the battle sight option for up to 300 meters. Not that it wouldn't matter much. At the close distance of engagement dictated by the tactical situation, Taras, upon firing full auto, would be expecting a close vertical string of impacts over a centre mass target with a slight deviation, not unlike an elongated question mark, that usually could be found at the target practice.

Kitty, kitty, kitty...



Staff Sgt. Shevchenko  Bravo 1
Aiming towards baddie
AKS-74U (30/30) +4 mags at ready, Full Auto.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

At the LAV, Hawke didn't see any movement along the deserted and flooded highway corridor.

As they couldn't see anything there, Stone ordered Tremblay to bring the vehicle about and try to work around to the north. Maybe they could find some LOS.

After they exited the edge of the flood water (water loudly streaming off the hull), Hawke looked to the right. There, parked back in the overgrown trees lining the north side of the highway, was parked a rusted Ford F150 truck and a couple of motorcycles, all hidden under a camouflage net. They'd missed them on their way into the water, but on the way out Hawke just happened to be looking in the right direction (through a break in the trees).

Over by the pig farm, Kelsey moved up behind Taras. Like him, the side of the berm had proved a difficult to navigate and she'd ended up in the water up to her waist, but managed not to fall over completely or make too much noise. She realised the bandsaw was not in the barn but in the yard in front (unseen at this angle). She could hear music (the Rolling Stones, now, as it's a proven scientific fact that psychopaths love classic rock).

She heard the sound of a man taunting a sobbing woman. "See? That's gonna be you. You behave, you'll get one bullet in the head. If not, we'll still have our fun, but you'll be alive when we take you apart. You don't want that." It sounded like the noise was coming from just on the other side of the berm, not too far from the stairs.

Taras heard her come up as he peeked over the berm. AKSU at the ready, he carefully raised his head up over the level of the berm. There wasn't much to see, just the upper level of the barn.

10m to his right was the body of the militiaman or mercenary, lying on his back on the berm, limbs stretched out, open eyes staring up at the sky.

They could both smell something really nasty coming from inside the fortress-like walls of the compound. Corruption and rot.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #231):

Wayne will maintain his current position and guard the boat, unless ordered to do otherwise.

In reply to helbent4 (msg #231):



"Found two bikes and a truck under camo, at 3 O'clock." Hawke said, using the vehicle intercom.  He keeps scanning, looking for targets.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:29, Fri 08 June 2012.

The width of the berm prevented, initially, any downwards vision of the intended target. Moving to a position that gives you the upper hand without being seen or shot is often possible or advisable only by low-crawling. Taras started to move forward guided by voices and the classic rock...


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko  Bravo 1
Crawling forward
AKS-74U (30/30) +4 mags at ready, Full Auto.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #234):

From where they were, Taras and Kel noted an opening in the centre front of the barn, likely to the hayloft. It was about at their height, maybe a little lower. (There was a similar opening at the rear). It was somewhat hard to see from outside as it was at the level of the berm, maybe a little lower, and didn't have a good field of fire (other than the top of the berm and the yard below). GM Note: I neglected to mention these openings before but as no one is in them, and they don't have a great field of fire, no harm no foul.

Due to their angle-off it was tough to tell but they couldn't see if anyone was inside the front opening. Andy scanned the rear opening but didn't see anyone inside. From his angle, Wayne could see the opening but had trouble looking inside.

Looking down into the compound from where he'd crawled, Taras could see several trailer/ISO Containers, a couple fire pits, massive piles of trash and garbage everywhere. A motor home. There were other sets of stairs up to the the other sides of the berm, and a few boards had been placed at the top of them to make a kind of makeshift firing platgform of parapet below the lip of the berm. (In the sketch, the boards are about 2m on either side of all 4 stairs at the top, not all the way around the inside.)

The sounds seemed to be coming from a container in the SE corner. The door was facing Taras but closed, he was unable to see inside. Taras was in full view of the camera but still, there was no reaction from inside.






This message was last edited by the GM at 23:19, Fri 08 June 2012.

Kelsey speaks softly to Taras, eyeing the cameras as she comes up beside him.

"Good chance those cameras only feed into the barn, no idea who might be in there, but we got a problem with the container.  Let me set up a good shot and maybe knock or open the door... or bust in and hope for the best?  Someone is in danger in there, but how soon?  Oh.. and maybe we can get our sniper to take out the camera facing this direction?"



Bravo-Two.
Moving into a position a yard from Taras, conversation with Taras.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe off.
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.  Life vest.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags


OOC:  Is that saw still running?
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:04, Sat 09 June 2012.

Reaching the end of his low crawl and glancing from the SE corner Taras rushed to prepare the RPO munition for firing. He wouldn't waste time and would proceed from the prone position. It was very easy and straight forward in true Soviet fashion. The dual folding grips and rear sight rifle-type trigger with manual safety release could be done in less than five seconds. Taras aimed at the opening of the barn. From his position there was an almost perfect diagonal shot towards the interior of the barn.


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko  Bravo 1
Prepping the rocket - Aiming shot at the barn opening
AKS-74U (30/30) +4 mags.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

The sight turret swung around and focused on the vehicles. From down in the turret, Stone replied, "got it. Look cold. Haven't been driven for hours, since the morning or last night at least."

BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!! Goes the dynamite...


The RPO-A was a fiberglass smoothbore barrel which was factory pre-loaded with a round of ammunition, nothing more than a thin-walled container loaded with 2,2 kg of Fuel-Air Explosive and a propelling charge. Upon pulling the trigger, the propelling charge, which is loaded into separate case, was fired; it remained in the barrel while powder gases accelerated the missile towards the barn; when the missile left the barrel, the propelling charge was expelled to the rear by the residual pressure and fell in the water at several meters behind the launching point. Obviously, this weapon created a dangerous back-blast when fired but nobody appeared to be behind Taras at that moment.



The tail fins deployed automatically providing a stable spin but the flight was short enough and wind free to make little difference. Barely a few feet over the minimum safety distance the warhead will impact the interior of the barn through the central aperture penetrating inside with devastating effects. The equivalent was that of a 122 mm HE round or a 120 mm mortar round yet in contrast to condensed explosives where oxidation in a confined region produces a blast from a single point source, here a flame front would accelerate to a large volume producing pressure fronts both within the mixture of fuel and oxidant and then in the surrounding air burning at 800C.

Taras expected that the ISO container will protect their current inhabitants from the blast but not so for the shock and awe of its sheer power. Therefore facilitating the rescue of the victim inside.



Staff Sgt. Shevchenko  Bravo 1
Firing RPO-A.
AKS-74U (30/30) +4 mags.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

This message was last edited by the player at 18:06, Sat 09 June 2012.

This isn't going to be good. 

Kelsey drops her head and slides down the berm some if she can, trying to take cover from the impending firestorm.


Bravo-Two.
Taking cover from Bravo One.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe off.
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.  Life vest.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags

This message was last edited by the player at 04:50, Mon 11 June 2012.

Andy heard the whoosh of a rocket launcher that was quickly followed by a loud explosion and flames and smoke. Andy's eyebrows quirked upward, it looks like Taras is giving it some old-style Soviet law enforcement.

He resumed scanning for targets.

Taras and Kel took cover behind the berm as the rocket was launched. Good thing they did, as 20m was still not a safe distance, even though it was far enough distance for the round to arm.

The shot was perfect, with the projectile easily clearing the doors and detonating near the rear wall on the eastern side.

From where he lay, Andy could see the backblast of the rocket over the water, followed by an immense "Hollywood" style orange-and-black explosion. The east section disintegrated while the main part blew up, then collapsed back down. Flaming debris was launched everywhere in a massive cloud, shockwaves sped outwards through the water as the sound echoed back and forth inside the berm. Flaming debris speckled the water as it rained down for a hundred metres in all directions.

In the LAV Hawke saw the explosion and then heard the deafening blast a split second later. A mushroom cloud of black and orange roiled upwards, flaming debris (the remains of a large part of the barn) filled the air around the farm. By some trick of acoustics Hawke could hear what sounded like dozens of women and children screaming in pain and terror, coming from within the compound. Almost completely (if temporarily) deafened, Kel and Taras were unable to hear the screaming while Andy and Mac were unsure what they heard.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:34, Mon 11 June 2012.

Kelsey waits for the blast to clear, then launches up over the berm on a direct assault of the bandsaw container.  She knows that she is on a short timetable of when the fire will burn more.  She tries to keep a little low but wonders... that explosion sounded like a bunch of screams.  Maybe?



Bravo-Two.
Moving towards the container, weapon up.
C-8 Carbine - 6 spare Mags (5.56 NATO) - round chambered, safe off.
6 C-13 Frag Grenades  (Attached to webgear)
2 Smoke grenades (Green/white) (pockets)
Kevlar body armor.  Life vest.
Kevlar helmet ON!, chest mic on lbe, AN/PRC 68-B on hip with sidearm,
Sidearm:  Browning Hi-Power, 2 spare mags

This message was last edited by the player at 05:37, Mon 11 June 2012.

While the ears still ringing and with a sense of relief once the RPO-A impacted in the barn, Taras moved towards the suspected container. It was like a slow motion movie.


Staff Sgt. Shevchenko  Bravo 1
Going towards the container
AKS-74U (30/30) +4 mags. At the ready, Full Auto.
S&W 5946 (15/15) +2 mags
RGO handgrenades x6
1 RPO
2 flares

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #244):

Both Taras and Kel managed to safely scramble down the side of the berm. The loose sand and dirt, now covered in fragmented boards (many on fire) was difficult to navigate but somehow they made it down in one piece.

It was a descent into hell. Flames, smoke, debris.

The remains of the barn was going up in flames, giving off a roaring sound that covered the sounds of screaming, now greatly diminished as the flames completed the work of the thermobaric warhead. Through the steadily thickening smoke they could see a handful of bodies writhing in the wreckage of the building, taste the thick smell of their burned and cooked pink flesh.

They reached the shipping container cum slaughterhouse safely enough.

Kelsey crouches just in front of the door to the container in question, trying not to think about the screams... pigs she hopes.  She motions to Taras to open the container and readies to shoot, or move into it.

Taras readies his weapon with one hand while opening the container door with the other...

In reply to Taras Vladimirovich Shevchenko (msg #247):



"What th' fuck happened?"