"Right. Let's roll..."

Mac put the Iltis into gear and headed out after the others.

"I'm worried about the elephants. Wonder if we'll see them again."

Andy nodded, "I know, but I'm worried that the next time we see them we'll have US machinegun teams riding them. If that happens we might be shooting Jumbo rather than helping him."

He scanned his surroundings as they joined the convoy.

Carefully, the two vehicles moved out into the breaking dawn.

They made their way down the highway in a southeast direction, past the downed Soviet helo, then took the Aldergrove exit. They passed by the long-abandoned checkpoint, then turned back west. The snipers in the Iltis jeep provided overwatch for the Humvee as they inchwormed along, Abbot manning the M240 in the cupola.

Thankfully, the Charger seemed undisturbed where it was hidden in a carport under some cardboard and hastily-cut tree branches.

In reply to helbent4 (msg # 55):

After checking for booby-traps, a relieved Tyler got behind the wheel and leaned his CAR-15 in the middle of the front seats.

"Get in, Koldan. OK, Kel, we ready to go? I don't know if I want to travel with you guys, I'm supposed to be undercover and palling around with you might blow my cover."

In reply to Tyler Gabriel Hope (msg # 56):

Grumbling a little at the early hour, Koldan climbed in the passenger side and shut the door.

In reply to Koldan Arkadyevitch Dzhamgerchinov (msg # 57):

Hawke settled in as driver.  With a little luck, they'd grab the other Hummer and get back to work.  Plus, the sooner they get back to the HQ, the sooner he could go back to work in the hospital.


Hawke (Bishop-3)
L119A1 (30/30 + 6 spare mags)
M203A1 (1/1 40mm fragmentation)
Pistol in vest w/magazines
Driver's Seat of the Hummer, driving
Helmet on

"Tyler, you hide.  Everyone else pack in, make your buddy smile.  Let's roll.  Every time the vehicle stops, I expect everyone but driver and machine gunner to pile out and ready weapons.  Tyler, you maintain your cover as best as possible."

She makes a chopping motion, after climbing in the back.

"Let's roll.  Tactical."

"Copy that, Sergeant."

Rolling down his window Tyler checked his tactical radio. "The backpack radio in the trunk is not set for today's channel but you can call me on the hand radio. We'll stay in the area, if you really need extra backup we'll be a few minutes out at most."

The sun was peeking over the trees in the east as they approached the stretch of 56 ave where the Humvee was stranded.

The team had a choice: approach from the east or west, and additionally, if the sniper team was going to be moved up on overwatch beforehand.

"Snipers, think you can set overwatch in advance?  I am thinking about approaching from the west, so that the rising sun is in other's eyes.. "

"On the way," Andy replied.

He looked over at Mac and said, "OK, they want us to set up overwatch on the Humvee before they go to recover it. We'll move up and park the Iltis somewhere we can hide it and then move to position on foot, what do you think?"

as he waited for a reply he scanned the map and terrain to find a good firing position and a place to hide the jeep.

"They want, they get," smiled Mac. "You've got the map. Where do you think would be a good spot?

In reply to Christopher Little Hawk MacDonald (msg # 65):

As it was a tree-lined rural street, there was no obvious good position. If the Humvee was approaching from the west (the battered corner store) then they could make their own approach from the east. They could only get so close via vehicle without alerting anyone there but they could see for around 500m down 56 ave.

"OK," Andy said, "we'll move down Fifty-Six until we can't risk any further noise and then carry on by foot."

Once they had gone as far as Andy and Mac's experience would tell them was safe, they would stop, secure the jeep and then move further forward on foot.

Using abandoned suburban streets, they circled around and came from the east down 56 Ave. At about 500m to the west, at where they Humvee was stuck in the septic tank, was parked a tow truck and an SUV. There were a few people there as well, probably civilian and not heavily armed. It was clear they were trying to pull out the Humvee.

"Better call the others, tell them that they have competition for the Hummer," said Mac.

"Or shall we just go and talk to them about it?"

"Given the way things have been going I think observation is the best option," Andy said, "start covering them whilst I use the radio."

Andy keyed the mic and said, "Be aware, we have civilians with a wrecker and an SUV looking to recover the Hummer. We are covering them."

Andy readied his rifle and started to cover the strangers.

Mac found himself a good vantage point and settled in with his rifle.

In reply to Christopher Little Hawk MacDonald (msg # 71):

"Dismount a bunch and drive me up, I will get out and talk to them.  Remember guys, our countrymen.  They are being nice and giving us a hand."

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg # 72):

Hawke brought the vehicle where Champlain indicated.

"Everybody out who's getting out."

Then he drove where Champlain pointed.

Abbot twisted in his turret to look around a bit, scanning for possible threats.  He knew that the civilians would be outgunned but he wasn't sure if they would back down from their prize.  Hopefully, Sergeant Champlain could keep this situation from escalating.

Kelsey dismount, trying to be casual, though her carbine is slung to be ready in a moment, but safe is on, round chambered, finger off trigger.

"Bonjour!  I'm Sergeant Champlain from the local garrison, how are you all?"  She smiles, turns on the rough charm.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg # 75):

Seeing the soldiers roll up, and making the connection to the abandoned Humvee, the group of men looked at each other and then Kel. Realising they were outgunned, they didn't make a hostile move. There were six men, four white, one native and another in a turban.

Of the six, four were dressed in outdoors/hunting clothing. Two of these men had hunting rifles, one a shotgun and a fourth a crossbow. The remaining men appeared unarmed and were dressed in mechanics overalls. The mechanic in the turban nodded in a friendly way to Kel.

"Uh, hi, Sergeant. Bit of a fight here yesterday. So we heard. This your, ah, Humvee?"

Kelsey smiles and nods, still walking and trying not to look guarded at all.

"Indeed it is, we had to choose to leave it or risk some of the wounded.  Some sort of Yank mercenaries.  We did quite a number on them.  I'm former Van Doo, and my unit is stationed out of the local Canadian government in Vancouver.  We're starting to get to the fine folks in this area to see what we can do to help."

She gestures to them.

"We appreciate your help, what can we do for you in return?"