"When I accompanied Maj Wynn into the POW camp's CP, I discovered an extensive tunnel system, on a par with the best VC tunnels I saw in 'Nam. But it takes a lot of work to build tunnels like that, you don't just do it on a whim. What are they doing at Freeland that requires a large workforce and large tunnel system? It can't be good, whatever it is. Which is why I want to talk to the POW's before we talk to Wynn, so we can get a better handle on the situation."
"But our biggest problem of all is the former Col Nathan Stryfe. We have all worked with the man, and I for one did not see this coming. MG Applegate gave me his 201 file to go over, and I spent many hours trying to get into that man's head. Mark my words, Stryfe could quite possibly be the most dangerous man in America."
He paused, to let his words sink in. "He has been in just about every war, brushfire, and peacekeeping mission America has been involved with since Vietnam. He is a Green Beret, an expert in tactics, weapons, and guerilla warfare. His IQ is damn near genius level. He has studied Eastern philosophy, and is a devotee of Sun Tzu, and has a black belt in karate. He is going to be very, very hard to beat."
"And we have to beat him. We have no other choice. Because I have absolutely no doubt that he is coming here, to wipe us out. I will bet that your mortar attack this morning was masterminded by him. It fits with his philosophy, keep your enemy off balance and guessing. Every move will be not as it appears."
"I can guess what you're thinking. 'Why not leave just leave, and save ourselves, and more importantly, the lives of the civilians who are counting on us, who depend on us for their very survival?' For one very good reason, where would we go? At least here, we have water, food, and a good defendable position. It's as safe as anyplace else we are likely to find. And until we find the spy, Stryfe will be able to track us no matter where we go."
"And one last thing. Does Stryfe strike any of you as the type of person to leave a job half done?"
"Lt Jackson, as I mentioned earlier, you are both the XO and the S-1 of the 3/103rd. But most of those duties I want you to dump off onto SPC Booker. A more accurate job title for you would probably be "Chief of Special Projects". We will need your innovative mind to help give us an edge in the upcoming battle. And make no mistake, Stryfe IS coming. Don't doubt it for one second."
"Sgt Berger informed me about the Radio Directional Finder that you are working on. You are hereby given carte blanche to get it up and running as soon as possible. Leave the day to day routine of running the camp to me. But that RF finder could give us one hell of an advance notice of an attack. Also, while you are working on that, I would like you to look into the feasibility of a Radio Jammer, working in conjunction with the RF finder. I don't know if it is possible, but if it is, it could make a big difference. If we are able to disrupt Stryfe's commo during an attack, it might just give us the break we need."
Robbo sat back and considered what would be needed for the project. Some of the basics were right here in camp, others would have to be... obtained. The fire lookout tower might be a good place to site one of the transmitters -- it was tall, and not too far from camp. Some more parts and yes, whole radios would put them ahead for all the communications needs.
[Wiz]
Wiz waited for an answer before continuing. "I have quite a few plans and ideas on the burner, several were worked on when we were lead by Stryfe, some are new. Stryfe kept me pretty busy on a lot of rebuilding technology that was destroyed and making the camp better. I'd like to go ahead and throw the ideas out here so that you all have an idea on what is coming, as well as get an idea of what you want or need."
[OOC: Basically these are a lot of the recent ideas I've been thinking about. Please respond and add to them. I know by just mentioning something, your all's ideas will make my projects much better...or even lead your minds to think about something else we need and is feasible. Ohh, and I am assuming this is all said after everyone but the main core has left...]
"First," he began, "as we have already mentioned, electricity from the dam."
"Our stills need to be improved and expanded to make more gas for the vehicles."
Berger and Whittaker nodded in agreement. Berger added, "Our little bitty stills barely keep up with what the generators eat for radios and other electronics, let alone running any vehicles. It's still hard for most to fathom, but a pickup truck that got 15 mpg on gasoline, needs 3-4 gallons of shine to go the same stinkin' 15 miles... At this point, it's hard to justify using the vehicles except in emergencies...
[Wiz]
[Yates]
[Wiz]
"I have a hot hair balloon build and will test it soon, maybe we can get even a better view of the surrounding area...or use it for air support...something I'm sure. In addition, a hanglider and an ultra light have been worked on a bit already.
"I can build a generator that works off of a bicycle. I know its not very practical, but it couldn't hurt...if only for coffee or a backup for the radio."
"I believe that Berger," he looks at the man for verification, "can create gunpowder. All we need is something as simple as a clock radio to be able to rig up remote controlled explosions. Very nice when we are invaded."
[Berger]
[Wiz]
"Not to mention the fact that between myself, Robbo, Wu, and Booker we can fix about anything. I was working on nightvision goggles for Stryfe before he turned a traitor. If we brought those along, even one pair is a help."
"That's about it. Just simple civilian construction will help us. Better roads and buildings. Compost heaps can create a lot of heat and give us hot water... I'd welcome anymore suggestions if you have them?"
[Raven]
8 May 2003 / 0930 Hrs
Maj Raven leaned back in his chair in awe. Sgt Berger hadn't been exaggerating, "Wiz" Jackson had definitely earned his nickname. If even half of the plans he had going worked, it would be an immense benefit to the unit.
"LT, I have to say, I am truly impressed. All of the projects you have mentioned will make a big difference in the upcoming battle. Your request for a salvage party is approved. Anything that they can scavenge can do nothing but help us. As for all the ideas you have, they are all excellent. But we have two factors we need to consider, available manpower and time. Most of the camp will be required for building the defenses I've talked about. And we have no idea when to expect a visit from Stryfe."
"Once most of the trenches and bunkers have been dug, we can free up some additional personnel for you. Until then, we need to prioritize the projects you have going. The hot-air balloon is intriguing, they were quite successful during the Civil War for observing the enemy. But Civil War rifles didn't have the reach or accuracy of a modern machinegun. Any spotter that goes up into the balloon will run the risk of being a sitting duck. Unless you have some ideas on how we can keep that from happening, we may have to table that idea."
"The ultralight is a real possibility, at least there you have a small, fast moving target. Much harder to shoot down, and they can get out of the area if they're being shot at, unlike the balloon. But will alcohol have enough power for that? It's been my understanding that is why all the aircraft have been grounded."
Wiz replied that he was considering building the engine from scratch, in order to tailor it to alcohol fuel. Maybe the craft wouldn't be a jet, or even a WW I biplane, but ultralights didn't require a very high performance engine...
"The bicycle generator, the Dam, and the concussion grenades are all nice, but will have to wait for now. Same goes for the NVG's you've been working on. I brought 6 sets with me, hopefully that will be enough."
"The frag grenades and grenade launchers are approved for immediate construction. Also, do you think we could come up with a mortar? The launcher would be easy, all it is is a tube. If we could make some rounds for it, that could stop an attack in its tracks. And some reloads for the recoilless rifle would be great as well."
"Yes," Wiz begins, "I don't think it would be hard to get some of that up fairly soon. The only thing we lack are the correct tools. Hopefully one of the scavenger missions will turn up what we need."
"There is one more trick we have up our sleeves," Wiz says, standing. "I wasn't when to tell you all...or whom to trust, before this. I am sure, now, that you all understand the importance of secrecy." Wiz walks towards a medium sized box at the back of the room. "As it happened, when we were attacked, I was working on something for Stryfe. It may take me a few days, or weeks...but I know I can get it working correctly."
Wiz reached into the box and pulled out a flat piece of wood, with wires on top, which looked to have separated the box in half. The bottom half of the box contained a suitcase as well as what appeared to be a laptop. Wiz sets them on the table and smiles. "When we left, I had been working on the laptop. I chose to bring it with me. I know Stryfe will be here, I'm sure he wants it back. The suitcase," he says pointing, "opens up to be a satellite uplink. I was working on software so that I could talk to whatever sats we had left up there. I am not sure what kind of clearance you had before the war Major, but if it works, and I can get the right codes...well...we will have an asset that very few, if anyone else has: access to photos, communications abilities, and a lot more I haven't thought of yet."
Wiz was quite excited in telling this. He had all but forgotten about it before this meeting. Its amazing what one can think about when he isn't being shot at. "Not to mention simple book keeping or complex calculations." Wiz sat back down and opened the laptop, powering it on, and sliding it to the Major.
Maj Raven's jaw dropped. He was totally unprepared for this, a real, working computer. He reached out to touch the laptop in it's case, almost fearing that it was an illusion. My God, he thought, this is more valuable than gold, hell, more valuable than plutonium. Now what do I do? If we tell HQ about this, there are going to want it for their own uses. And they would have a valid argument for taking it. HQ has hundreds, maybe thousands of personnel to keep track of, not to mention all of their equipment, intelligence reports, and everything else that is involved in a military command.
"LT, I'm at a loss for words. A working computer. I had thought that they had gone the way of the dinosaur. If we can get it operational, and link into a spysat, we could track Stryfe's every movement. We could take the fight to him, hitting his troops at will. This is, without a doubt, the most valuable thing in this camp."
"If I had any doubts that Stryfe will attack us, they are gone now. If he knows about this laptop, he knows how valuable it is, and will stop at nothing to get it back. And that can't happen, not ever. If he gets his hands on this, the war will be over, and we will be on the losing side. It would be like Hitler winning WWII."
"No one outside of this room is to EVER know about this. If word were to leak out....well, if I find out someone has intentionally divulged this secret, I will personally put them in front of a firing squad. LT, I want that laptop rigged for demolition immediately. We can't risk it falling into enemy hands. If it looks like the camp will be overrun, your orders are to destroy it. It is too dangerous a weapon if Stryfe gets a hold of it."
"My gut reaction is to inform HQ about the computer, but I don't dare. There is still a possibility that Stryfe can access our radio traffic, even with the new codes I brought. And I will not risk another trip back to Scranton to bring it to them, the trip here almost got us killed. And Stryfe may believe that it was destroyed in the attack, but I wouldn't count on it. He will want to verify for himself if it is intact or not, he's as thorough as a Nazi."
"LT, make up a list of requirements you need for the various projects we've discussed. Pick somebody who's capable and knowledgeable to take charge of the salvage team, and tell them what we need. But you will not be going out with them, at least not now. Your sole mission, as of this moment, is to get that computer operational."
"I have a lot of sole missions," Wiz laughs to himself. "I will send Booker out, he knows the basic ideas as well, if not better, than I do. Berger," Wiz says, turning to face the man. "You know about as much as I do concerning computers...maybe more. I could really use your help on this...if you can. Major," he continues, "I'll get it done, just see if you can get me those codes. If not...I very well may have to simply hack the sats. Not an easy feat...but not as hard as it would have been before the war."
"Sgt Berger, as a chemistry teacher, there is something I would like you to work on as well. In Vietnam, we used to bury 55 gallon drums of what we called "foo gas" under the perimeter wire. Basically, it was a poor-mans Napalm. You'd wait until the VC had hit the wire, then detonate it, and watch them fry. But it's main component was gasoline, and that's harder to find these days than an honest politician. Is there something similar we could come up with? White Phosphorus, or "Willy Pete", as we like to call it, would be fantastic, but I'd settle for anything that was highly flammable."
[Berger]
"Cpl Robinson, I have no problem with you teaching Aussie tactics to our troops. The Australian Army has always been one to respect, going al the way back to WWI. Gallipoli was the Brit's screwup, not the ANZAC soldiers fighting under them. I have worked with soldiers from several different countries over the years, and I have always been impressed with the abilities and professionalism of the Australian Army. We will need to discuss the various tactics involved further, just to make sure we're on the same sheet of music."
[Robbo]
"As for training the militia, we will need to get them confident that they can fight and win against any enemy, including Stryfe. Their training will need to have emphasis on ambushes, defensive and offensive operations, and counter-attacks. Again, once the training schedule has been decided on, most of the actual training should be handled by the senior members. All of us here will be acting as trainers on various aspects of their classes."
"Mr. Cunningham, once you are better able to travel, I would like to start an active recruiting effort in the local area. Let the people know that we are here, and will protect them if attacked. This is a safe haven for them to come to if Stryfe shows up. And impress upon them the we are actively seeking volunteers. The more people we can get on our side, the better. You will have an armed escort, but make sure that the civilians understand that they are there for your protection, not to press-gang them into service."
"But we need to have a contingency plan, if things go wrong. On the map, I see that there are several other State Parks in the immediate area. I want to send a scouting party to check them out, with an eye as using them for evacuation sites for the civilians. And we will need to have Evac drills for them, so they can board the buses and get the hell out of here in a moments notice."
"From this moment forward, all personnel will be armed at all times. We may also need to use some of the militia to help build the defenses I'm planning. They had better have a shovel in one hand, and their weapon in the other."
"I see on the map that there is an old fire watch tower near here. I want a 24-hour sentry posted there before nightfall. From where it's situated, we should be able to spot an approaching enemy from miles away. We will need to give that sentry a radio and NVG's to get the job done."
"I understand that we are short of radios and telegraph equipment. When I was a kid, we built crude telegraphs out of wood, wire, and tin cans. I'm sure we can cobble up something similar to use for our bunkers and OP's. (OOC - I actually did this myself in the Boy Scouts. They are pretty easy to build)."
==================================
1) Yes Booker is alive and well, he's just been silent in the stories. I'll be including him more in the future. Generally, anyone listed on the NPC page is alive and active (able to work, receive orders), unless their name appears as wounded on the Health/Equipment/Ammo Report Status (HEARS). This won't be a web page, but rather an emailed report. Next one should be emailed early next week.
2) Yes,Wiz, I remember you having a couple of NPCs -- I think it was 2-3, and I even named them. I can't find them on a 3x5 card, but they're probably on a story page under the RISC stories. I'll check and get back with you. I'm not gonna name every NPC, only those that are outstanding or exceptional in some way. So probably your staff will be Booker plus these 2-3 named NPCs, plus whatever # of unnamed NPCs you can weasel MAJ Raven out of to help you. He seems reasonable -- justify your need, and he'll allocate the staffing. Actually, as S-1, personnel is only a step away from Admin. You may have an inside track on the 3/103rd manpower.
3) Yes you have computer and uplink. Where are you keeping them? They are important and fragile...
4) Yes you have a camcorder. It works fine. As for spying on suspected traitors, great idea! Now you're thinking...
5) Balloon 98% working ( you need to fill it with hot air before each launch -- it dissipates easily. The equipment (basically a furnace, compressor, tanks and hoses) to do this amounts to a large load of stuff, but you actually transported it in several small wagons, the dumptruck, etc). And you are awaiting a pilot and mission...
===================
After everyone leaves, and before Raven continues, Sean leans into the Major and put's his finger against his lips. "Shhh..."
Sean grabbed Berger and whispers in his ear..."you go out the door to he right I go to the left...take note of anyone with in 20 feet of the building." Sean turns back to the Major and in sign outlined the plan. (point to Berger and myself, point out the door, walking motion w/ fingers, point at eyes.) Head out.
Maj Raven nodded as Sean laid out his ideas as the new S-5. He was already coming up with some damn good ideas.
"I think your suggestions were both excellent, Mr. Cunningham. I am sure, with your journalistic background, that you can come up with a much better recruitment letter than any of the rest of us could. We need to give the good people in this area a viable alternative to Stryfe and his band of thugs. They will need some tangible reasons to join us, not just a bunch of empty promises."
"The suggestion of giving medical care to the people in surrounding area is exactly the sort of real benefits that I'm talking about. SPC Yates, I know that we are critically short of supplies in the medical area, but we will need your help and suggestions to make this work. Come up with a wish list of the supplies that we need, both for ourselves and this new program, and get it to me as soon as possible. Also, I would like to see the Medical Section come up with a training program for the civilian personnel. Basic First Aid, with an emphasis on wounds and diseases. If someone is hurt, hopefully with a little training, someone else can stabilize them long enough to get them here."
"I've also been looking at that Dam we have here. For hundreds of years, people have been using water power for all sorts of things, but first and foremost, for grinding flour. With the historic preservation movement in the last 50 years or so, I'm willing to bet that there is an old mill or two around here that we could salvage and bring here. This would be another benefit to the surrounding farmers, if they throw in with us. And a water wheel that grinds flour could also be used to generate electricity. Probably not much, but it might be enough to power this camp."
Wiz did some quick figuring in the margins of an old newspaper. "Yeah, probably the Camp, plus or minus. It'd be great to pipe some juice to the surrounding farms, but... well, that's probably more than we can hope for..."
Maj Raven replied to each of his new staff members in turn. "Lt. Jackson, if this dam could supply power for the farms in the immediate area, that would be beyond my wildest expectations. Sometime in the near future, I would like to discuss with you in further detail how we could make it work. But for the moment, we have more pressing concerns, so we'll have to put it on the back burner for now."
As the meeting ended, and people were getting up and leaving, Sean rose to his feet, leaning on his makeshift cane. He put his finger to his lips, then pointed to himself and Berger, pantomiming them going outside and checking the area for unauthorized eavesdroppers. Damn it, Raven thought to himself, I should have thought of that. Of course a spy would want to listen in on what the new CO would be saying. I must be getting old and sloppy. He nodded his head in agreement, and casually rested his right hand on the .45 on his hip. If somebody was listening in, the 3/103rd would soon have another prisoner.
[Wiz]
===================================
[GM]
bunker - slightly fortified position which provides cover, basically a hole in the ground with a sandbagged roof over it. There are firing loopholes to the front and sides, and an opening/door for entry to rear. The front and sides are sandbagged and use heavy timbers in the construction. These bunkers are big enough for 2-3 men max(one of you vets wanna venture a size?). They were tested by firing several rounds of .30-06 into them from 25 meters, and none penetrated. Of course a lucky shot to the loopholes... MAJ Raven probably has something to say as far as improving them. Some effort has been made to conceal these bunkers.
Observation post - non-fortified position, which mainly conceals the occupant. Anything from a duckblind, to felled trees, big boulders, ditches, etc. Big enough for 2 men max.
Remember the 3/103 has only been here a few days. So they were probably hastily constructed.
================
The following takes precedence over any earlier locations of bunkers / OPs. Your welcome for the head start on things. Yes this will hit the web for easy reference. Feel free to construct more.
Now for locations -- yeah I'd like to edit the map as a jpg or gif, but this'll do for the moment:
Bunker 1 -- west end of Park, controlling intersection of RT 192, McCall Dam Rd, and Sand Mtn Rd. Faces west, so the door is more or less on the Sand Mtn Rd side.
Bunker 2 -- north end of Park, McCall Dam Rd and Boiling Spring Trail. Faces north and east, door is at south.
Bunker 3 -- NE corner of "No hunting" (tan ) area. Intersection of Sand Mtn Rd and Old Boundary Trail. Faces east, door is in west side.
Bunker 4 -- SE corner of "no hunting" area. Intersection of MidState/Bake Oven Trails(the same trail), and Old Boundary Trail. Faces east, door in west side.
Bunker 5 -- Intersection of Boyer Gap Rd and RT 192. Faces south and east, door in north.
OP 1 -- SW corner of park. intersection of West Boundary Trail and MidState/Brush Hollow Trails.
OP 2 -- Southcentral end of park, near bend in Midstate Trail, in the Y of Rapid Run. Good view of RT 192.
OP 3 -- S of park. Boyer Gap Rd, about 1/2" above the 500' marking on the scale of the map.
OP 4 -- SE corner of park. Bake Oven Trail, right below the "B" in the words "Bake Oven Trail"
OP 5 -- NE corner of park. Sand Mtn Rd., right below the "d" in the words "Sand Mountain"
OP 6 -- NE corner of park. Boiling Spring Trail, right below the "p" in the words "Boiling Spring"
The 5 Bunkers are wired with the simple telegraph system used when Fred and Jim blundered into the booby traps. There are not enough telegraphs to wire the OPs into that system. OPs must rely on other means -- runners, or portable radios. Obviously runners compromise the security of the observers, and the 3/103 doesn't have enough radios to cover all the OPs. Figure it out.
Again, given the time expenditure, this is a lot for me to give you players.
You'll need it. ;)
"I have a running list of local areas I need to check. A lot of stuff we need for the towers, a jammer, and everything else we just don't have. But we can find most of it, I hope, very easily. With your permission, starting today, I'd like to organize salvage missions. That means we'll send out scouts, and if it has some of what we need, we will send out a needed crew for it all. Less people working here...unless I can recruit some along the way...but it will be worth it."
"Along with the training program, we should emphasize mechanics and machinists when we can. The more of them we have, the more hardware we can turn out."
"And medics, and sanitation. So far we've just been dealing with traumas. If we keep growing by accepting everyone who comes to our door, we'll increase the risk of disease. I didn't mean that to sound... well, I think everyone knows what I meant."
"I have complete design plans on smoke grenades, grenade launcher rounds, concussion grenades, and frag grenades. We had most of the right materials before the rebellion. I'm sure we can turn up most of what we need again."
"Yeah, that's right. We just need the materials, charcoal we can make, there's probably sulpher in the mountains here. Potassium Nitrate is a little tougher to come by. It's actually not required, but without it the blackpowder is kinda anemic -- not as zippy. And remember, we used up about 40 Kg of the stuff when Stryfe... hey!... when he ordered the attack on the Norry Oil works. Wow, talk about retrospect! I guess we've got some scrounging to do."
"Windmills are easy to make if we have the man power and materials and will provide quite a bit of power."
"Cpl Robinson, you have two main tasks before you. Number 1, to help design and build an effective defense of this camp, and Number 2, to come up with a training schedule for the militia. You and I, along with Ms Whittaker and the senior militia members, will be working closely together on both of these projects. Once we come up with a trench and bunker design, leave most of the actual construction details to Ms Whittaker."
3/103rd Camp / Halfway Dam
"Well, when I was a teen, a bucket of gasoline and a sleeve of styrofoam cups yielded a pretty nasty concoction. The gas melted the cups into a sludge, and... well, you wouldn't wanna smoke near it, that's fer sure. But we've no gas, like you say. I dunno if alcohol'll do the same thing. And I doubt the 7-11 in Lewisburg has any styrofoam cups. Maybe insulation board from a house?... I guess I'll be scrounging too..." He smiled wryly.
"Not a problem sir. I think that any training our militia get will be an advantage. And actually, having our tactics be different to American SOP's may be an advantage. Stryfe won't be working off the quite same sheet of music for a change."
Wiz loosened his own berretta and made to follow the CO out of the building for a quick 'inspection'.
My quick definitions (probably not the same as the military's -- disclaimer: I don't know beans about them, but neither did the NPCs who built them. You PCs were busy with other stuff for awhile. suggestions accepted):
