MISSION FILE: RECON CA-4 – CA2 COMMAND GROUP – WESTERN REGION
DATE: 4/17/2161
LOCATION: China Lake Navel Weapons Station, CA-10 Supply Base.
REPORTER: Commander Vod Pacheco, Recon CA-4

“Investigate Supply Base and Team CA-10”

Or

“those aren’t rats……C.H.U.Ds.!!!”

 

Objective– Commander Poole had elected to wake up the MP teams in the area. Supply Team CA-10, and the associated supply base has not responded to the call. (along with Water Support Team CA-6). With all the personnel awakening, and the training of militia and CA-7’s auxiliary forces, the need for more supplies has become critical. Half of each team’s personal Cache have been excavated and compiled into a communal supply. A subset of our team was tasked with Traveling to the base location to investigate.

 

4/4/2161 – 4/16/2161

For the past 12 days our team has spent time winning hearts and minds. I’ve spent my time getting to know the CA-7 group as it has detached from the Circle Lazy 8 Ranch. This was a good move in my opinion as the tie will remain strong, but the ranch can operate as a financial backer of the MP, without being “Part of the MP” I will allow us to develop as more of a political mover acting to benefit everyone, than an economic entity. I even managed a trip over to Big Jakes farm to visit, and see the family for a couple of days, to make sure they were doing ok after the attack just a short month ago. It was nice to spend a day lending a hand at whatever I could do. Vivianna seemed happy to see me, and I asked her to help me learn some of the dance steps for the upcoming Roundup.

 

4/17/2161

Today we got a call from the front gate, asking us to come over and check out some new arrivals. Someone claiming to be from the Morrow Project was asking for admittance to the compound. Poole mentioned that he was in contact with the sole team from Arizona… a Mars group no less and that they were sending some people our way to check/help us out. The guy at the gate must have been 50 yrs old, worn and weather-beaten, with not a scrap of MP uniform save a beat up old set of Body armor. He introduced himself as Justin Walker, one of the few remaining members of Mars AZ-3. He was accompanied by about 30 others, mostly youngish all wearing badges of some type. His MP id card, battered and faded showed a young man who could have been this guy. Later on we had the med team take a blood sample for DNA, and they confirmed his identity. Apparently he awoke about 19 years ago near Tempe Arizona, and after some initial conflicts, declared themselves “the law” in the area. He talked a little about things he did to keep the peace, and even said a few years ago he ran into some sort of “Krell” group which drove into town and declared themselves in charge. Justin rounded up some of their guys and put the Krell group in the dirt. Also he mentioned that a while ago some V300 drove right thru town with “Kentucky free state” markings… whatever those are. We got his group settled in another section of the compound, and their horses settled in the Corral, and then I introduced him around.

 

 

 

 

Soon after they were settled, Poole called me in to brief me on the CA-10 situation. Apparently our hacker from CA-1 Science team finally identified the general location of CA-10 near China Lake, and Poole wanted me to take a couple of my team to check it out. The location was an old Titan Missile base, long abandoned before the war. A perfect place for MP industries to retrofit into a bolt or a supply base. Apparently this is high priority, so CA-11 would transport us with one of their Blackhawks. Half the team was out of the compound on various projects, so Keshawn, Tim and I geared up, along with a new CA-7 trainee John Martinez.

  

We loaded up and soon were on our way northeast about 100 miles to the site. We overflew it, and then they quickly dropped us to recon/secure the area. The Place was old and broken down like everything else around here. We spotted some bones, and there must be some animals around somewhere. What appeared to be an old surface building was practically all that was left, no windows. And rusted top to bottom. We also spotted what appeared to be 2 remote Mag58 turrets. One of which must have been sheared off by an explosive, while the other was rusted out. Everything seemed quiet, and the surface building was empty, so we radioed the Blackhawk to set down and relax while we went inside. Keshawn stayed with the Helo for surface protection, while John, Tim and I explored. Tim opted to take the Mk2 Laser he acquired in the rescue mission as the cutting power of it might come in handy to get thru any blockages.

The building had a blast door, which was slightly ajar and it obviously led down into the base. With a little coaxing we pulled it open and shined our lights down into the depths. It was wet, and nasty down there. “Join the Morrow Project, travel to wonderful places” ….. hmm deep dark wet tunnels.. not so wonderful. I took point, with John between us and Tim pulling rear guard. Many of the deck plates were missing or rusted out so travel was precarious. We started off with Red filters on the lights… but after a bit realized that saving our night vision wasn’t going to help, so we switched to white light. Between filters we had a bit of total darkness, but realized that the water algae, or lichen or microbes of some type were glowing with some type of bioluminescence. Traveling down the tunnel, I thought I heard some type of “clank” or noise. I figured it must be some rats, or some animal. I let the team know to stay alert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tunnel came to an intersection, with one branch leading to a control room and the other a power room . We opted to go left to the control room, perhaps the CA-10 base would connect to it, or there would be some wall map that we could compare to our DB and look for differences or clues. The crazy shape of the tunnels, and dripping water made this place very creepy. The tunnels and control room were a mess, with obvious signs of scavenging, and animal bones. We even spotted some bullet holes and bones of what we identified as non MP personnel on the floor. There must have been some fighting here a long time ago. I heard the sound again, and it seemed closer. Tim turned around and shined his light down the tunnel, but didn’t see anything. Leaving him with rear guard, I moved a little bit farther into the control room and spotted a tunnel up above the main control area which didn’t show on my map. I had John shine his light up, while I climbed the wreckage leading up to the access to check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About that time John Yelled, and Tim powered up the Laser. I have to say, in this spooky place, I just about lost my grip on the junk I was climbing. Almost at the top, I looked up. It took a few seconds for my mind to process the Horror I was seeing. Hairless, pale skin, fangs and claws, this Humanoid thing was not more than 3 feet from me as John let loose with his AKM at it, blowing it back off the ledge. But I could hear John swearing as his AKM jammed. Tim said he saw 3-4 of the things run around a corner into his tunnel view, and I could hear the laser whine. I pushed myself the last jump up to the platform and pulled my 9mm, just as two of these Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers came at me. I took a snapshot at one, and managed to hit its shoulder. Then it jumped at me, and I was too close to shoot again, so I tried to club him with my pistol. We both missed each other, and then his claws scraped across my chest armor. Thank Bruce Morrow for the IBA as the plates easily deflected hit. I pounded the butt of the gun on the CHUD and it crashed over the side to the ground below. John can deal with that one. I could hear Tim yelling at one of the creatures and then the laser went off again. The 2^nd CHUD came at me with an Axe and managed to whack my left knee pretty badly. I managed to snap a couple rounds at it from my pistol and it went down. About that time, John had given up on the AKM and started spraying round from a Mac 10. He blew away the one that was wrestling with Tim, and then pumped a few rounds into any CHUD body he could see… just to be sure.

Ok.. so we aren’t dealing with rats.

Tim patched up my knee so I could get around with James’ help. Looking down the access corridor which earlier peaked my interest, decided that it wasn’t what we were looking for, and the CA-6 access must be in a different place. Ok… Tim is about as much a ghoul as these creatures.. He took the laser and neatly sliced off a head, bagged it up and then handed the bag to John. Apparently the Recruits carry the body parts in our team back for investigation by the science geeks. ICK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With everyone being more alert, we moved back down to the corridor intersection, and took the other branching route to what was labeled “power room”. We could still hear noises down main corridor deeper in to the base, but it didn’t seem to be getting closer. With Tim watching behind, John and Myself watched ahead as we made it to the power room. Full of old rusted generators, and conduits, we looked for any indications that the CA-10 access was here. I noticed that some of the conduits, although old, didn’t match the rest of the Base’s equipment. There seemed to be power lines leading thru here… but not what should be here. Examining the wiring, I found that it actually was carrying power, but the power was fluctuating and not reliable. Pulling apart some junction boxes on the walls revealed a MP access card slot as well. Drawing on my old knowledge, I was able to rewire enough of the exterior system to mostly stabilize the power, and then tried the Card Poole gave me to access the base. A section of the wall cracked open and revealed a door which opened with the protest of 150 years of rest. The three of us slipped thru and then with some encouragement (muscle) we were able to shut the door behind us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This tunnel is where we wanted to be. The concrete was new, and clean, with the walls neatly painted. The air was not the Nitrogen atmosphere that is normal for a Bolt, and we could taste a tiny bit of humidity as well. This was is not sealed. We slowly made our way down the corridor, and reached a 2^nd blast door, which opened to my MP card as well with much less trouble. The lights in here kept flickering and it was obvious there was some power issue of some type. This was supposed to be a Base, as opposed to a disposable bolt, with a much more robust Fusion reactor so something was definably wrong.

The 2^nd door opened to the control room, and we could see the Cold Sleep boxes all in a row. Tim checked them out and found all in working order, but one had been broken into. Yes INTO.. not out of. I looked around and realized that we were not alone. Thru my flashlight, and the flickering base lights, I spotted a blood trail and a decapitated arm in the corner. John Yelled again, as he opened up, literally UP at the ceiling with his AKM, and the body of a MUCH larger CHUD fell on top of him. I looked up just in time to see another superCHUD coming out of a crawlspace and jumping down on the floor near the body I spotted earlier. I was caught off guard for a second as it actually TALKED… sort of. In hindsight, I figured it said something like “Get away from my food…..we will kill you all for taking our food”

Ok.. I’m not food… BANG, BANG. 2 rounds from my 9mm H&K, I’m sure I hit it at least once, but it shook that off and threw the body at me. I went down hard and the next thing I knew John was hosing down the superCHUD with his AKM. I could swear it was dead.. but he ejected the empty clip.. reloaded and emptied another into it. I think he stopped because the AKM jammed again. Tim pulled the laser out and did another slicing job on a head, 2^nd bag, attached to John’s equipment. Dang it’s good not to be a recruit. I could just hear Tim talking to his wife when we get back.. I’m home, brought you a present… and it isn’t flowers…. These things stink. Shooting them is nasty enough. How can you be a science guy and have to smell these things as you work? Next thing the science guys are going to hand us a net with a smile on their face and say… just in case you can capture one alive….. NOT.

Things started to calm down and Tim/John managed to move a storage cabinet over to cover the access tunnel opening. He took the laser and after a few tries, managed to spot weld it over the hole to secure the area. I took a look at the MP console, and hit the “emergency wake up” switch, and the 30 min timer started counting down. Using the supply base computer we assessed the base status as well. It consisted of 3 levels, with us on the top 1^st level. The 3^rd level was showing RED condition, apparently totally underwater, with a critically failing power supply. I pulled the power supply from the laser, and managed to jack it into an external port. Using the computer we isolated level 1 and brought it fully online. The lights stopped flickering. Level 3 also had all the ammo from the supply base. Great. Level 2 showed high humidity, with other supplies for power infrastructure, and heavy construction, and foodstuffs. Much of it may be salvageable. The top level, was the motor pool and living quarters. It also had the armory, for the smallarms so we have lots of guns, but few bullets. I left Tim to watch over and help the team wake up, while John and I took a look around. The sleep room opened to the motor pool area, with a pair of duce-1/2’s , 2x Humvee, 2 Airscouts, an 18 wheeler with a flatbed and supply trailer and a V150 APC. One of the Missile tubes had been converted into a vehicle elevator to the roof, pretty cool. I jacked my radio into the external antenna and informed the Helo topside of our situation, and to watch out for the CHUDs. Then we radioed back to Poole and informed him of the situation, requesting the MARS group to come clean these things out. Poole also said CA-8, the engineering team, would be ferried over on our helo to take a look at the base and determine the salvage ability.

The supply team members started waking up, and upon seeing the superCHUD bodies, started arming up. We gently told them that everything was under control, and took their guns away. ICK… what’s worse… CHUDs or supply gremlins with guns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CA-3 showed up and put down their gear long enough to dig out the emergency hatches for the base. The main lift gear was underwater and would have to be pumped out/inspected before operating. After we saw daylight, they all geared up with Assault shotguns, and it wasn’t long before we heard the firefights in the tunnels. After a bit, they came back… a couple wounded, one seriously. They said they killed 30 or more of the CHUDs and they would need more guns. Keshawn, John, Tim and I hitched a ride back to CTFP(combined task force Phoenix) base (weve got to come up with a better base name) and we passed the other helo heading to the site with some of the AZ-3 guys.

Over the next few days, all sorts of people got used to fighting in the tunnels as they did their best to exterminate the CHUDs. But no one goes alone, or unarmed.

Docs say I’ve got to spend some time recouping my knee. They swear that I will be able to dance at the roundup, heck that’s what painkillers are for. I might not be graceful, but I’ll do my best. Hmmm….. Maybe I can convince Big Jakes daughter Vivianna to help me recover and give me some more dance lessons.

MISSION FILE: RECON CA-4 – CA2 COMMAND GROUP – WESTERN REGION
DATE: 4/04//2161-4/05/2161
LOCATION: At Home Base, Ca.
REPORTER: Tim Hart, Medic of CA-4

Day 4/05/2161:

We made it to the area CA-1 was located in, and found some local gangs to point us in the right direction. Contact with CA-1 was established, and a plan was made. CA-4 would secure the western bridge to allow for CA-1 and the campus to EVAC and head to the CA-7 ranch and our new compound. Once we had this done CA-1 would create a distraction to pull troops off the eastern most bridge and jam/white noise the Mexican army communication. With the help of Morgana and her eyes in the sky we were able to get live feed of the three bridges and the troops on them. (Note: It seems Morgana has a few hellfire missiles. She did say she would use them to save us if she thought it was needed but it did not come to this.) It was decided to split the team in to three groups for the first part of the assault. I and Hanna would setup the Dragon to cover the western bridge and Campus Drive road. Vod, Fred, and Keshawn would make their way with silenced weapons to the western bridge and secure it. Travis and Rick would take the V-150 and slowly head up on the causeway until it could see both campus drive as well as Macarthur Drive bridges for cover. As Fred did not have a silenced weapon I lent him my Sig. (I was able to get it back with little fuss.) I and Hannah made our way out on to a sand well more mud bar way in the open and setup the Dragon system. We keep an eye on the bridge to help, but did not see much. Around ten min or so before CA-1 would start there distraction we heard Vod over the radio say, “take them out” followed by a message to CA-1 to start to jam them. Soon after this we saw a Mexican trooper running on the far side of the bridge. Hanna tried to take him but missed on her first shot. One of Vod’s team got him before she had a chance for a second shot. I thought we had alerted the Mexican army, but right after this Vod signaled the all clear and to rejoin on the bridge. We made our way to them very fast and were able to setup the dragon system to cover the other side. As we were finishing the setup the V-150 finished clearing this side of the bridge. I saw the Mexican APC on the other side of bridge with Fred manning its main. I could almost see the kool-aid smile on his face as he stationed the gun to cover the road.

It seems Vod and them had done a great job and found some new toys to help us cover the EVAC of CA-1. We now had an 81mm mortar and the Mexican APC. Vod radioed CA-1 letting them know that the bridge was secured and they could start the EVAC. Keshawn manned the mortar and on Vod’s mark started to pepper the MacArthur bridge walking round after round in onto the Mexican troops. He then took Hannah and they headed out to wire the bridge. A few minutes later we heard CA-1 start their magic to pull the Mexican teams off us. From what Morgana was telling us it seemed the Mexican army was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. They were firing all over the place because of CA-1 and the Mortar.

Soon vehicles of all kinds started driving across the bridge pushing east. As the last of them passed me I sighted in on more vehicles driving along the south road towards our bridge. I asked Morgana if it was the enemy and she confirmed that they were the enemy. I sighted in on the T-72 tank. As soon as I got a lock I fired and guided it in, but from the sound of the hitt I knew I did little damage. I had hit it right up where it had the best armor. While I was reloading I heard the two APC we had let go on the other incoming enemy. Ii sounded as if they blow it up, but I was too busy with reloading to see what they had done. While I was reloading the dam tank got off two shot. Too slow is all I keep thinking as I sighted in on it again. Just as I got a lock on it she fired again smashing the Mexican APC Fred was in. I saw him thrown from it, flying into the bank and mud. I let the second rocket fly and this time I heard a good sound as it hit and the tank ran off the road into the water where is was smoking with no movement. I quickly reloaded the last of the missiles just as the last of the EVAC trucks sped past me. We still had no sign of the Science-one. Vod signaled to load up and just as I was going to pull out I saw CA-1 crash thru a wall heading for the bridge, and right on her tail where three or more enemy tanks. Not thinking I let fly the last of the rocket. Swam it hit and she was hurt but still coming and dam it was close. I could see the markings on her, but hell if I had time to get a good look. I pulled the sights off the tube and ran like hell for the V-150. As I think Keshawn was firing over my head at the tanks. I made it in and as I looked back it looks as if he tracked her right in the middle of the bridge. Dam he gave us some much needed time with that hit. Right then Vod popped the bridge and the tank slowly slid into the water helping to bring the bridge down. We followed,  right on the tail of CA-1 soon catching up with the much slower EVAC group. Around this time someone said that the Science-one was on fire and she soon pulled over and the fire was put out.

While we were stopped the leader of CA-1 offered us what she could. We reloaded as we could and were able to get two more missiles for the Dragon along with a few more Armburst. While I was helping move the load I saw they had a MK2 laser. I pulled it as I had been on a team to train with it. Bruce or the project must have known we would need the training I received. Hell if not pushed I would not have spent the time I did to train in it or the missiles systems the project had. We were back on the road and soon saw it was going to be a long slow trip. We were lucky if we were get 15 miles an hour as a whole.  Morgana came over the wire to inform us we would not be able to out run the Mexican army on our tail and that we had ten to fifteen on us. She also dropped the bombshell that she would not be able to help us or slow them down as she needed to re-fuel. Vod was working with CA-1 on a plan when CA-3 (MARS) said they were ahead of us and that CA-3 and CA-4 would stop to slow the Mexican army while CA-1 and her group headed to safety.

Moving as fast as we could along the 241 we meet CA-3, the MARS Group. Just on the other side of a bridge. The tank looked like nothing I had ever seen before. It had what I thought was a 25mm Gatling gun on it but soon found out it was a Gatling laser. We set up a defensive position across a river on the east side of the bridge. We had about 20 minutes until the Mexican army would show up. CA-3 had downed some trees for us to setup behind. I handed off the Dragon to Vod as I had been trained on the MK1 laser. With Vod on my right and Hannah on my left I began to prep, digging as deep a hole as time would allow behind the downed tree. Once done I prepped the laser and the armburst we had as well as the ones we pulled from the Science-one. Hannah was working with the new sights she gained from the science-one while telling Fred to keep safe. Fred pulled all the ammo he could and setup for a crossfire on anything that moved on the other side of the river.  Keshawn manned the main and I’m not sure where Rick was but I do know Travis was in the driver seat ready to get us the hell out of here as needed.  CA-3 had the Phoenix tank in the middle of the road. We were to the left or south of them and the ca-1  Humvee with a Mk19 40mm grenade launcher was to the right or north of them behind some rocks. CA-4’s V-150 was positioned hull down just to the left or south of Hannah, with me and Vod north of her.

All we could do was sit, but we did not sit for long. We soon heard a humming sound. Then four aircraft approached our position. Dam, Dam, Dam, the Mexican army had air support. Shit we had not grabbed the Stinger weapons system from CA-1 and we did not have our own with us as it was in one of our stores. I saw Keshawn cranked the main gun up and sight in on the incoming air. I also heard the Phoenix start to elevate its main gun up for a shot. I thought what the hell if they get over me I may be able to get lucky with the laser and WOOT I did. We all let go and Keshawn hit one sending it outbound, but not before it dropped its bombs. Thank god it was still way out. The one I hit had its wing sheared off and it flung out of control. I was looking in awe at it till I saw the one the Phoenix hit just go puff. One second it was there and the next all I saw was just very small debris raining down. The fourth plane took a good burst from our 25mm and went down with a bang. Then I saw the first one flight off, bugging out, fast after being hit and seeing the other three go down.

We had no time to rest as over the hill to the west a tank and an APC rolled up.  I hit the APC in the front tire causing it to slow and head into a rock out crop while the V-150 opened up on it. I could see men jumping out of it behind the rocks. Vod slammed the tank with a Dragon and it started to smoke but did not blow up. The tank then popped smoke to cover itself as the Phoenix opened up on it. This was the first time you could see the light of the laser as they went thru the smoke slamming into the ground. Another APC come over the hill and another tank. I fired another Armburst at this new APC and she blew up. The tank that had popped smoke made the mistake of coming out of it. The phoenix hit it and made Swiss cheese out of it. You could see right thru the holes made in it as it slowly rolled to a stop. A third group of vehicle came over the hill. I think it was a couple of trunks, but not sure. Things got a little foggy here as a team behind the rocks opened up on us with what I think was a 50 cal. Dam I thought I was going to need to change myself after that. Right after we took the 50 cal fire the MARS team on the M19 opened up and peppered all the incoming area. This gave me a chance for a quick shot and the gods were on my side as I hit one of the trucks in the frontend stopping it. Seeing the damage the 40mm was causing the men as they rolled out of it made me happy I was over here. Just then we took fire again from that dam 50 cal and I could hear them bouncing off the V-150. The whole time Keshawn and Fred were just going to town on the enemy. They were just ripping away at them. The next thing I remember is I grabbed the M21 off Hannah and aimed at the 50 cal behind the rocks only to see the whole area go up in flames. Vod had let a sovo off from the MK 202 Flame Weapon, and the area looked like hell just shot right up out from the ground. You could hear the cries of men only for a second or two before the air was burnt out of them from the heat. Soon the smell of burnt flesh made it our why. No matter how many times I have been forced to smell it. I always have to steady myself from losing my lunch. The MARS tank opened up one last time. This time at the other tank and it just cut the turret right off and Boom, it light up. This was all the Mexican army could take as they started to bug out with Fed and our guys helping them along. I was cleaning up the gear when I heard someone say Travis was hit and down. I ran to him and just could not believe what I saw. Half the side of his upper head was gone or hanging to the side I could see a mass of blood draining out from the wound and his brain was in full view. It seemed the V-150 cannot take a 50 cal hit and one punched thru and hit him. I grabbed the full surgical Medical kit and went to work saying a prayer for him as I did. Not sure how I got the bleeding to slow or how I was able to bring his blood presser back up. All I could think was to cover, apply pressure and put him in a coma so he was not aware of the pain or trauma. We bugged out fast leaving the clean up for CA-3 as we made our war to CA-1. We had to get him in a med bed and if needed a freeze tube. The doc’s and I worked on him and soon we had him in critical shape. I do not think he will be in the field ever again, but only hope he is able to have a good life. Too few of us for the losses we took. CA-1 has two or three and even if we take a thousand to one in losses it will be too, too, much.

We made it back to base and word seems to spread fast as no one got in are way. It was good to see my wife and the new digs. To tell you the truth, I did better than I thought, but would have done anything not to loss what we have. Poole gave us a breather but I’m sure we will be debriefing soon. He said we would have a week or two down time to get things worked out.  I do not trust this, been in military too long to let my hopes get to high. Seems we lost another computer and CA-9 is none to happy. CA-4 grabbed a cell block and it seems we will soon be knocking down walls and setting up home. I grabbed a cell and so did my wife next to me we will join them and have our own bedroom and who knows. Seems there is a dance soon and my wife it working with me to dance. I really do have Whiteman dance skills, stand in one spot lift legs move arms. This ballroom and line dance crap is a pain. Hell I think she wants me to sing or something as she seems to be working on getting me a guitar.  I did not sign on for this, but as they say I can be right or happy. As long as she is happy I will be happy and she did join up with me as well as stay by my side as I dragged her all over hell.

I’m a lucky man really and I know it. Ok step one two step three four dam I’m back in school all over again.

MISSION FILE: RECON CA-4 – CA2 COMMAND GROUP – WESTERN REGION
DATE: 4/01/2161 to 4/4/2161
LOCATION: CG- 2 FOB at CCI in Tehachapi Valley.
REPORTER: Commander Vod Pacheco, Recon CA-4

“Rescue and Evacuate Science Team CA-1”

Or

“We are going to need a bigger Boat”

Objective– Team CA-1, in their SCIENCE-1 Vehicle is under heavy attack by Mexican forces. They have requested assistance in evacuating themselves and 300+ People from the UCIrvine Area. CA-4 is being sent to assist them, with CA-3 (Mars) team in their Phoenix M1 Tank as backup.

4/2/2161

No rest for the tired and exhausted. We just got the Radio relay station activated, when CA1 came on the line indicating they were under heavy attack. Poole said to get the station totally online, and then get ourselves down to Cajon on the I15/138 interchange.

Apparently CA-9 has overhauled our vehicle, putting in a new computer, and some exterior armor plates, and cargo hookups. They will rush our vehicle down to meet us and take the horses off our hands.

Everyone bedded down in the cramped quarters of the 2 rooms for the night.

Morgana communicated to us and offered to ally with us asking for access to our net. This is something I’m thinking about. She could be a powerful force for us.

4/3/2161

Rick and Vod finished up at the Relay site, while the others went down the mountain a little early to see if anything could be discovered looking at the bodies from the ambush yesterday. Something was strange about those guys, not having any type of emotional effect from the overwhelming firepower used to break out of the ambush. Apparently the team reached the site, and found blood trails.. But no bodies. They followed the trail a little ways but were unable to tell much in the short time available.

Rick and Vod rejoined the group and we all went down to the head o the trail to get a hot meal, and then mount up on the horses for Cajon. We rode thru the town of Wrightwood, stopping long enough to say hi to the sheriff and confirm that things are on the mend between Carlston Lumber and the local blackfeather group. But we knew that the longer we waited.. The more people died. And we needed to make UCI that night. So we pushed on thru down hwy 2 and 138, eventually making it to Cajon where we were greeted by an exhausted CA9 group.

As promised our V150 was refitted and reequipped. Apparently they have been visiting various caches, and pulled out what Anti-Armor weapons they found to assist us. The Mexicans reportedly have APCs and some tanks, believe it or not. They stripped out all the extra gear from our V150, and replaced it with Dragon Launcher, with 3 missiles, an M202 Flash launcher with 3 sets of reloads, and a couple extra cases of ammo, grenades, and 40mm grenades. Dang.. What were we getting ourselves into?

Cajon also is the site of the “Highway Patrol” and a Major “Truckstop” for trading. The place stank from the local biofuel production facility. It was obvious to us that we needed a guide, so Fred took the lead and somehow transported us back to the 60’s… the 1960s that is. The Pot smoking Hippy guys who clustered around the VW Bus could have been on their way to Woodstock, except for the extra armor, and weapons bolted to their bus. Fred negotiated with the hippies and one of them agreed to guide us down to UCI. Meanwhile we went to the CHP office to find out any Intel on the roads as well from them. Here, Fred got kicked in the shins as he tried to “barter” the use of our new radio relay, even dropping hints as to where it was located. I bet that location just became the “you screwed up and now spend 3 months guarding this hilltop” assignment for High Desert MP.(note to self.. don’t screw up.. its freaking cold up there). We could have hired a CHP escort, but figured we needed to get on the road in order to make it to UCI by 1-2am. Perhaps future teams could use the CHP if needed.

We had 2 options… I15, which had more gang activity, or I215 which apparently is more of a war zone with artillery round going off. I bet the artillery is sending the gangs which usually were near I215 towards I15. With just our one vehicle.. we should be able to scoot past or shoot past anything we run into.

We were making 20-30mph or so and everything was cool for about 15 miles. Fred was watching out back, with his LMG on a post mound, while Keshawn was on the 25mm and I was head out, looking around. Both Keshawn and I spotted some movement in some buildings on the side of the road. They must have had radios, cause about a minute later a bunch of cars and motorcycles came barreling down an onramp behind us, in Hot pursuit. I don’t think their radios were working too well, or they might have realized that when you pull the tail of a tiger…. Expect to get bit. Or in this case… Mauled. The Gangers were driving some crazy way on the road, they must have known this stretch of the road well, and were gaining on us steadily. I ordered the Turret rotated around to face the rear, and warned Fred we were rotating around so he could get clear. The Gangers had some Nitrous or something because a couple of their vehicles were making crazy noise and acceleration. I let loose on the Mag58, and Keshawn took a bead with the 25mm. The Mag58 took out one vehicle, and it swerved off into a piling. BAM. One down. Keshawn let loose with the 25mm, and must have hit the Nitrous tank, because it went up with a WHOOOSH. I got tossed back in my seat, and will have bruises on my chest for a while. The rest of the team was scrambling for firing ports in the rear, and I let loose with another burst from the Mag. I missed the first time, but walked the rounds right into the driver, and it too swerved out of the way. One of the trucks has some type of cannon, and put a hole in the back of the V150. No one was hurt, and that vehicle didn’t last long as Keshawn poured about 15 rounds of 25mm into it. Small arms fire from the rear of the V150 was taking out some bikers as they came too close and apparently Hannah tripped and let out a few rounds inside. Keshawn took one in the thigh, but I wasn’t serious. A few more seconds, and all the vehicles were burning… and the few bikers left were running the opposite way. We rode on.. Tim bandaging the few friendly fire hits… into the Republic of Corona.

Corona is a strange town. Sort of a “Don’t mess with us and you can stay here if you pay enough” We spotted a Mexican army unit, and what appeared to be mercenaries and various groups all over the compound. They gave us our paperwork and we paid for the “luxury” of using the crossroads. Apparently that is where they get their money, my taking a skim off the top of anyone doing any type of trading or salvaging.

We heard from CA3, the Mars unit, and they said that they were about 3 hrs behind us in Cajon, and were moving to assist south down our route.

Morgana came on the line again, and I made the executive decision to allow her access to our Net. The advantage she presented us was just too good to give up. She had an aerial drone in the air, and was giving us live feeds from UCI and the surrounding area. It was even armed with a couple of Hellfire’s which she would use if we were “threatened” in her opinion. We moved on down the 91, then 241 south, chatting with Morgana on the radio, and getting a feel for the tactical situation. Eventually we took the 261 down into Irvine, and contacted the CA1 to find the plan. They were south west of the 405 in what used to be the University Town Center. Under heavy fire and being approached from 3 sides. There are 3 bridges in tact across what used to be the San Diego Creek Channel… the 405, which is a 10 lane monster, Campus drive which is little more than a causeway, and Macarthur Drive, which is the only span left from the 73 hwy group. CA1 was planning a diversionary attack at 300am, and we needed to clear/secure the campus drive bridge by then preferably quietly.

We made it into the area about 1am and were north of the campus Dr Bridge getting the lay of the land from some local citizens willing to help us out. CA1 had been awake since early December 2160 and had made friends with them. There were some units on each of the 3 bridges. The 405 had a couple of vehicles, Campus drive only a single APC with a squad of men, and Macarthur drive had what appeared to be a couple of Humvees parked on it with 12-20 men around.

Evacuate CA-1

Or

Tanks and Trucks and APCs oh My!

4/4/2161 – 1AM

Tim and Hanna took the Dragon and the M21 out on to a spit of land which overlooked the Campus Drive as well as the road going along the side of the river. And the V150 crept up on the causeway until it could see both campus drive as well as Macarthur Drive bridges. Travis and Rick stayed in the vehicle while Keshawn, Fred and Vod took silenced weapons and approached down the side of the road towards the APC and people on Campus Drive.

All was going to plan, and we had crept up to about 30 feet. I could see through the lowered back ramp of the APC, some type of Tracked vehicle with what appeared to be a 20mm autocanon, and it had one guy in it facing away, crouched over the Radio. A couple of guys were keeping warm around a fire, and there were some sleeping on the ground nearby. We even spotted a mortar pit across the road from us which probably had a few more sleepers. We were just getting set up when SNAP… Fred hit a twig. “Did you hear something?” Dang it… one of them started walking towards us… we all froze… but he got close enough and started to say… “Hey I think…. “ Fth fth fth…… a burst from my silenced MP5 stitched up his body and he dropped like a rock. I vocalized over the radio… “take them out”. At the same time, I relayed to CA-1 to start Jamming all the Mexican radio transmissions. Keshawn used his suppressed G36 and started knocking down the others. Fred jumped up behind a log which was put across the road and used a silenced pistol on the others. Vod took aim and after a couple of bursts… the radio operator went down. Fred was double tapping enemies as they woke up or started coming at us. Keshawn picked off one sentry from the other side of the bridge… and then the other sentry started running… Vod tried with the last of his MP5 ammo.. but missed. Hanna even tried with the M21 on the mudspit.. but missed. Keshawn took one last burst.. and downed him. Fred called out “give up.. put your hands up” and the remaining Mexicans did. Wow… we actually took the enemy down silently!

Time was running short and we had about 15 min until CA1 started their distraction attacks. We let CA1 know that the bridge would be clear in about 5 min and they could start moving civilians towards the bridge when ready. I radioed Travis to bring the V150 up to pull the log out of the way… while I jumped into the Mexican APC… and started it up. Luckily my construction equipment work let me know how to run a tracked vehicle. I used the APC to push the log on the south side of the bridge out of the way.. then moved it around to the north side. Keshawn said he could run a mortar decently, took stock of the ammo, and I had him take aim for MacArthur bridge. Meanwhile Hanna and Tim pulled up stakes and came in from the mudflats to rejoin us at the north end of the bridge. Tim set up the Dragon again to cover the south end and road. Fred jumped into the 20mm command spot.. and I grabbed Hannah and the demo pack to wire the bridge. A few minutes later… we could hear all hell break loose with CA1, and Keshawn started dropping rounds on the vehicles and people on the bridge. The idea was general mayhem, and with using the mortars, they had no idea where the fire was coming from. Morgan confirmed that the Mexicans on 405 bridge were racing southwest towards the diversionary attack, and out of position to block us on our planned escape route.

Civilian vehicles of all sorts started driving across the bridge heading north. Tim spotted a couple of Mexican vehicles driving along the south road towards our bridge. Morgan confirmed that they were an enemy T72 and another APC. Tim took aim with the Dragon while Rick and Fred aimed with the v150 and APC main guns. Tim fired the Dragon.. and hit.. but not critically. It swerved, but didn’t stop. Rick and Fred both opened up.. and 25mm/20mm rounds quickly dispatched the APC. The T72 fired a couple of rounds, and one hit Fred’s APC. Luckily it didn’t explode.. and Fred jumped out, heading for the V150.. Tim reloaded and a 2nd shot hit the T72, as it drove into the water and stopped. All the civilians made it across and we loaded up in the V150 with Keshawn in normal gunner seat, and me out the top with the remote detonator.

The Science-1 burst out thru a building and headed towards the bridge.. trailing smoke. Not more than 10 seconds later, another T72 rolled out of the building on it’s tail. The T72 fired but missed everyone. Keshawn started firing the 25mm, rounds bouncing off, but hopefully distracting the enemy. The Science 1 made it across the bridge.. and Keyshawn managed to knock the right tread out of the T72, as it came to a rest in the middle of the bridge… I hit the detonator switch… and the bridge went down, with the T72 into the muck. More enemy units were heading our way, but we quickly pulled north out of sight, and rejoined the Science1 vehicle, which successfully put out the fire in the rear.

Everyone formed up, and we headed out, trying to outrun the enemy into the hills. We were making good time, but he civilian vehicles couldn’t go too fast. Morgan said her drone was running out of fuel, and had to return to base. Before she exited the area, she informed us that about 10 Mexican Tanks/APC/Trucks were following us, and estimated that the Mexicans would overtake us at their current rate of speed on the 241 just past Irvine Lake.

6:15am 4/4/2161

We kept going, and were relieved to hear from CA-3, the Mars Group. They were monitoring our situation, and had set up a defensive position across a river crossing/bridge. We had about 20 minutes until the Mexican showed up.. and during that time we scavenged some Armburst missiles, more 25mm ammo and another pair of Dragon missiles. Tim even pulled the Mk2 Laser unit from the Science vehicle. CA-3 placed their Phoenix Tank squarely in the road, and their 2ndary vehicle with a Mk19 40mm grenade launcher behind. The V150 was hull down behind a tree trunk, with our personnel spaced out from it with infantry weapons.

Then we started hearing the buzzing. It took a few minutes, but we spotted 4 aircraft approaching our position. Great…. The Mexicans had air support. And we left the stinger missiles with the science 1. Keshawn cranked up the 25mm to use in Anti-air mode.. and Tim even aimed with the Mk2 Laser. The first aircraft aimed at our V150. Keshawn let off with the 25mm and a few rounds must have hit. It dropped a couple of bombs, but they flew wide. The next one suddenly lost a wing, as Tim pegged it with the Laser. As the 3rd plane approached we heard the Gatling laser on the Phoenix spin up.. and the plane just vaporized… The 4th plane took a burst from the 25mm and went down as well.

We all then turned to face south and awaited the ground forces. A pair of T72 and a couple of APCs crested the rise and we all opened up. The V150 took down an APC, while I hit a T72 with a Dragon. The T72 wasn’t knocked out and popped smoke. Fred, manning the Mag58 on the V150 was letting off his long bursts, at the trucks and people who began to dismount. The Phoenix Tank spun up but missed the T72 and made a bunch of holes the ground. Tim fired an Armburst, and pegged another APC, turning it into scrap as people jumped out behind a boulder. The T72 in the smoke stuck out is nose, and fired, but missed. The Phoenix tracked over and a bunch of pretty beams of light in the smoke highlighted the damage done, as holes appeared thru one side of the tank and out the other. It stopped working.

A 2nd group of vehicle followed the first, a couple of trunks, another T72 and an APC. The Mars M19 Humvee let off a long burst of 40mm grenades among the vehicles, doing all sorts of damage. Tim took out a truck with an Armburst and the Phoenix turned another T72 into Swiss cheese. At that point people dismounted behind the bolder opened fire with a 50cal on our V150. A couple of rounds hit us and penetrated our armor. I pulled out the M202 rocket launcher and turned the bolder area into a 2000 degree inferno. Another bunch ov 40mm grenades, and MG rounds and the Mexicans had enough. They turned around, and ran back south.

We assessed the damage to our vehicle. And we suffered our first major casualty on the team. one of the rounds hit Travis in the head, and did a nasty job on him. Tim ripped out his Medpack and went to work, and amazingly managed to stabilize him. The computer got hit again! We have to retrofit some serious Armor plate around that thing once CA9 replaces it. We quickly moved up the road to rendezvous with CA-1 and they managed to hook Travis into a medbed to further help him out. They said he would probably survive.. but wouldn’t be the same again.

Everyone mounted up, and we convoyed back up to the high desert and back to the ranch. Not a single ganger even poked their nose out at us with all the firepower we had visible.

Poole said we would have a week or two off, as they organized things. We noticed that he and Martha of CA-7 were practically inseparable.. and they seemed to be getting along much better. Apparently they had made peace of some sort. CA-4 laid claim to one of the buildings in the old prison and we will use some of our down time to fix it up like home as much as possible. Being so far out of time….. it would be good to have a place to put down some roots, and call home..