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The Feemen

Page history last edited by Michael 10 years, 2 months ago

back to the Index, or to Shadows Loom

 



report covers:   15 August 2139, 1100 MT to 21 August 2139, 1900 MT

 

 

15 August 2139

 

weather report:  very light wind from south; light rainfall before dawn. Nightly low temperature 13º C, daily high temperature 24º C. 50% cloud cover.

 

     The team had arrived at Mountain Home (formerly Kremmling, Colorado) and met with Lukáš Skalicky, a refugee from the Waste Lords; and then had paid an official visit to Jubal Ultraviolet, monarch of Ultraviolet.

 

here's a link to a larger version

 

     The team was invited to dinner at the King's house, and spent a pleasant night. Conversations with the King and his staff covered many topics, but especially the Doomrider threat.

     In the King's garage were a couple of motor vehicles:  a tractor and a "mark 1" version of Mischief Jones's vehicle. The King's brother, Ben Jones, had traveled widely outside of Ultraviolet, and had come back with a knack as a mechanic. "It's Ben who got Mischief interested in traveling the world in a battle buggy ... well, good to hear she's been useful."

 

16 August 2139

 

weather report:  very light wind from west. Nightly low temperature 29º C, daily high temperature 48º C. 50% cloud cover.

 

     The team had a filling breakfast at Jubal's table, and set out north in their two vehicles -- Scotty and JJ leading in the XR311, and Doc, Jesse and Gootz in the V150.

 

the plains of Wyoming

 

     In the early afternoon, the team was rolling along about 30 km north of the Wyoming border, with the Medicine Bow mountains looming to the east. A herd of about a thousand sheep were seen moving south. Four men on horseback, plus one wagon, and a bunch of dogs, were keeping the herd moving.

     The leader of the shepherds was Lars Tenk, a seasoned hand who could speak Unislang; he had four young men, an older cook, and a dozen or so dogs, to help him; a dozen horses, and a chuck wagon, completed the group. They were armed with bows, arrows, spears, machetes and knives; Lars had a single-shot 'shotgun' pistol. The herd was being driven south towards North Park and safety.

  • The shepherds travel about the Nowhere Lands with their herds of sheep and horses; their capital is at Stockyard (as was Torrington, WY), and their leader is Mack Dolan, "boss of all the shepherd families". Mack get reports on all the doin's in the area.

  • Lars knows the Doomriders have attacked several shepherd groups. Stockyard might have been attacked. Casper and Cheyenne have had trouble, but are still unconquered (as of several weeks ago).

  • The Feemen live in and around Cheyenne; they used to trade Ancient stuff for food or weapons. Sometimes they go off west, past the desert, to get more things. They're a nasty bunch, especially since their current boss took over a few years back; he's from "somewhere else".

     The team wished Lars a safe trip, and continued onwards. Reaching where Interstate 80 used to be (now buried under 10 meters of volcanic ash) they turned east, and camped at sunset near the ruins of McFadden.

 

 

17 August 2139

 

weather report:  14 kph winds from west. Nightly low temperature 27º C, daily high temperature 43º C. Clear skies.

 

     As the team traveled east, mid-morning they came upon a lone traveler, on foot:  D.J., an "opportunity trader". He had a well-hidden camp nearby. He had food, water, ju-ju potions, alcohol, and some generic spare parts (springs, wire, plumbing fixtures) to trade from his large backpack. He was heading west to the Green River Valley, figuring it'll be safer there.

     He described some of the communities in the Grasslands area:

 

    • The Feemen in Cheyenne are a bit touchy, having fended off a Doomrider attack the day before he left (4 days ago, on 13 August). Most of them are big, dumb folk, but they have at least a couple of much smarter (relatively) people who presumably handle the technical side of things. They have good ju-ju, but wanted too much for it. He bought some Super Med (an antibiotic, in a bottle marked with the Savant Empire logo).

    • He hasn't been to Casper, but knows they produce oil and gasoline, etc.; they're somewhat isolationist, but are probably the toughest community this side of the Powder River Basin.

    • Laramie is just some simple ruin-pickers, hardly worth a stop

    • Wheatland as a relatively normal settlement, with a fair number of “minks” (females); accordingly they tend to keep outsiders at arm’s length.

    • The people of Douglas are primitive, producing only hides and foodstuffs for trade. He turned back south from Douglas after he heard about the Doomriders rampaging around the Grasslands.

    • Lusk is “one big junk heap”, he says, with only a small tribe living on the outskirts of the ruins; another place hardly worth visiting at all.

    • Stockyard (formerly Torrington) is the main town of the shepherds. He hasn't visited it, but hears it's a good place to trade in the autumn. He would have gone there, but the Doomriders, you know ...

 

     D.J. suspects most of these settlements were attacked, but he doesn’t know anything about their current state.

     The team got D.J. pretty thoroughly smashed on iguana. Less than an hour's travel further east, they saw a herd of about a hundred pronghorn on the slopes to the south; they decide to not do any hunting, and pressed on towards Laramie.

     Laramie proved somewhat disappointing; only the tops of a few tall buildings -- a brick church steeple, the college stadium, a couple of 13 story dormitory ruins, a concrete grain silo, etc. -- poked out from the 10 meters of ash here. A couple of bridges still spanned the Laramie River -- most of a railway bridge, and the Interstate 80 highway bridge. The locals hid fearfully; the team decided to push on another few miles and camp outdoors.

    

18 August 2139

 

weather report:  25 kph winds from west. Nightly low temperature 18º C, daily high temperature 29º C. Clear skies.

 

     The team approached Cheyenne after a couple of hours of driving. Again, only the ruins of taller buildings protruded from the layers of ash, dust and dirt -- the narrow dome and upper walls of the state capitol, the girders of a couple of office buildings, the stone (reinforced with steel) spire of a cathedral, and a few other structures. Nuclear blasts, decades of heavy snow, and the weight of volcanic ash had collapsed and buried nearly all signs of pre-War civilization.

 

     The Feemen community was fairly obvious -- an area several hundred meters across, surrounded by a fence; an inner palisade, made from rubble and steel; and an old bank building at the center. Herds of sheep and goats milled about inside the fence; a small number of horses were seen in corrals within the palisade. Most of the Feemen -- less than six hundred persons -- lived in crude huts within the palisade, or in shelters among the sheep pens.

     Scotty and the team decided to stay out of sight for the moment, and looked for a covert camp location. Among the hills a few kilometers southwest of Cheyenne, they found a good area -- and signs that some other people had chosen that camp area already that day! Approaching an old ruin, they were challenged by a female voice:  Annie, the leader of the Wild West Girls' Gang. After a few tense moments, some members of the team approach the ruin and talk with the WWGG.

 

The Wild West Girls

     These four women are widows or orphans from the Green River Valley and Sage Plains of southwestern Wyoming, each with their own reasons for joining the gang. They have a secret hideout (Brown's Hole, aka Brown's Park; though team R54 doesn't know that yet). They all know Roadtalk; Tyra also knows Unislang.

     All four wear sort of "1950s cowgirl" outfits (white cowboy hats, various badges, vests, cowboy shirts, bandannas, boots and spurs, leather gauntlets, fancy gunbelts and holsters with conchos, big belt buckles, etc.) -- though only Luanne wears a skirt; the others wear jeans and fringed chaps. The nick-names were mostly Holly's idea; the other members of the gang don't use them very reliably (about as often as the members of R54 call Scotty "Sergeant Crockett").

 

  • Annie "Prairie Princess" Tinker:  founder and leader of the gang. Age late 20s, gray eyes, brown hair. She's armed with a Colt Frontier revolver, a bowie knife, and a lever-action Winchester Model 1894 (caliber .30-30). The usual spokeswoman, best horsewoman and outdoorswoman, and best shot with a rifle (Rifle 60%). Her Unarmed Combat skill is 60%, and Knife is at 40%; her Fieldcraft is at 75%. After her husband was killed by NuChurch raiders seven years ago (2132), she became a wandering vigilante around the Green River Valley and Sage Plains. After rescuing Luanne in 2136 they formed the Wild West Girls. She's literate.

  • "Doc" Luanne Skells:  age about 30, tall and thin, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a horned skull brand on her left shoulder -- burned into it after she was captured by the NuChurch zealots. Luanne was married, but her family and village were destroyed by the NuChurch, and she spent several months in the hands of the zealots before Annie freed her (in 2136).  She carries a Colt Frontier revolver, and a double-barrel 12 gauge shotgun, along with medical supplies. She doesn't talk much, and a Psychology skill roll revealed a lot of issues due to her treatment by the NuChurch. Literate; her First Aid skill is at 30% (note that the 30% base listed on the character sheet is for 20th Century persons).

  • Holly "Two Guns" Duke:  Age about 20, brown hair worn in twin tails, short and slender, star tattoo on one cheek. She carries two Colt Lightning revolvers (.44-40 caliber) and a Winchester Model 1873 rifle (caliber .44-40), along with a deck of playing cards and a pack of cigarettes. After her town was raided and her parents killed by the NuChurch, she lived as a sort of wild orphan and part-time prostitute before taking up her guns and joining the gang three years ago (2136). A bit of a flirt. Illiterate (though Annie and Luanne have been teaching her the three Rs). She has Handgun skill at 50%, and is fairly quick on the draw.

  • Tyra "Mustang" Bell:   Age about 20, with dusky skin and long black hair worn in dreadlocks, Caucasian features and Asian eyes that are an unusual shade of blue. One eyebrow is pierced, and she can’t manage to subdue the mean look that often takes over her face. She carries a Winchester Model 97 pump shotgun, a Colt Frontier revolver, and several knives of various sizes, some hidden. Tyra was raised by a wandering gang of motorcycle raiders, and doesn't know where she was born or who her parents were; in all likelihood the gang kidnapped her as a young girl. She was handed around as "furniture", in addition to handling menial camp chores. The gang was raiding westwards into Wyoming two years ago (2137) when a small town -- led by Annie and the other two Wild West Girls -- fought back and destroyed them. When the dust settled and the people emerged to rejoice, Tyra felt ashamed -- and afraid -- for having been associated with the gang. The locals wanted to string her up for her involvement with the raiders, but Annie insisted they spare her. After they released her, Annie wordlessly offered Tyra a gun and a week’s water ration, before turning and riding off. Given a chance to get away, instead of trying to make it on her own Tyra followed Annie - and has followed her ever since. She's illiterate, but knows how to ride and maintain a motorcycle; her skills with Unarmed Combat, Throw, Knife, and Knife Parry are all around 60%.

 

     The WWGG has five riding horses, and a cart pulled by two mules (normally Luanne drives the cart). The cart can carry about 500 kg of cargo.

 

 

     Currently they are working to get arms and supplies for the Green River Valley inhabitants in their fight against the NuChurch -- "some small towns are worried that the zealots will attack soon; we agreed to help." They believe the Feemen have a large supply of firearms collected in the decades since the Atomic War. Since the Feemen won't ever sell their guns, the Girls have been planning to break in and take some. The Morrow team felt the same! Scotty told the WWGG that the team was part of the California Liberation Militia, and some other stuff about California, Lost Paradise, etc. that clearly went over the Girls' heads. The team also stated that they had come to fight the Doomriders.

 

other Wild West Girl info

Who needs the weapons?

     "The folk living in the Green River Valley and the Sage Plains, west of the Red Desert. We’re being squeezed by those bastards from the NuChurch. They came around demanding the towns surrender to them and accept their new ways. Destroy everything the people worked so hard to build, and give up their freedoms to support their leader, the one they call the NuPope. Anyway, some of the villages decided they weren’t going to join no NuChurch, and hired us girls to come here and get them the stuff they need to fight back."

 

What’s this NuChurch, and where is it?

     "We don’t know a whole lot about them. They’re several weeks travel from here, over the Uintah mountains and the deserts to the south. They say they actually come from old Utah. Anyhow, they’ve started coming across the mountains and demanding folks join their religion or face the fire. We won’t let that happen. People got a right to determine for themselves what gods they worship and whose flag flies over their heads."

 

Can we help?

     "Well, you've got your own trouble with the Doomriders. But we might be able to help each other while we’re both here in Cheyenne. We know a little about the Feemen stronghold, and could use the extra muscle if we go in there with guns blazing. What do you say?"

 

We need all the supplies and weapons for liberating California, and fighting the Doomriders.

     "Well, we need rifles and ammo for our people -- at least a hundred rifles, preferably two or three hundred."

 

Scotty and the team dickered and squeezed the WWGG into accepting almost nothing --

they get a hundred rifles (if there are that many), the Morrow team gets everything else.

The moment when "obtain weapons" turned into "pillage the community" wasn't easy to pin down.

 

Sounds like a deal...

     "Great, we didn’t want to have to fight you anyway! Here’s what we know. The Feemen stick largely to the center of town in a crumbling walled stronghold. Outside of that the ruins are pretty much empty. Normally they sweep the ruins every few days to clear out squatters on their land, but with the recent rise of the Doomriders the Feemen aren’t patrolling as much as they used to. They capture anyone they find and take them to the pillories” [shows them on the map], to die."

     "Tyra ... uh, Mustang ... already has scouted the area out; it looks like there are only a few lookouts outside their fenced area, watching from high ruins for any sign of the Doomrider army out on the plains. The idea is if they spot the Doomriders, they’ll raise an by sending up smoke signals. We should avoid the lookouts; if they see us and raise the alarm we’ll lose the element of surprise completely."
     "The chief’s stronghold is located in this tall Ancient building [shows on map]. The Feemen have built up this area so it’s like a fortress. We can expect lots of guards and the best warriors to be in the building, ready to fight to the death."

 

     The Morrow team and the Wild West Girls agreed to share the camp and work together. Around midnight, Jesse, JJ and Tyra drove off in the XR311 towards Cheyenne. JJ and Tyra were going to sneak inside the palisade and see how things were; Jesse stayed about 800 meters away, behind a low ridgeline, to act as radio relay.

    

19 August 2139

 

weather report:  20 kph winds from west. Nightly low temperature 16º C, daily high temperature 30º C. Clear skies.

 

     JJ and Tyra had snuck into the Feemen palisade before dawn, and radioed back to say they'd spend the day at their high vantage point. Scotty, Doc and Jake Gootz took Annie with them on a "trading run" to the Feemen compound.

     The Feemen watched the V150 drive up to their fence, and held their fire. Scotty made the team's desire to trade known to the guards, who in turn summoned a more important guard.

 

The Feemen

      Most of the tribe are affected by microcephaly. The adult men (or at least the warriors) are strong, heavy brutes, clad in furs and simple clothing; they wear various Ancient helmet with the addition of pronghorn skulls, and capes made from old orange emergency blankets. They're dirty and apparently not very bright; they use a particularly hard-to-understand dialect of Roadtalk.

      Of the approximately 600 Feemen, 200 are less than 16 years old; 120 are boys, 80 are girls. The gender ratio gets a bit more balanced for the adults -- Feemen males live a hazardous lifestyle. 190 adult warrior males, 150 adult working females, 30 elderly or invalid males, 30 elderly or invalid females.

     Warriors carry various knives, a firearm, and some boomballs (simple black powder potato-masher grenades). Their firearms are either old (Ancient) pump shotguns, or single-shot large-caliber cartridge rifles, or muzzle-loading rifles; all are modified to be more useful as melee weapons (but less useful as guns). The guns and boomballs aren't very reliable.

 

weapons images from Darwin's World

 

     The females tend the sheep and horse herds, deal with simple farming and household chores, or work in the factory making boomballs or reloading shotgun shells.

     Historically, the Feemen traded medicine (ju-ju) in return for firearms and ammunition. In more recent decades, they accepted food and other trade goods (like black powder, booze, lead for making bullets, and alcohol fuel).

 

     A request for medicines resulted in the guards bringing out Bixby, a "more normal" man from Arizona. He was a wandering scholar, until a year ago or so when he arrived here and was enslaved to perform technical duties for the Feemen. He was tanned and fit, probably in his mid-thirties, and wore a pair of (cracked) eyeglasses.

     Bixby was able to talk with the team reasonably freely (mostly by using vocabulary unknown to the Feemen); he showed some of the medicines available (including a couple of broad-spectrum antibiotics), and told how he spent much of his time reloading shotgun shells, or making boomballs. King Harald arrived last year, and killed the previous chieftain; Harald is from somewhere south (Texas, maybe).

     Scotty bought some minor goods, and a small amount of antibiotics for Gootz to analyze; one interesting feature was the symbol on the bottles:

 

symbol of the Savant Empire

 

     Scotty hinted heavily that Bixby might want to hunker down that night.

     After much urging, Scotty was able to convince the Feemen that a trade of ammunition for rifles would be possible. He was escorted into the palisade, and up to a conference room in the chieftain's "tower". After a few minutes waiting, King Harald came in; Harald spoke fluent Roadtalk, and dressed like a successful trucker. He carried several pistols and knives, and a few odd hand grenades. He was willing to provide three M16 rifles, in exchange for 300 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition.

     Scotty was escorted back outside, and the rifles were brought out:  worn-out M16A1 types, generally, with one magazine each. Malfunction number 91+ with good ammunition. The team packed up and drove out of the Feemen town, and then headed east -- starting a big loop around Cheyenne, both to scout the area and to hide their camp site.

     Driving the loop took a couple of hours; at the point where the team was crossing the presumed remains of Interstate 25 about 5 kilometers north of the Feemen town, they came across a gruesome discovery:  dozens of corpses of men, women, children, horses, dogs, goats, and sheep along the trail. They were slain by the Doom Riders four days ago (15 August), any useful loot was taken. They were refugees from some community north or east of Cheyenne, probably slain while camping.

     In the mid-afternoon, the team returned to the shared camp; as they dismounted, Annie pointed out an airplane flying by, several kilometers to the north, heading east. It was a high-wing, fixed landing gear propellor aircraft, painted in green two-tone camouflage on top, sky blue underneath. The roundel on the side of the fuselage couldn't quite be made out -- dark outer ring, maybe blue; then white; then a red something in the middle.

 

what could it be?

 

     The Project team and the WWGG made maps and a simple sand-and-broken-bricks model of the Feemen town, and planned their attack for the night. After dark, Jesse, JJ and Tyra returned, with a bit more information about guard patterns, weapons, etc. Scotty had JJ and Tyra catch some sleep till after midnight. Jake Gootz looked over the medicines, and said that Super Med and Ultra Med were varieties of aureomycin and terramycin, non-synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotics derived from soil-dwelling bacterium.

   

20 August 2139

 

weather report:  25 kph winds from west. Nightly low temperature 25º C, daily high temperature 35º C. Clear skies, but a dust storm approaches from the west before noon. Winds in the storm are up to 104 kph; it persists for a couple of hours. Sunrise at 5:14 am, sunset at 6:51 pm (note that DST is not in effect).

 

     After midnight, the Morrow team and the WWGG silently approached to within 800 meters of the Feemen town.

      Jesse and Jake Gootz were left with the V150 and XR311; Luanne was left with the WWGG horses and cart. Scotty, JJ, Doc, Tyra, Holly and Annie crept into the fenced area. A couple of dogs noticed the creeping intruders, but were dealt with using silenced pistols or iguana-laced steaks. Electric lights could be seen at the three guard shacks, at the factory, and (most dangerously) on the outside corners of the tower.

 

the moon that night

 

     Once inside the palisade, JJ and Holly snuck off to a good sniping position; once they were in place, the others crept around to the factory building, killed the two Feemen guards with silenced pistols, and went inside. Bixby had already packed his traveling gear and picked the lock on his shackles. Scotty placed a two-hour timed demo charge in the gunpowder store, just in case.

     A couple more guards, patrolling around the tower, were shot from the shadows, as were the two men guarding the actual entrance; their bodies were strung up from the overhanging structure, in a macabre version of their guard duties.

     The team and girls entered the building, creeping up the fire stairs, and shooting a couple of guards and the champion (who heard a noise and unluckily stuck his head out to look down the shaft). JJ and Holly were summoned, and crept quickly across the compound to the tower; a CS gas grenade booby-trap was left at the entrance. No alarm had yet been sounded when the team reached the top floor, but alas some passing Feemen found the dead guards at the entrance, and set off the tear gas. A frag grenade was dropped down the fire stair's central shaft to deter the Feemen; Gootz was alerted to begin firing on the .50 cal positions; and the team began kicking in some doors!

     Due to some sixth-sense, or good luck, or paranoid lifestyle, or (most likely) worries about Doomrider attacks, Harald was awake and ready -- the grenade blast certainly got his attention. He set off an loud alarm recording, alerting the camp. Scotty winged him with a couple of rounds, but Harald was wearing a Project coverall under his other garb, and survived! He uttered a quick parting phrase (which nobody quite heard right) and slid down a cable to the garage!

     Scotty winged the chieftain again, but Harald managed to get into his escape buggy and began driving away. JJ frustrated some of Harald's attempts to leave the palisade by sniping the Feemen guards before they could pull open the (heavy) gates. Annie and JJ got down to the garage and took off after Harald in the other vehicle ...

 

King Harald's Chariot

     An originally white 1980 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five, stretched to 6.5 meters long (21 feet 4 inches) from the original 6.2 meters. "Conversion by Breece Custom Limousines, Dallas Texas". It's decorated with leopard print upholstery, bundles of Christmas lights, fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror, Texas vanity plates (which read “BIG CHIEF”), 8 tubular exhaust headers protruding through the hood (and making quite a racket), and a Jesus statuette on the dash. The hood ornament is a Cabbage Patch doll stuck on a spike and wearing a gaudy plastic crown. The front seat has been yanked out and replaced by a huge wicker throne for the chief to sit on as he drives, topped by an enormous (old) cow skull and horns. The location of the front seat passenger is taken up by extra 12 volt batteries and the nitrous tanks and manifold. The trunk has been taken out and an entire 1973 Hammond B-3 electric organ (from a church or bowling alley) put in its place, playable by anyone sitting in the back seat (which has been installed facing the rear window). The radio runs through a Rockford Fosgate 1800 watt sound system, also in the trunk. The engine is a 6 liter 150 HP V8, converted to run on ethanol or methanol. Some of the original options:  heavy duty cooling system, heavy-duty alternator, limited slip differential, sport handling package, AM/FM radio with 8-track, cassette and CB radio, puncture-sealing tires. Later options:  truck horns, police/fire lights and a siren, several more batteries, nitrous oxide system (currently lacking any nitrous oxide), two M1919 Browning machine guns (one under the hot and one in the trunk, fired by the former turn signal switch).

     Fuel usage (alcohol) is 48 liters per 100 kilometers; the tank holds 96 liters. Vehicle weight 2200 kilograms. 

     Cassette tapes in the vehicle include

 

     Harald managed to escape in the dust and darkness; the team decided that chasing him wasn't worth it. Gootz had fired a couple of long bursts of 20mm fire into the Feemen homes; and Scotty got on the public address system to command them to surrender. Between the gunfire and Scotty's oratory, the remaining Feemen warriors were easy to round up and disarm. Scotty had them herded outside of the palisade, into an empty horse corral; the team had other stuff to do besides guarding them for the moment. Jesse, Gootz and Luanne brought the vehicles, horses and cart into the palisade.

     Scotty remembered belatedly to disarm the bomb in the Feemen gunpowder supply ...

     Jesse was put to work assessing and preparing salvage to be taken away, and removing excess equipment from the Cadillac. Doc and Luanne began tending to the many wounded Feemen (including many of the family members). Holly and Annie looked into the armory for rifles; JJ stood lookout on the roof of the tower; Tyra kept an eye on the prisoners; Gootz stayed in the V150, buttoned up, in case of trouble; and Scotty waded into the treasury and armory. See the separate page for loot found at Cheyenne.

     By dawn, Jesse, JJ and Tyra were falling asleep. Gootz couldn't really see or hear much from inside the V150 -- and the Doomriders made it across the outer fences and within 400 yards of the palisade when they turned on their "sound truck". Their first target was the crowd of Feemen warriors, outside the palisade in a simple corral; machine gun bullets ripped into the startled Feemen. The attacking force consisted of 15 motorbikes, 12 buggies or small cars, 2 gun trucks, and a sound truck -- nearly 70 men total.

     The Project members were jerked to attention by the roar of gunfire and revving engines, and the blare of heavy metal music from the sound truck. Jesse stumbled across the compound and into the driver's seat of the V150, while Jake Gootz began to fire on the gun trucks. Scotty got one of the M2HB machine guns firing from the top of the tower, and starting taking down the advancing buggies.

     The bikes and buggies came roaring forward, while the gun trucks hung back and fired mostly at the tower roof. Gootz took out the gun trucks with 20mm armor-piercing rounds, while Scotty dealt with the buggies.

 

Game mechanics note:  the trucks had about 18 points of armor,

so .50 cal armor-piercing rounds (4d6+1 damage, penetration 21)

and 20mm explosive rounds (5d6+2 damage, penetration 22) got through, but with reduced effects on the far side of the armor.

20mm armor-piercing rounds (5d6+1 damage, penetration 29 at 300 meters) were the medicine made for these trucks.

"Modern" 22nd Century .50 caliber rounds (simple lead bullets, penetration 17) didn't penetrate the truck hulls at all,

though they could bother the gunners, tires, etc..

 

     By the time the trucks were disabled and burning, some of the bikes and buggies had made it up to the wall, and almost all of the Feemen warriors were dead. Only half-a-dozen of the Doomriders made it over the wall alive, and were hunted down by the team and the WWGG; a bit more damage was done to the Feemen survivors by this battle.

     By 6 a.m., it was clear the immediate danger had passed. The team drove out of the palisade to investigate the Doomriders and their equipment; after a couple of attempted "take you with me" attempts by the Doomrider wounded, not much effort was put into first aid attempts. Recovered equipment is listed with the Feemen loot. Gathering all that Doomrider salvage was estimated at 10 man-hours of work, by the way ... it was scattered over a wide area, there were security concerns about booby traps and surviving bad guys, you had to pull things off of, or out of burned-up vehicles, bodies had to be removed from the buggies, etc. And of course the team didn't know how long before another attack might occur. Doc, Luanne, and Annie began providing medical treatment for the Feemen warriors. There were about 4 unwounded Feemen warriors, and twenty still alive by the time the team got out to the corral. Keep in mind the limits of the (non-super-science) medic bag:

 

medic bag

A trained medic can use this bag to treat:

  • a very large number (not a whole town, though) of minor wounds;

  • 20 major wounds;

  • 4 maiming/amputation wounds;

  • and 2 persons needing large amounts of IV fluids.

Note that "treating" a maiming/amputation wound for anything but stopping bleeding will call for Medicine skill.

 

med kit

  • wound treatment:  heal small wounds, close major wounds, apply antibiotics, coagulants, antitoxins. An effectively unlimited number of small wounds can be treated. For major wounds, the kit has a 75% skill at First Aid or Medicine; it can heal major wounds 8 times before a refill is needed. An attempt to heal an actual major wound uses up one "dose" whether or not the kit is successful in treating the injury.

  • pain relief: spray-injection. Effect:  local or general, as the med kit decides, for about 8 hours. 8 doses.

  • stimulant:  spray-injection. Effect:  subject stays awake and unfatigued for a day or two. Aftereffects:  sleep! 8 doses.

  • sleep inducer:  spray-injection. Effect:  fall into a deep sleep in about 30 seconds, for at least 8 hours (POT 20 vs CON). 8 doses.

 

large med kit

 
  • wound treatment:  heal small wounds, close major wounds, apply antibiotics, coagulants, antitoxins. An effectively unlimited number of small wounds can be treated. For major wounds, the kit has a 75% skill at First Aid or Medicine; it can heal major wounds 48 times before a refill is needed. An attempt to heal an actual major wound uses up one "dose" whether or not the kit is successful in treating the injury.

  • pain relief: spray-injection. Effect:  local or general, as the med kit decides, for about 8 hours. 48 doses.

  • stimulant:  spray-injection. Effect:  subject stays awake and unfatigued for a day or two. Aftereffects:  sleep! 48 doses.

  • sleep inducer:  spray-injection. Effect:  fall into a deep sleep in about 30 seconds, for at least 8 hours (POT 20 vs CON). 48 doses.

 

     There were 24 major wounds among the Feemen warriors, females and children; as a medical professional, there were about the same number of people who could have really used a pain relief injection. I suspect most members of the Morrow team were also going to need a stimulant shot (though that's up to you guys).

 

     Hugh, make the call on how treatment and supplies are used up.

If you don't want to use the med kits, half of the majorly-wounded people who don't get a successful Medicine skill roll will die during the day

(presuming you triage them in order of who needs help first,

and get some help with First Aid skill from your team mates to keep Feemen alive long enough for proper treatment to start).

The other un-Medicined major wounds will proceed to take longer to resolve ...

 

 

 

     Thus Doc could expect to "use up" his medic bag, or a lot of med kit doses, or some combination of those, in treating the Feemen warriors (plus some of the Feemen women and children injured in Gootz's bombardment of their camp, and by the Doomrider attack.

 

Doc and everyone who helps during the day will get First Aid and Medicine checks, if the team decides to treat all the survivors.

 

     Standing by their V150, having a quick nibble of emergency breakfast, the team decided that the most immediate help would be the Ravagers -- since Scotty was a major in that "organization". Therefore, Scotty set off about 7:30 a.m. in the XR311, along with Trya, following the route of Interstate 25 down towards Denver and the Ravagers -- a trip of 200 kilometers. The rest of the team didn't expect to see him back for a couple of days.

 

the red line indicates routes driven by the team during this episode;

note the silo fields are marked on this map

 

     The rest of the team, with Bixby and the WWGG, set to work treating the injured, gathering salvage and loot from the Feemen community and from the Doomrider wreckage, feeding the survivors, and watching for more Doomriders ...

     About when crossing the border into Colorado, Scotty and Tyra were nearly overtaken by a sandstorm from the west. Some extra-fast driving got them out of the worst of it. Scotty pressed on, making good speed along the old interstate highway, but slower through the ruins of Denver. Around sunset, the XR311 approached the Ravager fortress; the Ravagers recognized the vehicle immediately, and also recognized their good friend Major Crockett. Scotty and Tyra were escorted into the castle to have dinner with General Killstrike; he heard about their destruction of the Feemen with interest ("My goodness, you're a natural at this, Major! You were born to be a Ravager!"). Scotty proposed that the Ravagers trade some help with transport issues in return for a share of the loot. Specifically, Scotty proposed a straight-up trade of Harald's Chariot for one of the Ravager's military trucks (an M35 modified with a gas generator, very similar to the Foundation vehicle). The General agreed immediately, subject of course to inspection, and arranged for a convoy of Ravagers to depart at dawn for Cheyenne. Major Beatdown would be in charge.

     The general's staff arranged for rooms, a change of clothing, and baths for Scotty and Tyra; the Wild West Girl was treated as "the Major's woman" and left unmolested. Scotty left word with the female staff that he'd like to speak with the Sisterhood representative; and sure enough, while he was relaxing in a hot bath, she appeared, and agreed to look for Harald in return for a bounty.

   

21 August 2139

 

weather report:  5 kph winds from W and WNW. Nightly low temperature 25º C, daily high temperature 36º C. 25% cloud cover. Sunrise at 5:15 am, sunset at 6:49 pm (note that DST is not in effect).

 

     About dawn, after a hearty breakfast with the Ravagers, a convoy got underway, 38 men as follows:

 

  • twelve bikes, alcohol powered

  • one scout car (three man crew)

  • one armored car (three man crew)

  • a school bus -- capacity 65 passengers + driver; includes a roof rack. 185 HP gasogen engine, 12 meters long, weight 15 tons. Passenger capacity is reduced by about 14 passengers due to the gasogen installation. Three man crew for this trip.

  • an MC-9 Greyhound bus -- built in Toronto about 1984. Stainless steel body. 12.2 meters long, weight 12.5 tons, engine is 9.3 liter 280 HP V8 Detroit Diesel 8V-71, with a 4-speed Allison automatic transmission. Can carry 44 passengers (the three rear seats and the toilet were replaced by the gasogen system). 8.5 cubic meters of cargo space under the floor (in three compartments)), plus racks over the seats. The air conditioning system doesn't work any more. The escape hatches on the roof have pintle mounts for machineguns, but don't have guns mounted for this trip. Three man crew for this trip.

  • an armored battle truck. Six man crew for this trip.

  • two cargo trucks (one intended for the trade, one carrying supplies). Each has a two man crew for this trip; one has a machine gun above the cab. They can each seat 12 men in the cargo box on the folding seats, and 8 more sitting on the floor. I'm sure if you cram people in, Indian railway style, you could get 30 people in the back and cab ...

  • one semi-tractor hauling a lowbed trailer (for the Chariot). Two man crew.

  • a dump truck full of charcoal. Two man crew.

 

     Initially, a couple of gyro-bikes escorted the convoy, but they had to turn back just north of Denver. All the non-bike vehicles carried CB radios. The convoy would take all day to reach Cheyenne, arriving just after sundown.

 

on the the next episode

Comments (2)

Michael said

at 12:21 pm on Jan 1, 2014

Well, you know how Gootz gets ...

Kirk said

at 12:36 pm on Jan 1, 2014

We shot the sound truck? Nooo!

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