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Major Kaiju

This version was saved 7 years ago View current version     Page history
Saved by Michael
on March 22, 2017 at 11:04:32 am
 

to the Index or to the Recon Team R-101 page or back to The Maple Revolution

 



report covers:   21 October 2140 -

 

 

Friday, 21 October 2140

 

weather:  low temperature 37 °F, high temperature 64 °F. Winds 12 to 15 kph from southwest in the morning, declining and coming from southeast later in the day. Overcast all day.

 

      The member of Morrow Project team R-101 were in Hardisty, Alberta.

     The Security Branch of the Airborne Regiment had some important prisoners.

 

The Prisoners at Lake Louise

 

       Eight members of the Morrow Project were still in "protective custody" at Lake Louise as of the summer of 2140. They were members of three teams captured by the Canadians using deceptive radio transmissions. The teams were:

 

  •  Recon Team R-12. Their bolthole was in California, in the coast range north of the Bay Area. Their vehicle was a machinegun-turret V-150 with 4 crew. Their default mission was a general "check on current population centers, industrial recovery, environmental conditions and the location of atomic detonations." They were awakened by an uninformative signal in 2137, and when they tried to make radio contact with the Project were actually in contact with the Airborne Regiment. They traveled to Canada and all 4 team members were captured. No specific skill sets. They do know a bit about the Foundation and the Purity Corp (they were active for a few weeks before being captured). Their vehicle is in the hands of the Airborne Regiment, in good condition; all of the useful ammunition stocks have been expended, and the fusion reactor is providing power to the Lake Louise facility. The Canadians have kept the computer and laser disc reader with the vehicle, since "local" power supplies are subject to voltage fluctuations, brownouts, outages, etc. The wheels were removed and sent to replace those on the R-44 vehicle, damaged in combat. The team's cache locations are known to the Canadian government, and two have been emptied:

    • CA36:  in the Mojave Desert, north of Morongo Valley

    • CA38:  near Panamint Springs, in Inyo county

    • SD06:  northeast of Usta, near Thunder Butte; emptied by the Canadians in 2139 

    • TX10:  north of Van Horn, in Culberson county 

    • CO40:  southwest of Virginia Dale; known to R-12, and emptied by the Canadians in 2139

    • CO49:  east of Como (in South Park), near the Tarryall River. 

  • MARS team M-12. Their bolthole was in northern California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Their vehicle was a 90mm cannon-armed V-150 with 5 crew. They were awakened by an uninformative signal in 2138, and lured to Canada when they attempted radio contact with the Project. 4 of the team members were captured; the other team member escaped with the vehicle, and hasn't been seen since. All members were military veterans with (at least) armored vehicle training and experience -- but NOT special forces. Two members of this team escaped in 2139, heading over the Rockies to British Columbia. One of the remaining team members is missing a leg due to injuries when first captured. The team didn't visit any of their caches before most of them were captured; the captured team members claimed not to know the locations in enough detail to find them (but may well have been lying). Unlike the Recon teams, MARS teams knew the (planned) contents of most of their caches. The caches were:

    • CA03 - a MARS-oriented cache, west of Platina, in Tehama county.

    • CA12 - another MARS-oriented cache. Located in Shasta county, west of Old Station.

    • CA28:  a 'regular" cache, north of Groveland in Tuolomne count.

    • CA29:  a "regular" cache, north of Glenville in Kern county.

    • NV12:  a MARS-oriented cache, west of Humboldt, Nevada

    • TX03:  a MARS-oriented cache, located northwest of Kent, in the Apache Mountains, in Culberson county.

  • Recon team R-44. Their bolthole was east of the small town of Marengo in east-central Washington state. Their vehicle was a two-person Commando Scout with 20mm turret. Their assignment was to check on cities in Zone 2 (Washington and Oregon). An uninformative radio signal woke them up in 2139, they traveled to Canada and were captured. The Airborne Regiment used the Scout against the Doom Riders in the 2139 and 2140 campaigns; the 20mm ammunition supply is down to a handful of rounds, and the tires are very ratty (the slightly undersize tires from R-12 and some caches are fitted currently). The reactor and electric motor have been removed from the Scout, and tested in various vehicles. Their cache locations were written down, and also in the Autonav; thus the Canadians thus know all six caches, as follows:

    • CA12, north of Pondosa, in Siskiyou county. Not visited by R-44 or the Canadians.

    • OR16, north of Lehman Hot Springs, Oregon. Not visited by R-44 or the Canadians.

    • WA16:  north of Benge, in Adams county (close to the R-44 bolthole). Visited by R-44, but they didn't take much. Not visited by the Canadians.

    • WA19:  east of Nespelem, in the Colville Indian Reservation. Not visited by R-44, nor by the Canadians.

    • ND16:  south of Balta; visited and entirely emptied by the Canadians. Was Scout-focused, so provided 2 spare Scout tires.

    • NV16:  about 50 km WNW of Winnemucca, at the edge of Desert Valley; not visited by R-44 nor the Canadians.

 

      The Canadian government has no idea where the wakeup signals are coming from (if they aren't a fault, or some secret built-in feature of the boltholes). They've been in sporadic contact with other Morrow teams who never showed up.

     The Scout didn't have a computer installed, but the R-12 vehicle did. The Airborne Regiment has ten Project ID cards, either at Hardisty or Lake Louise. The fifteen or so remaining Resistweave coveralls have been distributed mostly to caninjas.
 

I'll make a summary of the Regiment's contact with other, not-lured-in teams.

 

Operation Liberty For All

 

Operation Liberty For All

 

Lake Louise Plan of attack

We will take 6 Viking aircraft from HARDISTY to the town of BANFF, requisition ground transport, and proceed at night to LAKE LOUISE.

Each MP member will be accompanied by 1 Frontalier, 1 Skin baller and 3 Regiment members.

2 A/C will transport 6 Regiment members each.

 

Friendly forces

5 MP

5 Skin ballers

5 Frontaliers

21 Regimental (including an officer very recently appointed to Captain rank)

 

On arrival in LAKE LOUISE VILLAGE, all forces will effect the swift and peaceful takeover of the community. Civilian casualties are to be avoided to the greatest extent possible. Parachute Regiment members will take the lead in controlling the key locations of the village. MP personnel will provide support and coordination to the Regiment.

 

Key Locations

Airfield - one km north of the village

Train Station/Telegraph Office

Bar/Brothel (search for Canadian Armed Forces members who might be on leave or pass from CFS Lake Louise, and secure them)

 

Once the village is secure, we will move swiftly to CFS LAKE LOUISE. We will attempt to infiltrate CFS LAKE LOUISE, if conditions will support such action.

 

Forces for securing CFS LAKE LOUISE

4 MP (Doc Perkins will remain in town to coordinate with security forces).

4 Skin ballers

4 Frontaliers

8 Regimental

 

We will establish a support position with our LMG’s to support the advance of our forces.

Mr. Fairhope and Mr. Khoderevsky will lead the initial assault force. Ms. Tager will anchor the support position with her LMG. Capt. Doyle will move from Support Position to enter the building when initial assault has secured entry to the building.

It can NOT be emphasized enough that we have friendly forces inside CFS LAKE LOUISE. Extra caution will be taken to avoid friendly fire (it isn’t!).

 

All MP will wear WHITE Resistweave

All personnel will wear red bands on each arm. Spare bands will be carried to give to liberated MP personnel freed at CFS LAKE LOUISE.

Safety of MP prisoners takes priority over capture of Regiment personnel. We can always catch them later.

 

Challenge FARRAH

Response FAWCETT

 

This was chosen to be guessable by our MP friends, but not by random guards.

 

As always

Move Swiftly

Aim Carefully

Strike Hard

 

     A half-dozen of Canada's Viking aircraft were summoned from Winnipeg.

 

Saturday, 22 October 2140

 

weather:  low temperature 39° F, high temperature 57° F. Winds 8 to 15 kph from west and northwest. Overcast all day. Sunrise was at 9:15 a.m. (Mountain Time, daylight savings not in effect).

 

     About 2:30 in the afternoon, a half-dozen Viking aircraft arrived, having flown 1190 kilometers from Winnipeg. Each had 2 crew aboard. The planes were refuelled, the "rested" pilots took over, and the Project members (and their military, skinball and frontalier allies) boarded for the flight to Banff. Takeoff was at about 3:30 p.m, for the 274 kilometer flight ... the planes arrived at Banff around 4:45 p.m.,  a couple of hours before sunset.

 

weather:  temperature 39° F to 51° F; mostly cloudy 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; strong winds from WSW from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

 

     The stationmaster told the team that there had been no contact with Lake Louise for a couple of days; the telegraph line might be down, and the rail-truck only came down to Banff twice a week to pick up mail and groceries.

     Captain "Nemo" addressed the gathered townspeople, a couple of trucks were requisitioned, and most of the force departed for Lake Louise at 6 p.m.. The 50 kilometer drive would take 4 hours; that would leave the team 7 kilometers away from the village and chateau; there were plenty of trees and low ridges to conceal the vehicles' approach.

     Dismounting from the trucks, the force covered the 7 kilometer distance in a couple of hours. It was pretty close to midnight when they entered Lake Louise Village. A few things were immediately apparent:

 

  • the telegraph line had been violently pulled down for a couple hundred meters just before the village

  • the rail-truck had its hood up and seemed to be under repair

 

     Only the tavern and the rail station had any lights showing ... both places had sudden late-night visitors. Liam Murphy, the tavern owner, spoke with Captain Doyle; he said that 48 hours ago there'd been a violent (in the sense of noisy in the middle of the night) escape from the chateau. All of the prisoners had stolen a big dump truck and driven off towards Kicking Horse Pass.

Kenworth 849 truck, stolen on October 21, 2140

 

     They'd pulled down a lot of the telegraph line, sabotaged the station master's rail-truck, and apparently chased off the chateau's horses and damaged other vehicles too.

     Leaving a small team of soldiers to guard the village, the rest of the force moved to the chateau, about 3 kilometers away. Appearing suddenly after midnight, they took the garrison by surprise. Captain "Nemo" and the Canadian troops led the way into the building; the guards at first assumed this was a group sent up from Banff to help recapture the escaped prisoners. Nope!

 

Sunday, 23 October 2140

 

weather:  low temperature 40° F, high temperature 50° F; cloudy all day, with rain showers from 1 p.m. onwards. Waxing moon is about 94% full. Sunrise is at 9:23 a.m. (although the sun doesn't clear the mountains to the east till at least 9:30).

 

After midnight:

 

     The garrison was very tired -- they'd been awakened by the escape the night before last, and had spent much of the time since then chasing down the scattered horses, working to repair the telegraph and vehicles, and searching the chateau to determine what gear had been stolen by the prisoners. The prisoners probably had rifles, shotguns or pistols (Jack Garvins was being employed by the Canadians as a gunsmith), and Garvins himself probably had a reasonably accurate rifle, along with a belt-fed Browning machine gun. The diesel-powered dump truck had been loaded with drums of fuel, along with lots of food, blankets and camping equipment.

     Captain Breen, a very tired and exhausted fellow, was probably relieved to hear that the escaped prisoners were someone else's problem now.

     Tager eyed the Security Branch staff suspiciously, and pretty soon most or all of them were locked up. Doyle sent a couple of men to trudge through the dark back to where the trucks had been left. Everyone needed sleep ...

     Around 8 a.m., messengers set forth headed for Banff. They carried instructions to have two Viking aircraft fly though Kicking Horse Pass, follow the dump truck's path, and drop a message to the truck. They were to remain as high as possible while doing all of this (but under the cloud layer).

 

Doyle's message to the escaping prisoners

WAR IS OVER, CANADA IS FREE AGAIN WITH THE HELP OF THE MORROW PROJECT. PLEASE COME BACK TO ALBERTA. SIGNED DOYLE, TEAM LEADER R-101.

We should get Hugh to provide the actual text.

There's no real limit to the size of the message (except how much time you wanted to spend writing it.)

 

     At 9 a.m., the two trucks set out from the chateau, and entered Kicking Horse Pass. For about 60 kilometers, the road was broad and clear -- formerly a four-lane freeway -- in a wide, flat valley with the Kicking Horse River winding along. The trucks forded the river a couple of times, following the tracks of the big dump truck the escaped prisoners had used. This took about 4 hours of driving, and brought them to the narrow, steep part of the pass, about 10 or 12 kilometers of narrow canyon, landslides, and steep roads. The highway had been maintained from time to time over the decades since the Atomic War, but the team could see that a wooden bridge had been burned two days ago. They got out of their trucks and began walking.

     The tracks of the dump truck were easy to follow, and even a rough, improvised 5% grade road was better than clambering over the hillsides. As Kirk remembers, this part (the narrow canyon) was still a 2-land road in the 1980s, as shown in this picture. Not long after they started walking, two Vikings flew overhead -- the underside of the cloud cover was 2000 meters above sea level; Lake Louise was 1600 meters above sea level; the floor of the Trench (where Golden is located) was about 800 meters above sea level.

     An hour or so later, one Viking flew back, and dropped a can with a message: OTHER PLANE SHOT DOWN. It continued back towards Lake Louise.

     At the end of the day, the team came out of the pass near the ruins of Golden, and camped. The rain made their journey a bit less pleasant.

 

Monday, 24 October 2140

 

weather:  temperature 35 F to 46 F; overcast 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; fog and light rain showers 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., also at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.. Waxing moon is 98% full.

 

     In the morning, the team determined that the escaped prisoners were heading NNW along the Trench; there was a lot of pondering and supposition about the reason for that. The day was spent hiking briskly; the night was spent camped. Pete heard a bear ....

 

Tuesday, 25 October 2140

 

weather:  temperature 39 F to 48 F; overcast all day, plus fog before dawn. Sunset was at 7:34 p.m. (although the mountains to the west hid the sun at least 20 minutes prior to that time).

 

     The faint roar of the Peterbilt truck moving slowly away from the team spurred them to brisk hiking this day. By nightfall they realized they were only 5 kilometers from the escapee's campsite; the team pushed on into the darkness.

     Thus, at about 8 p.m. the search party arrived at a wide clearing, with the truck parked in the middle. The escapees had rigged out a big tarpaulin from the rear of the truck, and were making dinner. Annie Tager moved out into sight first, in her white Resistweave suit and red hat ... she certainly didn't look Canadian! Friendly contact was made, at last. The rest of the search team stumbled into the camp, and were offered hot stew.

     The escapees were led by Jack Garvins, a member of MARS team M-12. He was a former Marine warrant officer, with lots of experience as a sniper and marksmanship instructor. A lot of questions were asked by both groups:

 

questions asked for Garvins and his group

  • What the hell are you doing going north?

    • "Rogers Pass is inaccessible; we're going to Big Bend and following the Columbia River to Revelstoke. That's roughly the route we all took to get here." Most of Big Bend Highway was abandoned in the early 1980s after the lakes on the Columbia River flooded much of the route, and the Rogers Pass road was built. Here's a lovely picture of the Big Bend Highway in 2013, after three decades of abandonment.

  • Where's the M-12 vehicle at?

    • "We don't know. Gene Ribera was left with the vehicle when we were scouting near Lake Louise; he drove back through Kicking Horse Pass and followed the Columbia River. That was a couple of years ago."

  • How were you awakened?

    • All three teams were awakened by properly-encrypted VLF signals, which included an "action code" (the reason for waking up):

      • CODE 0608 REBRIEFING AND LOGISTIC UPDATE ALERT

      • CODE 0751 CRYOBERTH UPDATE REQUIRED

      • CODE 1000 EMERGENCY TEAM ACTIVATION SIGNAL RECEIVED

    •  

      None of the teams were contacted by Prime Base after waking up. Their clocks were all incorrect by many decades.

  • What were conditions like in the areas you came from?

    • M-12 was in a bolthole in the Sierra Nevada foothills. They heard about the Foundation, as a well-armed group in northern California, but didn't encounter them. They traveled north through the Columbia Plateau in Oregon (nasty groups living there), and roughly followed the Columbia River into Canada.

    • see the top of this page for info on R-44 and R-12. They know more about the Foundation, including that they probably have the equipment from a Morrow Project supply depot. 

  • What do you have?

    • The Peterbilt truck, lots of diesel fuel, a couple of not-very-detailed maps, blankets and cold weather clothing, a sort-of skimpy set of hobo-level camping gear (pots and pans, canteens, steak knives, etc.), some 9mm pistols, a couple of 12 gauge shotguns, a sniper rifle (built from various parts), and a belt-fed 7.62mm Browning machine gun, with 500 rounds of ammo.

 

questions R-101 is asked

     Besides a lot about the Maple Revolution, Garvins and his team ask about:

  • When did your team wake up? What type of team are you?

    • Our berths opened up on July 3rd -- we've been busy. We're a Recon team, with a 65 foot long patrol boat in the Great Lakes."

      • "Jiminy Cricket, you guys are lucky!"

  • What happened to Prime Base?

    • "We don't know. Nobody seems to have heard from them."

  • Did the Project forget about just us, or all the teams?

    • "At least seven teams, including a big Engineering depot, woke up after the Atomic War, before 2050. As far as we can tell, none of those team were awakened by a signal -- it was "bolthole conditions" in every case where the survivors were able to determine what happened. The ones that left records woke up between 2010 and 2047. We've met the grand daughter of a Morrow Project member, and there are some other people around descended from Project members."

  • What's going on in the Great Lakes?

    • "There's various nascent industrial zones, but also some pirates, raiders and nasty areas. Chicago has lots of cannibals, for example. We've made contact with a busy industrial zone in Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny Mountains -- they make and sell rifles, mortars, cannons, and a cute copy of the grease gun. We are based in what's called the Arcadian Republic, around the remaining Soo locks, and are working with Heather Mist to build relationships between the civilizations around the Great Lakes."

  • Who are these other folks with you?

    • "Rene, Paul, Eduard, Jean, and Joseph are frontaliers; basically wilderness sorts in Ontario." Referee question:  did you take any skinball guys, or Canadian soldiers, on the hike into the Trench? Not too important, though.

 

 

     With better camping conditions, and Garvins' group standing watch, Doyle's team got much better rest that night.

 

Wednesday, 26 October 2140

 

weather:  temperature 35 F to 46 F; overcast or mostly cloudy all day. Full moon this night.

 

     At dawn, after breakfast, everyone climbed onto the truck, which turned back towards Golden. The day was spent driving.

 

Thursday, 27 October 2140

 

weather:  temperature 35 F to 39 F; fog before dawn, overcast all day, with light rain from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

 

     Another day driving through the Trench. Riding in the dump box, in the rain, was not so nice; a few people considered getting out and walking. Midway back to the pass, they stopped to bury the pilot of the Viking aircraft that Garvins had shot down. Digging a grave in cold rain was no fun ... Garvins did most of the work, though.

     They ended the day at the outlet of the Kicking Horse Pass.

 

Friday, 28 October 2140

 

weather: 28 F to 41 F, with 8 kph winds from the NW from noon. Scattered clouds.

 

     The Peterbilt was parked for "long term storage", with the battery disconnected, tarpaulin wrapped around the cab, etc. They then began trekking up the narrow part of the pass ... twelve or so kilometers of 5% grade, uphill, with a cold wind at their backs (35° F including windchill from noon onwards). This took most of the day; the team got through the narrow, rugged part of the pass, but without much daylight left.

 

Saturday, 29 October 2140

 

weather:  23 F to 41 F, mostly cloudy. Winds 8 to 10 kph from the SE from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

 

     After a freezing night, the group set out again along the Kicking Horse River. A Canadian Army command car met the team in the morning as they trudged along. Half-a-dozen people jammed into the car, which sped back to the chateau, and sent out trucks for the other Morrow people. By the end of the day, everyone was back at Lake Louise, having hot baths and hearty meals.

 

Sunday, 30 October 2140

 

weather (Lake Louise to Banff):  28 F to 37 F, mostly cloudy with three snow showers during the day.

 

     The Project members, along with their skinball and frontalier allies, traveled back to Banff by train. At Banff they learned that snow was falling at Hardisty, and in general air travel was a bad idea. They were put up in the hotel for the night.

 

Monday, 31 October 2140 - Halloween

 

weather:  19 F to 33 F, mostly cloudy or scattered clouds. Snow showers in the morning.

 

     Our Heroes boarded a train, bound for Hardisty -- about 500 kilometers away.

 

Tuesday, 1 November 2140

 

weather (Hardisty):  23 F to 32 F, light snow fall all day, light winds from the south.

 

     By the end of the day, the Project teams were in Hardisty. Team R-101 had been away for nine days; there was lots of news about the Revolution. The visible damage from the looting and unrest had been cleaned up, and businesses were open again.

 

Wednesday, 2 November to Friday, 4 November 2140

 

weather:  cold; rain showers all three days; mud.

 

     Some rest in front of warm fires, and shopping, helped the team recover from the Revolution and lots of walking through the Rockies.

     Tager did some shopping at the stores catering to "gents and lasses", buying outfits for her friends.

 

The Tager Collection

     When money and opportunity collide, I want to pick up some leisure clothes for the team.  Some saving may be required, or sweet talking of rich Canadians, or boxing matches, to finance all this. They are meant as gifts so I'm not going to pick the team's pockets for this.

 

  • some "townie" duds for Bob.  Frock coat, nice shirt, vest, fancy neck scarf, pants that are not denim. Because Southern charm should look slick. About $9.

  • a shirt with bloused sleeves, leggings, a sleeveless over-tunic (heavy enough to hold up to a shoulder belt), and a wide belt for Popeye. Because he should look medieval and even bigger; and the ladies like to see a well-turned calf now and then. About $5.

  • a heavy-duty bib shirt, denim trousers, a nice belt with a fancy buckle, cowboy hat, and gun belt for Roy. Just a hunch that gear will look good on Sam Elliott. About $4.

  • for Vic, a frontier doctor look - white shirt with thin vertical stripes, black vest, black frock coat, black trousers, black four-in-hand tie, a "doctor's" bag for God only knows what, and some spectacles with plain glass for when he wants to look smart like Governor Perry. Because I got my idea of frontier doctors from Little House on the Prairie. About $13.

  • for Peter, clothes that fall off easily? Circus acrobat tights?  This was a hard one to settle on.  A nice buttoned shirt of soft cotton; it should look better with a few of them unbuttoned.   Sleeves that are easy to roll up and some heavy braces for that Smith & Forge strong-man look. Some high-waisted trousers that will no doubt fit snugly, showing off his build to good effect. About $3.

  • large red kerchiefs for everyone. About $0.50

 

     Total $34.50; boots are very personal, so some accessorizing is left to the team.      Presumably more recently-acquired Morrow team members get less extensive gifts. "Welcome to the 22nd Century" embroidered handkerchiefs, perhaps.

 

Available in English, French, or Ojibwe.

 

A Sharp-Dressed Man

 

     As an example, a successful professional gambler in Hardisty will wear an expensive black suit ($10) and boots ($5), offset by a snow-white ruffled shirt ($2) and dazzling "flowerbed" brocaded vest ($4). Huge rings adorn his fingers (two at $5). A stickpin with a large stone, called a ‘headlight,’ sparkles on his chest ($5). In a pocket of his vest is an enormous pocket watch ($10) adorned with precious jewels and attached to a heavy silver chain ($2) that drapes across his chest. In the fall and winter, his black worsted topcoat ($13) holds a flask of whisky, kid gloves ($2), and a scarf. His black fur hat has a wide brim ($4); his cane has a silver head, and probably a concealed blade ($3). He'll have a nickel-plated .38 Special or .44-40 revolver with pearl grips ($30) in a holster at his side, out of sight; he doesn't carry any spare cartridges, though. Total, $100 including the revolver.

     Note that the highest-paid, most dangerous labor at the refineries near Hardisty draws $5 per day.

 

Prize Fights in Hardisty

 

     The fights draw large crowds, who usually pay $5 at the door (and pay some more inside for liquor). Headquarters Hall, the main arena for fights and other spectacles, makes $2000 from the door, and table fees paid by the professional gamblers, on a good night. Besides prize fights, there are matches involving bears and dogs, and other blood sports. The winner's purse for the "highlight" prize fight of the week might reach $300. Lesser matches, or lesser halls (the Empire, the Derrick, the Rumble, etc.) rarely exceed a $100 purse for the winner; admission to these venues is usually $0.50 or $1, with charges up to $2 for especially popular events.

 

Other Entertainments at Hardisty

 

     Projection of (fragmentary) movies, with live orchestra; singers; plays; dancers, erotic or otherwise; magic acts, Ancient technology, knife throwers, gymnasts, tumblers, escape artists, speakers and lecturers, fiji mermaids, trick shooters, midgets, bearded ladies, strong men, and other 'freaks'; wild or trained animals, including the famous McLoskey's Learned Moose ... it's pretty easy to spend $2 a night even with modest "amusement requirements."

 

Everyone takes all accumulated checks. Garvins has checks in Drive Truck and Full Auto (for shooting down the Viking).

 

     There are also meetings with the Canadian government, regarding the military campaign of the coming year. Radio frequencies were discussed.

     A number of things snatched by the Regiment were returned -- including some items from the Morrow Project museum at Soo. This included several kilograms of boron. Some Canadians of note:

 

  • Kyle Griffin:  male, age 56, formerly a sergeant now a captain in the RCMP. Very skilled (80% level) at Fieldcraft, Psychology, Sneak, Spot Hidden, Tradecraft (22nd Century version) and several useful languages (including Cree and the three Anishinaabe languages found in the liberation force). During the Maple Revolution, he was the liaison with the Morrow Project.

  • Amanda Bryce:  female, age 66, formerly the town mayor in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (until the coup of 2113). A widow, one of her sons was killed fighting against the Regiment during the coup. She knows English, French, Cree, and the Anishinaabe languages at pretty good levels, and has good negotiation skills. As of late October, 2140, she is the provisional premier of the Government of Canada.

 

     A few of the Project members are a bit concerned about the Mrs. Bryce's tone regarding America.

 

Thursday, 5 November 2140 - Guy Fawkes Day

 

weather:  cool, windy, mostly cloudy.

 

     The Morrow Project teams, minus a few being sent elsewhere, boarded a train bound for Thunder Bay. Other assignments/destinations:

 
  • liaison with Canada? That would be in Hardisty. Two people?

  • industrial survey and advisory team, in Winnipeg. One person? Two people?

 

There are six Recon team NPCs just now added to the group;

and I suspect posting a couple of them at Sentinel or Bastion might be useful. 

 

     The trip to Thunder Bay was expected to take four days by train -- it's 1,850 kilometers.

 

Monday, 8 November 2140

 

weather (Thunder Bay):  30 F to 46 F ("Oooh, it's a warm one, eh?"), overcast, with fog and rain showers most of the day.

 

     Arrived at Thunder Bay, Ontario. Roy was pleased to see his team mates, but wished he'd had a bit of notice to clean up. Garvins was predictably jealous of the Calypso.

     Arrangements were made to ship various Project assets -- broken armored cars, for example -- to various places.

 

We'll have to make a list of the various refurbished, hulked, destroyed, etc. Project vehicles that are in inventory.

 

     Note that Lake Superior itself rarely freezes entirely over -- it's very deep -- but water in the harbors, and along the coasts, often freezes.  Thunder Bay almost always freezes over.

 

Tuesday, 9 November 2140

 

weather (Thunder Bay):  32 F to 39 F, overcast.

 

     Departed for Soo, a journey of 700 kilometers. On the way, the Calypso swerved aside to point out their own bolthole on West Huron Island, and Team Eta's depot at Granite Island. The trip took 24 hours, and the Calypso hove to for most of the night (probably near one of the Project bases).

 

Thursday, 11 November 2140 - Remembrance Day

 

weather (Soo):  cold; rain in the morning, snow from noon onwards.

 

     The Calypso arrived at Soo around sunset. There was a moderate amount of public attention -- people around here attributed the success of the Maple Revolution to the participation of the Morrow Project. "Hurray, team with local connections!" In fact, there was more celebration of R-101 here than anywhere in Canada.

 

Friday, 12 November - Sunday, 14 November, 2140

 

weather:  cold, overcast, snow showers. Winds very strong from the NW. Saturday and Sunday, cold and overcast.

 

     Rest and recuperation. The various hulks and broken Morrow vehicles arrived; the archives at the Project museum were consulted.

 

Monday, 15 November, 2140

 

weather:  cold, overcast, snow showers.

 

     The team set out in the Calypso for Marquette, to investigate the reports of "bots" in the woods of the Upper Peninsula. Travel across the lake took 6 hours.

     Marquette had a few hundred people living among the ruins of the pre-War city. A couple of nuclear weapons had struck K.I. Sawyer AFB during the War, and a huge fire destroyed the city. The locals were friendly enough, and said that the "bots" (both the villagers, and the phenomena the villagers talked about) were southwest, about 30 kilometers or so.

     On the team's Autonav, that roughly matched the location of an ELF transmitter array -- the "Michigan Transmitter Facility", operated by the U.S. Navy, and due to be completed in 1988 (i.e., after your teams went into cryosleep). It hadn't been secret, and got press in various publications; the transmitter turned 2 megawatts of electrical input into 2 or 3 watts of transmitted signal. As part of strategic communications before the War, presumably the ELF facility was also struck by Soviet nuclear weapons.

 

Tuesday, 16 November, 2140

 

weather:  temperatures 12 F to 25 F; snow depth 28 cm, wind speed 30 kph from the north or northwest (including wind chill, temperatures most of the day were around 0 F). Light snow showers all day.

 

     Hiking southwest from Marquette, along the trace of what had been U.S. Highway 41, in the face of stiff winds. From Marquette to Republic wa about 45 miles along the old highways; the trip wasn't going to be completed in one day.

     There were very small villages, farms, and such scattered about; the team spent the night in a barn. The farmer knew about the "bots", though he wasn't one of the folks that worshiped the machines.

 

Wednesday, 17 November, 2140

 

weather:  temperatures 4 F to 15 F; snow depth 28 cm, winds light. Light snow showers before dawn, and after noon.

 

     The wind had mostly died down, and the sun peeked through the clouds a few times in the morning. However, the temperatures were bitterly cold.

     Traveling on skis or snowshoes, the team approached the forest. Northern white cedar trees grew thickly, with some balsam fir, black spruce, eastern hemlock and black ash mixed in. Some of the cedars had fallen down in the previous day's wind, while loaded with snow. The snow beneath the cedar canopies was about one-third as deep as out in the open, and it was a few degrees warmer than air in the open. White tail deer and snowshoe hares were seen, or at least their tracks; as the snow gathered, they had started eating foliage higher up the trees ... no other plants were visible above the snow.

     The cedars weren't very tall -- 10 meters at most -- as the whole area had been subject to a couple of air burst nuclear blasts during the War.

 

MORE TO COME

 

on to the next adventure

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