Preparations for the Mission

“Blake’s Raiders”

Memphis, Tennessee

Saturday, 6 July, 2030

Once SSG Ruiz and I finished working up more detailed plans for the mission, I broke out the second bottle of moonshine.  We had a couple of small drinks each while we ate, then I sent her off to share the rest of the bottle with the platoon.

The next couple of days passed quietly.  Word had gotten out that Memphis was not accepting unskilled refugees.  During the last month or so, the few groups we had seen approach our position had all heeded the multiple warning signs we had put up, and turned away, presumably to head toward the refugee camps along the Wolf River near Shelby Farms.

Likewise, word had clearly gotten out that the 197th was a military force not to be trifled with, and marauders had pretty much quit trying to probe our lines.  Between myself, SSG Ruiz, and SGT Rodriguez, we had enough engineering skills to build effective roadblocks and other barriers.  We had been spending at least a couple hours a day, every day, alternating between extending our lines of roadblocks and barricades and improving existing ones as we patrolled.

Spec McCarthy didn’t like being stuck in camp nearly all the time, but he also had only very rudimentary equestrian skills (EQ: 10), all gained during the time he’d been with us, and we did a lot of our patrolling on horseback.  Besides, having grown up on a farm in Wales, he knew more about farming and fishing than most people in the Battalion.  Of course, he was more accustomed to using powered farm equipment on hundreds of hectares of crops, but that also meant knew how to fix stuff, including vehicles and machinery.  I’ve never regretted saving him from the Texian Legion that had taken over the school he was attending.  In some ways he was a raw recruit, because we just didn’t have things like boot camps anymore, (heck, we were lucky to have good boots, never mind boot camp) but he was generally willing to learn and do his part.  He had also been invaluable in helping us spot ringers claiming to be experienced farmers or mechanics, hoping for a free ride.

We had turned the auditorium at the school into a combination stable and garage by cutting out part of a wall, and other platoons would occasionally bring their vehicles over for maintenance or repairs.  G-4 sent a platoon down with the supplies and the secure radio I had requested for the mission.  They also brought the cargo trailer I requisitioned in place of the horse trailer we brought up from Vicksburg, but the 2 ½ ton truck that brought the trailer down was in pretty bad shape (wear value 9).  Since Alpha platoon was handling lookout duty, I asked McCarthy to put some extra effort in working on the truck, figuring that if he could pull off a miracle, I might be able to parlay it into some extra equipment from their LT.

[ 2 ½ ton truck.  Base maintenance number 4.  Specialist McCarthy is instructed to spend all day (2 full periods, 8 hours) working on the truck.  This reduces the breakdown risk from 9% to 7% per period driven and McCarthy’s high MEC skill (MEC: 70) means the next potential breakdown is automatically avoided, giving the G-4’s own mechanics the chance to get the truck back into the shop for additional work.]

[Reaction:  The LT that G-4 sent down with the supplies is highly motivated by power (9 of spades), but is also deceitful (King of spades).  Roll of 10 on the military cargo table of encounter equipment (medical).  Roll of 5,6 and 6 (decided to stop after any duplication).  He has two cases of atropine auto-injectors (10 each) and a case of refills (100 doses).]

I knew something was strange when he offered me 5 atropine auto-injectors and 25 doses of atropine, but I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on.  I doubt that we’re going to encounter any marauders using nerve gas, but what the hell, they won’t take up any space and they might come in handy somewhere down the line…

While Specialist McCarthy worked on their truck, the rest of us worked on hooking up and testing the new radio.  Then we hooked up the cargo trailer, decided what to keep in it, loading the rest of our gear and supplies in the HumVee and making sure everything was properly secured.  Everything we were leaving behind was locked in one of the former classrooms.  I secured the door with tape and made sure the Alpha Company LT knew that I would have his ass if any of our stuff came up "missing".

Once we were loaded up, I took the G-4 LT aside to discuss the supply situation, but he wasn’t very forthcoming [DIF:INT, rolled a 27 against Captain Blake’s INT skill of 50 for a bare failure, so no negative reaction from the G-4 LT, but no extra information or supplies.  Could have been worse...]

After sending the G-4 troops off, I told the platoon to stand down for the evening, so that we could head out at first light tomorrow, warning them that this was likely the last break they were going to get for a while.  Since we had all made the march up from Vicksburg together, we knew the routine for this kind of patrol.  As SGT Whitehead put it, “Better busy than bored, Cap.”