Moving On Down the Highway

“Blake’s Raiders”

Norfolk Landing, Mississippi

Saturday, 13 July, 2030

“Movin' me down the highway
Rollin' me down the highway
Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by”
Song - I Got a Name, Jim Croce, Album Lost Time in a Bottle, 1973

Based on our mounted patrols over the last several days, we know that there are no farms with living occupants in the area south of the Norfolk landing at least as far south as the “village” of Lake Cormorant.  My scouts and I have checked the “village” out via binocular.  Before the Twilight War, it was only a few houses clustered around the Post Office, a church, some grain storage silos and a few other businesses where two small roads crossed at the railroad tracks.  Most of the buildings have been burned since the Twilight War and we haven’t seen any sign of occupation in the remaining structures, but we still approach cautiously.

As expected, the few buildings left standing were vacant, having clearly been stripped of useful salvage long before we arrived, but they still had to be checked.  The grain silos were, of course, empty, but appeared to mostly be in good condition and were even connected to a nearby solar farm, apparently to power the grain dryers.  The solar farm was screened from the grain silos by a stand of trees, so it has gone unnoticed before now, but the engineer in me spotted the buried power lines that led AWAY from the pre-war overhead utility lines.  If an agreement can be reached with the GMSM, it would certainly be worth establishing a garrison here to put the grain storage back in operation.  If not, the solar array will need to be disassembled and moved closer to Memphis.

I finally ordered a halt to the effort at 11:00, after several hours of effort with no other worthwhile results.  The brick building that had once been “Robertson’s General Merchandise” at least still had a roof, so we backed the HumVee into the empty shell to fix lunch before heading further east.

SSGT Ruiz volunteered to stand lookout while we ate.  No sooner had we settled down to eat the last of yesterday’s fish, than SSGT Ruiz called out that a vehicle was coming up the railroad tracks from the south.

[Encounter roll, road - 7 - Armed; This is considered ‘Other’ Territory; Roll 5, marauders; second roll 5, marauders in vehicles; vehicle roll 7, 2 ½ ton truck with still; special weapon roll 8, LAW AT rocket]

[The 2 ½ ton truck is a former Union Pacific maintenance truck with both highway tires and rail wheels.  The marauders have been using the railroad capacity to sneak up on victims]

[Initial range is 1d10 x 300 meters - roll - 2 - 600 meters - this is where the tracks curve around some woods; Group detection of marauders is ESY:RCN (40) - roll - 24 - success; Marauder detection of group is DIF:RCN (70) - roll - 98 (failure); second roll - 92 - catastrophic failure - the marauder “lookout” has fallen asleep]

SSGT Ruiz passed on that she recognized the driver and the sleeping lookout as members of a group of marauders that we had encountered before, so we prepared to attack them without warning when they came within range.

[DIF:RCN (40) - roll - 13 - success - SSGT Ruiz recognizes the marauders]

[AVG:RCN (40) - roll - 90 - failure - SSGT Ruiz fails to spot anyone else in the vehicle]

[The truck is moving at 25 meters per turn, but begins slowing as it approaches the nearby railroad crossing, giving the group plenty of time to prepare.]

As the truck pulled even with the southern corner of our position, we opened fire.

The view of “Robertson’s General Merchandise”, just outside the “village” of Lake Cormorant at about the point where the ambush was executed

(The grain silos mentioned earlier in the report are in the far background, center)

[Veteran NPC #1 is the Driver; Experienced NPC #2 is the sleeping lookout]

Elite NPC
Hits:  25; AC-10 (torso), AC-10 (head)
Coolness: 1
CRM: 60 (to hit 36/18/4)
CAR-15 SMG [ROF: 4;  DMG: 1; Range: 30 meters; 5 magazines (10 ea)]
M-72 LAW [ROF: 1; DMG x15C; Range: 100 meters]

Veteran #1 (driver)
Hits:  17; AC-10 (torso), AC-10 (head)
Coolness: 2
CRM: 50
M-16 [ROF: 4; DMG: 2; Range: 50 meters; 5 magazines (10 ea)]

Veteran #2
Hits: 10; AC-10 (torso), AC-10 (head)
Coolness: 1
CRM: 50
M-16 [ROF: 4; DMG: 2; Range: 50 meters; 5 magazines (10 ea)]

Experienced #1
Hits: 20; AC-8 (torso), AC-6 (head)
Coolness: 3
CRM: 40
M-16 [ROF: 4; DMG: 2; Range: 50 meters; 2 magazines (10 ea)]

Experienced #2 (lookout)
Hits: 29; AC-8 (torso), AC-6 (head)
Coolness: 2
CRM: 40
M-249 [ROF: 4; DMG: 2; Range: 50 meters; 3 belts (50)]

The truck is moving less than 30 meters per turn, range is 35 meters.  

Captain Blake and SGT Whitehead target the lookout; SPEC McCarthy and SSGT Ruiz shoot at the driver; SGT Rodriguez, one of the company’s designated snipers, holds her fire and will shoot mop up if anyone misses or an unexpected target presents itself.  Everyone is taken an aimed shot with an M-16, followed by three regular shots.

First Combat Round

Captain Blake (lookout) - Roll of 29, 48, 74, 100 (94) - Hit, Miss, Miss, Miss (jammed weapon); (right leg, so miss)

SPEC McCarthy (driver) - Roll of 25, 14, 69, 04 - Hit, Hit, Miss, Hit; (left leg - 24 damage; right leg, so miss; head - 46 minus 10 for the helmet, 36 damage - driver is dead)

SSGT Ruiz (driver) - Roll of 25, 74, 66, 60 - Hit, Miss, Miss, Miss; (right arm, so miss)

SGT Whitehead (lookout) - Roll of 75, 15, 79, 60 - Hit (aimed shot), Hit, Miss, Miss (left leg - 20, left leg - 31; lookout is seriously wounded and unconscious)

[I judge a 25% chance that the driver falls such that the truck continues forward - roll 64, so the truck lurches to a stop]

Second Combat Round

[The elite NPC (coolness 1) decides to bail out of the truck to the side away from the PCs.  SGT Rodriguez, who also has coolness 1 can shoot at her as she does so..]

SGT Rodriguez - 93 (96) misses the Elite NPC and now has a jammed weapon

Captain Blake - spends the round clearing his jammed weapon

Veteran #2 (coolness 1) also bails out of the truck to the side away from the PCs

Experienced NPC #1 (coolness 3) decides to bail out to the back of the truck.

SPEC McCarthy (coolness 3) has a shot - 91 (97) weapon jams

SSGT Ruiz and SGT Whitehead don’t have shots at any of the marauders who bailed out

Third Combat Round

The marauders have a choice to make.  They’ve been ambushed and suffered 40% casualties.  But, most of their gear is still in the truck (except what they grabbed as they bailed out) and they all three escaped the truck unharmed and were only shot at sporadically in the process.  I judge there’s about a ⅓ chance they will decide to bug out and about a ⅓ chance they will try to bluff their way out, with the final ⅓ being a decision to shoot it out with the PCs.

Roll is 16 - the marauders decide to bug out.

The elite marauder spends a round giving her orders.  The PCs are clearing their jammed weapons (SGT Rodriguez and SPEC McCarthy), reloading (Capt Blake), or keeping watch (SSGT Ruiz and SGT Whitehead)

I judge a 50/50 chance any of the three surviving marauders have a smoke grenade on them - rolll - 45, so yes.  Same for any other grenades - roll 65, so no (a thermite grenade would make quick work of the truck, leaving nothing for the group to recover…)

The marauders loft their smoke grenade over the truck.  TW (50): 05.  It lands perfectly positioned between the truck and the PCs.

Seeing the grenade come over the truck, Captain Blake, now reloaded and watching, calls out “grenade” and everyone ducks and covers.  So much for the PCs action this round…

With the distinctive “pop” of a smoke grenade, the PCs quickly return to their spots.  White smoke begins blanketing the area between the PCs and the truck.  Captain Blake spends a round to consider the situation, since there is no fire from the marauders.  He decides to stay put and orders everyone to stay alert, but stay put.

The marauders quickly reboard their truck and begin preparing to bug out.  They stuff the little loose gear into their packs, grab the LAW, and the weapons and ammo of their dead and wounded comrades.  Seeing how badly the PCs rounds have mangled the lookout’s left leg, the leader says a quick prayer, closes the lookout’s eyes, and puts a pistol round in his temple, then they take off to the SE, toward what’s left of a small metal building on the other side of the tracks.

Based on the thrown grenade roll, I judge that the marauders are able to run off without being spotted by the PCs.  They make it to a small house trailer about 100 meters from the PCs position, stop briefly to redistribute weapons, ammo and other gear, and then start working their way south, back to their camp.

——-

After the smoke fades away, Captain Blake details the company to patrol in two-person teams to see if they can figure out where the other marauders went, and if they are going to be a threat.

The team’s quickly figure out (AVG:RCN (50), roll 16) the direction the marauders went.  SGT Rodriguez (RCN: 75) then figures out (AVG:RCN, roll 54) where they stopped and that they headed south.

Captain Blake has SGT Rodriguez set up a couple of the company’s claymores in the area of the house trailer, in case the marauders come back, but then has the teams return to finish their interrupted lunch.

———-

After lunch, Captain Blake has the group investigate the abandoned truck.

They remove the dead body of the driver, clean up the cab and quickly figure out how the operate the truck and shift between road and railroad operation.

The driver’s helmet is useless, but he was wearing a Kevlar vest and his shirt and blue jeans, MOLLE gear, and steel-toe construction boots are at least serviceable.

The lookout’s steel helmet is serviceable, as is his lighter, civilian-made, bullet-proof vest.  His shirt is serviceable, but his pants are, of course, destroyed.

Out of all of their magazines, the marauders scavenged all but three (1d4 x 2) as they retreated.

————

[There is a short rail spur that runs from the main line up near the grain silos.  I judge that the group decides to save time, so they disable the system that allows the truck to switch between rail and road modes and, leaving the truck in "rail" mode, drive the truck up to the end of the rail spur, put the switch back to the main rail line, and then disable the switch by removing the pins that hold the control handle in place, putting the pins and the handle in one of their storage bins. (CVE: ESY - 75)]

After pulling our booby traps up, we leave the “village” of Lake Cormorant behind, at least temporarily, as we scout east toward I-55 on Star Landing Road.  Stopping to check the school reveals that even the school buildings had been thoroughly scavenged.  It would be nice to find some textbooks.  Most e-book readers were destroyed by the EMP effects of the Twilight War, and all the schoolbooks in the Memphis area were burned during the siege, by residents or marauders, desperate to stay warm.  I don’t blame them in the least, but books of any kind are high on everyone’s most wanted list, and schoolbooks for the kids are at the very top...

[Encounter roll, road - 9 - Armed; This is considered ‘Other’ Territory; Roll 2, hunters]

Just as we finished up at the school, we encountered a small hunting/wood gathering party.  After assuring them that we were, in fact, still part of the U.S. Army, they admitted to being part of a larger group of refugees camped in the woods and along the shores of the small lakes nearby.  One useful point of information was that there was a limestone quarry just to the west of the Lake Cormorant High School which wasn’t on many maps (it certainly wasn’t on ours).  Rubble from existing buildings is fine for many construction purposes, but there are times when an civil engineer / architect like me wants good clean limestone.  Producing cement is just one example.  Lots of uses for new cement these days.  The forest surrounding the quarry creates a security problem, but there are lots of ways a civil engineer can use lumber, too and a forest makes a great place to put booby traps…

In exchange for the information, I let the hunters know about the marauders using the railroads.  Since the group doesn't range west of the school, they don't believe the marauders will be a threat, but promise to send word via the GMSM of any marauder activity or other threats.  I provide them a box of .22 long rifle ammo.  The leading hunter stammers an apology that they don't have anything of value to trade, but he assures us we are welcome to camp with them any time.

Having scouted this far to the east and having encountered a (hopefully) helpful civilian group on our eastern flank, I decide to return to the "village" of Lake Cormorant and find a place to set up camp, since I need to radio my report back to HQ first thing in the morning, and we have now encountered two groups of marauders, both of which are still 'on the loose' as it were.

I decide to set up camp about half a klick east of the railroad crossing.  As we moved east, we had checked out a large house that was, of course, stripped of anything of value, but it did have a garage.  The water in the nearby creek seemed reasonably clean, and our water filters should take care of anything harmful.  A smaller house just to west had burned at some point, or I would have used it...  Still, the large house had a garage big enough for the HumVee, and a grassy area that the horses could use as forage.

I figured out a good place to set up the radio antenna where the horses wouldn't accidentally knock it over in the middle of the night.  I sent SGTs Rodriguez and Whitehead to set up some booby traps back at the railroad crossing, and at a couple of places to the west and south of the camp.  SSGT Ruiz, SPEC McCarthy and I worked on setting the antenna foundation and laying out and anchoring all the guy wires for the three stages of the antenna, then we started cooking dinner, finishing just after the scouts returned to report a successful and uneventful mission of setting traps.

After a hot meal, I detailed overnight lookouts and started writing my weekly report, including answers to questions that I expected HQ to ask...

If it's Friday, We Must be Fishing

“Blake’s Raiders”

Norfolk Landing, Mississippi

Wednesday, 10 July - Friday 12 July, 2030

Wednesday - An uneventful, if humid, night dawned with thick clouds and a light drizzle that did little to reduce the temperature or the humidity.  A GMSM work crew showed up about mid-morning to begin preparing a site near the Norfolk landing boat ramp for a small outpost.  Their LT said that the plan was to extend the GMSM land-line, hand-cranked telephone system to the boat landing, to allow faster response if (when) marauders show up at the landing.  One part of the outpost will be a small solar-powered water treatment system, because getting good quality clean water is a problem for them.  Obviously, this kind of valuable equipment will have to be well protected, and a lookout tower, guard shack and guard’s quarters will be built first.

They’re also planning to put in a latrine to produce what is delicately known as “night soil”, a term from pre-industrial times that has returned to common usage.  We’ve even been provided buckets for collecting the horse manure.  SPEC McCarthy will be thrilled to hear this when he gets back from checking the trot lines and doing the morning fishing.

[Four trotlines, plus one person fishing yields 19Kg of fish, a great day’s catch]

We cleaned and cooked the fish, feeding both ourselves and the GMSM work crew, who were happy to have fresh, hot food to supplement the cold sandwiches they had been provided for lunch.  Otherwise, we spent the day doing routine maintenance, mounted local patrolling along the river bank and the roads to the south, distilling fuel to replace what we had burned, and planning future patrol and travel routes.  I relaxed in the evening by returning to the riverbank and doing some more fishing.  It occurred to me that we, or the GMSM outpost might catch more fish than could be eaten at once, so I started planning out some fish pens to keep them in.  In fact, I got so involved in planning and sketching out the pens that I missed several hits on my rod.  Still, it was a worthwhile evening.

[The HumVee has been driven approximately 24Km, burning 12 liters of ethanol.  Today’s efforts distill 4 liters]

[Encounter roll was a 3 on the clear column, resulting in no encounter]

Thursday 

[Encounter roll was a 5 on the clear column - refugees.]

After breakfast, SPEC McCarthy and I set out building the fish pens that I had planned out the evening before.  It didn’t take long to work up a sweat.  The shade from the trees provided very little break from the sun, and the humidity quickly rose from just bad to downright oppressive.  We took a break and I showed the GMSM LT what we were doing.  She immediately saw the value of it, and said that they would take over the project and finish it once the other outpost construction was completed.

Just before lunch, SGT Whitehead radioed in that she and SGT Rodriguez had encountered a small group of refugees, coming up the levee road from the south.  Per our standard procedures, they had questioned them about where they came from and their background.  Like so many others, this small group had been farming and scavenging until a group of marauders attacked.  They didn’t report any specialized skills, so the GMSM LT had me relay that they needed to turn back and go east at the first intersection they came to.  The SGTs provided them with our standard handout of how to get to the refugee camp on the east side of Memphis and sent them on their way.

SPEC McCarthy and I pull in the catch from the trotlines, a total of 16Kg of fish!  After cooking them for lunch (and again sharing with the GMSM workers and guards), we spend the afternoon and early evening tending to the still, producing another 4 liters.  

As they prepared to head back to their main encampment at the end of the day, the GMSM LT told me that she expects their group to be able to finish the basic construction of their outpost by the end of tomorrow, so I and SSGT Ruiz will take a turn on mounted patrol, while the SGTs and SPEC McCarthy prep the HumVee and trailer to move out first thing Saturday morning.

Friday

[Encounter roll of 9 - derelict vehicle, so judged as no encounter]

After an uneventful day of mounted patrolling, I return to find that, true to their word, the GMSM team has finished the basic construction of their lookout tower, barracks and other supporting buildings, as well as extending their hand-powered telephone network to their new outpost.  I spend some time walking around the outpost with the GMSM LT, who clearly wants to brag to an experienced civil engineer about the work her people have accomplished in such a short amount of time.  I make appropriately appreciative remarks, knowing that, in the long term, the 197th needs to be on good terms with this group.

We have distilled enough ethanol to replace what we have burned so far, and everything but essential equipment has been re-loaded and tied down, so that we can continue with our assigned mission first thing in the morning.

Swing and a Miss

“Blake’s Raiders”

Glover / Norfolk Landing, Mississippi

Wednesday, 10 July, 2030

Getting up in the middle of the night wasn’t easy or fun, even if it was necessary, and even if it was my own idea.  Still, I wanted my two best scouts to be able to ride within a klick or so of the marauder’s camp before they dismounted, and I also needed to give the GMSM foot soldiers time to walk from their cantonment to the marauder’s camp as well, especially the group that had to walk to the north of the campsite before they turn South and attack.

If we had working low-light gear, we would have started the attack in the middle of the night, but, as the saying goes, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.  I’m just glad the GMSM troops knew the area well enough to be willing to walk it in the pre-dawn hours.  At least we had a waxing gibbous moon to provide some light.  No one had to be reminded that the moonlight would help an alert marauder spot us.

We drove the HumVee to within a kilometer of the marauder’s last known position, then stayed put whilst SGTs Rodriguez and Whitehead moved forward, as our two designated snipers.  We were fortunate that our M2010s, with their .300 Winchester Magnum rounds had been around long enough that we had acquired reloading dies before the Twilight War began, and SPEC McCarthy has put extra effort into keeping our sniper rifles in top shape.  His suppressors are nearly as good as the ones from the factory.  If we can get the drop on the marauders, we should be able to wipe them out this time...

Sunrise was at 6:54 (no one follows the old “Daylight Savings Time” anymore).  The plan was for the scouts, if they can spot any sentries, to shoot at 6:45, unless one of the two GMSM squads makes contact earlier (in which case, all bets are off).  Unfortunately for us, and fortunately for the marauders, they had left the area.  My scouts reported no contact and once the sun came up, the GMSM squads moved in.  

The spot had clearly been used as a campsite for some time, but the marauders had only left behind broken pieces of gear, a cold campfire, a few pieces of spent brass and several graves.  One was clearly fresh, which confirmed what my scouts reported from their initial encounter, although I had hoped they had killed more than one marauder…

[I had initially given the marauders a 25% chance of staying and rolled a 21, but after thinking about their situation, I dropped that to a 10% chance, so they left.  The two wounded marauders can’t stand watch without setting back their healing, and during any combat, they would stand a chance of relapsing into unconsciousness, so I just really didn’t see them staying put…. Time will tell if they come back in a week or so…]

After discussing the situation with the GMSM squad leaders, I offered to set up an observation post at the river landing for a few days in case the marauders return.  While not being able to capture the tugboat is a disappointment, the GMSM is happy to have the threat eliminated and will establish a permanent fishing camp at the landing.   Until they can move their equipment and supplies over from their main encampment, we’ll distill some fuel, continue scouting the area and keep looking for salvage.  I sent SPEC McCarthy back with the HumVee to bring the cargo trailer (with its still) up to the landing.

The rest of the day was spent setting up our camp, and firing up the still.  The GMSM provided enough grain for a couple of days distilling.  They also provided some fishing poles.  We hope to catch enough to share.  Since fishing was a major hobby of mine, pre-war, I headed down to the river with SPEC McCarthy, who had fished regularly growing up.

[Foraging table, 1d6 x 1, per person (summer).  4 + 4 Kg]

We caught a total of 8Kg of fish.  Not bad for an afternoon’s work, and we’ll continue fishing while we distill alcohol from the grain we’ve been provided.  Fresh fish will make a great dinner, and we will have some to share.  We also rigged some trot lines for some overnight fishing.

Just before dusk, a small herd of white-tail deer came near our camp.  There were nine total in the herd.  Unfortunately, as soon as SGT Rodriguez started to take aim, they bounded away.  We’ll build a hunting blind / scouting position a few hundred meters from camp in the morning, circumstances permitting.

New Friends

“Blake’s Raiders”

Walls, Mississippi

Tuesday, 9 July, 2030

After spending the evening making plans, unhooking and securing the cargo trailer and generally making the campsite defensible in our hopefully short absence, SPEC McCarthy, the SSGT, and I left camp right after breakfast.  I had SPEC McCarthy drive cautiously, and I had SSGT Ruiz keep the MK-19 covered (but loaded) as we make the short trip from our camp to Glover.

The GMSM’s observation post was manned, observant, and professional when we approached.  After introducing myself, we were told where to park.  The SSGT and I were escorted to meet with Colonel Ferdinand Gerbling, the military “advisor” to (and spouse of) the leader of the GMSM, Melissa Xavier Gerbing.  After a short discussion with Colonel Gerbling (AVG:INT - 46), we agree that the GMSM will provide two platoons of infantry to support my platoon’s attack of the marauders at the Norfolk landing, using our scouts as the initial firepower, and my platoon’s medical supplies for any injuries.  Colonel Gerbling is unwilling to even discuss long-term integration with the 197th (AVG:INT - 72), at least until after the attack on the “Norfolk Pirates”, as he calls them, is successful.

The morning was productively spent planning the attack and even practicing some maneuvers with the GMSM troops.  After lunch, Colonel Gerbling sends a messenger to Walls with my signed orders for the SGTs to prepare to break camp.  After the day’s training is complete, I have SPEC McCarthy drive the HumVee, with two GMSM troopers as lookouts, back to Walls, to pick up the cargo trailer and other supplies, and accompany my mounted troops back to Glover.

They return to Glover, having encountered a group of civilian refugees [Airlords of the Ozarks, pg 30, encounter table roll 6 - civilian, 2d6+3 = 6].  Unfortunately, they have no skills to offer [roll - 97] and Glover needs skilled personnel, not just manual laborers.  The SGTs were at least able to suggest that they continue on to the refugee camps east of Memphis along the Wolf River near Shelby Farms, giving them some hope of a better life in the future.

We spend a short time securing the cargo trailer and our excess equipment.  I trust the GMSM to provide overall security, but I detail SPEC McCarthy and SSGT Ruiz to share the overnight watch while the SGTs get additional rest before the attack begins.