July 15th, 2016
It has been 10 days since the call for help had gone out for any agent to come help, but just as the transmission was sent out, the Nodes in DC went down and most Agents got sent there instead. But the agents in LA and the few Agents that were in route to LA realized that if we lost the city, we lost the West Coast. The Rangers and the Port Town Militia have done what they can to secure methods of entry into LA by clearing out a route from outside East LA to Port Town, but they never got very far into securing it when more dire emergencies started to pop up. The inbound agents would have to depend on ISAC, who was only working to about 20 miles outside the Greater LA area, to plot their course through the City to Port Town and the USS Iowa. SHD had predicted that transport between cities might become problematic for agents, so along major through-ways and even forgotten state roads at regular intervals, they had installed hidden garages with both CNG and LNG, as well as charging stations for agents to either switch vics, or refill/recharge what they were currently using.
Gun Wagan, Adam "Roach" Kozak
Port Town//25July2016, 0530 Local
Two men that couldn't be more different from each other, stood in the Meeting Room of the Port Town's City hall, the old Federal Maritime Commision office from before the outbreak. It was one of the few buildings that had its own power source with the Solar Panels on top of the building. The others that made up the Council had made it yet, so it gave the two men a chance to catch up.
Gun glanced over at Roach as the duo looked out of an east facing window as day became dusk.
"It never gets old seeing the sun rise. It's a beautiful sight. Hard to believe, isn’t it Roach?"
"Aye, a beautiful fucking reminder that the world has gone to shit and it's up to men like us to fix the shit. I guess you can call that beautiful, Gun."
"I forget how much of a negative ass you are. If I'd known you were going to be this bad when you decided to take us up on our offer after your little stroll, I would have fed you to the fishes."
"Yeah, and The Rangers would have still been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. We saw how well they did after the last Chief Ranger went on a lead diet."
The Sikh didn't have a reply for that one, as he knew that Roach was right with that point. He gave it a few seconds, as he mulled a reply.
"Good thing then, we did let you in when we did. The mercy you learned from us has made you a better person and commander of troops."
This time the Green Beret turned Biker, turned Criminal, turned Chief Ranger, didn't have a reply. While he knew he was still very brutal when he needed to be he had relearned mercy from the people of Port Town, the First Wave Division agents, and even the Rangers. Mercy being something he forgot when he got tied up in drugs in the military, and then more so when he got out and joined a Motorcycle Club. He was shown it when things went to shit at the FCI on Terminal Island, when Gun had offered the three options of die, leave, or join Port Town. Many had chosen to fight and had been gunned down by the Rangers and the Militia. After that, most had chosen to pass through and find their own way in this new world, but a few had stayed to try life out in Port Town. Roach had gone north to his old club house, the Aerosteel Motorcycle Club, but never made it. He was ambushed by the Tyrants MC, and had taken a gunshot to his gut; he was only saved when a Ranger patrol stumbled across him in a fight with the Tyrants. Despite being outnumbered the Rangers beat back the Tyrants and rescued Roach. After months of recovery, Gun had offered the same deal as before, but this Time Roach decided to find a new life in this strange new reality. He helped around the town until the Rangers had come looking for volunteers, and of course Roach jumped at the chance. Given an opportunity to unleash the pent up anger and brutality, he quickly learned the ways of mercy from the Rangers around him. After learning to control when he could and couldn't unleash his frustration, he rose quickly through the Ranger’s ranks to Captain. It was during one of the attacks the Wardens launched on Port Town and the Iowa that the previous Chief Ranger had been slain, and it was under Roach's leadership that was able to rally the Rangers and help Port Town beat back the Wardens. After this battle, he had been fully accepted by his new family and elected Chief Ranger. He had come full circle and didn't even know how it happened, but here he felt a pride and a calm he had never felt before. This made him happy, and all those be damned that tried to take it from him.
"Gun, You think the Buffalo's Reinforcements have gotten the call for help, before he said their comms network went down?"
"I Hope so, Roach. The three we have left are at their limit and so are our Rangers and Militiamen. Thankfully Charles is here today, while Buffalo and Luke are out there now. Though I think Charles is working With Dr. Hernandez and Dr. Waller today, at the lab in The Iowa."
About that time the rest of the Port Town Council and the Chief Scout of the Rangers arrived. Everyone settled into the meeting as the Sunrise provided a backdrop.
Meanwhile, Port Town awoke as The Ranger Horn and Pipes section came alive to mark the start of a new day with Bugle and War Bagpipes. Not long after the Ranger Outpost started answering back in their own Horn and War BagPipe songs.
Jax "Buffalo" Knight
North of Compton DZ//0600Local
Three Men, 1 Woman, and A dog ran through the streets of LA with the walls of the Compton Dark Zone showing through alleyways to their left. Every now and then one of them would turn around and either fire a few bullets or let an arrow fly at the roughly platoon size element of Wardens chasing them. They had been at this for roughly an hour. In fact, they would have lost the Wardens about 30 minutes ago if the straps on Buffalo’s prosthetic leg hadn’t come undone. A Simple Mistake, a mistake that had gotten them caught when they stopped to help Buffalo get the leg back in position.
He rounded a corner, moved 100 meters down the street, came to a stop, and took a knee while the others passed him by. As they passed, he sighted down the ACOG Scope on his HCAR, and fired off a trio of rounds at the Wardens following them around the corner. One Warden fell with two holes above his plate carrier, and one in his neck. The Other Wardens had dove into cover. Buffalo quickly stood up and raced down the street after Ben and Luke.
Ben saw a building to his left with an opened door. Luke, Miranda, Gumbo and Buffalo followed him.
Megan Clover
Outside of the Eastern Edge of the Greater LA Area, on Interstate 10//0600 Local
Megan looked to her left at the Division agent she had met at Fort Davis, TX. A woman by the name Dani. While the Two had gotten along on their long journey from Arkansas and Louisiana, Meg couldn’t help but feel that Dani was keeping Meg at a distance. Not that Meg minded too much, she had lost a bunch of friends and family herself, but with Dani it felt different. Plus, the only thing she had learned about Dani was that Dani was an EMT and a former Medic in the USAF.
I didn’t know the USAF had medics. Meg had thought to herself when she had been told. As she crested a mountain she was greeted by a sight she had seen in both Dallas-Fort Worth and El Paso, but it was nowhere near the scale. LA looked like a war zone.
She kept following the path ISAC had set as soon as they had gotten within 20 miles of the Greater LA Area. The route was constantly changing to get them the fastest and least cluttered path for the two motorcycles.
“Dani, I think we bit off more than we could chew. Little Rock was nowhere near this bad, and neither was Dallas, or El Paso.”