[center][h2]The Hegemony[/h2][/center] [center][h3]The Defence of Grand Coulee Damn[/h3][/center] [i]"How many of them are there, Sergeant?" asked Jebediah Banks, commander of the Hegemony's 3rd Rapid Response Team. Looking out across the basin before the damn, one could sight a mass moving in the distance, drawn towards the rumbling of the generators. "No idea, sir. Too many for an accurate count but I'd estimate about three thousand, three thousand five hundred," answered the scout. Jeb grimaced. Three thousand versus his three hundred. Request for aid had been sent to Home Base but he had yet to receive a reply. Three thousand of those things. One of the largest hordes to pass by in recent years. Arrayed along the top of the damn were said defenders, holding an assortment of melee weapons and CQC firearms for dealing with the Carriers when they arrived. Someone had even managed to scrounge up one of the Hegemony's few mortars. They would need it. "Don respiration!" Jeb bellowed. Taking his own mask off and placing it on his face, he looked at those with him. Without help, they wouldn't survive. As the Carriers closed in increasingly quick, the mortar began to fire off. The battle had begun.[/i] The 3rd Rapid Response Force, composed of approximately 250 men, are responding to the horde bearing down upon the Grand Coulee Damn. Of a size not seen before in recent years, the defenders prepare to die to protect the station, one of the only sources of electricity operating at the moment. Should the defenders fall, the damn would fall into disrepair unless it was reclaimed, an arduous and/or lengthy task depending on how the horde moved. Home Base, despite not responding, are assembling a task force of four hundred men to move to the damn quickly, hopefully arriving in time to save any defenders. Without support, however, all those at the damn will fall. The destruction of such a large horde, however, would mean greatly increased safety in that area of the Hegemony and possible expansion outwards. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [center][h3]Radio Response[/h3][/center] [i]"What the hell do you mean there's a radio message from some unknown source?" asked Chancellor Andrea Habicht, leader of the Hegemony. Crowding with most of the other staff at the government center around the long-range radio, she appeared doubtful of the validity. Reaching over to the dashboard, the operator pressed a button, causing the message to be repeated. Extremely garbled and almost impossible to decipher, they eventually gleaned the meaning that someone was in need of aid and looking for it. "Did they say South Carolina, operator?" asked the Chancellor. "Yes ma'am." "Send no response. There is nothing we can do for them from here. We have our own problems anyway." With that final statement, the group disbanded, returning to their work.[/i] Having received the message of New Kiev, the Hegemony does not respond, seeing no use in establishing contact with such a distant entity at the moment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [center][h3]Long Range Team 3, "The Hellhounds"[/h3][/center] [i]Why are we out here, Scott? It's been two months and we haven't found anyone. Not to mention we don't have too many people ourselves. Or food for that matter." "I'm the team leader, Clarice, so shut your damned mouth. We're the fuck are we anyways?" One of the other members pulled out a map, tracing the path drawn with a pencil to indicate where they had gone. "It seems we're almost in Dakota, sir." "Great. Middle of nowhere. Shit. I for one am not abandoning the task given to us and anyone who decides to leave will leave without equipment. Is that clear?" "Crystal, sir," answered the thirteen others. Nodding, the small group ventured forth, passing the North Dakota border a scant hour later.[/i] Long Range Team 3 is part of an initiative by the Hegemony government. The last of the bands to be sent out, the Long Range Teams' purpose is to establish contact with other groups or find something that would be worth a costly expedition to acquire. Teams 1 and 2 advance south and southwest, finding nothing for the moment, while Team 3 begins to enter Bismarck territory unknowingly. (Yes, dam is misspelled. Yes, it is on purpose. My society is damn-powered after all)