[center]Take a Gander Boys and Girls for there at the foot of Hood is our Lasthope; our home. Ahead of us is either Adventure or our Ends We are the Band of Hood and [h2]"We Dare To Live"[/h2] [img]http://beautifulhoodriver.com/images/20100831021316__mg_8166_9-8-10.jpg[/img] We don't know what's out there We don't know if there are armies of the Risen Or worst Beasts in Human Guise and we don't care We will Face them, we will overcome them. We may be the children of Lasthope but ours not Lost We will survive and our children safe.[/center] Those are the words Jain said as if giving a speech to an election crowd or a Warleader to her troopers just before a battle and she meant every word. She had two squad of Troopers numbering 16 strong, and their 3 leaders making for 19 total, add to that 2 Docs, a Tech and the 7 Muleskinners. Then came the animals that numbered at least 20 dogs, 40 horses and 5 Ravens. She lead a small expedition like a bull has small balls but that’s what Command had called them when they weren’t trying to Tag them the Band of Misfits. It was her first Solo Command and Comber had told her it was exactly why she and those assigned under her were young; they could endure hardships older Troopers might have difficulty doing. He had stressed to her the importance of mapping out needed material locations because every year they waited nature destroyed the tech that was most needed pushing them farther back and Lasthope wasn’t about to go down without a fight. There was more to the Chief’s speechifying but the gist was “Ride East, Take a Look around, Make Friends and Tag Enemies” so that was her plan and she was dead set on seeing Lake Superior in Minnesota or the Mississippi River which ever course was most promising. She had the tools and the people to Map Lasthope History; who knew she and her people might even be remembered years from now as the Lewis and Clarks of their age. They had a destination and the hopes of finding other survivors as they headed first for the old Palmer Ranch near the Idaho border and Maisy’s former home which might be either a treasure or shock for her Second in command; maybe a bit of both. She had already sent out Rafe and Athena early that morning to [url=https://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/pictures/1311925317-White-River-Falls-OR-883-3.jpg]Celestial Falls[/url] which would be their mid day camp if there was no trouble; who knew they might enjoy the Falls. It was a quiet morning and the troopers moved along walking their mounts at a steady pace to save their mounts energy with 6 mounted stretched out fore and aft as well as the wings. It was towards the end of Spring and the [url=http://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/download/file.php?id=56379&mode=view]Bear Grass[/url] in full bloom. It was the kind of morning that made people complacent and in unknown country safety is measured in properly balanced Paranoia and Vigilance. Jain was happy to see the Troop Dogs spread out around their masters hoping to find something in hiding. The strangest of them were the two huge Irish Wolfhounds whose sliver grey heads floated above the bear grass like the fins of sharks as they sought prey. It didn’t take long for the two monsters to spring up a young deer which they herded towards the column. [hr][hr] [center]Setting and other stuff[/center] [hider=Stuff]The country around us is mountainous and as much as we may want walking straight to the east is impossible so you are forced to use roads out of Mount Hood Meadows which are screaming to be farmed or ranched as so as yall have the people to spread out more. [url=https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1199/7260/products/Lonely-Mountain-Highway.jpg?v=1461608853]Roads[/url] are lonely and wind through the terrain following the easiest path through the topography. (Of course not as pretty as the one I pictured but other than cracks through which grass grows and the occasional washout serviceable) Till we are free of the mountains we are held to the roads but once we reach open ground the other side of the Rockies we can move more cautiously, which will be helpful on the open plains We are in River country as well and need bridges to cross them. We will ride through a couple of small towns along the way because going around would be insane. When we move through such close areas as towns everyone will be mounted and form sweeper teams to screen our movement against Risen[/hider] [@Polaris North][@Dnafein][@Joker892][@Poi][@FortunesFaded][@Wick]