WSHTF – RPG all about EMP

A brief overview, from the average person’s perspective

The lights go out, your computer and cell phone stop working. Most sensitive electronic devices are destroyed instantly and quietly. A half second later random light bulbs will pop and there will be sparks from various electronic appliances and wall outlets. These may start small fires, but most will be harmless. Next there will be a spooky glow from neon lights (those that did not pop) and plasma TVs. Meanwhile the power lines will become supercharged over the next ten seconds, resulting in transformer explosions and some fires. But most seriously the power generators themselves may be damaged.

Most vehicles will temporarily malfunction. Those with computers integral to their functioning will be permanently disabled. Those which are mostly mechanical with a simple durable electric system should be easy to restart. Many air planes will crash, because their flight controls are entirely computerized. Small planes and old planes stand a good chance of making an emergency landing if they have a fly by wire system.

The details of why these events are likely to happen in an EMP

There are three components of a nuclear EMP, are called E1, E2 and E3.

The E1 pulse is the very fast component of nuclear EMP. It is a very brief but intense electromagnetic field that causes electrical breakdown voltages to be exceeded. E1 is the component that can destroy computers and communications equipment. Ordinary lightning protectors do not provide effective protection against it.

The E2 component is generated by scattered gamma rays. It lasts about one second. The E2 pulse has many similarities to the electromagnetic pulses produced by lightning. The main potential problem with the E2 component is the fact that it immediately follows the E1 components, which will likely damage the devices that would normally protect against lightning surges.

The E3 pulse is very different from the other two components of EMP. It is a very slow pulse, lasting tens of seconds, that is caused by the nuclear detonation heaving the Earth's magnetic field out of the way, followed by the restoration of the magnetic field to its natural place. The E3 component has similarities to a geomagnetic storm caused by a very severe solar flare. Like these storm, E3 can cause geomagnetically induced currents in long electrical conductors, which can then damage components such as power line transformers.

The well known historic examples

In1962, a 1.44 megaton United States nuclear test in space, 400 km above the mid-Pacific Ocean, called the Starfish Prime test, demonstrated to scientists that the magnitude and effects of a high altitude nuclear explosion were much larger than had been calculated. Starfish Prime caused electrical damage in Hawaii, about 1,445 km away from the detonation point, knocking out some streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave tower. This was almost all attributed to the E1 pulse. ( Also the test destroyed several satellites, but this was later found to be because of a lingering radioactive zone, not because of EMP )

In 1962, the Soviet Union also performed an EMP-producing nuclear test in space 290 km over Kazakhstan. Although the weapon was much smaller (300 kiloton) than the Starfish Prime test the effects were greater, since the test was done over a populated large land mass. The most dramatic effect was the E3 pulse inducing an electric current surge in a long underground power line that caused a fire in the power plant in the city of Karaganda. As expected the E1 pulse damaged radios up to about 600 km and knocked out radar stations up to 1000 km away. Also the EMP caused a voltage surge in the telephone lines over a 750 km area, causing all the fuses in the line to blow.

Critical importance of later research
The Soviet test bomb was not very big nor was it very good at producing an EMP. If the Starfish bomb had been used in the Kazakhstan test the damage would have been much greater, over an area twice as large.

The modern EMP attack example

If one of the 500 kiloton bombs ( a standard warhead, one of three, in an ICBM ) detonated 250 km above the central United States, the economy of the country would be essentially destroyed instantaneously.  Very little of the country's electrical or electronic infrastructure would still be functional.  This is not to say that every device would be destroyed, but the interdependence of different infrastructures makes it possible to stop nearly all economic activity with only limited damage to critical infrastructures.  It would likely be months or years before most of the electrical grid could be repaired.

The instantaneous shutdown of the power grid would occur because of the widespread use of solid-state SCADAs (supervisory control and data acquisition devices).  These would be destroyed by the E1 pulse, but could probably be replaced within a few weeks. The greatest problem would be the loss of many critical large power transformers due to E3 induced currents. These components are no longer made in America and only a handful are in reserve nationwide.

Myth-ing EMP facts

In writings on the internet, there is nearly always much confusion about the very different aspects of the various components of nuclear EMP. In addition, there is much confusion over high-altitude nuclear EMP, non-nuclear EMP weapons and solar geomagnetic storms.

Cars dying: Some say that all vehicles traveling will come to a halt, with all modern vehicles damaged because of their use of computerized electronics. Most likely some vehicles will be affected while others are not. Which is actually worse than if all shut down simultaneously; because traffic accidents will be more serious.

Turn equipment off: There is truth to this recommendation. Equipment is more vulnerable if it is operating, because some failure modes involving E1 trigger the system's energy to damage itself. However, damage can also happen, but not as easily, to systems that are turned off.

Since some old technology was EMP-resistant; current tech is also EMP resistant. These myths get things exactly backward. The actual facts are that the main reason that the EMP threat is increasing is the fact that electronic devices are becoming more sensitive to EMP every year.

EMP is not a problem since there are many ways to protect against it. There are many ways to protect against EMP, but they are very rarely being used, especially in the civilian infrastructure. In an effort to save money in the short term, most companies do not even have any effective protection against lightning.

When an EMP hits the ground, the induced electric current heads directly toward the center of the earth. When EMP (or lightning) hits the ground, the currents tend to spread out horizontally. These ground currents can do great damage, especially to underground cables of all kinds. Metal conduits are of little help, and may actually make the situation worse by providing a path for underground currents.

All computer data will be destroyed. Although computer hard drives would not be erased, the electronics in hard drives that are not specifically protected against EMP would probably be destroyed, making it very expensive to recover the data that was still magnetically stored on the hard drive. Also, some of the data would be corrupted on any computer hard drives that were spinning at the time of the EMP attack.

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The EMP event step by step

1. A nuclear weapon optimized to produce an EMP, detonated 250 km above Nebraska, would affect the continental United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico. 
2. The instantaneous E1 pulse will knock out all unprotected communications, including cell phones, radios and even radar equipment, because they are especially good at receiving signals. Other equipment like wireless home networks and solar panels will also be destroyed.
3. Any sensitive computerized device is at high risk from the E1 pulse, including implanted medical items like pace makers. The integrated circuits will often overload rendering the device useless, although replacement parts may get it running again. ( Assuming the on-the-shelf parts are not damaged by the EMP )
4. Vehicles will fail according to how much they rely on computers and fancy electronics. Their radio systems are certainly doomed. Engines will often go off line, but if they are mostly mechanical they may be repaired with ease. Air craft will lose their computer controlled flight systems, leaving the pilot with no way to fly the plane. Small planes and old one may land safly because they have fly by wire controls. Ships will suffer similar problems, but at lest they are in no immediate danger of sinking.     
5. Satellites, especially those in low orbit are vulnerable to the E1 pulse. Contrary to popular belief a nuclear EMP will not destroy all satellites in line of sight, because the pulse strength drops off very fast as it moves away from the earth. Many communications satellites, and the GPS network, will survive because they are in high geostationary orbits.     
6. The E2 pulse will cause damage similar to that of a lightning strike. The more durable electrical systems and appliances will be hit by this wave; some will be damaged others will survive, its hard to predict. Dramatically the E2 pulse will cause many light bulbs to pop and sparks to occur at the ends of electric wires; at well outlets for example. These may start fires, but most will be harmless.
7. It is actually the E2 pulse that will temporarily knock out most solid state equipment, like old style engines and appliances.
8. The E3 pulse generate overcharge in long wires, power lines and communications lines ( but not in fiber-optic cables ). This will cause transformers and circuit barkers to explode; starting some fires and it may melt some of the lines. Being underground is no guarantee of safety for the lines. Also power generators themselves are at risk. As a side effect the E3 pulse will cause florescent lights and plasma TV screams to glow.
9. In the case of large ships, especially passenger liners, which have miles of wiring there is a real danger that the E3 pulse will destroy the ship’s power plant. With luck the simple and durable systems of the life boats will have escaped any serious damage.

10. All the above effects will happen in a matter of a few seconds after the EMP is triggered. But what happens next? Many fires will be started by sparks and exploding transformers. Most of these will be easy to get under control, a few will get out of hand because they were not detected quickly. The larger danger comes from the many air planes that will soon be crashing and exploding. The more air traffic your area has, the more danger of a plane crash there is.

11. Aside from the immediate destruction of a large air liner crashing into a city, there is the problem of controlling the resulting fire. Many emergency vehicles will be out of action, at lest temporarily. In an optimistic assessment about half the fire trucks and ambulances should be in working order after some simple repairs. The new units with highly computerized systems will be useless. Unfortunately there will be no communications system to co-ordinate emergency efforts, or to report problems.

12. Hospitals will be chaotic at best. They will be with out power, until they get their emergency generator running. Although made to kick in directly when main power is lost, most will be damaged to some minor degree by the EMP. If the hospital is lucky, it will have power by the time the flood of people start arriving.

13. Traffic accidents will be wide spread. While many vehicles lose power and their drivers try to come to a clean stop, a few will keep going. The first danger is from drivers losing control, with out power-brakes some people will panic. The second danger is from the mobile motorists, who keep going as if they are playing a video game. Some will pull over and stop, but many will try to reach whatever destination they were heading to.           

How long to fix the grid?

Full repair of the power grid would take anywhere from two months to three years or more.  Many components such as large transformers, which are normally resistant to large voltage transients, would be destroyed by the current induced by the E3 pulse when they are connected to very long copper wires.  If power companies were to keep adequate spare parts on hand, the repair time could be kept closer to the two-month time frame.  Adequate parts are not currently being kept on hand. There is currently no United States manufacturing capability for the large power transformers in its power grid. All of these extremely heavy transformers have to be manufactured and imported from other countries.  The widespread destruction of these transformers would completely overwhelm the very limited worldwide production capacity.

The problem of spare parts affects more than just the power grid.  There has been an overall trend during the past decade toward all commercial enterprises keeping fewer and fewer critical spare parts on hand.

The end of TV ?

Nearly all broadcast stations, especially television stations, would go off the air.  Due to the high level of computerized automation, the equipment in most radio and television studios would be so completely destroyed that most commercial stations would be damaged beyond repair.  In the current situation, broadcast television transmitters would actually be more easily repairable than studio equipment.  With the transition to digital television broadcasting in the United States, the digital encoders would be the extremely weak link in the fragile digital television broadcast chain.

It is likely that a few FM stations could get back on the air within a week of the EMP attack, but they would only be on the air until fuel for their generator ran out, and the electronic starting and control systems of many of the standby generators would be destroyed by the pulse.


A few comments from scientists 

As Kyl put it: "Few if any people would die right away. But the loss of power would have a cascading effect on all aspects of U.S. society. Communication would be largely impossible. Lack of refrigeration would leave food rotting in warehouses, exacerbated by a lack of transportation as those vehicles still working simply ran out of gas (which is pumped with electricity). The inability to sanitize and distribute water would quickly threaten public health, not to mention the safety of anyone in the path of the inevitable fires, which would rage unchecked. And as we have seen in areas of natural and other disasters, such circumstances often result in a fairly rapid breakdown of social order."

"American society has grown so dependent on computer and other electrical systems that we have created our own Achilles' heel of vulnerability, ironically much greater than those of other, less developed nations," Abernaky wrote. "When deprived of power, we are in many ways helpless, as the New York City blackout made clear. In that case, power was restored quickly because adjacent areas could provide help. But a large-scale burnout caused by a broad EMP, not only would there be nobody nearby to help, it could take years to replace destroyed equipment."

“In addition to the effect on vehicles, we have to consider the effect on their support structure.” Berman advised  “What good does it do if the car will start if there is no electricity available to run the gas pumps? The really big concern as far as EMP goes is the grid. Most of the grid is old, has unshielded transformers, etc. that will be toast if anything of any significance at all hits. Once the power is out, the JITDS (Just In Time Delivery System) brakes down, and about three days later, we have a problem. Super markets stop being super, convenience stores stop being convenient, and in a lot of cases, even water stops flowing. (Many, if not most, municipal water systems use electric pumps.) Add to all that; many people get their indoor heating from electric appliances, (even gas furnaces use electric fans to make them work) if the EMP hit in winter, well, use your imagination.”

Something to read

A book was released in March 2009 about a fictional EMP attack on the United States.   It is called   One Second After  by William R. Forstchen, a best-selling author who has a Ph.D. in military history from Purdue University.  The book covers the period of time from the afternoon of the pulse attack until exactly one year after the attack. 

A slice of life during the declining days.

For a general perspective of the WSHTF - RGP

Although there were numerous speed bumps on the road to the crash ( steadily increasing prices especially the cost of gasoline ) the big bang that no one could ignore was the China trade embargo. In response to the USA putting a ‘temporary’ halt to all payments of debts held by China ( which it did because China started an invasion of Taiwan ) the Chinese surprised the world by ‘temporarily’ cutting off all exports to North America.

This blanket embargo was necessary because of NAFTA. It was reasoned that Canada and Mexico would act as import gateways, so that America would only be slightly inconvenienced, rather than truly hurt by the trade sanctions.

In the news some people were saying it was crazy because it would hurt China just as much as it hurt America. Others were calling it an economic attack equal to a declaration of war. Some commentators assured the viewers that the USA would soon be in a shooting war, which could very well go nuclear.

Direct effects at home

From the local person’s point of view in Atlantic Canada, all this meant an economic collapse, because almost every business is connected to retail stores who sell things made in China. People lost their jobs, businesses closed their doors. Both the Employment Insurance and the Social Assistance departments were swamped. The speed of processing claims went from slow to a snail’s crawl. But on the bright side, there were some great ‘going out of business’ sales.

Tuesday- July 31

Shopping madness grips Canada and the USA. Already having to deal with prices inflated by the increase in fuel costs / transport cost, the consuming public now faces the sudden impending end to all cheep ‘made in China’ goods. Regardless of the media, many people rush off to buy a few things, before those things double in price or simply can not be found on the shelves. In the USA there were some full scale shopping riots.

Socialism at work

In Canada there was already a set of controls on wages and prices. There were quietly put in place after the first round of oil price increases in late June. In simple terms they fix the wages for all, for the next year, while they allow a moderate monthly increase in the price of goods. A lot of people soon became upset when the cost of nearly everything went up each month by the maximum allowed rate.

Free market at work

The problem with any price fixing is that it distorts the market value (what people are willing to pay for an object). Thus a great many items were increasingly ‘falling off trucks’ to be sold on the black market. These items were simply not found in stores anymore.

As a side effect of this increased black market activity, businesses who planned to stay in business (or who aimed to protect their assets while they temporarily closed) doubled their security measures; thus a mini boom in the security industry. Ironically it was not long before the best high tech alarm systems were only available through the black market.

In the news

Over the last week there were many news items on TV and in print that held the same idea; “This is no time to panic, protest or otherwise be disruptive.” Even stories that admitted things were tough and likely to get tougher, called for people to remain calm. The intellectuals saw this as good advice because panic would make a bad situation worse. But the activists saw it as another attempt to control the people. Do not protest as prices go up and your wages are frozen. Do not speak out as the government makes poor policy choices. Stay calm while the corporate executives give themselves fat pay outs before they close down business locations and fire thousands of people.

NAFTA friendship address

It is during these dark economic days that the US President assures his fellow Americans that North America has the resources and abilities to overcome any challenge. Canada can provide any raw materials, water and power, that we need. Mexico can provide cheap labor to replace that of China. If the NAFTA partners just pull together they will all come out ahead. Although difficult these days can be a great spring board for the country.  (etc)

Some Canadians took offence to the idea that we were an endless resource center for our American neighbors, especially now that they were in no position to pay for the supplies they expected us to continue providing. But our Prime Minister just smiled and said “Canada is open for business, we wont let down our American friends.”  

Saturday- August 11

The day the internet died – at 5am the satellites stopped working, as if someone has simply switched their network functions off. However, major TV networks were unaffected. Most people were puzzled by this and greatly inconvenienced.  It was not until the following day that rumors started to seriously circulate that the USA had descended into civil war.

Monday- August 13

The world wide reactions to the American Civil war start to be felt. Stock Markets already on shaky legs, crash. Confidence in the US dollar and the US ability to pay its debts is lost. Even the British distance themselves, saying “We are happy to help, if we can, but any payments must be arranged in solid goods; equipment or raw materials.”

Reports about the war are fragmented – Most stories are official propaganda claiming that it will all be over soon, because the rebels do not stand a chance. More accurate accounts talk about the confused fighting on military bases, which did not have a clear side in control before the fighting started on Saturday. Also there is the obvious battle for air superiority, which involves both sides launching strikes against high profile targets.

Direct effects at home

The start of the American civil war had little impact on the average Atlantic Canadian. Although there was some light shed on the recent increase in American ‘refugees’ who had been entering the area over the past few weeks. Most were officially here on summer visits, but a good number had entered illegally (Survivalists wanting to avoid HLS).

Of course the Canadian Military was put on a heightened state of alert. Although what its role would be was unclear. There was some speculation about having to deal with a flood of refugees. A tricky problem if they arrived in winter.

Federal vs Provincial

The concerns on the minds of local people were local issues. After Ottawa enacted several serious bills; including the sweeping Crime Omnibus bill and the Old Age Security Reorganization bill, they got down to some hard hitting budget cuts. The transfer payments, traditionally made to equalize situations and services among the Provinces, were deconstructed. Fend for yourselves as best you can – was the new policy.

This put huge pressure on the Provincial government. Just as at the Federal level, there was a call from experts to downside and cut back. The Provincial budget trimming of the past year would be mild compared to the serious cuts that must now be made.

Suggestions were soon raised, all of which upset one group or another. Among the first items to be cut were new projects, like schools, roads, bridges. Only those which were 75% completed would be finished, all others would be put on hold. ( no new high school for Moncton ) Road repair and snow removal would be reduced to a minimal level.  Education and Health departments would receive no new staff or equipment, unless by special order of the Finance Minister. The only department expected to expand was the police force.

As all this talk of downsizing was getting hot, the protest movements began a new rally; although public protests of any kind had been made illegal months ago. “Why all the cut backs in our valuable services? So the interest payments on the debt can be made. So the banks can suck up more tax money. So the poor can transfer wealth to the rich.” This was their main point, as it had often been in the past. But now the drastic cuts in social services were hurting even more people as the large number of unemployed were depending on them more than ever.

A typical case

A young couple with no kids, both working full time. She worked at a retail store. He worked at a call center. Both were making just above minimum wage. She had enough hours banked to qualify for Unemployment Insurance, he did not. They rented an apartment. She was making payments on a nice car. He owned a used older car.

Shortly after the China embargo she lost her job. She applied for UI and was told the normal waiting period of 4 to 6 weeks had been extended up to about 9 weeks. A few weeks after she lost her job, so did he. When he applied for Welfare he was told a similar thing; the waiting time was now 9 weeks. So they had to live off savings for over two months, but like most people they did not have any real cash savings, so they put everything on credit cards.    

Luckily she was granted her UI benefits, 55% of her average pay. Unfortunately his Welfare claim was set aside for review, in another 2 to 4 weeks. This of course caused a lot of stress on the relationship of the couple. Half of one regular income had to support two people, in a world where food (and other) prices had doubled since the start of the year.

The government was cutting back so it could keep paying its debt. People were cutting back so they could keep paying rent, utilities and food. People like this couple, very quickly stopped putting any money toward their debts. 

Game Log – Week 25 & 26

Aside from normal activity at camp, there is extensive planning for the mission. Major Stone having experience at this sort of thing becomes project leader. Three main jobs have to be done as part of the planning; 1. getting maps of the area and the building, 2. getting special equipment to neutralize the security systems, 3. getting the explosives. Mary the hacker and Kateri the civil engineer handle point one. Mary also works with Marko the electronics engineer on point two. The explosives are home made by Stone and  John, based on two liter pop bottles full of napalm.  

The mission plan requires three cars; the first two will be borrowed, as they will be used for drop off and pick up of the assault team – they are most likely to be seen. The third car will act as look out and pick people up from the emergency point if necessary. Doc and Marco volunteer to be in this car. Although Doc does not want to be involved, he thinks it best to be near by incase anyone gets hurt.

The assault team will be in the first two cars, driven by Major Stone and the Grunt. The DARPA kids will act as gunmen, armed with tazers, they will sweep the building for any security guards, take them down, then drag them to a safe location. ( tied up and left next to the dumpster ) It is highly stressed that no one gets killed. John, Mary and Kateri will make up the second part of the team, they will neutralize alarms and cameras, then plant the explosives.

The mission is scheduled to take place late Sunday night, about 4am, with an on-target time of 3 to 5 minutes. The bombs are set with 15 minute timers. Other activist cells around the city will be working with a similar time frame, so that a lot of shit will happen right around 4:30am.

After exiting the building the cars will be driven to a near by parking lot, one that is known to have no cameras. There the teams will switch back to their own vehicles.       

One of the concerns is that with all the troublesome recent events the police force will be on high alert. Of course they are, but they only have so many officers in a small town, even though they took on 20 new men a few weeks ago, they are still short staffed. More importantly their main concern on this Labor Day long week end is drunk driving, not radical anti-corporation terrorists.

Sunday - September 2.

Marko asked the question “Do you really think this will do any good? Even if it works and if all the other cells hit their targets too, wont the companies just collect their insurance money, close their doors and go away, leaving even more people out of work?”

John answered “I hope they go. We are better off with out them. In fact getting rid of foreign owned corporations is a big part of the battle. But that’s only half the story; we also need to get government to totally rebuild the business laws. We must put an end to the idea of the corporation as a legal person, who in everyday actuality enjoys superior rights to a real human person. Small local companies are fine, what we need to destroy are the huge monoliths, the international conglomerates.”   

Doc then made an intellectual comment that went over the heads of many of the people involved in the discussion around the dinner table. “Its like what that French guy Sieyès wrote during the French Revolution. He argued that the Third Estate – the common people – would be better off without the dead weight of the privileged orders, the First and Second Estates of the clergy and aristocracy.”

Executing the mission

To the great excitement and surprise of everyone involved, it goes perfectly. 

The assault teams have a party when they get home.  

Monday – September 3 ( Labour Day )

The local news reports 11 acts of arson overnight, 5 being minor fire bombings that were quickly put out, while 4 others were serious, the remaining 2 fires got out of hand and were still being fought at sunrise. The targets were a mix of business offices, banks and industrial location.

More importantly was the national news, which reviled that similar acts were taking place all over Canada. From a hand full of attacks in small towns, the numbers escalated to nearly 1000 in the Toronto area. News reports for the USA were more scattered of course, because of the ongoing civil war and censorship.

The most dramatic story was in Alberta, where two attacks on the oil pipe line were launched. The first - resulting in a huge explosion and fire, with the attackers escaping. The second -  resulting in a confrontation between terrorists and the American security firm Black Water, who was protecting the pipe and the refinery. The incident would have been open and shut, if not for the arrival of the RCMP, who tried to arrest everyone. The Americans fired on the Canadian police, with out any attempt to negotiate. Thus a major political incident started.

Although it was not labour day in Britain, a sympathetic series of organized arson attacks occurred in London’s financial district. “Thieves should burn” was the graphite found near several of the burning banks.

Must see link

Thus far Iv been avoiding placing links to sites which carry info related to the game setting - the coming collapse of society - because Iv wanted to keep it clear that this blog is dedicated to a role play game and should not be taken seriously by any survivalists or government agencies. However I have found so many good articles on the following web site, that I feel the need to include it here.

"Are You Prepared For The Coming Economic Collapse And The Next Great Depression?"

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

Projects at Camp

What are people doing with their time ?

Kitchen Duty; 
Breakfast - Doc& MaiLyn / Lunch - Kateri & Doreen / Supper -  Kellyanna & Yvan
Kids act as helpers. Week end shifts are given to other people. Each shifts takes about an hour.
Kateri's sister has taken up general managing of kitchen ( she worked in several restaurants )

Clean Up;
The common bathrooms and general sweeping up of the place, takes about an hour / day.
Doreen, MayLin, Kateri's brother, Mary are the regular crew. No week end crew.

Guard Duty;
Each shift requires 2 people and lasts 4 hours. One walks around while the other keeps an eye on the surveillance cameras. They trade places after an hour. Scheduling is still very ad-hock. Among the regulars are the Grunt, Doc, Yvan, Kellyanna, Kateri, John, Scott, MayLin. Very often Mary, the computer hacker, will occupy the security room and watch the screens. 

Farm work;
Brown spends 4 to 6 hours at it every day and he is in charge of the fields. Usually the kids help for an hour. Also the Grunt, Scott, Doreen and John put in an hour or two, in the morning. Of course at certain times like planing and harvesting more people are required to put in more hours.

Livestock work;
Kellyanna spends 4 to 6 hours at it everyday and she is in charge of the animals. Usually the kids help for an hour. Also Kateri and her brother often help out in the morning.

Fire Arms training;
Everyone 3 times / week for 1 hour. Instruction by Yvan or the Grunt

Martial Arts training;
Everyone 3 times / week for 1 hour. Instruction by MayLin

General Physical Fitness;
Everyone 3 times / week for 1 hour. Instruction by MayLin

The moonshine still;
Making of various types of alcohol by Yvan, the Grunt, Scott. About 1 hour / day.

The algae farm pond; 
Growing algae and making it into bio fuel by Brown and Scott. About 1 hour / day.

Building the Hovercrafts;
Small 2 man craft = 100 man-hours, Two large 16 person craft = 1000 man-hours each.
Marco is project leader and works obsessively at it about 8 hours / day. Other workers are Yvan, Scott, John, the Grunt, and Kateri, for 4 hours / day in the afternoon. 

Insulating the fortress;
Getting the camp main building ready for winter is mostly done by the two Russian friends of Yvan,  who put in 6 to 8 hour / day. Kateri is supervising the project. 


A few people still hold outside jobs. 

RCMP Officer Ray only comes by to visit once per week, living in town at his house most of the time. He has been careful to limit the connections between himself and the group. He fully intends to stay at his job as long as possible. ( he does no work at the camp, but does provide valuable inside info )

Parks Ranger Bob does live at the camp full time, but he still goes to work. Often his job will take him away for several days. Although he is willing to help at the camp he can not be fit into any regular scheduled
duties. He also is part of a smuggling operation to get Americans across the boarder into Canada.

Scott Trucker still officially has his own business and his house near town, although he has not been been halling much cargo recently. In the past his job usually took him away for a few days at a time.      

Mary the computer hacker spends lots of time "working" gathering info and keeping in touch with other activist cells all over the place. It is very hard to pull her away from the computer for long to do other jobs.
 

Game Log – Week 24

Monday – August 13

The world wide reactions to the American Civil war start to be felt. Stock Markets already on shaky legs, crash. Confidence in the US dollar and the US ability to pay its debts is lost. Even the British distance themselves, saying “We are happy to help, if we can, but any payments must be arranged in solid goods; equipment or raw materials.”

Reports about the war are fragmented – Most stories are official propaganda claiming that it will all be over soon, because the rebels do not stand a chance. More accurate accounts talk about the confused fighting on military bases, which did not have a clear side in control before the fighting started on Saturday. Also there is the obvious battle for air superiority, which involves both sides launching strikes against high profile targets.

In general American news reports – Unemployment is the top problem. After the economic sanctions imposed by China almost half the people were out of work. With the start of the civil war, many people fear going outside at all.  Some continue at their jobs, others just hide at home.

At home – John the political activist, starts reminding people that the war is not the real issue, nor is the government the real enemy. The greedy corporations are the root of all evil. “The troubles coming are just a distraction, the suffering people are about to endure will be meaningless, unless something can be done to change the system. People have to stand up and demand change. Never mind the media slogans that ‘now is not the time to protest’ it damn well is the time, not only to protest but to act. If people do nothing there will be death and destruction, yet the corporations will come out unhurt and still in power.” He says.

Tuesday – August 14

After Marco assembles a short wave radio, he and Major Stone drive a few dozen miles off to make a radio contact. Stone explains his situation to his CO; the kids are fine and the situation is viable. He also makes a request for equipment to help fortify the base. They tell him to check back in 4 days for the details about the shipment.

John attends a meeting at the university to talk about making some sort of strike against the corporations who are really to blame for the state of world affairs. The idea of a large Labor Day event is suggested.

Wednesday – August 15

In the war reports it becomes clear that neither side is having much success with quick missile strikes. Unlike most American wars in the recent past, where they have had a huge technological advantage over their opponent and been able to make unopposed strikes, in this war both sides are equally matched, using exactly the same equipment.  In short, anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems prove to be very effective. The quick knock out blows that both sides had been trying to make, largely failed.

In other news; eccentric billionaire Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group of companies, made a stunning announcement. Unlike other companies who are downsizing because of the economic disaster unfolding he will be reorganizing to channel most of his resources into a new division of Virgin Galactic. Virgin Luna will enter into partnership with other space agencies in the attempt to put a base on the moon, with in one year !

Thursday – August 16

At home a group meeting is held to talk about the possible targets of attack. Radical activists, including John, aim to blow up some corporate assets for Labor Day. Some of the group think it’s a great idea, others think it is to dangerous. Everyone agrees that if it is done, it must be done in a way so that no body gets killed. Although city hall is suggested as a target, John reminds everyone that its corporations, not government, who should be in focus on Labor Day.

Friday – August 17

Marco and Stone take a drive with the short wave radio to a random stop away from the camp. The Major contacts his CO and requests some non-lethal weapons be included with the care package. ( there are some very cool tazer guns Iv seen reviews for ) The delivery unfortunately can not be direct, the 20ft ISO box will be sent across the boarder in the west, aimed at Winnipeg. It will officially be a load of e-waist, junk electronics and old computer parts.  Scott the group’s trucker is given the job of going to get it, a 8 to 10 day round trip. He plans to see if he can get a load of cargo to hall out west, to help pay the gas he will be spending.