Chapter 5: Welcome To Riverside
Dirt spewed out from under the massive tires of the BTR than Jonathon sat atop as his convoy of explorers and searchers continued down a dirt road they had come across. Trees were rushing by as a gentle breeze blew alongside the armored convoy, and it created a relaxing atmosphere for those that were able to enjoy it from atop either the BTR's or Humvee's; as the past few days had been tense. Jonathon, along with many men of the convoy, were lost in deep thoughts as they continued to travel further East in hopes of finding the lost man, Eric Elexion. Two days had passed since their orders came through, and it was two long days of traveling for every man within the convoy. There were brief pockets of conversation and snippets of tales from previous deployments from the men to each other, but Jonathon only had thoughts on where his friend could have ended up.
His convoy had passed many villages, and while none of the villagers exhibited aggression, Jonathon made sure to order his convoy to remain on the road as they traveled. The few times the road intersected through the town, Jonathon ordered his men to divert around it at a casual distance to avoid unwanted conflict with anymore locals. While using binoculars, Jonathon and the rest of the squad leaders observed the towns as the transports passed by, and they were greeted with sights of villagers looking on in awe or fear. There was no longer anger in any of their faces, but none of them wanted to risk another possible hostile confrontation until they came across a more advanced group of humans, who would possibly not react so brashly.
Yet as Jonathon looked idly to the side as he saw a turn in the dirt path coming up, he sat up quickly with his eyes going wide. He brought his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun above, and as he did, he saw buildings clearly through the breaches in the trees; they were coming up to a town. He reached down and grabbed his radio from beside his weapon, yet as he brought it up, the lead vehicle already made the turn towards the town.
Nonetheless, he clicked the transceiver button and spoke into the speaker, "Convoy, halt!"
The lead Humvee, although out of sight around the bend, pulled off to the road to the right and angled it so that the front was facing the path, and the second vehicle, the BTR that Jonathon wasn't on, did the same maneuver. Jonathon's BTR and the Humvee pulling up the rear did the same maneuver as well, except to the left of the path so that they had a strong defensive posture on the road, along with leaving room so that any one of the vehicles could maneuver should it be required.
Grabbing his radio and slinging his rifle firmly over his shoulder, Jonathon stood up and leaped down to the ground from his position, as he strode down the center of the road, his men exited the vehicles they were in, except for the two Humvee gunners. As he walked, the three squad leaders walked up to his side, and together they made their way down the path and towards the now visible town. It sat approximately a mile across a fairly decent bridge, and already there were pockets of humans looking back at them from on the bridge and across it as well.
"Course of action, sir?"
Jonathon looked to the man to his left, before he brought up his binoculars from his hip and answered, "First, let's take a look." As he turned back towards the town, he paused on bringing his binoculars up when he noticed a sign beside the road that displayed a greeting to a city called 'Riverside'. He looked at it for a bit longer, before he turned his attention back to the far town and looked through his binoculars.
His squad leaders followed his suit, and what they saw was interesting indeed. They saw a stunning quaint town resting along the banks of a large river, filled with multi story buildings, and light posts lining the streets. It was comforting to Jonathon that instead of filthy mud squatters like the villagers he had met originally, this town seemed to hold a higher class of civilization, even if it wasn't by much. The people standing on the bridge wore clothing that seemed of higher quality, and instead of awe or fear, many looked on in curiosity. While Jonathon and his squad leaders knew that the townsfolk couldn't see them as easily as they could see them, they knew that would end fairly soon depending on the course of action to follow. They had been following the path for a little over a day, and over half of that had been spent in the confines of the forests path.
They could backtrack and find another route so that they wouldn't have to go through the town, ensuring that they didn't possibly be forced into an engagement with hostile locals, and waste resources in the process. Or, as Jonathon was thinking about, they could go through the town, collect any and all useful information they possibly could, and then continue on with the mission they were undergoing. Both options had pros and cons, yet each one yielded different outcomes that could be potentially productive, or harmful.
As Jonathon lowered his binoculars, he held them in his hands as he reviewed information in his head and tried to make the best decision he could as the commanding officer of his convoy. He could potentially find useful information or help within this town; or be met with or worsen relations with the locals of this world. It all came down to choices and options that he didn't fairly like, yet he looked to his sides and gauged the expressions of his three confidantes.
What he saw was expectance... of trust. His background and expertise was something every single man under his command respected and trusted. Being a Special Force operative required intelligence, and even though it was viewed differently to the men under his command, they all trusted his choice, even if it would lead to caution on their parts.
He cleared his throat as he looked back forward, and said, "If we do this, we must do this correctly this time." He looked over his shoulder towards the waiting men of his platoon, "We will continue on with all of our vehicles, but we will do it slowly. We can potentially strengthen our relations with the locals, or ruin it all right here. Before we continue with this course of action though," he turned his head to the squad leaders at his sides, "what are your thoughts?"
The squad leader farthest to the left looked down as he kicked a rock, and said, "I don't like going into an unknown situation, but it seems like there is no other choice than do this or waste time going back the way we came."
Jonathon nodded, before looking to the closest man on his left, whom shrugged and said, "As long as my men are safe, I am all right with this plan."
Once more Jonathon nodded, yet when he looked at the man to his right, he was still looking through his binoculars at the town. The three men waited for his response for a few moments as he continued to observe the town. "I don't like it," he said, "however... nothing ventured, nothing gained..."
With his three squad leaders opinions being nothing but supportive of his decision, he nodded, before he turned around fully and called out, "Simon, I need you up here pronto!" It wasn't long before one the field engineer was standing in front of the commanding officers of the convoy, and as he stood, Jonathon said, "I need you to confirm that this bridge will be structurally stable for our vehicles to cross."
The field engineer quickly ran past Jonathon and to the side of the rivers bank, and he looked to the side of the bridge. He didn't even need that much time for his assessment, before he looked back towards Jonathon and called, "It should hold sir! But I recommend leaving," he took another quick look at the bridge's arch supports, "Ten feet of spacing between the vehicles during crossing, just to be safe."
Jonathon nodded his head, and he looked at the bridge, and he felt it was wide enough for the two BTR's to drive side by side with a few feet of comfort space between each other and the railings. In his mind, should any of the locals wish to remain on the bridge, they would be able to do so without risking getting harmed from lack of maneuverability space.
"Alvin, relay the drivers to remain fifteen feet separation from each other as we cross the bridge," Alvin nodded and left as Jonathon turned to another squad leader, "Baron, get the Humvee's to go first."
When Baron left, Jonathon looked towards the last squad leader, who asked, "Sir, why do the Humvee's need to go first?"
Jonathon nodded to the engineer as he passed by to return to his vehicle, before looking at Charlie, and answering, "If that bridge should collapse, the BTR's can transverse through the water, the Humvee's cannot. It's just a precaution though..."
(Jonathon's P.O.V.)
As we crossed the bridge, I kept one hand on the pistol at my hip as I sat atop the BTR. I may be in the back of the convoy, but I didn't want any surprises from the locals that are on the bridge, yet I didn't want to be seen as hostile for holding my assault rifle at the ready. I had one other man atop the BTR in front of me, and he was just as alert and prepared as I was. The Humvee's mounted machine guns were however in use, as I could see it swiveling every so often.
Looking behind me as I heard some whispering, I saw two locals looking up at me from the side of the bridge. They were both women, and as soon as they realized I was looking at them they both froze and hid their faces behind their hair as one of them apparently giggled quietly. Looking back forward, I felt a bit of the tenseness leave as apparently the inhabitants of this settlement wouldn't view us as hostiles if two locals were sharing idle chat as our... 'metal contraptions' passed mere feet from them.
Getting to my feet as I saw the first Humvee pull off to the side of the road on the end of the bridge, I felt a smile stretch across my lips as that meant a sole and very important fact; we made it into the settlement without issue. Now I could only hope that we could get some much needed information from this town unlike the last one we had been in.
Moving to the front of the BTR I was on, I sat down and swung my feet over the side as it slowly came to a stop behind one of the Humvee's. Once it was at a full stop and I heard the back of it start to open, I hopped off the side and landed with my knees bent. Straightening up and making my way towards the first Humvee to meet up with the squad leaders, I looked around and saw many homes and shops were within visual range, and many of the locals were now coming out to look at us. I won't be surprised if everyone in this town heard our vehicles, but I can only hope none of them encountered the rebels. We don't need a tainted reputation in every town in this world... if we do, then I will personally wring the leader's neck...
Stopping beside the Humvee and two of the three squad leaders, I nodded to them, and soon the last man walked up from behind me, and I looked over when he stopped beside me. Nodding to him as well, I turned to the other men and cleared my throat before beginning, "We are in need of information. Possibly maps or even rumors of strange men with strange weapons will be better than nothing. I'm sure you have all noticed, but none of these men or women know what our weapons are or that they are even weapons at all. I want groups of two or three men to travel with each other, paying attention to any and all pieces of information they can gather. At all times, I want five to ten men guarding the vehicles." Glancing over my shoulder as I heard some of the men conversing with a local, I looked back toward and said, "It would be better if the more men guard the vehicles, as I'm certain they will be... distracted from their duties by questions I'm sure the locals will be asking them."
"Sir, if it makes you feel better, I will remain with the watch so that nothing bad happens."
Looking towards him, I understood what he was saying, and it was a responsible thing that he was doing, and although I wanted nothing more than to order him to take a group with him, I knew better than to leave the vehicles to be guarded only by incompetence. Reluctantly, I nodded, but then another one of the squad leaders asked, "Who will you be taking sir?"
"Nobody. I will be able to focus and move quicker alone." Looking towards the town, I saw a few locals hesitantly making their ways closer, and with a quick glance behind me, I saw a few of my men were now intermingling with those that had dared come past the perimeter of the vehicles. Maybe that one town was just a rare occurrence... maybe the rebels had only stopped there at first.
Even though I doubted that, a part of my mind was bugging me with the possibility that the rebels hadn't even made it this far yet. For all we knew, the rebels could've been further than this town, or possibly we passed them without knowing it. It was a strong possibility, as they might have not had vehicles, and my platoon of men have already traveled dozens of miles with our vehicles. If I'm lucky... they froze just like that helicopter pilot...
...
(World Perspective)
Many of the soldiers that were walking the town had gleaned very little intelligence related to their mission specific task, and thus it would normally be considered a failure. That however was false as few members of separate groups had been lucky enough to find what they required, and through means of some headaches, had obtained items that would help them on their journey. Ranging from maps, books of importance, area's which to avoid through advice from travelling locals, and best of all; local currency.
A trio of soldiers walked down the street back to their meeting spot with the rest of the search and rescue platoon, and while they did, they each continued to talk with one another as each of them felt the weight in their pockets from the currency they had received, along with a green pin with a smile face across it. The order of business for them was to report their findings, and after they asked, then they would possibly be attending the local bars.
But in another part of the town, Eric was walking back to the vehicles while scanning every possible inch of the map in front of him. From what he could tell, they had covered a fair distance in the few days they had been traveling, but the amount of distance they covered without stopping was also enough to worry him that they could've possibly passed Eric's location if he had chosen to remain where he came through. It was a choice he had to hope wouldn't come with repercussions in their search for their lost comrade.
(Jonathon's P.O.V.)
It would probably be best if we stop at every possible town from here in out and attempt to gather information like that, but that is a lot of area to cover with just a single convoy. It is possible that we can split off into two or more groups, but that would lessen the overall integrity of any group sent off. We still are safe, and a BTR and a Humvee pair will be still rather safe, but we still would only be covering twice as much ground. I can always have two Humvees go together and have them scout out a larger region since they can go faster than a BTR, but then I would have to lessen their armor since they wouldn't have a BTR for heavier firepower.
Letting out an irritated sigh while looking between both the different area's that would need to be travelled. I could send the Humvee's to go through the plains and try to find Eric there, and then that would leave the BTR's to hammer a path through the dense forests to the north. Yet as I thought about it, that always left the possibility for even more flaws in my plans. I'm not too worried about facing off with a local army; rather there is still the threat of the rebels somewhere here. I'm sure more than just a single helo got through, and if they have air superiority here, then only the Humvee's have the possibility to take them on, but they wouldn't last long against rebels on the ground. The gunner would be an open target as we don't have the variant with shield protection, but a BTR could offer that kind of protection and firepower, but if the BTR group was to run into the air units, we don't have the proper weapons to easily destroy it, only the defense systems to stop missiles.
Looking up from the map, I turned the corner and saw a few of my men were already back at the vehicles. Rolling up the map as I approached, I slid it into the cargo pocket on my vest, and while I moved closer to my men, I saw they were indeed conversing with the locals how I had originally thought. There were women and men, and then there were the occasional child looking at my men or the vehicles they were guarding.
If I need to, I will send out two groups consisting of each vehicle, and an even amount of men per group. That way one group doesn't sacrifice too much while still being able to complete the allotted tasks they would have to deal with...