Log Title: Welcome to Juarez
Characters: Headman, Major Bludd
Location: Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Date:12 April 2010
TP: Non-TP
Summary: Major Bludd and his Cerberus PMC personnel arrive in Ciudad Juarez to a 'warm' welcome.
As logged by Major Bludd
Ciudad Juárez - Mexico[]
Ciudad Juárez, formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez has an estimated population of 1.5 million people. The city is situated on the Rio Grande across from El Paso, Texas. El Paso and Ciudad Juárez comprise one of the largest bi-national metropolitan areas in the world with a combined population of 2.4 million people.
Major Bludd[]
Major Bludd
The man stands about six feet tall. He is dressed in black fatigues and a set of close-fitting custom body armour, consisting of chest and shoulder plates, knee- and armguards, and a sturdy battle helmet. On the left shoulder of his shirt, just under the shoulder plate, is a patch in a shield shape, emblazoned with three dog's heads in yellow. A black vanDyke beard frames his thin lips, and his left eye is covered with a black eyepatch, evidently to hide the remnants of a past injury. The remaining eye takes in his surroundings with a mix of cool confidence and unwavering malice.
A pair of handguns are holstered at his hips and an AK-47 assault rifle hangs over his shoulder.
A group of three SUVs, two belonging to the Mexican police and one a nondescript solid black, roll down the highway near the US-Mexico border. Men in black BDUs, armed with military weapons, ride in the black SUV as the mini-convoy patrols for suspicious or dangerous activity.
Headman watches the proceedings through the scope of a sniper rifle from his perch on the top of a nearby building. He's been out of the game far too long while in prison and is looking for a high-profile target to reaffirm his standing as a criminal to be reckoned with. Renting his henchman to Nightfall has brought in cash, but his rep still needs serious repair after serving time thanks to G.I. Joe.
Major Bludd sits in the passenger seat of the black SUV, watching the surroundings pass by. His men, too, keep their eyes on the sides of the road, alert for anything unusual.
Headman fades into the shadows without a sound.
Headman focuses his attention on the black SUV, curious to see who the new power in town is.
The SUV bears no markings, and none of the black-clad soldiers is particularly recognisable. None save their leader, who's gone to no lengths to hide his identity.
Headman is unable to see the leader in the SUV from his rooftop perch and shifts slightly to watch in case the caravan stops while still in sight.
The convoy winds around the highway, approaching the city's outskirts. At the intersection of this highway and another running perpendicular to it, a red pickup is parked near an overturned white SUV bearing police markings. Figures are unloading something from the SUV.
The convoy breaks, one police vehicle moving to either end of the scene, while the black SUV lags behind, slowing to a stop. Its doors open and the black-clad men climb out.
Headman watches the men from his perch, trying to identify them with his mental rolodex of local muscle.
Major Bludd steps out, unslinging his rifle automatically. The police leap from their vehicles and point their weapons at the men unloading the damaged police SUV. There's a moment of hesitation as each side sizes up the other, a tense moment where time seems to stand still. From the silence, gunfire erupts as the men from the red truck brandish automatic weapons and open fire on the police.
GAME: Headman PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Below Average difficulty.
Headman's eyes widen behind his mask as he spots the leader of the SUV-blund troops.
Major Bludd and his men use their vehicle for cover as they attempt to get the assailants to button up. The criminals break almost immediately for the safety of their truck. One goes down in a heap as a shot catches him in the back of the neck. The other two spray bullets wildly as they retreat toward their vehicle. Bludd steps out from beside his own SUV, smiling as he puts a three-round burst into the lower legs of another assailant. He doesn't immediately notice the approach of two more vehicles, driving side by side down the crossing road at high speed.
Headman watches the action from his safe perch, speaking quietly into his encrypted high-tech tiny radio transceiver.
"Major!" cries one of the black-suited men, pointing down the road at the oncoming vehicles. The remaining criminal leaps behind the wheel of his truck and slams it into reverse before even shuting the door, weaving unsteadily down the shoulder of the road. In the other direction roars a pair of SUVs, men with assault rifles sticking their heads and weapons out of the windows and peppering the police and Bludd's troops with fire.
Headman grins, aiming carefully at Major Bludd.
Major Bludd swears, gesturing frantically at the man at the black SUV's driver's side. "Back it up!" he cries, dashing back to the vehicle and grabbing onto the doorframe with his free hand.
The oncoming vehicles bear down on the policemen in the road, striking one full-on and clipping another, sending him twirling off toward the dusty roadside.
Headman tracks Bludd, and fires off a shot as he gets back to the vehicle.
Major Bludd flinches as he's struck by a bullet. It doesn't immediately occur to him that he's been hit from the wrong direction. He clings to the SUV's frame, a motion echoed by most of his men, as the driver slams the vehicle into reverse. The oncoming SUVs screech to a halt a few feet from the black SUV. Their passengers step out in a practised motion and open fire on the retreating vehicle.
Headman grins gleefully and starts targetting Bludd's men, firing off shots one after the other in an even pace: aim, fire, repeat.
One man goes down in a heap, another yelps as he's struck in the shoulder. "In!" Bludd shouts. "Down!" The men duck into the vehicle, two leaning out to grab their fallen comrade. One gets a shot to the abdomen for his trouble, but the group gets inside and slams shut the doors as the driver hurriedly maneuvers the SUV backward down the highway. The men keep their heads down to avoid the hail of bullets that quickly shatters the front windshield and punctures the tires. Bludd silently thanks the good sense that told him to fit run-flats to their vehicle.
The criminals cease fire once the black SUV is out of range and turn their attention to looting the police vehicles and the fallen policemen of equipment.
Headman fires off a few more rounds at the fleeing SUV, as BRA and Headhunter forces move in to start cutting off and disrupting known Cobra supply lines in Mexico.
GAME: Headman PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Average difficulty.
The black SUV makes its retreat toward police headquarters in Ciudad Juarez. Ignoring his own injury, Bludd focuses on the attentions of the men in the back of the vehicle to stabilise the injured man. The other is beyond help. "Dammit," Bludd mutters, opening a frequency on the SUV's military-grade radio. "Have medical assistance standing by," he requests, staring at the grimace on the injured man's pale face. "We're inbound." He sits back, letting the radio mic fall onto the seat and closing his eyes. "Dammit."
A burst of gunfire peppers any emergency vehicles seen heading towards the police headquarters, as rival criminals target medical services responding to the scene.
Major Bludd's eyes open at the sound of gunfire within the city itself. "What the hell..." As the SUV approaches police headquarters, he notices men with assault weapons brazenly standing out in the street and firing on an ambulance turning the corner for the headquarters building. "Cheeky f-ing bastards!" He grabs his rifle and rolls down his window. "Not done yet, lads," he grunts. "Needta swat these flies so's Simpson c'n get help." The other men follow their leader's example, the driver maneuvering their vehicle between the criminals and the ambulance. Bludd and his men fire carefully at the men on the street.
The men on the street are brazen, but not quick. A few are quickly cut down before the rest retreat for cover, firing wildly behind them.
The SUV follows the ambulance into police headquarters. The men are too shocked, tired, or injured to make much commentary on what they've witnessed. Medical personnel begin treating Simpson's injuries on the spot. Bludd heads in to make his unfortunate report to the police chief.
Headman slips down through his escape route and into the city, shedding this gear and dressing to blend in with the pimps and crooks of the city.
At police headquarters, the EMTs work on the injured soldier. Bludd delivers a brief but unhappy report to the chief before consenting to have his gunshot wound treated. As he's being looked at, one of his men comments on the direction and angle of the wound. "Sir, that couldn't have been fired by the criminals," he observes. The EMTs concur - the shot must have been fired from elsewhere. As they extract the bullet, the men realise there must have been a sniper in the vicinity: the bullet isn't of the type fired by the assault rifles the criminals were using.
One of the EMTs comes up to Bludd and begins speaking rapidly in Spanish, gesturing to the injured Simspon. "Hang on," Bludd says wearily, holding up a hand. "Where's my interpreter, fer pity's sake?"
The man in question scuttles up and translates for the Spanish-deprived Major. "They need to take him to hospital," he explains. "His injuries require surgery."
"Right. Reckon those bastards are still out there," Bludd mutters. He calls into his radio, summoning a fresh crew of soldiers. In a few minutes they're back in the shot-up but still functional SUV, ready to accompany the ambulance to the hospital.
Headman's troops have found better cover now, but still watch the police station, ready to fire on anyone coming in or out.
The black SUV leave the station first, Bludd and his men pointing their assault rifles out the vehicle's windows. Behind it follows the ambulance.
Weaponsfire erupts as soon as the vehicles emerge.
Bludd and his troops do their best to pinpoint the origin of the weaponsfire. It's a good thing the streets are not so full of innocent bystanders at this point, given the earlier hail of bullets directed at the ambulance.
Headman's men fire from alleyways and the upper floor windows of buildings, having frightened off any innocent bystanders already with their earlier fire.
Bludd's men take what shots they can at their attackers. The interpreter, inside the SUV, urges the ambulance driver to go faster as the SUV increases its speed. The quicker they get out of this situation the better.
Headman's men fire at the fleeing vehicles, but their aim is terrible, hitting surrounding buildings as often as they do the ambulance and the SUV.
Headman slips into a nearby alleyway, carrying his cane, to watch the action himself.
The ambulance races along behind the black SUV. The cover fire from the soldiers keeps the ambulance from being perforated before it reaches the hospital.
Headman's men follow, but as police swarm en masse, they pull back, disappearing as quickly as they came. From the shadows, Headman smiles. Everything is falling into place.