Black Knight Squadron_Book 1_Foundations

by John Chapman

  The TOC / team room tent heater was cranking. Mark immediately shed his jacket and said, “Holy crap it’s hotter than Hades up in here.” The detective who was working on the intel board and watching the radio overnight said, “Don’t judge me Mark. I’m from Florida, I get cold.” Mark laughed and grabbed a chair as the command staff started trickling in. Mark noticed the team room side of the tent was empty, and when Kyle sat down next to him asked, “Where are the single guys sleeping? I figured they would be in here.” Kyle replied, “There was too much light from the TOC. They all moved over to the city tent.” “Good call,” Mark said. “It’s going to get loud in here when we all start yelling at each other.” Kyle laughed and replied, “If everyone would just do what I say, we could avoid all the leader on leader violence.” Mark grinned.

  They heard a HMWWV pull in the gate, and within one minute David walked into the TOC. “Morning Brothers!” David said, in way too chipper a tone. Bones grumbled, “Spoken like someone who slept in a real bed.” David laughed and said, “Don’t be hatin’. It was very nice. We had the gas fireplace cranked up and it was toasty warm. There was even hot water to take a shower.” Everyone groaned and several people threw things at him. David laughed and found a cup of coffee and a chair. Mark got up and walked to the boards, and wrote ‘gas service still on?’ It was one more thing to check.

  By the time the Mayor walked into the TOC, everyone else was in a seat and ready to work. Mark recognized most of the people present, but several were strangers. Chief Stone kicked the session off by having everyone stand up and introduce themselves, mainly for the benefit of letting the Black Knight leaders know who everyone was. The city was represented by Mayor Barnhart, who was obviously chairing the meeting, Chief Stone, the Alliance Fire Chief, the Director of Water and Power, the Manager of the water treatment facility, the Director of the public works department, and the Manager of the city maintenance yard, Jimmy. City Prosecutor Kathy Jones was also present, sitting next to her boyfriend Kyle, resting her head on his shoulder and nursing a cup of coffee.

  The Fire Chief from Lexington Township, the small jurisdiction that butted up against Alliance, was also present. Two Alliance firefighters, a Battalion Chief and a Captain, had made it to the range at some point, and were sitting in the planning session.

  Alliance EMS was represented by one of their Paramedic Supervisors, who so far was the only EMS asset any of them had seen since the pulse. She had come in on foot at some point last night. After discussing it with Kyle, Chief Stone had asked that Dylan Nowak be woken up to attend as well. Stone thought his deep knowledge of the city and its criminal element would help shape the group’s planning, and Kyle told the Chief he would be appointing Nowak as the Squadron’s Chief of Intelligence as soon as Dylan was cleared to work by Doc Zimmerman. The Black Knight Squadron command group, Kyle, Mark, David, and Bones, and the new supply manager Lydia, rounded out the meeting’s 17 attendees.

  The Mayor was normally a very outgoing and funny guy. Given the gravity of the situation the previous day, a lot of that had been missing from his interactions with everyone. It was back in full force this morning. “Alright folks, let’s get started!” the Mayor said after the introductions were complete. “Thank you to everyone for getting up so early,” he paused as everyone booed. “Seriously though, I cannot tell you how proud and thankful I am for each one of you. We are facing a crisis of unparalleled proportion in any of our lifetimes, and I intend to keep our little part of the world as safe and healthy as is humanly possible.”

  Everyone nodded as the Mayor continued, “We managed to get through day one of this event, but it was a rough, seat of the pants affair. We lost one police officer and only the Lord knows how many of the other 22,000 souls in our city. If we want to have any measure of success in keeping this place together we have to have a master plan; at least one laid out in general terms. The miracles Kyle and the guys pulled off yesterday are simply not sustainable, and that’s just the security situation. We have many more areas to think about and plan for to avoid the host of other major problems that are coming our way; like water, food, shelter, heat, fuel, and on and on.” The Mayor paused for a minute then continued, “Before we start planning in earnest, I think we need to call on the Lord’s help and providence.” The Mayor then led the group in a heartfelt prayer to God for wisdom, guidance, strength, and perseverance.

  Mayor Barnhart then got down to business while David and Mark stood up to transcribe information on the whiteboards. Everyone in the room was also keeping paper notes, mostly to track the work they were assigned. They started out by listing all of the city departments and how many staff members they had on site.

  The Police Department was obviously the largest so far, with almost 90 trained people on hand. Apparently cops from close-by jurisdictions had been trickling in all night, having been chased out of their own cities and townships; or simply deciding Alliance was the best-equipped place within traveling distance to weather the storm.

  The Mayor said, “We’ve been discussing the issue of the police department, and this event is obviously well beyond what a traditional police organization can effectively respond to. We aren’t really clear on my powers as Mayor in an emergency; the law puts most of the authority in the hands of the governor. But with no way to contact the State government, or even the county sheriff, the City Attorney,” he gestured towards Kathy, “has told me I have the authority to do what I think is best, so long as it’s constitutional.”

  The Mayor paused and looked at Chief Stone, then continued, “I’ve asked the Chief, given the severity of the security situation and unique nature of the emergency, to enlist the Unorganized Militia, as described in the Ohio Revised Code, and I’ve given him the authority to re-organize the police department in whatever way he thinks best, to manage the situation.” The group responded with stone cold silence. Even Kyle was surprised.

  Chief Stone stood up and said, “Given the war-like state that exists in the city, and presumably the entire State and Country, I am appointing the Black Knight Squadron, with Kyle as its commander, as the City’s Militia for defensive and offensive operations, under my civil oversight.” Several eyebrows lifted at that one, including Mark and David’s. Mark wasn’t aware the Chief even knew what the Black Knight Squadron was; and this was a ballsy move by the Mayor and Chief. Mark agreed it was the right thing to do, but he presumed it would be several weeks before the city government realized it.

  Chief Stone continued, “This is a time when we will need a functionally military organization. Police tactics and organization simply won’t cut it. Kyle and his team are already doing the work, and have the expertise to do what needs done. State law is silent on the subject of who can activate the Unorganized Militia if the Governor is incommunicado, but Ron (the Mayor) has decided that, given the unique circumstance and our inability to contact the State government, he has the authority necessary. The City Attorney agrees.” Kathy nodded her head.

  Stone continued, “The Black Knight Squadron will take command of the Unorganized Militia, and it will report to the proper civilian authority. Me.” Stone paused for a second then continued, “Until further notice, the police department will consist only of myself and detectives Becker and Wright. All other personnel and assets are assigned to the Squadron effective immediately.” Even Kyle was stunned into silence, and just nodded his head in acknowledgement of the order.

  Nowak, sitting the back of the room said, “Damn, Kyle!” in an impersonation of a popular Internet video meme. Several people just shook their heads, but smiled. “Nowak must be feeling better,” Kyle quipped dryly. “Watch that white board or he’ll have his signature drawn on it.” Everyone laughed at that one; Nowak was known for drawing a male appendage on any whiteboard he chanced upon.

  “Alright, any questions on that? If not let’s move on,” Ron said as the laughter died down. The Water and Power folks reported a lot of help available, with 23 people on hand, over 80% of their
normal workforce. The rest of the departments reported between two and five personnel available. The Mayor’s first directive was for each department head to work on finding their employees and convincing them to come to work. Having trained people, intimately familiar with the city’s systems, would be crucial to keeping things going.

  For the next hour, the group wrestled with big picture priorities, such as shelter and heat for the citizens of Alliance, water supply, gathering food and distributing it, transportation, fuel for vehicles and generators, communicating with the citizenry, and the security / civil unrest situation. Most of the issues required investigation by the departments before clear plans could be made, but the group was able to make some decisions. First, as many supplies as possible had to be gathered. With the area already in the troughs of what promised to be a cold winter, securing as much food, medicine and fuel as possible was deemed essential.

  Mark spoke up for the first time, “I think we need a department responsible for identifying, gathering, and distributing supplies. There is simply too much out there that we need to secure quickly to do it by the seat of our pants. Something critical is going to get missed.” Ron nodded and said, “That’s a great point. Some of this stuff, like the trainload of containers we need to sort through, are going to need a lot of bodies, and a way to move and store it.” Kyle interjected, “We have the military semi tractors, and I’m sure there are hundreds of CONEX semi-trailers at the train yard in town. We will need to find a way to unload CONEX boxes from the train-cars so we can get that train unloaded and the boxes moved someplace for sorting.” Everyone was nodding. It would be a huge undertaking, but really was nothing more than an exercise in scale.

  Kyle continued, “I think Chris Mason would be perfect for directing the on-the-ground salvage work. He has a ton of experience in heavy equipment and is a good leader. His partner Ed used to work in a container yard before he went into the Marine Coprs, so he knows how to move the CONEX’s. We just need an organizer to coordinate all the moving parts and track the supplies.” The room was silent for a moment, until Lydia spoke from the back of the group in a timid voice, “I can manage the supply situation until you can find someone qualified.”

  Kyle began to speak but paused, thinking about how little they knew about Lydia’s abilities. She had done a good job so far in organizing the small amount of supplies at the range, but this was a monumental job for the steel mill supply clerk turned Deputy Sheriff. Failure in that position would endanger the entire community. The Mayor made the decision for him, “Thank you Lydia. You’re hired. Coordinate with the Black Knight Squadron for security. Alright everyone, the sun will be up in a few minutes, let’s get to work.”

  *

  After everyone else left the tent the Black Knight leadership group, which now included Nowak, stood in the TOC to flesh out the day’s missions. David said, “Well, that was interesting.” Kyle shook his head and said, “I always wanted to be an officer… said no one ever.” Mark grinned and said, “Well, I will be calling you ‘Major Payne’ constantly.” Kyle replied, “Shut up Private.” Everyone laughed at that.

  Kyle got everyone back on track, “Alright, we had a bunch of hitters come in overnight. I spoke to Miles Johnson from Canton PD; he and Ermin Lisowski escaped from Canton with a couple of other officers.” Everyone nodded; grateful Miles and Ermin had made it out. Both of them were good friends and proven assaulters. “It must be bad in Canton if they had to fight their way out,” Mark said. Kyle replied, “From what Miles described to me it sounds like someone in the ghetto figured out what was going on pretty early. No one was rioting or looting. Instead everyone was hunting cops and firefighters and lynching them. Miles told me he counted over 30 dead cops and five dead firefighters; all of them were killed and left hanging from traffic signals. They also noticed hood rats were guarding all of the grocery stores and gas stations, like they were trying to protect the resources. That’s too organized and consistent to be anything other than a centralized plan.”

  Nowak said, “Before the pulse I was working on developing information on a new criminal organization based in Canton. Information was pretty thin, which in itself is an indication of a high level of organization. Addicts like to talk, but someone was putting the fear of God into my snitches.” Dylan paused to think then continued, “Based on some of the people involved, I’d say whoever is in charge took over Big Mook’s organization after the Mexican’s relieved him of his dome. Whoever is capable of that kind of organizational discipline could definitely put together and enforce the kind of plan you’re talking about.” Bones nodded; he’d been working a case on Big Mook when he was killed, but was having a hard time tracking the money. Once Mook was dead, what little traces of his financial empire existed had vaporized.

  “The only real info I’ve been able to get,” Nowak continued, “is that the group is known as the ‘Bookie Organization’. I’ve run the name though every database in the state, and I’ve only gotten one hit, but it can’t be the right guy. It was listed as a nickname for some disabled kid in Canton.” Kyle interjected, “Well, whoever is running it, they seem to be squared away. I think they will become a major threat pretty quickly.” Mark agreed, “If they organized a genocide against public services that quick, it sounds like they are following the ISIL model; eliminate the local government and replace them with your own people. They are going to be a problem we need to deal with soon.” Everyone agreed.

  The group shifted focus to integrating the 50+ new cops and civilians who had shown up at the range overnight and wanted to join the Squadron. Some of them had brought their families, and Kyle was getting worried about their capacity to house so many people. In addition to all these folks, three National Guard Troopers had shown up last night as well. They reported that the Armory was locked up tight, and they knew their commanding officer was out of town on training. All three of them were 91S’s, Striker Systems Maintainers, assigned to care for the National Guard Armored Calvary Company’s tactical vehicles, which were stored at the Ravenna Reserve Base about 20 miles away. “Those guys will be helpful.” David said. Mark replied, “Yes they will. I was thinking we needed to check out Ravenna anyway; there will be a lot of useful equipment there.” It went on the list of scouting missions.

  David said, “Ok. So how are we going to organize the Squadron? The teams as they sit now are staffed with folks who have basically the same level of training, or at least common SOP’s everyone is trained on. Do we break the teams up and disperse the talent to fill leadership roles, or do we build more teams of like-qualified people?” Mark piped up, “I think splitting the current teams up would be a bad idea. We need combat effectiveness now; we don’t have the time for our guys to train all these new people. We have to be running missions within an hour.”

  Kyle nodded his agreement and Bones said, “Can we just form more teams? Having six to eight guys on a team seemed to work. That would let us get more missions done at the same time.” Mark replied, “That’s true, but we will run ourselves ragged keeping track of that many teams, and our transportation is pretty limited. What about this,” Mark paused for a second then continued, “Since we are a ‘squadron’, in name anyway, let’s stand up three “Troops”, and assign each of the teams to a Troop. A Troop commander should be able to handle three or four teams of up to 10 guys each. That structure should be able to handle at least 160 assaulters. We have 90 or 91 guys now, if you include us.”

  Kyle said, “That would work. Keep in mind we will need support people as well; guards for the FOB and whatever off-site locations the city sets up, supply people, food service, equipment maintenance, etc. We should probably stand up four Troops, and make the fourth the Support Troop.” David nodded and said, “We will also need some staff people. Intel,” he pointed at Nowak, “planning and so forth.”

  Kyle was nodding and said, “Alright. David, you’re my operations and planning officer, let’s just call it S3 (military speak for OPS Officer) for my sanity
. Nowak, you’re the Intel guy, so you’re the S2. Bones, you’re my XO (Executive Officer); you will handle admin, keeping the roster up to date, personnel issues, that kind of stuff. You’ll also be a task force commander when we need it. Mark, you will be the Deputy Squadron Commander, my number two,” Kyle grinned again, while Mark just sighed and rolled his eyes, “and the other Task Force commander when we need it.”

  David said, “OK. Who do we want as our Troop Commanders? Obviously, Manny is a no brainer.” Everyone nodded to that and David continued, “Mark, Dan has worked for you for a long time on the SWAT team, would he be a good Troop commander?” Mark replied, “Absolutely. He was the next name on my list. What are you guys thinking for the third, Ben or Troy? I think Troy has the slight edge in tactical ability, and Ben has it in team leadership experience and local knowledge.” Kyle said, “Ben is our Master Breacher. Tying him up with that much responsibility might screw us at some point. I’d like to keep him in a TL slot.” “Roger that, Troy it is.” David said. Kyle nodded and said, “I’ll explain it to Ben. He will understand.”