OVERCAST: Prater's Rebellion

[cl0ud]

BATTLE PLAN

Divide the attack group into four smaller groups; Group A, Group B, Group C, and Group D.

Spoiler: Groupings

Group A:

1. Howard Prater
2. Jordan Daniels
3. Morgan Daniels
4. Javo Maverick
5. Don Kleiner
6. Luke Holloway
7. Oswald Nugent
8. Sean Strauss
9. Virgil Mores
10. Dale Parker
11. Tatiana Waverly
12. Joel Agustine
13. Julian Joulhayan
14. Tyrone Drummond

Group B:

1. Tina Miles
2. Ray Hunter
3. Anthony Payne
4. Cass McCoy
5. Seng Ren
6. Cam Loan
7. Becca Tiller
8. Anna Pereire
9. Patrick Bloom
10. Cyril Johnson

Group C:

1. Zack Young
2. Relle Kudeau
3. Oliver Eastwood
4. Wesley Jones
5. Alex Badila
6. Matthias Dailey
7. Charlie Ross
8. Matthew Chang
9. Vince Raybles
10. Rebecca Vance

Group D:

1. Matthew Poll
2. Catherine O'Leary
3. Tanner Bloom
4. Tim Mueller
5. Dale Parker
6. Travis Florins
7. James Swinburn

Group A is the frontal attack, led by Prater. They will use two sedans, one SUV, and one pickup truck to form a defensive line facing the oncoming ghouls. Some will move off towards the nearest trees on the right to stand in cover if they can't fit behind one of the vehicles. This group will try to attract the attention of the ghouls the most. Within the ranks of the ones shooting are dedicated survivors to melee any ghoul that gets too close to the defensive line (within 7m). They're ordered to target any runners first, and then slowly pick off any ghoul, conserving as much ammunition as possible.

Group B is on the left flank of the nursery. They'll form a tighter defensive line using one SUV, one pickup truck, and two sedans. Essentially, their mission is the same as Group A's. They'll attract the attention of the ghouls in the center and on the left side of the nursery and slowly pick them off. Their first objective is to eliminate any runners, though. After they thin out the ranks of ghouls, they'll begin moving in towards the center or provide support to Group A if Group A is starting to become overwhelmed.

Group C is on the right flank of the nursery. They will also form a defensive line consisting of They're on the most open part of the nursery, so their objective will be to help cover Group A if things get too hot as well as clearing out their side of the nursery. The initial objective of Group C is to kill any runners and then slowly pick off the ghouls one by one, making sure they're keeping as much ammunition as they can. After they've cleared out the majority of their flank, Group C will then push into the nursery or support Group A, depending on if Group A becomes overwhelmed with their share of ghouls.

After these three groups have all made their way to the center, they are to reunite with Group D and clear out the buildings of the nursery, killing any remaining ghouls or NPA they find in their wake.

Group D is the clean-up crew. They'll walk on foot and weave between the trees and try to be as stealthy as possible until they reach the north end of the nursery. This group of seven will primarily focus on using melee attacks to kill any stragglers that they encounter, silently dispatching each hostile target. After they've cleared the group of ghouls at their section of the nursery, they'll begin to very slowly push into the center of the nursery, eliminating any ghoul with a melee attack if they encounter one. Some pertinent to the survival of this group is that they avoid all runners. They will also provide support to Groups B and C if necessary, and will also guard the entries and exits of each of the north end buildings in case the NPA soldiers try to flee the nursery.

After Groups A, B, and C have cleared out their portions of the horde, the will all advance and rendezvous with Group D at the center of the nursery. Groups A and D will combine together and clear out the three buildings at the northern end of the nursery, starting with the building 1 and ending with building 3. Groups B and C will combine together and clear out buildings 4 and 5 and then begin looting the tents that are littered around the nursery.

If at any point a living NPA soldier is spotted, the order is to KOS (kill-on-sight). No mercy for this mission.

 

[Lorsh]

Group A's vehicular palisade is assembled quickly, allowing your guns to begin firing immediately. Your men with assault rifles engage the infected, firing mostly in burst towards the runners, to great effect. Many of them are cut down. Your submachine guns go full-auto to less effect, however. The lower-caliber pistol rounds that punch into the torsos of the runners are easily shrugged off. In the case of Luke Holloway, he empties half the magazine of his .22 calibre Assault Pistol into a few of the infected without dropping a single one of them. Sure, you've heard that the runners could be killed by anything that could take down a human... but it still seems they're unnaturally resilient. Still, over three dozen infected are destroyed, including the majority of the runners, by Group A.

As Group C movies into position, you get a surprised notification from leader Zack Young's walkie-talkie. "Holy shit, there's some guys here!" Indeed, once you turn your head, you can see a group of about ten or so unknown survivors out of the corner of your eye, emerging from the eastern sideline. They look the part of civilians, but a few of them are carrying assault-style weapons. A woman stands out in front of them, keeping her hands raised as Group C's vehicles come to a slow. "Boss, I think they're friendly," Zack says. "Don't know who the fuck they are though. Continue with flank sweep?" You might only have time to greet them after the zombies are dealt with.

Group C is delayed in getting into position, but Group B have set up their vehicles without issue. Group D is still making their up to the northern end of the nursery.​

 

[cl0ud]

Shift Luke Holloway with someone else and tell him to go on the defensive with his crowbar. For the others in Group A, instruct them to remain to single-shot or burst shots, not full-auto. As the horde begins to thin out, tell some of the survivors to get into the vehicles and press forward towards the center of the rendezvous, creating a formation around the survivors who are continuing to thin out the horde.

Spoiler: Formation

"Zack," Prater says over the radio between shooting approaching infected with his revolver, "how far out are they from your position?"

Instruct Group B to open fire on the right flank, using bursts and single-fire instead of full-auto.

 

[Lorsh]

Some members of Group A hop into the vehicles and start to shift them into the wedge position you denoted. Gunshots continue, and a few of your survivors reload.

"They're right in front of us," Zack tells you. You can also physically see that the two groups are in close proximity. Things looks tense, but nobody from the unknown party has their guns raised, aside from a few people that are keeping watch on the zombies. "Uh... here, one sec." Zack rolls down the window of his car, and a woman with a slung rifle approaches. Zack gives her his radio temporarily.

You hear the woman's voice come in through on your walkie-talkie, now. "Hey, we're friendly. We're reformies," she tells you. "Look, let's just get rid of these ghouls. Where do you want us?"

Tina Miles, the leader of Group B, radios you. "Group C and those unknowns are potentially in our line of fire."

 

[cl0ud]

"May I know the name of whom I'm speaking to?" Prater requests, as he advances with the formation pressing towards the rendezvous.

Instruct Group B to be selective with their targets, only choosing ones that couldn't possibly hit the friendlies on the opposite flank.

 

[Lorsh]

Group B begins to open fire, though only to limited effect due to the new restrictions. Though, since the majority of the undead are pressing towards Group A's position, they aren't in any particular danger.

"My name is Miranda Stover, I'm a squad leader for an independent rebel group. We came here to investigate," she says. "There's deads coming towards us, can we clear them out first?"

You notice a few more recently-turned infected, who look like they might be gardeners. Looks like the NPA was also using Sturgess Tree Nursery to grow some limited crops.

 

[cl0ud]

"Please hand the radio back to Zack," Prater says. Once Miranda hands the radio back to Zack, "Keep the newcomers in front of you. Help clear out the zombies with them but don't give them a chance to harm you or any of your squad members. They may appear friendly, but it might just be a facade. Continue with the sweep. Watch for friendlies on the opposite side."

Radio in with Group D to see if they've arrived at their point yet and are beginning to push towards the center of the nursery.
Radio in with Group B and order them to start pushing into the center of the nursery, utilizing melee weapons and avoiding Group C's line of fire.
Continue pushing towards the rendezvous point in formation, using bursts and melee weapons to dispose of any infected.

 

[Lorsh]

Miranda relinquishes the radio to Zack, who acknowledges your directives and begins to work with the other rebel squad to clear out the remaining zombies.

Group D has already taken out a few zombies from behind and is pushing forwards. Group A has made a good amount of ground, and so have groups B and C.

After taking out a zombified soldier with his crowbar, Luke Holloway picks up an NPA-issue 'Government Model' carbine from the body. "Nice!"

During close combat with a few zombies, you see one of Miranda's men get scratched by a ghoul while chopping away at them with a hatchet. Relle Kudeau had been fighting alongside him with a claw hammer, but you see an undead soldier seize his arm and sink its teeth into his shoulder. "Oh shit, they got Kudeau!" you hear Sean Strauss remark. "They bit him!"

Kudeau isn't killed outright, since he is saved by a few of Miranda's other friends, who bash the zombie's head in. Kudeau is taken to the back of the line, and Vince Raybles applies pressure to his wound. It looks like he will have to be put down eventually, but Vince ensures he doesn't bleed to death and potentially reanimate in the heat of the moment. Miranda's scratched guy also appears to be receiving some care from his own crew, though it's uncertain whether or not he is infected.

The numbers of infected have been drastically reduced. There are now less than twenty zombies in the camp. You should be able to push forward towards the buildings.

 

[cl0ud]

Radio Zack. Tell him to order Raybles to take Kudeau into the woods and destroy his brain via bullet or otherwise, but make it clear that Kudeau isn’t to experience more than a second of pain.

Don’t interfere with the newcomers’ infected member unless they turn and try to kill members of the Rebellion. Although, in the message to Zack about Kudeau, tell him to have some of the settlers from our faction closest to him keep an eye on the injured foreigner.

Continue with the push towards the center of the nursery, making sure that the newcomers don’t get behind our survivors. Continue in formation, as well.

 

[Lorsh]

Zack instructs Vince to walk with Kudeau a short distance away. Two gunshots are heard as Vince does the job with his 9mm pistol, double-tapping him. Vince then rejoins his unit with a heavy heart, carrying Kudeau's equipment. His gear consisted of a mini-carbine, some ammo, and a claw hammer.

Gunfire erupts from Building 3 as Patrick Bloom is hit by rifle fire from the windows.

Then, a gunslinging gardener materializes from behind the house and shoots Team Leader Matthew Poll, although his flak jacket appears to absorb the bullet. Tim Mueller fills the gardener with buckshot, dropping him. However, there appear to still be hostiles in the building, and your men struggling to find cover. You hear panicked radio chatter and gunshots as the nearby rebel squads return fire.

While trying to find cover, Anna Pereire makes a wrong turn and is mauled by one of the few remaining zombies, becoming hurt. She manages to kill it without actually being bitten though.

 

[cl0ud]

Order one of the members of Group D to throw a nail bomb inside of Building 3 through a window. Prater orders members of Group B to head to Group D's position and provide assistance, willing that there isn't any infected in the way.

Pull Anna Pereire out of the fight and have someone give her medical attention.

Have all forces aside from the contingent from Group B and the entirety of Group D push aggressively towards the rendezvous point.

 

[Lorsh]

Anna is taken to the back of the lines and has her bruises treated. Dr. Nice later reports that she has a very low chance of being infected, since she was only mauled and not scratched or bitten. Still, it may be necessary to quarantine her if you do not want to take chances.

Tanner Bloom takes a nail bomb out of his backpack and chucks it through the window of the building from his position of cover, and a shrapnel-filled explosion rips through the interior. It not only shreds apart the NPA soldiers inside, but also their weapons, uniforms and equipment, making them unusable. Still, they're extremely dead. "Take that, you motherfuckers!" Tanner screams at the crumbled structure before he goes to check up on his wounded brother Patrick.

A few of your men search the building and find three shredded corpses, including a dead female soldier. However, they find no radio equipment, nor the body of a high-ranking officer; the trio consisted of just privates. This must have been a separate holdout, suggesting the distress call came from another building.

Your units push forward and reach the rendezvous point. More rounds of ammunition are spent as the remaining infected are basically eliminated, removing any further danger of zombie attacks for the time being. You see someone stick their hand out of a window of Building 1, holding a white cloth and waving it. An older man cautiously comes out, wearing a gardener's apron and holding up his hands. "Hello, don't shoot!"

Travis Florins looks over at you. "Got attacked by a worker before, let's waste him," he suggests.

James Swinburn interjects, not wanting to gun down any civilians. "The last worker probably just got forced to do it by those soldiers we nailed in that building. I bet they gave him the gun too. C'mon, the old man's got nothing."

 

[cl0ud]

"Step ten paces forward, get on the ground, and then put your hands behind your head!" Prater orders the old man. "Have your guns pointed at him no matter what. He may try to pull a fast one. Also give it a few minutes because he may have an explosive strapped to him. Only around three people need their guns on the possible civ, the others should focus on windows and entrances to surrounding buildings," Prater tells the men closest to him.

"Also, get the vehicles to block any and all main entrances and exits to the buildings. Have two men guard each one," Prater further instructs.

Have Dr Nice examine Patrick Bloom's wounds at a secure location.
Also have at least five men watching the foreign "reformies" that popped out of nowhere.

 

[Lorsh]

The man turns his head, glancing inside. "It's uh, okay- they're not gonna shoot," he says. A young woman, also dressed in gardener's garb, comes out with her hands up. The two workers walk forward a few steps before laying down on their stomachs and putting their hands on their head as guns are trained on them.

Still, there's more; after a few extra seconds pass, and suddenly an NPA soldier- a dark-skinned woman with a private's insignia on her shoulder- peeks out of the same door. "I give up too?"

Your vehicles are moved to cover the exits of the remaining buildings. Though, from just looking in through the windows and doors, your men don't find any more survivors. Just a few corpses that have been so stripped down that they didn't even reanimate.

You see a few members of Miranda's group picking up discarded NPA weaponry and slinging it.

 

[cl0ud]

Have Zack Young supervise the incarceration of the three NPA survivors, who are to remain under gunpoint until further notice. Although, remind them that there's still another NPA soldier, a Major Thomas Magnall who's still at large. Groups B and D are to begin clearing out the buildings and the corpses, taking inventory of anything that could be valuable either for trading or a meaningful addition to the compound.

Meanwhile, Prater and his personal escort consisting of Team A moves to talk with the "Reformies", primarily seeking out Miranda Stover. When finding her acquaintance, he first offers his hand, "I'm General Prater of Prater's Rebellion."

 

[Lorsh]

[NRF is changed to ARF (allied reform front)]

The dark-skinned woman, revealed to be Private Rachel Shadwell, says that Major Magnall ended up succumbing to his gunshot wound from the friendly fire incident. The two captured gardeners back up her story.

Miranda smiles, taking your hand and giving it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you, General," she says, although it sounds like she's mostly humoring you, title-wise. "It was a pleasure fighting with you today. I'm sorry about the men you lost. Not sure if one of my guys is gonna make it, either; a feck clawed him pretty bad. Anyway, we're from Mason's Rebellion. We aren't ARF, but we've established contact with them. We mainly came here to go pick up some extra armaments from the dead provo goons... though, from the look of it, your guys might need some better guns as well. No offense, it's just that I see a lot of civ gear. Your movement start up recently? We've been living out in the DZ for awhile, came back to fight once the war started though," she tells you.

 

[cl0ud]

Order Group C to blindfold the survivors and hole them up in Building 5, supervising them as well until Prater gives the order to return to the compound.

"Casualties of war. They'll earn their due respects when we return to camp," Prater says with a deep voice, trying not to say casualty too loudly, as if it were to respect the deceased. "I wish your man the best of luck. As an act of good will and thanks for not opening on us, I can have one of my doctors here on the field look at him before you return to your camp," Prater offers. "We're relatively fresh, to some of the other rebellions. Most of us were refugees and victims of the Provos when they started cracking down," Prater says.

"I apologize, but I've never heard of Mason's Rebellion. Care to explain more about your outfit?" Prater inquires.

 

[Lorsh]

Miranda nods, and directs her men to transport her wounded guy over to Doc Nice. She goes on to provide some information about her group. "Not sure how much I should say, but... well, I suppose it doesn't matter too much. I think we've got similar goals- to kick out these fascists running the CZ." She takes a slow, gentle breath. "So, our group was founded by a few junior officers from the army, who defected to the DZ. Mason had stumbled across some classified information; it basically proved that the Army High Command staged a coup against the civilian presidency during the early crisis. Remember the explosion that killed the president and most of the cabinet? The military was in cahoots with the Superintendent of Civil Defence- that's how the NPA formed."

These are some pretty important discoveries, though pretty much everybody is already suspicious about how the NPA's predecessors took power. It has almost faded into irrelevancy due to having taken place many years ago.

 

[cl0ud]

"Fucking tyrants," Prater mutters under his breath. "Do you have any other plans here at the Nursery?" Prater asks Miranda before beckoning one of his nearby militiamen to find Zack Young and tell him to quarantine Anna Pereire until further notice.

 

[Lorsh]

"Well, we planned on letting the survivors go, and just tell them we were hunters. Not sure if they would have bought that- but those were my orders. What are your plans with them?" Miranda asks you.

Anna is kept away from the group and is watched by Zack. If she shows no symptoms in twelve hours, she should be fine.

 

[cl0ud]

"Execution," Prater's voice was cold an unnerving. "They killed a handful of our brothers. We came here to exact revenge. You can stay here for a while longer, but I believe we're going to burn down this place and leave effigies of the soldiers as a reminder to those Provo fucks," Prater says, his tone raising with the anger just thinking about the Provos.

 

[Lorsh]

Miranda looks a little unnerved, but nods. "Alright, your call. You were the one who stormed this place, I suppose. What about the ones... uh..." She gestures at the gardeners. "The ones with the aprons. I don't think they did anything." She then turned and made a motion with her hand at all the plants that were growing in garden boxes nearby. "Not anything aside from planting stuff. I mean, there was that one crazy guy with the pistol, but still."

 

[cl0ud]

"They'll be offered sanctuary among the rest of us or freedom, whichever they choose," Prater says, trying to highlight the fact that he wasn't some barbarian. "On another subject, do you think that your leader would be open to future diplomacy with my outfit?"

 

[Lorsh]

Miranda seems relieved that the civilians were to be spared, even if they were working under the auspices of the NPA. "That's good to hear. Just people at the wrong place at the wrong time. I mean, could argue the same thing for radio girl, but I can't bring myself to have much sympathy for uniforms either."

The ringleader nods when you mention the prospect of diplomacy. "Definitely, I think he'd really wanna talk with you. He's in contact with Tosaco too, I think the ARF guys there are planning something," she says in a lowered, 'loose-lips-sink-ships' voice. "Anyway... we can gather up all the Nursery's gear and see how to split it, if you want."

 

[cl0ud]

Prater shares a frequency that the operators from Mason's Rebellion can use to contact the compound with Miranda.

"I've had communications with the ARF before. We should definitely discuss more and share information about the group. I know they fight for a cause but I don't know a lot about them, y'know?" Prater asked as he scribbled down the frequency on a piece of paper and handed it to Miranda. "Regarding the gear, since, as you generously pointed out, we're less professionally equipped as your group, we'll like to take all the body armor, weapons, and other military-grade equipment we find. You can have what you already looted off of some of the NPA, but I feel like the rest of it belongs to us," Prater says, trying to use his charisma to assure his position on the subject but not to be too aggressive.