RRF/Malton Herald & Sun/Text/Text0309left
Editor's Note: This issue covers early RRF history, during the infamous First Siege of Caiger.
A little Mall called Caiger
- Taken from an account by Papa Petro himself
The original plan was ambitious, and it was intended to be our last mall siege for a good while, because after Caiger, we figured nobody would ever defend a mall again. The original concept, that was actually followed to some extent was to maneuver the three big hordes and such smaller hordes as wanted to join in, placing them around all points of the mall and crunching suburbs to drive the survivors into a center point. We didn't quite get the desired seal on the northwest, though the Anti-Celebrity Taskforce did the best they could with their manpower to make life unpleasant up there. The Scourge drove in from direclty east moving toward the mall, while the RRF Groups closed in on the southern extremities, culminating with both groups moving into East Becktown. (Which, in and of itself was putting up a pretty stiff fight, due to the high refugee population concentration, which we'd dubbed the 'compression effect' of driving survivors from downtown.)
The final touch on the initial plan was the 'failed assault' by the CotR. Back in the day, the CotR was just a step below major horde status, a sizable force, and they happened to be on a westward pilgramage that included raids on Caiger, but they had no intention of making a major assault out of it. That worked perfectly for our plan, with the CotR passing through, cracking the barricades and getting 'beaten back', which gave the defenders a sense of confidence.
We'd driven literally hundreds of survivors into the mall. The three major hordes and a host of minor hordes were set to attack, and where we went, tens and hundreds of ferals were sure to follow.
And then it started to unravel.
Onward to Caiger, Donnie Osmond must die
- Taken from an account by DM
Most of us were in East Becktown at the time, trying to finish up Lonely Row PD and Daubeney NT when the announcement came through from Petro:
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My friends. It is a disturbing message I have to bring you. As you all know, Donnie Osmond has long been one of the primary targets/objectives of the Ridleybank Resistance Front. Word has come to me that he is hiding nearby. In the Caiger Mall, to be precise. But that's not all. Perhaps some of our younger brethren should leave the thread now. See, humans are a strange breed, fearful and ashamed. They engage in strange behaviors that we sometimes find perverse. In order to escape the consequences of their actions, they have been known to... use names that are not their own. Yes, I am as shocked and dismayed by this barbaric practice as you are. It would seem that Donnie Osmond had adopted one of these false names... I shall term this a 'pseudonym', and has taken up residence in the Caiger. There is only one way to be sure of getting him. BRING ME EVERY HEAD IN THE CAIGER MALL! We march with the HORDES once more! To the CAIGER! -Petro |
Groups 1 and 2 joined the siege on the 10th with LittleLisa leading the way. By the 12th, the NE section of the mall was cleared from the combined assault of the ACT, RRF, The Scourge and the COTR, and we all expected the entire mall to collapse in a couple of days. After all, no mall previously had survived a united horde attack after losing a quadrant.
The hordes then turned their hungry eyes on the SE quadrant, fully expecting to level another mall into the ground. We started the switch to infection attacks to help drain survivor AP. After the collapse of the NE, it seemed only a matter of time before Donny Osmond and his Caiger pets were in our hands...
Thanksgiving in Caiger
- Taken from an account by Papa Petro himself
There were some timing issues that most outside of the Ministry of the Dead (there is no Ministry) really know about. The original plan called for a unified strike on a single date, with the Scourge and the Minions hitting at the same time as orders went out to the Groups. The Scourge and the Minions would be the sword, and the Groups would be the hammer.
Problem was, nobody could agree on an attack date, with the Minions tied up bashing up Yagoton. The Scourge charged ahead with the ACT, the CotR looped back in, and in went the Groups.
As DM said, we crushed the one quad and moved on to the SE in full expectation that victory was not only inevitable, but fairly soon to come. However, this illusion of success was to be one of the most costly problems, because the Minions, under the impression that victory was imminent, declined to come in with the assumption being that they were only going to be getting leftovers after we'd crushed the mall.
While the unity of the hordes suffered, the CMS was in the process of being born, and rather than folding, they were the first to develop systematic anti-siege tactics. The NE quad was cleared and rebarricaded, and a general call for help went out. As one day went after the next, we breached the barricades repeatedly, jamming thirty or forty zombies through at a time, before having the doors slam behind us and getting ejected. The longer it lasted, the more survivors showed up, still under the impression that it was a doomed effort, but determined to get in on the hot siege action and make a stand. At some point, numerical superiority decisively slipped over to the survivors, and the noted critical mass issue came to be- we couldn't breach at any point at any time without encountering active survivors. Furthermore, active defenders would camp other buildings in the area, and when informed that a breach was in progress, they would free-run in and contribute to the defense.
Still and all, we remained confident that it was just a matter of time. The AP ratios favored that eventually they would run short of ammo and syringes, and then we could burn them out by attrition. With the addition of the Minions over the Thanksgiving holidays, we took both southern quadrants and prepared to overwhelm the other two.
It had been our hardest fight, but victory was in sight...
