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MacCloud
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Location
- East Coast USA
BACKGROUND:
The year was 2031, If anyone cared anymore. In 2025 and 2026 the world as it was known had ended. No one living knew what started it, few even cared. For weeks the bombs and missiles had destroyed city after city, natural resources were made unusable. Oil fire burned sending black clouds around the globe. Radioactive dust fell like snow over the planet. A third of the planets population died during the wars. Another third died as a result of the residue. Radiation, poisoned food and water, sickness. People banded together to try to survive, settlements grew and the ones that survived learned how to make things grow in the ashes of the aftermath. At least some had survived by trying to rebuild.
Others with less skills and more anger raided those peaceful settlements, enslaved or killed the people. It was the same all over the world. The strong had inherited the Earth. The meek served them as peasants and or as slaves. There were some though who could fight but did not raid the weak. They formed an organization to fight back and stop the Road gangs ravaging the land. These Road Warriors were few and they were not really organized. The word of them spread by word of mouth and many decided to become one of that number. People, mostly those who had escaped or survived a raid by the oultaw gangs armed and learned to fight. Needless death had not ended with the wars, it had just changed who lived and who died.
The war did not start all at once. The US had bombed Iran to destroy their nuclear bomb building capabilities. Israel had been fighting with Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria for months. Iran was supporting the fight against Israel. Russia and the Ukraine had been at war for years by than. NATO was in full support of the Ukraine. Russia had friends though as well. North Korea and China were strong allies. Both of those countries had plans to expand their territory as well. China felt Taiwan belonged to them. North Korea wanted to add South Korea and become one nation again. Even the US was not above greed, the President threatening to annex Canada, the Sues Canal, and seize Greenland. The world had no idea where to turn to find sensible leaders!
Now the story here is about Ryder MacCloud a 6'2" 200pound, athletic, quick, and strong young man. He had studied martial arts through school and college, and had participated in a few tournaments while in the Marines. Before going to college in an ROTC program he had gone to Marine basic training. He had left upon graduation from high school before starting college. Each summer while in college he had been on active duty training. He had taken a sniper/scout AIT the one summer. A parachute training another summer. In college he took four scuba diving classes, one as a PE course and the other three were science. His degree was in aeronautical engineering. The next three years he took pilot training and his first assignment had been in an f-18E on the Rosevelt as part of VMF-119 the Gunslingers.
So in July 2025 Ryder MacCloud was a marine fighter pilot on CVN-71 the Rosevelt. They would be in the open sea between Okinawa and Japan for much of their cruise. Carrier take-offs and landings, navigation training over open seas. Many like Ryder were not long out of flight school but had made the grade to join active Units. That had made the decision to train these Squadrons to full readiness a priority. With all the trouble in the middle East it was felt the Marine Squadrons readiness was important so they could relieve naval air groups if needed. Since several Carrier TGs were in the middle East this was also a key area to protect Taiwan, So the Rosevelt was also placed in a strategic position.
Near the end of August The Chinese had all three of their carrier Task groups in open waters. The Liaoning was South/East of the Rosevelt. The Shandong was North/East, and the Fujian TG was South/West. That was where the war started for Ryder. The trade wars and other factors had pushed China into making their play for Taiwan. They had opened the hostilities when four J-15 Flying Dragon fighters from the Shandong had fired on four Marine F-18E, One of which was 2ndLT Ryder MacCloud. All four J-15's had been shot down none of the marines had been seriously damaged. The next five days were intense fighting that pulled in Japan and Australia and the USS Bush a newer Carrier and their Task Group from the South. China took an aerial beating. Their three Carriers and escorts all sunk, their time as a naval super power ended as their fighters and weapons had not proven as deadly as expected. Their missile offensive capabilities had been seriously depleted as well as their air power. The coastal invasion bases decimated, ending the threat of invasion to Taiwan for a few years at least.
A general in the AirForce had diverted a lone B-2 bomber to North Korea to bomb a nuclear facility and the Capital. The rift that geologist had warned would open if North Korea continued testing their nuclear warheads did indeed split open, most oft he Leadership was killed as well causing a civil disaster in the country. The situation made Chernobyl look like a walk in the park. The willingness of the USA to expand warfare scared the Russians and they responded with expanding their war efforts into Finland, Poland, Several African nations to secure needed raw materials. NATO in Europe responded with air and troops to support those invaded countries. The war between India and Pakistan erupted in fierce air battles and an Invasion by India into Pakistan. It was like the entire world had gone insane at the same time.
A nuclear device exploded in NewYork city. and the US launched a nuclear strike at Iran. Russia Launched a counter strike feeling they were being targeted. Several nations launched cyber attacks to disrupt power grids and civil communications, misinformation flooded the internet. Nuclear power plants began melting down if not already struck by war efforts. The word was reduced to anarchy, all four Horsemen were awakened and people died in the millions.
For Ryder that period of time he was still on the Rosevelt The ship had weathered the war and the first storms created by the nuclear fall out. They sailed North When they were in range of the North American continent They launched all their aircraft remaining for Alaska, the ship was dying, the captain was rescuing any resources he could. Ryder was one of those pilots that flew off the carrier. A storm knocked out most of the electronics in nearly all of the planes before they reached land. Ryder landed on a highway somewhere in Canada. Taken in by an Indian tribe he lived among them through the fallout years that followed. He learned to ride how to catch, break-in, and train horses. His marksmanship aided the tribe as well with his hunting skills. His military skills also helped defend the tribe from marauders. Four years later the storms had calmed down, the planet without so many humans was recovering from the man made catastrophe. Ryder decided to go find out if any of his family in western Maryland had survived. He had a horse he had trained for war, and two pack horses. He left in the spring of 2030. He had to squirt around dead zones that were still radioactive, and larger militant groups that now ruled several cities. He fought when he had to and collected supplies when he could.
Now it was June 2031 and he was in what used to be Maryland, near where Thurmont used to be. Now Ryder had survived mostly unchanged despite the hardships he had faced. Ryder was and had always been a non drinker, honest, loyal, trustworthy, a real boyscout type. In fact he had reached the Eagle scout level before graduating high school. He had hated bullys and most of the trouble he got into in school had been due to protecting someone from bullys. Now the times were more primal, small bands fought for survival. Several gangs formed to take from those who were skilled and smart enough to make what was needed. Ryder had taken on the task of defending those who didn't want to hurt anyone, they just wanted to make the world livable again.
----------------------------------
Now:
Ryder heard the roar of the dirt bikes and screams of the couple being chased. He road to just below the crest of a hill to see what was going on. He saw a typical scene these days. Two women running from four raiders on dirt bikes. He lifted his M-14 from the scabbard on his saddle. His horse was trained to deal with the noise of a gunshot so he didn't dismount. He adjusted the scope and aimed. He took the biker nearest the women even though that alerted the other three. It was his intention to draw the Raiders toward him anyway. They stopped and saw him one fired off a burst from his auto-pistol, likely a newly made MAC-10 type weapon. They were inaccurate but they could still be made if usable metal was available. Ryder shot him next. The other two raced up the hill toward Ryder. He shot both before they were within thirty yards of him. With the raiders dead he rode down to find the two women. They had taken shelter near a thicket to catch their breath. From them he learned they had been part of a group out gathering berrys and roots for a nearby settlement. The Raiders had jumped them at least four cars, they had been far enough away to run for home but had been turned away by the bikers. They had been running for a long while. Ryder asked if they could ride the dirt bikes. One woman nodded. "Take their weapons and anything you feel is usable take a bike and return home to warn your settlement."
Ryder back tracked the women and the bikes to where the raiders were still gathering the collected slaves. There were four cars, each had a weapon mounted on a ring on the roof. Two were m-60 machine guns likely from some reserve armoury. One was an old air cooled .30 caliber machine gun from like WWII. Likely a relic from someone's collection. The fourth vehicle had a linked pair of m249 SAW light machine guns, a more modern weapon but also likely from a reserve unit. The weapons were manned as about sixteen or so other Raiders herded the captured and were locking them in a double line, over twenty people, another dozen or so bodies littered the area. Ryder rode his horse over a hill to leave him out of harms way. He left his remaining pack horse there as well. He moved back to just below the hills crest and took a decent covered position. He adjusted his scope and shot one of the M60 gunners low in the chest. He rolled below his cover and cursed, if her had aimed for the head he might have missed. As the machine gunners sprayed the area in response he readjusted his scope. He shot the gunner of the old .30 caliber next as he was looking in Ryder's general direction. He hit him high in the chest and smiled. His next three shots all struck true as he picked off the other two gunners and some guy who looked like he was giving orders.
He was spotted though and men jumped into vehicles and drove in his direction using the two cars with the M60 machine guns. They laid down a torrent of cover fire as they came up the hill. Ryder knew he had made a mistake, staying in one spot too long might well have just gotten him killed. So close to home the fact stung. He was a trained sniper and evasion was part of that training. He used a crawl space to move but it would just buy him a little time. He could not outshoot so many and he was never going to outrun the SUV type cars.
The year was 2031, If anyone cared anymore. In 2025 and 2026 the world as it was known had ended. No one living knew what started it, few even cared. For weeks the bombs and missiles had destroyed city after city, natural resources were made unusable. Oil fire burned sending black clouds around the globe. Radioactive dust fell like snow over the planet. A third of the planets population died during the wars. Another third died as a result of the residue. Radiation, poisoned food and water, sickness. People banded together to try to survive, settlements grew and the ones that survived learned how to make things grow in the ashes of the aftermath. At least some had survived by trying to rebuild.
Others with less skills and more anger raided those peaceful settlements, enslaved or killed the people. It was the same all over the world. The strong had inherited the Earth. The meek served them as peasants and or as slaves. There were some though who could fight but did not raid the weak. They formed an organization to fight back and stop the Road gangs ravaging the land. These Road Warriors were few and they were not really organized. The word of them spread by word of mouth and many decided to become one of that number. People, mostly those who had escaped or survived a raid by the oultaw gangs armed and learned to fight. Needless death had not ended with the wars, it had just changed who lived and who died.
The war did not start all at once. The US had bombed Iran to destroy their nuclear bomb building capabilities. Israel had been fighting with Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria for months. Iran was supporting the fight against Israel. Russia and the Ukraine had been at war for years by than. NATO was in full support of the Ukraine. Russia had friends though as well. North Korea and China were strong allies. Both of those countries had plans to expand their territory as well. China felt Taiwan belonged to them. North Korea wanted to add South Korea and become one nation again. Even the US was not above greed, the President threatening to annex Canada, the Sues Canal, and seize Greenland. The world had no idea where to turn to find sensible leaders!
Now the story here is about Ryder MacCloud a 6'2" 200pound, athletic, quick, and strong young man. He had studied martial arts through school and college, and had participated in a few tournaments while in the Marines. Before going to college in an ROTC program he had gone to Marine basic training. He had left upon graduation from high school before starting college. Each summer while in college he had been on active duty training. He had taken a sniper/scout AIT the one summer. A parachute training another summer. In college he took four scuba diving classes, one as a PE course and the other three were science. His degree was in aeronautical engineering. The next three years he took pilot training and his first assignment had been in an f-18E on the Rosevelt as part of VMF-119 the Gunslingers.
So in July 2025 Ryder MacCloud was a marine fighter pilot on CVN-71 the Rosevelt. They would be in the open sea between Okinawa and Japan for much of their cruise. Carrier take-offs and landings, navigation training over open seas. Many like Ryder were not long out of flight school but had made the grade to join active Units. That had made the decision to train these Squadrons to full readiness a priority. With all the trouble in the middle East it was felt the Marine Squadrons readiness was important so they could relieve naval air groups if needed. Since several Carrier TGs were in the middle East this was also a key area to protect Taiwan, So the Rosevelt was also placed in a strategic position.
Near the end of August The Chinese had all three of their carrier Task groups in open waters. The Liaoning was South/East of the Rosevelt. The Shandong was North/East, and the Fujian TG was South/West. That was where the war started for Ryder. The trade wars and other factors had pushed China into making their play for Taiwan. They had opened the hostilities when four J-15 Flying Dragon fighters from the Shandong had fired on four Marine F-18E, One of which was 2ndLT Ryder MacCloud. All four J-15's had been shot down none of the marines had been seriously damaged. The next five days were intense fighting that pulled in Japan and Australia and the USS Bush a newer Carrier and their Task Group from the South. China took an aerial beating. Their three Carriers and escorts all sunk, their time as a naval super power ended as their fighters and weapons had not proven as deadly as expected. Their missile offensive capabilities had been seriously depleted as well as their air power. The coastal invasion bases decimated, ending the threat of invasion to Taiwan for a few years at least.
A general in the AirForce had diverted a lone B-2 bomber to North Korea to bomb a nuclear facility and the Capital. The rift that geologist had warned would open if North Korea continued testing their nuclear warheads did indeed split open, most oft he Leadership was killed as well causing a civil disaster in the country. The situation made Chernobyl look like a walk in the park. The willingness of the USA to expand warfare scared the Russians and they responded with expanding their war efforts into Finland, Poland, Several African nations to secure needed raw materials. NATO in Europe responded with air and troops to support those invaded countries. The war between India and Pakistan erupted in fierce air battles and an Invasion by India into Pakistan. It was like the entire world had gone insane at the same time.
A nuclear device exploded in NewYork city. and the US launched a nuclear strike at Iran. Russia Launched a counter strike feeling they were being targeted. Several nations launched cyber attacks to disrupt power grids and civil communications, misinformation flooded the internet. Nuclear power plants began melting down if not already struck by war efforts. The word was reduced to anarchy, all four Horsemen were awakened and people died in the millions.
For Ryder that period of time he was still on the Rosevelt The ship had weathered the war and the first storms created by the nuclear fall out. They sailed North When they were in range of the North American continent They launched all their aircraft remaining for Alaska, the ship was dying, the captain was rescuing any resources he could. Ryder was one of those pilots that flew off the carrier. A storm knocked out most of the electronics in nearly all of the planes before they reached land. Ryder landed on a highway somewhere in Canada. Taken in by an Indian tribe he lived among them through the fallout years that followed. He learned to ride how to catch, break-in, and train horses. His marksmanship aided the tribe as well with his hunting skills. His military skills also helped defend the tribe from marauders. Four years later the storms had calmed down, the planet without so many humans was recovering from the man made catastrophe. Ryder decided to go find out if any of his family in western Maryland had survived. He had a horse he had trained for war, and two pack horses. He left in the spring of 2030. He had to squirt around dead zones that were still radioactive, and larger militant groups that now ruled several cities. He fought when he had to and collected supplies when he could.
Now it was June 2031 and he was in what used to be Maryland, near where Thurmont used to be. Now Ryder had survived mostly unchanged despite the hardships he had faced. Ryder was and had always been a non drinker, honest, loyal, trustworthy, a real boyscout type. In fact he had reached the Eagle scout level before graduating high school. He had hated bullys and most of the trouble he got into in school had been due to protecting someone from bullys. Now the times were more primal, small bands fought for survival. Several gangs formed to take from those who were skilled and smart enough to make what was needed. Ryder had taken on the task of defending those who didn't want to hurt anyone, they just wanted to make the world livable again.
----------------------------------
Now:
Ryder heard the roar of the dirt bikes and screams of the couple being chased. He road to just below the crest of a hill to see what was going on. He saw a typical scene these days. Two women running from four raiders on dirt bikes. He lifted his M-14 from the scabbard on his saddle. His horse was trained to deal with the noise of a gunshot so he didn't dismount. He adjusted the scope and aimed. He took the biker nearest the women even though that alerted the other three. It was his intention to draw the Raiders toward him anyway. They stopped and saw him one fired off a burst from his auto-pistol, likely a newly made MAC-10 type weapon. They were inaccurate but they could still be made if usable metal was available. Ryder shot him next. The other two raced up the hill toward Ryder. He shot both before they were within thirty yards of him. With the raiders dead he rode down to find the two women. They had taken shelter near a thicket to catch their breath. From them he learned they had been part of a group out gathering berrys and roots for a nearby settlement. The Raiders had jumped them at least four cars, they had been far enough away to run for home but had been turned away by the bikers. They had been running for a long while. Ryder asked if they could ride the dirt bikes. One woman nodded. "Take their weapons and anything you feel is usable take a bike and return home to warn your settlement."
Ryder back tracked the women and the bikes to where the raiders were still gathering the collected slaves. There were four cars, each had a weapon mounted on a ring on the roof. Two were m-60 machine guns likely from some reserve armoury. One was an old air cooled .30 caliber machine gun from like WWII. Likely a relic from someone's collection. The fourth vehicle had a linked pair of m249 SAW light machine guns, a more modern weapon but also likely from a reserve unit. The weapons were manned as about sixteen or so other Raiders herded the captured and were locking them in a double line, over twenty people, another dozen or so bodies littered the area. Ryder rode his horse over a hill to leave him out of harms way. He left his remaining pack horse there as well. He moved back to just below the hills crest and took a decent covered position. He adjusted his scope and shot one of the M60 gunners low in the chest. He rolled below his cover and cursed, if her had aimed for the head he might have missed. As the machine gunners sprayed the area in response he readjusted his scope. He shot the gunner of the old .30 caliber next as he was looking in Ryder's general direction. He hit him high in the chest and smiled. His next three shots all struck true as he picked off the other two gunners and some guy who looked like he was giving orders.
He was spotted though and men jumped into vehicles and drove in his direction using the two cars with the M60 machine guns. They laid down a torrent of cover fire as they came up the hill. Ryder knew he had made a mistake, staying in one spot too long might well have just gotten him killed. So close to home the fact stung. He was a trained sniper and evasion was part of that training. He used a crawl space to move but it would just buy him a little time. He could not outshoot so many and he was never going to outrun the SUV type cars.
