Blaine Family

The Blaine Family is made up of agricultural workers who can do everything from simple labor to soil management Using their size as a criteria they should probably be called a clan, but Tommy Blaine, the leader, is adamant that they refer to themselves as a family.

Overview
The Blaines are part of the Aldecaldo Nation. At times Tommy has threatened to leave because of one dispute or another, but he never has-he is very passionate about life, and this passion sometimes makes him rant Tommy knew Juan Aldecaldo personally for many years before the Nation's founder passed away, and he is unsure of the wisdom and leadership qualities of this young Santiago. He does, however, admit that the "youngster" (as he refers to Santiago) has done an admirable job so far in his position.

Tommy Blaine is a nomad in the truest sense of the word. He has no static family, no static friends, the tribes contain his whole life's work His partner of twenty years is a woman called Marthe. She claims to have no last name, and is known as Mom to most of the family. Tommy Blaine has one son named Daniel who is a warrior guarding the Library; his daughter Marie was killed in an accident on the road a few years back, and silently he still grieves.

Agricultural nomads are forced to move almost constantly, both by the nature of their work, and by the agricorps which feel that keeping the nomads moving will keep them dependent on the corporations for support, fuel and parts. Of course, like many plans, this has backfired: it has actually made the nomads less reliant on the corporations, and more reliant on themselves. Without a guaranteed paycheck, and with the immediate cessation of support when a contract ends, these nomads have become very distrustful of their employers. They buttress their beliefs With a lot of awareness, self-respect, and faith. away. The religion they practice primarily is Judaism-it is only in smaller cultures like nomad packs that Judaism has survived. The Blaines are deeply religious, and at the same time very private about it They believe that the young Will do things that some of their older relatives do not approve of, and that there is no way to stop them without driving them away.

As an agricultural pack, the Blaine are lightly equipped. They do have many vehicles, however, and could safely transport almost twice their number. Their vehicles tend to be light, which means they have no combat capability or armor to speak of. Their main vehicles are semi-tractors equipped with a mixture of trailers. The box trailers contain the earth-moving equipment, two combines with varied accessories and attachments, two well equipped shops, and a scop tank system. One tanker carries CHOOH for the family vehicles. One flatbed carries the family's tents and living accessories, lighter earth moving equipment and supplies. Three flatbeds are fitted to carry passengers; they have a canopy and cooking equipment so those carried can eat on the go. One of the semis has a control unit for the family's RPV which occasionally supplements the outriders.

The Blaine family has five outrider teams. They are usually deployed with three teams forward and two teams behind, one on each rear flank The forward teams are made up of three pairs of motorcycles, all equipped with 25km scrambled radios and LMGs or long-range battle-riffles (6.5mm or better). The flanker teams are equipped with bugs.

There are no warriors in the Blaine Family. Youngsters who aspire to that career (like Tommy's son) are given the opportunity to join another Aldecaldo pack with the blessing of the Blaine. There are no runners in the family, at least none which profess their talent Nevertheless, sometimes at night there is a commotion as a panzer or fast armored truck comes into camp and leaves soon afterward. Somehow, no one ever knows any- thing about it.

This is because Tommy and the rest of the family are a link in a large smuggling network Along with ten or fifteen other families, the Blaines' network can reach almost anywhere in America, and do so quietly. The Blaines keep their illegal activities almost invisible; they have to. If local law enforcement -or especially HiWay, which has jurisdiction on interstate smuggling- knew of the Blaines' complicity in those operations, the nomads would be arrested and their property confiscated. Smaller nomad groups cannot ignore the law in static areas like some larger nomad groups do; six or seven well-armed police vehicles could easily cripple the Blaine family's ability to make a living. If they were rendered unable to move, the Blaines would be destitute, so they play things close to the vest.

Equipment
10 semi tractor-trailer rigs. 4 flat-beds, 1 tanker, 5 box trailers. Two "Bug" outrider vehicles with LMGs in open mounts (top). 6 "LongRider" enduro-style motorcycles with rifles or LMGs in outboard pods. Two vehicle-portable shops including A-frames and lifts.

Weapons
9mm or .357mag rifles and carbines, some personal weapons chambered for .357mag as well, 15mm long rifles, a few man-portable light anti-tank weapons (primarily LAW Rockets), and 7.62mm light machine guns. The group also has a single 81 mm mortar, very well-hidden, in one of the semis.