Why? What about "send a group of injured soldiers to attack a raider base during a radstorm with no support" appeals to you?
Commonwealth Quest [Fallout 4 AU]
- Thread starter Swordomatic
- Start date
Why? What about "send a group of injured soldiers to attack a raider base during a radstorm with no support" appeals to you?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
The first group of raiders, being comparatively inexperienced, will be an easier target, and I don't feel comfortable letting them be for the next round of the fighting without any attempt on them. I understand the idea behind your plan, and specifically the concentration of force, but I feel it lets off a group that *will* be a major problem in the next round of the fighting too lightly.
And if your injured, tired soldiers are thrown up against a fortified raider position and things go poorly, you know what will be a major problem?
Them having taken significant casualties potentially removing a third of our combat assets.
Spreading your forces too widely across a front is an incredibly basic mistake. You're turning one engagement with local superiority of forces into two engagements, one of which is with a significantly inferior force which is utterly relying on the element of surprise and which will not be able to strike a crippling blow. You are utterly relying on dice rolls here, and we have had it hammered home by @Tempera and @Swordomatic that this situation is one where the Minutemen are at a significant disadvantage.
Therefore when you're at a significant disadvantage, you ensure local superiority, minimise your own losses while maximising their casualties, and don't throw away injured combat assets in unsupported assaults on fortified positions which rely on everything going in your favour.
Cornuthaum
Be kind to each other.
- Location
- Austria
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I agree, generally speaking - but the reason why I sectioned out Nora's folks for hitting Raider Group A is that they're there to keep them pinned down and not reinforce the ex-Minutemen. I don't want our folks to do a surprise attack only to get flanked by first responders from the raiders.
Though that is a question for @Swordomatic and @Tempera
If we put all three squads on the raid on one target, does that mean leaving behind enough of a rearguard to at least alert us to enemy action before they can do us from behind? If yes, my vote definitely goes with @EarthScorpion to achieve local superiority.
- Location
- Australia
Only insofar as people can see an attack from behind with their own eyes. The Minutemen simply do not have the numbers necessary to leave behind a rearguard- there are less than thirty of them, after all, some of whom are too injured to participate in combat, and those less-than-thirty have already been split up into two groups and a guard posting on the Museum.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Hmm, that does make it difficult. I admit that Earthscorpion's argument had mostly swayed me, but there is at least the possibility that they could attack from behind.
As far as holding the first group...hrm, I doubt Protectrons would do well on their own unsupported, would they?
As far as holding the first group...hrm, I doubt Protectrons would do well on their own unsupported, would they?
reborn214
Deep in thought
- Location
- California
Well these robots have 2 advantages over the raiders, one radstorms are deadly to organic a but not a big deal to Robots. Also being metal they can probably take a few more hits than squishy humans. Less exploitable weak spots and all that.
2 these were part of a museum security, so they hopefully function at night better than raiders. I mean a lot of them were just customer services, but a few of them were probably night security guards with infared to patrol the hallway and stop thieves. Although age might have busted those sensors.
On the other hand, they are easily tricked and easily out maneuvered by any trained group due to being just dumb robots. It depends on how tactical thinking you believe the raiders to be.
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Plus not being easily distracted.
- Location
- Somewhere near L1... I think
[X] Nora's Action:
- [X] Yes. Rescuing Shaun is important, but the Minutemen are going to risk their lives in combat to save innocent refugees. She can't turn her back on them.
[X] Nate's Action:
- [X] Yes. Rescuing Shaun is importnat, but the Minutemen- and, more importantly, his wife- are going to risk their lives in combat to save innocent refugees. He will not turn his back on them.
[X] Attack on non-ex-Minutemen Raiders:
- [X] None - they get to sleep in peace.
[X] Attack Raider group with ex-Minutemen:
- [X] The first group of Minutemen, led by Preston. This group is a motley group comprised of unwounded Minutemen and eager trainees from the refugee group. It's not ideal, but they all have weapons, and some of the Minutemen even have their armour still. [Minuteman Group 1]
- [X] The band of Protectrons, programmed by Nate and Sturges. It's not the largest group, but not only are they tougher than the squishy humans, they're also immune to radiation. [Protectron Unit 1]
[X] Guard the Museum:
- [X] The second group of Minutemen, led by Nora. This group is a patchy group comprised of the Minutemen recalled from scouting Concord and half-healed soldiers treated by Nora. It's not ideal, but they all have scavenged armour taken from dead raiders and weaponry that should hold up. [Minuteman Group 2]
[X] Heroic Actions:
- [X] Preston - Give a speech and try to lessen any guilt or feelings of shame for attacking people who used to be Minutemen.
- [X] Nora - Take what she's learned from the scouts and devise a best avenue of approach on a fortified position, based on what she knows of that place
- [X] Nate - Fix the Laser Muskets
We need to take out the bigger threat first. That being said, bringing the wounded to a firefight is a Bad IdeaTM. They will slow the group down and are more likely to become injured again meaning more time and manpower to move them back to safety. We are on the clock right now, we don't want to be caught in that radstorm, and we also shouldn't leave the refugees undefended. Group 2 may not be much, but for holding a position, they are certainly better than just the turrets.
For a order of march, the Protectrons should lead the way if we're going in guns blazing to draw fire and expose enemy positions. If we are trying to sneak in before raising hell, have the main force of Minutemen try to enter through a weak point before having the Protectrons draw the Raider's attention. If they have any explosives, when the Protectrons are noticed use them to create as much chaos in the Raider base as possible. A disorganized enemy is easier to defeat. And remember, it's better to lose equipment than people.
- [X] Yes. Rescuing Shaun is important, but the Minutemen are going to risk their lives in combat to save innocent refugees. She can't turn her back on them.
[X] Nate's Action:
- [X] Yes. Rescuing Shaun is importnat, but the Minutemen- and, more importantly, his wife- are going to risk their lives in combat to save innocent refugees. He will not turn his back on them.
[X] Attack on non-ex-Minutemen Raiders:
- [X] None - they get to sleep in peace.
[X] Attack Raider group with ex-Minutemen:
- [X] The first group of Minutemen, led by Preston. This group is a motley group comprised of unwounded Minutemen and eager trainees from the refugee group. It's not ideal, but they all have weapons, and some of the Minutemen even have their armour still. [Minuteman Group 1]
- [X] The band of Protectrons, programmed by Nate and Sturges. It's not the largest group, but not only are they tougher than the squishy humans, they're also immune to radiation. [Protectron Unit 1]
[X] Guard the Museum:
- [X] The second group of Minutemen, led by Nora. This group is a patchy group comprised of the Minutemen recalled from scouting Concord and half-healed soldiers treated by Nora. It's not ideal, but they all have scavenged armour taken from dead raiders and weaponry that should hold up. [Minuteman Group 2]
[X] Heroic Actions:
- [X] Preston - Give a speech and try to lessen any guilt or feelings of shame for attacking people who used to be Minutemen.
- [X] Nora - Take what she's learned from the scouts and devise a best avenue of approach on a fortified position, based on what she knows of that place
- [X] Nate - Fix the Laser Muskets
We need to take out the bigger threat first. That being said, bringing the wounded to a firefight is a Bad IdeaTM. They will slow the group down and are more likely to become injured again meaning more time and manpower to move them back to safety. We are on the clock right now, we don't want to be caught in that radstorm, and we also shouldn't leave the refugees undefended. Group 2 may not be much, but for holding a position, they are certainly better than just the turrets.
For a order of march, the Protectrons should lead the way if we're going in guns blazing to draw fire and expose enemy positions. If we are trying to sneak in before raising hell, have the main force of Minutemen try to enter through a weak point before having the Protectrons draw the Raider's attention. If they have any explosives, when the Protectrons are noticed use them to create as much chaos in the Raider base as possible. A disorganized enemy is easier to defeat. And remember, it's better to lose equipment than people.
- Location
- England
[X] Nora's Action:
- [X] Yes. Rescuing Shaun is important, but the Minutemen are going to risk their lives in combat to save innocent refugees. She can't turn her back on them.
[X] Nate's Action:
- [X] Yes. Rescuing Shaun is importnat, but the Minutemen- and, more importantly, his wife- are going to risk their lives in combat to save innocent refugees. He will not turn his back on them.
[X] Attack on non-ex-Minutemen Raiders:
- [X] None - they get to sleep in peace.
[X] Attack Raider group with ex-Minutemen:
- [X] The first group of Minutemen, led by Preston. This group is a motley group comprised of unwounded Minutemen and eager trainees from the refugee group. It's not ideal, but they all have weapons, and some of the Minutemen even have their armour still. [Minuteman Group 1]
- [X] The band of Protectrons, programmed by Nate and Sturges. It's not the largest group, but not only are they tougher than the squishy humans, they're also immune to radiation. [Protectron Unit 1]
[X] Guard the Museum:
- [X] The second group of Minutemen, led by Nora. This group is a patchy group comprised of the Minutemen recalled from scouting Concord and half-healed soldiers treated by Nora. It's not ideal, but they all have scavenged armour taken from dead raiders and weaponry that should hold up. [Minuteman Group 2]
[X] Heroic Actions:
- [X] Preston - Give a speech and try to lessen any guilt or feelings of shame for attacking people who used to be Minutemen.
- [X] Nora - Take what she's learned from the scouts and devise a best avenue of approach on a fortified position, based on what she knows of that place
- [X] Nate - Fix the Laser Muskets
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. I guess I'll change votes, just in case we have an incident in the base.
- [X] Yes. Rescuing Shaun is important, but the Minutemen are going to risk their lives in combat to save innocent refugees. She can't turn her back on them.
[X] Nate's Action:
- [X] Yes. Rescuing Shaun is importnat, but the Minutemen- and, more importantly, his wife- are going to risk their lives in combat to save innocent refugees. He will not turn his back on them.
[X] Attack on non-ex-Minutemen Raiders:
- [X] None - they get to sleep in peace.
[X] Attack Raider group with ex-Minutemen:
- [X] The first group of Minutemen, led by Preston. This group is a motley group comprised of unwounded Minutemen and eager trainees from the refugee group. It's not ideal, but they all have weapons, and some of the Minutemen even have their armour still. [Minuteman Group 1]
- [X] The band of Protectrons, programmed by Nate and Sturges. It's not the largest group, but not only are they tougher than the squishy humans, they're also immune to radiation. [Protectron Unit 1]
[X] Guard the Museum:
- [X] The second group of Minutemen, led by Nora. This group is a patchy group comprised of the Minutemen recalled from scouting Concord and half-healed soldiers treated by Nora. It's not ideal, but they all have scavenged armour taken from dead raiders and weaponry that should hold up. [Minuteman Group 2]
[X] Heroic Actions:
- [X] Preston - Give a speech and try to lessen any guilt or feelings of shame for attacking people who used to be Minutemen.
- [X] Nora - Take what she's learned from the scouts and devise a best avenue of approach on a fortified position, based on what she knows of that place
- [X] Nate - Fix the Laser Muskets
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. I guess I'll change votes, just in case we have an incident in the base.
- Location
- Tarn-Vedra
[X] EarthScorpion.
October 2287: Battle for Concord (Stage 2)
- Location
- Australia
If nothing else, the relief on the refugees' faces when Nora and Preston walked in bearing a bag filled with stimpacks and RadAway made the trip worth it. To see that kind of expression, that mixture of dawning hope and utter relief, she would put up with any amount of tense raids through hostile territory and dangerous firefights against enemies twice her number.
Preston spoke up first, tugging the bag away from Nora so he could rest it gently on a nearby chair. "Sorry I'm a bit late," he apologized cheerfully, "but I told you I'd take care of you all, didn't I?"
Some of the refugees looked up at him, their eyes shimmering with the beginning of tears. Nora hastily stepped forwards before they could begin crying.
"Okay," she called out loudly, drawing their attention to her. "None of you know me, but I'm a medic, and a- an associate of Preston here. He's asked me to take a look at you all, and see what I can do for you." Moving over towards the bag, she pulled over another chair beside it and tapped the floor in front of her with her foot. "If all of you could form a line in front of me, we'll get started now."
------
Of course, Preston didn't stick around for long. He did his best, staying for nearly twenty minutes by Nora's PipBoy, but he was the leader of a military group, and one in dire circumstances at that. There was only so long he could stay and offer reassurance to everyone.
Nora had no such obligations, and so, for the next three and a half hours, she sat in the room with the refugees and aided them with their wounds as best she could. Eventually, even injured Minutemen began wandering into the room, evidently hearing of her services. Those, she prioritized as much as she could- healing the refugees was all well and good, but a single guard could prevent three others from being injured in the future.
By the time she had reached the middle-aged men and women at the back of the line, those who had pushed children and the elderly in front of them, she was beginning to feel the sting of the lack of supplies. Even being as stingy as she could with them, she was running low.
As she was carefully injecting a man's arm with a stimpack to encourage his immune system to fight off an infection that had begun to take hold there, a series of rapid footsteps at the entrance to the room caught her attention. She turned her head just far enough to see the guardsman- Michael?- approaching into the room, a sheen of sweat over his brow.
"Nora!" he called, relief filling his voice. "Finally, I've been looking all over for you."
Withdrawing the stimpack, she retrieved a small rag, one that had been washed in boiled water and thoroughly cleaned, from the bucket beside her. "Well, you've found me," she said mildly as she began blotting away the blood the stimpack had left behind. "What do you need?"
Michael shifted uncomfortably, looking around the room. Spotting the bandaged Minutemen around the room, a look of concern briefly took over his face before he shook his head. "Preston's holding a meeting soon," he replied. "About what to do about the raiders. He asked me to ask if you'd come up and talk with him. All other Minutemen are expected to attend," he added perfunctorily, gaze sweeping around the room.
"When?" she murmured back. "Now, or-"
"Not now," he hastily assured her. "In about half an hour. Sorry, I should have led with that."
She patted the arm of the man she had been attending to gently dry, then tapped him on the arm, indicating for him to rise. "All fixed." With that, she turned back to Michael. "Alright, then. I'll finish up here and meet him soon."
He nodded, eyes already darting the room as though counting something in his head. Without replying further, he turned and dashed out of the room.
"Always in a hurry, that one," the man rumbled. "He should really slow down. Being that eager isn't good for your health."
-------
Half an hour later, with most of the refugees attended to and her medical supplies packed away, Nora walked upstairs to what a Minuteman helpfully informed her was Preston's meeting room.
Inside, most of the Minutemen in the building- over two dozen, a quick count told her- had already assembled. Across the far side of the room, Nate stood, five Protectrons arranged around him and- a redneck? Of all the things to survive the apocalypse…
She hurried across the room, coming to rest beside Nate, who looked down at her with an arched brow. She stuck her tongue out at him, which just caused him to grin and her expression to melt into a glower.
"Shhh," the redneck murmured. "Preston's about to start speaking."
And indeed, when Nora and her husband turned to face Preston, he was beginning to move from side to side in the room.
"We all know the situation," he began grimly. "Most of us have been here since Quincy, and the few of you that weren't with us when we first suffered that tremendous betrayal have been with us since Boston. We've all suffered the hardships of our journey. We've all lost friends. And we, each and every one of us, have given our all into protecting those people, those poor refugees of Quincy."
He turned, facing the Minutemen in the room and looking each of them in the eye in turn.
"I'm going to be blunt," Preston says, pacing up and down in front of an old blackboard he's sketched his plans on. "We're in a bad place. A very bad place. We're outnumbered, outgunned, and we're protecting the innocent. But we're the Minutemen. That's our duty. That's what makes us better than the jet addicts and psychos out there, who'd sell out their mothers for a hit. That's why when it comes down to do or die, we do.
"And how do you cut down a tree? Do you bang your head into it repeatedly? Do you climb up it and start trying to peel off the branches? Or do you get a sharp axe and cut it off at the base! Well, we're going to be the sharp axe! We have Rad-X. We have robots! And we have the element of surprise. They won't see us coming. Tonight, we're going after one of the groups. And under the cover of darkness, we're going to wipe them out. We are going to crush the traitors.
"We're going to kill every last one of them, trap them between our forces and cut them down if they try to run for help. If they're all dead, they won't be able to stop us. They won't be able to help the scum out there. Our enemies won't have their training and they won't have the morale. With the radstorm booming overhead, they won't hear the gunshots that kill them. Remember - the men and women out there who used to be Minutemen are not our friends anymore. They spat on that friendship. Remember what we saw in Cambridge. Remember it was them doing it. They're traitors. They're Benedict Arnolds.
"We have refugees relying on us. And the more of us that go, the less chance each of us will be hurt. They're cowards, after all. They burned their oaths to the Minutemen and ran away like babies because they were scared. We, on the other hand, are not babies. We are men and women who are making a choice. We're going to wipe them out tonight and open a hole in their defences. The other Raider scum won't be able to surround us - and might not even realise that we're now controlling their allies' hideout until it's too late. This is our best chance for living to see next week. Make sure they don't.
"Now, yes, you might be saying 'Preston, you're crazy to attack when it's radding out there'. Well, it's true, no sensible Minuteman would do this normally - so they won't be expecting us. But you all know your training. You know how to keep safe. We're far enough away from the Glowing Sea up here that the radlightning won't be the killer. No, it'll be the black rain and we know how to deal with that. Cover up, cover your mouth and nose and wear goggles so you don't go blind from looking at the lightning. The Rad-X will help. And we know too well that a single radstorm won't kill you. But if the Raiders get their hands on us tomorrow, they'll kill us slowly. So me, I'd rather take my chance with the glow."
A grim silence had fallen over the Minutemen by the time Preston had finished his speech. Even Nate, normally irrepressible, seemed quieted by the magnitude of the task before him. Or maybe he was just wondering what radding was. Either way.
Then, one of the Minutemen- a large, scarred man, skin tanned brown and a light scar running over jaded eyes- stepped forwards.
"I'll stand with you," he said simply.
And with that, the others surged forward, voices rising into a cacophonous chant of agreement and condemnations of their traitorous brethren. They were loud- so loud that Nate had no doubt they could hear them from buildings away.
Preston really had a way with words.
Nate turned to his wife and had to bite back a loud groan.
He'd seen that feverish look in her eyes too many times to not know what it meant.
Fudging hero complex.
-----
"I hope I can count on your assistance," Preston said once the meeting had concluded and most of the Minutemen had left. Nora, to whom he was speaking, was sitting on a chair in front of the blackboard, examining the hasty battle plan he'd drawn up.
"Absolutely," she murmured. "How about you, honey?"
Nate, sitting over the far side of the room with his newbestest buddies totally legitimate Protectron bodyguards, looked up from where he was hastily repairing Preston's laser musket. "Right, like I'm just going to leave you in danger," he called back. By now, the glumness that had filled him had faded, and some of his usual youthful spirit had returned. "Of course I'll help. And my new buddies will help, won't you, little guys?"
Unit 57-RU-66-l-3 looked up at him as innocently as a Protectron could. Beep Beep Whirrrr, it replied. Bloop!
He patted it affectionately. "I know, buddy," he replied happily. "Right back atcha."
Bleep-bloop barrr!
Nora stared at him for a moment, then turned back to Preston. It wasn't worth the effort to respond to that.
The plan, as outlined on the blackboard, was simple. The Protectrons, ostensibly under the control of Nate, would assault the Raider base from the front. It was a common tactic, and if the raiders were more organised she'd be worried that they might suspect, but they weren't, and they wouldn't. And even if they did, they couldn't afford to ignore the thread- not when the Protectrons were led by Nate and a Guardian.
Nora and Preston would then lead a two-pronged assault from behind the enemy forces, taking advantage of the distraction the Protectrons would provide to sneak past their defences and eliminate as many of the raiders as they could before they realized they were under assault.
Originally, Preston had intended to hand control over one of the squads to Yvette, his second-in-command. Unfortunately, Yvette had been one of the Minutemen injured when Nora had been shadowing his squad. With the chain of command already broken, and none of the other Minutemen ever having held a command position before, Preston had asked her to lead it.
"I'm not certain this approach is the best," she said coolly. It wasn't worth mentioning her misgivings about leaving the base unprotected apart from a token guard, nor about leaving a potential thread unattended to while they assaulted a raider base- Preston had made his position on that clear, and he wasn't looking for anyone to second-guess his plans. "I think we'd do better if we approached them from different areas."
Preston considered it for a moment. "What would you suggest?"
"I'd suggest that my group assault them through the buildings from the side." She tapped an empty space on the blackboard, an area to the left of the large square marked Raider Base. "The buildings on the other side were rickety, so I wouldn't suggest sending your squad through there, but if you have any snipers, you could set them up there to provide you with fire support as you make your assault."
He closed his eyes for a moment. "Yes. That makes sense." He approached the blackboard, quickly scribbling out the two triangles he had used to mark each of their squads earlier and redrawing them in their new positions. "Are you going to set some snipers?"
She shook her head. "I took inventory of our supplies earlier. You only have two laser rifles and three old hunting rifles. I don't fancy our luck finding anyone- aside from you- good enough to use a musket as a sniper rifle."
Nate made an offended noise off to the side. She shot him an apologetic look and amended herself. "Anyone aside from you and Nate, but Nate's leading the assault with the Protectrons."
"I'll be providing them with long-range support, actually," he corrected her, still turning over Preston's laser musket. "We don't have any armours good enough to protect me from the raider's weapons, and the Protectrons can soak damage better than I can. I'll set myself up somewhere, in a window or wherever, and do what I can to help you all."
Nora nodded. Whatever else he was, and he was a lot of other things, he was an excellent sniper. "Alright then. Are you satisfied with that, Preston?"
"It'll have to do." He scowled. "The radstorm is nearly here. I'll go get our supply of Rad-X. We move out in half an hour."
"Done," Nate and Nora said in unison.
------------
As it turned out, a radstorm was exactly what it sounded like, and not in the middle school slang use of the term 'rad'. Rather, it was the much less exciting and much more dangerous 'radiation'. Because turning America into a radioactive hellhole full of dead people and collapsed buildings wasn't enough, the world had apparently decided to throw storms full of radioactive lightning and black ash at them.
America. More like radioactive Australia.
Nora glanced towards Preston's position from her own, where she was hidden behind a partially restored wooden table alongside two of the injured Minutemen in her squad. While it wasn't the most functional of covers, it was better than Preston's, who was busy hiding behind an old rusted dumpster.
He caught her eye and slowly shook his head. His snipers still weren't in position, then.
A frown stole over her face as she looked at her PipBoy. With Nate leading a frontal assault against the raiders, neither she nor Preston were able to communicate freely with him, so between them, they'd arranged for Nate to launch his attack at exactly twenty-five past seven.
It was already twenty-three past seven, and Preston's snipers were still out of position.
She held up her hand, capturing his attention again, and slowly raised two figures.
Preston nodded back at her, a resigned expression on his face.
---------------
7:25
Nate lowered his PipBoy, looking around at the Protectrons surrounding his position. Gears whirred and coolant bubbled inside them, the gentle sounds of machinery settling his nerves.
Ahead of him, just two blocks away, lay the raider's headquarters. His wife had reported that scouts had marked at least two and a half dozen raiders inside, with smaller outposts scattered around that reinforcements might arrive from.
Combat had never been his forte. It had never been either of their fortes, to be entirely honest; he was an engineer, and Nora was a medic.
When it came down to it, though, he was damn good at both aspects of his job, and that didn't bother him very much.
They were only bandits, anyway. Highwaymen, deserters, traitors to the American ideal.
Who cared if he killed a few of them if it might help his goals?
"Alright," he said quietly. "Initiate the attack, model 5-C-0-RP."
Whirrr, the Guardian beeped back at Nate. Beep-bap bara-tshoo!
------------------
At precisely twenty-six past seven, the first explosion rocked the compound, shifting the table Nora was hiding behind.
"I guess that's our signal," the Minuteman behind her- Jeanne- said dryly. "Going to give the order, ma'am?"
Nora nodded distractedly. "Absolutely," she replied, peeking her head out over the table. "Just one moment." Behind her, nearly a dozen men and women stirred, holding an eclectic combination of rifles and muskets up with a clear aura of readiness.
Outside the building they were all hiding in, raiders were beginning to scurry to and fro, bursting forth from buildings half-dressed and clutching shoddy weaponry. The explosions were emanating from the other end of the compound, so very few of the raiders were paying attention to the area around them in favour of trying to see what was attacking them.
She allowed long moments to pass, buying time for Preston's men to hopefully set themselves up on the roof, and for the raiders to shift away from their position. They were in no hurry; only Nate's life was in danger right now, and Nora trusted him to stay alive through at least one engagement.
The Protectrons didn't take long to burst through the gate. The combination of the Guardian's explosive weaponry, the Protectrons' riot shields, and Nate's covering fire allowed them to engage the gate essentially unimpeded. It fell in seconds, allowing the robots to stream forwards into the camp and begin wreaking havoc.
It wasn't until another explosion came, this one louder and closer than the rest, that the Minutemen's chance came. A group of half a dozen raiders, crouching behind the shell of a truck, scattered as shrapnel peppered the steel around them; and Preston threw his arm forward, bellowing "Engage!".
She waited for the precious few seconds it took for Preston's squad to rush out to pre-arranged spots of cover and begin firing upon the group, then threw her own arm out and yelled "Engage!" herself.
----------
The result was chaos- exactly as Nora and Preston had planned it.
The Protectrons streamed through the encampment as they willed, engaging raiders wherever they saw them. The robot's armour was tough, far tougher than the firepower the raiders could throw at them. The same definitely could not be said of the raiders, whose armour barely held up against simple 10mm pistols, let alone the sophisticated (if poorly maintained) weaponry of the Protectrons.
Echoes of gunfire shot through the streets as bullets whizzed past everyone. Grunts of pain and cries of alarm became commonplace, and it was soon all Nora could do to track who was a Minuteman and who was a raider as she darted through the encampment, firing upon anyone who looked hostile.
Ideally, the plan would have gone off without a hitch, and the raiders would have been routed by the surprise attack immediately. But, as is always the case in reality, things did not go to plan.
Mere minutes after the engagement had began, the bodies of over a dozen raiders lay over the ground, red blood trickling over the pavement beneath them. But without Preston's sniper support- without having people above the fight, outside the fight, who could pick off targets with ease- the raiders were quickly recouping, forming up into groups and scattering for cover to protect them from 5-C-0-RP's explosives.
And there were more than expected. Far more.
------------------
Minutemen Group 1-
Has currently taken 1 wound, leaving them at a total of 2 wounds before the group is incapacitated, and 3 wounds before the group is dead.
Is currently being led by Preston.
Is currently assigned to supporting the Protectrons.
[] Leave them assigned to their current task.
[] Assign them a different task.
Minutemen Group 2-
Has currently taken 0 wounds, leaving them at a total of 3 wounds.
Is currently being led by Nora.
Is currently assigned to causing damage to the Raiders.
[] Leave them assigned to their current task.
[] Assign them a different task.
Protectron Squad-
Has currently taken 0 wounds, leaving them at a total of 5 wounds.
Is currently being led by Nate.
Is currently assigned to causing chaos in the Raider encampment.
[] Leave them assigned to their current task.
[] Assign them a different task.
Nora-
Is not currently undertaking any actions as a Hero Unit.
[] Assign an action as a Hero Unit [2 per Encounter]
Nate-
Is not currently undertaking any actions as a Hero Unit.
[] Assign an action as a Hero Unit [2 per Encounter]
Preston-
Is being assigned an action as a Hero Unit by GM prerogative to act as a tutorial on Hero Unit actions.
[X] Seek out and engage the Raider leader. [Locked In]
Preston spoke up first, tugging the bag away from Nora so he could rest it gently on a nearby chair. "Sorry I'm a bit late," he apologized cheerfully, "but I told you I'd take care of you all, didn't I?"
Some of the refugees looked up at him, their eyes shimmering with the beginning of tears. Nora hastily stepped forwards before they could begin crying.
"Okay," she called out loudly, drawing their attention to her. "None of you know me, but I'm a medic, and a- an associate of Preston here. He's asked me to take a look at you all, and see what I can do for you." Moving over towards the bag, she pulled over another chair beside it and tapped the floor in front of her with her foot. "If all of you could form a line in front of me, we'll get started now."
------
Of course, Preston didn't stick around for long. He did his best, staying for nearly twenty minutes by Nora's PipBoy, but he was the leader of a military group, and one in dire circumstances at that. There was only so long he could stay and offer reassurance to everyone.
Nora had no such obligations, and so, for the next three and a half hours, she sat in the room with the refugees and aided them with their wounds as best she could. Eventually, even injured Minutemen began wandering into the room, evidently hearing of her services. Those, she prioritized as much as she could- healing the refugees was all well and good, but a single guard could prevent three others from being injured in the future.
By the time she had reached the middle-aged men and women at the back of the line, those who had pushed children and the elderly in front of them, she was beginning to feel the sting of the lack of supplies. Even being as stingy as she could with them, she was running low.
As she was carefully injecting a man's arm with a stimpack to encourage his immune system to fight off an infection that had begun to take hold there, a series of rapid footsteps at the entrance to the room caught her attention. She turned her head just far enough to see the guardsman- Michael?- approaching into the room, a sheen of sweat over his brow.
"Nora!" he called, relief filling his voice. "Finally, I've been looking all over for you."
Withdrawing the stimpack, she retrieved a small rag, one that had been washed in boiled water and thoroughly cleaned, from the bucket beside her. "Well, you've found me," she said mildly as she began blotting away the blood the stimpack had left behind. "What do you need?"
Michael shifted uncomfortably, looking around the room. Spotting the bandaged Minutemen around the room, a look of concern briefly took over his face before he shook his head. "Preston's holding a meeting soon," he replied. "About what to do about the raiders. He asked me to ask if you'd come up and talk with him. All other Minutemen are expected to attend," he added perfunctorily, gaze sweeping around the room.
"When?" she murmured back. "Now, or-"
"Not now," he hastily assured her. "In about half an hour. Sorry, I should have led with that."
She patted the arm of the man she had been attending to gently dry, then tapped him on the arm, indicating for him to rise. "All fixed." With that, she turned back to Michael. "Alright, then. I'll finish up here and meet him soon."
He nodded, eyes already darting the room as though counting something in his head. Without replying further, he turned and dashed out of the room.
"Always in a hurry, that one," the man rumbled. "He should really slow down. Being that eager isn't good for your health."
-------
Half an hour later, with most of the refugees attended to and her medical supplies packed away, Nora walked upstairs to what a Minuteman helpfully informed her was Preston's meeting room.
Inside, most of the Minutemen in the building- over two dozen, a quick count told her- had already assembled. Across the far side of the room, Nate stood, five Protectrons arranged around him and- a redneck? Of all the things to survive the apocalypse…
She hurried across the room, coming to rest beside Nate, who looked down at her with an arched brow. She stuck her tongue out at him, which just caused him to grin and her expression to melt into a glower.
"Shhh," the redneck murmured. "Preston's about to start speaking."
And indeed, when Nora and her husband turned to face Preston, he was beginning to move from side to side in the room.
"We all know the situation," he began grimly. "Most of us have been here since Quincy, and the few of you that weren't with us when we first suffered that tremendous betrayal have been with us since Boston. We've all suffered the hardships of our journey. We've all lost friends. And we, each and every one of us, have given our all into protecting those people, those poor refugees of Quincy."
He turned, facing the Minutemen in the room and looking each of them in the eye in turn.
"I'm going to be blunt," Preston says, pacing up and down in front of an old blackboard he's sketched his plans on. "We're in a bad place. A very bad place. We're outnumbered, outgunned, and we're protecting the innocent. But we're the Minutemen. That's our duty. That's what makes us better than the jet addicts and psychos out there, who'd sell out their mothers for a hit. That's why when it comes down to do or die, we do.
"And how do you cut down a tree? Do you bang your head into it repeatedly? Do you climb up it and start trying to peel off the branches? Or do you get a sharp axe and cut it off at the base! Well, we're going to be the sharp axe! We have Rad-X. We have robots! And we have the element of surprise. They won't see us coming. Tonight, we're going after one of the groups. And under the cover of darkness, we're going to wipe them out. We are going to crush the traitors.
"We're going to kill every last one of them, trap them between our forces and cut them down if they try to run for help. If they're all dead, they won't be able to stop us. They won't be able to help the scum out there. Our enemies won't have their training and they won't have the morale. With the radstorm booming overhead, they won't hear the gunshots that kill them. Remember - the men and women out there who used to be Minutemen are not our friends anymore. They spat on that friendship. Remember what we saw in Cambridge. Remember it was them doing it. They're traitors. They're Benedict Arnolds.
"We have refugees relying on us. And the more of us that go, the less chance each of us will be hurt. They're cowards, after all. They burned their oaths to the Minutemen and ran away like babies because they were scared. We, on the other hand, are not babies. We are men and women who are making a choice. We're going to wipe them out tonight and open a hole in their defences. The other Raider scum won't be able to surround us - and might not even realise that we're now controlling their allies' hideout until it's too late. This is our best chance for living to see next week. Make sure they don't.
"Now, yes, you might be saying 'Preston, you're crazy to attack when it's radding out there'. Well, it's true, no sensible Minuteman would do this normally - so they won't be expecting us. But you all know your training. You know how to keep safe. We're far enough away from the Glowing Sea up here that the radlightning won't be the killer. No, it'll be the black rain and we know how to deal with that. Cover up, cover your mouth and nose and wear goggles so you don't go blind from looking at the lightning. The Rad-X will help. And we know too well that a single radstorm won't kill you. But if the Raiders get their hands on us tomorrow, they'll kill us slowly. So me, I'd rather take my chance with the glow."
A grim silence had fallen over the Minutemen by the time Preston had finished his speech. Even Nate, normally irrepressible, seemed quieted by the magnitude of the task before him. Or maybe he was just wondering what radding was. Either way.
Then, one of the Minutemen- a large, scarred man, skin tanned brown and a light scar running over jaded eyes- stepped forwards.
"I'll stand with you," he said simply.
And with that, the others surged forward, voices rising into a cacophonous chant of agreement and condemnations of their traitorous brethren. They were loud- so loud that Nate had no doubt they could hear them from buildings away.
Preston really had a way with words.
Nate turned to his wife and had to bite back a loud groan.
He'd seen that feverish look in her eyes too many times to not know what it meant.
Fudging hero complex.
-----
"I hope I can count on your assistance," Preston said once the meeting had concluded and most of the Minutemen had left. Nora, to whom he was speaking, was sitting on a chair in front of the blackboard, examining the hasty battle plan he'd drawn up.
"Absolutely," she murmured. "How about you, honey?"
Nate, sitting over the far side of the room with his new
Unit 57-RU-66-l-3 looked up at him as innocently as a Protectron could. Beep Beep Whirrrr, it replied. Bloop!
He patted it affectionately. "I know, buddy," he replied happily. "Right back atcha."
Bleep-bloop barrr!
Nora stared at him for a moment, then turned back to Preston. It wasn't worth the effort to respond to that.
The plan, as outlined on the blackboard, was simple. The Protectrons, ostensibly under the control of Nate, would assault the Raider base from the front. It was a common tactic, and if the raiders were more organised she'd be worried that they might suspect, but they weren't, and they wouldn't. And even if they did, they couldn't afford to ignore the thread- not when the Protectrons were led by Nate and a Guardian.
Nora and Preston would then lead a two-pronged assault from behind the enemy forces, taking advantage of the distraction the Protectrons would provide to sneak past their defences and eliminate as many of the raiders as they could before they realized they were under assault.
Originally, Preston had intended to hand control over one of the squads to Yvette, his second-in-command. Unfortunately, Yvette had been one of the Minutemen injured when Nora had been shadowing his squad. With the chain of command already broken, and none of the other Minutemen ever having held a command position before, Preston had asked her to lead it.
"I'm not certain this approach is the best," she said coolly. It wasn't worth mentioning her misgivings about leaving the base unprotected apart from a token guard, nor about leaving a potential thread unattended to while they assaulted a raider base- Preston had made his position on that clear, and he wasn't looking for anyone to second-guess his plans. "I think we'd do better if we approached them from different areas."
Preston considered it for a moment. "What would you suggest?"
"I'd suggest that my group assault them through the buildings from the side." She tapped an empty space on the blackboard, an area to the left of the large square marked Raider Base. "The buildings on the other side were rickety, so I wouldn't suggest sending your squad through there, but if you have any snipers, you could set them up there to provide you with fire support as you make your assault."
He closed his eyes for a moment. "Yes. That makes sense." He approached the blackboard, quickly scribbling out the two triangles he had used to mark each of their squads earlier and redrawing them in their new positions. "Are you going to set some snipers?"
She shook her head. "I took inventory of our supplies earlier. You only have two laser rifles and three old hunting rifles. I don't fancy our luck finding anyone- aside from you- good enough to use a musket as a sniper rifle."
Nate made an offended noise off to the side. She shot him an apologetic look and amended herself. "Anyone aside from you and Nate, but Nate's leading the assault with the Protectrons."
"I'll be providing them with long-range support, actually," he corrected her, still turning over Preston's laser musket. "We don't have any armours good enough to protect me from the raider's weapons, and the Protectrons can soak damage better than I can. I'll set myself up somewhere, in a window or wherever, and do what I can to help you all."
Nora nodded. Whatever else he was, and he was a lot of other things, he was an excellent sniper. "Alright then. Are you satisfied with that, Preston?"
"It'll have to do." He scowled. "The radstorm is nearly here. I'll go get our supply of Rad-X. We move out in half an hour."
"Done," Nate and Nora said in unison.
------------
As it turned out, a radstorm was exactly what it sounded like, and not in the middle school slang use of the term 'rad'. Rather, it was the much less exciting and much more dangerous 'radiation'. Because turning America into a radioactive hellhole full of dead people and collapsed buildings wasn't enough, the world had apparently decided to throw storms full of radioactive lightning and black ash at them.
America. More like radioactive Australia.
Nora glanced towards Preston's position from her own, where she was hidden behind a partially restored wooden table alongside two of the injured Minutemen in her squad. While it wasn't the most functional of covers, it was better than Preston's, who was busy hiding behind an old rusted dumpster.
He caught her eye and slowly shook his head. His snipers still weren't in position, then.
A frown stole over her face as she looked at her PipBoy. With Nate leading a frontal assault against the raiders, neither she nor Preston were able to communicate freely with him, so between them, they'd arranged for Nate to launch his attack at exactly twenty-five past seven.
It was already twenty-three past seven, and Preston's snipers were still out of position.
She held up her hand, capturing his attention again, and slowly raised two figures.
Preston nodded back at her, a resigned expression on his face.
---------------
7:25
Nate lowered his PipBoy, looking around at the Protectrons surrounding his position. Gears whirred and coolant bubbled inside them, the gentle sounds of machinery settling his nerves.
Ahead of him, just two blocks away, lay the raider's headquarters. His wife had reported that scouts had marked at least two and a half dozen raiders inside, with smaller outposts scattered around that reinforcements might arrive from.
Combat had never been his forte. It had never been either of their fortes, to be entirely honest; he was an engineer, and Nora was a medic.
When it came down to it, though, he was damn good at both aspects of his job, and that didn't bother him very much.
They were only bandits, anyway. Highwaymen, deserters, traitors to the American ideal.
Who cared if he killed a few of them if it might help his goals?
"Alright," he said quietly. "Initiate the attack, model 5-C-0-RP."
Whirrr, the Guardian beeped back at Nate. Beep-bap bara-tshoo!
------------------
At precisely twenty-six past seven, the first explosion rocked the compound, shifting the table Nora was hiding behind.
"I guess that's our signal," the Minuteman behind her- Jeanne- said dryly. "Going to give the order, ma'am?"
Nora nodded distractedly. "Absolutely," she replied, peeking her head out over the table. "Just one moment." Behind her, nearly a dozen men and women stirred, holding an eclectic combination of rifles and muskets up with a clear aura of readiness.
Outside the building they were all hiding in, raiders were beginning to scurry to and fro, bursting forth from buildings half-dressed and clutching shoddy weaponry. The explosions were emanating from the other end of the compound, so very few of the raiders were paying attention to the area around them in favour of trying to see what was attacking them.
She allowed long moments to pass, buying time for Preston's men to hopefully set themselves up on the roof, and for the raiders to shift away from their position. They were in no hurry; only Nate's life was in danger right now, and Nora trusted him to stay alive through at least one engagement.
The Protectrons didn't take long to burst through the gate. The combination of the Guardian's explosive weaponry, the Protectrons' riot shields, and Nate's covering fire allowed them to engage the gate essentially unimpeded. It fell in seconds, allowing the robots to stream forwards into the camp and begin wreaking havoc.
It wasn't until another explosion came, this one louder and closer than the rest, that the Minutemen's chance came. A group of half a dozen raiders, crouching behind the shell of a truck, scattered as shrapnel peppered the steel around them; and Preston threw his arm forward, bellowing "Engage!".
She waited for the precious few seconds it took for Preston's squad to rush out to pre-arranged spots of cover and begin firing upon the group, then threw her own arm out and yelled "Engage!" herself.
----------
The result was chaos- exactly as Nora and Preston had planned it.
The Protectrons streamed through the encampment as they willed, engaging raiders wherever they saw them. The robot's armour was tough, far tougher than the firepower the raiders could throw at them. The same definitely could not be said of the raiders, whose armour barely held up against simple 10mm pistols, let alone the sophisticated (if poorly maintained) weaponry of the Protectrons.
Echoes of gunfire shot through the streets as bullets whizzed past everyone. Grunts of pain and cries of alarm became commonplace, and it was soon all Nora could do to track who was a Minuteman and who was a raider as she darted through the encampment, firing upon anyone who looked hostile.
Ideally, the plan would have gone off without a hitch, and the raiders would have been routed by the surprise attack immediately. But, as is always the case in reality, things did not go to plan.
Mere minutes after the engagement had began, the bodies of over a dozen raiders lay over the ground, red blood trickling over the pavement beneath them. But without Preston's sniper support- without having people above the fight, outside the fight, who could pick off targets with ease- the raiders were quickly recouping, forming up into groups and scattering for cover to protect them from 5-C-0-RP's explosives.
And there were more than expected. Far more.
------------------
The Battle for Concord- Turn 2
Assign Groups
Minutemen Group 1-
Has currently taken 1 wound, leaving them at a total of 2 wounds before the group is incapacitated, and 3 wounds before the group is dead.
Is currently being led by Preston.
Is currently assigned to supporting the Protectrons.
[] Leave them assigned to their current task.
[] Assign them a different task.
Minutemen Group 2-
Has currently taken 0 wounds, leaving them at a total of 3 wounds.
Is currently being led by Nora.
Is currently assigned to causing damage to the Raiders.
[] Leave them assigned to their current task.
[] Assign them a different task.
Protectron Squad-
Has currently taken 0 wounds, leaving them at a total of 5 wounds.
Is currently being led by Nate.
Is currently assigned to causing chaos in the Raider encampment.
[] Leave them assigned to their current task.
[] Assign them a different task.
Hero Actions
Nora-
Is not currently undertaking any actions as a Hero Unit.
[] Assign an action as a Hero Unit [2 per Encounter]
Nate-
Is not currently undertaking any actions as a Hero Unit.
[] Assign an action as a Hero Unit [2 per Encounter]
Preston-
Is being assigned an action as a Hero Unit by GM prerogative to act as a tutorial on Hero Unit actions.
[X] Seek out and engage the Raider leader. [Locked In]
Initiating: Stealth
[Nora: Win. Successful surprise attack.]
[Preston: Loss. Raiders counter.]
Initiating: Surprise Attack
[Decreased Raider defensive threshold, increased Protectron defensive threshold.]
Initiating: Combat [Protectrons vs. Raiders]
versus
[Surprise Attack successful- Threshold decreased.]
[Result: Protectron won. Raiders take 2 wounds.]
versus
[Surprise Attack successful- Threshold increased.]
[Result: Raiders lost. Protectrons take 0 wounds.]
Initiating: Counter]
Result: Raiders won. Minutemen Group 1 takes 1 wound.]
[Nora: Win. Successful surprise attack.]
[Preston: Loss. Raiders counter.]
Initiating: Surprise Attack
[Decreased Raider defensive threshold, increased Protectron defensive threshold.]
Initiating: Combat [Protectrons vs. Raiders]
versus
[Surprise Attack successful- Threshold decreased.]
[Result: Protectron won. Raiders take 2 wounds.]
versus
[Surprise Attack successful- Threshold increased.]
[Result: Raiders lost. Protectrons take 0 wounds.]
Initiating: Counter]
Result: Raiders won. Minutemen Group 1 takes 1 wound.]
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Huh, now here's a pickle.
- Location
- Australia
Yeah, it appears I may have made the choices too difficult or something. Sorry
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Yeah, it appears I may have made the choices too difficult or something. Sorry
Okay, so, the obvious thing is that the squad/group that can take the most wounds and cause the most trouble are the Protectrons. They have five spare wounds, and Nate's there being a hero unit, so I'm thinking--still vague and it's morning and I have my own Quest to write for, wherein people are discussing the nature of treason and other fun things--that Nate, at the head of the Protectrons, should probably spearhead things, rather than having them focus on disruption.
Leave group 2 to continue causing damage to the raiders...but I'm not sure about group one, or what if anything Nora should be doing.
Soooo...I don't have a plan, but I'm sorta working on one, if that helps?
So, Nate needs to do something to help out. Either in the 'lead the squad of robos' sense...or, well, he could fulfill sniper duty, right? It was mentioned in the update. Wait, no, he's already doing that.
Long-ranged support, he said.
Incidentally, how's that going?
Last edited:
- Location
- Australia
He was responsible for a fair few of the deaths earlier in the raid, but now he's mostly using that as a weapon in itself to keep the raiders pinned down for fear of him killing them. This has made it a fair bit easier for everyone to get around and position themselves, but is slowly becoming less effective. If left alone, he'll keep doing that until it becomes completely ineffective, then switch back to picking off targets where he can, with more of a focus on injuring people than taking kill shots.
- Location
- England
Yeah, set the Protectrons to full out attack I say. They are both expendable and the toughest things here.
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Plus, not like their kill counts here can be overwhelmed, no?
- Location
- Australia
Nora could certainly attempt to heal the wound; however, she'd have to roll for it.
Preston could take another action, but I've locked him in to the one he's currently doing so I can use this as a tutorial to show you what kind of effect it'll have.
So, right now, it looks the raiders are stunned and at a disadvantage-but there's a lot of them and if they get organized this will be a problem. So the most intelligent thing to do at this point is to make sure they can't organize, by pressing the results of the initial attack as hard and as fast as possible.
Therefore:
Minuteman Group 1 is assigned to:
[X] Killin' Raiders.
Minuteman Group 2 is assigned to:
[X] Murdering Bandits.
Protectron Squad is assigned to:
[X] USE Police Brutality ON Ruffians
Nate is assigned to:
[X] Shoot any Raider who looks more important than normal.
Therefore:
Minuteman Group 1 is assigned to:
[X] Killin' Raiders.
Minuteman Group 2 is assigned to:
[X] Murdering Bandits.
Protectron Squad is assigned to:
[X] USE Police Brutality ON Ruffians
Nate is assigned to:
[X] Shoot any Raider who looks more important than normal.
- Location
- England
Sounds like a plan.
[X] MJ12 Commando
[X] MJ12 Commando