Vault 15! (Wastelands Chapter 3)

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Dwemer had closed in the Rover fort doing the night, moving around it to scout it's defenses. As the sun came up he had taken a postion on a slow rise to the southeast of the main gate. When the attack on the outpost came, the Rovers from the main fort would deploy north and east to reinforce their comrades. Dwemer would try to delay them as long as possible.

The fortress was a dark medieval structure of twisted military logic and post-apocalptic materials. Walls or metal, carparts, rubber and concrete surrounded the fortress topped with barbed wire and shards of metal. Barbed wire hung from the sides, to keep anyone from trying to scale the walls. At different points taller towers stood to give surveillance to the areas beyond. Two gates, to the front and rear, were highly guarded. Behind this Dwemer could see tents and houses built. Three times he had been forced to move as sentries had patrolled the fortresses fields of fire.

It was an intimidating structure, and there was good reason why the Vipers had recruited their small band. THere were a lot of Rovers back there, too many for the Vipers. Even with Inne's small group of warriors, it would be a tough fight. First the outpost, then move the Viper families, than the full attack on the Rover's main fort.

Dwemer figured that when the outpost raid had begun, the outpost would ask the main camp for reinforcements. If those reinforcements came, the small group would be overwhelmed. So Dwemer was to try to delay them. Just one man would not be able to stop them indefinitely, but if he could by Inne and the Vipers a few hours, than the Vipers could turn their attention to the main force of Rovers. If the outpost was secure, that the Vipers could defend against the Rover's main body outside the dark fortress.

Dwemer hoped that the Rovers were still looking for him to the south. Hopefully a few of them had been distracted away. It would make things easier. He had selected a number of places to fire from. But surprise would not provide a long advantage. Soon they would be after him.

With sunrise, Dwemer could see further into the fort. It was still largely asleep. And it became a waiting game.

But the game did not last long.

One of the Rovers ran from one building with a tall aerial and ran into another building. From this building another man ran out and into a larger structure, than a second building, both which appeared to be barracks.

The attack on the outpost had begun and they had contacted the main camp for reinforcements. Time for business.

Dwemer listened to his breathing, tried to calm his heart. Easy now. Calm. His skills were not in long-range sniping, but he was all Inne, Roadrunner and the rest had. He had to delay.

He sighted in on the head of a guard on one of the watchtowers, measured his breath and fired.

Missed.

The man slapped his throat as if stung by a bee. Blood flowed from beneath the man's hand. Then he toppled off the guardtower, cartwheeled in the air, and landed in the dust as the Rovers began to marshal out of the barracks.

THe Rovers stopped. The sergeant began to scream orders.

Dwemer sighted him. Fired. Watched as the man fell on his ass, looked at his bleeding belly, then collapsed.

Dwemer sighted in on another Rover, but they were all scrambling fast for cover.

Instead he moved crawling 50 years away to a position nearer the gate. By the time he got into position, the gate had already opened and Rovers were beginning to fan out, moving towards the position he had been just a few moments before.

The advantage of surprise now gone, they were hunting him down the way farmers hunt a lone predator.

Dwemer waited till he saw one man wave the others forward. Taking that man to be a leader, he shot the man. Reloaded. Fired at the man who went to his aid. This shot went wide. Reloaded, fired again. A man fell, but whether Dwemer hit him or not, he couldn't tell.

Crack!
Crack!

Gunfire in his direction. A crack is the sound of bullet near your head. Dwemer ducked down and moved again. Now moving away and around. A funny sound for a rifle and then a muffled explosion from near where he had just lay.

The Rovers were using rifle grenades.

Dwemer poked his head to take a look. The Rovers were searching for him near where the explosion had occurred. He moved to shoot, but then a bullet richocheted off a rock behind him. Someone from the guardtower had spotted him.

He ducked again, and crawled away to a different spot.
 
Vedpose had been caught off of her guard with the back attack. Perhaps it was best that she focus on the points away from the battle to ensure that the sniper group was kept safe to help out the assault group. Vedpose moved to the rear of the group and scanned the horizon for any other rovers attempting a back attack. She found them.

There were two groups of rovers, probably patrols coming back to base camp to see what the hell was going on. They were approaching at 5 and 7 to the front faced group and 12 and 2 to the back faced Vedpose. There were a total of seven men in all, three in the 2 o’clock group and four in the 12. Ved obviously could not take all of them alone at one time but maybe she could lore the larger group away while she took care of the smaller one. The only problem was finding a way to lore the second group away. She looked around and found nothing.

“Dammit.” Vedpose examined the two groups more closely. Three of the people, two of the four and one of three, were definitely armed with rifles as good as hers if not better and were no doubt good shots. The rest of the individuals were armed with short ranged SMGs and pistols. Without a descent distraction, her best strategy was to take out those with rifles and then try to pickoff the others as they tried to move within firing range. Ved took a deep breathe, raised up her weapon, and lined it up with the head of the rifleman in the group of three.

*click*
*zip*

The bullet flew slightly down from where she had been aiming, and struck the unsuspecting victim just between the windpipe and the juggler. Vedpose managed to get a second shot of into the group of four and struck one their riflemen in the lower ribcage, piercing through one of his lungs. By the time Ved was ready for her third shot the remainder of the two groups had gone into hiding, taking cover wherever they could and spreading out over the wastes. Hopefully she could find the last rifleman before he could get a decent shot off which would no doubt hit a member of the sniper group.
 
Rob grabbed his wound in one hand and his rifle in the other,he then got up and struggled to get over to Inne.

"Ar....are you ok?"Said rob as he stumbled back down to the ground.
 
Yes I am... Lets get them! Carib...And the others need help!

She said that between aiming and firing and aiming...The fight was being tough, but that made things even more interesting. The adrenaline rush was making her focused and excited. If there were no reinforcements in the next half hour, Inne was forseeing that the outpost would be theirs. And once they captured the outpost, they would not let the raiders take it back. Oh no, siree. She smiled at the thought and kept shooting, making each bullet worth.

The attack from behind was defeated: now it was time to attack the outpost again. She could see some of the sentinels were down. Was it work from the team 2 or could it have been Dweemer?
She was not sure, but the idea was pleasing. Either way, time to move on.
 
Rob tried to get up but it only resulted in him falling back down.

"I....I can't move at my current stage of health,you go and help the others i'll catch up later"
 
The Rovers from the main fort had searched the grounds around their base carefully, but had not found the sniper. Judging by the amount of fire, they figured it was a lone man who had been sent to delay and distract them. But the man had vanished, and now the Rovers were gathering strength to go after the outpost.

The message was clear, the northern outpost was under attack. Outposts to the North and South were better manned, as there were few remaining settlements to the east of Vault 15. Those had been cleared in the past year. Given time, the Rovers next target was Shady Sands. From there, they would no doubt derive enough people as needed for the ones who inhabited Vault 15.

The Rover Leader, a tall ex-BOS named Redeye, had gathered his men together. THey had lost a sergeant, and a guard, and two wounded, but more pressing was the attack on the outpost. He decided to leave a squad to protect the outpost, and would move the rest of his company to reinforce the outpost.

No doubt the Vipers were behind this attack. Good, this would give the Rovers a chance to finish the Vipers once and for all.
------------

The remaining squad watched as the Rover company moved out of its home and headed north to confront the Viper attack. They watched as their comrades went through the main gate and disappeared over the rise to the North. The outpust was less than a days march. No doubt the Vipers would pay dearly for this outrage.

One of the Rovers, dressed in the black garments of the company, did not wait for the main body to finally disappear. Leaving the others on the ramparts where they observed their comrades, the one went back towards the empty radio shack.

There he removed a bundle of dynamite, recently retreaved from the TMF Demolitions Company, and set the timer for five minutes, and set it under the radio.

Quickly he moved to his next target. A large tank of ethanol fuel, alcohol fermented to the point were it served as a cooking and heating fuel for the garrison. Checking to see that the remaining guards were still observing, he set the second charge and hid it the best he could.

Now, time was running out. To the main Back to the main magazine. In this small building the rovers hid a stairwell that went down into a a room and storehouse dug into the ground. The Rovers kept their gunpower and shell casings here, allowing them to produce their own ammunition. Another dynamite charge placed in the powder magazine.

Finally the man in black stepped out of the magazine.

The squad was returning to their assignments.
The radio operator was coming down the ladder from the tower and was heading towards the radio station.

The man went to the rear gate, and quickly threw the large wooden bolts that held the door in place. They were heavy and large, and probably took more than a single man to throw them. But Dwemer was not a man of ordinary strength. He could feel his muscles tighten and bulge under the black tunic, a tunic taken from one of the stalkers he had killed in the desert. The fabric beginning to rip. At first the wooden bolt resisted, but slowly it began to slide, and once it began to move, the task became easier.

"Hey you! WHat do you think you're doing there. Orders are that the fort it to remain secured." Called out one of the guards who noticed Dwemer by the Gate, pulling back the door.

At the same moment, the radioman reached down beneath the rags in which Dwemer had hid the dynamite. A glance at the timer told him he was too late.

The radio tower blew apart in that instant, knocking everyone to the ground within the compoud.

Dwemer didn't wait to get up by rolled out the door, and scurried to the side as the call of "Intruder! Spy!" came up from the guard.

Outside now, Dwemer turned and ran.

One crack, than another. Then another explosion, this one huge. Even as far away as he was Dwemer could feet the rush of heat.

A pause and then another crack.

A sudden pain, and Dwemer fell to the side, just as the final blast rocked the fort from inside, lifting up a cloud of dust into the sky.

Further away, the Rovers stopped. Redeye knew that the sniper had not given up at all. He would have to turn back to inspect the damage to the Rover fort. For now the Outpost was on it's own.
 
Inne led forward group 1., Rob, we leave no man behind. You are coming with us!
Two of the 6 gangmembers that were with the group offered to help Rob as they walked to the fort.

The explosion should mean nobody was left in the fort. But could they be so sure?
 
heh,I save someones life,get shot and have to be carried around....oh well

Rob grabbed his rifle and got up with the help of the two gangmembers,afterwards the group slowly headed towards the fort.
 
occ- Please note- there are two battles going on simultaneously. One battle is at the Northern outpost- most of you are involved in that. The other is a diversion at the main fort- that's Dwemer. So two different actions.
 
Sam followed closely, crouching and using the low light. Taking aim and taking single precision shots at Rovers. One fell over while another just crouched behind a rock.

"They're scattered, but the're keeping their cool. Seasoned raiders. Almost ex-military or BOS, Ved." Sam whispered to her counterpart. That what was worrying Sam, that these raiders were military trained and that was dangerous. Organized scum was the worst kind, all the more reason to put them down.
 
Sam was right. This group was well trained and battle hardened. Coming here was almost like expecting to hunt a bear and instead encountering a pack of cunning wolves. Two of the vipers with them had been hit plus Rob. Vedpose cracked out a few shoots from her rifle as she looked for the assault group. At this point she could not see them anywhere.

“Where is the assault group?” Ved asked as she fired another shot and took down another raider.
 
Zeke and the others had gone to ground in an attempt to take cover and hide themselves.

Rovers were now running all over the place and firing at shadows in the dark. A few went down when they ran past the hidden areas of the assault team and took a knife in the back or a silenced bullet. Zeke saw a particular knot of raiders being rallied by a sargeant. A full squad of 10 with a leader, and all were armed and armored. Two nailbombs soared into their midst and exploded with a deafening bang ripping them all to pieces.

Sniper shots from the hills were beginning to tear down a few men as well, and the raiders began to swarm desperately into cover. In particular a pair or raiders tried to dive behind Zeke's rock. The first one took a stab in the lung, and keeled over wheezing. Rover number two was a bigger problem. 3 small calibre pocket pistol shots hit Zeke in the torso before he shot back. Two were stopped by his vest, but one hit him about 6 inches above the right hip creating a painful wound.

Zeke gripped his side andcrouched as low as he could with his pistol ready in self defense. Things were beginning to fall apart........
 
A raider, seeing Zeke in a position of weakness was ready to finish what his comrade had started. Before he could even charge unto the bleeding Zeke, another shadow zipped behind him with only the vague reflection of a silvery blade in the dark.

It was raised sliding right into the breast bone. The Shadows arms curling around the raider's neck, pulling away his face from the sight of his bloody chest.

Through bone and flesh, the combat issued knife lifted from the corpse of a fallen raider made its mark into the heart, tearing into it like a ripe fruit. With a sick twist, the blade tore its mark.

CRACK!

The raider slumped to the ground and an all too familar dark face came to light.

"You look like you could use a hand," Carib's voice sounded in heavy breathing as he offered his free hand, which was dirty and caked with blood, the other held the dripping blade.

Carib helped up Zeke. Though the steps were painful, Zeke had his fair share of wounds, so ignoring the pain was part of the detail.
 
Inne was concentrated in the battle. Maybe concentrated was not the word - she was in that relaxed state of mind in which your mnid and body are so atuned that you can move with perfect harmony, without even thinking about it.
One shot aimed at the head, one raider down. One shot aimed at the heart, one raider down. One shot at that one near Carib and Zeek - oh gosh, Carib was helping Zeek but almost got shot... - One shot at that raider that tried to shoot at the assault team. Someone shot him down as Inne was aiming. The rest of the assault and the back up team was working really hard too, and that was pleasing. Almost as iif the battle was a sinfony - a sinfony with caos but with the beauty of the coordiinated effort.
Inne was aching to move forward. But the group needed the back up. She was enjoying the teamwork and doing her best. And yet it ws hard not to worry at dramatic moments.
COme on, team 1, there are still some raiders out there! Lets keep shooting!
 
Carib had doubled back towards the others, to help and issue orders. Meanwhile Richard moved into the shack, pistols drawn and ready for anything. The devastation caused by the grenade had been terrible. Blood and bodyparts everywhere. The two Rovers standing by the door had become nothing than a pile of flesh and guts. Apparently there had been move than two raiders in the shack. One was lying heavily wounded near some sort of backdoor, coughing up blood. Richard moved in and put a bullet in his skull, freeing him from his pain.

Curious if the backdoor lead outside, Richard continued in it's direction. As he turned the doorknob, he heard a rather distinctive sound: the rattle of an ammo belt. Just as he jumped away, the door was shredded into pieces. Richard hit the ground and started blasting through the thin metal wall. Too late did the gunner realise that his target was no longer standing up straight, but lying extremely nearby on the ground.

A yell of pain followed and the sound of metal hitting the ground. The raider crumbled and Richard cautiously got up, took a peak through the busted up door and look into the small room. One of the bullets had shattered the raiders right arm and he was struggling to unholster his pistol with his left hand. Moments later he was lying face up on the floor with a gaping wound on his forehead. Upon inspection the raiders weapon had seemed intact. A fully working and loaded FN MAG 7.62mm support weapon.

The only interest within the small room was a ladder leading to the roof. Richard took a peak through the trapdoor, the roof was clear. Some sandbags had been piled up to protect a fixed tripod on which the FN MAG could be mounted. Without hesitation Richard rushed towards it and mounted the support weapon. From this elevated position, Richard could see the battlefield clearly. No wonder the raiders had set up a small camp here. Behind the hill was a small compound surrounded with crude barbed wire, the small group of tents within it was the real Rover outpost. Both teams were obviously unaware of this. The shack itself was nothing more than an observation post and crude guardtower.

A group of raiders in hardened brahmin leather armor armed with pistols, pumpaction shotguns and huntingrifles were running up the hill towards the shack. They seemed certain that Richard was a fellow raider, if not, they would have surely gone for cover. Richard allowed them to come closer, without aiming at them.

When the raiders were close enough and far from any possible cover, Richard swung the gun around and opened fire upon the unsuspecting raiders. Even though Richard was not quite skilled with this type of gun, the tripod, close range and sheer amount of bullets fired made it impossible to miss the raiders. Their armor did very little to stop the hail of 7.62mm bullets. Many men were cut down where they stood. A few were lucky enough to reach cover unscathed, but those were pinned down and had nowhere else to run to.

Richard was quite sure that with support from the two teams and with this gun they could easily hold off any counterattack. However, seconds later, a plasma grenade landed in between a pile of ammo boxes inside the sandbags. Richard never saw it coming, but luckily he saw it land. He jumped towards the trapdoor, leaving the support weapon behind and trying to reach safety before the grenade went off, but it was too late.

The grenade went off and Richard tumbled down the trapdoor. Hitting the floor quite hard, but there was no time to feel that. A burning sensation on his back hinted that his back had been hit with some splashes of superheated plasma. Even through the bulletproof vest he could feel the minor splashes burning away at his clothes. He quickly threw off his black leather coat that had been modded with radscorpion carapace. A strong burning smell rose up from it as he threw it into a corner of the room.

His bulletproof vest seemed intact, but the fall had severely hurt his left shoulder. Quite possibly it had been dislocated. None the less, his left arm would be useless for a while...
 
Vedpose had noticed that the raiders seemed to be popping up out of nowhere, but could they be coming from? It would probably be best if she and the others made their way down towards the assault group in order to get a reassessment of the situation.

Vedpose turned to Sam and Inne, “I am going down, cover me.”
 
OCC- MAG? Plasma Grenades? You do realize that the outpost was a thinly defended guard post to the North, not a Vietnam firebase right? We are still at an early point in the Fallout game. I think these weapons are a bit over the top.

IC-
Dwemer had fallen unconscious after being hit from the fort. Had he been awaken he might have heard the conversation between Redeye and his lord.

"We found him outside the fort. Not one of us. I can only suspect that he used our garb to slip into our position and set the traps while the main body was away." Said Redeye, cautiously. Even the ex-BOS paladin was fearful of upsetting his employer.

"We have been watching him." Said the other, his voice sounding strange, somewhat like the hiss of a snake. "He has secrets."

Redeye nodded. "We were going to shoot 'em for what he did. But I thought it wise to tell you first."

The dark stranger nodded. He was a tall hooded fellow, but no one wanted to look directly into his face. What was hidden was best kept hidden. Redeye had heard of the consequences of looking past the hood. One man's eyes had been burnt out and his hair turned white.

The stranger pointed a finger at Dwemer. "We will move him to the Vault. Send your people to destroy these Vipers once and for all. Kill what you must but try to wound. Slaves are in short supply and we will pay twice for live heads."

"Got it." Said Redeye. He had been expecting some sort of punishment for the devestation of the main fort. Instead the dark strangers had not seemed to care at all, not for the destruction or the lose of life.

"Remember," Said the stranger, "You are to protect the Vault from intruders. No one should get to the Vault unless we allow it. You have been paid handsomely thus far. We expect you to keep your commitment. Do not force us to seek recompense should you fail us."

"We'll deal with the Vipers." Said Redeye. Behind him he could see the wounded unconscious man being picked up by two of the strangers. Pity the fool who left in that company.

He turned to the others as the stranger began walking West, towards the Vault. It was better not to look at him.

"Alright. We got orders. The Vipers have gotten some new balls and we are to take them away. Let's move it out."

A small squad of men were left to guard the main way to the Vault. The rest would move to reinforce the stronghold, or retake it as necessary.

Redeye glanced back to the strangers and the wounded man, but they had vanished as if they had never been there.
 
Carib looked in the distance. The Raiders were regrouping. Pissed surely. Richard had been recovered and Zeke was humbled by a few shots, but he'd heal. O'Reilly had regrouped with Inne and some Viper snipers. Carib had sustained a bullet graze and slash across his arm which he dressed. The bleeding had been abated but he'd need some stitching or a stim.

"Whats the word?" He looked to Inne both with a compassion and seriousness.
 
Roadrunner reached in her sachel, feeling for the soft touch of her Tragic Card deck. She could feel a few .44 Jacketed hollow points and a lighter and then the smooth surface of the card deck.

Even before she peeled back the lid, she felt a disturbance, as if something had stole her breath away for a moment. Using her small index finger, she deftly plucked two cards out and laid them flat.

"What's the sitch, Fortune child." Sam said from over her shoulder.

"Checking the cards for signs, Chica." She said in her latino twang. Her fingers flipped over one card. She saw a man in power armor being held in a Lie Spider's web. "'The Champion' has been captured." She said silently, knowing that her Champion, her savior Dwemer was captured not too long ago.

Carib and Inne looked at her and read the look in her face. They knew or sensed the burly Vault Dweller had been detained by the raiders. All they could hope he wasn't dead by now.

She flipped over the second one and nearly gasped as she looked from the card to Alex, leader of the Vipers. The card showed a clutch of snake eggs being infilitrated by a desert vermin of some sort. "The Raiders are moving for the nest of the Vipers." She whispered.

Alex sneered, "Shit." He hissed. His clan was now in danger because he enegaged the enemy. Though a lesser man would have blammed these wanderers for his peoples misfortune, he knew a showdown with the rival raider band would have been unavoidable and perhaps would have occured sooner then anticpated.

His other Viper comrades seem to look at their leader with concern. Carib and Inne looked to eachother as did the bleeding Zeek.

"Two paths. We must choose two paths." Roadrunner whispered.
 
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