POV Preston
After the death of Mama Murphy, we fixed the gap in our defenses, turning it into a trap instead. Then it was time to return to strategizing our plan. Which was only waiting on the report by Captain Guto.
Captain Guto was an interesting... person? Griffon? I suppose it doesn't matter. He was interesting not just because he was a talking non-human but because he was very honorable, strict, and seemed to care deeply for his men. They usually move around on all fours, but they can stand on two legs. His feathers were a dark grey, and his fur was an even darker grey bordering on black. His eyes could scare even the unruliest of raiders with their piercing golden glow.
He ran a tight ship, but it showed in the effectiveness of his men. They were even more accurate than the best of our marksmen. Then there was the major advantage they had. Flight. They had wings that could carry them far into the sky. Which is what they were just doing. They scouted out the enemy positions and numbers. The enemy hadn't entered our Artillery Range, according to the last report, as I intended on making it difficult for them to get close to Sanctuary.
"What news do you bring?" I ask Guto.
"Good news and plenty of bad news," Guto says.
"Good news first," I ask.
"They have entered the range of our Artillery. My men are on standby to start giving coordinates," Guto says with a grin.
"And the bad news?" I ask.
"Sigh. They number at least 4000 strong..." Gut starts but is interrupted.
"4000! What!? How could they gather so many troops?!" screams Commander Athena.
"That's not all. They have brought a few hundred slaves that they are using as meat shields from our artillery," Guto says.
"Those scumbags!" says Athena.
"But they will learn soon that our artillery is far more accurate than they think. Give the order to begin the strikes," I order the radio man.
"Indeed, but there's more. They have split their forces into numerous small groups to avoid clumping together. If we had limited ammo, that would be very effective, which makes me believe that it isn't a Raider leading them. The tactics shown make me think we are dealing with a trained tactician. I've seen tactics like this before during my service in the army, so we should be careful," Guto warns.
"Thank you for the warning," I reply.
"Now there are a few remaining things. The movements of the army make it clear that they plan on setting up in Concord. They also have primarily ballistic weapons, but my men spotted a few crates and caravans of explosives. The only other thing of note was how many different groups we spotted. The flags and emblems make it clear there are a lot of different groups, but the 5 major groups are The Pack, Disciples, Operators, Gunners, and Slavers. Each one sent around 500 men at a minimum. The next largest group was the Triggermen, who sent 200-300, but they are a coalition of a few gangs. Another large group came from the Federal Ration Stockpile. But honestly, most gangs from the Commonwealth have sent men in one way or another, by the looks of it," Guto states.
"That was already predicted. As for the gangs, that is a bit surprising. I thought the Gunners would be too busy to bother with us. And the Raider Gangs from Nuka World should be too busy with their theme park to come all the way to Sanctuary. They hate each other, so it seems odd they would team up to attack us. The Triggermen should also be busy with the war in Goodneighbor, so it seems odd they would come after us as well. But that doesn't matter for now. If we can sow discord, then great; if not, then we will fight to the last to defend Sanctuary," I say with certainty.
BOOM
We hear the sounds of Artillery firing, and I had a smile.
'Those b@stards will learn their lesson that the Minutemen aren't going away. We aren't scared of them.'
"What should we do to hold Sanctuary? We are outnumbered nearly 20 to 1. We have at most 200 or so people, several of whom are settlers," Asks Athena.
"The walls will keep them out. They can't go through, under, or around, so they have to go over them. Which means ladders. Which means they will be slowed down. And they won't be able to fight back as easily. First, we make it brutal to get close to the walls. Then we make it hard to climb their ladders. And then once they climb the ladder, we fill them with holes as they reach the top of the ladder. We will also set up mines surrounding Sanctuary. Just make sure we have a detailed record of where we place all of them. We can also ascertain which areas they will attack from," I say.
"How? As far as I can see, they could attack from all sides," Athena asks.
"They only have one realistic approach vector. The East. It has solid ground and some trees to give some cover. The West has irradiated water and is too open for them. The South is protected by Red Rocket, and we can fall back on it should it fall. The North has Vault 111 and its outer defenses as well. Not to mention, it would require them to circle Sanctuary completely to approach from the North. As for attacking from all sides, it is possible, but they would lose far more people doing it that way, and getting them all into position to attack simultaneously is impractical at the least and impossible at the worst," I say with confidence.
"Well said. I think the same. But if they do attempt to use Red Rocket, we could have some issues. That idesttructiblity could become a liability. That was why Abernathy Farms was deconstructed and evacuated. We should be cautious," warns Guto.
"You're right. But don't worry, these Raiders won't be able to use the Workshop at Red Rocket, and the cover the places give will be minimal; combined with its distance, we can use artillery to recapture it if it comes to it. Red Rocket is far enough from Concord that we don't have to worry about accidental damage," I reply.
"I'm confused. I thought our Artillery didn't cause structural damage?" Athena asks.
"It doesn't. But that doesn't mean a stray rocket from a dying Raider won't hit one of the Plutonium Wells, causing a massive radiological disaster. In that situation, we would win this battle but lose far too much. Curie has estimated that the range of radiation contamination is up to 100 square miles of land. If the caravans have to take such a large detour to Sanctuary, we will be in a more isolated position. Which will weaken our presence in the area," I respond.
"Okay, fair enough. Now, where should we deploy the Power Armor troops?" Athena asks.
We continue the discussion for many more hours while everyone else starts setting up the other parts of the defenses.
POV William Black
"You sure this will work?" I ask our mysterious leader, who just calls himself Warrior.
"Yes, Mr. Black. I am certain that this is the best course of action given the Minutemen's proclivity to protect the weak and helpless. If given a choice between saving hostages and losing people or standing by and watching, they will more often than not choose to save the hostages. Even with their ability to strike us at farther ranges than expected, we can still use the hostages to our advantage," Warrior says.
"Well, as long as you think you know what you're doing," I respond.
"Mr. Black, do you know why I chose you as my second in command?" Warrior asks.
"It was what I used to do, and I am not a jumped-up psycho on chems?" I respond.
"Not entirely. Instead, it's because you can be a bridge. A great tactician creates plans. A good tactician recognizes the soundness of a plan presented to him. A fair tactician must see the plan succeed before offering approval. Those with no tactical ability at all may never understand or accept it. Nor will they accept the tactician. And when a mind is too deficient in understanding, the resulting gap is often filled with resentment... I can do many things; however, I cannot guarantee that those under me will not cause issues because they don't agree with my tactics," Warrior says.
"So you're saying that I am not as wise as you but not as dumb as the others. So you need me to dumb it down for the others while making them think that your plans are what's best," I reply with a frown.
"You misunderstand, you are needed to be a bridge both ways. I cannot see things the same way the others do. Not perfectly. So I will need someone familiar with how they think, what they want, and what they will do. Thus, I can alter my tactics when needed to ensure our victory," Warrior responds.
"Hmm. Okay, I can do that. Honestly, keeping all the idiots in line is easy enough. Give them enough Chems and they will rush at the walls without fear. The leaders of the various gangs are not idiots, so they won't be attacking themselves, but offer a decent enough incentive, and they will do as you ask. Even if you fail several times, as long as you can show some small victories here and there, you can keep them in line. But some will require fear to do as you asked. Not many, as most are not dumb enough to pick a fight with no backup, but some of the more... slow variety might cause issues anyway," I say while feeling a bit better.
"Thank you for your input. I will use it wisely," Warrior responds.
I nod back and go about my business for the day.