POV Warrior
I was trying to figure out how to bypass the walls of Sanctuary when I heard William Black approaching the headquarters we made in the Museum of Freedom.
"I got some bad news," William said when he entered the command center.
"I assume the slave plan failed?" I reply calmly.
"Uh, yeah. It failed miserably. The mines didn't trigger for any of the actual slaves and only worked on the raiders we had disguised as slaves. Then, when the slaves got to the wall, their collars all stopped working and fell off. Of the 80 slaves we sent, an estimated 70 joined Sanctuary in its defense, 5 were our guys, we killed one, and we recaptured another one. Any others are unknown," William states.
"I warned the others that this would happen. My sources indicate that their traps only react to hostiles. I presume the others have moved the slaves back to their original jobs?" I ask while knowing the answer.
"Yeah, it was unanimous, no more slaves will approach the walls. We don't want to deal with slaves going berserk on the battlefield. But your strategy for keeping the Artillery has been working wonders. It seems that the Minutemen can't strike us as much with all those meat shields," William says with a smile.
"Yes, the Minutemen are easy to predict. They care for the common man, and they abhor Raiders, but they would hesitate to strike at a person forced to attack, such as a slave. And avoiding sending the slaves to the battlefield seems wise, as counteracting whatever device they used to disable so many collars would take time, time which we do not have," I say calmly.
"Yes, well, we still need to get more men to charge at the walls. As it currently stands, we will need to clear the mines on the East side before we can start a full offensive. But getting the men to charge at the wall seems to be where we are stalling. Our numerical superiority is our best means of defeating the enemy, but it is meaningless if we can't get the needed troops to the wall," William says with a frown.
"I believe I found a solution to our issues. For the mines, we can send all the weaker members of the gangs to clear a path. I am sure there are enough of the weaker, less experienced to reduce the mines we have to deal with. I will ask you to find those that can't work well as a whole or are not suitable for the siege and send them," I state.
"But how will we get them to accept? Most of those guys are cowards or too unwilling to follow orders. They may just run away," William comments.
"Simple. We shall use our large supply of lesser Chems to reduce their ability to think. We don't need thinking mine sweepers. Just moving targets. I presume that offering enough Chems will make most willing to accept this job. Or at least enough would accept it to meet our goals," I reply.
"Okay, yeah, that would work. But we would need to use the less useful Chems, such as Jet, Day Tripper, and the like. And we can also use some of the weaker booze like the Moonshine," William states.
"Correct. Which leads me to the next idea. We shall use a mix of Chems, Alcohol, and Caps to get more people to agree to attack the walls at the same time," I state.
"I don't see how that would work. The only Chem that I know that would make them willing to run into their deaths would be Psycho, but we don't have nearly enough. Maybe Med-X can be used, but that would only work for some people, and it mostly just numbs the pain. Alcohol, on the other hand, would make them too unreliable in battle. Unless we are trying to start a bar brawl, in which case, it would work. As for Caps, that would work for the Operators and Gunners. Maybe the Caravans, but I doubt it," William says.
"You make some valid arguments. However, I assure you this can perform to a greater effect than you might expect. For the Chems, you are correct that I intend on using Psycho and other related Combat Chems; however, they will only be used sparingly, as I agree that there isn't enough supply. Which is why I would rely more on Alcohol. It is called Liquid Courage for a good reason. I won't be giving them enough to degrade their effectiveness by a margin that could be detrimental. And the type of Alcohol is equally important. Some types work better for certain kinds of individuals. The goal is not to get them drunk but to remove some inhibitions. As for Caps, while you are correct that this would work best for the Gunners and Operators, humans are a reward-driven species. Meaning if we provide a lucrative enough reward, many are willing to risk their lives to obtain it," I reply.
"I guess you make good points, but how big a reward would you offer to get them to listen to your suggestions?" William asks.
"Five thousand Caps and a weapon of their choice. And if they perform well enough their own set of Power Armor. Official Power Armor, not the scrap metal that many Raiders wear," I say while looking at his eyes.
"Whistle. Okay, I admit that would get most of those idiots out there jumping at the walls, but what would be the criteria for getting the rewards? If it's too vague, many will assume that it's a lie. And it can't be too crazy or no one will think it's possible," William says with a greedy look in his eyes.
"It will be rewarded to the first person who gets over the wall alive. And if they do so and get back alive, then they get double the reward and a set of Power Armor. And the leader of said gang will also get a suit if the person survives," I reply.
"You got even my blood boiling with such an offer. I guarantee the Operators will gladly take that offer. But I also have another suggestion. Send the Disciples first. They are mostly melee users and, as such, will be better equipped to capture the wall," William says calmly, but I can tell he is hiding something.
"An interesting idea, however, I think it shouldn't just be the Disciples. Anyone who is better with a melee weapon should go first. Let those better at range try to cover them. In such close-range fighting, they should perform effectively," I reply while ignoring the topic of why he wanted the Disciples to go first.
'Their power plays are unimportant as long as they complete their tasks.'
We discussed a few more things, and then William left. As he did, I went over the maps again. I had to admit Sanctuary was in a well-defended area. With the limited resources I had, I found this game most entertaining. But I did find some things interesting.
'Why have they not used their air superiority? They could transport supplies at the very least, if not drop ordinance from high altitudes. And yet they don't. With all that power, they lack the vision for how to use it. And they are held back by their morality. It holds them back from victory. If they only discarded their morality, they could have destroyed most of our forces.'
BOOM
I look out the window to see artillery shells hitting several areas around Concord. It seemed like the second attack had begun. We had discussed attacking and taking Red Rocket, but I deemed it to be a waste of time. We would gain nothing from taking the settlement.
POV Preston
I looked through the scope of the DKS Sniper to see the flood of Raiders running right into the mine field. Most of them wouldn't make it, but just in case, myself and several other sharpshooters were picking off anyone we could. And on top of that, we had several automated turrets and remote-controlled turrets on or near the wall. They can try to breach the Settlement, but it was pointless. The first day the Raiders set up shop, they fired hundreds of missiles and rockets at us, and it didn't do a thing to the walls.
Pop
I take a shot and kill a Raider. I see numerous mines going off, and I have to question what they are doing. Raiders are usually cowards and wouldn't mindlessly run into a minefield like this. I was also surprised that they would attack so soon after this morning's failed attack. Speaking of which, most of the former slaves agreed to help us defend Sanctuary, if for no other reason than to keep their new freedom. They also weren't the only former slaves who joined us. We freed another 30 or so from their initial push into Concord. Which meant Sanctuary was sitting at around 300 defenders. Meanwhile, the Raiders have lost quite a few people, and Guto estimates they have around 3000-3500 remaining troops.
'Likely closer to 3000 once we are done today. At least as long as I have a say in it.'
We keep shooting until eventually the Raiders make it through the Mines and near the walls. However, only around 25 or so make it that far. And as soon as they get closer, my men pop up from behind cover and open fire. The Raiders get wiped out quickly. We wait for a bit longer before I start the assessment on how many Mines remain.
"Only 11 left on this side. Maybe I should relocate some from the other walls," I murmur to myself.
"No point in doing that. We have already done that. The other walls already don't have that many mines remaining. We can't weaken our defenses on the other side in case this is a ploy to distract us," Guto says.
"Ah, Captain Guto, I didn't see you come in," I say while greeting Guto.
"It's fine. Now I think we should double or triple our defenses in the Eastern area. My troops see signs that the Raiders are building up a lot of ladders. At least 40 or so. And I think we may see the hardest battle yet," Guto says.
"That might be tricky. That many ladders would stretch us thin. I suppose we need to install the turrets overnight to give them a surprise. How is the training of the freedmen going?" I ask Athena.
"It's going well. They may not be the best, but they are spirited and ready to lay down their lives to avoid going back to slavery. It also helps that they know that they will likely be tortured to death if they are recaptured. Or at least maimed," Athena responds.
"That will give us enough troops to hold the East. But if the enemy attacks either Red Rocket or from any other direction, we might not be able to hold the line," Guto comments.
"Sigh. We will have to rely on the Turrets to hold off any other attacks. And even if they attack the other side, they will not be able to do so with too many troops. It would reduce the chances of succeeding. At the very least, if they attack Red Rocket, it would mean we lose almost nothing. They can't attack the North thanks to Vault 111, so that means they can only feasibly attack the West side if they want to get the drop on us while facing as few losses as possible. But to do that, they need to take a large detour and deal with the radiation and local wildlife, as well as the water. By the time they get to us, they will be far weaker. Weak enough that the EWHB-12s we set up on each side should hold them off long enough for the other side to successfully fend off the attack," I reply.
"We should make sure we are ready to fall back to Vault 111 in case we lose. If they focus all their troops on striking the East, there is a real chance we won't be able to hold the line, and losses are likely going to be high," Athena says.
"They have 10 times our numbers, but they also have far less reliable equipment. If we destroy their ladders, we can ensure they have to retreat. If they try to attack, we will fight to the death if needed," Guto says with a fierce look in his eyes.
"What about our agent?" I ask.
"They are ready to poison their food when we give the signal. But we need to do so soon, as the longer we wait, the more likely they will be discovered," Athena cautions.
"What about a night strike? My troops can get us accurate coordinates while avoiding any slaves. The Raiders rarely keep slaves with them after it gets dark. For safety and all that. And Concord isn't large enough to protect them all. If we strike at night, we can easily eliminate hundreds of them if not more," Guto suggests.
"Why not both? We could use our agent to get accurate coordinates to avoid damage, sabotage what they can, and poison their food supplies. Then we strike with Artillery, and they panic. We could even try to free the slaves in the ensuing chaos," I suggest.
"That could work. But when should we do it?" Athena asks.
"We can do it tonight. The Raiders need at least two more days to complete their preparations for the attack. So the sooner we attack, the better," Guto says with confidence.
We discuss it a bit more and agree to execute the plan tonight.