Well, it's been a month at least, but with no input I go slowly. Without further ado, heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Fallout!
Star Paladin Kyle Thompson leaned over the map of the pre-war gas station outside of DC. A medium-sized group of raiders intent on returning to their former lives had holed up inside and Kyle's mission was rather straightforward: kill them all.
Even though he was protected in the brand-new T-53a Power Armor, it didn't pay to be reckless, and if the new kid was going to be a permanent addition to his squad, she had to learn the planning phases. For 17-year-old Initiate Jane Nakamura, this was her first field operation. She had scored exceptionally high on the B&E portion of the final test for recruits, that's "Break and Enter," so she had been assigned to his squad on a temporary basis with a possibility of a permanent assignment if she proved herself as determined by Star Paladin Thompson. Long story short, if she messed up once then it would be back to the ranks for her. Kyle had never had a temp fail yet, and he wasn't planning to start with this kid.
"Okay, so here's the layout: one door to the front, one from the shop, two windows flanking the front door, three along the side opposite the garage, and flimsy walls all around," started Tyson, the recon specialist. He had an uncanny knack for getting into places that he shouldn't be, one that he had used to the squad's advantage both in the field and at home. Really, how else was the squad going to be armed with the best weapons the Brotherhood had to offer? "They're posting two guards outside, guarding the door. One of them is armed with an R91 and the other's got a 10mm SMG. Their post gives them full view of everything for five hundred yards, and there's not much cover from that direction. The guards rotate every hour and one does a sweep of the backside every ten minutes. The backside is covered with a lot of loose rocks which won't exactly help with stealth. If we tried to make it up that side, they'd raise the alarm."
"What's so bad about an alarm? I thought raiders didn't have anything that could penetrate our armor," questioned Jane.
"Even raiders can get their hands on a Fat Man or Missile Launcher," said Kyle. "Trust me, I know. Proceed."
"Yes sir. One notable fact about the rotation of the guards: even though they are guarding the front door, when they change shifts they always enter and exit the side door. I believe that they may have booby-trapped the front door and are using the guards' position to fool any attackers into using that means of entry. That's all, sir."
"Good. Jane, how would you approach this?" The initiate looked nervous, like she would screw up. "It's okay, I won't let you make a mistake."
Jane started nervously. "Well, if the front door is booby-trapped then we would either need to use the side door or the windows. I remember that windows are never fun in Power Armor, so I would say that we should silently take out the guards and then use the door from the shop."
Kyle nodded. "Not bad, and I would have expected no less from a soldier of your caliber with your experience. Does anyone have any comments regarding this plan?"
Jared, the squad's first sniper, raised his hand. "It's nothing serious, but I got to wonder: how would you time this?"
Kyle looked at the younger soldier. Jane thought for a moment and said "I guess we would take out the guards after they make their last round and then head in when it's time for the shift to change. That way they'll be expecting someone to knock on the door."
Kyle smiled encouragingly and nodded. "Well done, Initiate. You recognized the problem with the obvious route, the front door, and proposed an alternate solution." It seemed as though a weight had been lifted from the younger soldier's shoulders. "Jared, take Karen and set up shop at maximum effective range on the front side. I'll trust your judgment on the exact location. Take the shot on their last look around the back." Jared and Karen nodded. Karen was an excellent shot with her sniper rifle and was the squad's second sniper, doubling as Jared's spotter when necessary. "Tyson, I want you to spot for them. Keep your eyes moving, and don't stare at the targets. Your job is to make sure that no one sneaks up on them from behind." Tyson opened his mouth to say something, but Kyle silenced him with a raised gauntlet. "I know that you want to be part of the action, but Jane needs to get her feet wet and this is the perfect time for her to do it." Tyson nodded, resigned to his temporary fate. "Jane, you, me, and Alex are going to be the first team in." Alex was their designated demolitions master, but he was also really good with the MB-2. "Leroy, Mike, and Juan are going to be the second team." Leroy was the squad's jack-of-all-trades, useful for everything. Mike was the tech master, capable of hacking anything with a lock or keyboard, and Juan was the medic. "Sniper team, get set-up; assault team, let's roll out."
The two snipers set up five hundred and fifty yards away from the guards on the crest of a small hill, covered with trees and a couple of burned-out cars. They left their scopes covered, not wanting to attract attention to the glare of the glass, laid out their mats, and played the waiting game.
The most boring thing about sniping is the waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, all the time needing to watch to ensure that their spotter scope never left the target. Most of the time, if he was working in a team, Jared would compare the other's rifle and calculate which rifle would be more deadly with the exact load they were carrying against the exact opponent they were facing in the exact location that they were in.
Jared was carrying a silenced Anti-Material .50 caliber rifle loaded with lead-tipped sub-sonic hollow-point rounds. He calculated that, given the fact that he could hit the neck every single time and his chosen target was wearing no armor over that spot, it would stop the target cold in a matter of milliseconds, which was about enough time for the victim to register that he had been shot, but not enough for him to make a noise. Also, since the bullets were sub-sonic, there was a smaller chance of them going through the neck and hitting the wall beyond, alerting the raiders inside. Karen was packing a silenced .308 Sniper Rifle modeled after the rifle found by the Courier that was from the Gobi campaign. Loaded with the same sub-sonic ammo, albeit in a different caliber, the difference between the two guns essentially came down to the size of the bullet. The .308 was smaller, and so less effective against armored opponents, but usually more effective against un-armored enemies if it wasn't loaded with the sub-sonic rounds that would, if combined with a silencer, render the shot almost completely undetectable to the observer. Because both weapons were firing at sub-sonic levels, there was no difference in velocity and so the only factors that mattered were the punch of the bullet and the price for that momentum. Jared's rifle having a higher caliber, it obviously had more punch, but it came at the expense of an additional five caps per bullet. When facing a mostly unarmored opponent and aiming at the neck, even a simple .22 hollow-point bullet would be sufficient. All in all, Jared determined, to his disappointment, that his rifle was, though slightly more powerful, much less efficient, making Karen's rifle the better choice for the situation.
Kyle listened for the signal to go. Outside, he was a picture of calm, but inside his mind he was playing a furious mental game with himself. In order to keep himself sharp for anything that might happen, he would run through simulation after simulation of the operation, examining every possibility and determining a better course of action. Soon after completing the last simulation, one in which they had done everything right prior to opening the door and had to face fifteen Metal Blasters in the hands of heavily-armored raiders and determined that this would be a minor setback versus a catastrophic disturbance to the mission, otherwise known as "everybody dies," the report came in. "Last scan, he's just leaving." "Copy that, over watch. Ready your weapons for when he comes around but before he comes into sight of the other." "Copy Bull 01, firing in thirty seconds."
"Permission to speak sir?" asked Jane.
"Speak up, Initiate. And never ask for permission from me."
"Yes sir. I'm wondering, who's going in first?"
"I will. If there's a trap, I have the best armor to take it. You're third. You know what your role is?"
"Mop-up targets that you don't get. In other words, walk in with my gun on my back."
Kyle smiled. "We're good, but only Lyon's Pride's that good. Keep your gun in your hands," he said as he put his helmet on.
She gave him a half-grin as she slid her helmet into place. "Yes sir."
Kyle couldn't help but like the kid, but she still hadn't gotten her first kill. There was no telling what that could do to a person. Some withdrew into themselves for days, even weeks at a time, and then emerge a completely different person, usually quieter, almost intense. Others are a little shocked for a few minutes, have nightmares for a couple of nights, then learn how to deal with it and emerge with their personality mostly unchanged. Finally, some people actually find that they like it. In moderation, this can be a good thing. No hesitation to shoot, a boost of confidence, and increased adrenaline always help in that line of work as long as they can channel this new-found love towards the enemy. But, if it's a full-blown case of the "shoots," as it's known, most of the time the person has to be eliminated before they become a danger to others. Kyle had seen it happen a few times, and the results were never pretty.
"Firing." Kyle heard four soft thunk's as the newly-made, headless cadavers hit the ground, following their bleeding heads. The assault team moved to the side door, keeping low beneath the windows.
At the prescribed time, Kyle knocked on the door. Nobody answered. He heard some talking inside. He knocked again. "Don't get your panties in a twist, I'll get the door," the soldiers heard from the inside. After a little rustling, the door opened and Kyle let loose with the B4-A, literally juicing the late Raider coming to relieve his late companion. Kyle stepped through the mass of blood, guts, and armor on the doorstep and went low to the left, picking off raiders with quick bursts of three shots, aided by the laser sight. Alex went high, cauterizing huge holes in Raiders and the walls behind them with his MB-2, usually just called the Metal Blaster. At a range of ten feet, the MB-2 fired in a semi-random circle about three feet wide, making it more than capable of crisping multiple raiders in one hit, as Alex demonstrated again, and again, and again, turning most of them into nothing more than glowing piles of ash on the floor.
Then Jane walked through the door. She pulled out her Laser Rifle that seemed to require two MFC's, one on each side, and took cover behind the counter. She made headshot after headshot, leaving the unfortunate Raiders still aiming with no heads to aim with. What did she do to her gun? wondered Kyle, but it would have to wait.
Thankfully, it didn't have to wait too long.
Kyle looked at the clock on his HUD. The whole operation, from first entry to last kill, took 11.739 seconds. For an assault team of their caliber, this was better than acceptable.
Alex started picking up the Raiders' guns which included a couple of Laser Rifles, a B4-S belonging to a late BoS scout, and a plasma pistol.
Jane took off her helmet and shot a huge smile at her Paladin. "Can we do it again?"
Yep, option number three for sure. Kyle took off his helmet and matched her smile. And definitely the good kind. He pulled out the official Bull Squad stencil and his trusty spray gun. A total of seven of the 29 kills went to her. She needed to speed up her shooting, but had kept her head in the line of fire and done what needed to be done. In Kyle's book, she had definitely earned her spot in the squad. "Initiate, attention!" Jane snapped ramrod-straight, her T-51b Power Armor clanking as her legs came together and her hands locked in place at her sides. Two white Brahmin skulls made their way onto her left shoulder plate while her first chevron and official call number, 2-4, appeared on her right. He also sprayed seven small cross-hairs down the left side of her breast plate, one for each headshot kill. Initiate Jane Nakamura saluted Paladin Kyle Thompson, who returned her salute. "Welcome to Bull Squad, Knight Jane Nakamura."
PS: I'll just keep doing set-up until I get some input. And believe me, I have set-up that I can do. Honestly, I don't know how to make them meet or how to get the Spartans down to Earth without the Covenant finding out. Best idea right now: gravity. If you like the story so far, shoot me a message about it! :)
PPS: It is 2/11, one day after I posted this, and the views have just shot through the roof. Thanks to everyone reading this, and hopefully I'll get a few followers soon. I'll be posting the next stall chapter some time between 7:00 and 9:00 PST on 2/14. That could be the last one before the worlds collide if I get some ideas to make this YOUR story, as advertised. If not, I have at least one more. I promise that I won't make these lame, but I can do set-up gun-fighting action all day long.