Chapter 15: Diamond City Take Down
AN: Wow, it has been some time since I updated this. I'm sorry for the delay. We are in the home stretch to wrapping this up. Now that I have more time on my hands, let's finish what we started! Thanks for sticking it out with me through all of this. Here is a LONG chapter, but a critical one.
Liz stood at the top of a half collapsed skyscraper building, looking down the barrel of her sniper rifle at Diamond City below. It was hard to see much of anything at this distance, but she surveyed the bits of the city she could.
"The city has a rather large population, boss." Mags said, standing next to the Overboss and using an old pair of binoculars to see a bit further than Liz, but not much. "And a pretty strong security force. One of my scouts mentioned 40+ security guards we are going to need to contend with."
Liz stayed quiet, her mind turning with options. Storming the gates as they were now was impossible. The big steel doors stayed shut at all times unless a guard inside opened them. Then the fight to get through a small tunnel into the town proper, where they would be fighting 40 security guards, mixed in with the citizens of Diamond City who would defend their home at least a little bit. Sure she had the man power, but a head on attack could decimate her numbers. And then, what would she have left to infiltrate the Institute with?
"We will have to figure out something." Liz said and pulled her gun from her eye. She returned it to its holster on her back and turned to leave. She led the way to the street below, followed by Mags, Gage, and Hound. She had tasked Mason with suring up all of the settlements that they had taken, or had persuaded to give them supplies. Though he wanted to be part of the attack force, he knew making sure their hold on the Commonwealth continued was crucial.
Once out the door of the building, they met up with William and a small group of Operators who stood guard. Liz was deep in thought as they walked down the road towards one of their settlements. She was barely paying attention when she turned the corner, and her and her group came face to face with a mutant hound, the scout and watchdog for a group of super mutants. Before anyone could bark an order or shoot the monster, it raised its head and howled a warning. Within seconds, three hulking super mutants charged at the group.
"Run!" William shouted and turned, firing shots blindly over his shoulder at the group of mammoth green men. The group did just that, hightailing it in the opposite direction while the mutants fired their weapons at them. One of the giants pierced Liz in the calf, making her shout in pain and fall.
Gage turned around to see Liz on the ground with the trio of monsters running towards her. He sprinted back but stopped when a bullet hit the ground in front of him. It wasn't a round from the mutants' guns, but one from Liz's.
"Get out of here!" She screamed to him, holding her pistol in line with him. Gage took a defiant step before she fired another warning shot that whizzed past his shoulder. Gage sneered at her and turned to run with the rest, his heart sinking into his stomach. He promised her in his head that he would come back for her.
Liz turned and started to fire at the mutants, making a few of her bullets connect before a big green fist knocked her out cold.
When Liz came to, she was in a small scrap metal cage in one of the office buildings near where her gang was attacked. It was clear she was on the first floor. She sat up and looked around through fuzzy gaze, and felt the cage sway which made her a bit nauseous. Her cage was dangling from the ceiling only a few feet off the ground. It was surrounded by bloody body parts in nets, making the smell almost intolerable.
Pushing aside the sight and smell of her gruesome neighbor, she focused on the super mutant in front of her. The big green man stood in front of a fire. Off to his right was a table covered in dried blood and all manner of tools used for ripping flesh off of bones. Lovely. Liz thought to herself.
She got to her feet and leaned on the bars closest to the super mutant. "Hey! Asshole! Get me out of this thing. My gang is coming back and when they find me… you're gunna be in a world of hurt." She shouted at him. It was clear that her little tantrum wasn't something new for the mutant. A deep huff was heard from the monster before he turned to her cage.
The hulking behemoth walked to her and used his strength to easily bend the bars. He reached in and grabbed her with one hand. He threw her over his shoulder and carried her towards the table with all of his preparatory tools on it. Liz struggled and kicked, but could do little to the thick skin of the super mutant. The monster threw her on the table so that she laid on her back, with one giant hand on her chest and stomach.
Liz could barely breathe do to the pressure from its hand. She kicked and squirmed, trying to get out from under its grip, but couldn't. He reached for one of his knives, turning his head to look at the table. Liz took the opportunity to see a small hunting knife on the monster's hip. With all the strength she could muster, she reached to her side, grabbed the knife, and embedded it into the monster's hand. The mutant recoiled in pain, loosening his grip enough to let her slide off the table. She grabbed the only tools she could on the table, a hook of some kind, and sprinted towards one of the open windows on the ground floor. Adrenaline kept the pain from her wounded leg at bay a bit, but each step was felt.
As she was closing in on her freedom, she saw two returning scouts standing in her way. They shouted something and pointed at her. Liz made a split second decision and bounded up the stairs of the office building. Up the stairs? Now what, genius?! She scolded herself as she took the stairs two at a time. The mutants were hot on her trail as she rounded a corner. At the end of the corridor, she saw an open door that lead to an office. Next to the door was an electronic panel that controlled it. With a split second decision, she ran through the door, turned around, and stabbed her hook into the controls from the inside. This closed the doors and made the controls lock up.
With the door sealed shut, Liz caught her breath. The super mutants banged on the door, but she ignored them. She turned around to see if there was another way out of the room, the pain in her leg catching up with her. As she turned, she saw a large super mutant in the room with her. Her breath caught in her throat, having nothing to defend herself with. She backed away as the super mutant rose to his feet.
"Human entered the wrong room…" The mutant said, grabbing his club. "You from Di-amond City. Strong Smash!"
"Whoa there, big guy!" Liz said, holding her hands up. She backed away from him. "I'm not from Diamond City. Not even from around here."
"Strong don't care. Humans lie. They all lie!" He took another step closer to her.
"I don't. I don't lie. Strong, was it? What human lied to you?" She asked. Keep him talking. Maybe you can figure something out. She thought to herself.
"Human from the Institute. Said he would help Strong find Milk of Human Kindness. Then found robots and left Strong without prize!" The super mutant boomed.
"Milk of… What? OH! Of Human Kindness!" Liz said, nodding as if she knew exactly what the goliath was talking about. "I have a ton of that at my base! Listen, you let me go and I will bring some over to you." She said, speaking faster then she intended to.
"Human has Milk of Human Kindness? Strong not believe human." The mutant replied, but stopped his advance.
"Oh, I do. And you know what else? I'm planning an attack on Diamond City. And I think you could help me Strong. How about this? You put down that big hammer of yours, give me back my weapons, and we will go back to my gang. Let's work together for a bit. You help me hurt those human you hate, and I give you all the Milk you can drink." She said, her back now pressed against the wall.
Strong pondered for a moment before placing his club on the desk. "Strong hopes little lady isn't lying. Or else Strong smahs!"
Liz let out a relieved sigh and lowered her hands to her side. "Trust me Strong. I would never dream of it."
"Grab that ammo and let's move!" Gage barked at a near-by Operator, who was lazily loading his gun. The gang was preparing for an assault on the super mutants as Gage frantically tried to hurry them up. It had been an hour since he had lost sight of Liz, and if anything happened to the Overboss…
"Gage!" Hound said, running up to him. "I think you should see this!" He had a grin a mile wide.
Gage turned around and saw three hulking green figures, and a black splotch walking towards them. He looked down the scope to see Liz walking towards their camp in the Boston Ruins with a slight limp. His jaw hung open for a moment before he walked briskly towards the approaching group, his gun still at the ready.
Liz saw him approach with his gun raised and chuckled. "Gage! Put that down! We have guests!" She said. Gage slowly lowered his weapon as Liz stopped in front of him.
"Boss….? Good to see you in one piece." Hound said, standing next to Gage.
"Indeed. And we have some new muscle for our Diamond City job." Liz said as she looked up Strong.
"Then lady bring Milk of Human Kindness." Strong added. The raiders looked at Liz puzzled, but she just shrugged.
"Yeah buddy… then the milk thing." She added and looked to Gage. "Is dinner ready? We got some planning to do."
"I'll say. How are we gonna to get a group of super mutants through the front gates of Diamond City?" Gage asked as they started to walk to the center of camp.
Liz chuckled again and her grin grew. "Brute Strength."
"That's insane!" Gage said, setting down the bowl of stew he was eating as Liz shared her plan. "You wanna rush right through the front gates of Diamond City? Even IF you could somehow blast your way in, you and whatever gang you take with you would be cut down as soon as you made it through the tunnel."
Liz calmly smiled at Gage until his outburst was finished. "That's what we have the super mutants for." She replied and leaned towards the group she had assembled to discuss the plan. Gage, Mags, William, and Hound sat with her beside the fire, enjoying their meals. "They are like walking tanks. I lead them inside the gates, they take the initial resistance. Then our gangs follow in behind them and spread out, subduing the rest of the city." She explained her plan while drawing in the dirt with a stick so everyone could understand.
"Excuse me…. Boss, you can't LEAD the super mutants. You would be killed." Hound replied. He was worried about this plan of hers. "You ain't a super mutant so… you would be cut down quick."
"Not if she were in Power Armor." Williams replied, looking at the group. "That suit in Nuka World. The blue one in the Galactic Zone. We are only missing one piece of the computer system there. If we find it, she can use that."
"But we have looked everywhere for the core. Can't find it." Mags added.
Hound smiled a little and rubbed his head. "Well… I could probably help with that." He said. He set his bowl down and walked to the small hut in the settlement that he was staying in. He was out of sight for a few seconds before returning to the fire, a glowing core in his hand.
"Where did you get that?!" Mags asked, glaring at the young man.
"I uh… Found it and kept it. Thought that if you Operators had all the pieces, you would steal the Power Armor from the Overboss." Hound replied, returning the glare.
"How dare you insinuate that, you little shit?!" Mags shouted, getting to her feet. They had absolutely planned to steal the suit for themselves, but Mag's was insulted that Hound would insinuate that.
Liz looked to Mags and silently commanded her to sit down. She looked to Hound and took the piece from him. "Thank you, Hound." She smiled and her eyes went wide. "With a suit of X-01 Power Armor and a Fatman to break the gate down… I think we got out way in."
The next morning, Harvey made his way to the Trader's spot for breakfast. He yawned and gave a sleepy hello to some of the folks with blinking collars around their necks. He ran a hand through his hair and smiled calmly, content with the progress they had made in Nuka Town, USA. Almost every person, couple, or family had a home to call their own in the buildings that lined the streets. A clinic was established with beds for the sick and injured, and the Trading Center was bustling with commerce. The new people being brought in were helping out. Even Hancock was seen building a home here and there during the day.
Harvey opened the door to the Trading Center to help himself to some coffee. When he made it through the door, he froze. In the center of the round structure, Hancock, Preston, and a few other traders were unloading a stock pile of guns. They noticed Harvey and stopped what they were doing.
"What in the world is this?" Harvey asked, his eyes wide as he walked to the boxes to ensure his eyes weren't deceiving him.
"What does it look like? Guns." Hancock replied before going back to moving the stockpile from the boxes they came in to a hidden area beneath the weapons trader's stall.
Harvey looked shocked. "You… you can't do this. The Boss will find out. She will wipe out the traders-" He started to speak quickly before Hancock shot him a look and cut him off.
"She ain't gonna know until it's too late. Harv… Listen to me. There ain't no way outta this except fightin' for our freedom. These raider pricks aren't gonna let us go. So we gotta be prepared to take it for ourselves." Hancock explained before walking to him and putting his hand on Harvey's shoulder. "Listen. I know it's not how you want it ta go, but the others here are ready to fight for it. It's gonna take a few shipments more until we have enough fire power, but when we do… I want your support when we attack."
Harvey sighed and looked to the ground. "And what if we aren't enough? What if we all die in this fight." He replied. He did everything to protect his friends for this whole time. If the attack failed, he would have done all of this for nothing.
"If we die, at least we made that decision. We won't be slaves anymore." Hancock replied with a confident smile. Harvey nodded and grabbed a gun to help store them.
"Harvey! The Boss is here!" a Trader guard announced as he ran into the Trading Center. The box of weapons was still only half unloaded.
"Finish this. I'll distract her." Harvey said before running out the door and to the approaching Overboss and her entourage of Operators and their leaders Mags and William, along with Hound and Gage. "Boss. What a pleasant surprise!"
Liz smiles happily and patted him on the shoulder. "Harvey! How wonderful to see you again. How is Nuka Town?" She asked, pulling him to walk with them towards the Trading Center.
"Oh, pretty much the same. What brings you back to town?" He asked, trying to steer her clear of the Center.
Liz walked past it completely, her eyes zeroed in on her prize. "I am finally getting the armor I deserve." She said to him and laughed. "I would tell you what it is but I don't want to ruin the surprise. Just hold on tight, ok?" She asked, patting Harvey's shoulder again, and lead her entourage towards the Galactic Zone.
Once inside the gates, she walked quietly towards the Star Command building where her prize stood waiting for her. "Hound. Will you do the honor of popping that last core into place?" She asked as she stood before the glass tube that stood between her and the untouched power armor suit. Hound nodded and walked to the computers. He plugged the core in and pressed the command on the computer to open the display. The glass tube moved and allowed access to the suit.
Liz walked behind it, popped a fusion core supplied by the Operators into place, and hopped inside. It took a few moments to get used to moving in the suit, but it was easy enough for her to get her bearings. She started to stomp down the ramp of Star Command and laughed as the armor moved with ease.
Mags and William watched with the rest of the Operators. They couldn't help but chuckle at the Overboss's giddiness. "Well, you will need a weapon to match that armor, Boss." William said as he took a Fatman from the hands of one of his gang. He held it out to her.
Liz took it and smiled beneath the helmet. "I can hardly wait. Let's bring Diamond City to its knees!" She motioned for entourage to follow her as they returned to Nuka Town and the shuttle to bring them back to the Commonwealth. As she stomped through the town, the Traders all watched her in awe. A few nodded a hello to her, but most just watched as the pristine Power Armor clomped past them.
Harvey watched next to Hancock, who had finished unpacking and hiding the weapons. Liz didn't seem to notice them as she walked out the main gates and to the train to leave. "A few more shipments?" Harvey asked to Hancock, uncertain.
Hancock chuckled. "Maybe a bunch more shipments." He joked bitterly before he walked back into the Trading Center to figure out how they would overcome the overly armored Overboss.
Two days later, Liz, the super mutants, and the Operators were ready for their attack. Liz lead the group of 8 green monsters to the gates of Diamond City, which were sealed up tight. The Overboss knew that they were watching the first wave of the attack from cameras inside. Still in her Power Armor, she walked to the gates, pressed the button on the intercom, and waited for a response.
"This is Diamond City Security. Leave the gate area at once." The voice of a young man said as confidently as he could, though there was a slight bit of uncertainty in his voice.
"Can we come in? We want to do a bit of trading, maybe try some of the noodles from the famous Diamond City Noodle Stand… Maybe have a drink?" Liz replied, nonchalantly.
"Yeah, I bet. Not sure how you trained those super mutants to follow you, but you lot aren't welcome here. Shove off." The man commanded. "These gates aren't opening."
"You think so? Well…. Let's see about that." Liz took a few steps back and pulled out her Fatman. She loaded a mini-nuke into the launcher, took aim, and fired. A deafening explosion rumbled through the area as the small mushroom cloud erupted from the gate. When the dust cleared, a large black burn mark at the center of a massive dent could be seen on the gate door. Despite the damage, it still stood strong, though the hinges barely held the door in place.
Liz whistled, impressed. "Now THAT is some protection." She said and loaded another mini-nuke into the launcher. This time, she aimed at the less-than-stable hinges and let another round fly. The impact created another massive BOOM and accompanying mushroom cloud. The hinges instantly gave way, making the gate fall forward with a clank. Liz whistled, signaling the super mutants to charge. The 8 brutes rushed through the gates and into the city tunnel.
"Remember! Only kill the humans that AREN'T wearing Operator gear!" Liz shouted as she followed them inside, laughing a bit. As she walked over the gate, she saw the security guard that spoke over the intercom standing in awe at the entrance of the Power Armor. He raised his weapon to shoot Liz, but was knocked out by a piece of falling debris from the bricks overhead. Liz chuckled and shook her head before heading down the tunnel as well.
The super mutants had pushed their way into the city and were almost immediately confronted by security. Liz switched to her rifle and started to aid her green friends in their push. It didn't take long for the security forces to start falling back, opening up routes for less armored gunners to add to the fray. She whistled twice and shouted "ALL CLEAR", signaling the Operators to push in and join the fight.
At the signal, William and Gage lead an army of Operators through the tunnel behind the super mutants. William lead about 20 men down the right path towards first base, as Gage took a similarly sized group down the left. The super mutants continued to push down the middle. The Operators worked as a pincer attack, surrounding the security forces and anyone defending Diamond City, clearing them out one by one.
As Liz and the super mutants drew closer to the center of town, reinforcements arrived. The blue flashes and signature zapping sounds of the Institute teleporter brought in an army of synths, their plastic skin acting as the only armor they had. The robots pushed outward from the center of town, trying to drive the attackers back. However, with the Operators surrounding the center of town and the super mutants becoming enraged at the sight of the bots, it didn't take long for the Institute fighters to be crushed under the attack.
With far less fighting than she expected, Liz heard the sounds of gunfire cease. She looked around at the center of Diamond City, seeing no more adversaries. She walked to the noodle stand, raised her hands and shouted in victory, laughing at the fact that they had actually done it. The Operators and super mutants alike all joined in, cheering and chanting, "Overboss! Overboss! Overboss!"
What remained of the security force was rounded up and put into jail cells. Liz walked through her city with a small group of Operators to make sure no one was hiding out. She gave a few instructions before making her way to the elevator that would bring her to the Mayor's office. Gage and Hound joined the small entourage and rode up with Liz.
Once at the top, she saw that the entrance was empty. She rummaged through the secretary's desk and found a key to the big doors beyond it. "Must be the mayor's in there." Hound pointed to the same doors. Liz nodded and used the key to open the door.
"Stay back, you cretins. Or the woman gets it!" The mayor yelled, a gun pointed at his secretary's head. "If you think I would let you just waltz in and take me out, then you have another thing co-" The mayor was cut short as Gage shot the mayor through the hand. The secretary stumbled forward and ran from her boss, who was cradling one injured hand in the other.
"Thank you, Gage." Liz said and walked to the Mayor's desk. The Operators pointed their guns at the mayor as the secretary made a run for the exit. The raiders paid her no mind. Without a word to the Mayor, who was swearing at the invaders, Liz pushed the Mayor to the large window overlooking the town. She placed her pistol to his forehead and shot the pudgy man through the skull. Mayor McDonough stood for a moment before tumbling backwards and landing on the hard ground below. Liz walked around the desk and sat down, testing the chairs comfort out.
"Get Mags for me and bring her up here." Liz said, propping her boots up on the desk in front of her. "And tell the super mutants their work is done, and that I will be sure their 'delivery' is sent to their hideout later." She waved her hand for the Operators to go.
"I'll make sure that Diamond City security is locked up." Hound said to Liz and turned to leave as well. He figured Gage wanted a minute alone with the boss.
"Did anyone send for Red Eye to come out?" She asked.
"Yeah, he is on his way here. Should be here by morning." Hound replied before taking the elevator down.
Once they were alone, Gage placed his gun on the desk and sat down in a chair across the way from Liz. "Got time to talk now, I guess."
"Is it really necessary?" Liz asked, leaning back in her chair.
"Yeah… it is. I was worried about ya. You just… threw away my help back in the ruins. I coulda gotten you away from those super mutants. And then ya went and lead the charge… Power Armor or no, you coulda died in this attack." Gage said.
"Well, it all worked out in the end though, didn't it? I mean… we got new allies that punched a massive hole in the security force and now… we own the whole god damn Commonwealth Gage." Liz smiled. Gage didn't.
"I thought you were dead, boss… I thought … I thought I lost ya." He looked to the ground. "And I just need to know why."
"Because it was necessary." Liz started to get shorter with her responses, her irritation growing with each question.
"Was it?" Gage asked, looking up at her. He wouldn't back down.
"Yes."
"Was it really?"
"Yes, Gage! It was!"
"You want the Institute gone. I get that. But at what cost?!" Gage was interrupted when Liz yelled.
"Everything! I would risk everything to get back at that little Institute prick for what he's done! And if it means that the whole damn Commonwealth and everyone in it has to burn, then so be it!" After her outburst, the Overboss was on her feet, staring daggers into her partner.
"And what happens once he's gone?" Gage asked calmly. Silence hung in the air for a moment or two before Gage got up from his chair. He shook his head at her and turned to leave. He stopped and looked back at her. "Ya know, Boss… I've learned some things being a raider as long as I have. I've learned that, if you ain't got something to live for after you get what you want… you don't want to live anymore. Seen a lot of raider bosses go down that way. I'd think long and hard about what you're willin' to lose for this fight of yours. You might not like what comes after it's done." With that, he walked away from her and rode the elevator to the ground floor.
The next day, Red Eye arrived in Diamond City with a small group of Operators to guard him. He had a mess of wild brown hair on his head, deep brown eyes, and pale skin. He wore leather armor, but it looked like it hadn't seen a fight in some time. He was lead to the Overboss, who was sitting at the noodle stand. The shops were open, thanks to Mags and the Operators assuring everyone that business needed to go on, and the only thing that should change is who is protecting the city now, and who the taxes will be going to.
"Red Eye. It's great to see you." Liz said, turning to look at him with a smile. Red Eye returned it.
"Always a pleasure, Overboss." Red Eye replied. "I hear you got something for me."
"That I do. I want you to take over Diamond City Radio and continue your show here. How does that sound? Bigger audience, more opportunity to spread your music." She stood from her stool.
"I would be glad to do that for ya." He said and grinned. He definitely backed the right horse by praising the Overboss as long as he had.
"Let's go then." She said and lead the way toward the radio station, two Operators in tow for intimidation.
Liz opened the door to see a frightened Travis sitting in a corner. He had on his signature red and white jacket, white shoes, and jeans. He was cowering in the corner and shaking like a leaf. "You must be Travis."
"L-look. Take whatever you want." He said.
"I intend to." She grabbed the back of his chair and dumped him off of it before pushing it in front of the radio controls. "Red Eye, think you can handle all this?"
Red Eye sat down and looked over the controls. This was all a LOT more complicated than his humble set up. "Uh… sure boss. I can handle this. No problem." He replied, unconvincingly.
Liz rolled her eyes. "Alright, Travis. I want you to sit here and work with Red Eye. Show him how all this crap works, and maybe… MAYBE I'll let you live here and maintain the radio station."
Travis, still on the floor, nodded. "Th-th-thank you… um… boss." He said. Liz smiled and patted his head before turning to leave. Once outside, she took a deep breath. She had it all now. She had Diamond City, she had the Commonwealth… Now all she needed was-
"Boss! Boss!" Hound rushed to her, a huge smile on his face. "Sturges found it! He found a way in!"
