Tanya Von Degurechaff, Rivet City.
The 'baths' were actually one of the carriers larger shower facilities with several hot tubs that had seen a lot of use set up in the middle. The water was not quite pure but according to Joy it might as well be. Boiled and filtered to a quality that was much better than the majority of the wastes. The stuff was stored in the starboard water tank while the water purged of as much radiation as possible was on the port side.
Still for bathing, not quite pure was perfectly fine in my book. I had skin after all. That should be good enough considering that most people drank water of this quality. Rivet City was almost decadent compared to the rest of the wasteland. The goods and services they provided from what I found, was very impressive. They did come at a steep price unless you were born here, we had paid a fair chunk of caps to the gentleman at the door.
The facility was gendered by the time of day with women having access in the morning and noon while men had it in the evening. Except on Wednesdays where it was entirely men all day and Saturdays when it was entirely women. I had no idea why the days were split up but there must have been some reason a century or so ago. There were other showers and bathing services on the ship but none that served caravaners.
It seems that the cultural taboo of nudity in the United States had persisted somewhat. At least half of the women in the showers did so in some underwear or swimming costume. A few simply went around in a towel until they could hog one of the showers with a curtain around it. No, I was not gawping at nude and mostly nude women I was simply making an observation.
I had any sense of shame slowly destroyed in front line conditions at war. I kept a sling on my arm while I washed, even with the bone healed it was still weak. I did not want to set back any healing by overdoing things or bending the arm the wrong way. Healing formula don't work all that well when layered over each other.
My fellow caravaners did not seem to care all that much about nudity much like myself. After cleaning ourselves off in a lukewarm shower we climbed into one of the hot tubs and relaxed. It was old enough that not all of the heating elements worked and the bubbles were a bit anaemic but it was nice to feel hot water again and clean out my hair with shampoo. I wondered how they got the hot tubs in the shower area in the first place?
"What was all that stuff for anyway Tanya?" I blinked and looked at the people I was currently sharing some soothingly hot water with.
"Sorry?"
"The things you were writing down. The shovels and the tents?" Ah, she had seen the notes I was writing down. I had decided to write them in English to practice my writing. I likely be showing the shopping list around anyway. I doubted I could get everything right away but if I told the right merchants I wanted to buy some things they could get them together for me over time. A guaranteed sale was always a nice thing to have fall into your lap after all.
"Supplies for starting a new company."
"A new company? Looked like a new company of soldiers to me! Who else needs fifty shovels and rifles?" Joy had a smile on her face as I shrugged.
"I won't be able to pick up everything right now and I want to put out some feelers back at Canterbury in case I can get equipment from them too. Standardisation is going to be my biggest problem for the Security Company." The women looked at me like I had grown a second head and I wondered if I had stayed in the only slightly radioactive water for too long.
"You are seriously making an army?" Joy said with a look of disbelief.
"It's the logical next step. I have secured funding and now I need to invest in a way that will improve the capital wasteland. Having a trained force for defence and minor infrastructure projects will allow for greater confidence in the region and allow for more investment and settlement." Satisfied that I had explained the need to constrict a PMC I sat back in the water and let myself prune a little.
"Tanya, you know you don't have to…" She looked at the water as if unsure of what to say. "With the way you hate raiders and how fiercely you fight… Everyone can see, I just, you don't have to live like that." I looked at the other girls and they were looking at me like a kicked puppy.
"I don't know what you are talking about Joy. Raiders are a plague, people who are able bodied and organised but choose to prey upon what few settlements have established themselves in the wastes. They are a force for stagnation and chaos, instruments of terrible institutions such as slavery and trafficking."
"You are not responsible for whatever they made you do Tanya." Before I could say anything else I was pressed into Joy's bosom. "Whoever had you before. Whoever made you fight does not have you now. You can live a peaceful life, you have some time left to enjoy a childhood." I slowly extracted myself from Joy's grip and looked into the water.
It should have been obvious that they would have noticed that I am not like a normal child. Was my behaviour honestly so obvious that people in another world identified me as what was effectively a child soldier? It was almost comical that people living after the apocalypse had more protective instincts surrounding children than the Imperial brass had.
"I am doing this for a peaceful life." It was all I said. I did not want to continue the conversation. I was not sure how I could explain anything to them. How do you explain to a sensible adult like Joy that you have almost half a century of experience yet look like this?
?. 3 miles east of Evergreen Mills.
"Hello children do I got some Neeeeeeeeews for you! Now let's start with the bad news first so we can end on a positive note."
"Several Super Mutant warbands have pushed into the DC ruins. Raiding and killing all the while. Efforts by the Brotherhood to keep the mutants contained to the west seem to have failed when the Outcasts abandoned posts allowing several small warbands all got together into what I am calling a super warband. This let a huge number of the green bastards push across the river and into my neighbourhood."
"Thanks a lot Brotherhood Outcasts!"
"Traders all along the Potomac run have been turned back as the Mutant rear guard have entrenched themselves in buildings making moving though impossible. This has left Rivet city isolated while people living in the DC ruins are being pushed out by the Super Mutant army."
"With the reduced manpower available for our knights in shining armour it's going to be a real struggle for the Brotherhood to hunt down all the warbands in the DC ruins. It's at times like this that people have got to come together folks. If you see a member of the Brotherhood in the wild be sure to give them some food, water or meds. Or even better, some ammo."
"Now enough doom and gloom! We got some positive news out here folks! Now I am sure you have all heard the rumours going around that traders from Canterbury Commons have started hunting down raiders and even killed the utter scumbag 'Ironside' in her knockoff brand power armour. Well, it's true! The murderous rapist has been nailed to the wall and my sources at the Brotherhood are so grateful to whoever killed this bitch that they are offering a bounty on the Power Armour so they can be sure to reward the person responsible."
"It goes to show one thing. Capital Wasteland traders are a tough bunch that fight the good fight. Don't mess with the good people of the Capital Wasteland scumbags! My wonderful sources out in the wastes over by Canterbury Commons also told me that someone cleared out a factory and got it working again. They are pumping out electric motorcycles like crazy over there and are looking to hire new workers as well as paying scavs to bring in motorcycle parts."
"Yeah, I am sure all you kiddies have seen some traders wheeling and dealing around on some fancy new bikes. Not only is a 'legendary' raider dead but we got a factory going?! Are things turning about folks? Time will tell. Well now I think that is enough news for now kids. Back to the music!" The radio turned off before the music could begin and the room was quiet besides the clinking of drinking glasses and puffs of cigarettes.
"This is upsetting news Miss Fields."
"But it's like I told you sir. It was a girl, the traders sent her forward first and she was fucking crazy. Moved so fast we could not even hit her and let Ironside grab her so she could stab her to death."
"Stab her to death? Inside Power armour?"
"I saw it with my own eyes. In the neck and stuff."
"After this Wolfgang killed the first team, I expected miss Ironside to sort the problem out personally. Now I have lost a valuable asset and I learn you ran from the fight. You can understand why I am angry can't you?"
"… Yes sir." There was a long pause before a third voice spoke out.
"If they have any sense, they will be stuck in Rivet city for a while until the Mutants settle down. I can have my man infiltrate the city and put a knife in this Wolfgang's belly." There is a sigh.
"This has all gotten rather complicated. I thought this Wolfgang was some nobody trader. Did any of the other targets put up this much of a fight?"
"No all the other targets are dead and the loot is at Evergreen right now."
"So at least Mister Warrick and Mister Radford did their jobs. I propose we move them via Paradise. Canterbury is a hard target now but with the Mutants so close a lot of traders will be going north to get away from them. Once the settlement is sufficiently depopulated a raid could be successful."
"I like that plan and I am also interested in this factory, but I think we should hold off for now. With the scent of Power Armour and factories in the air no doubt the Brotherhood will send a team there, we should avoid that fight." There is a muttering of agreement in the poorly illuminated smoky room.
"Oh, please do send Mister Burke to Rivet city. Knife in the belly sounds like the perfect solution to this little problem. He can take Miss Fields with him to identify this girl she claims works for Wolfgang. I am curious if Wolfgang's weapon has a price tag."
Tanya Von Degurechaff. Rivet City.
It turned out that the Super Mutants moving into the city was not an isolated incident. The entire Aircraft carrier was in an uproar and all the homes outside of the city had been evacuated with a common sleeping area prepared to house people expected to flee to Rivet city for protection. I had spoken to Wolfgang about hiring him to transport things for me and he had warned me that staying at Rivet city for a few weeks might be the best course of action.
I had no intention of doing that for longer than a week or so. I had to get back to my factory, the idea that what little I owned in this world was currently outside of my reach was making my teeth itch. If Wolfgang did not want to take the job, I could perfectly well understand why but I would simply have to hire another caravan willing to break through what amounted to a Super mutant blockade.
With my arm still healing and no experience for dealing with Super Mutants I would much rather hire someone else to fight for me in this instance. I looked at the neat rows of equipment in front of me, I managed to find much less then I had hoped.
The shovels were all different brands and only one third of them looked to be of the correct quality and size for the job. The 'rifle' that had turned into simply main weapon, there was a motley mix of bolt action, semi auto and sub machine guns. I had no uniforms as I still needed a general outline of the sizes that were most common in the wasteland. Paying for a run of twenty uniforms when I might not be able to use any of them was just an unacceptable waste of resources.
Thankfully I did have enough steel helmets, tents, water canteens, cutlery, binoculars, compasses and something very interesting I had snapped up a lot of. Pre-war combat harnesses still in there packaging! Hundreds of years and no one had wanted to buy them, no one even wanted them before the war looking at the dates on them. I had over one hundred and Rivet City was glad to see them go. They had a stiff back and room for a backpack to go over the top. Space for magazines, grenades and other small pieces of equipment and it looked like they came with an insert for an armour plate on the front. Sadly, I could not find any armour plates that fit.
I would have to see about finding plates that fit inside the harness. I had never had too much of an interest in things like body armour or guns in my first life outside of a historical context because I lived in Japan and I had no access to such things. With the exception of a business trip to America where my colleagues and I were taken to an American CEO's ranch to fire a ridiculous arsenal at the side of a hill. Americans loved it when they could show off guns and our host had delighted in getting us to shoot what must have been tens of thousands of dollars in ammunition.
My second life had simply not had anything resembling modern body armour. I was ecstatic to find these however, according to Harkness. One of the Rivet City security who had taken an interest in my purchases. The reason why the harnesses were unused was because most prospectors did not like them. They did not fit well with radiation protecting or heavy clothes. Not only that but security forces much preferred to use the heavy and expensive pre-war combat armour that very much did not fit the combat harnesses.
It turned out that even the pre-war US had been phasing the harnesses out in favour of full suits of armour and heavy plates. With the existence of power armour, it was not hard to conclude that protective technology had begun to outpace offensive technology.
Having what was essentially an expert in post war combat I prodded Harkness about different combat drills and what to do in a firefight. It turned out that warfare was incredibly static. Trusting your armour, cover and equipment. A particular focus was on shooting accurately and having the teams with heavy weapons flush out the enemy while you suppressed was the name of the game. If things went badly then you trusted in a fighting retreat or died.
Considering the raiders, I had come up against were largely unarmed. It was not a surprise to me. Someone with armour that could stop rifle rounds was at an incredible advantage against someone who did not. As we spoke something dawned on me, the economics of war in a post-apocalyptic world. As Harkness explained orthodoxy that seemed insane and against good sense a picture began to form and I found myself pacing somewhat. If I trained my solders like an Empire Infantryman, I would go bankrupt in just two hours of real combat.
Grenades, ammunition, food, water and let alone replacement equipment! I mentally kicked myself, I had been arrogant. I had thought of myself like some ancient legendary general with knowledge I could bring to the ignorant people of the future who had lost the lessons of history. But that was not the case. The people of the Capital Wasteland fought the way they did because they could not afford. Literally not afford the way an industrial nation fought!
People were not stupid. Even if the way everyone did something was wrong there was always a reason why it was done in the first place. I winced as I thought about how disgustingly expensive the 203rd must have been to field.
I had the things I had paid for loaded up on Brahmin and retired to my room. And put down several sheets of blank paper. Rather than my typical style I slowed myself down by writing in a clear print that made my hand ache. It was important for this book to be highly legible and easy to digest so I also made sure not to use difficult words and to have footnotes for terms I used in the book. The title was easy.
A White Silver Primer
Soldiery in the Wasteland; First Edition
By Tanya Von Degurechaff
I would require time and field experience to be able to fill out the later chapters on tactics and operational objectives but it would take me time to get to that anyway. By writing this and taking notes I could slowly clarify the plans I had for training in my head. I had to work out how to train an infantry force without any access to artillery.
Unless…
Joy came in after several pages and gave me a cup of warm coffee and a few small chocolate biscuits. I gave her a warm smile and thanked her. Even if the small cup of coffee was disgustingly expensive and not nearly as good as Visha made it I let myself relax. She asked if I wanted to go out to play with other children with a hopeful smile and I relented saying I would do it once I had finished the coffee.
Coffee, sweets and mountains of paperwork. This was how life should be, besides apparently the children were playing with dogs on top of the carriers landing deck. I liked dogs, that would be a nice break later on.
The worrying news about Supermutants warbands continued to mount with several traders who had set out north coming back. Apparently even a bridge that was used to go west to places like Greyditch, Tenpenny Towers and on routes farther south to settlements around Alexandria. Was hosting a small super mutant warband. There was also a dock on the west side of the Potomac river that had small ships coming in from around the Chesapeake Bay. That dock was currently abandoned as it had been raided by Supermutants with a few of the ships being boarded and sunk.
Shipping was a huge upfront investment and considering the state of at least the Capital Wasteland the loss of anyone with a working ship was devastating to local economies. Rivet City had a council who ran several services on the ship. They had a somewhat reasonable tax rate and it seemed that members of the council themselves were the ones who paid the most considering they were all rich and influential people in Rivet City.
The council paid for things like a large science team who was currently dedicated to some hydroponics project and the city security as well as paid to keep the entire city from turning into a rusted hunk of metal. They also ran the Rivet City bank, something I took advantage of even if the interest was terrible. It at least beat carrying around a backpack full of caps.
Not that I put all my money into the bank. I opened an account with five thousand caps and was given a small chequebook that was only useful in Rivet city itself. At least the foundations of a civilised society had been slowly built in the wasteland. Making the local area more stable meant that an institution like this with a lot of capital would take the opportunity to expand into other settlements. If communication lines could be established then traders could simply transport goods and not have to worry about keeping large amounts of money on them.
I was wandering though the market intending to have a nice bowl of noodles for lunch when I noticed most of the shops and stalls had been closed up and people were crowding around something. I would have ignored it but even the noodle shop was closed so I stomped over to the crowd to see what had ruined my entire day.
It turned out to be some sort of rally with a group of traders waving guns about and talking about marching along the Potomac river and killing every mutant they found. At the head of it the form of Holmes, one of the richer merchants in the city. He had some pull but despite the cheers and enthusiasm from the crowd it seemed very few people were actually willing to volunteer to join them. Only two dozen people actually standing behind the traders and signing up to fight.
Normally I would be against what was clearly a suicide mission. Super Mutants had ripped apart a Brotherhood squad in power armour after all. But there was a chance this was going to succeed and I was reasonably sure I could retreat if everyone was going to die.
"I will join you." I called out stepping forward as the shouting stopped and people stared at me in bewilderment.
"Look at all of you! A hurt little girl has bigger balls that any of you! Letting Super Mutants push humanity out of our own city! We need to crush them!" The lead trader glared at the crowd before kneeling down to 'my level' and smiling. "You are brave kid. But if you want to help people I would speak to Harkness. If the mutants attack Rivet city being up on the deck plinking away at the damn greenies down below is the way for children to help. Let us adults think about marching out to war, okay?"
"Wait that's the girl that killed Ironside!" Who?
"She is! I heard about her." I looked out at the crowd that was now muttering to each other and shouting out absurd things about me. I would have to get a grip on things and work out who was spreading misinformation later.
"I can't fight right now." I called out as the mutterings stopped. "Not very well anyway, but if people are stuck in Rivet city supplies will begin to dwindle. Super Mutants will become more entrenched and things will get progressively worse. If we cannot regain control of the arteries of trade to other settlements then this is a position we will never recover from." I paused to look around at the crowd who looked to be frowning and glancing at each other. Not exactly the response I wanted but I might as well continue since I had everyone's attention.
"Just because I cannot fight does not mean I cannot support a caravan designed to break this blockade. I have supplies and the means to transport them and I will hire anyone who is willing to fight with us to dislodge the Super Mutants from the roads." This was the most populated settlement in the Capital Wasteland. If I was going to find the bones of my security company it might as well be here.
"I will provide a contract to the people who wish to become employed by White Silver as a security contractor. The pay will be one hundred caps signing bonus with another one hundred caps paid once we reach Canterbury. I will provide food, water, weapons and ammo and we will join the traders who want to push back the Super Mutant threat!" There was a flurry of conversation after that. Now there was more than just a general interest in the state of the community. There was also a cash incentive to fight even if it was a very small one. I would have to create the contracts later but Rivet city had several printers and copiers that were relatively cheap to hire.
"She has the caps." I looked over at the familiar face of Chief Harkness. "She has an account with Rivet city and has the money to back up her words. I cannot order my security forces to join you as they need to be here to protect Rivet city. But I have asked and been granted leave to personally aid the attack against the Super Mutants." I smiled at the man and turned back to the crowd.
"I will be back here tomorrow to hire people willing to fight for pay. Spread the word around, doing nothing when trade is threatened is worse than cowardice. Its stupidity." This should at least filter out people who could actually fight for the formation of my security company. It was annoying to have to leave Rivet city so soon after I had gotten comfortable but it could not be helped. With being X around I had to take risks to establish myself.
This was hardly a risk at all however. I fully intended to simply aid the battle from the rear lines and take things easy.
Corporal Linda Spurlock. 450 kilometres over North America.
Weeks of sitting in a tiny cell. Eating a thick jelly that tasted of fish and sharing a single toilet. Not quite the heroic start she had imagined. They had to share a single tap that was at about waist hight and drained into a grate on the floor, sanitation was utterly humiliating. Even when there was an unspoken agreement to sit in the other direction when someone needed to use the bathroom or clean themselves.
Now and then a claw would shoot past overhead and roll back with another human screaming as they were taken somewhere else. Wherever they were they had tons of human prisoners. After what Linda had been through, she could only imagine the horrors the aliens had in store for them.
"Linda! Hallo, Hör mir gut zu"
(Linda! Hello, listen to me carefully.")
"Viktoria?" Linda said getting to her feet as the German stalked over to her looking guilty about something.
"Wenn wir uns schlagen, denken die Aliens vielleicht, wir kämpfen und kommen herein, um es zu zerbrechen."
("If we hit each other the Aliens might think we are fighting and come in to break it up.")
"I still don't understand…" They had attempted to teach each other how to communicate but besides names and a few words it had been all but impossible.
"Schlagen. Schlag, Kampf?" Viktoria made a fist and performed a few air jabs.
("Punch. Punch, fight?")
"Punch? Hit? You can punch something?"
"Gut! Punch mich." Linda blinked in understanding when Viktoria jabbed her in the arm with a punch. Hard enough to hurt and present her own arm then nodded too the forcefield blocking the entrance to the cell.
("Good! Punch me.")
"This is going to suck." Linda groaned before she formed a fist and jabbed Viktoria in the arm. Hopefully this worked and they did not just end up suffering with bruises all over each other. Instantly Viktoria entered a boxer's stance and began throwing pulled punches that still hurt like hell and Linda responded in kind.
Almost instantly there was a shriek of an alarm and a trio of the aliens holding rods with ends that sparked with uncontained electricity in their hands. Toshiro stepped beside the door and rolled his shoulders. Linda hopped his armour provided some insulation from the electric prods. The moment the forcefield went down all three humans leapt at the aliens with a savage ferocity.
Not a word needed to be said, they would escape together or die here.