ASSAULT ON GAN SHALOM. BY DESERT RANGER CARACAL.
LOCATION: THE CENTER OF THE TOWN OF GAN SHALOM.
DATE: JUNE 15TH 2275.
TIME: 2:30 PM.
TEMPERATURE: 90°F OR 32°C.
The Blue Star is one of the few places in the Mojave wasteland where one can come to live a peaceful life and get just that. The star isn't a single town, rather a gathering of seven towns in the form of a six-pointed star, with a town in the center to be the center of operations. The towns each had their own specialties, such as Ha Bakar, the center town. It had the role of being for brahmin raising and butchering, alongside making sure the other towns were doing well. The town at the top of the star went by the name of Beit Lemidah, and was the primary place of learning for the townsfolk, especially for higher learning, secular and religious alike.
There was also the primary farming town, located at the bottom, by the name of Gan Shalom. Gan Shalom was a place where it wasn't too uncommon to find refugees or those looking for a better life via honest farming work. It was also a place that was somewhat used to raider attacks in the past, because of it being a farming town that foolish raiders assumed had no defenses. Due to the average occupant of the blue star having a firearm and the knowledge of how to use it, this didn't go so well for raiders.
However, only a fool would think of fighting with chem addled raiders as the ability to take on any foe, and the townsfolk here knew it well. Word had spread due to a pair of young boys seeing a legion scout earlier in the day, and now the center of town was full of most of the townsfolk, who were terrified, angry, and confused. The population was mostly animal/human mutants, with several humans and a pair of Gen 1 Super Mutants.
"We're fucked! We're all fucked!"
"I didn't think they'd come here, I never thought I'd see that crimson again!"
"LEMMIE FUCKING AT THEM, I'LL GUT THEM ALL!"
Eventually, the populace was soothed down as the rabbi walked out of the synagogue, and the middle-aged fox began singing Hine Ma Tov as loud as he could. The town quieted down and joined in, letting the song help sooth them before they stopped.
"We still need to figure out what to do, we can't just let them come and destroy us!"
Said a younger cheetah, clearly distressed.
"I know. We're going to send down someone to get some mercenaries to help. Any volunteers?"
The rabbi asked. Soon enough, several twenty something anthros and humans were raising their hands and clamoring at the chance to help. The rabbi chose a cheetah boy, and passed him some posters.
"Go to the nearest town and put these posters up, go to the bar and wait for interested parties."
He said, also giving the cheetah a bag of caps.
"Here, this should help bring some interested parties in."
The cheetah nodded, and left immediately to get help.
LOCATION: A NEARBY MINING TOWN.
DATE: JUNE 16TH 2275.
TIME: 1:30 PM.
TEMPERATURE: 92°F OR 33°C.
The cheetah hadn't had much luck so far. A few interested parties had come, but not many were interested in the somewhat paltry amount of caps that had been offered. He was considering going back to the rabbi with a failure on him, but soon enough a poster and gloved hand came slamming down on the table, shaking the bottle of nuka cola on it, and the cheetah in front of it.
"You there, this your poster?"
The figure said. The cheetah looked up, and was surprised to see not one, but five total individuals looking down at him, clad in Desert Ranger combat armor, with two of them having their helmets on, two not wearing their helmets, and one with a black cowboy hat on. The cowboy hat wearing ranger was a colossus compared to the others, and was the one who'd slammed the poster down on the table.
"Y-YES IT IS!"
He shouted out, somewhat terrified but still capable of holding it together.
"Really? Well the five of us are interested. In case you're wondering this armor isn't for show, all of us are former Desert Rangers."
The figure said calmly, clearly having some kind of motive behind coming to the town.
"Well if you do want to defend, then I can bring you to the town right away, payment can be discussed there."
The cheetah said, standing up and grabbing his Nuka Cola.
"Well by all means, lead the way."
The figure said. Now that the cheetah had a clearer look, the other rangers were much clearer, though the cowboy hat wearing ranger still dominated the others in size alone.
Two humans wearing their helmets by the looks of it, alongside two cheetahs. One cheetah was male, one was female and the same applied to the humans. Also, there was the mysterious one, who clearly had the ears of a caracal now that he looked closer. He began thinking of who it could be, but decided to not think any further, Gan Shalom was in serious danger after all!
The cheetah was quick to lead the rangers out of the tavern and give them their advance payments before bringing them back to town. Several hours later, the cheetah had come back with the rangers, and was bringing them to the mayor and rabbi to negotiate payment.
LOCATION: THE CENTER OF THE TOWN OF GAN SHALOM.
DATE: JUNE 16TH 2275.
TIME: 6:30 PM.
TEMPERATURE: 81°F OR 27°C.
The office of the mayor was simple, with a desk, a chair for the mayor, a typewriter, and two chairs for guests. In this case, four additional chairs were brought in, and after the rabbi and the rangers sat down, they began to talk.
"Now let's make this clear, we may be a farming town, but most of the crop we produce is for the Blue Star, and not much of it is sold, and as such we don't have as much to pay you as you may think. However, we can augment your pay with fresh food."
The mayor said, speaking the first words of the negotiations.
"That seems acceptable to me, and I doubt my comrades in arms are gonna turn down hot meals and fresh food alongside their caps."
The figure said, as the fellow rangers nodded in agreement. The rabbi suddenly looked up at the mysterious figure, and spoke.
"Wait a moment, are you who I think you may be?"
The vulpine said, a sudden level of shock having come across him. The figure replied by lifting his arm up and grabbing his hat, taking it off and showing his face at last.
"I knew you'd recognize me, Rabbi Ya'akov. It's me, Yosef Chaim."
The ranger said, revealing himself to be Joseph Chaim, who'd made a small name for himself since the disbanding of the Desert Rangers.
"So this is the town you come from, I heard you talk about it a good bit during guard duty but now that I see it, I ain't surprised you longed for it during slow days."
One of the cheetahs said, the other nodding in kind.
"I can see what ya wanted to leave though, this seems like a boring place for someone with the need to wander."
One of the humans said.
"You know my reasons for leaving as well as any other ranger who served with me, I ain't gonna explain it again. Now, back to payment, just how many caps can you provide as payment? The Legion are nasty bastards to fight after all."
Joseph said, putting his hat back on as his point had been made by showing himself.
"We don't have too much, but we can offer good pay, would 500 caps each suffice?"
The rabbi asked, clearly desperate with his offer as he spoke. The rangers began thinking, up till Joseph spoke.
"How about this? If the town is damaged badly during the assault, and the fields are burned badly enough by Legion attackers then you pay my comrades 250 caps each, and you don't need to pay me anything. However, if the fields are in good enough shape, or even undamaged in the assault, then you'll pay the full 500 caps to each of us."
Joseph said. The other rangers were shocked by what he'd said, but didn't interject for he'd taken a much harsher cut than them in his offer.
"I'd call you mad, but it seems like you come from a good place with this offer. Does anyone object?"
The mayor asked. The desert rangers thought amongst themselves, before shaking their heads, still a bit surprised by Joseph's statement, but he was fair enough about it.
"Alright then, I'll let one of the townspeople show you to a place you five can sleep till we don't have to worry about the Legion killing us all."
The rabbi said, standing up as the mayor began typing the details of their deal down as soon as he could. Joseph and the rangers stood up and walked out of the mayor's office and out of the town hall. The rabbi followed suit, and walked up to a nearby young caracal woman.
"Would you lead these Rangers over to the hotel? I've got important duties to attend to, and I know they won't harm you."
He said. The woman nodded, standing up as the rabbi left. She began making her way to the rangers when she stopped for a moment, and began running to Joseph, tackling him to his surprise, nearly making him topple to the sand.
"JOSEPH! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN BIG BROTHER?"
She yelled out, to which Joseph could only give a grunt as he regained his steadiness and breath.
"Esther, could you please not tackle me like that next time?"
Joseph asked, chuckling a bit as he hugged her, recognizing her at last.
"I thought you were dead when I heard about the big battle over in the old fort! The whole family did, we even held Shiva and Sheloshim for you!"
She said, letting go of him as she looked up at him, smiling in genuine excitement over the turn of events. Joseph's ears perked up at the mention of his family holding Shiva for him.
"How did you do it without my body?"
He asked. Her response was to punch him in the arm before speaking.
"We did it after someone found what we thought was your hat stained with your blood, you Shvantz!"
She said, much to Joseph's amusement.
"Same old sis, calling me names in front of my friends. Granted, it ain't like they understand. Whatever the case, you do need to show us to the hotel, while we walk you can help brief me on what's happened since I left."
Joseph said, letting go of Esther.
She let go of him, and nodded up, before beginning to walk. The rangers followed her path as they took in the various sights of the town, sights which Joseph found comforting and familiar. The other rangers of course didn't feel the same way, and felt a bit confused about how this place worked. After all, Gan Shalom wasn't the average farming town, though any farming town with two super mutants working the fields alongside the anthro and human townsfolk was not the most ordinary.
However the other elements of the place did confuse the hell outta them, such as the lack of a tavern, and instead the presence of what seemed to be a dry social hall. That alongside the fact that most of the signs were in Yiddish and Hebrew, with no English counterpart. But to Joseph and others who came from the blue star, this was the norm.
Eventually they got to the hotel, and while the other rangers made their way inside, Esther began tugging on Joseph's arm.
"You're coming with me, Abba and Ima think you're dead, and they need to see you for certain."
Esther said, clearly dead-set on getting her brother back home.
"Do you really want to scare them that badly? I know you were pleased to see me, but I doubt they'll be."
Joseph said, keeping still and holding his position firm. Esther sighed and stopped pulling, but kept her grip on her brother's arm.
"Look, whatever the case, they need to know that you're alive, and they need to know as soon as possible. They understand why you left even if they don't approve, I can't promise they'll be accepting of you, but I can promise they'll understand why you came back."
Joseph sighed and nodded.
"Alright, lead the way back home, and tell me about how you and the others carried on after all this time."
Esther nodded and lead the way, leading Joseph back home while she told him all about what had happened in the past decade in greater detail. When they had gotten back home, Esther put a hand on Joseph as she stepped to the door.
"Stay here till I say that I've brought someone home, it'll be a signal to come in."
She said as Joseph nodded, clearly understanding what to do. She kissed the mezuzah as she walked inside, closing the door behind her.
"Abba, Ima I'm home!"
She yelled out as she took her shoes off. Both of them walked into the room with a smile as they each gave Esther a hug.
"Now before you ask me how my day was, I need to tell you that I've brought someone home."
She said, looking to the door.
"Is it a friend of yours?"
Her mother asked, before the two older Caracals suddenly looked like they'd seen a ghost.
Joseph had walked through the door after giving the mezuzah a kiss and had even hung his hat up when he walked in.
"Abba, Ima, it's nice to see you again."
Joseph said, smiling at his parents sincerely as he walked over to them. Joseph was easily the tallest in the family no matter what, Esther was the shortest at 5 foot 11, their mother was 6 foot 1 and their father was 6 foot 2. Joseph towered them all as he gave both of his parents a hug as their shock faded.
"You, you didn't die in Fort Mike. How did you survive?" His mother asked, still in shock even if most of it had faded away.
"All I can say is that I survived because of luck, speed, and a fellow ranger named Zach who helped me out of that bloodbath. I'm not elaborating further."
Joseph said, not wanting to talk about more dour things when meeting his family again, and spoil the mood of a joyous meeting.
The father spoke up for the first time as he looked down at Esther.
"Enough about what happened, we'll talk over dinner. Esther, would you show Joseph to his room? It's still the way he left it."
The father looked right at Joseph as he spoke quickly.
"Before you even think of declining, tonight's dinner is fresh roasted chicken, I know you're not enough of a putz to deny one of your favorite dinners."
His father said, as Joseph nodded before following his sister to his old bedroom. The caracal family had a full dinner of roast meat and wine as they rejoiced and caught up in full over what happened after Joseph left, with each of them going to bed soon afterwards. The next two days would be much less peaceful.
LOCATION: THE CENTER OF THE TOWN OF GAN SHALOM.
DATE: JUNE 17TH 2275.
TIME: 1:37 PM.
TEMPERATURE: 86°F OR 30°C.
After breakfast with family, Joseph went right to the hotel to meet with his fellow rangers to plan the defense of the town, ready to knuckle the hell up. The simple plan they constructed was to forge a town militia to defend the place and follow through with an evacuation afterwards before the assault could happen. The plan was announced and after lunch, a good amount of men and women of different species had volunteered to fight the legion. After a basic evaluation, there were a total of 90 volunteers ready for training and arming, all from various corners of the star.
Joseph and the other rangers were pleased to see the volunteers eagerness and readiness to learn, though the lack of guns, or the guns they brought weren't that pleasing. Lots of older hunting guns, decent pistols and double barrel shotguns. Joseph and the other rangers weren't pleased, so he and one of the cheetah rangers began asking around town for higher quality weapons. Soon enough however, they were at the bakery with a caracal named Zechariah who had heard rumors of a hidden weapon's cache in the basement. The baker however, wasn't so convinced.
"And why do you continue to perpetuate rumors about what was written back at the founding of the town? Go off and get back to looking elsewhere, pester the NCR for guns if you must!"
She shouted. The older human woman had been running the bakery for several decades at this point, and would likely run it till she died. The bakery was nicely sized and built to fit the needs of the town whenever the major holidays came around, though it was always kept in check by the need to supply Challah whenever Shabbat came around weekly. The baker clearly had been a rather busy sort, and she wasn't pleased by the interrupting individuals who distracted her from her work.
"Look, it's been consistently said that in the basement of this bakery that there's some kind of hidden compartment that was made there before the war. Nobody's opened it since it was shut, so we don't know what it was. However it likely is a weapon's cache, and we need to check regardless."
Zechariah said, the smaller, 6 foot tall caracal being one of the volunteers for the militia who'd made mention of the potential cache after the shoddy armaments were made known.
"He's correct, besides, the town's in danger and we need to check to see if it's there or not, and what's in there. All we need is five minutes to verify, and if it's real, we'll compensate you for your time."
The cheetah said, before Joseph interjected.
"And if it isn't, we'll compensate you for interfering with your business. If you agree we'll get right to it."
He said, before she sighed and nodded.
"Alright, but I'm coming with you three to see that this is real or not."
She said. The trio nodded and soon enough they were walking down the basement steps and in the basement. The basement of the bakery was mostly used for storage, but it still had its potential locations for a cache. Before the baker could say anything the three felines were off and looking for what they could find. A minute later, Zechariah pulled a panel off of the wall, and saw a keypad.
"Hey, I think I've found it!"
He shouted as the others came over.
"Sonuva, you're right. What's the code though?"
Joseph asked, as the rangers began thinking, all while the smaller caracal began putting in potential passwords. Joseph looked the numpad over before thinking of something, and looking down.
"Try 316, that might do it."
He said, before Zech tried just that. Much to their surprise, the wall opened up as the password was correct. Soon enough, the cache in the basement was proven real, and a bit ironic. The rangers and the volunteer saw that there was a good supply of guns and ammo here, though there was only two types of gun with a different ammo type for each. There were twelve RPD LMG's with 300 rounds of 7.62x39 for each alongside their belts, and 90 HK-91 rifles with 200 rounds of .308 each alongside magazines.
There was also a good bit of combat armor in desert pattern to help ensure that everyone remained relatively safe. It also became clear who the cache was made for as the felines found pristine KJV bibles, alongside propaganda material for a KJV only Christian cult. It was the typical anti catholic, anti-semitic, anti government propaganda you'd expect from such a group, as such it was considered to be worthless beyond fuel.
After an hour of emptying the cache, the militia now had the weapons, ammo and equipment they needed to make the defense of the town all the easier. The propaganda was used to fuel the fire of the bakery oven, alongside a good few caps to compensate for time, and the bibles were to be given to the church of the next town when some of the evacuees were to head over to a neighboring town run by Lutherans.
They could trust the town would take care of the bibles and help keep the evacuees safe. While the town evacuated, Joseph and the other rangers trained the militia volunteers how to fight the legion. Suppressing fire from the RPD LMG's was taught for those who were to use them, marksmanship for those with the rifles, and hand to hand combat as well. After all, they may have to beat a legionary to death with the buttstock of their gun, so learning the basics of how to do that was essential.
The rest of the day was filled with training and equipping the fighters as the rangers made sure everyone was ready. Zechariah took up the role of making sure the guns were safe and ready tor use, and spent the most time with marksmanship training. Eventually enough, everyone was ready enough. The town had been evacuated of non combatants, and the fighters were ready to go.
LOCATION: THE TOWN OF GAN SHALOM.
DATE: JUNE 18TH 2275.
TIME: 7:47 AM.
TEMPERATURE: 74°F OR 24°C.
When the day broke the fighters rushed to their positions as the rangers woke everyone up. They had barely any time to eat a meager breakfast before they got in their equipment and in position. Joseph and the other rangers were ready to rock and roll as they got their binoculars ready and peering over the battlefield. Joseph saw the crimson coming as he lowered the binoculars and loaded his RPD with a fresh belt of ammo.
"Alright, you're about to cut legionaries down and you're going to make them regret the very idea of coming here to kill us! Remember that on this day, the twenty fourth of Sivan, 6035, that Amalek in the clothes of Caesar's Legion once again tried to destroy the people of Israel, and it will fail once more!"
Yelled out the head of the militia, a vulpine who'd quickly rose the ranks due to his experience in the NCR's military before leaving for the star. Joseph and the others cheered, though the ranger didn't hold the same reasoning as the others for fighting. Regardless, he turned to the machine-gunners he was in charge of and spoke.
"Keep the heads of the infantry down while the marksmen fire at officers and other high ranking legionaries. Five of you are to fire as you see fit, then while you reload the other five will fire in your place. Keep it rolling till you're out of ammo, then switch to your sidearms and prepare for close range engagements."
Joseph ordered as he watched the battlefield fill with legionaries out for blood, with flamers and other nasty weaponry meant to destroy the town. The caracal pulled his old blackhawk out as he cocked the hammer on the .44, aiming at the legionaries to see just who or what he should hit first. The first shot fired was one of his, which screamed right at the mass of legionaries before hitting the tank of one of the flamer equipped men, causing him to essentially erupt into flame as the tank exploded and drenched the surrounding legionaries in flame.
Joseph's remaining five shots were overshadowed by the machine gun fire that the RPD's rapidly spat onto the recruits and primes flooding the field. As he reloaded his revolver, he took note of how the training provided proved its worth as the field of legionaries were cut down effectively and brutally. The method of arms provided of five guns essentially spitting lead nonstop at Caesar's forces ensured that there was no break until they ran out of ammunition. In the meantime, the marksmen were shooting at whatever officers they could spot as they attempted to cause as much confusion and fear in the ranks as they could.
Soon however, the RPD's were empty, just as the meat grinder that the inexperienced legionaries were sent into had ground up all the recruits and primes and cut down a few veterans. Now the charge came in force as the legion veterans began their assault. From here the average militiamen began to fire away at the incoming legionaries, the sheer volume of them being quite impressive, though it didn't intimidate most of the militia fighters. The veterans managed to make their way into the town as they entered a close range hell set up for them.
Rifle fire came at them from all possible angles, anthro fighters who got close enough battered them with their rifles and sliced at their throats to boot, though veterans with enough hand to hand experience and quick enough timing still killed those who got too close.
Joseph was one of those in the close range hell as he did what he could to cut down the flamethrower troops, gunning them down as soon as he could spot them, though unfortunately a decent amount of the time he seemed to be too late for most of the fields as the troopers covered them in fire and burnt the crops that thet could burn before anyone could kill them. Joseph was a little disappointed due to the fact that he knew he wasn't going to get his caps, but that was besides the point considering how he needed to end the battle sooner rather than later. Soon enough, he returned to the main battlefield and saw his answer.
There he was, the centurion leading the legionaries into battle. Killing him would mean the legion would lose the battle sooner rather than later. Joseph quickly got on the ground, shouldering the LMG and bracing it against his body, aiming hard before firing what ammo he had left. Ten rounds came right at the centurion, two hit the man's heart and one hit his head, killing him near instantly. The veteran decani near him began screaming to the others to fall back and retreat. The legionaries in the town retreated the best they could as the town militia shot at those who fled, killing a good chunk of them in the process. The Blue Star had its first genuine victory of the entire conflict and had won immensely.
Soon enough, volunteers from the Followers of the Apocalypse made their way into the town to tend to those who had been wounded. Most of the fighters who'd gotten in close range scuffles with legionaries were wounded badly, a good amount were dead and some had only gotten minor injuries. Whatever the case, every single one of them was checked by the followers as the townsfolk made their way back into Gan Shalom. The damage was notable but fixable, some buildings having charring and other such damage, but the fields were mostly burnt as a lot of the crops were destroyed by flamethrowers and fire via other means. The numbers of casualties and wounded were counted steadily over the rest of the day, alongside the other damages.
In total, 17 militia fighters were KIA, 30 wounded badly, 40 with minor to medium injuries, and 3 totally unharmed. Quite a few Legionaries had perished in the conflict, totaling at least 50. All in all, the rangers had forged a decent militia with the material they had.
LOCATION: THE CENTER OF THE TOWN OF GAN SHALOM.
DATE: JUNE 19TH 2275.
TIME: 4:23 PM.
TEMPERATURE: 94°F OR 24°C.
The next day, the mayor, rabbi and rangers met once again, with all the rangers having survived, some with worse injuries than others. Joseph was the luckiest, though the scar on his cheek told that he'd had a mean fight with a determined Veteran at the least.
"Well, I don't need to say that much about what's happened. You've saved the town, but unfortunately we are going to have to bear the brunt of what's happened. Now, we remember your agreement. and payment will be provided right away." The mayor said, as four bags of caps were handed out to the other rangers, as Joseph got nothing.
"Before you dismiss us, I'm not leaving town until I finish my work here. See, they may have come for money but I feel like I need to finish what was started with the town militia."
Joseph said as the other rangers took their caps, surprised to hear what he was saying, alongside the mayor and rabbi's surprise.
"Before you ask, I want to take the militia and make it into an actual force capable of repelling any assault on the town by the legion. The fact is we did what we could with the more bare bones training we had to give, but now that there's no threat, I can make it a more capable force against those who seek to destroy us."
Joseph elaborated as he stood up. The other rangers looked up at him as if he were nuts, before speaking.
"You're insane, you know that? We're helping you here."
A human ranger said, her words being followed by as the other rangers nodded in agreement, if only due to their hatred of Caesar's Legion and their willingness to harm it as much as possible.
The next two weeks that Joseph and the other rangers spent in Gan Shalom was in fully getting the town militia into a more powerful and capable force. Soon enough, they had a name for this new militia: The Secular Guard. Fittingly, considering most of the militia consisted of the secular youth of the town who'd volunteered that fateful day. During that time, complaints about the RPD LMG's being too long were addressed by the new militia armorer, Zechariah, who cut down one of the RPD's into a more compact weapon.
Soon enough, the caracal cut the rest of them down into shorter overall guns, and one of the major elements of the guard had been forged. The other element was the HK-91 rifles which became noted for being surprisingly good rifles in the distances they trained to fight in, and the two major elements of the town guard were forged during the two weeks. When the rangers left and parted their separate ways, they left a militia that was what Joseph had envisioned.
The caracal ranger left last, giving his family goodbyes as they tearfully hugged him.
"When do you think you'll return?" His father asked, barely holding back tears.
"I can't say, really. All I can say is I'll never fully settle until my reasons to fight are gone. Whether I return home or settle in some other Jewish village, I can't say. Whatever the case, Shalom."
Joseph said, tears coming from his eyes as well.
"Shalom."
His family said, before he turned around and walked off into the desert, bidding his home goodbye once more as he went back to his life as a wandering ranger. The caracal came back to the blue star five years later, to the town of Beit Lemidah to keep Caesar's Legion from causing any more harm.