Broken Arrow
"Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die." - Herbert Hoover
Nage and I were walking about the compound looking for something to do, we eventually stopped at the radio post where we saw a stack of newspapers. "This oughta kill some time." pointed Nage, we both picked a newspaper and read the front page. The newspaper is called the "Washington Times"
WORCESTER ON OUR SIGHTS
Our expeditionary boys up north push forward into Massachusetts to reclaim the land for the Federation! The expansion of the Federation hastens as locals embrace the Order's march for Democracy and Civility!
I heard Nage chuckled, he muttered to himself "Yeah, right." and continued reading. Some of what the headliner says seem to be either lies or propaganda. Much of the locals I've seen so far have had a silent hatred for the Federation and the Order. One thing that's right though, is that the Order really does have it's sights on Worcester. After Paxton a route takes the Order's Knights directly to Worcester where they will set up another command base for their march to Boston.
"RED FLARE! NORTH SIDE OF TOWN!" someone yelled out, just as they said that I lifted my head to see a tall tower of red smoke. A crowd of Knights crowded around me and Nage looking at the flare, somewhere listening in on the radio station's chatter,
*THZZ* "HQ THIS IS FORTH RECON DO YOU COPY OVER?!"
Gunfire could be heard in the background,the radio operator quickly gives his reply.
"Copy forth recon! I hear ya!"
*THZZ* "HQ WE'RE TAKING HEAVY FIRE ON ALL SIDES IN THE NORTHERN SECTOR WE NEED MORTAR SUPPORT!"
Sergeant Major Ernam emerged from the crowd of knights to listen in on the radio conversation.
"Copy Forth Recon! Give us the enemy's position so we can fire!" replied the operator. "Ready the Mortars!" yelled another officer.
*THZZ* "NOT POSSIBLE HQ, WE'RE TAKING SO MANY HITS WE CAN HARDLY PEEK OUR HEADS OU-"
The transmission was interrupted by loud gunfire, the crowd of Knights began to murmur things.
"Forth Recon, We cannot hit any enemy targets without any confirmation on their position! Do you copy?!"
There was no reply from the radio.
"I say again! Do you copy?!"
The radio remained silent for a full minute which felt to me (and I'm sure to others) like an hour. Finally a break of silence when a flare of black smoke rose from the Northern side of town. The radio transmission finally returns with the same Knight.
"BROKEN ARROW! BROKEN ARROW!"
The Voice of the knight giving the feed became frantic and very panicked. The murmurs around us became gasps and yelling. Ernam yelled out to the mortar teams, "Fire all around that black smoke! Hurry up!." Soon after that, the mortars completely fire all around the pillar of black smoke that leveled the area around it.
There wasn't a response from the radio after that. Both me and Nage were shocked by what happened.
Ernam walked up to me and Nage, it's been a few minutes and the mortars are still firing. "Fireteam is moving out now, let's hit the road." said Ernam, Nage and I shouldered our weapons and followed Ernam out of the compound. Near the entrance to the compound we are met with about a dozen or so Knights, some of them more "Decorated" with dented metal and bullet holes than others.
"Fireteam! Move out!" called out Ernam, the Knights then began their walk into the Paxton Warzone.
About 15 minutes later, we saw another team of Knights walking back to the compound. Many of those Knights were wounded and carried other Knights living or dead. I counted 8 Knights with 3 of them being carried. The Knight in front of the group carried in his hand several shiny objects that appear to be... necklaces?
"Sergeant Major!" Called out the Knight. He had in his hand, his helmet which had multiple bullet scratches. All over his face was dried blood, but I am unsure if its even his blood. "Report Corporal, where's your LT?" said Ernam.
"LT is dead along with the rest of the recon... We're lucky we got out alive and... even the dead we have here are lucky to be retrieved.. We encountered Raiders preying on the ones that were exhausted or out of ammo so watch out when you get there."
"Take everyone to the F.O.B, you've done enough son."
The corporal nodded and signaled his remaining team to continue, as they walk past us I could hear the moanings of pain from the men they carried on stretchers.
A little later, A armored Knight walked beside me. I noticed he was different from the others because he wore a medical armband. He expressed himself through this acccent that I never heard of. Some of the terms and ways he say things were strange to me. "Howdy! I'm the fire team's medic and I just gotta ask you a few questions."
His sudden approach shocked me a bit, I was expecting him to fire a volley of questions regarding me as a Vault Dweller, instead he asked me what my blood type is.
"Incase you lose a lot of blood, best to know what blood type you are so someone back at the F.O.B can get a blood transfusion ready."
Thanks to the PipBoy I was able to answer his questions... Though I could have stuttered less. It was rather awkward talking to an emotionless helmet rather than a human face, It made me feel uncomfortable.
"Name's Makos by the way, you?" He asked after a pause of silence.
Me being really really good at talking to people and totally not internally panicking I answered his question with yet another studder. "Ken" I said bluntly.
"Ken huh? You dwellers sure got some weird naming method, a name like Ken belongs to important people."
"W-what do you mean by that?"
"Like... 'Alex' for 'Alexander', 'Sam' for 'Samuel' or how your name could be short for 'Kennedy' all of those names are saved for important people because long ago when this land was green, those names belonged to leaders."
"What makes you think you're not important?"
"Heh, well look at me. I ain't no mayor of a city or some politician. Just some medic."
By the sound of his voice through the helmet's little radio that amplifies him, he sounded rather young.
"Just how old are you, Makos?"
"17."
Jesus he's just a kid!
"When did you join the Order?"
"Well. In the Federation we got an education system, schools ya know? In such a school you can enlist for the Order at 16, then you gotta go through training for 2 years."
"But you're 17, how did you skip one year?"
"One year for extensive training and one year for leadership and management training. However, in our schools you can take a course called 'ROTC' that teaches you that stuff. Doin' that course in school will get you to skip the officer training, and start ya off as a Private rather than an Initiate."
"So I'm guessing you took such a course?." The metal helmet nodded
"Why though?"
"Why?..." The young medic really took a full minute to think about this question.
"Gosh... no one ever asked me that before. Down south everyone expects someone to do a least a little for the effort of expanding the federation... I guess I just wanted to do my part. Spreadin' democracy ya know?"
"It doesn't seem very democratic bullying towns to be annexed..."
"I know it looks like that, but I hope you realize that we're just doing whats best for everyone here."
Makos turned his head at me and stared at my PipBoy. After yet, another awkward silence he finally broke it with another question.
"I hope you don't see me as another guy who just stares at a Dweller but... Ya know It's just that I never seen one up close, sorry for staring at ya wrist thingy."
"It's quite alright, I'm used to it by now." I raised my wrist to give him a closer look. I never actually given an outsider a closer look, but he seems more curious rather than shocked and astonished like many other people who see me.
"This is the Rad Meter where it tells me how much radiation I am absorbing, and these knobs changes the 'tabs' within the interface to go to different options..." I gave him a tiny tour of my PipBoy. In exchange, he told me a little bit about the Infamous Power Armor of the Order.
Just like the PipBoy, the Suit has an interface, but it is not interactive and you can only see it by looking inside the helmet. The helmet shows a HUD or a 'Heads Up Display', where it tells you the status of your health. It can detect where you are bleeding and can show where your allies are in a tiny radar that is displayed.
The pipes and tubes that connect to the helmet gives more "Humidified" air to the wearer. This is usually good when it comes to running very long distances. Of course, people can adapt and get used to the dirty air, but when a body is given this cleaner air, all functions are significantly better.
"Where are you from Makos?" I asked him.
"I'm from Carolina, a province in the federation. The most southern tip of it."
"You came a long way!"
"Yeah, I was expecting to go to the frontier in Georgia. A place farther south beyond our borders. Instead I was shipped here."
"You must really miss home."
"I do. I won't go back for quite a while... Wonder how my folks are holdin' up. "
Makos raised his head and looked at me.
'You know! There's actually a Vault in Carolina!"
"Well. Of course. There are many Vaults."
"Yes but, this Vault is different, Vault-Kilo12 Opened up to find a wasteland like this. Instead of hiding back into their Vault, the dwellers stepped out and built a city! All of the last dwellers are likely dead now, but all their descendants still live there!"
This news was shocking to me. A Vault. That built a city outside? The protocol at our Vault forbids such a thing, our vault was meant to remain closed until any US officials would come to introduce them to the restored world. I guess the citizens in this "Vault-Kilo12" may have had something else in mind, seeing a not-so-restored world.
"What is the city called?"
"It's called 'Sustineo' which is Latin for 'survive' or to 'last', 'sustain' and 'endure'.
"Eventually it got annexed into the Federation, but it doesn't let just any federation citizen to enter the city. They make you do some kind of citizenship test."
I learned a lot of the Federation because of Makos, the names of the provinces were former states of the country, the people, the way of life they have there is very different from how it is here. Instead of fighting to survive, you fight for civility and society.
I really enjoyed our talk, I was about to ask Makos what the term "Broken Arrow" means but when we got closer to the battlezone, Ernam turned around and told us both to shut up and stay vigilant, it ended our conversation.
The farther we walked down the road, the more louder and dangerous it gets. Occasionally, a stray bullet would hit a tree or something some short distance away, but I would be the only one flinching since everyone including Nage seemed to have walked down this road several times. As we approached some buildings Ernam finally sounded off orders to the fireteam.
"Alright! Everyone keep watch for contacts, watch your fire, and spread out! I don't want the whole team dying to a single mortar round!"
"Yes, Sir!" Replied the rest of the team.
Nage walked beside me and nudged my right arm. "Have you... um, ever been in a firefight with anyone outside yet?"
"N-No I haven't. I mean, the invasion on the Vault was my only fighting experience."
"Have you killed anyone?"
"A few."
"Well, remember that this isn't a Vault anymore. Raiders and Fang Mercs will likely be using grenades and Bazookas more often than in an enclosed area."
"What are those things? A grenade and... Bazookies?"
"You...never heard of... Well. They're just things that make you blow up! Just...when you see things get blow up to hell run to cover, alrigh-"
Nage got interrupted by Makos yelling out: "CONTACT!"
The Knights, Nage and I turned to Makos' general direction. Before I could make out what 'Contact' Makos has seen, bullets start buzzing past us.
PAK PAK PAK PAK PAK!
"COVER!"
Half the team including Ernam ran for cover inside one of the buildings, while Makos and the rest of the Knights ran into the Mortar-Made ditch. I froze up in the wrong moment, I could not move at all.. the fear struck me in a crucial moment. Nage got up from the ditch and pulled me in, causing me to fall on my back.
"Idiot! Don't freeze up like that! I could have died with you!
PAK PAK PAK PAK PAK!
Bullets were flying over our heads and hitting the dirt that was protecting us.
"COVERING FIRE!" yelled out Ernam from the building near us. The screeching bullets flew out the building into the bush where enemy fire was coming from.
"Now! Come on!" Yelled out Makos. Nage tugged me to run along with the Knights running into the building where there was more proper cover. Knights were shooting out of the windows toward the bush, at this range, my shotgun could not do much.
"We're not staying here long! Get ready to move out!" cried out Ernam. We were all inside a makeshift house much like the ones in Tersha. With covering fire, we each ran across the street one by one until we all managed to get away from the enemy's line of sight.
"Is anyone hit?!" Yelled out Makos. One of the Knights raised his hand to signal Makos to come to him, he was sitting down in a corner of the room where, on his lap, laid a wounded knight. "Medic! Medic! He's been hit!"
"Where is he hit?"
"Got 2 hits in his left leg. I already pulled out one in his thigh but another is stuck in there somewhere.
"The armor slowed the bullet down so it won't be that deep. Turn him over let's get that bullet out so we can stop the bleeding!"
The man who was hit moaned in pain and winced when Makos used his medic tools to pullet out the metal shard that shaped a bullet. All of this was too familiar... bullets flying and people wounded. However there is major difference between the Home invasion and now... These people were calm... these Knights are taking this situation into their hands rather than just panicking like how I would be.
From buildings across the street, we were being fired at. Thankfully however, this apartment complex we're garrisoned at, provides much more cover than the house we were at before. I see Nage pulling out his sniper rifle and poked out one of the building's windows. I turned my head back to Makos, who was now bandaging the wound on the Knight's leg.
"They hit nothing important. Can you walk?"
"It hurts like hell, but I can move." moaned the Injured Knight. Makos helped him up and propped him near a window so he can help return fire.
Ernam came from behind me and pulled my shoulder, "Listen to me, I'm sending a few Knights to run across the street. You and Nage are going with them. From there, get Nage on the roof so he can snipe out that machine gunner nest."
I nodded, he stepped toward the windows and ordered his Knights to cease fire and reload. Me, Nage, Makos and five other Knights ready ourselves for the run. "Don't freeze up this time, just run to the next house, ok?" Nage whispered to me.
"Wait until the gunner reloads!" Yelled out Ernam. The heavy fire from the machine gun nest suddenly stopped, "Suppressing Fire!."
All the Knights at the windows simultaneously fired at the gunner nest, forcing them to take cover. "Now!" Yelled a Knight, so we all ran to the next house across the street.
Despite the machine gunner being put out of commission, there were still bullets from rifles whizzing past us.
PAK PAK PAK PAK
In front of me a Knight was hit twice in his side and one in his head, he quickly fell over but we continue to run. "Keep running!" yelled Nage from behind me. I quickly ran inside the house where Makos and the other Knights were at, Nage being last, dived into the house before a volley of bullets hit the dirt.
Inside the house we hear footsteps and murmurs upstairs. "They're inside the house" Makos whispered. "Alright, we'll clear out whatever's down here. you three clear upstairs" said a Knight.
Makos nodded and turned to me. "Listen 'ere Ken. You got the shotgun, so I think you should head up there first. Me and Nage will be right behind you,"
Part of me wanted to protest, with so much going on, fear struck me everywhere like bullets. There was no time, however. I nodded my head and readied my shotgun and I slowly walked up the stairs. Nage shouldered his Sniper and pulled out two 9mm pistols. As I walked up the stairs I could see a hallway, all the doors are closed except for one that is missing a door.
I signaled for Makos and Nage to follow. I peeked my head into the room and saw two Fang mercenaries. One of them was kneeled by a window shooting while the other was operating a radio I could hear his plea for help.
"God Damn Revs are pushing on us here on west side! We're gonna need Mortar support now!" yelled the operator.
"Mortars will take out Ernam and the others, we gotta take 'em out before they give any coordinates." whispered Nage who was standing on the other side of the doorway. I looked behind me to see Makos who gave me a thumbs up then turning around, giving us cover incase someone sneaked up on us.
"Wait until he reloads..." whispered Nage. The gunner was still shooting, but after a few seconds he stops to reload. Before we could charge right in, we heard gunfire coming from downstairs
TRK-TRK-TRK-TRK
"Shit! What the fuck was that?!" Yelled out the operator. "Reload your fucking gun! They're gonna come up here!."
Nage gave me the nod, and we both rushed in."SHIT!".shotgun out, I blindly aimed for the operator. At this range, It's impossible to miss. I pulled the trigger and fired a slug into the operator's face, followed by Nage's barrage of bullets all over the gunner who was still reloading.
BANGK!
TK TK TK TK TK TK!
The operator's head exploded into bits, hitting the walls, the radio, and me. The gunner was hit 6 times in the chest, and fell over as he bleed to death. Nage dashed into the room, and shot a bullet into the gunner's head and another into the radio. My mind shuddered at the sight, but now is not the time to freeze up or faint.
Makos yelled from outside the room, stating that the floor was clear. "Let's head downstairs." said Nage. The three of us walked down the stairs in a rush since we heard gunfire earlier.
We met up with the Knights in the kitchen, they have had a small firefight with three Fang mercs but they managed to take them out without casualties. "Alright, Nage. You need to get on top of the roof to snipe out that machine gunner." said Makos
"Won't I be easily seen?" said Nage.
"The roof has been leveled quite a bit, the rubble and debris will give you plenty of cover."
With that, Nage nodded and ran back upstairs. "Ken! You join up with these Knights and try to draw their fire!" yelled Makos.
"I can't get anything on them with this shotgun Makos!" I yelled back at him. It's true, the building where the machine gunner was firing from must be something from 50 to 60 yards
Makos turned his attention to the street outside and eyed the body of a dead Knight. "Stay right there!" he said. He stood by the door, looking like he's going to make a run for it, I wasn't sure what he is trying to achieve.
When the machine gunner stopped to reload, Makos dashed across into the street and dived onto the dead Knight.
The Mercs have spotted him and opened fired, bullets land all around Makos as he struggled to reach for something. A second later, picked up the Knight's advanced rifle and pulled something out of his neck.
Makos quickly turned and began to make his way back into the house. While he was running, one of the fuzzing bullets struck him in the head and another four in his side. I was shocked, what was the point of that? Did Makos really died for a gun?! Another shock struck me when I saw him quickly rise from the dead and ran back into the house.
"Are you fucking crazy?! You could have died out there!" I yelled at him. He sat up, panting inside his helmet.
"The -Pant- only danger was the machine gun, it's been modded especially for Knights with our power armor." He pulls out a few bullets that were stuck to his armor on his side. "These bullets won't pierce this armor but they sure as hell hurt, and can still break a few bones... My ribs hurt..."
He passes me the Advanced Rifle and a few magazines. "Here's to fix your range problem. It's called a Pulse rifle. Get some fire on that gunner nest!"
I looked at him like he went mad, did he really just ran across a bullet infested street just to get me a good weapon with better range? The bullet that had struck Makos in the head, had broken his visor and breathing tubes. He lifted his hands and raised the helmet off of his head.
The helmet revealed a young face, who had freckles and light brown hair. A small amount of blood streamed down from the side of his head. "Well, don't just stand there! Get on over to the windows and draw their fire!" he yelled. I snapped out of it and nodded, I lifted the pulse rifle and ran to the windows.
I kneeled next to some Knights and opened fired on the gunner nest. The nest was still firing at the building Ernam is in, however I bet that gunner didn't expect a second barrage of fire coming from us across the street. The gunner nest is at the top floor of an apartment complex, with the exception of a few windows, they were all barricaded. We could not see the gunner because of how dark the room he is in, the only time we can have an idea of where to shoot is when we see his muzzle flash.
With the combined fire from Ernam's forces and ours, we bought Nage precious time so he could permanently take out that gunner. There was a barricade on the window where the gunner was shooting from, it gave a lot of cover so hardly any of our bullets were actually hitting him, a small gap that give the gunner the ability to see and shoot was the only way to see him. When the gunner stopped to reload once more, a loud shot was heard.
BANG!
By the sound of that weapon, it must have been from Nage's rifle. The gunner seems to be dead, for the machine has ceased to shoot. Taking the opportunity, Ernam lead a charge from the building he was in to the building where the gunner nest was. Before someone managed to replace the gunner, the Knights already stormed inside.
Nage walked from downstairs, reloading his sniper. "Nice shot, Nage." said Makos who now had no helmet on.
We collected ourselves in the living room of the house. "Alright, we're just gonna hold our position until we get new orders fro-"
"Orders from Sergeant Major!" yelled out a Knight who can running inside the house. "We need a foothold on the next street over. Makos, your team will make that foothold."
"Understood." said Makos.
"I think we'll be here longer than I thought, we'll try not to stick with the Order for too long." whispered Nage next to my ear.
After running across some alleys, we reached the avenue leading to the next street. The only cover was a broken down car, and no one knows where enemy fire will come from. One of the Knights volunteers to make a run across.
He get's ready to run across, taking a deep breath the Knight dashes across. Astonishingly, not a single shot is fired. There was no way he could not be seen, he's practically a running chunk of metal! One by one, we ran across the street, we took shelter in a building called a "Bank."
We gathered at the main lobby, wondering why a shot hasn't been fired. "I don't like it." said Nage. "Even if they haven't fired a shot, why aren't they storming this building or something? I say we should relocate."
"I'm more afraid if they have any snipers on standby, who knows if we'll be picked off when we try to get out of here." said Makos.
"They could have moved their troops further south to flank Ernam."
"No.. they wouldn't let a side completely unprotected..."
Have we accomplished our objective? Did we really set a foothold if the street is empty? Nage sighed and gave a suggestion: "Alright fine, let's stay. I'm going upstairs to scan the street, Ken come with me."
Makos nodded and moved to a position near the doors with the other Knights, Nage and I got up to move upstairs.
"I really don't like this Nage." I said. "I know, but we're just gonna have to wait here. If we leave we risk having snipers on us."
We found a pair of windows overlooking the street, it gave enough of a view to scan nearly the entire street. Nage passed me a pair of binoculars, "Here, watch for any mercs you see. I'll keep an eye on this side." I remember a conversation I had with Nage not long ago, he mentioned how snipers usually work in pairs. How one would spot for the other, using binoculars. Of course, we're not spotting for each other, we're looking in different direction for contacts.
After a while, Nage called out to me. "Hey, I think I got something." I walked to him and used my binoculars over him. "8th building down, 5 men."
"Mercs?"
"Maybe... They're not wearing any issued armor. Mercs always have the same armor type." Nage changed the focus on his scope by twisting a dial.
"What's more... they're not wearing the Fang insignia on their arms.."
"Raiders?"
"No... They're all wearing some armor and being careful. Raiders are savages and usually half naked..."
I suddenly heard something from down the street, something very mechanic. I brought up my binoculars, from the corner of the street I see Fang mercs slowly making their way down the street. "N-Nage. I got mercs!" I yelled. Nage aimed his sniper over me to take a look himself. "Ah shit! Alright, stay right here, I'm gonna warn Makos."
I wanted to protest, but he already ran downstairs. I gulped and looked back into the binoculars. The numbers of the mercs grew larger, they began to jog down the street and finally the source of the mechanic noise was revealed. It was a vehicle! slowly moving it's way down the street, crushing whatever is in the way under its... tracks..
I-It was a tank! They have a three century old tank operational!? The tank's main gun remained still, but it had a machine gun attached to the top with a merc operating it.
Damn it... I'm frozen up again.. I was horrified by the amount of mercs there were... surely there would be around 40 or 50 of them! "Ken!" I heard Nage yelling from the stairs. One of the mercs pointed directly at me.
Nage pulled my shoulder to turn me around, "Come on man we're leaving!" but before we could move Nage froze up himself.
His eyes widened, for the first time I could actually see in his eyes, it was of fear and total shock. I turned my head back to the window to see the Tank. The tank's main gun raised up and took aim, a loud click ensued.
"KEN GET OUT!"
...
KRRAABOOOM!