Vor Shinse looked around. She'd been told that this was the place to find the mayor, but the island seemed to be abuzz and few people had time to stop and talk to her properly before being called off to some other task. It was a pain in the neck, both literally and figuratively, since she was hauling around a sack of salvage that she was hoping to sell. Through all the bustle and chaos however, she eventually found the building she'd been directed to, making her way inside and knocking on a doorframe, interrupting an apparent conversation between the mayor and a ghoul.

"I was told I need to get permission from you before I could sell on the island." Vor said, not giving either the chance to finish their conversation and not particularly caring what she was cutting in on. She was tired, aching and her haul weighed a proverbial ton, which meant she was in a less cordial mood than usual

((Collab between Letter and Vulkan))

Timeskip to Noonday

The city can prepare all it liked, but nothing can stop the terror that came when, at the height of the day, the whirring of a Vertibird was heard from the east of the city, the flying machine coming into sharp relief as drew closer to the defensive lines hastily set during the night.

"They're here, men!" Major Bentsworth of the Liberty Island militia shouted as crude rocket fire mixed with assault rifles to collide uselessly against the underbelly of the vessel, which responded with a withering hail of fire from its machine guns and missile launchers, scattering the defenders. As it arrived over the city centre, ten Enclave troops, divided into five pairs, jumped down into the city square that was situated right next to the Statue of Liberty, and shouted:

"This area is now under the control of The Enclave! Throw down your weapons and your lives will be spared!" One of them, in purple Hellfire Armor, then intoned:

"We really mean it this time."

The Liberty Island Docks

Corporal Alex Roniel would be given simple orders; find the Liberty Island docks, then call in a second Vertibird in order to intercept the population of Liberty Island as they tried to escape via the river. He would be told not to kill anyone...yet. However, if he can find a way to destroy the boats, then he should.

As he hopped out of his vertibird, hitting the floor with a thud, Alex briefly wondered if he should be sent on a mission such as this. Sure, he could sneak pretty well for someone who was clad in ridiculously large and heavy armour, but even so, he had never needed to go on a mission that relied on such a skill exclusively.

Oh well. Command knew best. He could always start shooting if something really bad happened.

Moving foward, he could hear the sounds of the vertibirds above him. It was...soothing. Made him feel if he was being watched, by some large metal god that could carry him in its belly if he needed to get somewhere.

Ducking inside an gutted building that looked suspiciously like a gift shop, he looked out though the window, and was rewarded by the sight of a jetty, with many people working to get on a boat. Squinting carefully, he made out several armed wastelanders, although not nearly enough to carry out an evacuation. It was a miracle that it hadnt turned into a stampede yet.

Alex didnt have any intention of letting it become so, but he had his orders. He noticed that most of the boats were little more than rafts, with only a few transports being worthy of the name, "Boat"

He decided to deal with those first. But before that...

He raised his rifle, his eye down the scope. He hoped this wouldnt go too badly. He fired, and one of the wastelanders holding a rocket launcher felll to the ground, his head obliterated along with most of his neck. There was a sudden pause, and the crowd exploded into movement, each soul heading for the boats at twice the speed that they had been going for earlier. To their credit, the eleven men left did their best to stop the crowd and ignored their fallen ally, but to no avail. Alex raised his rifle again, firing several shots into the side of a decrepit fishing boat. The hull had not been built to block high-power laser blasts, and the hull tore open, the blasts hitting the petrol tank. The boat exploded in a ball of fire, throwing several would-be escapees through the air. The boats near it either capsized or were simply thrown away like toys by the force of the blast.

The sniper sighed. How the hell did these people think that those rafts could outrun vertibirds? Either they would get shot to pieces from the air, or they would just overturn and drown. Really, he was doing these people a favour.

He raised his rifle and completely vaporised a shotgun wielding wastelander with another shot. As he did so, he remembered that he had to do something. He spoke into his radio.

"Sir, this is Corporal Roniel. Refugees are converging on the docks, however i am in the process of destroying their boats. Refugee total is approximately three hundred from last count, while there are only ten guards, none of which have weaponry capable of causing serious damage to our power armour or vertibirds. Orders?"

"Good job, Corporal!" Colonel Alan Anderson was saying through the radio amid a hail of gunfire, as the roar of...a Yao Guai (Mutated Black Bear)? was heard in the background. "But be careful; some of these 'Muties' have armor-piercing bullets, and they know how to make Molotov Cocktails!" Alex couldn't see it, but two of Alan's group were seriously injured, but not dead. "Either way, good job!"

@shadowsaint007, @Madly33, @Marcus XVI, @Simple Unicycle, @jordy0403, @EvilEdd1984, @Trevor1001, @Shadowman215, @TheUnknowable, @Lord Coake, @Vulkan, @Hjalti.

@Eviledd1984 @Letter Bee @Vulkan



Tom went back to the main gate on his continued job of messenger ghoul. He didn't really mind this job but his main always wandered onto the thought of the upcoming attack. When he reached the gate he would find and ask Ahab and David if they would be willing to help out during the attack and if so to follow him to Major Bentsworth.

______________________________________________



Tom was by the docks leading men woman and children out of the city and, hopefully, to freedom. Everything seemed to be going as smooth as it could when lasers killed one of the defenders than hit a boat causing it to exploded taking out a lot of people. Using his experience as a sniper he quickly focused on the area where the shot should be coming from. Taking some cover behind a metal wall he shot at the gift shop hoping to draw some of the fire away from the others.

@Letter Bee

Danny looked out of the window at what was going on outside,"I think we got bigger problems then with the hospital..." Danny pointed outside to what was going to the mayor."Guess like you will need my help with the wounded and perhaps get in on this action to help defend this shit hole" He said his eyes looking back at the mayor.

"I would think their will be a good sizable amount of caps for me if ya do decide to help ya with this" Danny added waiting for the mayor's reaction.

------------------------

A few moments later their was a knock on the door,It was the secretary who was knocking on the door wanting to speak to him.Ahab was behind her being sent by Jenifer to try to help.From what she told him that since they would being attack they could pull their weight and to also gain some caps.

Alex dropped a third enemy soldier as he was talking to the colonel. All worries about the mission had gone away. It wasnt hard at all. Just shoot the boats and prevent any wastelanders from taking down the vertibird when it arrived...

His thoughts were shattered as a sniper rifle round zoomed over his shoulder. Alex didnt even flinch. Another enemy sniper. He looked down his scope and saw him to be a ghoul. Interesting. The wastelanders were turning to ghouls to fill their ranks. Still, this one wasnt bad, as evidenced by how close the shot had come. Judging by the sound and the rifle he could see the ghoul carrying, he was using .308 ammunition. It probably wasnt enough to bring him down through his armor, but he still didnt fancy taking a shot from it.

All these inner thoughts were over in less than a second. Alex took quick aim and fired a single high powered laser blast at the ghoul. He then ducked, and spoke back into his comm unit.


"Apologies for the interruption sir. There is a ghoul sniper on the docks i will take care of. All anti air is neutralised however, so i request that we send our second vertibird once the sniper is ash."

I saw the boats getting destroyed. Dammit, why did the damned Enclave have to attack the civvies? I saw the source of the shots, an Enclave sniper. Looked like someone down below was engaging him as well. Firing a few shots, aimed at the joins where their armour didn't cover, I could just see him, or her, while they were crouched down. I fired twice at a neck joint, and once at a right arm joint.

@Letter Bee

Danny looked out of the window at what was going on outside,"I think we got bigger problems then with the hospital..." Danny pointed outside to what was going to the mayor."Guess like you will need my help with the wounded and perhaps get in on this action to help defend this shit hole" He said his eyes looking back at the mayor.

"I would think their will be a good sizable amount of caps for me if ya do decide to help ya with this" Danny added waiting for the mayor's reaction.

------------------------

A few moments later their was a knock on the door,It was the secretary who was knocking on the door wanting to speak to him.Ahab was behind her being sent by Jenifer to try to help.From what she told him that since they would being attack they could pull their weight and to also gain some caps.

Par, riding his Yao Guai, was already rallying several sets of fighters situated around the city square, fighters protected by nearby buildings, concrete blocks, and even a dumpster. His plan was to encircle Alan's troops; prevent them from radiating out of the square and wreaking havoc on the rest of the city. As for how he knew that the Enclave was going to go for the heart of the settlement itself...well, they can carry troops through the air, can't they? Therefore traditional defensive lines were meaningless to them.

A message was sent to the Brotherhood forces at the north end of the city, requesting their aid!

@Shadowman215

Alex dropped a third enemy soldier as he was talking to the colonel. All worries about the mission had gone away. It wasnt hard at all. Just shoot the boats and prevent any wastelanders from taking down the vertibird when it arrived...

His thoughts were shattered as a sniper rifle round zoomed over his shoulder. Alex didnt even flinch. Another enemy sniper. He looked down his scope and saw him to be a ghoul. Interesting. The wastelanders were turning to ghouls to fill their ranks. Still, this one wasnt bad, as evidenced by how close the shot had come. Judging by the sound and the rifle he could see the ghoul carrying, he was using .308 ammunition. It probably wasnt enough to bring him down through his armor, but he still didnt fancy taking a shot from it.

All these inner thoughts were over in less than a second. Alex took quick aim and fired a single high powered laser blast at the ghoul. He then ducked, and spoke back into his comm unit.


"Apologies for the interruption sir. There is a ghoul sniper on the docks i will take care of. All anti air is neutralised however, so i request that we send our second vertibird once the sniper is ash."

"Done!" shouted Alan as he engaged the Yao Guai trying to maul him in a contest of strength, wrestling the beast!

In the meantime, Gabriel would be woken up by the sounds of fighting.

@shadowsaint007

@Letter Bee

Soon Danny and Ahab would be promised their caps leading them towards the battlefield,Danny was helping out the foot soldiers by either firing at the Enclave soldiers attacking them or healing the wounded.Danny had seen lots of battles and have been in a few himself but this time this was one he was going to put his heart into it more so for his parents then everyone else.

----------------

Ahab was perched in a decayed building looking though his sniper scope,A few silence shots being heard going into the skulls of the Enclave foot solders.The mutant was using .50 caliber bullets with enough stopping power to go though power armor,Luckily for him he was hidden in the building his jacket covering his body blending into the shadows.

@Vulkan @jordy0403

Tom hide behind cover as he was shot at. So far his plan of locating were he was at and drawing fire away from the civilians was working. He took aim were the Enclave bastard was and waited. While he was anticipating were he would show himself next he heard some more shots being fired at Alex. As soon as Alex showed himself Tom would fire at him.

David knew his .45, despite being extremely useful against the more common threats in the wasteland, was worthless against power armor, especially that used by the Enclave. Instead, he focused on helping gather people to defend town center, making sure any wounded received medical supplies, and helping fight as best he could, mainly from taking the occasional pot-shot at an armor joint. He even found himself reciting a short prayer, asking for protection over the city. He hoped what they had done would be enough.

Jensen looked at the other Paladins beside him and spoke, issuing a command. "Get more troops here, and a couple more Scribes, get supplies and help arm and rally the people. I want the Enclave to meet their deaths here." He was stern, and anyone near would be able to feel the raw seriousness with which he carried the statement, then he turned to Sparks. "Initiate, I shall escort you, and, if I feel you have proven yourself. I may sponsor you if you need it, I got far by my mentor's guidance. I would enjoy sharing his tutelage as a memorial to his service.." He trailed off at the end, and hoisted his minigun. "Let us go." He waited for her to move, and was ready to follow.

The thought of teaching an Initiate...Felt right. He could finally truly honor his mentor.

"Erm," Sparks was surprised at the offer. Most Paladins couldn't stand her rather contrary attitude. And she wasn't sure if she needed mentoring; she was sure she'd manage just fine. She was almost hoping he was joking, though the serious tone in his voice hinted otherwise.

Still, it would really depend on how she managed herself on this mission. She could really use the muscle and firepower. Who knows; maybe she could convince him she was fine on her own. Or maybe a mentor could help her greatly with the Brotherhood.

"Alright, that sounds reasonable," she replied. "Right this way."

She lead Paladin Jensen back to Greg's store, knocking on the door.

"I'm back," she said. "And I managed to get Paladin Jensen to help us. When are we going?"

@Shadowman215 @TheUnknowable

An hour before the attack:

As it turned out the mayor had little time for Vor Shinse beyond warning her of an impending attack on the island. By the Enclave no less, which meant energy weapons and power armor, making her main weapons useless. There was no point setting up a sniper's nest, a close-range shotgun blast would probably ricochet and hurt her and any melee attack was suicide. What she needed was something explosive, possibly incendiary. That was when she'd spotted the boats.

The Enclave was organised so there no way they were letting refugees off the island. They'd also likely be coming in by air and last she'd checked the only way off this island was by boat. If she wanted to kill or corral everyone on the island, the easiest way to do it would be to take out the boats, and given the state of the vessels that wouldn't take much. Making her way over, Vor Shinse picked up a couple of discarded gas cans and a siphon and made herself look busy. To passers-by it would look like she was making sure the boats had plenty of fuel when in reality she filling the cans. She made sure to leave enough gas just in case the Enclave were, by some miracle, dumb enough to leave the escape craft alone, but she eventually walked away with two gas cans and a total of ten gallons of gasoline. From there she placed the cans in two separate areas, both leaning against metal. Ideally her first rifle round would ignite the fuel, causing an explosion, but if that failed she hoped to cause a spark by shooting the metal to the same effect.

"Scheisse..." she muttered to herself, realisation flashing across her eyes. She still hadn't gotten permission to trade on the island! She sighed. It figured, now she had to hide her salvage too.

During the attack:

Well her plan had kind of worked. One Enclave soldier was currently trying to put out the flames engulfing his armour and the other gas can remained untouched, just in case. The boats were being destroyed, just as she'd thought they would, and the defenders were shooting the underbellies of the vertibirds. Vor Shinse couldn't help but wonder why no one ever thought to aim for the propellers.

Either way, she was moving. There was energy weapon fire drowning out some bullshit promise that the Enclave would let them live and Vor Shinse mentally rolled her eyes. Yeah right, "live" long enough for FEV tests more like. There was the Enclave and then below them were the xenophobes and supremacists. But she needed to find decent cover. The Enclave was focused on snipers and boats, so she needed a clear line of sight with a quick escape route. Maybe one good shot into the back of an Enclave soldier would be enough to detonate the suits Fusion core. Maybe.

[[Edited for typos.]]

@shadowsaint007 @Shadowman215
Sundown before the attack:

Greg was locking up his store for the night when the two Brotherhood members arrived at his store. "Actually, I'm just locking up, and I was thinking that if we left now and drove for a few hours, we could clear it out tonight and maybe be back before the Enclave attacks. Should be back before noon."

---

Three hours after leaving they pulled up to the factory in which the Vault entrance was located. Greg went to the back of the trick and lowered the hydraulic ramp he'd added to it so that his personal Protectron, Prince, could get out and so that other robots could load themselves into the truck after they captured them. "You two take point. Prince and I will take up the rear. The fastest way to it is through the elevator at the back of the building. Be careful, though. The last time I visited there were raiders living here."

It was was finally there - the Enclave. Max had not been preparing for the attack that much to tell the truth. Maybe he had hoped it would not come after all. He silently hoped his old crew would be there to support him, but sadly the old man wouldn't have such luxury.

With his magnificent luck and unnervingly effective weapon Max managed to take care of a pair of power armored Enclave soldiers. He hastily removed one of the corpses from a power armor and climbed in. The fact he had shot the soldier through the eye slit of the helmet made the helmets of both suits unusable, but the power armor was all he needed for now. Though he had not used a power armor for nearly 10 years the old man soon remembered how to move in one and took a better hold of both the massive combat knife and the gauss pistol of his.

Though the core of the suit was running low on energy Max was sure it would give him a much better edge against the Enclave forces for now. Silently he hoped that the defenders of Liberty Island wouldn't think he's one of the enemy.

The number of Enclave casualties went up to three, the first two merely injured by a Molotov Cocktail and an Exploding Gas Can, and another who had his head exploded by Ahab, who turned out to be not as lucky as he had thought; once he had killed his first Enclave fighter, two others who had been in his line of sight began shooting a Plasma Rifle and Laser, peforating the decaying building he was in and causing it to collapse.

Then, a Gauss Rifle shot, and the number of Enclave casualties went up to five, as Max took care of a couple of power-armored men...then took one of the suits of Power Armor for himself. Par, still on George as the latter wrestled with Alan as the latter's squadmates broke through the circle engulfing them, took out a radio and spoke:

"Aydon, now!"

All of a sudden, Par's Solar-Electric Truck drove through the corpses of dead defenders and the wreckage of destroyed barricades, crashing into another Enclave Soldier and tossing him into a wall. Said Enclave soldier got up, only for the truck to turn to its side, jury-rigged machine guns opening from hidden ports on the front, sides, and top. Driving them all was the aforementioned Aydon, John Ketler's young friend. The 16-year old had been given a crash course by Par, and by that, Par had shown him the user's manual, as well as a set of crudely illustrated instructions on what buttons to press and what levers to turn.

"Fire on as many targets as you could!" Par then shouted, "include the propellers, then go to the docks!" After a nod, and a few more button presses, the Enclave man who had been knocked back was peforated with high-caliber bullets, and the Vertibird, flaming, was brought crashing down into an abandoned building. The truck then went on to the docks, where its jury-rigged guns began firing on Alex's position!

It seemed as though they had a chance of winning this...until all of a sudden, from the east, came the sounds of Sentry Bots, Protectrons, and another ten Power-Armored goons; most of them new recruits from Vault 81.

The chances for victory were waning...

@shadowsaint007, @Madly33, @Marcus XVI, @Simple Unicycle, @jordy0403, @EvilEdd1984, @Trevor1001, @Shadowman215, @TheUnknowable, @Lord Coake, @Vulkan, @Hjalti.

@Letter Bee

Ahab felt the building collapsing underneath his feet making his move jumping to the floor beside him of the decayed building beside him,His body making a loud thud against the ground.He may have broken his arm but he was tough enough not to notice hiding in the shadows behind the walls,His large hands wrapped around his sniper taking aim once more firing a few shots at the Enclave Sentry Bots.

Danny meanwhile was still helping with the wounded.

Alex began to think, while hiding behind a wall so the enemy sniper couldnt get him. This was going to be tricky. His enemy was quick, and judging by his choice of weapon, had the edge in stopping power. He missed his old P94. If he had that right now, the sniper would be green goo and splattered all over the crowd.

He was a soldier of the united states government. He would not be made a fool of by this...mutant!

Carefully, he edged around, angling himself, so the sniper couldnt see him. He raised his rifle, and fired a single blast. He didn't aim for the sniper, but rather a second fishing boat nearby. The shot, like the previous one, burned clean through the hull and detonated the engine, sending a ball of fire into the sky. The explosion was near the snipers position, although unfortuanately, it was also near a few refugees. He swore under his breath.

"Damn that mutie. Making me do that."

He shook his head, and scanned the snipers position with his rifle. He couldnt see him. He supposed he must have killed him, or wounded him enough to retreat. He hoped it was the former. He crouched, and spoke into his comm unit, to a different channel.

"This is Corporal Roniel. All resistance has been eliminated at the docks. Vertibird two, move in and give me support in pacifying the populace!"

Vor Shinse was scanning the area from her position, set up behind a counter on the ground floor of a nearby building. A gaping hole in the wall in front of her gave her a clear view of the conflict while an open door to her right gave her a escape route. Her attention was suddenly grabbed by an Enclave soldier sprinting past. Normally she wouldn't have given it much though, but this one wasn't wearing a helmet. If she could lead the headshot she'd have Enclave armour at her disposal!Granted, Enclave armour without a helmet wasn't something she'd want to use, but the Fusion core? That could make a pretty decent makeshift grenade...

"Bad day for you mother- Merde!!" she cursed under her breath as she lined the shot. She'd just been about to pull the trigger when a truck barreled past, obscuring her view long enough for the soldier to get away. The vehicle came crashing to a stop, slamming into an Enclave soldier and swinging around to reveal heavy machine guns that began firing on various Enclave members.

Oh well, she thought to herself, The truck should make quick work of that guy anyway. She also noticed to great approval that the truck had the piece of mind to take out the propellers of a nearby vertibird, sending it screaming into the ground and she smiled. People on this island could spot a weak spot after all!

Vor Shinse briefly considered sticking around to shoot the trucks gas tank once it ran out of ammunition to take out any nearby Enclave, but she realised that she didn't know how many people were powering the vehicle and that it seemed to be solar powered, meaning there was nothing to ignite. It was also at that moment that another boat exploded thanks to energy weapon fire, several refugees caught in the explosion.
She gritted her teeth. The Enclave would let them all live, huh? Was that why they were taking out unarmed refugees? She started to move towards the place she assumed the shot had come from, stopping to grab the second gas can as she went. She was going to have a word with someone.

@Vulkan

Tom hid behind his cover while we tried to think of a plan. He couldn't get close because of the lack of cover between them. Next thing Tom knew he was on the ground with a ringing in his ears. As his vision came into focus he was staring at the wall he was hiding behind. "Ugh...FUCK!" Pain shot through him as he realized a piece of metal from the boat was in his arm. Fighting the pain he started to get up, leaving his sniper on the ground, and drew his 10mm pistol. Just then Tom heard a Vertibird approaching and he had lost a lot of blood. After walking for a bit he fell down and his vision darkened.

Sundown before the attack:

Greg was locking up his store for the night when the two Brotherhood members arrived at his store. "Actually, I'm just locking up, and I was thinking that if we left now and drove for a few hours, we could clear it out tonight and maybe be back before the Enclave attacks. Should be back before noon."

---

Three hours after leaving they pulled up to the factory in which the Vault entrance was located. Greg went to the back of the trick and lowered the hydraulic ramp he'd added to it so that his personal Protectron, Prince, could get out and so that other robots could load themselves into the truck after they captured them. "You two take point. Prince and I will take up the rear. The fastest way to it is through the elevator at the back of the building. Be careful, though. The last time I visited there were raiders living here."

@Shadowman215@TheUnknowable
Sparks was feeling even more guilty about leaving now, especially since Liberty Island was under threat of attack. Jensen would have been of more use defending the town. Still, maybe they could be done with this quickly and be back before anything happened.

---

At the Vault, Sparks jumped out of the car, and helped Jensen get out of the cramped car. As Holden got the heavy support ready, she nodded and headed up to the elevator, checking for traps before opening the door with any passcodes Greg may have remembered. If there were no codes, or if the door remained closed, she would hack into the door panel and try and open it.

Once the door was open, she nodded to Jensen, took out her rifle, and prepared for anything.

@shadowsaint007, @Madly33, @Marcus XVI, @Simple Unicycle, @jordy0403, @EvilEdd1984, @Trevor1001, @Shadowman215, @TheUnknowable, @Lord Coake, @Vulkan, @Hjalti.

Gabriel had just managed to get a good night's sleep and was out shopping when the sound of Vertibirds echoed overhead. The siege was on.

It was soon clear that despite the long period of preparations and improving defenses, the settlement was unable to beat back the tide. The Enclave had come in, full force, with no other goal than complete victory. This was no raid on a mere settlement; this was an all-out war by a far superior foe with no sense of fair play. The only thing that seemed to stay their hands and prevented a massacre seemed to be that the Enclave was more interested in taking and holding the town and the people in it, rather than simply crushing the opposition flat.

To Gabriel's chagrin, he was quickly finding out that his trust rifle was a shade above useless. He kept his tactics and his cool; he changed locations, used dust and obstacles to hide his presence, and kept switching sniping spots after every one or two shots to avoid being pinned down. The big problem was that his rifle, good as it was against wild creatures and raiders in the Wasteland, was barely able to dent Enclave powered armor. He managed to get a couple of kills, thanks mainly to the large eyes that made excellent (if small) targets on the suits, but other than that he was reduced to the role of a gadly. He swore repeatedly, his curses growing more and more colorful as each shot either bounced off heavy armor plating or barely missed a few exposed wires.

He was trying to fight back against a couple of drones, wondering where the hell they had gotten all this hardware, when more drones and robots came in. His heart sank; the defenders had been overtaxed as it were, and this new assault was just overkill. There was no question of backing out now, however. He had no plan, no big weapons, no backup, and no idea of what was going on, but he at least he had a duty, and he intended to at least help the settlement as best he can.

With renewed determination, he resumed his strikes, aiming at the robots' cameras, screens, monitors, and communication antennae, also taking out several of the more lightly armored units. Nonetheless, he kept his eye out for any seemingly important targets, anything whose loss would disrupt the attack and thus potentially turn the tide.