Only three of the initial Enclave strikeforce were left, and even the reinforcements were getting dented; Liberty Island had its own robots, thanks to Greg. But that won't be enough to win, not with the Enclave being dead-set on taking the city and, instead of exterminating the inhabitants, enslave them. This Par realized, shortly before Alan kicked George in the crotch, causing the Yao Guai to roar loudly in pain, almost shaking Par off. Knowing that it was dangerous to stay on the Yao Guai any longer, Par, being more agile than most, hopped off the mutated bear's back...shortly before Alan dispatched the beast with a laser pistol shot.

Running back to a last barricade, ran by a four dougthy Protectrons, Par looked around to see a scene from his nightmares.

On the docks to the west, he can see a second Vertibird flying near the docks, carrying its own crew of soldiers. No escape that way, then. To the north, he can glimpse what seemed to be Brotherhood troops, but they seemed to be getting swamped. Of couse, his vision could just be wrong; he wore glasses for a reason...

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@Letter Bee

Ahab continued with his onslaught of sniper fire hitting a few of the Enclave soldiers that were attacking his comrades,The mutant moving form the shadows to the top floor of the building.There he slowly laid down on the ground on his stomach looking though his scope aiming at Enclave Protectrons blowing off their heads in rapid fire.

Running from cover to cover, Vor Shinse stopped to take a quick breath as she caught a glimpse of the Enclave soldier who had blown up the boats. They were ducked behind cover wearing a set of heavily worn Enclave armour that was covere in sdcratches, dents and various scorch marks. This was going to be the risky part. She couldn't risk getting caught in the crossfire of a sniper battle and getting too close to any enemy decked out in power armour wasn't a smart idea. She'd have to time this right, she thought as she unholstered her 10mm and picked up the gas can.

She watched the soldier as he took another shot at the sniper pinning him down and then ran out into the open. With any luck the other snipers would see she wasn't Enclave and focus their attention on the actual enemy, keeping him suppressed long enough for her to jump back into cover. Sprinting past his hiding spot, Vor Shinse hurled the gas can with all her strength, watching it fly into the air as she brought her pistol up and unloaded an automatic burst at the can. The first shot failed to ignite the fuel within but, as luck would have it, the second bullet did the trick. Unfortunately for Vor Shinse however, the container was sill close enough that some of the flaming gasoline landed on her left shoulder and leg.

Continuing to sprint like a radbat out of hell, Vor Shinse ran for the docks. She'd hoped to move from cover to cover in order to eventually hide in the water, but now she needed something to douse the flames before they caused any injury, so she had no choice but to run.

As the battle raged on the old man in the power armor seemed to get even more determined than before. His Gauss Pistol took out few of the Enclave bots before running out of munitions. The muffled little sound of his trusty sidearm finally running out did not stop Max however. He holstered the pistol and took a better hold of his massive knife with his left hand while actually closing in on another power armored Enclave soldier.

The power armors hit together with a loud creaking and the Enclave soldier actually dropped his Gauss Rifle, but managed to keep his balance while properly readying his power fist. The two men had a silent stare down while lasers, plasma bolts and normal bullets whizzed past them.

Then and there Max felt 40 years younger, more even. For just a moment he was not in Liberty Island, but in Navarro once again. He was returned back to the present nearly immediately as the Enclave soldier chose to make his move and thus the two became locked in melee combat.

In the end, the Enclave had just too many fighters and robots, and while it was a miracle that the people of Liberty Island had scored so many kills, in the end, most of the defenders had been killed, Par's Truck had been blasted to bits (Aydon survived), and the Enclave, seeing that only a few were left to stand against them, began restraining the remaining defenders, with Alan tasking his robots and people to begin grappling those that still fought. Gabriel, Vos, Danny, a still-unconcious Tom, David, several Brotherhood Knights, Max in his stolen Enclave Power Armor Jinx, Par, and even Ahab were taken this way, and, after a lot of struggle (Ahab would be able to take down a few more bots)...

...Brought to the City Square, along with the rest of Liberty Island's population. Alex and the soldiers in the second Vertibird would have pride of place, helping to trap the captured civilians and militia in a great ring around the square, where Enclave reinforcements would begin clamping slave collars on the captives, a signal that the Enclave was going to live up to its new leader's agenda: exploit, not kill; enslave, instead of exterminate. Alan had taken off his helmet now, and, handing it to one of his trusted 'Hedonists', turned to gloat:

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, I kept my promise to allow you to live, even though you have not surrendered. This is not because we of the United States of America have grown more tolerant of...mutations, but rather because we have decided to become more pragmatic, to use whatever resource we have in order to build a new world."

"You have heard rumors, right? That the Enclave is under new leadership, that it wants to turn the people of the Wastelands into slaves instead of merely killing them? Well I am the new leader, and these rumors are true. Congratulations, you're property now, even the Ghouls and Super Muties!" Alan then laughed in a deep tone of voice, before turning around, first to Vos, and then to the other captured defenders.

"However...there are a few of you who would not make good slaves; people who would oppose me to the end even if collared. You will not get the chance to damage our interests ever again." Alan then drew his pistol and walked up to Vos, fully prepared to shoot her in the head -

"Wait!" shouted Par from the front of the now-terrified crowd. "Don't shoot any of the defenders! I have something to bargain with!" Alan looked darkly at him, then walked back to the centre of the city square, before facing the audacious 19-year old.

"You have something to bargain with, boy? When I have everything that you own, including yourself?" A smile. "Humor me."

"If you let some of them go, they can bring a message, a message to the remaining inhabitants of the city, and the former state, of the new power of the Enclave. They can be used to spread terror among other people, make them so frightened that they would resist less when you come. Not just that, but..." he then stared eye-to-eye with Alan.

"I was one of the defenders, I was the one who rode a Yao Guai against you, and I am the person that, when you went to the New York Public Library, you wanted for yourself. You promised my subordinate that you would hand him my weight in purified water if he handed you over to me, right? Well, I'm handing myself over to you." Par's face was firmly set. "You have my compliance, with anything, if you would just let my friends go. That's what I have to bargain with, my obedience."

Alan smiled, his grin reaching ear to ear.

"Come over to me," he said, beckoning him over. Par slowly walked to the centre of the sqare, just before the Colonel.

"You are right, your logic does make sense. But first, I have to test how far you are willing to go in order to obey me." Alan's eyes were shining with an intense yearning, before looking at Par again.

"Strip. Take off every inch of clothing, including your glasses; once you are my Naked Slave, your eyesight can be easily repaired by our medics."

Par nodded, before the 19-year old slowly, as if every second filled him with pain, taking off his clothing and throwing it in a pile, putting his glasses/shades on top. His head was now bowed low, as though instinctively sensing that was what Alan wanted.

And the Colonel, still in his power armor, circled the nude merchant, inspecting every inch of his body, taking pleasure in the humiliation that it brought to both his captive and the other prisoners.

"Hmm, thin and weak, but well-fed and full. Beautiful grey eyes, and an average-sized frame. Not much hair besides the head, eyebrows and eyelashes, and thus less to shave with the laser." Alan then placed a power-armored palm on Par's shoulder.

"Kneel. Use your clothes as a cushion so your pretty knees don't get dirty." And Par knelt, his head still bowed, with Alan turning to face him.

"Perfect, you are perfect. I will have much fun with you..." he then pulled a Slave Collar from a hidden pocket and clamped it around Par's neck tightly, causing a clear shudder, which seemed to excite Alan all the more.

"Very well!" the Colonel announced. "For your obedience, I will let your friends, and the Brotherhood Knights, go. However, the man who stole Enclave Power Armor will have to give that up, and the Brotherhood members have to give up their Power Armor as well; the rest can keep their weapons, in order to show that even at full strength, they cannot win against me." He then looked at his troops.

"Let the various prisoners who had fought so well, the ones who had fought hardest against us, go. Remove the old man's stolen armor, as well as the Brotherhood Knights'. Then send them on their way onto one of the remaining boats." He then gripped Par's chin and forced him to face his friends.

"Naked Slave can even watch them leave, so that he doesn't have to fear that I'm going back on my word."

With brusque hands, Max and the Brotherhood Knights' Power Armor was removed, and the weapons of the various independent volunteers were returned to them. Then they were manhandled into three rafts and set off with Par being forced to walk naked to the docks to see them off.

Once the people in the rafts were out of sight, Alan would then look at Par and say:

"Come to the Vertibird now, we have much to do."

On the Raft

The various other...Protagonists would find that the Enclave really was letting them go, letting them go to face the consequences of their failure.

Aydon, John Ketler's friend, was there, saying:

"What about going to the Brotherhood?" he asked.

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The very moment Max had been handled his weapons back Max had very casually reloaded his pistol and gave the leader of the Enclave a rather nasty look. "You are all the same. You are all the fuckin' same! Richardson, Horrigan, Eden..." He could have ended it right there, empty the whole magazine to the bastard's head and die as a hero, but... The bastard did not know who the old man was. There wouldn't be the fear effect needed to completely dull the Enclave's efforts.

Still his hands had moved on his own - despite the power armored soldiers around him the old man had drawn his gun and pointed it directly towards the Colonel's head. "I could kill you right here and now you filthy bastard, I've killed men a hundred times tougher than you." Max actually smiled. The yellow 13 in his back told no stories to anyone but himself, holding importance and both good memories as the bad ones. "I may be a fool for not pulling the trigger right here and now, but... I can be a hero later." He holstered the pistol grudgingly and tossed his massive knife to the Colonel's feet. "That knife right there belonged to one of your fancy Enclave fellows - an FEV mutant clad in power armor called Frank Horrigan. Back in the day I blew that bastard in half and took the fuckin' knife as a trophy. So mark my words, Colonel. Take a good care of that knife, because one day I'm going to come back to collect it." After those words Max allowed himself to be escorted to the rafts.

As the rafts were finally sent on their way Max just stood there, staring back at Liberty Island in silence, gripping the handle of his pistol.

It was all nothing more than intimidation tactics, Vor reflected on the raft. They would have killed her in front of the others to instill fear and obedience and hopefully quell any idea of rebellion. She thought back to the gun pointed to her head and remembered how it had made her feel. It didn't scare her, rather it made her angry. She wasn't done. She had far too much left to do before she could die.
And yet some young kid had brought her freedom with his subservience. She had no idea how, apparently he was a charismatic little guy. And of course the Enclave leader had capitalised on that, too. Sexual humiliation to add to the humiliation of defeat, treating people as property.

"Two hundred years of civil rights progress undone in about the same amount of time. Figures." She muttered to herself. Morons, all of them.

Across from her stood some old man dressed in vault dweller attire, gripping his pistol. He'd made some big show of announcing who he was, pointing guns in faces and throwing down knives. Defeat did funny things to people. Some rolled over and became fatalistic, others got real noisy about rising again. The old man seemed to be doing the latter. Ironically it was a more American ideal than the Enclave's.
Vor Shinse, on the other hand, was annoyed. She hadn't been there to fight, she'd been there to trade. She hadn't been defeated because she hadn't actually been defending anything, she'd only wanted to get rid of the attackers that were preventing her from trading her haul. Still, people like that? They bothered her. They might have thought she was going to spread tales of the big, scary Enclave, but she knew what words could do. Tell a certain story the right way and it can have a very different effect on people.

Still, she hoped she'd at least given that sniper a couple of burns to remember her by.

Huh, well, damn it. I thought in the boat. They'd found my hidey hole in the building, and now I was captured. Not to mention the biggest wastelander's city in New York that anyone knew about practically had just been taken over by the Enclave. And... we were minus one person of our now a bit bigger group. Damn it all. And that guard, going to the Brotherhood? Well, guess it couldn't hurt. "I'm in, as long as we can find some way to at least warn people of the fall of the city, I'm with whoever has the best chance until then, at least. just tell me, where is this boat going?" I asked. "Cause I don't want to be sitting around with no control of where we're going."

In the end, bravery could not make up for a severe lack of firepower. As humiliating as it was, Gabriel was forced to lay down his arms and come along peacefully, being rounded up along with the rest of the defenders and the hapless populace. It galled him to surrender, it galled him even more how the Enclave was acting, as though they were being magnanimous to let them live as slaves. The Enclave commander allowed them to leave, the prick managing to sound generous when he let the 'valiant defenders' flee with their lives.

Gabriel had his weapons returned, though it felt more of an insult than anything. Nothing in his arsenal was capable of hurting this enemy, and they intended to make it clear to him and everyone involved. He grunted his response when an Enclave soldier, sneering, asked him to show some thanks at being allowed to take his weapons back.

Looking back, Gabriel felt his anger rise further; he was leaving along with the fighters, but the civilians were still trapped. This was rubbing more salt in the wound; his bravery managed to save himself, but all the helpless were trapped, slaves to a new master, even though many had come here to flee slavery in the Wastelands. Gabriel kept his gaze on the docks, even as he stepped into an evacuation raft. As the island slowly drifted into the distance, Gabriel was filled with a burning resolve; he was going to fix this mistake. For now, the Enclave can gloat all it wants. There was time enough to get ready for another round.

That night, Gabriel drifted away from the others. He wanted to be alone, to mull over his thoughts. To say it had been a lousy day was a horrible understatement; people fought and died, and in the end, it had been futile. Gabriel just wanted time to himself. Time to think.

As he was roasting some bloatfly over a campfire, his attention was caught by a nearby sound. He pulled out his rifle, counting his meager remaining bullets, and got ready to shoot the first thing that came into the light.

To his surprise, however, he was met with the mournful face of a dog, who had smelled roasting meat and came over to see. The poor thing was clearly hungry, but seemed rather comfortable around humans. Gabriel gave a smirk, and reached out with some cooked bloatfly. The dog sniffed it gingerly, before taking it and wolfing it down.

"Poor fella," Gabriel chuckled. "You were really hungry. Here, have some more."

The dog accepted the meat gratefully, eventually sitting down next to the young man in front of the fire. Gabriel scratched his ears.

"Friendly little guy, aren't ya?" he mused. "Poor mutt, how long have you been out here?"

The dog whined in response, relaxing as Gabriel's scratching soothed him. Gabriel then caught the glint of a metal collar in the firelight.

"'Dogmeat'?" he said, reading the collar. "That your name, boy? Eh, it's a good name."

The dog was licking his lips of any remaining meat, and had begun dozing in front of the warm fire. Gabriel grinned. Maybe he didn't mind company after all. Maybe he just needed someone to cheer him up.

"Good night, Dogmeat," Gabriel said, wrapping himself and the dog in a blanket as he drifted off to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day, best to get some much-needed rest.

@Letter Bee

Danny knowing that the Enclave were winning this battle,The ghoul was firing at the incoming robots that were trying to round up the still fighting survivors.But soon it was too much the group was captured with Danny rising his hands in surrender.

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

Ahab was firing at the few robots that were coming at the still fighting survivors,His eyes moving once in a while seeing if Jenifer was apart of the fighting force or was wounded.He did not want to see his best friend dead it would be devastating for him.

Soon he was surrounded by Enclave rising his hands in surrender,Dropping his sniper on the ground with a loud thud.Form the corner of his eye he could see one of the body and soon recognized who it was. It was Jenifer his eyes watering up feeling his tears running down his cheek as they dragged her body with the rest.

Alex once again felt reassured as the vertibird flew over him. He aimed down the rifle, watching the enclave soldiers jump out and point their weapons at the crowd. He heard a single shot, and growled. He had ordered them not to use force...

As he thought about this, he heard something behind him and a single shot. Not thinking, he launched himself to the side as a wave of burning fuel cascaded around him. He kept moving, not even yelling in anger as he moved from the fire's range, with nothing but a few more scorch marks on his armour. This was irritating. Burns were a pain to clean out, even more that most other damage. He whirled around, but his assailant had made their escape quick.

Smart Mutie.

Instantly pushing his attacker out of his mind, he got up and ran towards the vertibird, reaching it and climbing on board as it slowly rose above the crowd. He nodded to a nearby enclave trooper, who fired his gun in the air several times. Instantly, the crowd went silent, and Alex activated his helmet loudspeaker.


"Attention, all denizens of this island! You are now all under the custody of the united states government! All of you will submit for processing and collaring, as well as DNA scans. Dont worry, unless you are a mutant, you have nothing to fear!"

He looked to the nearest soldier, making sure to turn his speaker off. "Get it done soon. The colonel should be nearly done as well."
________

He, his men and the prisoners got to the colonel as some small wastelander was talking to him. Negotiations? With mutants? Could the battle have really gone that badly?

He listened to their talk. He wasnt really listening, preferring to keep an eye out in case anyone tried anything, until one thing caught his attention.

"You have my compliance, with anything, if you would just let my friends go. That's what I have to bargain with, my obedience."

Alex paused, his eyes widening under his helmet.

"You...idiot."

He watched the rest of it, although he didn/t exactly want to. He was enclave. Enclave had to stomach much more than this. When the order was given to board the vertibirds, he obeyed without a word.

Tom physically and mentally felt like shit. Even with the fact the Enclave was probably going to win he was hoping more people would escape. Now he was drifting with a few other people he recognized and some people he didn't. With the awkward silence Tom decided to try to break the ice. "I...so...sigh" Giving up with a sigh Tom stopped trying to make conversation with anyone. After they landed Tom got out of the raft and helped anyone that needed help getting out.

When night fell Tom was by a fire he had made for the others. Gabriel left the main group and sat some distance from the others. He got up and cleared his throat as he looked at the others. "We should figure out who is going to watch over the others while they sleep. I'll take first watch." Some of the others looked like they were about to pass out but they needed to set up a watch just in case they might be attacked.

David had remained eerily calm during the rounding up of survivors, and the subsequent forced removal from the remains of Liberty City. On the raft ride, he did his best to pass out medical supplies, food, and anything else people might have needed. When the survivors established their camp, Tom asked about who would take the different watches. David spoke up to volunteer, saying "I'll take second watch, if that's alright with the rest of you."

@Lord Coake

"Do whatever ya want no skin off my nose..." Danny replied shaking his head looking around the raft before looking at the landscape wondering how is parents were,His hands folded in his lap thinking about his parents for the most part and was more concerned for that then being on this blasted raft.

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

Ahab meanwhile was holding a pendant that Jenifer had and have given to Ahab beforehand,His own thoughts on her holding it close to him his head lowered.A small muffled cry could be heard his massive hands covering his face.

"It'll be skin off your body if there's no watch, so maybe you should stop feeling sorry for yourself and be grateful some people care enough to take the job. I'll take third watch as well." I said, suddenly angry that after all this, he could be sorry for himself, and not do anything about helping. "I'm getting some fuel." I walk off a bit into the night, looking for any fuel for our fire. I saw one of the others with... was that a dog? I kept on searching though, and came back with some wood.

Tom sat back down glad that some people were willing to help keep watch. He took a bite and watched as the light slowly turned to darkness.
Just staring out into wasteland with a few thoughts circling his mind.

When it was time he grabbed his gun and started watching for the people already asleep. His watch was uneventfully boring. Tom was keeping time with the position of the moon. It wasn't a very accurate way for him to tell time but he only needed to stay up for a third of the night anyway. When his watch was over Tom when to wake David and went to sleep when he started his watch.

David hadn't slept much during Tom's watch, more out of not needing it than anything else. When the time came for his watch, he thanked Tom, and took his place overseeing the camp. During his watch, he took the time to go over and update his map, adding in all the locations he had encountered or heard of since his arrival in New York. Admittedly, there weren't many, as he had just arrived, but nonetheless it made his map all that much more inclusive. While he was on watch, a small radroach had come scuttling up to the camp. David managed to shoo it off with a rock, but other than that the watch was uneventful. After the end of his watch ended, David woke up Jinx for his round, going back to his place around the campfire, and taking the opportunity to page though his Bible for a while.

@Lord Coake

Danny was ignoring the group looking around for something to do other then keeping watch,His eyes looking onwards to a lone mole rat scarring along the the ground.The ghoul was deep in thought mostly of his parents and if they got out okay or not.

"I can be on watch after him...i can take the high ground with my sniper scope to see the unwanted" Ahab spoke up holding Jenifer's pendent in his large hands.

Third watch. Nothing. The others had gotten the same. Something seemed wrong. You should be grateful said a voice in my head. I know, but this seems too uneventful. Of course, I could be wrong... Which you are!!! reinforced the same voice, after another came in. I wondered what the others in our group were thinking. Something, nothing, who knows? The rest of my watch was uneventful, and I woke the super mutant for his watch. "Your up. Just try not to let us down, no-one will ever trust you again if you slip up." I said, hoping that he wouldn't betray us.

@Eviledd1984

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Lawrence had been patrolling the area where the group had fled to, with two men from 'the Dirty Half-Dozen': Paladin Marvin Carter and Scribe Norman Greenburg. They soon arrive at the camp (which I'm sure half these people aren't even at), and Lawrence lifts the Pilgrim up upon seeing the group. "Eh, we got some civilians here. Proceeding to make contact." Lawrence says to the others in his distinct accent, which sounds like one that a native of Boston would have, despite the fact he was from half-way across the country. Anyhow, Lawrence steps forward and addresses all the members in the group. "State your names, civilians. And don't even think about trying to attack; we, or at least I, won't so much as hesitate to gun you down." With that, Marvin and Norman step forward with automatic laser rifles, aimed and ready to fire.