Sentinel Irving, NCRCF
One of the most important lessons in the Brotherhood was that the best laid plans often went awry, thus it was essential to be able to adapt quickly to changing conditions on and off the battlefield. Even Elder McNamara, stubborn as he was to make any changes in the Brotherhood's doctrine, had firsthand experience with taking command in a disaster and salvaging the situation. In this particular situation, Irving found himself tasked with salvaging the situation that Hardin had created when he prematurely set into motion the chapter's plans for crippling the local NCR occupiers.
With Hardin and his forces heading towards the Van Graff Headquarters, it was imperative that Irving preserve the momentum of the attack and ensure that the objectives of the strike at NCRCF were met. He didn't like that it was started, but it was essential that he see it through. As an old saying went, when you strike at the king, you had better kill him. They certainly wouldn't be able to kill the foe with this strike, but they should at least be able to hamstring them.
Upon arriving at NCRCF, already heavily damaged by Hardin's attack, the Brotherhood would give demands for surrender, promising mercy for the NCR staff and garrison whom Hardin had been prepared to show no quarter to. Assuming the garrison surrendered, the Brotherhood scribes would be tasked with quickly sifting through the prison records to find everyone worth releasing. While those in the work camps would have had ample time to escape in the wake of Hardin's attacks, those still incarcerated in the cell blocks would have to be manually released. The top priority was political prisoners, those who had run afoul of the Van Graffs or Colonel Abernathy, to be released and provided an escort to one of the local towns- or if they desired, to one of the chapter's western surface outposts. The secondary priority was any whose records designated them a members of the Great Khans. Lastly, raiders and petty roughnecks willing to face the Great Khans' initiation would be sent under escort, to Red Rock Canyon. Whether they would pass or fail didn't matter. Those of no use to the Brotherhood, or those of heinous crimes, would be left in their cells for the NCR to sort out.
After stuffing the NCR staff into now-vacated cells for their colleagues to rescue, the Brotherhood departed, causing further damage to the perimeter fences as they left. As evidenced by the fate suffered by the so-called Powder Gangers shortly before the NCR's complete takeover, the prison was unsuitable for defending against the might of the NCR's armed forces.
---
Head Paladin Hardin, Van Graff Headquarters
"Rapier Squad, concentrate fire on that Sentry bot! Max-charge your shots and aim for the chest! Halberd Squad, keep your distance!" Hardin barked on the comms as he unleased a hail of plasma at the Van Graff security bots barring their way. It wasn't unexpected that the Van Graffs would put up a fight. Hardin had hoped to catch them off-guard, but they had clearly been prepared for a fight. As the NCR's new masters, they were probably among the first to receive word of the attack on NCRCF, but once they were inside, it might be wise to have a field scribe take a look at the building's comms to confirm how deeply the Van Graffs had ingrained themselves into the local NCR occupation's inner workings.
Despite the massive bucket of bolts proving to be a formidable obstacle, it could not delay the warriors of the Brotherhood for long. Under concentrated laser, plasma, and coilgun fire, its defenses failed, and it exploded in a spectacular fireball. Undeterred by the deafening and blinding blast, Hardin and his Paladins advanced into the building.
"Snipers, keep an eye on the perimeter and keep us posted if you see anything!" he ordered. If the Van Graffs were to attempt to escape through a back entrance, or if someone sent help, they would need to know immediately. As much as the Sentinel and Elder welcomed the use of the duraframe eyebots for surveillance and scouting, Hardin preferred to place his trust in the eyes and scopes of veteran Knights. Over half the chapter had been lost because their fool of a former Elder had hinged their hopes of victory entirely on unproven technology at HELIOS One, and he would not make the same mistake.
Room by room, corridor by corridor, the Brotherhood's power armored warriors fought their way through the building. If there was one thing that the "Sentinel" hadn't screwed up entirely, it was giving the men men and women opportunity to build combat experience with his incursions into the Green. The Brotherhood lived and died by the superior skill of its warriors, and VR simulations could never prepare them for real combat.
The sound of an explosion suddenly sounded not far from his position. He knew right away that was not the sound of a Graff thug's plasma rifle.
"Hardin, this is Sabre Squad, we've got a problem," a voice sounded on the radio. "The Van Graffs left a Sentry Bot in the armory, and it's already taken out Jacobs."
"We're on our way, try and lure it towards our position." Hardin signaled for his warriors to follow behind. Battling Sentry Bots inside the cramped quarters of a pre-war building was always a challenge.
"Hardin, the Van Graffs are escaping through the rear entrance. Your orders?"
"Halberd Squad, pursue them! I've got another problem to deal with," he ordered, just as he and his squad reached the battle with the Sentry. These things always came up at the most disadvantageous times in battle.
The Sentry Bot fired a missile, striking a retreating Sabre Squad Paladin square in the chest and bringing chunks of ceiling down on him. Hardin and his squad opened fire on the Sentry, drawing its fire. Plasma fire burned through its chestplate, disabled its missile arm, and finally it exploded, demolishing the adjacent wall sections and bringing the above floor down onto it.
"Hardin, Halberd Squad here. The remaining Van Graffs have fled into the wasteland. What are your orders?"
"Rapier Squad, did you spot Gloria among those retreating?"
"Negative, Head Paladin, none that matched her description." Hopefully that meant that Gloria would be among one of the corpses in the building. If she did fall, it wasn't guaranteed that they'd be able to recognize her body- plasma and lasers weapons didn't always leave enough remains to identify.
"Rapier Squad, keep us posted. Everyone else, secure the building. Take out any guards or bots left, and begin salvage. Prioritize energy weapons and Fusion Cores, we have only a limited window before the NCR will retaliate."
His warriors had taken losses, but this was a victory today- a victory that McNamara and Irving had always been too timid to seize. With news of this victory, he hoped the Brotherhood would be directed back onto the correct path.
---
Sentinel Irving, Hidden Valley Bunker
Irving sat at a desk, pondering the events that had occurred. The attack on the Van Graffs had yielded casualties, but the Head Paladin had managed to send his foe into retreat and secured a decent bounty of tech. Likewise, the attack on the NCRCF had allowed them to free a number of prisoners, although the fallout from that would not be as immediately quantifiable as Hardin's work at the Van Graff compound. They'd have to wait and see what effect it would have for the NCR's critics to be once again free to stir discontent.
Hardin's bold attack had won him considerable prestige within the chapter. Already there were some who were speaking that he had given the Brotherhood the kick it needed, or even that McNamara should step down as Elder. Perhaps most tellingly, even Irving was wondering if Hardin was right.
"Sentinel, we've installed the eyebot interfaces to the bunker's security terminal," spoke a scribe as she entered the room.
"Excellent work, scribe. Dismissed." One of his side projects at the bunker was the installation of interface ports for the Duraframe Eyebots. Most of the reverse-engineered Brotherhood models lacked the hacking capabilities, but Irving had brought him one electronic warfare Eyebot fitted with the necessary software and transceiver to perform decryptions. It wasn't a perfect system- it required a comparible receiver to be attached to the computer- but it ought to allow the scribes to bypass computer security much more quickly in the field. In the particular case of the security terminal, if anything went wrong with the bunker's security, the eyebot could be directed to set it right.
"Sentinel, Head Paladin, see me in my quarters," McNamara's voice spoke on the intercom as the scribe left. Irving shrugged, logged out of the computer terminal, and made his way to the Elder's office.
Irving took his seat next to Hardin, who had already arrived.
"Good to see you both here. Let's get straight to business: because of our recent successful operations, and the conflict with the NCR heating up, we will be forced to assume more responsibility than you have become accustomed to. Head Paladin, I need you overseeing our combat operations. The NCR and Van Graffs will retaliate and escalate, and we must be ready. As for you, Sentinel, you will continue to handle the more unconventional duties that you have thus far been spearheading- coordinating with our allies, managing diplomatic matters with the Mojave's many factions, and managing the operations to study and combat The Green. Do either of you have any questions?"
"Negative,"
"No, Elder,"
"Good, because one such unconventional matter has already arisen. Earlier today a message arrived for me, courtesy of the Sentinel's friends on the surface. See for yourself," the Elder spoke as he showed the letter to his subordinates. Irving and Hardin both looked over it carefully.
"I recognize the token, it's the White Glove Society," Hardin remarked. "One of the Three Families, House's pet tribals. It sounds like they are beginning to chafe under NCR rule."
"Yes, and they want our help. Our operations must have made a considerable impression on them," Irving replied.
"No doubt the White Gloves have their own agenda," McNamara spoke, "but I see no harm in opening dialogue with them. Our contact in Freeside will see to it that they receive their reply. You are both dismissed."
Chronic
sharkbites
LiverisGood
tundrafrog1124
Fish of Oblivion
Izurich
The Otter
Vampiretwilight
Ace of flames01