Headquarters: Capital Wasteland - Chapter Seventy Six (Patreon)

Despite a serious temptation to give everyone an easy morning to recover from the previous day's constant work, we were still way too close to a raider-occupied city for us to be hanging out and relaxing. We hadn't seen any raider signs since we got there: no graffiti, no hanging corpses, and no recently burned buildings or destruction, but I did not want to take a risk that someone had heard our fight and was now walking around, poking their nose in to see what was going on.

The sooner we were gone, the better. 

As we ate breakfast quickly and packed up for the final time in this area, we kept a close eye out for any possible ambush points. By realistic logic, there was no greater chance that they would stumble on us now than there was last night, or any other day, but I was not about to bet my luck on real logic. Especially not when my life seemed to run on narrative logic more than anything these days. 

Once we were back on the road, traveling a bit slower now that our carts and camels were weighed down with loot, we made a beeline for the best road out of the area and away from the city. We kept a good chunk of land between us and the raider-occupied ruins as well, not wanting to accidentally get spotted by scouts or raiding parties. We stayed quiet, moved as fast as we could, and kept our eyes out constantly.

Eventually, after nearly half a day of travel, we collectively unclenched and started talking quietly among ourselves. 

"So… are we just not worried about the raiders poking around the fort, with all its robots gone?" Carlos asked. "I mean, there was a lot of stuff for them to take, and we left stuff behind specifically for the Brotherhood."

"Not really," I said, shaking my head. "If they were smart enough to do anything like that, they would have already done it." 

Multiple people around me seemed surprised by my words, so I quickly continued. 

"That isn't to say you should underestimate them," I added. "Especially not the groups that have managed to grab firearms. But there are other opportunities in the wasteland, other ways to find good stuff, better weapons, better armor. And yet they are all walking around wearing cut-up tires and pieces of kitchen equipment. If they were willing to do hard work, they wouldn't be stealing hard work from other people."

"That seems reductive," Joseph responded. "What if one of them gets an idea?" 

"I think you're underestimating how much drugs they are doing, and how badly it affects them," I responded, shaking my head. "But technically it's not an invalid point. They could start poking around, but we left the place locked up, and while they might be able to smash some windows, they will not be able to get into either the armor or the power armor depot. I'll admit it's possible one of them might put a few brain cells together and understand that better armor is good, but there is no way one of them randomly learns how to hack a computer. I highly doubt there is a literate raider in the whole state, never mind computer literate."

"They could ruin the research?"

"And they could turn away from raiding and become devout catholics," I responded with a shrug. "The stuff we specifically left behind is protected, and they aren't likely to start putting enough thoughts together to start poking around what was a dangerous military base. Don't forget, this is high up on the Brotherhood's list of places to check in on. If we start helping them in other places, this is likely one of the first places they will work on cataloging."

"Fair enough, I suppose."

For the rest of the day, we traveled, eventually stopping for the night at a small concrete structure. I wasn't exactly sure what it was for before the war, but given its proximity to some sort of power station and transmission towers, I assumed it was related to them. The room wasn't very spacious, but it was enough for people to sleep, and the parking area had enough room for the camels and carts. 

While it was clear we were traveling slower, we still made good time and were quickly approaching where we would need to deviate from the path we took on the way to the fort. I didn't want anyone seeing what we were bringing back, and while we had covered the carts in salvaged cloth from a few of the homes we stayed near, someone could still butt their nose in and spot something they shouldn't. So, rather than tempt fate by passing close to Megaton, we added half a day to our travels to take a long, distant arc around the town before finally crossing the river and heading home. 

When we finally arrived back at HQ, we were tired, sore, and sick of traveling. By and large, the fact that we didn't take much of a break at our destination meant that the trip had been much more difficult than our trip to Rivet City.

With our exaggerated path around Megaton, we ended up coming in from the western entrance, passing between two of the refurbished buildings now built into the wall itself. Not far from the entrance, we were spotted by some of Johnson's men, who were stationed on top of one of the refurbished buildings. By the time we arrived, my soldiers greeted us and led the camels away as we climbed off them.

"Thanks, guys," I said, patting some of them on the back. "The camels should be offloaded by the armory, but take the carts to the advanced armory. Not all of it is for there, but you can sort through it as it's unloaded."

As the two arriving squads broke up and headed out towards their rooms, looking for much-needed new clothes and showers, Johnson spotted me and sidled up beside me. 

"Welcome back. Have fun?

"Yeah, we had a few interesting moments," I admitted. "As predicted, Radscorpions are no joke. I would hate to run into some without superior firepower"

"What is superior firepower when a ten-foot-long scorpion is trying to eat you?" Johnson asked, familiar with the name since I described the dangerous bug to him before. 

"At least a couple of SAWs, but ideally two whole squads."

"I would have said a few land mines, but that's just me," Johnson responded, before cutting the subject sideways. "When you're done cleaning up, we got something to talk about." 

"Something big?" I asked, stopping just before we pushed into the interior of the HQ. "Whats wrong?"

"It's not something that needs immediate attention," he explained, waving off my concern. "And it's nothing we can't handle. It will keep, go shower and change, you need it."

I gave him a look and nodded, deciding not to push. Johnson knew what he was doing, if he wasn't worried, then I could at least afford to clean up a bit. 

Thirty minutes, a change of clothes and a shower later, I left my room with only my chest armor on, my .223 on one hip, my 1911 on the other, but my rifle back in my room. I grabbed a cold drink from the food dispenser, enjoying the chilling beverage as I hunted down Johnson, who was waiting for me by the HQ entrance. 

"So, what happened?" I asked, leaving the HQ to head back to the advanced armory.

"Four days ago, a caravan passed by, close enough to spot us," the experienced veteran explained. "We tried to convince them to come in so we could talk, but surprise, surprise, offering caps and trade did not put them at ease. They left at speed, and I figured chasing them down was more likely to start a fight than do us any good."

"Probably, good call." 

"'Preciated. Anyway, the day after that, Sheriff Simms showed up with a few of his boys. Apparently, the caravan ended up in Megaton, started shouting about a huge, dangerous group of raiders that set up a terrifying castle and tried to lure them in." 

"And Simms showed up?" I asked, looking confused. "He showed up all the way out here?" 

"We are close enough to make him worried," Johnson responded with a shrug. "Thankfully, the brother made the connection between us and the description of the caravan, came looking to confirm his suspicions rather than starting a fight. We shook hands, fed them a meal, then sent them off with a bottle of liquor for their troubles, and Simms agreed to correct the rumors."

"So the PR hit is minimized, but now the cat is out of the bag," I commented, Johnson nodding in agreement. "Dammit. Well… it was only a matter of time, and we had enough of it to put up walls and get turrets up. Though it does mean the days of leaving the place empty, or even with just a few soldiers, are completely behind us." 

Before Johnson could respond, Rex came out of the barracks wearing the chest plate like me, but with shoulder protection as well. He fell in beside Johnson and I as we made our way to the advanced armory. As we walked, we filled him in on what had happened while we were gone.

"From now on, I want a squad here," I repeated with a frown. "We can rotate out training and maybe find some projects to work on, like clearing out some of the asphalt and maybe working gravel into some road… maybe even scraping off the top layer of dirt and planting grass… either way, leaving this place empty isn't an option."

"Agreed. The HQ is a high priority target," Rex agreed. "The more information about us that leaks, the more interested groups like Talon Company and the Enclave are going to start poking around." 

"We… could probably handle an assault from Talon Company," I said, making a so-so gesture with my hands. "A full assault from the Enclave, though? We can't handle that. Luckily, they are pretty determined to hide in their bunker. They might find us interesting, but the only reason they revealed themselves in the game was because they saw a method to control the whole wasteland. Project Purity would have allowed them to dictate the terms to any group in the Capital Wasteland, with no exceptions." 

"So unless we show off something truly groundbreaking, we are good," Rex reworded. "Good to know, sir."

When we finally arrived at the advanced armory, most of the carts had already been unloaded and moved back to the stables. One of them remained, but it only contained the stuff that needed to go to the medbay, meaning the box of Psycho, the first aid kits, and a few other bits and containers we had come back with. They were waiting for me before taking it off, just to confirm what it was for.

"Go ahead and take that to the med bay, feed it all in," I said, shaking my head. "I am happy to rid this world of more Psycho, and the rest is too old for me to trust being used on you guys."

My soldiers nodded, and a few led the camel pulling the cart away, heading towards the medbay. Meanwhile, I turned to focus on all of the work they had gotten done while the two returning squads were busy.

They had laid out the recovered power armor in nine distinct piles, ready to feed into the advanced armory, while the laser weapons sat on plywood taken from the construction yard. The robot bodies were piled up a bit more haphazardly, since I was a lot less concerned about them.

"Alright… Let's feed this thing," I said with a smile. "I want to see what our power armor looks like."

With the unfinished ground surrounding the advanced armory, the cranes from the carts were useless, so we took paracord, wove it through a chunk of power armor, and looped it up and over a pipe from the construction yard. We then put the pipes on our shoulders and stood up, lifting the parts just a foot or so off the ground in the process. That alone made moving the parts much easier, but spreading it among four people made it easy, even if our shoulders were a bit sore afterward. 

Piece by piece, we moved the parts in, eventually stacking a whole set in a pile, inside a specially marked space inside the newer building. After tapping through the building controls, I activated the conversion, and the parts disappeared. 

"Eight hours, two more slots available," I commented, reading from the control pad. "Alright, let's get two more sets in here, then we can try feeding weapons to it, to see if it can multitask."

After a little over an hour, we fed two more disassembled power-armor sets to the building. Once they were all set and running, we tried starting a robot conversion and a weapon conversion, but both failed.

"Alright, looks like we hit the limit…" I commented, putting the control tablet on a nearby counter. "Let's get the weapons stacked in a corner somewhere, then we are settling in for the rest of the day. I want a drink, some food, and twelve hours of sleep minimum."

True to my word, we spent the night celebrating a successful trip, each of us getting a single alcoholic drink. Eventually, after a few hours, the celebration was over, and I almost didn't make it to the bed. 

Despite my claim to sleep late, I was up relatively early, unable to resist the call of the reveal. I quickly got up, showered, and dressed, once again wearing only my chestplate, before making a beeline out of the HQ.

I wasn't surprised to find Johnson, Rex, and a few others already awake and gathered around the advanced armory. When Johnson spotted me, he gave me a nod.

"Morning, sir," He said with a smile. "Take a look, this system of yours is treating us good."

Encouraged by his words, I headed into the building, the crowd parting easily for me. Once I was inside, I stopped and stared along one of the far walls. There, tucked into three compact power armor stations, were three suits of our new power armor.

They were big and dense, like all the power armor I knew of, but they also had an aggressive feel, like they were designed to intimidate. They had a curved over-the-shoulder armor pad similar to the X-01, but their helmets were almost… insectoid. They offered full coverage and protection, but still looked like they could move, as if built for a certain amount of flexibility. It was more than a few chunks of stylized steel, like someone had actually thought about the armor. 

"Goddamn… That looks good."