There were a couple of ways you could approach Rockwell. It was across the water north of sanctuary hills but there was a dock area and boats you could cross over. Crossing here would potentially be noticeable if someone happened to be watching but you could scope for a clear moment ahead of time. Plus there would have plenty of cover to approach from as you swept your way uphill through the occupied ruin. Alternatively, you could go around the water and approach Rockwell from one of the sides. Doing so would allow you to get behind the settlement and approach from the top of the settlement and sweep downhill. If there was someone in the back hills youâd be fairly in the open until you advanced further into the occupied ruins but youâd have a slight elevation benefit. You flipped your coin.
Uphill battle it is. You crossed back over the bridge to sanctuary hills and entered the secondary gate to go change your weapon loadout before you took a side gate so as not to disturb the fluffies. You cut around the razorgrain until you walked along the riverside wall past your series of pumps and water purification apparatus. While water was a valuable commodity you were careful not to over exploit it for quick caps. Twenty bottles of water a week was your export limit, the only reason you had a few of these was for when you needed to pump water to the fields or if one went went down from random wear and tear or settlement attack.
As you get to the far edge of the wall you remembered that you didnât put a door on the exterior here to prevent an easy access point from someone looking to pillage your crops. Instead of doubling back to the nearest door and going around the rear of the culdesac to the exterior door you went to the corner turret along the water. You walked up a hill which got you up three quarters of the wall and used some maintenance rungs on the backside of the wall for turret maintenance to climb up, step around and hop down to the sand below.
You moved slowly for thirty or so feet in case the sand gave way and deposited you in the water until you reached a point you could roll over the embankment and get back onto grass to walk. You then continue around the waterside. Given you werenât in power-armor you elected not to go with Atoms judgement. Instead your three weapons were the Kiloton Radium Rifle for medium to long range and crowd control. The deliverer for short to medium range, stealth and to serve as a reminder of his humanity and inhumanity to man. And good olâ Throatslicer for when you felt like fighting in melee. As you walk you check your Kiloton Radium Rifle to make sure itâs still in good condition since you last performed maintenance and put it in its case before loading the ammo.
You pause and crouch as the boats and docks come into view and you take up a position behind a tree before scanning Rockwell. No one seemed to be near the docks but you could see some faint movement in the distance and pulled out some binoculars. You could clearly pick out at least three people but it was easily possible that more were in or behind buildings or simply out on rotation. Their gear was light but seemed a little more practical and purpose made for hunting. âTrappersâŚâ
Trapper ideology varied from group to group but most of your interactions with them just felt like Raiders that attacked wildlife and lived off their kills while occasionally trading their excess for needed materials. They usually overhunted an area till it could no longer keep them well fed and supplied and moved on, potentially cycling back after a few years if it recovered. You found them hardier then common raiders perhaps due to lots of exercise and a diet high in milk and protein, kind of like Mongolians.
With no one keeping an eye out you un-crouched and rushed downhill towards the dock on your side and built up speed to make the hop needed to the boat and then over to the other dock before ducking behind some boxes. As you waited to see if anything noticed the movement you found your eyes occasionally drifting down to a container as your fingers performed inventory. Stimpack, some caps and ammo. Must have traded with someone recently. Theyâd be coming to bring this in eventually so you crossed to the boat on the other side of the dock and hid behind the side rail as you peeked into Rockwell.
You could only see two now due to the angle. One was heading your way while the other was walking uphill towards a large barn structure. As they opened the door you could see two radstags hanging from hooks along with a much smaller creature~⌠Without its hide it was hard to tell it was a fluffy but it had been drained of blood and the trapper proceeded to split the ribs open so that they could begin examining and removing innards. They approached it with a smile and curiosity of someone getting to dissect a creature for the first time. Meanwhile in the back of barn behind some makeshift fencing you could count four more heads of fluffies only one seemed to clearly watch while the others hugged and cried at the display before them.
You put down your binoculars and the sound of the footsteps drawing closer and pulled out Throat-slicer as you waited near the edge for them to pass you. As they passed you did your best to time your drop to land on one foot and follow in rhythm of their own walking as you came up behind them. As they stopped by the crate they paused before leaning over to pick it up as they heard one last step. Before they could react a left hand was gripping them by the face to muffle their scream as the right brought a blade down into their chest. The loan survivor quickly spun the body behind the crates and took cover with it before the blood got on the visible dock. After checking to see no one was looking you hefted them onto the boat so they werenât bleeding into the water which might attack mirelurks or simply create a visible streak of red if someone was looking at the water from an angle he couldnât see.
You could probably shoot the trapper butchering the fluffy from here, but Kiloton tended to charge bullets in a way that they exploded like an m80 at the end and you kind of wanted to keep the synths body in tact if only for a bit of morbid curiosity at how fluffies tasted since, âwaste not want notâ. You proceeded up the dock and to the first building. A dumpster took up most of the wall but there was still some space for you at the corner. There was one person to the right, they had too much cover here so you dashed across to the building across the way up the eastern side of Rockwell.
The man in front of you had finished performing maintenance on a jaw trap and set it aside before moving onto the next one. You could potentially do this silently without being noticed but you preferred a fight to complete assassination and stealth. As you pulled out your rifle you were just in time as he finished the second jaw trap, picked up the pair one in each hand and turned to unknowingly face you. There you were, in the open against the side of the building with a gun on him.
âShit~â Was all they managed as a round buried itself into and collapsed the front of their chest with an explosion. They fell on their back and started coughing up blood so you shot again so as not to leave them in agony.
âWhat the hell!?â You heard from up the butchers direction along with a âYou hear that?â Off to the east and a âFinally some action!â from one of the buildings to your west. With multiple targets incoming from a direction you had no cover from you fell back southwest along the building and ducked behind the corner. Butcher was jogging down the main street while the trapper in the building came around the corner and two more trappers appeared in the eastern tree line. You decided that youâd be in a firefight with the two to the east regardless so youâd deal with the one at the opposite corner from you first so you didnât have to risk fighting in melee during a fire fight.
Your first round whizzed past their side profile and popped into the stump the mechanic had been working at. Their head turned in your direction with rage as they jumped back into cover before signaling butcher where the target was as they continued down the street. âTskâŚâ You chide as bullets start smacking into the wood near you. You return fire and fall back west, two shots didnât hit directly but the explosions were causing slight damage. Butcher and the second trapper were coming down the main street and the second threw a grenade to suppress you from fleeing to the western side of Rockwell. The two eastern trappers were nearing, needing to buy time you threw a relay grenade as for as you could to the east. As the frag exploded butcher came around the corner meat hook in hand but saw no one for a moment. They assumed you were behind the dumpster and as they readied their meathook you stood out of the metal barricade and stepped towards the back to make as much distance as you could from butcher as you fired. The bullet slammed into Butchers elbow with a POP and sent meaty bloody chunks. They swore and limped towards dock cover as the second trapper aimed a lever action around the corner and took a shot at you. You were pushed back slightly as it hit your chest plate, it still hurt even if the bullet didnât penetrate flesh.
A few bright streaks indicated the synth was engaged and missed a few shots at the two trappers. The trapper seemed disappointed and as they levered the next round they ducked as your shot slammed into the corner of the building catching them ever so slightly. You swapped to pistol and blade as you hopped out of the dumpster. As they tried to step around hearing you are climbing though they had to step back as you fired a few rounds to suppress them from rounding the corner. Leaping from the dumpsters edge towards the corner you could hear the tone of a synth shutting down s you âtskâ again. Without enough time to get distance they dropped their rifle and swapped to their jaw trap knuckles. As you landed and aimed your gun their fist came down. You pulled the trigger and instinctually drop the weapon as the bullet collides with the plate that was about to collide with the silencer. The bullet enters the trappers hand but trigger the snap trap which would have caught your wrist if you hadnât released the weapon and pulled back.
He lunged forward to grab your right hand with their left and cocked back their injured right hand for a punch. You bend your arm to pull them in as they prevent you from picking up your weapon and swing Throat slicer up in your off hand under his jaw before taking a glancing blow to the side of the head. You were slightly dizzy now as your head bounced off the wall from the blow and pushed the body off your blade. As you shook off the headache you saw butcher having dug out the stim pack you should have looted and injected it into their bicep to stump their arm off at the elbow. Theyâd definitely need to see a doctor but theyâd live for the moment. As you were about to level the deliverer in their direction the first trapper came around the corner in front of him, the other a step behind from up hill behind.
You fire blind behind you emptying the clip in an attempt at suppression as you charged the one in front of you. A throwing spear flies over your shoulder from in front of you and unable to reload with your knife in your left hand you toss your pistol in kind so that you can switch it to your primary hand. The pistol lands with minimal effect and they look kind of disappointed as they move to brace the spear rather then throw it. Meanwhile the no longer suppressed trapper comes around the corner, sees your armor and tosses aside their pipe rifle as they snatch up the thrown spear from the ground and move to attack you from the flank.
âFuck it.â As you say this the Acronymn âVatsâ flashes onto your pipboy. You step in past the thrust chopping the spear in half at the haft before proceeding to perform a series of slashes to eatch limb before turning on the approaching trapper and doing the same. You blink and reality feels first person again as you watch the second trapper fumble past you towards the first and as they chests collide gently each of their limbs spurts blood like a sprinkler system. You wipe off the blade and then pick up and wipe off your pistol as you walk towards the dock. Butcher had long since hopped across to sanctuary hills island.
âYou donât want to go that way!â You call out readying your rifle in case he split off to follow the creek to the north.
âLike Iâd listen to~â he rebuts only to be riddled with bullets from the sentry turret as they make their way up hill blindly.
âWarned you.â You add putting away your rifle and pausing for a breather. You remove your hat and crack a purified water as you drench your head a bit, wash your hands and dab the bits of blood on your fatigues and armor so it didnât set in. You drink the last gulp of water and crush the plastic before tossing it in the dumpster.
âMemo to self, pride hurts. Settle for sloth from time to time and take the easy path in battle.â You say feeling a bruise coming in.
âLets see who we found.â You add making your way up the street towards the open barn.
(Ran out of steam before the fluffies, sorry. xD)
(Unfortunatly thereâs also a much more prevalent gun company called âRockwellâ in fallout so itâs hard to find a visual of this place. Might load up my console and take a picture if im feeling up to it.)
(Also, can someone show me how to link chapters so I can start doing âprevious/neck chapterâ on these? )
