Fallout: New Mexico

[Dom/SlimKop]

Rising, Judah fastens his helmet and grabs the light machine gun at his side. Grabbing the strap, the large man peers out, trying to get a sense of what the battlefield will look like.

"Try to drop us by some cover!"

[Kajin]

"Right..." Jack replies, bringing his Laser Pistol to bear. Jack moves a few steps to the side of Sook, preparing to offer the covering fire that Sook requested.

[FreakyBoy]

The Vertibird reaches Hot Springs, hovering over the ranks of Knights. Julia turns her Gatling Laser downwards and clears a path, felling rank after rank of Legionnaires. The Knights let out a brief cheer, followed by a renewed assault upon the Legion. The Brotherhood presses its advantage; spears and swords are no match for plasma and military precision.

Or so they thought. Something has changed.

When last the Brotherhood halted the Legion's advance, they fought tribals armed with spears, crude swords, and salvaged, ill-repaired firearms. The first ranks, the shock troops, are still similarly armed. But behind them, as the smoke clears a bit from the down-draft of the Vertibird's engines, a new Legion appears. One armoured in gleaming new steel, not salvaged from the fallen. One armed with newly manufactured weapons, crude but not primitive. One aiming a salvo of shoulder-mounted rockets right at the Vertibird.

"Oh poop!"

Jacob starts to evade, pulling the Vertibird up to avoid the rockets. He dodges one, two - but a third and a fourth slam into the vehicle, the first shattering against the armoured hull beside Julia, tearing her harness and disarming her. The second hit strikes the thruster, exploding in a great ball of flame that robs the Vertibird of its upward thrust. "Brace yourselves," Julia calls needlessly to the Knights waiting within, as the Vertibird falls to the earth, leaving a smoking trail behind it.

The Knights on the ground react quickly, opening fire on the rocketeers. The Legion returns fire, their bullets compensating for their lack of sophistication with sheer attrition. Rockets fly from the Legion ranks, exploding in the rapidly disintegrating Brotherhood ranks. One rocket flies towards the trading post; Sook is barely able to dive back in time, pulling Jack with him, as the rocket crashes into the doorway and crumbles the roof down. Rubble falls, pinning Sook's leg and Jack beneath him.

The Vertibird hits the ground roughly, ploughing a trench in the earth before friction finally stops it. Julia, her harness gone, is thrown from the vehicle as it first lands. Jacob's head slams roughly against the controls, fighting till the last to regain some semblance of control. Within, the Keyestone is shaken, but mostly unharmed. The Knights had strapped themselves back into their harnesses at Julia's command, as their drills had taught them.

[Skitzophrenik]

Justin hits the quick-release on his harness and bolts to the door of the Vertibird. He lays his laser rifle against the doorframe and begins firing at the legionaries.

"Lay down some cover fire! I need three of you to go assist Julia, now!"

[Dom/SlimKop]

Judah fires a couple of bursts to get the Legion's heads down.

[Warbeard]

Michael has been fighting alongside his fellow Knights, occasionally pausing to deal with his increasingly unreliable rifle. When the Vertibird appears and opens fire, he hollers in triumph, and fires a few more shots at the approaching Legion.
He is once again fiddling with the rifle when the Legion counterattack knocks the vertibird out of the sky. As more rockets streak toward the compound, Michael shoulders his rifle and moves toward a more substantial cover.
When the building the outsiders are in is hit, Michael hurries over, looking for Jack and Sook.

[Grillick]

Jeremiah quickly unstraps himself from his seat and rushes to his father's side. "Dad!" He checks for a pulse and tries to stanch any bleeding.

[Kajin]

"Gah! Were those rockets?! Are we really fighting the Legion?! The Legion doesn't use Pre-War tech!" Jack babbles nonsensically as Sook gets pinned on top of him from falling rubble.

[Ross_Varn]

"Agh... for cripe's sake..." Sook hisses, attempting to shift his leg. He tries to push himself up to let Jack get out. "Watch outside while I shift this off, Jack, they could be right there." He tugs on the rubble to shift it. "Whatever the radbug that was, it was not what I was expecting from the Legion, yeah. And I think I saw a Vertibird out there a minute ago- did they get hit?"

[Kajin]

"I... I don't know, I think they did!" Jack says as he attempts to extricate himself from the pile of rubble.

[Warbeard]

Michael starts moving what he can of the rubble to try and free Jack and Sook from their predicament.

[FreakyBoy]

Jacob is alive, though his pulse is weak. He'll likely need medical attention sooner rather than later. Jeremiah gets him unbuckled and free from the seat so he can be moved.

Justin orders the Keyes forward, and the cousins, led by Jason, move towards where Julia was dumped from the vertibird. Justin and Judah give them covering fire, and the Legion keeps their distance. The Knights reach Julia, who is unresponsive (it's hard to check vitals of someone in Power Armour). They manage to lift her and cart her back to the Vertibird before the Legion push their advantage and force the Keyestone to look for cover.

The Legion has been successfully drawn away from the outpost, letting the few Knights remaining regroup. One helps Michael get the rubble cleared, freeing Sook and Jack. Another just sits shaking his head, clutching his rifle to his chest. "Oh man, we're gonna die. We're gonna die. That was our ride, man. There ain't another Vertibird. We're gonna die."

[Ross_Varn]

Sook takes a few deep breaths, then clambers up on the rubble to check on the Legion's position. Off in the distance, he can make out the trail of smoke coming from the 'bird and the flashing guns of the Knights. He lowers himself back down, looking around the post, and making eye contact with Michael. He nods briefly, then turns, saying "Looks like we've got a few moments. I'm pretty sure that the Knights over there aren't dead and are fighting back. I seriously don't know what kind of impact they'll have against that massive mob out there, but it'll be enough of a distraction to give us what we need."

He stops himself, then looks around again, finding Michael. "Is there a leader or someone here? Someone who knows the area? We may be able to heal up and make it out of here alive. If that was the Brotherhood's response team, I don't think we have very many options left," motioning back out toward the Legion.

[Warbeard]

He stops himself, then looks around again, finding Michael. "Is there a leader or someone here? Someone who knows the area? We may be able to heal up and make it out of here alive. If that was the Brotherhood's response team, I don't think we have very many options left," motioning back out toward the Legion.

Michael points out in the direction of the Legion, specifically the remains of the two Paladins. "Brothers Owen and Metcalfe were the leaders for this outpost. As to who knows the area, we've all patrolled it a little, but I don't think any of us has really been here long enough to know it that well. Our best bet is to try to gather what we can and retreat to the nearest post," Michael says waving in the direction the vertibird came from.

"On your feet, soldier," Michael yells as he hauls the wailing knight up to his feet. Addressing remaining knights, "Gather any supplies you can carry and particularly food, weapons and ammo and prepare to move out. We'll try to rendezvous with the vertibird if we can, but we can't stay here. There just aren't enough of us to hold this position against this force."

[Kajin]

"Hey Michael, let me see that Plasma Rifle of yours!" Jack pipes up, offering up his Laser Pistol in exchange. "I noticed that it's been acting up a bit. A malfunctioning weapon is just as likely to get you killed as no weapon at all. While you guys are gathering supplies, I'll see if I can't make any headway on repairing your Plasma Rifle for you."