Chapter 164: Chapter 159

With how close it was to Nexus borders, it was inevitable that a major settlement - a raider city at that - would quickly earn its attention. The Pitt did the best they could to prepare against the rumors that grew ever closer.

Their first inkling of an attack came from the reports of trogs and wildmen in the outskirts of the city being slaughtered by unseen attackers. Then whole apartments in Uptown exploded in a spectacular fashion, the raiders living in the area caught completely unaware that they didn’t see the bolts of energy streak down from the heavens to raze their homes.

By the time the silhouettes of actual flying vehicles were spotted zooming through the heavens, it was too late. Raiders ran for the gun emplacements, only to find Deathclaws materializing out of thin air and literally dropping out of the sky. Those who managed it found that guns and rockets did little to the wasteland’s apex predators save for marking themselves out for a bloody death.

Other than the experience of the descent from the flying shells, the Deathclaws were quickly also enjoying themselves in their hunting exercise. The inexperienced juveniles carefully watched their elders before mimicking those practices themselves on the bountiful, terrified prey. The younglings learned how to herd these soft and ash-smelling humans into more favorable spaces before ganging up and eviscerating the whole lot. 

Guard posts and camps overseeing the sole route to the city went silent, their hapless garrison swiftly killed or crippled by armored figures that appeared out of nowhere. To the troopers of 3rd and 5th Companies, there was little difference between wildmen, raiders and trogs in terms of eradication. With Blacksite Tleilax’s quota already met during the expansion into the Capital Wasteland, the Nexus’ soldiers were free to pick the most convenient methods at dispatching the opposition. 

They marched through the Bridge and into the Steelyard and Downtown, efficiently decapitating or de-limbing targets in a storm of blades and crystal shards. Those few raiders smart enough to surrender immediately only had their hips and shoulders dislocated to await further processing. The slaves cowered out of fear, though the newer ones, those who heard the whispers from outside, also tasted hope for the first time.

Commander Chase of the Nexus 5th Company oversaw the processing of the Pitt with mild disgust. The information gained from intercepted slaver caravans painted a dark picture of a self-perpetuating slaver culture. After Vault 93, it was only right to stamp out this atrocious stronghold as well.

She wasn’t leading from the front this time, instead occupying the command room of the Kirov with her counterpart from the 3rd, the newly promoted Vera Redding, with Sarah Lyons and 1st Company Commander Edward. The two close advisors of Sev were here in a mentoring capacity, providing the participating company commanders pointers and advice on deployment and assigning orders.

As a former courser with little experience in anything not related to hunting runaway synths,  Chase was slowly learning the art (or science, depending on who you asked) of commanding. The old-world textbooks and the usual wasteland doctrines proved inadequate for Nexus operations as they did not factor in the possibility of the eldritch, working with AI controlled legions, and a superiority in technology that made them practically godlike in the field of battle against conventional forces.  

Case in point: the operations today used the stealth operations only because they needed to practice that particular doctrine, and not due to any threat or concerns that the enemy might pose. The Deathclaw auxiliaries were a bonus addition, a suggestion by Vera that was easily worked in. That they themselves took the opportunity to teach their young further proved just how little anyone gave the raiders of the Pitt any respect as a threat.

Eyebots with their multispectrum sensors gave a near-complete and up to date stream of information about the area of operations. Eva highlighted useful information, while the small command staff in the Kirov kept their eyes on the other minutiae of company operations. They could create battlelines, reroute squads, and override orders with ease from up here, and the well-drilled troops on the ground would obey the instructions instantly.

This was the sort of control the Institute of old could only fantasize about.

“Looks like there’s resistance near the Objective Beta,” the commander muttered as she stared at the tactical hologram of the battlezone. She frowned as she watched the enemy converge from various points. She took a few seconds to consider the available routes. “Why are they consolidating there? It’s out in the open.”

Sarah nodded slowly. “Not to them. See how they’re aiming down the main streets? That place is supposed to be a bottleneck from various avenues…if you’re approaching on foot or wheels.”

The revelation brought at least a smirk to everyone’s faces. “A shame that we can take to the air.”

Chase and Vera updated their orders, sending a platoon each, and then watched barely a minute later as their units soared on jetpacks to land amongst the defenders’ tight formation. Few prisoners were taken after the quick bloodbath that followed.

Still grinning from the raiders’ folly, Vera pointed out another area of interest. “There’s a group there running from Deathclaws. I could put some squads in to intercept?”

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Edward shook his head. “Don’t bother. See those packs there and there? See how they’re all moving… The ‘Claws are herding the poor fucks all into one place…probably that square just west of Gamma.”

Chase scrunched her face into a confused frown. “What about that group there?”

The commander of the 1st gave a shrug. “Just a couple dozen raiders and seven ‘Claws, One big and the rest much smaller. Judging from how the raiders are stuck in that alleyway, probably one of the bigger males teaching some hatchlings how to kill. They’re too small to start hunting properly, I think.”

“Giving the shielding adjustable straps is doing wonders for their tribe,” one of the command staff deadpanned. It was hard to disagree though, as the shielding units the Deathclaws wore allowed those too big or too small to take to the field. Big Mama herself was taking part, blasting through worn cinderblock walls and rusting steel barricades like they were cardboard to open the way for more hatchlings to tear into the poor raiders.

The Pitt fell to the Nexus Severalty in less than three hours of urban combat. All that was left was the holdout that was holding Objective Beta, a fortified tower known as the Haven. Chase and Vera finally got to take to the field for this one, along with Sarah and Edward. Along with their command squads, the leaders teleported down to deployed beacons and found themselves at the Haven’s reinforced entrance.

Thanks to the Sardaukar armor’s filtration system, Chase had to imagine how much the air outside her helmet tasted like ash and smelled like burnt flesh.

“What’s the plan for this last step again?” Edward asked laconically, earning smirks from those in the same channel.

Chase played along. “We’re supposed to blitz up to secure Objective Beta, leave the Haven’s clearing to the grunts.”

“And what did Sev call it again?” he asked, leaning forward a little in preparation to activate his jetpack. The rest of the combined command squad did the same. As stupid as the whole thing was, Chase drew in a breath. Theatrics for the sake of morale was important, she reminded herself. Vera beat her to the punch, yelling her lungs out with enthusiasm.

“Rush B! Bleeyaaat!”

They shot up through the smoke-tainted air, with just a few feet of clearance between the soldiers and the Haven’s walls. The Objective Beta pinged on the HUD, singling out the right floor to be breached.

Their explosive entrance met the welcoming party of a weathered man in power armor along with some heavily armedraiders. Off in some corner, the dirty-white labcoats of fleeing scientists could be seen. “Process them,” Sarah ordered, and the firefight that ensued felt disappointingly quick for Chase’s taste. 

All of the raiders were incapacitated, not killed. As leaders, there were standards to be maintained after all.

They rounded up the noncombatants after that, and with that Objective Beta - Ishmael Ashur, former member of the Brotherhood of Steel, now better known as the Lord of the Pitt, along with his family - was secured. Why Sev wanted to spare the raider boss was still unknown, but Chase couldn’t really complain either way.

This trial-by-fire training session for the 3rd and 5th Company did far more to aid their performance than the usual drills. There’d be plenty of reviewing and improving later. Chase already had a few kinks to work out in the way her company operated.

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