Fallout The Eagle And The Bear [Fallout AU]

SuperHeavy

Well-known member
Well it mashes the 70s-80s tech mixed with Fallout lunacy nicely. Fallout could use more vehicle designs that don't make me wonder if they slipped a little something "extra" into the mentats over at Pre-War DARPA.
 

Navarro

Well-known member
Making the E-USA more 70s-80s-90s scifi (with dashes of ACW, WW2 and of course, 50s aesthetics not forgotten of course) was a choice I made p. early on w/ Autumn Morning as a key for the reader to see how more comparatively technologically advanced they are.
 

TyrantTriumphant

Well-known member
Sorry for the late reply. I was held up.

Hopefully next time we can see some reactions in the NCR to the revelation that the Enclave isn't a totalitarian hellhole. The moment we've all been waiting for since Autumn Morning.

Maybe the Enclave will find out the truth behind their own past someday. I know that most of the evidence went up in radioactive smoke, but it would be interesting to see both the NCR and Enclave have an existential crisis at the same time.
 

Navarro

Well-known member
Some garrison uniforms used by the E-US USMC, from raw recruit to General:

HyDsmLR.png


Gonna redo the Army ones then repost them all together w/ this and some USAF and Navy ones.
 

ForeverShogo

Well-known member
Even discounting the fact that the evidence was vaporized by a nuke, I think one of the big problems with the people of the United States ever learning what the Enclave tried to do during the events of Fallout 2 is going to be the NCRs own demented propaganda.

There's so much ridiculous bullshit that the NCR believed about how the United States functions, going back decades, that I don't think anyone could ever take the allegations of attempted global genocide seriously.

Even if they thought the lies to be true, the NCR has helped to bury the truth through the very lies it spread.
 

f1onagher

Well-known member
Would said mission log even have contained any reference to the grand plan?
I doubt it, but Frank talked a lot before you killed him. It's been years since I played the game so I don't know if he ever references the plan, but there's a good chance it came up in conversation before the final throwdown.
 

Earl

Well-known member
Last I looked his dialogue was generic "I'm gonna kill you now" type stuff.
You could have him talking with Richardson with the President going "The New America, cleaned of Mutant Trash, will remember you as a hero, soldier!!!". Their is also the fact that while the enclaves base was blown up, their is plenty of other historical evidence lying around of pthem generally acting like Nazis, which if handled honestly, will prove the point that they did in fact act like nazis, leading some to wonder if maybe their might be some truth to the Genocide stuff... Of course if the Enclave wins their apt as not to try and bury all evidence.
 

Navarro

Well-known member
You could have him talking with Richardson with the President going "The New America, cleaned of Mutant Trash, will remember you as a hero, soldier!!!".

And E-US could very easily say that it was recorded last weekend in Shady Sands by two voice actors. It's been 90 years since FO2 remember, not two weeks.

Their is also the fact that while the enclaves base was blown up, their is plenty of other historical evidence lying around of pthem generally acting like Nazis, which if handled honestly, will prove the point that they did in fact act like nazis, leading some to wonder if maybe their might be some truth to the Genocide stuff...

With historical mass killings and genocides we know they occurred because of historical accounts and documentation straight from the time period in question, and actual physical evidence of the killings. In this case, the E-US doesn't because the oil rig going up annihilated almost all documentation (and Autumn destroyed or edited any that got transferred to Raven Rock over EnclaveNet) and all the physical evidence. Not to mention that the vast majority of citizens' experience of E-US rule is of a democratic government which hasn't been genociding and enslaving them.

Ofc. there is one place where evidence of some parts of the FO2 plot *might* conceivably have survived ... and it ties into a subplot I'm planning to introduce next chapter.
 
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f1onagher

Well-known member
Last I looked his dialogue was generic "I'm gonna kill you now" type stuff.
*shrugs* I'm just pointing out that there could still be evidence of the Enclave's plan to re-genocide humanity lying around and at this point its probably bouncing around in a random floppy disc or old war trophy.

The political realities of the current world may make such claims feeble and unconvincing, but the iron clad truth is that the Enclave did do everything the NCR accuses them of. And all it takes is the right bit of overlooked evidence to turn what has been a diplomatic albatross around the NCR's neck into a relational deathblow to the E!USA. Because the truth is funny like that. You can cover it up or distort it like an expert, but it never stops being true.
 

Navarro

Well-known member
*shrugs* I'm just pointing out that there could still be evidence of the Enclave's plan to re-genocide humanity lying around and at this point its probably bouncing around in a random floppy disc or old war trophy.

Potentially, but unlikely. And such evidence being considered to be ironclad by anybody who already doesn't believe it or is leaning that way is even more unlikely.

And all it takes is the right bit of overlooked evidence to turn what has been a diplomatic albatross around the NCR's neck

Bear in mind that the issues the NCR has been having relate to their beliefs about things in the present, not the past. And that their allies (and those countries leaning to be their allies) already dislike the E-USA for reasons that are quite independent of what went down on the oil rig, i.e. China being invaded and nuked, Mexico being occupied by the US which caused it to be nuked, war with E-US ten years ago which resulted in their humiliation and the loss of territory).

into a relational deathblow to the E!USA.

So their military and trade allies will drop all relations with their main supplier of technologically-advanced goods over a recently-released document claiming to be 90 years old, given out by people they know are completely wrong about the way things are over there in the present?
 
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Chapter Twenty-Two

Navarro

Well-known member
Chapter Twenty-Two

9:15 EST, December 29 2331

The White House, Washington D.C.


Nathan ‘Nate’ Washington, President of the United States, sat calmly in his seat at the head of the Cabinet Room table. Around him, screens were displaying images of violence and warfare – gun-cam footage from vertibirds, helmet-cam from soldiers on the ground, and what images of the conflict could be seen from space via satellite. At his right hand sat the Vice President – during the period of his illness, the man hadn’t presumed to sit at the President’s appointed place. Nate could definitely appreciate that. The other members of the cabinet invited here were busy with their pip-boys or with bulky, briefcase-sized portable computers. The trend for graphical computer interfaces, supplemented with the use of cursor-tracking devices, was something he would never get used to, despite it having started back in the 80s. It certainly was more convenient than the old command-line OSes though.

Holly and tinsel bedecked the room; a reminder, even in this grim time, of the holiday season and its joys, both temporal and eternal.

Trying to make a complete picture out of all this madness was a fool’s game, but they thankfully seemed to have the upper hand at O’Hare. Just as he was preparing to order an analysis of the situation, Nate’s pip-boy rang out its ringtone (an electronically-synthesised version of Hail to the Chief) loud and clear. He tapped the touch-screen of the device, took the vidcall.

He could see General Chase’s worn-down, tired face, and heard his voice.

“Mr. President, I can tell you that the rebel forces are retreating, they’re breaking from the field. General Autumn is linking up with our forces and is making preparations to personally enter the base.”

“Are they preparing for another attack?”

“Negative, Mr. President, reports from the field indicate they seem to be abandoning their field guns. They wouldn’t do that if this were merely a tactical withdrawal.”

Shouts of ‘Hallelujah!’ and other exclamations of gratitude rang through the room, as Nate nodded and killed the link. It was done – O’Hare AFB was secure, at least for the time being. But still, the situation had been so close. Too close for his comfort.

It was the Secretary of War, McCain, who spoke up to kill the dead silence.

“Mr. President,” he began, adjusting his glasses. “If you will. It’s clear that the military land forces failed to prevent enemy penetration of our reintegrated territory to the extent they did largely because they aren’t organised for such a thing. President Autumn configured the United States Army for a mixture of suppressing barbarians, garrisoning key locations, and short expeditionary campaigns. This system has served us fairly well in the past, but it’s not fitting for the extended conflict we now face. So, if you would, I recommend you reintroduce Senator Williamson’s proposed reorganisation of the Armed Forces from last year as an amendment to the Military Appropriations Act.”

“The four Territorial Commands to be replaced with three Field Armies, I know,” Nate replied. “The Army of the Columbia, the Army of the Rockies, and the Army of Sonora, appropriately designated. A decent idea. As for commanders … Granite and Autumn can transition smoothly, but I’m not sure about General Chase. The man is too new.”

“As to that,” McCain commented in reply. “I’ve also been able to find a solution looking through the archives as to the political situation regarding Frederick Augustus and the German Expeditionary Force. We do have a rank superior to that of Field Marshal – that of General of the Armies or six-star general. It was granted to Washington, Grant and Pershing; and then later confirmed during the bicentennial celebrations of 1976 to be superior to all other US Army ranks.”

“Are you suggesting that I make such an appointment?”

“Practically speaking, the position has been purely ceremonial, but in those situations it was granted in times of peace or posthumously. In wartime … it would amount to giving one man full operational command of the United States Army.”

A silence hung in the air.

The Secretary for Public Information raised her voice.

“Wouldn’t this raise the risk of … disloyalty?”

“Mrs. Nichols, the US has never seen a military coup in her 500 years,” Nate replied. “I can also assure you that whoever I choose for this position will have been fully tested and verified.”

She nodded.

“So then …” Nate mused. “Who’s to be the lucky pick?”

“It would be either Granite or Autumn. Chase is too inexperienced and Cantrell’s Northeastern Command has been de facto absorbed into Central. I’d lead towards Autumn though – if nothing else he was Frederick’s main instructor at West Point.”

“Hmm … that would mean in any case we have three four-stars to lead the Field Armies and one man to oversee the general course of the ensuing campaigns. And the allied detachments?”

Davison spoke up.

“I’ll shortly be in talks with the commanders-in-chief of the British and German armies. A unified command structure will be soon established for the duration of the conflict – under our leadership, of course.”

It was an inevitability. America’s European allies had been made to forestall any chance of reaching great-power status via the clauses of the Windsor Treaty that they had been signed banning them from nuclear weapons development in exchange for military support in reunification and national defense. Though they were de facto under American ‘association’, which included acceptance of a trade balance beneficial to the USA, they had their own spheres of influence and a free hand in their own foreign and domestic policy. It was an if not perfect, at least grudgingly amicable situation for both parties; acknowledgement of superiority for the one and freedom of action in the vast majority of practical affairs for the other.

Therefore, American leadership of the unified command structure was an unquestioned reality.

Nate nodded.

“Very well then.”

The Secretary of the Air Force raised his voice as the last person to speak.

"Mr. President, the recent use of long-distance air cavalry has shown that this tactic is potentially very valuable. Now such formations were ad hoc, but I do feel that perhaps permanent formations dedicated to such will be useful. "

"This is your argument that the old Airborne divisions should be revived as US Air Force units? I'm not sure you have the institutional knowledge to make that work."

"Not precisely - I'd called for creating a United States Air Corps under the Department of the Air Force in the vein of the Marine Corps, but smaller, at least to start - an actual Corps in size. You have seen the planned force structure and the equipment to be used? It had just been finalised when Travis got elected - he saw no need for it so it just lay there gathering dust."

"Yes, but the Army and Marines fear that their own air cavalry units would be absorbed completely into this new combat branch. They won't accept such a thing."

"I understand, but-"

"I can have the US Army Air Corps revived to properly put the airborne divisions you've been theorising about under their own commanders who know how to use them effectively. But they won't have any direct ties to the USAF."

"Understood, Mr. President."


==*==

13:15 EST, December 29 2331

US Capitol, District of Columbia


Leopold ‘Leo’ Richardson, Vice President of the USA, walked into the Senate Chamber with measured steps, taking in the site of the rebuilt and redecorated meeting place of one of the two branches of the United States’ legislature. It never failed to fill him with a sense of reverence – the Grecian decorations, the gilded upper walls and blue-and-gold carpet, the friezed recesses in the lower walls where full-body oil-paintings of famous past members of the august body that met here were placed.

The full 128 Senators were in attendance on this, what would be the very last legislative meeting of 2331, to discuss the Military Appropriations Act 2332. Military funding had been at 10% of GDP in 2330, 15% the past year, and would be set to 20% for 2332. But such mere financial issues weren’t the reason he was here. A number of new amendments to the bill had been made just yesterday, one of which would for certain be controversial.

It was a rider consisting of the full text of the Treaty of Reynosa; signed by the US President and the President of the Republic of the Rio Grande, it annexed the latter to the former as a United States Territory – that specific factor being to delay the associated legislative issues with creating a new Commonwealth, assigning House seats to said Commonwealth, and adding Senators to the Senate. But at the same time, adding the treaty to such an important piece of legislation had created its own risks.

Expanding beyond the pre-nuclear borders, at least in the present situation, was still a matter of some controversy. The US had been pulled into the Caribbean by the immediate needs to cut off possible stepping-stones for naval invasion and to suppress piracy – such factors did not exist with Mexico. Though the think-tank publishing industry had produced no less than half a dozen titles explaining the long-term strategic imperative of pushing the border southwards to the Darien Gap, they tended to be read more by the people who wrote that sort of book than not. A significant group, if not the whole of the ALP would be against it for the time being – and while the NFP was generally supportive of the President’s agenda, it would only take one to vote against the bill for the filibuster to be viable as an option.

And such an important bill being filibustered would cause chaos both in the military and in Washington D. C.’s halls of power – chaos which the President intended to avoid by adding the Treaty to the MAA and sending him, both as a reminder to the NFP to vote in solidarity and as an additional vote to hedge against a potential filibuster. Autumn’s constitutional reforms had enabled, among other things, for the Vice President when acting as President of the Senate to vote at any session, not just when the body was tied. At those times, de facto, the Senate had 129 members.

He tensed a moment as he made his way to the oaken desk where he would be sitting – the President pro Tempore made way for him with a nod. He had to get this bill, with its full catalogue of amendments, through quickly with a minimum of public controversy.

He held his gaze over the assembled Senate and began to speak. His words were firm, measured and stern; intended to hold attention while being vague and conciliatory enough to be inoffensive to the general public. Some of the assembled Senators raised their voices to ask questions, but he answered them as measuredly and authoritatively as he could. After about an hour and a half the final vote began; which passed by a firmly filibuster-proof majority. Richardson called for a glass of water. That had just been the most nerve-wracking hour of his life.

==*==

13:00 CST, December 30 2331

Near Rockford, Illinois


General Lance Robertson looked down on the town again, gloomily. His command tent was set up on the same hill he’d looked down on it, preparing to enter; there he’d learned a truth whose awful reality had once shaken him to the very core. He had recently received the news, of course; Secretary Hayden’s new organisation that she’d created under his nose, then sent round to begin radical ‘de-Enclavisation’ measures that had not only denied him a badly-needed river crossing, but threatened to make the Midwest impossible to occupy. The Enclave had managed to govern this region damnably well, largely by not governing it; and continuing to let the local governing structures they found acceptable to their purposes and ideology persist.

He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. He’d had no sleep during the retreat, and neither had many of his men. His only real option was to head to the Davenport region, try to hold the east bank of the river as a beach-head, and link back up with Ortez’s force in preparation for a counter-attack. Lyons had finally gotten the Brotherhood men hitherto engaged in useless ravaging of the countryside designated as “anti-partisan activity” under his authority; though since O’Hare he’d been far more gloomy than usual.

The extreme impositions his men had been made to enact would only drive more towards the partisan movement; telling the civilians that they were being liberated was simply asking them to ignore their lying eyes. Even if he could take Washington D.C., the NCR didn’t have the sheer manpower nor the willingness to enact harsh measures to occupy the whole of the Enclave’s territory. It would slip out of their hands like a fistful of Mojave sand; and the Enclave themselves would most likely set up shop again once they had left, just as before.

No wonder all he had intended was to hold the territory long enough to extract a favourable peace. Anything more was sheer hubris.

Which was why he needed to return to the NCR, as soon as possible.

He got into his personal APC and drove again to the town hall. The receptionist he’d met before had a smirk on her face, dressed this time in a coat of obviously fake fur; not that she seemed to care about its provenance.

“So you boys had a boo-boo playing at Chicago?” she chuckled, and for a moment white-hot rage burned viciously in his blood. He wanted for an instant with all his heart to take his pistol out and mow her down with a burst of laser fire; as it was he merely demanded a photocopy of the recent electoral records at gunpoint, backed by his bodyguards.

She made them, using a laser-based printing machine, and handed them to him in a stack of neat manila folders. Lance left the town and, back at his tent, prepared to make the final preparations. It was not the evidence he would have liked to present to the NCR cabinet and high command; but it was all he could gather under such short notice and still under enemy pursuit. In a few days he would have to be going to Shady Sands; to explain to them the true situation and its strategic implications.

If not, he mused, we’ll just be digging ourselves deeper into this quicksand.

==*==

14:00 CST, December 31 2331

St. Louis Military Hospital, Missouri


Sergeant Walker sat uncomfortably in his hospital bed, still looking at the artificial hand that replaced the one he’d been born with. It looked like a gauntlet crudely fastened to his wrist – the military didn’t particularly care for aesthetics so much as getting its troops back in the fight as. Soon as I get leave, he mused, I’ll have it replaced with one of the higher-end cybernetic ones or even get a vat-grown one cloned from my own tissue. Americare wouldn’t cover such a service; but he had the money to afford it personally.

As it was, he had recently been officially awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart; they clung on his chest as memorials of his actions. A man entered the room in an officer’s garrison uniform – he looked at him askance a moment before realising it was uncle Elliott – or, to give his rank, Capt. Elliott R. Washington.

“I’ve checked with the hospital staff and they have said you’re clear to resume your duties. You have anything to say about that?”

“I’m ready for it,” Walker replied. “Have any of the men under me -”

“No,” was the reply, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“How’s the situation?”

“The enemy are withdrawing, but the Army task force is bloodied and unable to pursue. Dornan’s Marines have harried the foe’s rear as much as they were able while they were retreating. I would say they’ve still got another attack in them, and with the Texan situation as well ...”

“It’s best for us to strike first then, while they’re reforming. Pre-empt the second attack.”

“Good sense of initiative, boy – but to dive right in risks going in unprepared.”

“That’s right, I guess.”

“Well, at any rate a noncom of your rank doesn’t get to decide operational strategy. Maybe you should have registered at West Point instead of enlisting. Still, with the way you’ve shown yourself in combat … you’re probably either going to get a commission or come home in a pine box.”

==*==

0:00 EST, January 1 2332

New York City, USA


The fireworks had been shooting up from Central Park for a half-hour by now, but it was at this moment that they really began to show up. John Ellis could see by their multi-hued light – blue and silver and red and gold and green – the many skyscrapers of Midtown to the north, stern classicist-deco edifices that stood as if promising to outlast eternity. Most of them barely had half of their office space actually in use; as if built for a far higher population. Of course, he’d once mused to himself, the Enclave are acting as if it’s still the pre-War era. Or they’re looking to the future after they win.

The TV was on, but muted to let the kids sleep – the subtitled announcer was going on about how they’d dropped a ball at Times Square, which apparently was some big Old World custom. The news station then cut to another camera – this one shot from a news helicopter observing another fireworks display at Liberty Island. He could see the light play over the statue iridescently – the green copper cladding iconic from Old World photographs, which apparently had degraded to near-total dilapidation after the War, had been replaced by the Enclave with gleaming silver.

He mused on the situation. His position as Head of Financial Reporting was going well, with an increase in income that could see him move to a bigger apartment soon – if Alicia permitted, of course. He worried sometimes that the Enclave may decide they’d wrung enough use from him and move to silence him for good. As to the NCR’s defeats … it felt wrong that they had lost at Chicago and St. Louis, but he couldn’t help but admit … after ten years, this city, at the very heart of Enclave territory, was beginning to feel worryingly like home, especially at times like these.

That, he sometimes admitted to himself, felt more worrying to than a hit-squad or assassin.

==*==

14:30 PST, January 2 2332

NCR Presidential Palace, Shady Sands


President Matthew Kimball sat before his desk and looked at the policy recommendation put out by Janet Fielding, his Secretary of Agriculture. A proposal to greatly widen and deepen the Strait of Nicaragua, thereby allowing warm Caribbean currents to flow unimpeded into the Pacific and thence north to the southern coast of California. Not only would this enrich the NCR’s fisheries, but the inflowing current from the Atlantic would essentially create a ring of warm water around the American continent. That, the report explained, would have the knock-on effect of greatly humidifying the climate of Baja and the Sonora-Mojave region, making them fit for agriculture and habitation in general. A vast swathe of territory that even the Old World had never managed to make proper use of would thus become prime real estate.

Arizona and the Great Basin would remain deserts – even the addition of much more humid air and consequent cooling from the south couldn’t defeat the rain-shadow effect of the Sierra Nevada and Mogollon – but it would help to simultaneously strengthen the NCR, weaken both House and the Barons, and re-orient the continent around its western coast.

He would do his utmost to make it law right now if not for the price tag attached. The scheme would take trillions of dollars and a decade at the least of labour. For all its fascinating qualities, he first had to win the war and ensure the Enclave never threatened the NCR again before he could expend any effort and political capital towards a program of such vast costs and ramifications.

He had heard the news of defeat, and wasn’t overly dismayed. The Enclave had weathered the blows the NCR had struck against it, but only just. The thing that most concerned him was that the predicted revolt had not happened. The Enclave military hadn’t mutinied, nor had their population risen up against them. Don’t those fools know their own best interests are with us?!, he angrily mused.

The NCR had missed its chance to win the war at a stroke. He had no reason to believe another immediate march on Chicago carried out by a force which sorely needed to resupply and up-arm would succeed. But still, he had plenty of options.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a knock on the door – it was Weathers, on the dot at two-forty-five as he had promised.

“You have the materials analysis on the Enclave’s ‘super-metal’?” Kimball asked.

Weathers nodded.

“Would you like me to summarise it?”

“It’s a network of hollow titanium beads within a solid matrix of aluminum-ceramic composite. Each is about 1mm in size but together they make the resulting material incredibly strong, heat-, and radiation-resistant while also being lighter than our own armour materials. The substance is additionally covered in a silver ablative coating for additional laser resistance.”

“Can we manufacture this material?”

“Potentially, yes. We have access to all the resources we need and a rough idea of what their process must be, but with the upgrades to the Army already underway we can’t begin full production until the end of next year.”

“And as to Projects Myrmidon and Sunburst?”

“Sunburst is slow going, working through the PoseidoNet code and network structure from the mainframes that were taken from Helios One back in the day before the Enclave bombed it to hell. I’m still not sure if we’ll ever accurately replicate the Archimedes Two command-and-control signal, but if we do … the Enclave will definitely have cause to fear.”

“And Myrmidon?”

“Once the main facility is set up we’ll be able to produce 50,000 clones every six months, using genetic and mental imprints from our best soldiers – they’ll serve both as enlisted and NCOs in their own designated units. And of course, we can expand it to potentially up to 100,000 every three months, but to do that we’d have to speed up the accelerated growth process to a dangerous degree. And that's without the additional facilities which are to eventually be brought online.”

“Aren’t you worried they may be disloyal?”

“They’ll be operating under naturally-born officers – without that of course, we’d run into no end of trouble.”

“What’ll we do with them once the war is over?”

“Do you think the continent is going to police itself once we’ve defeated the Enclave? We'll be needing a firm base of loyalists to settle in the liberated areas and assist with de-Enclavisation. And as to any other ethical objections, they pale in the face of what they’ll do to us if they win. We face slavery, tyranny, possibly total extermination.”

"Producing humans like machines ... it still doesn't sit right with me, Weathers, no matter if it does win us the war. I don't like this program."

"Once the war is over, it will no longer be necessary. But right now we need to pursue every available route to limit our losses from combat as much as possible - we can't expand conscription without cutting into the economy, cannibalising our own agriculture and industry to put boots on the ground."

--*--

A mile or so from the NCR Presidential Palace, a man in his early 30s sat in a steakhouse restaurant some hours later. He was well-dressed, in an expensive suit that still somehow seemed vaguely shabby, and he had obviously put on an amount of cologne that was more than expected. His hair was asymmetrical and ran long down his neck on one side while being close-cut on the other. A brutal scar ran down his left cheek. All these details distracted from the unusual pattern on one of his suit buttons, which was actually the most important thing about him.

He took a drink of the wine sourly; not as good as they had in New Reno. The waitresses weren’t half-bad looking here, he mused; still, back home a decent number of them worked a rather different job than waitressing after dark. He knew better than to do anything that would cause a scene, though – his current task did not have room for making any sort of commotion, unlike some he had carried out a couple of years ago which had earned him the heartfelt respect and trust of his boss.

He watched as the man and woman entered the establishment and went to a table which was relatively far from any others. He knew their names, and that despite the rings on their fingers they were not husband and wife but rather colleagues – highly ranked officials in the NCR government, given by the security men standing at the entrance of the place. He had been going to this place the past few weeks, and he had surmised that under the raucous party atmosphere that was still drowning the streets outside, they would be willing to discuss important issues in hushed voices. He received his order but tucked in as little as possible; his hand shifted in one of his suit pockets as he shifted slightly so that his oddly-patterned suit button was pointing right at the two talking individuals.

In the ear that was concealed under his hair, he could hear the conversation that was taking place a few tables away from him, which of the other diners only the man could hear.

It’s terrible. If the public were to know that we’re giving the Enclave prisoners a double ration compared to our own soldiers ...”

But what can we do, Madam Secretary? The Enclave hold more than ten thousand of our own troops hostage, and they say they’ll kill ten for every one of theirs that dies even by accident. "

It’s not as if we’re giving them banquets, but the public won’t understand, you know. They mustn't figure it out. The northern states will demand my resignation at the least – they might even make as if this is treason. Kimball trusts me, but Cole has a strong hold over him too. The Administration’s divided, and we have to present a front of unity and trustworthiness to the NCR as a whole ...”

The man clicked the device in his pocket again and began eating his meal in full. He’d struck it – if not gold, then definitely silver. The boss would be pleased. It was relatively easy to manipulate audio recordings these days. And properly edited, such would make excellent blackmail material in the wartime environment that currently prevailed. Which would be used to help clear a path to bring down the real target ...

==*==

16:30 EST, January 2 2332

Palmyra, Virginia, USA


Sebastian G. McCain, US Secretary of War, exited his car and walked out into the parking lot, accompanied by the . What stood before him looked like nothing less than any typical office block – built in a neo-Romanesque style of Georgia granite, the only signs of its true nature were the darkened windows with the distinctive sheen of laserproofing, the US flag held high outside, and the sign ‘US ARMY RESEARCH OFFICE’ over its front door. He was followed by several others; the US Army Chief of Staff, the Commandant of the US Marine Corps, and the respective civilian Secretaries of those forces.

The local townsfolk passing by did not miss the arrival of such important figures – but neither did they pay them any heed. The Army facility, along with some non-military factories, was a major employer in their community and most were willing to let sleeping dogs lie and welcome the Federal money that came their way. Nor were they willing to dare the vicious rottweilers larger by far than normal dogs of that breed that slept in kennels around the facility’s outskirts, or risk the ire of the checkpoint’s two armed guards and the electrified razor-wire fence with its signs warning of horrific death.

They were required to wait after entering the front door. Each man was scanned for explosives and patted down for weapons, then had to press his finger against a DNA scanner and put in a short personal keycode before going further in. Once that was done, they walked one-by-one through the second door and entered the actual research facility. They knew, of course, what they were here for and where it was – they quickly got to the area on Floor -1, immediately above the facility’s fusion generators and air exchangers.

There were some people already waiting for them – representatives of the military contractor Aegis Defence Industries, the electronics and military equipment firm General Atomics, and the revived C.I.T., which oddly but not unsurprisingly had no members who had once been part of its old form. There were some Army scientists and project managers as well.

McCain shook the hands of the various notables and exchanged pleasantries; the base commander arrived and they exchanged salutes. They then moved into the demonstration area. It was a brightly-lit room – reminiscent perhaps of the Vaults that even after 200 years were still inhabited as communities, though with the once nigh-omnipotent Overseers reduced to the level any other civic official would be.

It was a suit of power armour unlike any seen before, though McCain noticed an odd difference from the design materials he had been permitted to see.

“You changed the shoulders to a copy of the T-72,” he commented.

“Yes,” the lead project manager, one Ezra Carman, commented. “To save on material. But anyway, I would like to show you this – the complete production model of the T-102 Centurion Powered Combat Armour.”

“You might notice the small nodules we have across the armour, linked by wires to the additional power pack on the armour’s back. Well, they’re actually small-scale forcefield generators which generate a low-strength photonic resonance barrier approximately one inch above the armour itself. This is sufficient to completely stop conventional bullets and low-power single laser shots with minimal chance of overheating. It’ll be resistant against high-caliber rounds and plasma fire as well, but rapid or strong enough energy weapon fire will overwhelm it – but even then, after that it’ll have to get through the duraframe. Our friends at CIT definitely deserve the credit.”

“We also have an improved electronics suite and we added a neural interface,” the representative from General Atomics added. “Allowing us to fully replicate the functions added by a pip-boy connection in older models without the pip-boy. In addition, the interface allows us to do away with a lot of the buttons inside the helmet, creating additional room for the occupant to breath. This allowed us to redesign the HUD – we now have everything the user needs to know projected straight onto the internal display with holography. We added wireless functions to allow the user to know how much ammunition he carries and the location of his immediate squad-mates, which are displayed on the map portion of the HUD. Now, our representative from Aegis Industries would like to talk.”

“The biggest change is with the powered frame itself,” the last man, the representative for Aegis Defence Industries, said. “Hydraulics have been replaced by electrically-actuated carbon nanofibre muscles which the interface enables to move in direct sync with the user’s own. The result is that to the wearer of the suit, it’s virtually weightless. We also upgraded the armour’s eyes to be made from aluminum oxynitride – stronger, and again, lighter, than typical bulletproof glass.”

“Good,” McCain commented. “How long till you can begin mass production?”

“We should have enough produced to begin equipping units by the 2nd quarter of 2333. The new frames are parts-incompatible with all older models and we’re having to retool our old factories and build new ones to produce them. But once they’re in the field ...”

==*==

State of the Union Address for 2332, Issued January 3 2332

“Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and Vice President Richardson. My fellow Americans, as we gather here tonight, our nation sadly remains in a state of emergency. Hostile forces still threaten the Steel Belt, although they were thrown back at Chicago by our brave boys and girls in power armour. We have continuing reports of vicious anti-American activity carried out by them against our farmers and townsmen. But the state of our Union, more than five hundred years old, remains strong.”

“Despite the insurrection on the West Coast whose forces have penetrated deep into our territory over the closing months of the past year, the American people are still prosperous, free, and secure. The enemy have been thrown back from Chicago, but the task of driving them back into the Pacific still remains. The effort of reunifying the American nation, from sea to shining sea, will require great toil, blood and sacrifice, as the previous time such action needed to be taken.”

“But our great nation has faced worse times than even then. Fifty years ago, great swathes of it were in a state of lawless anarchy while the lawful government of this great nation barely held any territory under its authority. Two hundred years ago, we faced the largest army in the world – the unspeakable forces of the Red Chinese tyranny, which were overrunning Asia from Vietnam to Vladivostok and had even dared set foot on the American mainland. Five hundred years ago, we faced the greatest empire in history as a collection of backwoods militiamen huddled in the cold at Valley Forge.”

“And each time, we overcame the enemy and conquered through our strength, toughness, and courage to fight for our freedom. But the consequence of defeat now is as dire as it was in those days. Just like in those periods of our history, if America fails now she has failed forever. I know these words may seem grim, but that is the measure of our current situation. Nevertheless, despite the great trial we now face, I am certain that the Providential support that was with us then is still with us now.”

“My administration will be working to first of all, commit all necessary effort towards the great task of reuniting the States of America. That is what I firmly and resolutely believe that I have been called to the Presidency of this great nation to achieve. Which is why my budget focuses – but not exclusively – on this one critical goal.”

“And that doesn’t just mean military spending, though that is a significant element . We will also be expanding our civilian aerial infrastructure to the regions of Texas – which on the 29th of December last year was officially designated as a reintegrated State within the Union in preparation for the full reintegration of the Lone Star Republic – and linking its cities to our maglev rail network, once our military forces in the region have pushed back the front-line sufficiently that it no longer represents a security risk.”

“I have also prepared a Federal relief fund for previously reintegrated areas of US territory which have borne the brunt of the enemy invasion, which will be used for the purposes of repairing damaged infrastructure, clearing unexploded munitions and contaminated areas, and serving as an unemployment fund for any American who can definitively prove that they lost their occupation as a result of enemy activity. Business owners whose businesses were lost as a result of enemy action will also be recompensated.”

“Last but not least, I will be making available via Americare, our social health insurance system developed by President Kirkpatrick – who turns 61 today – the extraordinary regenerative and genetic-modification process developed by Dr. Kyle Hargrave to cure radiation-induced regenerative necrosis. I would recommend the thousands of Americans who remain with this condition to seek treatment as soon as possible so they can fully participate in society, no longer represent a potential risk to their uninfected fellow citizens, and no longer face the horror of degenerating into the terminal stage and being reduced to the level of a wild beast.”

“We will, as much as I would have liked to avoid it, see new taxes to pay for the war effort. Most importantly, the flat-rate tax on income will be increased to 15% for the next five years. I know this is a sacrifice some may balk at, but our men in power armour right now are shedding their own blood to keep us safe and secure our way of life. Is some more of your money too much to ask?”

“I would like to offer a hearty thanks to our generals Julius Chase and Alexander Autumn, whose steadfast endurance and refusal to give into despair against severe odds has saved the Chicago. And also to our soldiers who have shown their courage and determination on the battlefield against the rebel forces. As a soldier myself, I’m proud of you all. I also offer thanks to those patriots to – though they were not strictly obligated to – have assisted our troops in the defence of the US from enemy forces and to those who have contributed to the war effort by buying war bonds to help finance our military endeavours.”

“I’m also happy concerning the work I was able to achieve over the past year with Congressmen of both our two major parties. I will continue to work with them to accomplish this Administration’s goals.”

“Thank you, and good night. God bless America.”
 
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TyrantTriumphant

Well-known member
I cannot even begin to describe how unethical and hypocritical the NCR's mass cloning plan is. One of the things that they condemn the Enclave for is supposedly having a caste system and using slave soldiers and here they are planning to do the same thing.

I get that desperate times call for desperate measures but seems a bit much. I wonder if by the end of this war the NCR will end up looking more like Richardson than his actual descendants.

Also you should threadmark this.
 

AspblastUSA

Well-known member
As rough as the opening moves were it sounds like year after next is going to be the actual climax of the conflict. With everything we've seen thus far I actually expect the next year to be comparatively quiet; although significantly more frustrating for the NCR. As the winter storm passes and the US can bring it's greater logistical capacity to bear holding the line at the Mississippi will in my mind prove to be completely impossible. Even if the NCR had equal man-and-industrial power to the USA they're operating at the end of a long supply line.

Rather I expect that with the offensive more or less collapsing 2332 will be a year of jousting on the great plains. A painful lesson for the NCR that they're out-classed in the sort of maneuver warfare that is going to dominate there but the real losers of the next war are no doubt going to be the Brotherhood. Their new primary holdings in the midwest are well within striking distance and I expect much of their territory to come under attack by the time the NCR can roll out the clone army.

Mind I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the NCR left the BoS basically unsupported. The techno-barbarians weakening the techno-fascists before being wiped out (and thus unable to challenge the Californian-led postwar order) is an absolute win from their perspective.
 

Ihopethisworks

God Bless the Enclave
Even if the NCR and create hundreds of thousands of clone troopers (heh), they still need to be sheltered, clothed, fed, and equipped. I seriously doubt the NCR actually has the capacity support enough clone troopers to actually turn the tide.
 

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