Visibility was key. The paladin stood watch several yards from the warehouse doors. Surrounded by the rusted out hulls of pre-war cargo trucks offered some shred of comfort. Enough cover to take shelter from whatever threats hid beyond the hills without straying too far from his comrades inside. They were taking a while, McDowell and Grimshaw. Moss tried the squad com to no avail. He glanced to the hills, curious and hopeful the young knight scouting was faring better.

As if on queue, Estevez appeared. He wasn’t alone. 

"Hey! I found something! I saw a bit from the vertibird, I got the Knight-Sergeant's hammer out of a crate and I found my rucksack. I think if we keep going past the creek that the box was stuck in we might find the bird or... well, what's left of the rest of our team." The young Knight called out, stepping in to the warehouse ready to give the hammer to Gregory who he was expecting back by now. But Paladin Moss seemed interested in staying outside, looking for or at something. Daniel leaned the hammer on a wall inside the warehouse before stepping back out to trace the gaze of the Paladin. “Oh. Sorry, Sir. Didn’t notice them on my way back.” 

He unslung his M14, extending the bipod and attaching his optics before placing his gatling laser on ground beside himself. “I’m sure they told you Sir but I’m a good shot, hit bullseyes well beyond the effective range of my weapons back in D.C.. I can pick off a few while they’re getting here and once they’re in range you can help out. If there’s much left the Gatling Laser will deal with them and if not I’ll use my recharger or knife, maybe McDowell’s super sledge. No point wasting ammunition. Let’s get some cover inside, alright?” 

Assuming the Paladin had no objections Daniel took his gear inside, setting up his rifle on a window facing the raiders. Satisfied with both bipod and optics he would take aim at a raider, centre mass. His rifle was long barrelled and spat .308s, and as such he didn't waste time aiming for the head. He wasn't interested in showing himself off, rather in preserving bullets. A headshot would be more impressive of course, but if his weapon would more than deal with what makeshift armour Wastelanders in such a shithole could have then centre mass would be the ideal target. 

So Daniel took aim, and pulled the trigger. Only as the bullet flew it dawned on him he was taking his first human life. 

The shot sounded like the bottle cap flicking off of a Nuka Cola. A strange way to begin a firefight, but Moss had little choice about that now. His young comrade moved hastily into combat. Fired the first shot. No thought to diplomacy, not that the paladin would have entertained that anyway. 

Moss took a position behind a cargo truck parked  with its length shielding them from the incoming raiders. He could see the M14 peeking out from a window in the warehouse as well as the sparks from enemy fire. None of it close to Estevez. The silencer had done its job. 

Seconds passed before the first of the raiders came around the truck. They wore a blend of thick fabrics and scrap fashioned into a metal cuirass. Despite the dirty, makeshift nature of it, the material might actually be an issue for his laser rifle. The raider ran with their pipe pistol forward, firing twice. One shot flew high above  his shoulder, while the second glanced off the thick chestplate of his armor. Moss stepped forward and swung the butt of his rifle. It caught the raider on the ear, knocking them into the truck before the rifle fell directly onto their crown. The paladin heard a sickening thud as the raider crumpled onto the ground.

Others ran by the truck without notice. Some shaking in mid ran, as if electrified, before falling into the dirt. Others fortunate enough to avoid Estevez’s attention, instead finding cover behind the other vehicles. Moss dealt with them as needed. 

The field had nearly cleared when one of the smaller vehicles caught flame. Suddenly the raiders concentrated their fire on this single target and, before Moss could act, it erupted. The explosion flung him back several feet onto the rusted remains of another car.

A breath, a squeeze, and a bullet spat. It seemed to Daniel as easy to kill these raiders as radroaches, he was told it would be hard to take his first human life and it worried him that it wasn't. But when you're at threat of being killed that neither here nor there, and so he repeated the cycle. Breathe, squeeze, adjust. 

But as he was picking off the targets, it seemed the raiders weren't as stupid as Brotherhood leadership described Wastelanders. The car the Paladin's cover was by became the target of the foe and after moments of heavy fire it exploded sending the men momentarily airborne. 

Daniel knew he had to do something, lest they swarm his stricken leader and end his life. The Knight lowered his rifle and with an exercised motion unscrewed the silencer, before flicking his rifle to fully automatic. Returning it to its bipod he took aim at the largest grouping of raiders and held the trigger down until the magazine was exhausted. Hopefully this would suppress the foe along with killing a few. It might even scare them off entirely, but if not then at the very least he hoped the sudden cacophony would being the attention onto Daniel long enough for Paladin Moss to recover and possibly even flank the raiders. 

But now that the attention of the Raiders would be on Daniel he knew he wouldn't want to catch their bullets. His magazine was empty and so he removed it before slapping in another. But he was feeling clever, perhaps in a burst of arrogance. He propped the barrel of his rifle on the sill of the window to make it appear to those on the outside he was taking cover behind it, while in truth he sprinted on to a window further away with his recharger pistol drawn. He would wait for the sound of more shooting (with luck at the position of the propped rifle) before once more peeking out and unleashing laser fire on the raiders. With even more luck, they would be now at a distance that his pistol would not lose any efficacy due to range. 

So the young knight wasn’t so green after all. The paladin ignored the stiffness in his back and rolled off the bed of rusted steel. It wouldn’t be long until the raiders recognized the tactic. While Estevez let loose onto the field, Moss found a defensible position. 
They’d lost ground. Whatever tricks Estevez was using were certainly keeping him alive, even at the absence of the M14’s report left Moss unnerved. Still, the tide was pushing against them. The trick with the vehicles won the raiders more ground and there were plenty more of the pre-war relics to set off. 

Moss glanced back at the warehouse long just long enough to salute. Slapping a fresh cell into his rifle, he spun out from cover and charged into the field. The raiders had taken up scattered positions, perhaps a strategy to avoid falling into their own traps. It also made spotting them quickly a challenge. 

A round  sparked off his left pauldron. He whispered a prayer of gratitude and lifted the laser rifle high enough to fire. The red beam seared his assailants metal cuirass and severed their exposed bicep. He caught a glimpse of the arm falling away as a clank on his right alerted him to another raider. Once again he turned and fired from the hip. The shot flew low, catching his opponent in the knee and sending him tumbling. He cringed. Normally the paladin would fire again, mercy more than anything, but it wasn’t yet clear if he had the shots to spare. Besides, another raider was calling.

The paladin dropped to a knee behind a small cement barrier, his freshly bludgeoned foe still twitching on the ground beside him. They’d made a dent. A second to reload, then onward. It was slow work, but between Estevez on overwatch and their superior armor it seemed to be working. He stood, promptly firing at a raider dashing to cover. 

Heard a heavy thud. His left shoulder jolted back before the rest of his body followed. Bits of metal, of his [i]pauldron[/i] pinged off his helmet. Something had broken through.

Moss rolled back behind the cement barrier. Pulling the fresh corpse on top of him, praying the young knight acted fast.

It seemed Daniel wasted a whole lot of .308 for nothing, as the men did not scatter in fear for his automatic burst. But, at least his trick with the propped rifle worked. Shots rang out hoping to hit his previous position, but he wasn't there and thus got a chance to let out a burst of laser fire from his pistol to the crisping of much flesh, and the noise sickened him. But it was necessary. 

He muttered "Ad Victoriam." as the Paladin saluted him, until the faintest bullet trail came into vision at the same time as the racket of a high calibre rifle. The shot slammed into the shoulder of Paladin Moss, making the Knight drop to cover. They had a sharpshooter with a weapon that would with just a few lucky hits turn any man even with power armour into one of the dead. 

Hurriedly the Knight crawled to his rifle, glad he didn't try to save time not reloading it earlier. The Paladin was in trouble now and he had not a second to spare. He didn't bother with the bipod simply resting his rifle on the window sill, scanning the battlefield for his prey. He caught sight of his mark and after getting him in his crosshairs fired. 

The young Knight missed. The fellow was clearly not just a jet-for-blood lowlife of the wasteland, he zigged and zagged before stopping to return fire. The. 50 flew fast, hitting the Knight square in the chest. It would have hurt a lot if not for his Recon gear underneath the power armour but instead it was just a punch or kick. 

But while this was his first rodeo the young man wasn't an idiot to underestimate what he dealt with. He skipped two windows before taking new cover. He unfolded the bipod this time to take proper aim. The rifle's optics scanned the scene, eventually coming upon the threatening raider. He fired, and his bullet hit flesh. Problem was, Daniel didn't realize the raider he hot was already dead. The high-powered rifle he was holding was swiped aside and a shot flew at the Knight's chest again. It ricocheted, flying upwards to lodge itself in his helmet just nanometres away from having been deflected into his throat. The slightest shift, and Daniel would have been dead. 

He dropped back to his cover, sitting against the wall. His breath was getting faster and faster as his hands got a definite shaky quality. Cold sweat rolled down the soldier's face while bullets whistled on either side of him. The mind of Daniel tried to control his panic, and through it decided to contact the Initiate and Knight Sergeant. He didn't know how far they were but he had to try. "Get up here, now! – in combat!" 

Hearing his own voice steadied Daniel's nerves, and as he scrabbled for his Gatling Laser he contacted the Paladin: "Sir, I'm sorry. Their Marksman is too good. I'll use my laser to lay down some cover, get back here fast. I… I can't deal with them like this, they're too good. Let's get them inside or at least closer, get in a situation our armour makes more difference okay?" though Daniel was still perfectly articulate, the Paladin would more than be able to hear the fear in the young Knight's voice. 
 
As he held his Gatling Laser the lad looked side to side wondering where to strike until an idea struck him. He walked back to build up some momentum, before running forth and bursting through a wall. The moment the lenses of his heavy weapon saw the light of day it instantly began to spew searing beams across the landscape. He didn't hit much, all of this intended as just cover for Moss to get back. He noticed a cluster of raiders hiding behind a car and momentarily focused his fire on it resulting in another explosion. 

"Hurry, Paladin!" Daniel cried out, keeping up the hail of fire as he slowly retreated himself to the depths of the warehouse. 

The small fireball gave way to a plume of smoke. At least this time Moss was clear of the explosion, save the bits of debris sprinkling down from the sky. Warning helped. Let him brace, even if the shock of the thing still frazzled his senses. 

Taking advantage of the haze, the paladin scrambled to his feet and ran back toward the warehouse. Ahead of him, far too the left, a chunk of the ground seemed to burst into the air. A failed attempt at his life. He ran faster, struggling through the growing resistance in his power armor’s joints.  He couldn’t endure another shot. Estevez was right, this guy [i]was[/i] too good. 

But fortune was the side of the paladin. He barreled into the warehouse, sliding a stop and slamming the doors in one motion. A hole punched through the door a few feet from his head. The size of a mutfruit. 

“Get down here and help me barricade these doors,” Moss shouted, anger and embarrassment flaring. "Yessir." Came the quick reply of the Knight, who rushed over with what debris he could grab and - just in case - some satchel charges.