Pepperm1nts — Roleplayer Guild

Operation: To Blunt A Spear - New Dalles Airfield

The rumble of engines drowned out the sound of men running about and issuing orders. Battered columns of makeshift armored vehicles crowded the crater-filled runways where tents had not been erected. Around them stood the crumbling fortifications that had given them so much trouble the night before. They were but scorched dwellings now, and Township men - defenders - were still being pulled from the ruins, their bodies crushed and ripped beneath concrete. Hathaway had been disheartened to find two dead NCR troopers amidst the carnage. They wore no patches, but he knew.

The sound of vehicles was quieter inside the command tent, but it was inescapable and constant. Hathaway stood sternly in his greatcoat and peaked hat. The cuts on his face had begun to heal but their sting persisted. Before him sat several commanders. In the center, on a crooked table, laid a worn map of the surrounding area. Their orders - those given by President Clearwater himself - had been drawn over its surface in bright reds and blues. Hathaway stood over it, his hands buried under his hair. "Fuck!" he screamed.

The men before him were more than just commanders; they were his friends - veterans of the Second Battle of Hoover Dam relieved of their service after following Hathaway on an offensive and violating orders to hold position. These men had already proved they would follow him to the end of the world; he had no need to hide his emotions from them. In fact, they shared them.

One of them - Captain Werner - took a deep breath, leaning back in his chair. "This is bullshit." he said bluntly. He looked around the table, frustrated. "I say we sit here." he said, shrugging. "Fuck it."

"No, no." another across from him - Major Thorne - stepped in. "Too obvious a transgression. We do that and there's no hiding our sympathies."

"Well, fuck them." Werner said. "We don't owe these Yakima fucks anything - they owe us. I ain't gonna shoot my own fuckin' people to please some fucked up, reformed raiders. We ought to join up with the NCR - fuck, it doesn't even sound right, calling them 'NCR' like their some fuckin' group we ain't familiar with. Those are our boys."

"We're not with them anymore." Thorne said.

"Fuck if we're not - I know where my loyalties lie, I know where I was born, where I grew up. I know who my brothers are, and not one of them has strayed from the bear."

"But we have." Thorne countered. "I'm not anymore loyal to Yakima than you are, but we made our decision - we left the NCR. They may be our brothers at heart but we turned on the bear a long time ago."

"I never did." Werner said. He reached in his tunic and produced a golden star pin with the image of a two-headed bear and the rank of Captain. He threw it on the table in front of them, where it bounced with a cling before it settled over the map. "I ain't shootin' my fuckin' people."

"Well, we can't just sit here." Major Hood cut in. "We sit here, our sympathies become clear, and we're labeled a liability and a threat. Next thing you know, we'll be trapped between the circus that is the Yakima army, and the bear's jaws. The NCR brass ain't gonna welcome us back, either. We'll all be executed if we give ourselves up."

Werner stopped for a second, his mouth filling up with air before he blew it all out as if he were troubled as to what to do. He threw his hands in the air, "I don't fucking know." he admitted. He looked at Hathaway, "Get in contact with the NC- with our boys, and tell them you have information and an airfield to exchange for a unit-wide pardon?"

The thought had crossed Hathaway's mind. It still did occasionally. He kept it in the back of his head as a last resort. But there was something about it that troubled him. The thought of betraying a nation again made him hate himself. He knew deep down his legacy held little value when compared to the lives of his men, though, and he told himself he'd do it if he had to. But he didn't reply to Werner's proposal. He didn't know what to say.

Thorne must have taken his silence for a 'no', and stepped in, "We can cross the bridge here." he shrugged, pointing at the bridge just south of the airfield. He spoke weakly as if he were offering his input without any real desire to see his plan carried out. "Then we go east," his finger followed route 30 eastward, "and hit the NCR from the side." he said. "Or we can wait until they cross the bridge, then come in from behind and trap them between us and the mole-people south of Goldendale."

It was a good plan if they wanted to destroy the NCR. But they didn't. None of them did. They all wanted a way out.

"We ain't killing no goddamn troopers." Werner stepped in again, slamming a fist on the table. It wasn't anger, Hathaway could see it. It was desperation. "We killed two last night and it's fuckin' killing me." he said, his voice shaky as if on the brink of tears. But he held it back.

"No one's killing anyone." Hathaway finally spoke. His mind was a mess of thoughts; ideas, worries, fears. He wasn't quite sure what to do, but he knew he needed a way out without a confrontation with the NCR. "Fuck this." he sighed, swiping everything on the map - figures indicating troop positions - off the table. "Fuck Clearwater and fuck his plan." he said, the men before him smiling with relief. "I want the bridges blown to hell."

"The orders say we need to hold the-"

"I said fuck the orders!" Hathaway cut in. "We don't have the men to hold the bridges, anyhow. We barely had enough to take them." he explained. But that wasn't his reasoning for taking them down. It was a factor - one he would write down on a report to hide his true motives. "The Yakima Republic doesn't have the strength to go on the offensive against the NCR - not yet. But when they do, it's those bridges that will provide them - us, whatever - a way south into NCR territory.

"And then it'll be New Californian settlements we'll be sent to burn down. It'll be our own goddamn people we'll be fighting." Werner said.

"Exactly." Hathaway nodded. "And I'll be damned if I let that happen." he said. "If we take down the bridges, we take down the Yakima Republic's ability to push southward - at least within the foreseeable future. If President Clearwater has something to say about it, we remind him we're fighting a defensive war here, and that those bridges are the reason we're threatened with invasion."

"So, with the well-being of the Yakima people in mind, we decided to take the bridges down in order to halt the enemy advance and buy us all some time." Werner smiled. "I like it."

"But best of all: we won't have to kill anymore of our people." Thorne added. Hood nodded approvingly.

"Alright then." Hathaway filled his lungs, taking a step back. "Werner." he looked at the Captain, "Make it happen. Take a small force to the bridge south of here and blow it to hell."

"Yes, sir."

"Hood." he looked at the Major. "Take a portion of the Support Company eastward down route 14. Position yourself on the north side of the river - within artillery range - and use the guns we recovered here to target the eastern bridge. Make sure you're safely out of enemy range and be mindful of any NCR troops on and around the bridge."

"What if they're holding the bridge?" Hood asked.

Hathaway sighed. The decision weighed on him. "Take it down anyway." he said, his voice hinting at the sadness he felt. "If you can minimize casualties, do it. If not.. we don't have a choice. It's either a few troopers on a bridge now, or hundreds later."

Hood nodded.

"What about the mole-people?" Thorne asked.

"What about them?" said Hathaway. Reinforcing them meant facing the NCR. He wondered if it was worth it and it was hard to convince himself it was.

"Oh, no, no." Thorne stepped in. "We can't just let them die." he said. "I mean, fuck. We may as well fly the bear's flag if we do."

"We should be." Werner shrugged.

Hathaway paused for a minute. The problems he was being faced with were overwhelming. He felt like screaming into his hat. "Fuck!" he snapped. "Fuck - okay. Thorne - take another portion of the Support Company and head eastward. Avoid the NCR at all costs. Go off-road if you need to, I don't care. Set up somewhere south of Goldendale and coordinate with the 8th Underground. Let them know you're there to evacuate them and do just that. Load them up into the vehicles and take them north into Goldendale. When you're there, pick up our small garrison stationed there and get them the fuck out of there before they're forced to face the NCR. Bring them back here. Leave the 8th to handle the defense of Goldendale alone. If they ask, tell them you're all we could spare and you're needed back here as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

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