Chapter 11: Battle of Evergreen Mills

Fort Bannister, The next day:

The once barren fort is now teeming with insurgent activity as rebels from Girdershade, Big Town and even Germantown Police HQ converge on the old fort to begin preparations for their attack on the NCR supply base in Evergreen Mills.

Although some of the rebels aren't particularly comfortable with working alongside Super Mutants…

Commanding Officer's Quarters, 9:00am:

Sentinel Maxson and the representatives of Girdershade, Big Town, Arefu and the Super mutants gather at the newly refurbished briefing room to discuss their plans in attacking the NCR supply base.

"Alright" Arthur stated as he activates a holo projector, that shows the area map of Evergreen Mills, "Our latest intel shows that the enemy supply base is heavily guarded by the Rangers. Their snipers are armed with anti-material rifles, chambered in .50 caliber armor piercing bullets. Their foot soldiers have either a Service Rifle or an Assault Carbine, with varying attachments and customizations. There are also planted MG nests in and around the perimeter of the base. Also, judging from the distortions in some of the areas in the base, we could only theorize that there are a couple of soldiers equipped with either stealth boys or stealth suits. Finally, they seem to have some mortars, pre-War weapons that can fire an explosive from a far like a howitzer but is small enough for a single infantryman to carry."

"Damn…" Red uttered "That base is locked down pretty tight… How do you expect us to get through?"

"Although our bodies are tougher than a human's…" Fawkes added "…We will not be able to withstand that much firepower"

"With any luck…" Arthur replied "We can take that base with minimal losses"

"How?" Vance, the middle-aged representative of Arefu & the family, asked

"If we can get a team into the base, at nighttime when most of the soldiers are asleep, and eliminate most of the threats, we can plow through that base without a scratch" the commander proudly answered

"But what makes you so sure the NCR won't be prepared for a night raid?" Red asked

"In the past few years of fighting them" the commander answered "I noticed that most of the regular soldiers aren't used to sleepless days, they almost always need sleep to function properly. We can use that to our advantage as the most likely candidates to be awake are the Rangers, some officers and a few night watchmen. The rest would be sleeping like babies in their beds"

"If it's a night raid you want" Vance added "My accomplices will be more than happy to assist"

"Thanks" Arthur replied "But no thanks. I need your men on the frontlines. I have a special squad in mind and I know that they can dent those defenses"

"As you wish…" Vance replied

The Big Town mayor was still skeptical as she said "The NCR should have noticed this flaw in their ranks by now… Don't you find it weird that they still didn't try to fix this problem, even though it's been happening for years?"

"True…" the commander answered "But a night raid is a better gamble than fighting the full brunt of their soldiers during the day…"

"You do have a point…" Red muttered

"If we go along with this plan" Fawkes said "Who will be the infiltrators?"

"I'll detach a small team from Lyons' Pride" the commander answered "Ellie, Vyse and Marina"

"Only those 3?" Laren muttered

"Yep" the commander proudly answered "They're the best soldiers I've ever had the pleasure of serving with. If anyone can pull off a successful and stealthy raid, it's them!"

"But how will they infiltrate the base?" Vance asked "The entrances are well-guarded and the cliffs are just too high for them to use"

"That's where you're wrong" The commander said "In the past few days, while those 3 were stirring up Girdershade, we found a lot of useful equipment, both pre-War and 'modern'. One of which is something called a grappling hook"

"Grappling hook?" Red wondered "What's that?"

"Some sort of pre-War tech that enables a soldier to climb down high places" Arthur answered

"But does anybody know how to use it?" the Big Town mayor asked

"Apparently, our little mercenary knows" the commander answered "She's training the others on how to use it already"

"She has quite the knowledge of pre-War tech…" Laren stated

"Yes she does" the commander answered

"So what time do we strike?" Fawkes asked

"Those 3 will begin their infiltration at midnight" the commander answered "The main force will attack on their signal! So tell your men to get rested cuz we have a long night ahead of us!"

Fort Bannister grounds

By the destroyed building, 9:30am:

Just as the Pride Commander said, the young mercenary has been teaching the other rebels on how to use the new device.

"Wow, Ellie" Vyse said in amazement "You sure know a lot about pre-War tech… Where'd you learn these kinds of stuff? We're you a prospector or scavenger or something?"

"Not really…" the mercenary answered "For some reason, I just know how to use a lot of these things…"

The Knight Sergeant raises one eyebrow as he said "Really? You don't know how you learned it but you just know?"

"Exactly" the mercenary answered with a straight face

Disappointed, the knight sergeant could only utter "…Fine let's leave it at that…"

Marina chuckled for a moment but neither soldier noticed it

"Also" Vyse added "Looks like another town joined our little resistance movement"

"Really? Which Town?" Ellie asked

"Some small town called Arefu" the knight sergeant answered "I don't really know the details but it's one of the few towns in the region that managed to maintain independence thanks to a gang called 'The Family"

"The Family?" Marina wondered

"As far as I know" Vyse continued "While we were at Girdershade, the guys from Big Town helped Arefu stop a NCR takeover of the town. In gratitude, the townsfolk and the gang that protects them joined us"

"Well isn't that convenient" Ellie said

"I know, right?" Vyse said "With this much support, we'll kick the NCR out of this place in no time!"

As the troopers resume their training, they heard someone shout "I'VE HAD IT!"

Curious, the three troopers flawlessly descend from the building via rappelling

"Nice one!" Ellie said as the three prompt the grappling hook to recover the rope.

"Let's go!" Marina said as the hook returns to the device's barrel

Reaching the source of the noise, they bear witness to a dire situation.

A tall Caucasian teenager is arguing with a Super Mutant

"Why are you green asswipes here anyway!?" the teenager mockingly said "Aren't all supposed to be dead already!?"

"Shut up, stupid human!" the Super Mutant, with a bandaged left eye, shouted "I can crush you like a bug, right now!"

"Why am I not surprised…?" Ellie muttered with disappointment

"…I guess there's still bad blood between humans and super mutants…" Vyse said

"Obviously" Marina said sarcastically "We only found out how docile these guys are, a few days ago. It's not like any animosity would go away overnight"

"I guess you're right…" Vyse replied

"Think you can take me on!?" the teenager said, cocking his 10mm submachine gun

"Bring it on, puny human!" the super mutant said as he brings out his tri-beam laser rifle and a crowd of humans and super mutants converge on the area, like how school kids gather in a schoolyard fight.

"This is bad…" Ellie muttered "If no one defuses this situation, it could end in a bloodbath"

The contenders cock their respective weapons and prepare for a duel to the death.

"We gotta stop this!" The mercenary said as she tries to intervene

But before she could do so, a group of teenagers, about 5 of them, intervened.

"You guys again!?" the Caucasian teenager said "Stay outta this! These muties should be taught a lesson!"

Upon saying that, one of the teenagers in the group walks up. He was a tall Caucasian young adult armed with an Assault Carbine, no attachments, and was wearing a Merc Veteran outfit with a cap & sunglasses. It looked like he was the leader of the group.

"Hey dumbass!" he said "You really want to cause this much trouble here?"

"What did you say!?" the teenager said as he aims his gun at the other teenager.

Acting quickly, the rest of the group draw their weapons and aim it at the teenager but the young man maintained his sights on the sunglasses-wearing teenager. This prompted the other spectators to draw their weapons.

Before things could get out of hand, another Super Mutant, who was shirtless, intervenes and says "Alright that's enough! We are all supposed to be united in our fight against the NCR! If we persist with this act of violence, we will never be able to capture the enemy base at Evergreen Mills!"

The teenager then gives an annoyed expression before putting his gun down and leaving, the crowd of teenagers then disperse and return to their respective work.

"Ha! You better run!" the bandaged Super mutant taunted

"As for you" the shirtless Super Mutant continued "You ought to be ashamed! We agreed that we would no longer harm any more innocent humans!"

"But he was making fun of me!" the Super mutant protested

"It cannot be helped…" the shirtless mutant replied "Their image of us is still dark. But if we work hard and show them how we have changed then, that is the time when these humans will realize how sincere we are and soon, they will stop mocking us"

The Super Mutant simply grumbled a bit and left as the crowd of mutants disperses.

Walking closer to the shirtless mutant, the young mercenary said "Good thing you managed to get the situation under control"

"True…" the super mutant answered "I am saddened that the humans still regard us as monsters. But it cannot be helped. Most of my kind has killed and pillaged these humans for a long time… Old wounds like that take time to heal…"

"True…" the mercenary answered "It's nice to see that you are trying to coexist with us…"

"Yes" the mutant answered "Although it may be a long time from now, but I do hope that someday, humans will be able to forgive us for our past sins and we could all coexist in peace…"

"I hope I see that noble dream come true…" the mercenary said with a smile "Can I get your name?"

"I am Uncle Leo" the mutant replied "I must go back and help with moving the supplies"

"Right, see you" the mercenary said as she waves goodbye

"You really think that's gonna happen?" Vyse wondered

"Honestly, I don't know" the mercenary answered "But I do hope it does…"

Evergreen Mills (NCR southern supply base), midnight:

The three troopers stand ready as they have a clear view of the base…

"I have eyes on prey" Vyse said on the radio

"Acknowledged" Arthur replied on the other line "We'll strike once you achieve the objectives! Mission is a go!"

With that, the troopers pull out their silenced weapons, Ellie's varmint rifle; Marina's Hunting rifle and Vyse's R91 assault rifle. They each take aim at 3 Rangers, one was patrolling on top of the building, another was in a watchtower at the center of the camp and the 3rd one was in another watchtower at the eastern side of the camp. Firing simultaneously, they each silently eliminate their targets.

With the snipers neutralized, Ellie positions her sights on the radio operator, sitting in a tent inside the cage. She fires her shot and lands a bullet on the soldier's head. To the mercenary's surprise, there was another soldier inside the tent and he notices the kill. Running on adrenaline, the mercenary quickly aligns her sights onto her new target before he could warn the other troopers of the danger.

Fortunately, Marina managed to eliminate the trooper before he could even turn the radio on! And as a precaution, the sniper shoots the radio as well.

Moving on, the three troopers then rappel downward and made their way to the storage sheds, conveniently placed by the old rusted trains, all the while eliminating any obstacles that got in their way.

Reaching the storage sheds the troopers notice that there were fewer weapons and supplies than originally thought.

Having no time to wonder, they begin to sabotage the weapons stored inside, except for the mortars which they carried towards the place where they landed. With the mortars and storage sheds secured, the troopers then crept their way towards the entrance, eliminating as many soldiers as they could. Seeing the enemy MG nests, the troopers proceeded to covertly eliminate the gunners using their rifles.

It was almost too easy as the troopers managed to achieve their objectives in less than 30 minutes. Hiding behind the place where they hid the mortars, Vyse picks up his radio and says

"Pincer maneuver is a sure go!"

Vicinity of Evergreen Mills, Main attack force

12:25am:

With Vyse's confirmation, Arthur signals the rest of the rebels to begin the assault.

With one flare in the sky, the rebels begin their charge, ready to do their share in the mission!

As the first set of rebels nears the entrance, the MG nests suddenly come to life and begin to open fire on the rebels.

Like dominos, the first few groups of rebels fell to the ground as bullets rain upon the unsuspecting militia.

Surprised, the Pride Commander could only utter "WHAT THE HELL!?"

"Those MGs were supposed to be silent!" Elysse said as she looks through her binoculars "I'm seeing fire from the top of those hills! SHIT! We got stealth enemies!"

"Looks like they were expecting us…" The commander muttered "Shit! I should have been more careful!"

"We have no choice then!" Fawkes shouted "My brothers! We must protect our comrades! Form a wall and break through their lines!"

"Regroup!" the commander yelled in his radio "Turtle Formation! We can't back out now!"

Regrouping, the surviving rebels form a turtle formation with the Super mutants acting as shields for their non-mutant allies and resumed their charge towards the NCR base.

"Vyse!" Elysse said over the radio "The MGs aren't silent! Can you assist!?"

"We have our own problems!" Vyse replied

"What do you mean!?"

"We're pinned down by the cliffs!" the knight sergeant replied "No wonder it was easy! They were expecting us! Their main force was using stealth boys and stealth suits the entire time! The regulars are waking up and moving to the frontlines!"

"SHIT!" The Star paladin shouted

Arthur stood there silent as he looks through his binoculars

Eventually, the rebels finally reach the entrance and the Super Mutants begin to breach the enemy lines. The turtle formation, however, was hardly effective as the narrow pathway made it easier for the enemy soldiers, on higher ground, to gun down several rebels, including super mutants.

The rebels were suffering heavy losses as a combination of concentrated fire and explosives made the narrow entrance a death trap. Human and Super Mutant alike are gunned down in a hail of bullets and shrapnel.

Meanwhile on the other side of the battlefield, the three troopers were pinned down by enemy fire.

"We need to do something!" Ellie shouted "The main force is getting chewed up out there!"

"In case you didn't notice" Marina sarcastically replied "We're not doing so hot either!"

Activating her 'eagle vision', the mercenary counts more than 30 targets, coming from different places, hammering their position. The mercenary then fires potshots at the enemy forces, hoping to land a few kills.

"SHIT!" Ellie shouted as her rifle jams "Damn it! I just fixed this piece of shit this morning!"

"Last mag!" Vyse shouted as he reloads his rifle

It was becoming hopeless… Ellie's rifle jammed, Vyse was on his last mag and Marina was having trouble landing a hit with her rifle. And the mercenary still counts at least 25 tangos.

To the surprise of the trio, they see flashes of light on the hill, behind the trains. Through Ellie's ability, she sees several tangos go down. And the ones firing from the hill had a distinctive blue aura on them.

"Looks like we got here on time!" said one of them through the radio

"You guys are friendlies?" Vyse asked

"No shit" he replied "Name's Moss! One of Big Town's greatest troopers and this is my crew, the Stalagmites!"

"Stalagmites?" Ellie muttered

"Tag targets for us and we'll do the rest!" Moss enthusiastically said

"Roger!" the mercenary replied as she relays the enemy positions to their rescuers

Thanks to their teamwork, the two squads managed to eliminate the threat.

Meeting by the trains, the trio notices that their rescuers were the same group of teenagers who intervened on the scuffle that morning.

"Thanks for the rescue" Marina said as she shakes hands with the tall Caucasian teenager wearing a cap and sunglasses "I'm guessing you're Moss"

"Yep!" the teenager eagerly replied "Leader of this ragtag group of soldiers! Looks like you three owe us for saving your asses"

"No kidding…" Vyse muttered

"Vyse do you read me!?" Arthur calmly said over the radio

"We hear you" the knight sergeant replied "Thanks to a squad of teenagers, we're safe!"

"Good" Arthur said "Ellie, do you know how to operate a mortar?"

"Y-Yes!" the mercenary replied

"You just never run out surprises, do you?" Vyse sarcastically said

"Good!" The Pride commander said "Use those mortars to hammer the fortified enemy position by the entrance!"

"Roger!" Vyse replied

"No time to waste!" the mercenary said "Let's go!"

As the trio prepares to fire the mortar, more NCR troops arrive and begin to fire on their position!

"We'll keep em busy!" Moss said "You just focus on helping our guys at the entrance!"

"Alright we leave em to you!" Vyse replied

"Longshot!" Moss shouted "Top of the train! Eliminate high threats!"

"Copy!" the female sniper replied as she heads to her assigned position

"Hopper!" the leader continued "You're with me and Longshot! Eliminate any threat that gets close on both ends!"

"Gotcha!" the tall Asian trooper replied

"PeaceKeeper!" he continued "Frontlines! Hammer em on the left side!"

"Right!" the 5 foot tall Asian soldier replied as he positioned himself behind some sandbags

"Naga!" the leader said "Hammer the right side!"

"On the way!" The African-American trooper replied as he uses a crater as cover

Moss and Hopper then climb one of the trains and begin to open fire on both the left and right.

The team exercised skillful usage of firearms and tactics as they manage to keep the NCR at bay the entire time, all the while, never incurring any casualties.

Using the coordinates provided by Elysse, the trio unleashed a hail of mortars upon the NCR troops by the entrance. This gave a good enough opening for the rebels to flood the base. The battle finally turned in favor of the rebels as the enemy soldiers struggle to maintain their positions.

While the rest of rebel army mops up the remaining NCR troops, a small squad, consisting of Vyse, Ellie, Marina, Coby, Dallas, Kodiak and the members of Stalagmite, break into the mill to capture the enemy command post.

The troopers met fierce resistance as the NCR desperately defended every corner of the building.

Near the enemy command post:

A narrow hallway separates the rebels from the enemy command post, and the commanding officer of the base. This was their last stand and the NCR furiously defended their final position.

Wearing a full suit of Power Armor and fully loaded miniguns, Coby and Kodiak acted as shields while the rest of the squad slowly moved from behind them. Luckily, the NCR's rifles merely dented their armor. It did not take long before the enemy command post fell to the rebels. However, the NCR commanding officer was not at the post when it fell to the rebels.

"Must have fled while we were fighting outside" Coby said "Fucking coward"

"No matter…" the mercenary replied "At least we took this base from them!"

Evergreen Mills, 3:30am:

The fighting was over after nearly 3 hours. Despite incurring heavy losses, the rebels managed to wrest control of Evergreen mills from the NCR. The republic lost two divisions worth of Rangers and 3 divisions worth of regular soldiers that day, with a few managing to escape the onslaught and a handful of survivors taken as prisoner.

Arthur, Red and Fawkes were at the recently captured command post.

"So much death..." Red muttered as she looks through the window "...I hope all this shit is worth it"

"Either way" the commander answered "There's no turning back now... We've already provoked the bear"

Turning to the Super Mutant leader, the commander sorrowfully stated "Fawkes, I'm sorry about your fallen brethren..."

"There is nothing to apologize" Fawkes replied "My brethren died trying to redeem themselves. I am sure that many of them do not regret their actions"

The commander simply smiles as the three leaders look through the window...

Outside:

Ellie scours the base, she sees nothing but death… Many soldiers, rebel and NCR, human and super mutant alike, lost their lives in taking this small derelict mill…

One particular scene managed to catch her eye…

She saw this teenager mourning over the body of a super mutant, whose left eye was bandaged. She then realized that this teenager was the same person who provoked that same mutant the day before. It was weird. Just yesterday he was mocking this super mutant and now, he's crying over his corpse.

Walking over to the young man, she asks "What's up? I thought you hated Super Mutants?"

"I do… I should…" he muttered as tears continue to fall "But he… I don't understand…"

"What do you mean?" the mercenary asked

The young man then told the story of the final minutes of this mutant…

Flashback:

While we were getting slaughtered at the entrance, I was surprised to see that this mutant was protecting me from the bullets that kept on whistling past us… Why did he do that? After everything I said to him, he could have just allowed me to die… So why…?

When we finally managed to break through the entrance, I quickly joined the others in taking the guard houses, near the cages. I was supposed to die several times but that mutant kept on getting in the way and taking those shots for me… I lost count to how many times he was shot trying to protect me… He died of his wounds a few minutes after the battle was over…

He didn't say anything throughout the fight but in those last seconds he said "I have found peace…"

Back in the present:

"I still don't get it… Why did he protect me? After everything I said, why did he do all that!?" The teenager said as he breaks down, crying.

"It's because they want to change…" the mercenary answered

"Huh?" the teenager muttered raising his head and staring at the mercenary, whose gaze was fixated at the deceased Super Mutant.

"Just because someone does something wrong to you, doesn't make them eternally evil" the mercenary explained "These mutants want to make amends on what they have done in the past and the battle today proved that…"

"What do you mean?" the teenager asked

"So many mutants died today…" Arthur said as he walks closer "When Fawkes, the mutant leader gave the order to become the shield of the humans, not a single mutant defied him… All of them willingly put their lives on the line for the humans, who would otherwise kill them if they had the chance…"

The teenager didn't ask any more questions. It seemed he understood the meaning behind the Pride Commander's words… He then continues to sob as he repeatedly says "I'm sorry" to the mutant.

The commander and the mercenary leave the boy to mourn for his loss.

The mercenary wanted to ask if the deaths of their comrades were worth it in taking this small mill but chose not to because she thought it was inappropriate…

With a serious tone, the commander suddenly said

"Whether we acquire our goal or not. Casualties will always be casualties… Are their deaths worth it? Well, I'd say that these soldiers don't deserve to die…But it is thanks to their sacrifice that we were victorious today. Sounds like a paradox right? I was the commander of these dead men and I, alone, will carry the burden of their deaths"

"Don't worry, commander" Ellie said, trying to reassure the commander "They died fighting for something that was worth dying for; the freedom of this land. And I feel that many died without ever regretting that…"

"You may be right…" the commander weakly replied

"So does this mean the NCR's grip on the south is weaker now?" the mercenary asked

"Yes" the commander answered "But that doesn't mean they're weak. We just gave them a couple of painful scratches."

"So where's our next target?" Ellie asked

"Once we gather more men and regroup" the commander answered "We deal a deep gash into these scratch marks"

"How?" the mercenary asked

"By taking back the Citadel and the Purifier" the commander answered