The Good Life: Swing Doors (ch. 49) (Patreon)

“War… war never changes,” General Nora muttered underneath her breath just loud enough for Preston to hear. Then, louder, she continued, “It was said back in my time that the next war after the Third World War would be fought with sticks and stones. We're not that bad off, but it's closer to the truth than I'd want to admit.” She said, leaning over a table that had maps of the Wasteland on it.

The Castle was back in Minutemen hands, and it was busier than it had ever been before. All around them, Preston could hear voices bouncing off of the walls as new recruits were drilled and given orders. As damage done to the Castle, either by time or mirelurks, was slowly patched over or repaired outright where they could afford it. All in preparation for an inevitable attack.

General Nora's focus was on the map between them. “The refugee crisis works to our advantage, to a degree.” She informed, taking a handful of monopoly tokens and placing them on the map. The tokens came from Vault 81 and various other, much smaller, settlements in the surrounding area. She moved them along the highway into Boston, towards Diamond City.

“It pushes recruits to us,” General Nora continued and Preston fought off a grimace. Two thousand Vault Dwellers evicted from their home, sent with what they could carry in the direction of Diamond City by the AntAgonizer. Madam Cinder Fall was launching a second campaign to the North and it was sweeping westward. It wouldn't be long before she attacked Sanctuary. Or swept over to Bunker Hill. “But the issue is arming them. Pipe guns aren't going to cut it against power armor.”

The Madam's campaign was the more brutal of the two. She sent raiders and colonists alike running in a mad scramble to escape her. Any settlement that had more than five people was attacked with vicious ruthlessness -- those that didn't escape were either enslaved or killed. Yet, it was the AntAgonizer that posed a greater issue. The refugees that she sent into Boston were sapping it of resources. Boston was hardly a land of abundance as it was, and it was always in a struggle to balance its population with what it had to offer.

Near ten thousand people was less an added weight and more of a guillotine.

“We're hitting the old military sites for supplies, but the Raiders have the same idea. And we usually come out worse for those skirmishes,” Preston stated.

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Heartless and his Raiders launched their invasion of the Commonwealth. By any metric, the invaders were winning. It was a hard truth and a bitter pill to swallow but it was undeniable. They were losing.

“We expected that much. And it works in our favor, even if it would be better to win,” The General said, not taking her eyes off of the map. “Heartless is overextending himself. He has to. He has his own refugee crisis to deal with.” As she spoke, she started setting down tokens that represented Heartless’ forces. Locations that they had set up.

“They've set up their logistics waystations at the water treatment plant, Vault 81, Vault 95, and Lexington. We control Boston, and our forces are far more concentrated,” General Nora continued. “Heartless has more resources, but he's forced to spread them out. His refugees aren't survivors. They're children. Families. The Vaults will be well defended, but the smaller settlements sprinkled around his territory will require substantial military resources to ensure that they're protected because he knows they're the weak link.”

Preston started to see the General's plan. “You want to take the weapons from those settlements,” he realized.

General Nora nodded, “They're softer targets. A string of small victories will improve morale, and we might be able to alleviate our supply problems with what Heartless gives his refugees.”

“We’ll be raiding raiders?” Preston voiced with a frown. No, it wouldn't be raiders. It would be refugees. Children. Parents. People who just wanted to survive, even if it meant living on stolen land and in stolen homes. In the Wasteland, the Golden Rule wasn't to begrudge those that made hard choices in the name of survival. Survival, not greed.

But that road went both ways.

“We'll be distracting them,” General Nora said, ignoring his question because she knew the truth as well as he did. “It'll slow their rampage across the Commonwealth, give us time to train the militia, and time to arm them. But, if we don't get the resources that we need, that time will work against us.” They couldn't win if they were all starving. To that point, General Nora had been hitting a number of places in search of food, weapons, ammo, and armor on her own.

Preston kept his eyes on the map, “And our… friend?” He prompted and to that, he saw General Nora frown. He didn't specify which friend he meant, because both were completely valid.

“I can ask, but I wouldn't expect much from either of them. Our spy… they want to mitigate the damage done by the invasion. Or, so they said.” General Nora said, sounding doubtful, even if all the information passed through had been reliable so far. The intel seemed to come from within Nuka-World, but it was mostly focused on Cinder.

The info was the reason anyone managed to escape from the northern regions.

Who they were was a mystery, but Preston found that he had far fewer doubts about this spy than the General did. From what he understood, Heartless was a monster of circumstance. One that was taking action to save his people at the expense of others. It was a tale far too common in the Commonwealth, but there were many that worked for him that had more empathy. The spy wished to save lives.

To that end, he did agree with the General on one point -- the spy wasn't likely to sabotage the invasion itself. Not when there were potential millions wanting to pour into the Wasteland.

There simply wasn't enough for everyone.

“As for our Mechanist friend -- he strikes me as a gearhead. Maybe he could get some hydroponics up and running, but it wouldn't be enough and it wouldn't be fast enough,” General Nora shook her head. “Robots don't need to be trained. His efCastles are better spent on ramping up production. To that end, some of the support might be better spent securing whatever scrap he has on his wishlist.”

“Won't say no to more droids,” Preston agreed. The Mechanist was an unexpected ally in the fight, and the machines that he produced greatly bolstered their troops. Most Wastelanders knew how to shoot a gun, but there was basic training that they were missing -- how to move up and back from cover, squad tactics, and how to advance or retreat in a controlled manner. Skills that Preston hadn't known either until the General spent about half a year drilling them into his head.

Their unexpected ally was as secretive as their spy in Nuka-world. It made it a little hard to trust them, but at least with the Mechanist, they could have a conversation. It was reassuring that they weren't trading an army of raiders invading with an army of robots.

Preston watched as General Nora added machine tokens to Diamond City, Good Neighbor, and Bunker Hill. The three settlements that they couldn't afford to lose. He looked to the marked forward bases, finding some comCastle that there were so many. All within easy reinforcements range of each other. He saw the merits of the General's plan. Still, he had one major concern.

“Can we win?” He asked her, uncertain if he even wanted an answer. General Nora looked down at the table for a long telling second before she answered.

“Our victory conditions are very different,” She answered and Preston wasn't entirely sure what that meant. It must have shown because she continued, “For Heartless to win, he needs to defeat us utterly. Conquer the Wasteland, so he can offload his refugees here. He's being smart about it so far -- large tactical gains to secure footholds, then solidifying his grip on the surrounding area by killing any potential threat. Super Mutants, wildlife, and raiders.”

Preston noted that there was something in her voice. Respect? Admiration? Excitement? He couldn't quite tell what it was, but he did know one thing -- even if he never did anything right for the rest of his life, he could take comfort in knowing that he had picked the best possible General to the Minutemen. She seemed in her element as she continued.

“We, on the other hand, need to stop his advance. If we're too dug in, if the occupation is too costly, we can force him to look elsewhere. And… failing that… Heartless has an achilles heel,” she informed as she began moving tokens around. The Wasteland became divided up into chunks of territory. It was daunting to see that so much of it already belonged to Heartless. “But we can't go for it yet. He needs to overextend himself more.”

Preston fought off a frown, “You mean, he has to keep winning?” He ventured, and that was going to be tough to sell. No one liked being on the losing side.

“Which is why we bait them into making a mistake,” General Nora said, as she moved two tokens on the map, marking where their sides would collide in earnest for the first time.

Where this war would begin in earnest.

…

Taylor stood across from Cinder, careful not to give a reaction as she stared into the heartless woman's amber eyes. For all that she was beautiful on the outside, she was hideous on the inside. The same way Emma was. Only Cinder was a thousand times worse than Emma, Sophia, or Madison could hope to be.

A table stood between them as their lieutenants were arranged around them. Gauge and Dixie stood behind Taylor while Starlight and Mags stood behind Cinder. There was a long profound silence between them, neither of them making the first move and, not for the first time, Taylor wondered how much trouble she would really get in for killing Cinder. The woman who had tried to sell her. Who had degraded her more than the slavers did.

Then, Cinder spoke, “It's only natural that your insects would be the vanguard. Our soldiers are few and we shall be attacking an enemy Castleification. Unless you are implying that you value the lives of your insects more than you value the lives of humans? Your own soldiers?”

Taylor didn't so much as twitch though she wanted to snarl. “The commitment you're asking for would see their numbers slaughtered. It would be months before my swarm restored itself.” The plan wasn't a poor one. Not exactly, she thought, looking through her insects eyes to see the map of their battlefield. Hardware Town, so it was called.

The surrounding area had been heavily reinforced. The already half dilapidated buildings were groaning under the weight of additional forces and entrenched positions. She had already scouted out the area with her insects, searching for spots of weakness, and found that the Minutemen were committed to holding them back.

It was for that reason, Cinder was ordered to help Taylor break through. Only now Cinder was trying to make her use her insects anyway, defeating the purpose of why she was here in the first place.

It was a smart decision, and maybe Taylor would have accepted the cost to her swarm if she at all believed that Cinder didn't have ulterior motive. She wanted Taylor to weaken herself, weaken her army. Maybe, just so she could show her up. Maybe, so Taylor wouldn't be able to resist when Cinder tried to remove her entirely.

“There will be other battles and this is just the prelude to Diamond City,” Taylor continued, a frown in her voice. If she looked outside the small diner building they stood in, she would be able to see the upper rim of the stadium. The distance between them measured in miles, but those miles were filled with enemy combatants. And Taylor knew it would be nothing less than a slaughter to get to the Stadium.

Worse, she had to get to Diamond City first. If she didn't, Cinder would all but raze it to the ground.

The deafening silence continued on for a minute more, Cinder simply staring her down and Taylor was pleased to see that she was increasingly annoyed. Personal feelings shouldn't play into this, but Taylor didn't have it in her to feel anything but glad that Cinder wasn't getting what she wanted. Even better, Taylor got to deny her.

“A mixture of forces, then,” Cinder decided. “We open with a bombardment, then move in with your insects as the vanguard and our heavy infantry shall follow after them.” It was a step above what Cinder wanted before, but after Gwen… after she had been praised for being able to drive a hard bargain, Taylor had looked into bargaining tricks and tips. She knew that Cinder was going big, then settling for what she really wanted.

“A two prong attack,” Taylor counted, pointing to the map. “We open with a bombardment, and to one side we dedicate a mix of insects and heavy infantry. The other will consist of my insects and our softer infantry.” It wasn't what Cinder wanted, Taylor knew. It was too balanced on both of their sides when it came to risks. But Taylor also knew that if Cinder really dug her heels in, then the news would reach Heartless.

Cinder held her gaze for a moment longer, hiding her displeasure, before offering a smile that Taylor wanted to punch off her face. “Acceptable. Then we shall commence immediately,” she decided and Taylor fought off a frown, knowing that she was just trying to take the lead. But there wasn't really any point in delaying beyond to spite Cinder.

Taylor tried to convey the message with her eyes even as she gave a curt nod. ‘I'm better than you because I don't play these games’ -- the smirk that she received in response could have meant that the message was conveyed, or Cinder was simply mocking her. The latter felt more likely.

Not wanting to spend any more time in Cinder's presence, she left the building and began arranging her forces. Her casualties were rather light, which was something that Taylor took pride in. Most of the losses were from her insects. Cinder, on the other hand, had lost nearly a third of her army. Mostly coming from the light infantry.

Taylor had luckily been able to replenish her ant colony when they swept down towards the south, towards Vault 95. Now she had around a hundred soldier ants, which now made up the bulk of her swarm. Her bloatflies had been diminished, while she kept her bloodbugs in reserve for more targeted attacks. She arranged her army, getting ready for the attack while Cinder did the same.

With her insects within the buildings, Taylor heard the Minutemen scrambling to get in position as they noticed that the attack was soon to begin. She honed in on their locations, hiding behind cover, sandbags, cars, and everything else. They were outnumbered, Taylor thought, not counting her insects. Nearly eight hundred people were blocking their path towards Diamond City. Most of them were armed with pipe rifles, pistols, and hope.

Taylor licked her lips behind her mask, “Prepare to fire.” She gave the order to Gauge, who then relayed it to their heavy weapons troops. Five of her own, with another five from Cinder all readied their rocket launchers. They were all spread out, all taking positions to lay down covering fire. It was then that Taylor began to move her smaller bugs around.

Painting targets for the missiles to strike.

There was no bloodless victory that she could hope for. The most she could hope to do was mitigate damage. Taylor was forced to take a page from Law’s book -- kill some to save many.

She was saving the lives of refugees. And by beating Cinder to Diamond City, she could prevent a slaughter.

“Fire!” Cinder gave the order and in a single salvo, missiles streaked across the distance between their forces. At the range, most of the missiles missed Taylor’s targets, but still impacted in the general area. Bright flashes of light and loud echoing noise marked the explosions, the ancient buildings shuddering as the screaming began. A second salvo came soon after, more missiles impacting the frontline of the Minutemen defenses.

Taylor commanded her soldier ants forward, using the disruption in the formation. Yet, all the same, the battle began in earnest. Streaks of lasers and plasma began to cross over as well, the Minutemen trying to ward off the attack. It was then that the heavy gunners began to step forward, the barrels to their miniguns spinning before the muzzles started to flash. Suppressing fire to protect her insects while the light infantry started to move from cover to cover in a slow advance.

Shock and awe, Taylor thought. She had heard about it in History class, but she’d underestimated what it was. The effect that it had. The Minutemen were scrambling to recover from the bombardment before they faced a veritable wall of bullets. There were many that still fired back, blood red lasers striking the ground or power armor with a spattering of sparks. Neither yielded as the heavy infantry pressed forward.

The support snipers picked off priority targets from sniper positions some distance behind them. Rockets fired where the Minutemen gathered up too much resistance. The frontline was already breaking by the time that Taylor's insects reached the minefield along the outskirts of the city. A minefield that Taylor had already deactivated using the same trick she had once used on her bomb collar to jam the trigger. Her insects crawled Castleh, up and over the walls and spilled into the Minutemen position.

She went to wound rather than kill, instructing the ants mandibles to clamp on ankles and wrists. Maim was probably a better word for it seeing as the hands and feet came off. Her guts tied themselves into knots, but she swallowed her revulsion down and pressed onward.

A little blood now to prevent more blood being spilt later, she reminded herself as their forces collided in earnest.

It was only a couple of miles to Diamond City, but Taylor knew those miles would be the longest of her life.