We went into the command center after Max returned and everyone on the floor above us was notified of what's happened so far. To say that I awed when we entered was an understatement. The entrance was located on a slight rise above the rest of the room, with stairs on both sides leading down. In the center of the room was a giant table, which turned out to be a holographic emitter, able to display maps, information, and talk to others who had a similar setup. At the front of the room were 2 rows of computer and terminal stations, with an occasional robot working at one. On the wall itself were several computer screens. There were more computer stations along the sides of the room as well.
When the whole group entered, U-12 turned to us and started speaking. "As you've already figured out, this is the control center. It's where the bunker and town are monitored and maintained, as well as a communications and control hub for all operations coming from here and a link to the rest of the WARF bunker system."
As he said this, a thought popped into my mind and made me freeze momentarily, before interrupting U-12. "Wait U-12, is the bunker able to see the status of the other bunkers?" U-12 looked at me for a second and then responded "Yes it is, why do you ask?"
I immediately went into commander mode, ordering U-12 to bring up the list of WART bunkers and their status. "I don't see why you're worried Billy." Max said, looking at me curiously. "I just need to make sure of something, so bare with me." I quickly respond as the list came up on the holo-map:
WARF Bunker System:
Army Bunker 1:
Location: Northern Washington Cascades
Status: Online
Army Bunker 2
Location: Republic
Status: Online
Army Bunker 3
Location: Seattle
Status: Online
Army Bunker 4
Location: Yakima
Status: Offline
Air Force Bunker 1
Location: Spokane
Status: Offline
Air Force Bunker 2
Location: Southern Washington Cascades
Status: Online
Air Force Bunker 3
Location: Bellingham
Status: Offline
Naval/Marine Bunker 1
Location: Oak Harbor
Status: Offline
Naval/Marine Bunker 2
Location: Tacoma
Status: Offline
Naval/Marine Bunker 3
Location: West Port
Status: Online
Vancouver Operational Center
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Status: Error
Washington Armed Forces Command Center
Location: Central Washington Cascades
Status: Online
Washington National Guard Bunker
Location: Olympia
Status: Offline
Special Forces Bunker
Location: Fort Walla Walla
Status: Offline
Washington Army Surveillance Center
Location: [Redacted]
Status: Error
Washington Military Space Center
Location: Olympia
Status: Offline
'Looks like we're not the only ones' I thought as I turned to U-12. "Is there any way to make our bunker status offline while not actually turning the bunker back off?" U-12 seemed to think for a couple of seconds before responding "Yes I believe so, I'll get on it right away". He started ordering the various robots in the room to do different things to do this. Meanwhile, I turned to my friends and the militia to explain. "If we're able to see the other bunkers status, then they'll be able to see our own. Since there's some online, I'd rather not take the chance of a heavily armed group coming at us." As I finished, I saw that they understood, either nodding their heads, understanding the importance of what I had done, or had faces of surprise still plastered onto their faces.
As soon as I finished talking to them, U-12 came back over and started talking again. "Alright, I've gone ahead and removed all outside links to the base, so now it will appear as offline." Nodding, I respond "Well I hope it works, let's go over the bunker and what we got here." With a nod, U-12 lead us over to the holo map.
Meanwhile
"Yo boss, I got something!" At this I turned around, looking for the source of the yell. I quickly identified it as one of the engineers doing maintenance on a terminal station. I walk over, and giving the man a slight glare, I say "It better be important.". The engineer looks nervous for a moment, before clearing his throat and saying "I was working on the terminal here, and the status for one of the offline bunkers just changed." I notice what he was saying, seeing the 'online' status for the army bunker in Republic. As I make this observation, the engineer continues talking "I'm not too sure whether it happened due to me working on the terminal or if it's actually happened, so I'm thinking about restarting the terminal quickly, I just figured that I should ask for permission before doing so.". Seeing that the man was done, I respond with a "do it" and watch quietly for the next few minutes as the terminal is rebooted, and soon brings back the bunker list.
I immediately look for the Republic bunker, and once I see it, I almost let out a sigh in relief. The bunker was back to it's 'offline' status. I then look down at the engineer, who starts looking a bit sheepish and guilty. "Looks like it was just a glitch, sorry about that sir."
After staring at him for a moment, I say "Don't let it happen again." before walking away, faintly hearing a rushed "Yes, sir!" from the man. 'Glad it was just a glitch' I thought in relief. 'I got too much to deal with at the moment to be focused on a group of wastelander scum finding one of the bunkers.'
Now back to our regularly scheduled program!
"Wow, just wow." Chris said as he looked at all the bunker had. While most of the food supplies had spoiled by now, there was still about a year's worth remaining. There was around a thousand stimpacks, hundreds of 'common' medical drugs or liquids, like MedX, RadX, and Radaway. There were also thousands of simpler things, like disinfectant and gauze. There was even a few autodocs, a small preservation field containing drugs and antibiotics that would've been long expired by now, and a MRI machine.
In the robot storage area was 240 protectrons, 150 Mr. Gutsies, 120 Eyebots, 100 assaultrons, and 20 sentry bots. There were also a dozen small UAVs that came with small launch and field control kits for them. They were even armed with a small machine gun!
In the vehicle depot, there was 40 motorcycles, 40 ATVs, 25 Humvees, 20 buggies, 15 troop and supply transport trucks, 5 heavy vehicle transport trucks, 12 m4 Bradley IFVs, 8 M1128 Strykers, and 5 renovated M60 Patton tanks. In a storage area by the depot were 14 M224 60mm mortars and 6 M777 155mm howitzers, along with ammo for both them and the gun-carrying vehicles. What surprised me the most about this however was the 3 vertibirds.
One of them was an attack variant, armed with a gatling laser turret on the front of the bottom, dual 12-rocket pods on the sides of the vertibird, and m2 browning machine guns in the doors. It was also able to hold 4 passengers. The other two were a transport/bomber type, armed with 4 front-facing m2 machine guns, and 2 miniguns on the open sides that the passengers could use. There was also a small bomb rack on the bottom that could hold either 4 mini-nukes or 2 conventional bombs. It was able to hold ten passengers. The vertibirds and remaining vehicles either used fusion cores or small microfusion cells, which was good considering all of the gasoline had gone bad.
Down in the armory, there were about 800 sets of U.S Combat armor, along with kevlar vests and backpacks. There were hundreds of m4 carbines, combat rifles, combat shotguns, and pistols. There was also around a hundred or so laser rifles, 40 scatter laser rifles (aka laser shotguns) and 50 laser pistols, along with 5 plasma guns. There were 50 sniper rifles and a dozen anti-material rifles, along with 45 miniguns, 15 gatling lasers, 120 Mk.4 Machine gun turrets, 60 grenade launchers, 25 conventional missile launchers, 15 Stinger anti-aircraft launchers, 20 Javelin anti-tank launchers, and 12 T.O.W guided anti-tank missile launcher emplacements, along with ammo for all of the weaponry for a miniature war.
Finally, there was the heavy duty armor. Power armor to be precise. There was 35 sets of T-45d and 15 T-51b armor, along with 10 spare power armor frames.
"That's the basic inventory of the bunker" U-12 said, looking at me. "There's still the storage area, where both shipments passing through and some extra things are kept." He had spent the last 30 minutes going over the different systems of the bunker, it's capacity, and everything else about it, including it's ability to recharge fusion cores by using the main generator. He had just now finished and was looking at us for a response.
"Well…" I said, breaking the silence, "our first order of business is to fully secure the bunker and the RobCo office complex above, along with the rest of the town." I turn to Richard "Richard, I want you to garrison the militia in the complex, only you and my friends are going to have access to the bunker though, so make sure the militia stay up there. U-12, I want 15 turrets, 10 protectrons, and 6 Mr. Gutsies to help guard it, along with a similar amount at the hospital and up to 30 Gutsies and 5 sentry bots on patrol throughout the town."
After seeing them nod, I turn to to Lisa and Beth"I want you two to stay in the bunker to organize things, find out what else we got, and in general operate the bunker and Republic area." I then look at Max, saying "Max, I want you to get trained up in one of the power armor suits, we need to have someone ready with one in case we need it. I want the rest of you to return to the hospital with me in the meantime"
As I finish up, I notice something. Everyone in the room had a sense of accomplishment, pride, duty, and hope. Even U-12 somehow showed this. We had successes in the task of getting the bunker secure, and in doing so also gained some important information and an ally. We now felt that we could accomplish greatness. Enough to make a change to the wasteland. Enough, to start a new nation. 'We'll just have to see' I thought as I left the control room.
Meanwhile
(yet again)
The door to the Elder's quarters opened as a star paladin entered the room, wearing brotherhood of steel combat armor. "You wanted to see me sir?" The paladin asked as he stood at attention, looking at the room's owner. "First off, you can go ahead and cut the formal crap, we're friends after all, Stan." Paladin Stan relaxed slightly as the elder continued "Now, let's talk. Who do you see out there."
Stan looked a bit startled before he responded "Well, besides us in the brotherhood, there's mostly wastelanders and scavengers, along with raiders, slavers, pirates, hostile mutants, and the Enclave.".
The elder waited a moment before saying "Of those people, how many support us and how many are against us?" "Well, only a few out there are actually with us, and a decent amount are neutral, or at least won't shoot at us without provocation. The rest of them though, they're after us." Stan said, wondering where this was going.
"Stan, I'm not going to lie to you, we're losing." Before stan could object or say otherwise, the elder held up his hand, letting Stan know that he has more, before continuing "We may be gaining ground now, but we only have so many men here. While we have the momentum, as well as sufficient ammo and spare parts for now, I want to be able to take advantage of it, and that means more allies."
After waiting a moment to see if there was any more, Stan asked "Why allies? Why not resources to consolidate our position?" The elder grinned as he said "Allies can be one of the most important things in a conflict. They can be an extra source for supplies, additional soldiers to help hold the line or attack the enemy. They can be a moral gain or a point to fall back to. They can be an extra voice in a plan or a gun protecting you from the rear. They can be an advantage, Stan. While sometimes unpredictable, they can be the greatest asset in the battlefield, and not just that either. You know the stories of the Chosen one and his son, of the Sole survivor and the lone wanderer and the Courier. Those people, were allies to those factions that they helped, and didn't join anyway."
The Elder shakes his head quickly and continues "The point is, we need help if we're to win this war, or even survive. So that's why I'm sending you on a mission to get it." The Elder then pulls out a well detailed map of Washington and Oregon. The NCR down south aren't with us, the north is a mystery, and the entire of the west has made their position known, so we need to go to the place where it's possible."
"The east, sir?"
"Yes! That's the only place available. Besides, we haven't sent a technology recovery or scouting team there in a while, so it's only more proof that we need to send a team there anyway."
"So here's how we'll do it, you and about a dozen fellow brotherhood members will be escorted by fellow brotherhood and resistance members down to the NCR border. From there, you'll pose as merchants heading east, through the hood valley crossing, and up to the border. From there, you're free to do anything you see fit. I'd like you to be back within the year though, and to also visit these places while you're there." He finished, handing Stan a piece of paper with a list of different towns."
Stan looked over the list for a moment before responding "Alright sir, but I just have a question before I'm ready. I know about all these different towns, the Tri-Cities, New Coulee, Royal, and so on, from reports and the news stations, but I've never heard of Republic before."
The elder looked at Stan with mild surprise and amusement before answering his question "From what our limited sources in the east have gathered, we're not even completely sure that a town or village is even there. But from what we do know, it is inhabited, and not by raiders either. Earlier today, one of our scribes noticed that the bunker in Republic temporarily went online before going back offline. While it could've been a glitch, I think that the people in Republic found the bunker there, and had enough knowledge and expertise to turn it off before another faction like the Enclave caught on. Although who knows, maybe they did. So, are you up for the mission, Stan?"
"Yes, sir!" Stan immediately responded, putting his arm up in a salute. The elder laughed quietly as he patted Stan's shoulder "Good, you're going to be moving out in 3 days, so choose your team and supplies before getting some rest, god knows you're going to need it. I'll see you soon."
'I hope this gamble pays off before it is too late, because if it doesn't' the elder thought as Stan walks out of the room. 'Then the whole wasteland will pay'.