Chapitre 64: The greenish liquid
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Several days passed as we relentlessly ambushed the super mutants, drawing them into carefully prepared terrain where victory was practically guaranteed. At first, they fell for our traps, throwing themselves at us with all their might, only to be completely obliterated. However, as expected, the super mutants eventually stopped falling for our ambushes. They began to notice the pattern and no longer sent forces to face us directly.
Day after day, we waited. We set up perfect ambushes, ready for a reaction that never came. Although we destroyed their supply lines, sabotaged their resources, and freed the human population enslaved under their control, the super mutants refrained from blindly charging at us anymore.
Taking advantage of their hesitance to act, we systematically began capturing the enslaved populations that had been under their yoke. We cleared out their mines, their fields, and their factories, weakening their resource base by stealing away the slaves who kept their infrastructure running. Since the super mutants, due to their size and clumsiness, depended on humans to handle most tools and manual tasks, every freed slave was a critical blow to their capabilities.
As the days went by, there was no resistance. We moved from town to town, simply taking over the slaves without firing a single shot. The super mutants' machinery ground to a halt, their fear of engaging in combat preventing them from any chance of recovery. We had choked off their resources without having to fight for them.
"They've learned to fear us," I commented to Drusus as we watched a group of slaves being freed and escorted out of an abandoned labor camp.
"Which means they won't face us in open battle anymore," he replied, his tone serious. "Their next move will be to fortify themselves."
"Let them fortify," I replied. "Without slaves or resources, they won't last long. Time is on our side. Meanwhile, we gain free resources, and with some luck, we could even start producing our own tanks."
Our conquest of the territories progressed rapidly. It only took us two additional days to completely take control of their fields, until finally, the super mutants were cornered in two key locations: Attistown, where a large portion of their army resided, and the Giant's Forge, a complex of factories they had taken from the Association of Arms.
Both locations were immediately placed under siege. In Attistown, we dug trenches, positioned machine guns, and deployed mortars at every possible entry point into the city. The bombardment was relentless, day and night, wearing down their defenses as we kept up the pressure.
The real challenge, however, was at the Giant's Forge. This industrial complex was crucial, not only because of its resources but also its production capacity. We knew the battle there couldn't be fought in the same way as in Attistown. Destroying the complex wasn't an option—every building, every room had to be taken without compromising the machinery. The greatest issue wasn't just the number of super mutants entrenched in its streets, but the large number of tanks they had managed to mobilize. Each intersection had become a fortress of steel, with cannons pointed in every direction, ready to stop any advance.
The street battles in the Giant's Forge were brutal. The super mutants fought fiercely, organizing massive charges similar to those of the Legion, using the weakest among them as cannon fodder, charging in waves to try and overwhelm our defenses. However, our advantage lay in our power armor and heavy equipment. Though their mass attacks were dangerous, we could control them with minimal casualties.
The advance through the Giant's Forge was slow and methodical. Each room, each building, was secured without destroying the machines, ensuring we could use the equipment for our future campaigns. Meanwhile, in Attistown, the super mutant resistance was gradually crumbling under the constant bombardment.
Finally, after weeks of fierce fighting, Attistown began to fall. The continuous bombardment, combined with nighttime raids, had weakened their defenses enough. The super mutants couldn't hold out any longer, and with one final charge, our forces stormed the city.
As the systematic siege of the Giant's Forge continued, I traveled to Attistown to see firsthand what had happened. The city was a heap of rubble, more so than I had anticipated. It was clear the super mutants were no architects, and the city, built by and for them, lacked any real solidity. There were barely any remnants of human presence, as most had been used as food or tools.
In the city center, I found something disturbing: a truck filled with large containers of a greenish liquid. Surrounding the vehicle were grotesquely mutated creatures, their bodies twisted in horrific ways. Some of my legionaries who had come into contact with the liquid died quickly, their bodies collapsing under the immediate effects of the substance. I approached the centurion in charge of the attack, and he reported that the super mutants were throwing anything they captured—animals, humans—into those containers, and out came these deformed monstrosities.
The scene was grotesque, and I didn't want to risk any more lives. I ordered an immediate evacuation of all my forces from the area, as several legionaries were showing signs of poisoning or mutation simply from being near the liquid. With some urgent calls to Todd, I managed to acquire hazardous material suits to investigate what had happened.
I didn't know exactly what the liquid was, but it was clear that it was the source of the deformities and the creation of super mutants. Any creature that came into contact with it suffered grotesque and uncontrollable mutations. The challenge now was how to dispose of this threat. I couldn't simply dump it in some remote place. If I burned it, would it release even deadlier toxic gases? Transporting it to one of my settlements for storage posed a huge risk; an accidental spill could turn the area into a nightmare of mutation and contamination.
With the limited scientific equipment we could find in the area, we managed to gather some microscopes and tools to study the substance. What I saw under the microscope surprised me: it wasn't radioactive as I had thought. It was some type of virus. This virus aggressively interacted with the DNA of the creatures it touched, causing grotesque and uncontrollable mutations.
I decided to run a quick test, exposing a small sample of the virus to high temperatures using a flame. To my relief, intense heat seemed to destroy the virus completely. This gave me a clear idea: we would use flamethrowers to incinerate all the liquid and eliminate the threat at its root. However, the task had to be carried out with extreme caution; any mistake could cause an even greater disaster.
With the plan in place, I ordered my men to equip themselves with flamethrowers and prepare to burn all the containers. This was the only safe way to eliminate the threat.
I set aside a small sample of the virus to study later, once I had access to more advanced scientific equipment. I knew what I had observed with the rudimentary tools was only the tip of the iceberg, and I needed to fully understand its potential and dangers. I carefully stored the vial in a shielded case, ensuring it was completely sealed to prevent any accidents.
Once I secured the sample, I gave the order to begin incinerating the virus. My men, equipped with flamethrowers, meticulously burned through the vats of the green liquid. The process was long and painstaking, as there was a significant amount of the substance to eliminate. The flames danced in the ruins of Attistown, reducing the threat to ashes as we watched from a safe distance, ensuring that no trace of the virus remained. The acrid stench of burning filled the air, and the complete destruction of the virus took longer than anticipated, but at last, we succeeded.
With that final threat eliminated, we turned to the looting of Attistown. The few super mutants left alive, wounded or trapped after our offensive, were captured as slaves. This raised a question that few in the Legion dared to consider: would these super mutants prove useful as slaves? And more importantly, could they be indoctrinated, as we had done with other tribes, through the Cult of Mars? The priestesses of the cult had the task of teaching all captured slaves that Caesar was the son of a god, the chosen one to bring order to the world. If they could manage to re-educate these brutal creatures, we might forge them into a formidable force under the banner of the Legion.
As my men organized the plunder and secured resources, I returned to the camp to consult with the priestesses. I wanted to see if they, with their ability to break wills and indoctrinate human slaves, could do the same with the super mutants. This was a crucial question because, if we could control their brutality and harness their strength, we would have a new kind of slave—one whose resilience and physical power surpassed any other in our arsenal.
I had a deep discussion with the priestesses of the Cult of Mars regarding the possibility of indoctrinating the super mutants. They were skeptical, as expected. We knew that the intelligence of super mutants varied greatly—some retained fragments of their former lives, memories from before their transformation, while others could barely follow their basic instincts to kill and eat. Controlling a creature with such wide-ranging mental capacity would be incredibly dangerous, but if we succeeded, we would have an unmatched tool at our disposal.
To avoid unnecessary risks, I ordered the creation of makeshift slave collars designed specifically for the super mutants. These collars were much larger than the usual ones and needed to be equipped with explosives potent enough to decapitate them if they showed any sign of disobedience. There were, however, doubts about whether the standard explosives would be effective against them, given their size and physical resilience. The power of the explosives would need to be so devastating that there would be no doubt about their lethality.
Whether through luck or effort, if we could turn the super mutants into useful warriors, at the very least, they could be invaluable tools as miners or laborers, thanks to their immense strength. But we couldn't afford to waste time—these super mutants had to be useful, or they would be eliminated.
With Attistown under our control and the virus issue resolved, I released a large portion of my forces that had been besieging the city. Now, our focus had to shift to the super mutants' last stronghold: the factories of the Association of Arms. Despite all the efforts of my best men, the siege dragged on without a clear end in sight. The factory complex was a veritable fortress, with every corner turned into a battlefield and every street barricaded with makeshift tanks and heavy artillery.
It was clear that the super mutants understood the strategic value of these factories. If they managed to retain control over this site, they would have access to an unlimited production of heavy weaponry—at least until they ran out of resources. My forces, though well-equipped and well-trained, found it challenging to advance in such relentless urban warfare. Every street we took was littered with traps, barricades, and super mutants unafraid to charge directly into our firepower.
With every hour, the super mutants had less room to maneuver and fewer places to resist. Our forces were closing the noose around the core of the factories, and it was only a matter of time before they fell. But just as we were nearly surrounding their final line of defense, something caught my attention.
Emerging from one of the most fortified entrances to the complex was a massive super mutant. He was at least twice the size of a normal super mutant, his body completely covered in plates of steel, some of which looked freshly welded on by the human workers who surrounded him. His mere presence was intimidating—a beast of raw brute strength and metal. The humans reinforcing him were sent flying as the colossal figure swatted them aside with a simple motion, grabbing hold of an enormous heavy machine gun.
The towering super mutant, more steel than flesh, stood before us—a true monster of war.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone