Chương 43: Bloodbath

It'd been ten minutes since the NCR had charged through the doors, everyone was still behind cover and ready to fire again at the doors. The bloody, burnt, and melted bodies still lied in a pile in front of it. Neither side wanted to move them as anyone who tried would likely be added to it.

Now that the adrenaline had mostly worn off, Afton and most of the other Initiates started to look pale and sickly, the fact that they'd just killed some men, deserving or not had finally hit them.

Afton didn't want to feel like he'd done anything wrong, but the sense that something was "off" had him unable to concentrate fully for a while. He couldn't put his finger on whether it was his conscious, his rational mind, or some ephemeral feeling from his soul attempting to punish him.

Whatever it was, it was difficult to brush off, even more so when he thought he'd have to kill a lot more today, as well as later on in his life... It couldn't be helped though, could it? This was an apocalyptic wasteland, if he hadn't shot them, they might have shot him...

This was for the survival of himself, his friends and his family. There'd always be casualties in war, but the best he could do was to make sure he wasn't among that number.

He'd just resolved himself when the next wave of NCR men charged through the doors, they had much more vigour that the ones previously who were currently lifelessly strewn around on the floor.

They ran in with guns blazing, firing semi-randomly in the Knights direction, though all the bullets of their service rifles *plinked* off the Power armour as if they were shooting at a block of steel. Again, Afton started firing his laser rifle, each pull of the trigger and kick of the gun gave way to another vaporized man. Their position on the always above the door allowed them to easily hit their targets.

Some were started to feel sorry for the poor fools forced to charge through here while their commanders watched, but carried on shooting when an elder Initiate reminded them that they were here to murder everyone they've ever known or loved.

The NCR charge halted momentarily as a number of ballistic grenades were thrown in, some of the Knights kicked closer ones towards the door, but most just exploded a good distance away, achieving almost nothing at all.

The sound and smoke from the explosion must've been a trigger for the next wave, hopeful, or perhaps even resigned shouts from the NCR echoed out as they charged through. Afton wondered why they were still being sent in when it was obvious this kind of attack would fail.

It seemed that the NCR had similar thoughts as after the previous attack none came after. Ramos commanded the Knights to hold their position as went up to the Initiates, "That was fine work everyone, I know some of you are... Affected by what you just had to do, so if anyone wants to talk about it, you can see me, Doran, or anyone in the medbay. The fight also isn't over yet, so there'll be no more recreational activities until the NCR leaves, or we all die.

Half the Knight and I will be staying to keep this entrance secure, you and the rest of them are given permission to rest, be ready though, you will be called upon when the next attack occurs." he says, waving them away and taking his position back in-front of the door.

The Initiates get up, most with wobbly legs and start moving towards the cafeteria, most just wanted to eat and fall asleep... It hadn't been any more physically taxing than usual, but mentally everyone was exhausted.

"Sandra, you sure you're alright? You can talk about it if you want." Afton asks, he'd made his peace in between the fighting, but his emotion were still a bit raw concerning it. Perhaps helping someone else come to terms would assist him in some way. Not to mention his friend was struggling more than he had been.

She shakes her head, "I... I just want to grab some food and talk to my parents, I think..." she admits to him as they walk.

When they reach the cafeteria they can vaguely hear the sound of gunshots, aswell as the discharge of energy weapons. He couldn't see Miles or Melissa, so they were probably still in combat, hopefully they'd be alright...

Afton mindlessly shovelled food into his mouth before returning to his quarters, idling noting that neither of his parents were around. He wasn't worried as they'd both be kitted in Power armour, if the NCR had a way to hurt them they'd have shown it during their attack earlier.

As the sky dimmed and darkness slowly took over the region, the Major in charge of the attack on Helios One was smoking a cigarette while glaring at the facility. Obviously, the initial charge had failed, and dedicating any more troops to trying to breach it would result in massive loses, they might even lose the battle if something like that was even possible.

So, with nothing else to do, he decided to play the long game. They already had the place surrounded, and there was nothing they could do if they had an underground passage leading out of here, so he'd just have to starve them out.

He had no idea how long that'd take, or if the Brotherhood would just let that happen. He reckoned after they ate through their resources they'd perform a desperate last-ditch attack, one they'd undoubtedly fail.

Still, there wouldn't be nothing for them to do, the Major was determined to win, no matter the kinds of tactics he was forced to use.