(Aw, ok, hope ya have fun with whatever you're doing ^^) John lead the 1000 troops of New Denton south to the Northern Rally Point, a preassembled Fort with walls made out of cars from the highway stacked on top of each other. Meeting up with the small garrison of 20 militia, they began waiting for the rest of the Northern Attack Force to arrive, about 500 more soldiers. In his mind, he worried about the Southern force, it was to be much smaller than the N.A.F., only about 700 men. He hoped they would be able to fight through the raiders and slavers and feral ghouls to make it to the Republic of Arlington on time... - - Auto Merge - - (Oh, hey, found this thing that's all Fallout discussion and such; http://www.reddit.com/r/falloutlore )
While being positioned on his post, Rhys's officer decided that it would be for the best if he was to go along with the remainder of the S.A.F, leading a small squad of five other teenagers and young adults who believed in the idea of the republic, the youngest of the group being as old as 15. When they caught up with the reinforcements of the S.A.F as they headed towards the great city, they were expected to arrive three hours after the main-force. Prior to leaving for the main-force, Rhys had been busy selling any supplies that he did not need and saving up on caps for a new weapon. But when a mayor of one of the many towns that Rhys had visited gave him a good word, Rhys received a letter and a footlocker set up for him on the next town he had visited. When he found this footlocker and opened it, it contained a Hunting Rifle model that was usually found on the West-Coast and a note simply saying "Thank you for your help, Rhys. - Mayor T" With any excess caps he had left over, he modified his new Hunting Rifle with a custom bolt, extended magazine and a enhanced scope alongside some more ammo for his sidearm and his rifle. To finish it all off, an Australian flag was wrapped around the stock to be used as a makeshift cheek rest. Finally, Rhys had a weapon he was truly proud of.
Allen looked over a map detailing the Metroplex Wasteland and the detailed concentrations of raiders/spavers/feral ghouls and the paths of the S.A.F. and the N.A.F. to the Republic of Arlington. He picked up a pen and began studying the paths, picking out problems with it and fixing it on his own. *********** John looked at the gathered N.A.F. around the fort. Smiling, he got up on a platform and held his gun above his head, "Today begins the day we reclaim land lost since the Great War! Today, we show that Texas will rise again and become a model nation! We will hunt down every last Raider. Every last Slaver. Every last feral mutant and make sure that they never trouble us again! Men, on me! We March to the Republic of Arlington!
Any intelligent raider knew that it would be unwise to attack a collection of over 700 people in their current condition, especially since that the high majority of the S.A.F had a gun of some kind. Any Raiders that did try and attack the mobilized mass were dealt with in seconds, some not even deciding to attack at all and just watch them pass by them. By the time they had entered the far outskirts of Arlington itself, the Slavers became much more of a problem. Being much better supplied than any Raider and also being far better trained. Unlike the raiders, they tried to attack but had little success, killing off about forty when they entered the Metroplex.
John took a more methodical approach with his force, going through each and every building, killing every raider they found whether they resisted or not. To John, people of that sort weren't really people, simply animals that didn't deserve to live, that their past sins were unforgivable. The nearly 1750 strong force cut a swath along their path, as the NAH was far stronger, far better equipped, and far better fed than their southern brothern, raiders and slavers were felled with equal ease as they cleared a mile wide path room by room, building by building, and street by street in which any hostile life was swiftly killed. There never was really a chance.
When the S.A.F was about 5 miles from the republic, they took an entirely different approach, deciding to exterminate anything around the Republic's area to ensure it's safety. From building to building, street after street, the raiders in the area never stood a chance. Any Slaver that was not killed had fled the city entirely. Thousands of bodies were thrown about the area, some being relatively 'clean', to disintegration or were essentially blown apart. Rhys and his small group racked up an impressive killcount that impressed quite a few of the commanders. While his team made fun of him because of his accent, the entire group became close with one another. Eventually, the Republic came into view and the now 650 strong S.A.F cheered loudly.
The NAH slowly made its way south, slowly starting to fan out to cover a larger area, cutting through the enemies targetted like a hot knife through butter as they grew ever more desperate, siting between fleeing or making suicidal mass attacks that were quickly gunned down. Arriving at the Arlington Republic just a few hours after the SAF, the two groups quickly figured out that the offensive had resulted in a rout of the raiders and slavers into their strongholds in Dallas and Fort Worth, meaning the inner-cities were free and abandoned
With the two forces gathering back at the Republic and after experiencing some fighting, many of those who still wanted to fight expanded outwards to retake seemingly enormous areas that had been abandoned or have been considered safe. Within a few hours after the two forces arrived back, at least half of the Metroplex was completely under the control of the Republic, with reports of raiders and slavers that were lucky enough to flee heading for the hills. Rhys and his squad sat down near the Panda Express ride, far enough to avoid the larger crowds and have peace and quiet while still being close enough to quickly gather in the center of the park.
(Time skip to attacking Dallas? Say a year later as the Republic of Texas regroups, secures the mid-cities, and such?)
Follow the decisive victory in the Mid-Cities, people started coming from all around to join the emerging Republic of Texas, and by a year later, they had the manpower to begin the push into Dallas, which, while still not as bad as Fort Worth, was one of the worst areas in all of Texas, with many of its buildings razed from the combined impact of 3 nuclear warheads striking strategic areas of the city, and since much of the city was lower quality buildings, it has been left a shattered ruin only bested by Fort Worth and Austin. Allen looked from a hill that marked the farthest reach of the Republic of Texas into Dallas towards downtown, which he could see had taken a near direct hit. Only what he knew as Reunion Tower stood mostly intact. The Republic had 10,000 militiamen ready for attacking this time around, a number 5 times greater than the force that cleared the Mid Cities. However, the Enemy has had a year to dig in and regroup, and most had, at least according to scouts, had withdrawn to strongholds, namely old schools, and especially in Slaver strongholds, the defenses were strong. The main problem between the strongholds would be feral ghouls and wildlife. Luckily, the wildlife seemed limited to radroches, mutated birds that tended to be more scavengers than hunters of humans, and geckos. Nothing too concerning besides the humans. John had placed Allen in command of a company of 200 soldiers as he reconized Allen's talent for being able to assess a situation and determine a plan of action. Allen had trained his men to be something of a mix of a modern special forces attack force and 19th century battalion, as he taught them to advance and keep firing to keep the enemy hiding while they advanced to finish off the enemy with a quick bayonet charge. He hadn't gotten a chance a chance to prove his men in battle or prove his tactics. So, John had given Allen permission to launch the new offensive against the first and closest of the line of strongholds along the border. Turning to his men, he felt strange, a 17 year old leading a company in a military attack, "Are y'all ready? A year of training will pay off today! We shall prove ourselves and secure secure a swift victory for Texas! Get in position!" - - Auto Merge - - (Oh, here's a list of army organization; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_(military_unit) looks like the Republic of Texas has about 2 brigades of troops avaliable for offensives)
While Allen was busy leading a military offensive and that Rhys's squad had gone along with Allen, Rhys had dedicated most of his time into training, managing and securing important trade lines with diplomats and anything else deemed important to the Republic. Every now and then, he would head out into the night to go hunting any dangerous wildlife, encountering geckos most of the time and selling the meat. But while the Republic led campaigns on Slavers and Raiders, Rhys would encounter his own form of resistance in the form of any remaining feral ghouls, and very rarely, raiders that tried to head towards the Republic. By now, Rhys was almost 19 years old. A year and a half ago, he was untrained and little skill to adapt to the world around him. By now, he was quite lethal. He was trained in hand to hand by the Republic's militia, and prior to finding himself in the new world, he was fairly decent with a blade. But what stood him out from the crowd was his marksmanship, which was now vastly improved. Rhys wore a black lightweight armor (Looks like an Armored Vault Jumpsuit). While his shaved ginger hair did not get in his way a year ago, he now had fairly long hair which was tied back with a black matching bandanna. He was about to head out once more, except that he was instructed to meet up with the militia. Doing so, he headed out at sunset.
Ordering his company to surround the stronghold school, and it quickly became apparent that this would be one hell of a battle. As it turned out, the Hell's Half Acre Slavers, one of the most feared and powerful slaver groups in North Texas and based out of Fort Worth, was the defenders. Allen quickly guessed that this group had been separated from the main force when the Mid Cities fell, which would explain why they were confident enough to establish a base a mere kilometer away from the border. Allen ordered his men to take shelter in the ruined buildings around the school and for snipers to get ready to pick off the guards on the outside, which were dangerously heavily armed, gatling guns and grenade launchers/machine gun grenade launchers being their weapons of choice, but when the guard shift came in the evening and they turned on the spotlights to pick out any who tried to make a dash across the few hundred yards of no - man's land, it became clear it was the same weapons being used, so if those who used them were taken out, it was likely those inside only had light weaponry. When it was fully dark out and the only light came from the spotlights and the moon and stars, Allen gave the order. In short order, the five guards around the roof of the school were picked off, along with the shooting out of the lights. Allen then ordered a swift and quiet advance across the no - man's land, sending a squad to each entrance and two to the main entrance. Quickly forcing their way in, they caught the half-asleep entrance guards by surprise and quickly overwhelmed them in a bayonet attack. Allen then lead his prime squad through the school in a clearing operation, surprise remained on their side as they found slaver bunk room after slaver bunk room filled with sleeping slavers easily dispatched with bayonets. Within an hour, the ambush was complete, with a total of 114 slavers dead to Allen's company's bayonets, with not a single shot fired (beyond the sinper shots)or a single friendly lost. Allen then quickly ordered a squad to send word there was now a hole in the slaver - raider line, and their former salient was now gone, along with a large amount of equipment and ammo captured.
Rhys arrived at the large school not long after midnight, watching as campfires were set up and the dead were being taken care off. It reminded him of his own school, with eight foot high steel bars surrounding an absolutely enormous complex that would have acted as a brilliant fortress. Sure, not everybody there was particularly the nicest and that he has had some rough experiences there, but it simply made him nostalgic. Once inside, he noticed a large campfire being set up by some happy militiamen. He encountered his squad and had a brief talk with them, and eventually, he found Allen. (I have the feeling that the stronghold school could be based around your own school or a nearby one. Despite it's ridiculous religious and business standards, mine is essentially a fortress.)
(Well, over in my area, schools tend to be made out of almost entirely cinderblock with a brick overlay on the outside and some inside. They're fairly well built, but usually only have chainlink fence around them,sometimes completely surrounded the property, sometimes not, sometimes topped with barbed wire if the neighbothood is bad.) Allen nodded in greeting to Rhys as he came into sight, "Oh, hello Rhys." He said as he quickly Kyl stood up from the chair he was sitting in, "Good to see you're here. We just removed removed the Hell's Half Acre Slavers from this outpost, not a single casualty on on our side." He proudly told him before motioning for Rhys to take a seat, "You know, I think I can really Excell here. In this world, I can finally actually try my theories and straddles and so much more. I've read vast amounts on military tactics, Art of War for example, city planning, governing, various sciences, architecture, and so many other subjects. My mind is full of how I could apply what I've learned, what I've thought up." Allen chuckled slightly, slowly shaking his head, "If only if If had more resources at hand, this battle for the Metroplex would be over before you know it if I had the resources and the trained men." Allen handed Rhys a small book, "In there I have wrote everything I have planned to bring into this world. Total war, special ops, elite infantry trained since seven years of age, possible governing systems, ways to rebuild, tactics to take Texas back. Everything. I've already shown John, and you wouldn't believe just how blown away he was." Allen grinned at Rhys, tapping his forehead, "I've spent my entire life thinking of how to build a better system, all trapped in here until now. Now...I have the opportunity to bring it to life..."
(I don't know exactly what classrooms in the northern suburbs are built from, but most of them are made of wood and plaster or brick. The main building of my school, and some newer schools are two stories of just solid concrete while older ones are brick. They are all built like a fortress.) "I've never dreamed of something like this. Well, not on this scale anyway." Rhys replied. "I was never as involved in pure strategy,as much as I seemed to enjoy it sometimes. I was always more focused on technology and weaponry, and if given the right resources, I could bring them to life here. I'm not a genius, but I've always had an enormous imagination. Hell, this world might actually be better for me than the real world, as much as I do miss it. Back there, I was a child who wanted to become a game designer or a police officer. But here, I'm actually making a real difference." Rhys grinned at Allen. "A better system."
Allen nodded, "Same with the tech stuff with me. But yes, a better system. We can make one here." Allen smiled as he took back his book, "But for now, we must let my troops rest. When When we get reinforcements, we will move on." Allen said, "I already know where to attack next."
Rhys looked around the room before finding a map of the Metroplex and the surrounding area that marked all Republic territory and any settlements not under control. He pointed at one area in particular. "I think I know what your thinking..." (Time-skip to til next battle?)
(Sure) Allen looked at the fortified position ahead of them, he had his company backed up by a further two, against he estimated to be about 600 strong force of united slavers and raiders. Observations revealed the two gangs to, be the Stop Six Raiders and the Hellbent Slavers, the strongest two gangs of the Dallas area, and a significant portion of them, the force they facing, were entrenched around a well built church that was placed on a Strategic hill. His forces were currently surrounding the position just out of sight and range of the hill, hiding among the ruins. Finding Rhys, he grinned at the man he had become friends with, "And now, to bring what we captured to bear." He said confidently, a remark pointing to the large amount of heavy weaponry captured the day before as Allen raised a bugle to his lips and gave three loud, long notes that pierced through the silence. A long period of silence followed before suddenly all three companies let loose a massive cheer, which covered up the men firing the missile launchers and the grenade machine guns at the fortified position, which soon erupted in explosions across the entire area, with the only pauses being to reload. Through binoculars, Allen watched as bodies flew in peices around the area and the living dashed about in utter confusion, having never been under such a bombardment before, if any bombardment at all. It would only be a matter of time before the position was soft enough for a head long attack...
After another brutal bombardment that not only managed to completely tear apart the unified slaver/raiders defensive lines while also racking up a huge body count, the Republic began to advance to their enemy, with Rhys being a central figure that advanced towards the front-lines. Not long after the Republic advanced, the battle was officially underway with a heavy weaponry bombardment assisting the Republic in their advance, giving the slavers and raiders barely enough time to poke their head out of what little cover they had left. Rhys kept slightly back from the front lines, remembering that the pawns always made the first move in chest. Whenever possible, he sniped any potential threats that were usually made up of better armed slavers that acted as leaders, one of his kills taking the head of a slaver dressed in heavy metal armor. Within minutes, the slaver/raider lines fell apart as the Republic advanced rapidly, almost too fast for them to even realize.
