Scouting through binoculars, Nate and Curie both eyed the defunct National Guard Training Yard with caution. All around the perimeter buildings were mounted laser turrets, and a roaming Sentry-Tank. There were corpses of dead feral ghouls, raiders, skeletons, and countless other bodies from people who got too close. The roaming robots left the decomposed remains behind.

"I don't like seeing that many bodies laying around a building." Nate said, but there was obvious attempts at getting inside over the years, and signs that the robots were only activated recently. Knocked over rusted fences, trodded down mud paths, across the yard, office tables and desks piled against the outside to create stepping stones up to the second floor with blown out windows.

The door to the Armory was locked, but that only gave the former soldier even more hope. He was excited, banking on the idea that no one had ever been able to get inside the building since the bombs fell, and if that were the case, then there would be shelves upon shelves of crates absolutely overflowing with ammo, guns, and enough explosives to mount a small war.

"Oh yeah, right there, by the obstacle course," Nate said with a little dejection in his voice, pointing to the robot 100 meters away. "That's an Annihilator Mark II. The one in Concord is nothing compared to that tank on wheels there." As Nate spoke, the sentry-tank patrolled the grounds around the National Guard Center, always on alert. There were a few ghouls lumbering around, and while some were ignored, others were targeted by the tank, and the lights on the visual optics front would turn red.

Missiles were loaded into its arms, then with a barrage of three explosive rounds, the ghoul was blown to smithereens, along with two feet of dirt the ghoul was standing on.

"It would be wise if we avoid the sentry machine with superior firepower."

"That won't be an issue, because I want that tank."

Curie processed Nate's request. "I'm not sure we have the capabilities to accomplish that goal, Nate. What do you intend to do?"

"We hot wire it, but first I want to get into the armory. "

With a screwdriver, a metal bump key, nine bobby pins, the duo was able to unlock the door, the building had listed over time, making it nearly impossible to open the door. The brick and concrete was sinking in on itself, forcing hundreds of pounds of weight all down onto the frame, so as Nate took hold of the handle with both hands, then braced one foot against the wall and heaved backwards, the door barely budged.

Rigging a rope and pulley to Curie's frame, then looping an end around a metal light pole, they were able to drag the door open using some light physics, once it was wide enough for Nate to pass a crowbar through the gap, and Curie using her arms as hydraulic presses, they forced the door open with brute strength.

"Easy, Whoa, whoa...easy. See those?"

All along the hallway at chest and shin height were a dozen laser tripwires, all rigged to one form of security measure or other. Above their heads were laser turrets that were powered down, but looked as if they could turn on any second and be in perfect working condition.

"Miseur Nate, if you do not intend to use firepower against the Annhilator, then what could be in here to help us disable it?"

"Unlike the Mark 1, the Mark 2 has four power cores, and a solid 6 inch plate around it's CPU. Now, what the Chinese figured out is that if you wedge a grenade up under the turret, it blows the casing around the targeting system and cooling manifold right off. But by that time you're dead because the sentry bot's killed you. So it takes a second well placed, more powerful explosive shoved in deeper, to disable it's electronics. I'm just going to go into the back office of the armory and grab the keys to shut it down."

"Oh..." Curie said, strategizing a whole attack plan in her database when Nate said otherwise. "As usual Miseur, the simple solution is often the most easiest."

Taking precaution while moving through the armory, Nate couldn't of been more glad that everything was untouched except for dust. Stacks of crates containing weapons and ammo, enough to arm a small army for a weekend war, was all sitting right here.

Coolly, Nate grabbed the ring of keys sitting in a box on the desk, then detoured on his way back to explore the rooms in the armory. There were five suits of power armor standing perfectly upright, painted Army Green. Nate put one hand out to touch them, and check their model numbers. T-51s, C-class. For Nate, this armor was better than the power armor developed and used during the Sineo-American war, better than the T-45 Iron-Maiden he was ripped out of. This was the finest, and most advanced armor he'd found to date, in pristine condition. On the ground, looking around, there was metal shelves that had three rows of wooden crates all stamped with FCx12.

Cracking the first one open, Nate couldn't believe it, 12 Fusion cores, all still sealed in the box, and there were seven crates.
Stumbling across this gold-mine, he didn't know what to do with it at first, wishing that Curie could wear a suit back to the ship, or Meathead, Piper, or anyone else were here to bask in the joy of finding all these suits of power armor.

As the tank made the next pass around the yard, it rolled right past cement barriers Nate was crouched behind, and waited for the sentry bot's head and bulk of the body to pass by before Nate hopped over the barrier and sprinted up to the backside and jumped onto the back. Hugging the frame, the entire sentry-bot's turret spun 180 degrees, both the machine gun and rocket hub swinging over his head. Pulling his feet in close, he was wrapped around the whole robot, heart pounding. The turret kept swinging back around, and Nate let out a small breath of relief as he flipped a small metal panel off to reveal a key-hole. Pushing it in and turning the lock, the robot's battery terminals were easy to find. Yanking on the wire, twisting it back and forth, the terminal lost contact with the Fusion Core Battery, and the entire tank was shut down.

"-Ahh!" Nate declared, nerves jumping from being that close to a deadly robot. There was the CPU, located next to the fuse box, and encoding himself as a non-hostile took ten minutes of sitting there out in the open, on the side of a tank, waiting for the old-technology to install and update itself.

"Here's hoping." Nate said, turning the tank back on.

\111/

The ceiling of the recruitment center lobby, was caved in to the floor, a large gaping hole in the ceiling showed the offices on the second story. There were two American flags, one on a stand, the other hung up against the wall like a banner, off to the right. The roof of the second floor was showing signs of wear and holes of sunlight spilling through.

Beyond the entrance area where a few chairs lined the perimeter, was a second foyer and receptionist desk, behind the receptionist desk were two dirty, discarded sleeping bags, but they were signs of human presence.

Opposite the receptionist desk was a Commander's Office, and as Nate was rounding the corner, he said "Oh!"
Surprised to see a deceased corpse that wasn't of a ghoul, and wearing the bright clothes of a Brotherhood of Steel Knight, without her power armor.

For a body that was dead for over three years, the body of Knight Astlin was only six-months into decomposing. With high levels of radiation killing the smallest germs and bacteria, her preservation was extended. The muscles and body were dried out, skin like leather, hair like moss. On the shelves next to her was a distress pulser, sending a request for help.

"Oh." Nate said, piecing together the crime scene of Knight Astlin's death. There were dead ghouls around her, and a voracious bite mark out of her abdomen. The gun she used to defend herself was still wrapped around her fingers, the hilt bloody from bashing it into the skull of a ghoul. Her arms were bitten and scratched as well, torn up and gory, but time had congealed the blood into black lines, and withered her skin to be cold, pale, and dry.

'Knight Tara Astlin, Brotherhood of Steel Recon Team 429-Alpha. Serial Number 3431. It's been three hours since I set my distress pulser. There's been no word from the Paladin or Faris. Their objective was a satellite array on the coast, but they may be out of range." She said hopeful. " My orders were to hold this position at all costs. The entire site has been over run."

Stating the facts, there was a definite pause as she thought about the last words to finish the holotape recording with. "The door will not hold out much longer. Paladin Brandis, Sir. It's been an honor, sir."

\111/

The Revere Satellite Array was a tech communication hub for contacting satellites and sending data packs across the world. It was in plain view of the front door of the National Guard Recruiting station, and was a ten minute walk. Designed to be inaccessible to the public, the six satellites, one which had collapsed on itself, were all surrounded by barb wire and an aluminum fence, and access to the facility was limited to one gate. However, since time warps and erodes, there were many gaps in the fences. The back side to the Revere Satellite Array was by waterfront, and where a fence once stood was washed away along time ago.

The Array was occupied by a whole force of super mutants, twenty four, and their dogs. The satellites were perfect observation posts, and could see for miles in every direction. There were no other tall buildings in the area, except for the highway overpass, but sections of it were collapsed and missing.

The two hundred meters to the east, and the closest buildings, was Reeb Marina, which part of the collapsed overpass was now bridging the two properties, and the Revere Beach Station. It was a boardwalk of small shops, cafes, restaurants, arcade, and art stores with a few upper stories for either residents who worked below, or a few beach homes available for rent or vacant for a beach stay.

At the center of the Revere Beach Station was an underground metro station that lead South to the Boston Common, only if sections of the tunnels weren't collapsed, and then North and East to the Boston International Airport.

Occupied by a force of raiders triple the amount of super mutants, fighting between the two groups was an endless daily battle.

Neither side could push the other out, even if the super mutants pushed all the way into their territory, the raiders could fall back into the subway tunnels and force the mutants into a narrow line of fire. At times when the raiders planned together, and went on hunting sprees against the mutants at the satellite array, more would always come within days.

Holding both was a problem, and right now, keeping the mutants numbers down was all they could do as a measure of self-defense. Any losses they incurred was chalked up to being part of the daily struggle.

Avoiding both the satellite array super mutants and the Reeb Marina raiders, Nate formed a plan on how to deal with both. "Curie, we're heading to Bunker Hill, I need to ask a few people some questions."

\111/

Next Chapter: Ch. 65 Stockton Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 41 Minutes