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From The Adams AFB Archives

Operations Assessment Group Meeting

Attending-
Colonel Boris Feldon (Research) [OAG Chairman]
Brevet Major Bryan Van Hess (Support)
Captain Patricia Houseman (Special Oversight, Intelligence)
Captain Sara Ashton (Security)
Lieutenant Robert Hertzog (Infantry)
Lieutenant David Bosley (Flight)

ASHTON:  Welcome back, Colonel.

FELDON:  Thank you.  Er, it is good to be back and, Mr Van Hess, my thanks to you for keeping things running during my  .... er ... hiatus.

VAN HESS: (Unintelligible)  Just doing my job, sir.

FELDON:  OK, to work then.  People, I realize that the OAG has been busy analyzing the Raven Rock disaster, but certain events since warrant a temporary change of focus.  Refer your terminals. (PAUSE)  First, the good news.  Captain Houseman is probably aware of this already, but things are looking up for our Megaton agent.  He reports that Walker is seeking to recruit him for the Alliance, in an intelligence capacity....

HOUSEMAN:  Yes, Colonel, Intelligence Division is aware of this.  Given that the OAG's use of Agent Creel has been a temporary measure only, it is appropriate that responsibility for him and whatever data he gathers revert to Intelligence Division.  It IS what we do, afer all.

HERTZOG: ... Now THERE is a surprise.  Now that he looks like being downright valuable, you want him back, you mean.

HOUSEMAN:  I don't care for your tone, Lieutenant.

FELDON:  At ease, the pair of you.  I'd like to retain access to Creel for longer, but Intelligence Division has valid points.  Consider that one Okayed, Captain.  Next is the assembling of a sizable ground force in the Seward Square area.  Mr Bosley, I read your report on that one.  Comments?

BOSLEY:  Yessir.  DESPITE what Intelligence Division keeps saying-

HOUSEMAN: (Unintelligible)

BOSLEY:  Ahem.  ... this is NOT a simple case of 'Reilly's Rangers' expanding to counter Talon Company deployments on Capitol Hill.  Troops from all over the Alliance have been gathering and training under their protection for some weeks.  My read is that Reilly's Rangers has fully thrown in with the Alliance, and is now the nucleus of a mixed force of almost company size.

HOUSEMAN:  This is-

FELDON:  A moment, Captain.  OK, Mr Bosley, now for the Really Big Question.  The Alliance, or Walker, or both,  have this large force, so what are they likely to do with it?

HOUSEMAN:  They can't do anything!  Both of the largest Alliance members, TecVault AND Rivet City, are under direct threat.  If Reilly commits to one, the other will almost certainly split away and try to reach their own accomodation with us.

BOSLEY:  Respectfully, ma'am, I don't think so.  TecVault is secure - we have the units there to isolate, but not to take that place.  So that leaves Rivet City and, by extension ...

VAN HESS: ... Project Purity.

HOUSEMAN:  They don't have the numbers.  Not by far.

BOSLEY:  But a force like that would really bolster Rivet City's defenses, which impacts our defense.  And the BOS's recent moves are worrying as well.

HERTZOG:  How so?  They've been quiet lately.

BOSLEY:  That's just it.  They've light forces covering their outposts at GNR and on the Mall, but pulled in everything else, including ALL of their patrols.  Every last one.  Right now, their 'Citadel' is more crowded with troops than since the Outcast split.  And my most recent report is that Walker and the Ghosts have been heading to the Citadel in small groups over the last few hours.  Something is going on.

FELDON:  No question.  Mr Hertzog, this is your area of special expertise.  If the BOS went head-to-head with us right now, full-on do-or-die for Project Purity, what would happen?

HERTZOG:  They'd die.

(PAUSE)

FELDON:  MORE detail please, soldier.

HERTZOG:  Colonel.  We'd take hits, depending on what they try, but they'd still lose.  We're dug in all along that stretch of the Potomac, the only approach; we have superior numbers; and four forcefield barriers to kill any momentum they might work up.  Those things, a squadron of tanks would need an hour to bust through each one.  They have no tanks.  We have absolute air superiority - they have what?  A couple of boats and one patched-up Verti-Bird?  So amphibious or airborne assaults are out.  They still have their 'eye in the sky' but if it still had teeth, they'd have used it by now, certainly.

BOSLEY:  What about Infiltration?

HERTZOG:  They COULD always pull some kind of fast one, sure, but the whole area's locked-down tighter than a drum.  I hate to admit it, but Colonel Autumn has done a helluva job there.

ASHTON:  Hm.  How about a REAL head-on approach?  The BoS has plenty of power armor, so never mind bridges or  barriers, just head straight across the river any way they can.

HERTZOG:  Sure, PA troops could walk on the river bottom and come up the other side, but we''d be dropping explosives on them all the way.  Depth charging, basically.  Defense is simple - get some trainees, issue them a mix of grenades, space them out along the riverside, and tell them to drop a grenade any time they see something in the water.  No more BOS, in maybe twenty minutes.  Easy.

ASHTON:  Even with this Seward Square group coming in as well?

HETZOG:  Even with.

HOUSEMAN:  Our profile of Elder Lyons states he would not use high-loss tactics.  All indications are that he seeks to preserve the lives of as many of his people as possible, and will continue to do so.  But the second-in-command, his daughter, is a firebrand, and we have no way of telling where Walker's influence may steer them.  His most logical move, under the circumstances, would be to attempt negotiations.

FELDON:  Walker wouldn't go for it.  Not after all that we- ... all that has happened.

ASHTON:  Agreed.  They MIGHT try for some kind of last-ditch attack if they think the stakes are that high.  I suppose the water plant could justify that.

HEERTZOG:  Actually, I think that is what Colonel Autumn hopes for.

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Been a while since we tuned in on those whacky folks in the Enclave's 'Operations Assessment Group'.  Given all that is about to happen, a quick look seemed prudent.  Expect them to suddenly be EXTREMELY busy later in the day.

Pic of some of Leanne's friends outside the Citadel.  Victoria Reign (from Victoria Companion), wearing Ghostarmour and some Tailor Maid;  Star Paladin Cross; and Fawkes.  Fawkes 's idle pose is rather amusing to me - I can't decide if he is saluting or looking at something distant.