An:
Webnovel is acting weird so I guess double chapters again.
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POV Rio
Once we arrived at the Castle, we sorted out what supplies we would need, and I took a solo trip to Libertalia. The reason was so that everyone else could get a chance to plan out our move on Spectacle Island. That and Libertalia didn't have anything too massive that we needed. So I just flew over and infiltrated at night. A few were awake, but it seemed like they were fairly lax in their guard. Likely because being on the water made it much harder to attack.
I had free rein to sneak in and repossess everything I could get my hands on. From my looting, I got plenty more guns, around 200 rifles, and a Fatman. I got 12 Mini-Nukes, lots of 7.62 ammo, and a decent amount of Chems and Alcohol. I also found plenty of food and dirty water. I took the Unique Combat Shotgun Le Fusil Terribles from the leader's cabin. Lastly, I got the U.S. Covert Operations Manual Issue #7, Bushes, Boxes, and Beehives Camouflage Special. It made me more stealthy than I already was.
Once I had obtained anything of value from the Raiders, I left and went to the shore closest to Revere Beach Station. It was still empty of Raiders, so I stepped into the water a bit until it was around 20 feet deep. Then I focused my attention, as I didn't want the Tsunami to damage any innocents. Not that there was much of a risk of that, as Libertalia didn't have any hostages, mostly because it was just now spring and they hadn't had a chance.
The water started to stir, and if someone looked closely, it looked as if it were alive. The sky grew darker as clouds appeared and blanketed the land in darkness. It started with a small wave but quickly enlarged. 20 feet. 40 feet. 90 feet. 200 feet. 300 feet. 400 feet. 500 feet. It stopped around 550 feet. The wave was terrifying as the water around Libertalia and the bay Rio was in fell to an all-time low.
The skill was far scarier than I originally expected. It had gotten so powerful that I couldn't even really control the Tsunami. The skill may have started the wave, but it didn't maintain it. I watched with morbid curiosity as the Raiders panicked and the nearly 600-foot wave of water swallowed the entirety of Libertalia. Ships shattered and splintered, people screamed and drowned, and even scarier was that the wave didn't stop at Libertalia; it kept going out to sea. The wave was strong enough that it literally snapped the main cargo ship in half. The wave kept going Southeast, and all I could hope was that it didn't cause too much damage.
'I should avoid using this skill when near oceans.'
I went to Nahant and just observed the aftermath of the Tsunami. To nobody's surprise, nobody in Libertalia survived. But on the bright side, the bay was now clear of enemies or debris. As I was waiting, I noticed Delta Squad approaching. Their jaws were open, and they stared at the ocean where Libertalia used to be. We just sat there for a few hours. Eventually, we stopped staring and started discussing what they found in Nahant.
"Not much, it seems like most of it had already been looted. We found some useful materials, such as old terminals and electronics, but they were available only in small quantities. We did find this, though," Pharynx reports.
He hands me Wasteland Survival Guide Issue #6, Commonwealth Coupon Spectacular, which gave me a 10% discount from food and drink vendors.
"This will make a fine addition to my collection," I say while putting it away.
The other loot was okay, but nothing massive.
"Your next orders are to salvage a sunk Cargo Ship a ways North of here. After that, I want your team to patrol Western Massachusetts. Go as far as Albany, New York. Clear out any hostiles you find and suggest that anyone else move to the Boston area for safety, but don't force them, just suggest it," I order.
"Yes, Your Highness!" they respond.
I want to correct them, but I know it wouldn't do anything. I gave them the coordinates I retrieved from an old military terminal and sent them on their way. I flew back to the Castle. When I arrived, it was almost Dawn, so we got the boat ready and started our trip to Spectacle Island.
Spectacle Island was a very sizable land mass that hadn't been used for a long time. Or at least publicly. It wasn't too shocking that no one set up here, as it was a trip that required a ship to make. Very few working ships exist in the Commonwealth. It also meant that getting supplies would be more expensive. Getting clean, drinkable water would be the hardest problem to solve. Very few people know how to create a large-scale water purifier. All of this ignores the fact that there is a massive prewar facility beneath the island. Which would likely have lots of dangerous robots that wouldn't take kindly to intruders on or near the facility.
"From what we gathered, there have been only 2 attempts at settling the island. The first got wiped out by Mirelurks and happened around a century ago. The second only failed 20 years ago, and they had developed a device to make all the Mirelurks leave. But they all died out for unknown reasons," Hancock says.
"So expect Crab on the menu tonight, got it," Deacon says jokingly.
"Hmm, no, expect a Mirelurk Queen at least. And a sizeable brood of its children," I comment.
We docked the ship at the dock in the North. Once we got off, we saw the remains of a house and an intact barn next to it. There was a strange lack of signs that Mirelurks lived here. My guess was that the Mirelurks stayed away from this side because of the facility that I can see half a kilometer below us. I even found the hatch. My lip twitched when I saw what was behind it. It was a ladder. A 500-meter-long ladder.
I ignored that and focused on clearing out the hostiles on the island first. The island was larger than my eyes could see. If I remembered right, it was about 6.4 km long.
We traveled across the island, making sure to clear it slowly but surely. The top half of the island had no Mirelurks. But as we made our way farther and farther south, we encountered more and more Mirelurks. At first, it was only one at a time, but by the time we got through 2/3rds of the island, we were encountering groups of 3-4. We cleared out the area where the Workshop Station was, and I started to figure out how the device they used worked.
"It's a sonic disruptor. Quite the genius design. A shame the creator is dead, but the good news is we just need to restore power, and it will start doing its job. But we should clean out all the Mirelurks first," I comment.
"Why?" Cait asks.
"The Mirelurks have definitely used this time to move fully onto the island. Meaning if we kill them all, then we don't have to worry about the Sonic Disruptor failing. That and we can use Artillery if we get into a mess," I reply.
"Is that why we brought all those explosives?" Hancock asks.
"Yep, everyone can take a weapon, I got China Lakes, RGP-40s, RPGs, Missile Launchers, and an RPS-6, my personal favorite," I say while showing off the weapons.
Everyone takes a weapon and ammo for themselves, and we start our fight south to the generator. However, after the first few groups, we stopped running into any.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Deacon says.
We kept going despite Deacon's Red Flag, and I started noticing something a bit worrying. The tracks I was following clearly show the Mirelurks were falling back to the coast. I used my Hoshigan and saw a massive horde of claws and chitin. Now we could have gone to fight that, but I wasn't having that. I estimated the coordinates and had everyone wait a moment. I sent the coordinates to the Castle and waited for a minute.
WHIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSTTTTTTLLLLLEEEE
BOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOM
Dozens of explosions go off as several dozen artillery shells blast the Mirelurk Brood to pieces. Crab meat and chitin fly all over the place, and the brood that used to be several hundred strong was quickly reduced to only a few dozen. The attacks also drew in the Queen and King Mirelurks. They were a bit odd-looking. The Queen was nearly 3 times the size they usually are. The King was far more humanoid in form than they should ever be.
"Get ready, it seems like we are dealing with an Aberrant Mirelurk Queen and King," I comment.
"Lovely," Cait comments sarcastically.
We approach, and once we are in range, we open fire. Rockets and grenades go flying into the surviving Mirelurks, and they quickly fall. I shoot my RPS-6 at the Queen, and the rocket does literally nothing to it.
'Huh, that's not good.'
"Stall the Queen, let me handle the King," I order before flying to the right to gather the King's attention.
I open with a Lightning Bolt Spell, and impressively, the Mirelurk King dodges the attack. Not completely, but enough to avoid a direct hit. It responds by shooting a sonic scream and going invisible. I pretend not to be able to see it and cast a shield spell while dodging the sonic attack. The King goes for a backstab attack, as would be predicted. I hold several Flashbangs in my hand, and as the King goes to attack, I counterattack. The King reacts faster than expected and goes to retreat, but he only dodges the items I throw at him.
FLASH
"SCEEEEEEEEE!" The King screams in agony while still managing to dodge most of my follow-up attacks. But eventually, I catch one of his legs with my sniper, and his leg goes flying.
With greatly reduced mobility, it comes as no surprise that I kill it not long after. I specifically aim for his heart so I can study as much of his body as I can. What happens next surprises everyone.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!
The Queen was connected to the King in some sort of psychic way, and his death caused her to go berserk. The roar deafened most of us, but I felt the tremors in the ground. When I looked to the source, I saw a nearly endless horde of Hatchlings scuttling at us. My eyes go wide and fly up to avoid them. The queen seems dead set on killing me, specifically as it focuses all its acid sprays at me.
I bob and weave through the acid sprays and try to ignore the fact that the acid was literally melting stone and everything but the hatchings it hit. Even the Mirelurk chunks from the artillery were being melted. Everyone else was trying to fend off the massive horde of hatchlings, which was going decently enough. But I noticed something odd. The Hatchlings that die turn into goo and start flowing towards the Queen.
'That can't be good.'
A bit of acid hits my shield, and I have only a split second to avoid the acid as it melts the shield almost instantly. I might be able to survive, but I wasn't looking to test that.
'Time for a tactical retreat.'
"Fall back!" I scream.
The others don't delay and start retreating. I take a dozen grenades from my inventory and drop everything I have. The combined smoke, shrapnel, plasma, cryo, flashes, and fire give me enough power to get farther away. That smoke wasn't anything. It was artillery smoke.
WHIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSTTTTTTLLLLLEEEE
BOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOM
Around 60 shells impact the area and wipe out everything. Well, everything besides the Queen, who looks just as fresh as she was when we started. Except a lot more angry.
'Huh, that's not good.'
What happens next scares me enough to activate my Temporal Seal. The damn Queen jumped, and before time stopped, she was mere inches away from hitting me.
I brought a Mark 28 Nuke for this exact reason, so I took it and several Nuke Charges, Nuke Mines, and Nuke Grenades and armed them all before flying as far as I could.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The wave of heat and light washes over me, and I am thrown to the ground from the blast. I look back at the Mirelurk Queen and see that she was still standing. She was clearly damaged and had lost several legs and arms; her face armor was melted, but the damn thing was still alive.
"Why won't you DIEEEE!" I scream while activating Glacial Cataclysm.
A massive blizzard forms out of nowhere and starts blowing fiercely. Ice quickly forms over the Queen, and her already slowed movements slowed further. Another effect I didn't think about was the fact that the temperature dropped massively very quickly. The water near us started to freeze over. I backed away as the Queen kept desperately trying to close the distance. By the time 30 seconds had passed, the Queen had turned into a frozen statue and finally died. The blizzard lasted for another 3 minutes before fading. Unfortunately, by doing it this way, the Mirelurk Queen was turned into pure ice, which meant no loot.
'At least it's over for now.'
I lay on the ground and fell into a pile of snow. As everyone approached me, I was busy making snow angels.
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Author's Note:
Man, I haven't made a Snow Angel in so long. But yeah, being able to make a Tsunami is pretty broken. So is making a massive blizzard, but that is neither here nor there. Also, I think there's a joke in here somewhere about everything eventually becoming crabs, but I can't be bothered to make it. Until next time, Ciao.