POV Rio
I didn't have to wait very long in Concord before Preston and his group arrived. While I waited, I mostly read the magic tome and did some minor magic practice. I was able to tell it was Preston because of the distinct sound the laser musket makes. That and they were doing a fighting retreat. I saw one of the members fall just outside the Museum of Freedom. Nearly 20 raiders were chasing them.
'This might be a bit tricky.'
I get my sniper out and also place the Kastet to my side. Dogmeat lies behind me and is my rear guard. I wait until several raiders enter the museum to chase after Preston. Then, while they are thinking about what to do, I open fire.
Snap
My first shot blows the head off one of the raiders, and by the time the second is dropped, they respond.
"Sh*t! It's a sniper get dow..."
He doesn't finish as I blow his brains out and move to the next target. Most of the raiders had already taken cover and were freaked out, but that didn't matter as they were still dumbly bundled together and pinned down. I grabbed the Kastet and lined up the shot, and then fired.
Punp... BOOOOM
Limbs go flying, and I can hear them screaming. I place the Kastet down and resume sniper fire. Of the 15 or so that stayed outside, only 5 or so remained in fighting shape. But I also knew that reinforcements would arrive soon. But I used the time I had to take out 3 more before Dogmeat gave a low growl.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BOOOM
I smile as the mine I left at the entrance goes off.
"Time to go," I whisper to Dogmeat.
We leave via a hole in the wall that leads to another boarded-up building. I make sure to leave behind a little present for the raiders. Which seems to be accepted graciously, as mere moments after we left, I hear my present go off. We don't linger, and I head to my second sniping nest.
Once we arrive, we get back into position, but this time I don't shoot right away; instead, I wait for my bait to get the attention of the big mama from underground. I also see the raiders from the museum leave and join up with the reinforcements. I see Preston peeking out from the balcony. I signal him with a light, and he seems to catch on quickly and gives me a nod.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
"ROOOOOOOOOOOAARRRRR!"
I give a smile as the bait works. I had left the corpses of the raiders in the Concord Civic Access and made sure they were bloody. The smell got the attention of the Deathclaw much sooner.
"Jesus Christ! It's a Deathclaw!" A raider shouts in fear.
"Don't just stand there, SHOOT IT! SHOOT NOW!" Gristle screams in terror.
All hell breaks loose as raiders desperately try to kill the massive beast. Some try to hide in buildings and others try to find cover but none of that works for long. The Deathclaw was very fast. And all it needed to do was a casual swipe to slice cleanly through the raider's improvised armor. At the start of the fight, there were over 30 raiders, but after less than a minute, over half of them were dead.
Gulp
Even I was getting a little scared. I thought that the raiders would last longer and manage to finish the beast, but now it looked like they had only managed to slightly injure it. A few raiders panicked and tried to flee into the museum, but found the doors wouldn't budge anymore. When that failed, they tried to run away, but that didn't last long. They couldn't outrun a Deathclaw.
Whimper
Dogmeat crawls closer to me, and I can see he is scared. I pet him and tried to comfort him, but even I was not too sure how to get out of this. But it seemed luck was on the side of the raiders as one of them managed to get a lucky shot and hit the Deathclaw in the eye. He was shredded a second later, but it still hurt the Deathclaw pretty badly. This gave the raiders some courage as they rallied and started to try and shoot in the head.
It was not easy, but after a lot of shots, they managed to bring down the Deathclaw. But they had been reduced to only 6 raiders.
"Jesus, is it finally dead?" Gristle pops out and looks at the slowly bleeding creature.
"Uh, I think so." Said a random raider.
"Good, go make sure," Gristle ordered.
"Bu-bu-but boss... What if it's not dead?" That same raider asked.
"Shut up and go check! Or else I will put a bullet in you!" Gristle yelled.
The random raider approached the Deathclaw and poked it a couple of times. Then he turned around and was about to call the all clear. But the Deathclaw was not quite dead yet.
CHOMP
With a single bite, the raider's head was torn off, and the Deathclaw, with reckless abandon, started to flail towards Gristle and his men. But it only managed to claw one more person before a point-blank shotgun blast from Gristle killed it for good.
BANG BANG
Gristle put two more shots into its head for good measure. Now the remaining four raiders started to relax, which was my and Preston's cue.
BRRRRM SNAP
Two shots were fired almost simultaneously. And Gristle and another raider next to him died. The two remaining raiders seem to now remember that we existed and tried to run back to cover, but it was too late for them. With three more shots. One from me and two from Preston, the last raiders were killed. I didn't leave right away and instead scanned for any other enemies and had Dogmeat look for them as well. Once I was certain the coast was clear, we moved from the nest and I started to loot the raiders and the Deathclaw. Once that was done, I headed over to the Museum of Freedom and knocked on the door.
"Uh, I am coming in, so please don't shoot me," I said while preparing to dodge if they reacted badly.
I wasn't exactly the most human-looking thing. I opened the door and saw Preston Garvey, Mama Murphy, Sturges, Marcy Long, and Jun Long. It seems like they were not expecting to see me, as Marcy grabs a gun and tries to shoot at me. I move to dodge, but thankfully, Preston disarms her.
"Marcy, No! He's a friend. He's the one who helped us," Preston says.
"That THING helped us? How do we know it's not just doing that so it can lead us to its mutant brothers to eat us all alive?" Marcy says with a panicked voice.
"Uh, I am not a Super Mutant. I am not even the right color. I mean, maybe if you really stretch the truth, you could say I am vaguely the color of a Nightkin, but that would be a bit much. And no, I don't eat humans. That's nasty. Have you guys seen where you have been? Eugh. No thanks," I joke, and that seems to make the others smile and less on edge.
"Well, I can't say I have ever seen what you are, but anyone that's an enemy to raiders is a friend of mine. The names Sturges," Sturges introduced nicely.
"The names Rio, nice to meet you all. And I don't blame Marcy for shooting me. She isn't the first, and I doubt she will be the last. I am not human after all," I respond.
"Well, I don't care what you are. You saved us. The names Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minuteman. And you came at the perfect time. Thank you for saving us," Preston said while offering his hand for a handshake.
I take and we shake.
"I will be honest and say I was only in the area because I killed some raiders, with orders to stop a caravan that was coming to Concord. I live a bit north of here and have decent relations with another caravan in the area, so I figured I should try and help. I will admit the Deathclaw was a lot scarier than I originally anticipated," I respond.
"Wait? You knew about the Deathclaw?" Preston asks.
"Huh, oh yeah, most people that live in the area know about Big Mama. From what I have been told, she has lived under Concord for a decade or so. I did bait her to fight the raiders, but to be honest, she would have come due to all the gunfire disturbing her. It's why Concord has never been settled by anyone. And also, why raiders usually steer clear of Concord. They might be able to kill her, but the cost would be way too much, and no one would willingly hunt a Deathclaw unless they were crazy," I respond.
"Heh, you got that right. Even Gunners wouldn't take a job to kill a Deathclaw unless they were offered something really good," Sturges says.
"Why are you guys coming through this area anyway? If you don't mind me asking," I ask.
"Well, we are trying to find a safe place to settle down. We thought Lexington would be safe, but the ferals nearly devoured us. Just a week ago, we were eight; now there are only 5 of us left. And I am the last of the Minutemen. I don't suppose you know anywhere nearby that is safe. We are trying to find a place called Sanctuary," Preston says.
"Oh, sure, I know Sanctuary. It's my settlement. I have been meaning to find some settlers as I turned it into a fortress, but without any settlers, it's just an empty wall. It has everything you could need. Ample clean water, comfortable beds, massive defensive walls and forts, and plentiful land for crops," I say with a smile.
"Well, that sounds damn near perfect. I, for one, am willing to join your settlement. How about everyone else?" Sturges asks.
Most agree, but Marcy hesitates.
"Are we really thinking of following this thing back to its lair?" Marcy says while keeping her distance from me.
"Sigh. Marcy, that's rude, and I don't suppose anyone else has an alternative suggestion?" Sturges says with a frown.
"No... Then I guess you can decide to follow us or go on your own path. But I don't suggest leaving alone. We have been running for too long. And those raiders seem to have been tracking us for a while. And with this loss, they will only get more violent," Sturges warns.
Marcy just nods and they start getting ready to move to Sanctuary but I ask them to wait for a little bit. I wanted to loot the mesuem to make sure the raiders didn't get anything of value. Mostly the full set of T-45 Power Armor on the roof. Once that was done, I escorted them to the Sanctuary.
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Authors Note:
So yeah, Deathclaws are scarier as I figured they should be more lore accurate in my story. That being said they aren't invincible just really fast and can take a lot of damage before going down. Also, everyone's favorite settlement quest giver has joined Rio. Yay! But don't worry, Rio won't have to do everything for the Minutemen, as Rio can just tell Preston to shut up and do it himself. Until next time, Ciao.