falloutober 14 - (Tip the) Scales
(beets head bad, write words no picture. scene in my head proved too much work to shoot)
It had been nothing more than a stroke of good luck - and everyone involved knew that.
But it didn't change their gratitude.
The minutemen stationed at Nordhagen had sent out a desperate radio call - the location's proximity to Libertalia meant it saw occasional raider activity, but today... today, something had changed, and the men bearing down on them had torn through the barricades.
There was nothing left but fear and desperation.
And it was only chance that tipped the scales that day.
The sand, shifting under steel steps, masked the sound of the power armor's steps.
But the whine and clatter of the gatling laser spinning up caught everyone's attention.
Not soon enough.
The flash of rapid laser fire pierced through the fog - and through the raiders. It took only a few minutes of sustained fire to break the siege, and as the last surviving raiders scattered, the air fell silent once again.
And Kate stood on the coast, at the end of it all, helmet in her hand as she spoke with the settlers.
No one said the what-ifs. What if she hadn't been near. What if their radio tower has been taken out. What if the raiders came at night, in silence.
They were all keenly aware of every other way this day could have played out.
But that's not how it had happened.
And for one more day, they were grateful.
