POV Rio
It took 7 weeks to find the nuclear submarine. The reason it took so long was that it was constantly moving around and never had to return to base to resupply, since it had only three living members on board. Quite honestly, we were very fortunate when a probe droid had to recharge and was on its way back to a resupply hub when it picked up a faint signal and investigated. Thankfully, we didn't have to worry too much about striking the submarine at the same time as the other locations. The sub was usually radio silent and avoided contact to ensure secrecy.
Taking the sub was not impossible; it was just delicate work. Getting inside was easy. But taking out the various robots without alerting anyone, while also capturing the key points of the ship, was very complicated. If we didn't get it right, any number of horrible things could happen. They could scuttle the ship. They could launch the missiles. They could detonate the missiles, taking all of us with them. They could call for reinforcements. Thus, I was the leader for this mission. The other members were as follows: Loona, Quiet, Delta Squad, Agent Mason, Agent Rorke, and Deacon.
Deacon was assigned to Quiet, Loona, and the Ghosts to capture the missile room. Delta Squad, on the other hand, would be sent to capture the reactor room. I would slowly eliminate all enemies within the sub silently before we would rendezvous and capture the bridge.
I had built a device for this mission that would allow us to wirelessly hack a robot within 5 feet. Of course, it wasn't perfect, as the more complex the robot, the longer it would take. But for the Assaultrons, Mr Gutsys, and Sentry Bots, it should do well enough. The hardest to deal with was, without a doubt, the Mr Gutsys. The several hands and the fact that they can easily turn and look around themselves make them tricky to get near.
Bit by bit and robot by robot, we captured parts of the sub. A total of three people were present on the sub. From what I could tell, each one would handle an 8-hour shift as the supervisor of the robots. As such, killing the two other members that were currently asleep was incredibly easy, thus leaving only one member. But since they were on the bridge, I would leave them for now.
It took around 3 hours of delicate work, but eventually we disabled all but those present on the bridge and captured everything else. Just in case the missiles had been removed from their bay and a fake dud was put in their place to fool the ship's electronic sensors. Once that was secured, we moved on to the bridge and prepared to attack. This time, we wouldn't go in quietly. As such, we had switched to Ion Weapons. They would disable the robots and still cause some damage to the one living enemy. Of course, I would kill said enemy as soon as we breached.
"Okay, on three," I order.
I count with my fingers, and when I lift my third finger, I blast the door open, and I target the leader. He goes down almost instantly thanks to our surprise attack. The robots react fairly quickly, but not fast enough to avoid having over 3/4ths of them being disabled. The remaining managed to shoot a few shots into the barrier I had summoned before being disabled. Once the last robot was dealt with, we quickly moved to capture everything and avoid any surprises. Thankfully, nothing bad happened, and there were no issues.
Once everything was secure, I reinstalled the missiles and started moving the sub closer to our target. Instead of wasting our resources on destroying New Kowloon, I chose to wipe it off the face of the map with Nuclear fire. I would send a second missile at the Alliance Research Facility, but I knew it wouldn't be destroyed by that, and it would only destroy their outer defenses.
'Unless we get lucky, I suppose.'
It took another couple of hours for us to get close to the coast, so we didn't have to worry about interception. As such, we were around 50 miles off the coast where the Alliance Research Facility was built. New Kowloon wasn't likely to be able to intercept the missile, so I didn't need to get closer to them. I grabbed the Nuclear launch key and looked at Urtica.
"Targets locked. Ready when you are, Your Highness," Uritca responds firmly.
CLICK
I turn the key, and with a satisfying click, the key snaps into place.
"Missile Launch Sequence Initiated. Lockdown Protocols Engaged. Blast Doors Sealing In 30 Seconds..."
We wait for the lockdown to start, and when it does, a massive shudder is felt through the entire ship as the ancient sub is forced to complete its original duty. A distant explosion is heard, and I look towards the sound and see that a part of the sub has burst, causing us to take on water, but thanks to the lockdown, it wouldn't spread. Before the second missile launches, I evacuate everyone and only leave a magic clone behind, as I feel the ship won't survive another launch. It seems I was right, as when the second missile launches 1 minute later, the missile barely gets out of the tube before the entire sub implodes and gets obliterated. But at least the missile kept heading towards its target without issue.
POV Agent Horrigan
The building shakes massively, and I almost fall over. My fellow agents weren't so lucky and were thrown to the ground. I also hear the sounds of collapsing roofs and hallways. Luckily for my fellow agents, we were in a safe room meant to survive in case of a nuclear disaster. Of course, if the self-destruct device was triggered by this attack, then we would likely all die anyway, but that wasn't a big issue. Once the rumbling stopped, the agents started to recover.
"Holy cow, what were those countermeasures doing?! Didn't they say they could intercept a missile?" Agent York complains.
"We're alive, that's all that matters. Now let's..." Our Handler Scott, says before stopping and listening to his earpiece.
"What now?" York asks.
"Command just sent word that the second missile hit New Kowloon and wiped it off the map. We're ordered to begin evacuation procedures," Scott orders.
"Yes, sir," I reply before York can complain more.
York looks frustrated but decides to keep his mouth shut.
POV Theodora
"We've confirmed that Special Agent Scott and his team are alive and unhamred," Colonel Winter reports.
"Good, prepare..." I go to order, but a massive alert goes off, and a technician screams.
"Massive Radiation Flare! Forty Million Roentgens! And Rising!" the technician reports.
"Where!?" Colonel Winter replies.
"90 Million Now! It's Close!" the technician reports.
"How close?!" Colonel Winter asks before a heavy shutter is felt through the command room.
"On top of us!" the technician yells.
I steady myself and walk over to read the reports myself, and quickly calm down.
"Relax, Colonel, we are safe here. The attacks are on our sea platforms. A continuation of the attack from the Nuclear Missiles. It seems our enemy is making their big play," I calmly state.
"Contact the sub, tell them to launch the missiles at the Minutemen," Colonel Winter orders.
"There is no need, Colonel Winter. The missiles that hit us were our own," I reply.
"What!? But? How?" Colonel Winter says, baffled.
"I can't raise the sub on any channels. Atomic Excitement has scrambled all channels. We won't be able to message anyone until the attack ends," the technician reports.
"It seems we have been outplayed," I said with a smile.
"You don't mean... That's impossible. We would have heard if he escaped," Colonel Winter replied.
"Prepare the vault for attackers. And attempt to re-establish contact with any survivors. Warn them of a coming attack," I order.
"Should we send rescue teams?" Colonel Winter asks.
"It would be pointless. The immense radiation that destroyed our surface structures will cause the death of any survivors within a day or less. It would waste our limited resources and time," I reply calmly.
"The water surrounding the Vault will also be too radioactive for at least several hours. Anyone in it will likely die within minutes of contact," the technician reports.
"Yes, ma'am," Colonel Winter replies.
Despite the terrible circumstances I was now in, I found myself not feeling disappointed. We had done what we could and lost. I would accept said defeat honorably. After all, a Captain must go down with their ship.
POV Rio
I read the reports of the various strikes and find that they all worked with no issues. New Kowloon was gone, the various Sea Platforms were all destroyed and dropped into the ocean, and the research facility lost everything above basement level 3. It was also a great training exercise for the troops, as for most of them, it was the first live firing exercise of the turbo lasers. As for retaliaion we haven't seen anything yet, which is a good sign. The only tricky parts will be clearing out the survivors of the research facility and breaching and capturing the underwater vault. But the vault should be technically easier, as I have the schematics for what it was built as before the war. It wouldn't help deal with any changes they made later, but it would give us a good idea. That and it connected with the mainland.
'Or at least it used to. I'm pretty sure they cut off those tubes a while ago. But I suppose it can be used as another infiltration method.'
The assembled task force that was technically built to take New Kowloon is now moving to capture the regions it controlled or raided. The research facility would be slowly attacked by my magic clones, as there was literally no rush to capture it. I knew for a fact it still had a nuclear bomb, and I had no intention of wasting our men on trying to capture a facility that would destroy itself anyway. Instead, most of the remaining forces would be focused on claiming and securing our territory and watching for enemy attack. MIMIC would be running recon on Vault 120 to keep an eye on the Alliance. I'm also trying to reach out to Captain Zao to see if they wish to help me in this mission.
'He should have arrived home by now, so I imagine he wouldn't mind giving up his ship if he wants to stay in that endless wasteland.'
We also took this chance to attack my former prison and eliminate the enemies present, and make it seem like that was when I made my escape. Partially to further antagonize them, but since they didn't react, it was left alone.