Today in the CBO
The View from the BMU
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
7 June 2298 – Breakheart Banks
On certain Tuesdays for the 2297 and 2298 seasons, we will feature one of the settlements where teams in the Boston Minor Union play.
In our thirteenth trip around the BMU, we will go west of Walden Pond on the bank of the Saugus River to one of the Commonwealth's sadder tales of settlement despair, Breakheart Banks.
Settlement Disappeared - 2287
There is only a single terminal entry describing the Breakheart Banks location due north of Greentop Nursery and northwest of The Slog: "Breakheart Banks was a small family farm on the banks of the Saugus River, recently overrun by super mutants."
When Nate Howard first met the ghoul settlers of The Slog, they complained of a group of super mutants harassing them. When Nate went to investigate the disturbance, he found an adequate farmland overrun by the FEV-injected nusiances. Nate used the power of his sniper rifle to take them out from a distance and then found the mutilated remains of a family unknown to anyone else. Whether or not they were literate is unknown because the family had no terminal, paper, or books on the farm. The location was a nice one with natural defenses to the north thanks to a cliff leading to the Saugus River. Nate did what he needed to do, alerting the Minutemen that a settlement needed their help but no one was there to be helped. A new lot would need to move in to take over a nice corn crop spread.
The Slog was also thankful that one of the three trouble spots nearby was now clear, with the Saugus Ironworks and Hub City Auto Wreckers locations yet to go to make The Slog a peaceful place. Wiseman agreed to make a trade pact with the settlers nearby and with the protective help of the Minutemen.
Breakheart Banks - 2298
The area is still not widely populated but does provide important crops to the Charlestown and Cambridge regions of the Commonwealth. Regular caravaneers pick up the sowed crops as excess and drop off payments and supplies.
There are not current plans for expanding the region, but it may happen in time as more settlers move in. The defenses could always be expanded out, or new defense outposts could be built.
For now, though, this once death trap of a settlement is well-defended and in a good spot. Also, people receive regular supplies of Vim! which has become more popular than Nuka Cola in the Charlestown region, thanks in large part to the efforts of Small Bertha. Salem is part of the sponsorship, so Vim! is always well-stocked.