Prologue
Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud.
Paladin Danse tried to concentrate on the sounds that his power armour made as he walked along the dusty road instead of on the lady that was several paces ahead of him on point.
Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud.
She had taken to skipping every three or four steps all the while emitting a low tuneless humming sound which he had begun to find very irritating about an hour ago but it had not ceased despite his initial objection. She had not even turned her head to acknowledge that he had spoken to her, but he knew that she was grinning as the humming became more pronounced. The skipping had started only a few moments ago.
The humming and the skipping weren't the worst of it. She walked with a casualness that made his teeth grind, her rifle cradled in her hands as if she held a baby rather than a tool of war. She was on point but it seemed that she was not taking this mission seriously, as if she didn't take any mission seriously. He doubted that she even saw half of the things that she needed to be observing while she walked through the highly dangerous Commonwealth Wasteland. There were many hazards and he wondered, not for the first time, how in the name of steel she had survived so long out here when she had exited her vault only seven months ago, if she were to be believed. But he held his tongue.
Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud.
She wasn't under his command. She was a private citizen and for the moment, a valuable Brotherhood of Steel asset. She had helped him retrieve the Deep Range Transmitter, she had bought Haylen a myriad of tech items, each of which Haylen made high pitched squeals over and she had cleared Cambridge of ferals after Rhys had mentioned, rather impolitely, that she could have been helping out more.
She knew the wasteland very well and had many contacts including that of the Commonwealth Minutemen and the mayor of Goodneighbour. She was a valuable asset, albeit an undisciplined and insubordinate one. He shook his head. She wasn't under his command. She had turned him down flat when he had asked her to join the Brotherhood of Steel after the successful Arcjet mission. She had in fact laughed in his face. Not just laughed, she had doubled over in a deep belly laugh that had tears streaming down her cheeks and had culminated in her snorting in a very unladylike fashion. He had been very affronted by the whole display.
Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud.
He rolled his eyes when he heard that the humming had changed to crooning, it was indistinct but he definitely heard a few words now. It was going to be one of those days.
If he were to be honest with himself he would admit that she was helpful and very skilled in many areas, more skilled than any normal vault dweller should be. So skilled that he found himself having to re-evaluate her at every turn. The rifle she held was not some bauble. She knew how to use it and use it effectively.
He remembered with a faint smile the moment she had found Rhys kicking the impenetrable safe he had uncovered, in frustration when he could not open it. She had condescendingly moved him aside, squatted down in front of the safe and with nothing but a bobby pin and a flathead screwdriver, opened it up in moments. She had rooted around in it for a moment, withdrew a carton of 10mm rounds for herself and then told Rhys the rest of it was all his.
Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud.
She called Rhys 'grumpypants' which only fuelled his dislike of her more. She called Danse 'PD' which he wouldn't really mind except he needed to maintain his authority while at the Police Station. Haylen & Rhys were under his command and they depended on him to be in control and decisive and the civilians pet names seemed to be more mocking than respectful. She liked Haylen though and when she dropped by the police station to check on them periodically, she would gravitate towards Haylen and they would talk like they were best friends… she called Haylen 'bestie'.
The woman in front of him suddenly stopped dead in the road. Danse stopped also, raising his laser rifle and his body on alert. She started nodding her head rhythmically and she raised her fist in the air. She sang a single line of verse from a popular song and bobbed up and down a couple of times at the knee before setting off again at her casual saunter that set his teeth on edge. He wanted to growl in frustration at her antics but he knew it was no use. He relaxed a bit and began walking after her again his eyes scanning the roadside warily.
Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud.
Little puffs of dust sprang from the ground with each of his steps. He sighed.
So much about her didn't add up and she was not forthcoming with information. She was from a vault, but not from a vault. She had military like skills but took nothing seriously and had no discipline, something all soldiers should have at least a little bit of. She was outspoken and argumentative. She always had that crooked little amused smile on her face, like the whole world was huge joke and that she was the only one who got it. She had an agenda of her own but seemed aimless, wandering the wasteland with no course. She knew innumerable people but always seemed to be alone, save that dog once and the robot butler she had been with once or twice. Who travelled the wastes with a butler?
He glanced in her direction and regretted it immediately. She had taken her rifle in a kind of embrace and was dancing around the road with it, singing about being 'as corny as Kansas in August' and 'as high as a flag on the forth of July'. He sighed again and walked on in her wake. It was definitely going to be one of those days.
Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud, Vvvvt Thud.
He thought back to the moment he first saw her, the moment she descended from on high and into his life, disrupting his mental stability and challenging his patience to its very limits. That bloody horrible night….
Chapter 1 – That Bloody Horrible Night
Max should have stopped for the night, but instead she trudged on in the gathering shadows. Codsworth hovered behind her chatting away about the filthy state of various items that littered the Commonwealth and admonishing their owners for not maintaining their possessions with proper care. He certainly wouldn't let his possessions disintegrate into rust, though the extent of his possessions were limited to a little black bowler hat that Max had found in an abandoned house and had placed on his dome. She had thought it was funny, but he had been so moved by the gesture that she had been compelled to apply some adhesive to the hat to make sure that it would stay in place and did not get lost in the future.
She had resolved to make it up to the vertibird crashed on the overpass before she stopped for the evening. Vertibird crashes were a valuable cache of salvage, she owed the downed aircraft for the three full sets of T45 Power Armour that she had accumulated and a generous supply of ammunition, military garb and body armour. She shunned the army gear herself and had donned a set of old but well maintained motorcycle leathers with Kevlar inserts. She had owned a set when she was younger and had owned a bike herself. She remembered on a night of overindulgence in certain beverages of the alcoholic persuasion, she had stated that in the event of an apocalypse she would wear road leathers because they were easy to come by and highly protective. Oh, the irony was not lost on her.
She had worn enough uniforms in her time anyway, so the army fatigues were distributed among the settlers to add protection in the event of the many inevitable attacks on the various settlements that dotted the Commonwealth. She had added her own versions of tough leather armour to her ensemble and while she wasn't bulletproof (much to her chagrin on more than one occasion) she was protected well. She did wear a military style helmet though. She had painted it black, finding its customary white lit up her head a little to invitingly.
She carried a semi automatic double barrelled shot gun on her back (her own personal modification, she was surprised no one in the old world had thought of it before), a suppressed 10mm pistol at her hip and she carried her baby, the 50 cal. sniper rifle known as "The Last Thing" in her arms. She loved this weapon. It reminded her of days gone by and it reminded her that she was always safe. Or at least as safe as one could be in the wastes of Old Boston. The weight of it in her arms was comforting rather than a hindrance.
She glanced down at her pipboy, it's dull light telling her she was closing on her target for the night. She veered direction to the east, following the overpass above and searching the gathering dark for the service elevator she knew was somewhere around here. She walked on, using her pipboys light to illuminate the darker recesses. Codsworth found it shortly after and softly called her over.
He had begged her to take him out of Sanctuary, out for an adventure. He had been alone for so long and though he longed for company, which he had in the settlement now, the company he needed most was his family. She was always away, searching for signs of her son or helping the Minutemen or trading or one of the million other things that she needed to attend to in this new world. She had warned him that it would be dangerous and even with his trepidation at being damaged, his need for the companionship of his mistress was greater than his fear.
He had proven to be quite useful, much to Maxs surprise. He utilised his domestic tools with deadly accuracy as demonstrated on a pack of wild dogs and a small band of misguided and now very dead raiders. He was quite exhilarated by it all. He was good company, though he did tend to prattle on a bit.
They rode the elevator up to the overpass and scouted back along it until they came upon the wreckage of the Vertibird, hanging precariously from the side. The wreck itself was a bust, there was nothing of interest in it at all save a few unspent rounds of ammunition, but standing nearby, missing only a couple of pieces, was a suite of T60 Power Armour.
"Yusssss!" Max gave a jubilant fist pump and held her hand out for Codsworth to add his fist bump with one of his three limbs. He had used the limb equipped with a saw once. It had been the bloodiest fist bump in history.
He touched her extended hand gently with his little claw and chuckled to himself. "Yes, yes, very good mum!"
"Wait 'til I get this back home. Fix it up and give it a sweet paintjob…" She mused, patting the armour fondly, it even still had its fusion core. Nate had worn this class back when he had been in the army, back when she'd met him at Anchorage, back when she'd been a fresh faced rookie… almost two hundred and twenty one years ago. Her mind shuddered back from the thought and she blacked out the image of Nates handsome face as quickly as it had formed there. She took a deep breath and plastered the smile back on her face, knowing it had slipped for a moment in her grief, though Codsworth had noted the change in the air.
She looked down at her pipboy, deciding to lock into Diamond City Radio for a little music to lighten the mode. Travis only had a couple of dozen songs but it was better than nothing. She raised her eyebrows when she noted that there were more radio signals than there should have been. She tilted her head to one side and flicked the dial over to the new signal 'Military Frequency AF95'. It was on a loop and she had tuned in just as the loop had completed and had to wait for the message to repeat.
"This is Scribe Haylen of Reconnaissance squad Gladius…" the voice began " … to any unit in transmission range. Authorisation: Arcs, Farrow, Nine, Five. Our unit has sustained casualties and we're running low on supplies. We are requesting support or evac from our position at Cambridge police station"
The recording came to an end and looped back to the start again. Max looked out towards Cambridge, peering hard into the dark. She could see a faint glow of lights in the vicinity of the police station in the south-east and for a moment saw the flash of red that indicated laser fire. This wasn't one of those old messages that had been on repeat since the bombs dropped over 200 years ago, this one was brand new and they were under attack right now. Max looked longingly back at the Power Armour and shook her head, she would travel faster without it. She ran to it, skidding to a stop and extracted the fusion core and stuffed it into one of the pockets of her belt.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, mum" Codsworth queried, uncertainly.
"They're in trouble, buddy," She replied with a quick smile of reassurance. "Of course, I'm sure. Let's go"
She lifted her rifle and set off at a quick but careful trot. It was full dark now and she used the glow of the police station and the steadily growing sound of combat to guide her. Once back on the ground and following the old roadway, her pace quickened and she made it to the outskirts of Cambridge in short order. It didn't take long for her to find out what was attacking the soldiers as a feral ghoul slithered out from under a dilapidated car and started careening blinding towards her. She smashed it to the ground with the butt of her rifle and slung it quickly over her shoulder and drew her pistol. 50cal. ammo was too rare to waste on these pitiful creatures if you had an alternative. The ghoul stumbled back and then fell to the ground in a heap as a bullet pierced its temple. Max slipped into the darker shadows nearer the buildings and pressed herself against the wall and then moved quietly into the closest doorway. The police station should be behind the buildings on this block and she wasn't keen on walking the long way around through the square.
She moved though the old shop towards the rear of the building scanning the dark interior with her pistol. She kept her pipboy covered not wanting to draw attention to herself from any other ghouls that might be inside or close by, the last thing she needed was to be swarmed herself. A stroke of luck revealed that the wall halfway up the back stairs had caved outwards revealing the Police station entrance below.
"Codsworth." She whispered to her companion. He swivelled his optic sensors in her direction but remained silent as he had learned to do. "Watch the stairs, don't let anything get to me"
Codsworth swivelled back to his observation of the dark and empty shop.
She looked down at the scene below, drew her rifle and focused on her new targets… Dozens of ghouls, all ravening at three soldiers below. The horde congregated though, at the figure in power armour in the center of the compound.
She raised her rifle and began to pick off ghouls one by one. Her suppressed rifle 'pffting' as the projectiles flew and the ghoul targets in the compound falling seemingly without cause. Like shooting fish in a barrel she thought with satisfaction, dropping seven in a row and then reloading to fire again. She had taken down more than a dozen more when she heard a commotion down the stairs and glanced downwards seeing a ghoul rounding the corner in a rush and slamming into the opposite wall before turning its empty gaze up towards her. She drew a quick breath and drew her 10mm again, dispatching the ghoul at close range, but it was followed by another. Codsworth, she thought. She took out the other feral and then leapt from the hole in the wall to the raised verge below.
She hoped he wasn't too badly damaged, she could fix him up later. For now, she joined in the fray on the ground.
Danse was hard pressed on all sides. He could hear the ghouls scratching, biting and pummelling at his armour as they swarmed him. He flung them off him, but they kept on coming. He had heard Rhys cry out a moment ago and prayed that another of his soldiers had not been killed. He could not even check to see how many of his squad were still with him. He gritted his teeth and ploughed on.
He would not be taken out by ghouls. He refused.
He fought on, sweat pouring from him as he battled inside his suit. He was now in a rhythm of pushing them away and then firing quick blasts at them until he was swarmed under again. On and on it went with no letting up, they kept coming, the noise of the conflict drawing more to them, an endless sea of monsters.
He surged forward knocking them back again and levelled his laser rifle at them again. Two of the beasts dropped in quick succession without him firing a shot, their heads caving in as if by magic. He began shooting and sent quick eyes around the compound to find the other shooter. Rhys was down behind the barricade by the entrance to the station, Haylen was tending him and alternatively shooting at anything that made it by him. She had a laser rifle though, the rounds that were downing the ghouls were projectiles, big ones. The ghouls began to overcome him with numbers again, so he wrestled with them and then heaved them off again.
More fell again before he could raise his weapon and fire, their heads exploding into muck. He caught movement from the side of a building to the left, the one with the hole in the side of it. A lone figure dropped to the ground and disappeared briefly behind the wall before appearing again at the side gate. His attention was captured again by the ghouls clambering at him. He heard an unmistakable sound of suppressed gunfire coming from his six and he watched creature after creature fall as the shots hit true. He fired as well, sending flashes of heat and light sizzling into the horde. He heard a fast reload and more quiet shots fired.
The horde was thinning faster and faster and soon there were no ghouls standing. The compound was filled with the smell of gun smoke, ozone and the stench of rotting flesh. Also, the sounds of groaning, gurgling and moaning as the ghouls that remained alive flailed about uselessly on the ground. Danse turned quickly towards the stranger in time to see her send a quiet 10mm round into the skull of a floundering ghoul at his feet that was clutching at his armoured leg.
"Hi." She said brightly, beaming delightedly from ear to ear. A mere moment before a humongous explosion rocked the police station.