Keep in mind that this will be slightly AU, and think of the Brotherhood and Talon Company as larger than they are portrayed in the game. Fort Bannister will also have some similarities, and differences from the game, if you've ever been there.
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Sarah stared at her father, unable to conceal her outrage. Somehow, she didn't scream out an objection, but she wanted to. Bad.
To ask something like this of Sentinel Sarah Lyons was absurd to say the least. Why her? Why not some lowly, inexperienced Knight? They were expendable, she was not. Sure, they lacked the discipline and dedication, but this mission didn't really require that, did it?
"Yes, Sarah, it does." Elder Lyons answered with a stern face, "In order to maintain this very delicate alliance with those mercenaries, we must show them trust and devotion to their organization. If we have one less enemy, combating the Super Mutants will be that much easier. Wouldn't it be better to only target those damned Mutants, instead of them and the Talon Company? Perhaps we can tame them, they would prove to be a very useful partner. I understand that this comes with risks, and believe me, it concerns me more than anyone. You're my daughter, and of the utmost importance to me, but you also have a duty. Sometimes, our duty seems a bit... radical, but it is our duty. We cannot ignore it. You've never let me down before, Sarah, and I trust you'll continue that streak."
"I understand, Father. I just hope this arrangement doesn't last for very long. Will I be going alone?" she asked, giving a small sigh of defeat.
"Knights Ashby, Barton, Denton, Fulk, Lombardi, and Marino will assist you."
"That's quite a bit. Why so many, are you expecting them to cross us?"
"No, of course not. You won't just be sitting around in Fort Bannister, you'll join them in controlling the Mutant population. They're dangerously close to several encampments, I'm sure they'll appreciate your help."
Sarah snorted, "Talon Company mercs don't strike me as the grateful type. But with thanks, or no thanks, we'll do whatever is necessary for the Brotherhood."
Owyn gave her a warm smile. "I suppose you'll need to know what exactly will be expected of you during your stay at Fort Bannister. It will be quite simple, you'll do whatever needs to be done at the base, within reason, to help them out and show them our loyalty. As I've said before, they're particularly desperate for troops to aid them with repelling the Mutants. You must also look after them, make sure they don't break any of the conditions of our union it as you would if you were stationed at another Brotherhood base, only be more cautious. I'm confident you will find no trouble, but there is still some risk. You can send in a distress signal if they give you any trouble, and they know that, so there should be no incidents. Also, keep an eye out for anything... out of the ordinary, if you find anything, report it to me ASAP. Now, I expect you to gather your men and have them all orientated."
"Yes, sir."
The decision to form an allegiance with Talon Company wasn't one that many had warmed up to, but the Brotherhood trusted in its leaders. Elder Lyons himself wasn't all too happy about it, but he had been strongly advised to form the affiliation, and he could see the possible benefits. He knew he must support it, and hide his concern for it to pan out as he hoped.
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For the most part, it was a silent journey to the settlement, and the little conversation made was normally a Knight griping.
"I don't see why we have to go there. Can't we just try not to shoot at each other? What else could we possible want to do with the Talon Company?" Knight Barton whined, receiving agreeing nods from all of his companions but one.
"Because then once our war with the Super Mutants is over, we're right back to being enemies. Our purpose is to change them, redirect all of their strength into something useful for the Wasteland. I don't like doing this as much as you guys, but I'm not going to sit and cry about it. Now shut it." Sarah was sick of their complaining, and wasn't in the greatest of moods herself.
"Yes, ma'am." Barton murmured.
After that, no one talked until they reached their destination. Their arrival wasn't too pleasant either, they didn't receive any welcoming words. In fact, the first thing they did was point their weapons at the approaching group. The Knights and Sarah raised their weapons in response, and they all stood like that for a second, until one man shouted for someone to "come check this shit out".
Another man prompty popped out, wearing the standard Talon Company armor, and looking like your average mercenary. In other words, he didn't seem too smart. Once he recognized the Power Armor he gave them a strange smile and ordered everyone to put their guns down. When everyone hesitated, his command was much more harsh, and even the Knights lowered their weapons.
"So!" the man, presumably their leader, started, "Old Man Lyons really did send his baby girl over! I didn't think he had it in him, maybe he is turning into a cold-hearted bastard."
Sarah's eyes narrowed at the mention of her father, "Elder Lyons is more compassionate than you will ever be able to grasp, and you're in no position to insult such a great man."
The mercenary's smile just widened at the fact that she responded. "Ah, naturally, he brainwashed his daughter, too. But enough about him, it's your first day at Fort Bannister! Greetings and salutations, my friends! You're all very welcome here! Follow me, I'll give you the grand tour!" he shouted at them, his sarcastic tone betraying the diction. They all followed him, already not very fond of him, especially Sarah.
Aboveground, the place really wasn't that impressive. There were a bunch of tents and bedrolls that were reserved for the mercs that had guard duty, and ledges that those mercenaries stood on, looking out for any would-be invaders. The most impressive structure was the makeshift catwalk, lined with plenty of sandbags, and even that didn't look very sturdy. It was obvious that the shit had been bombed out of the place over two hundred years ago. Beneath the surface, however, there was no evidence that the bombs had ever hit. It was clean, much to the surprise of Sarah, and you could definitely tell that it used to be a military base. It had a chow hall, barracks, a health and wellness clinic, and even a fitness center. The more luxurious things, such as the commissary, PX, barber shop, and dental clinic had been blown away, due to being up above. There were multiple rooms that held the loot and weapons mercenaries had acquired during their travels, and even a room where they had extra sets of their signature armor. There was a room they didn't enter, because it was deemed "pointless", but he did say it had an empty missile silo.
He suddenly stopped before a door they had not yet entered and turned to them, still wearing that sweet, fake smile.
"This is the door leading to the commanding officers' quarters. It also serves as our office. Don't go in here without my permission. I'll kill you."
When Sarah had opened her mouth to argue, he interrupted her immediately.
"Surely you understand, if I were to stop by at the Citadel for a while, wouldn't there be a few places off-limits?" he had a point there, "Well, that concludes the tour. If you have any questions I'd just love to answer them for you."
"Enough with the sarcasm," Lyons retorted, "we get it, we're not welcome here. And, I do have a question. What are our current assignments?"
The man laughed, "Well, you can help us out by cleaning the bathrooms. That's always a necessity."
"This isn't a joke! Surely, there was some reason you requested Brotherhood assistance here."
Suddenly, his face grew serious, and he walked up towards her. "Listen, Ihave no idea why you're wanted here, it was Lyons's idea, not mine. There's nothing for you to do, we don't need you. So don't pretend you're vital to this installation, because nothing could be further from the truth. Just stay out of the way, and send good reports to daddy, and we'll be just fine."
"Why would my father make that suggestion?" she asked, confused. She had been told that they had appealed for them.
"Oh, for a number of reasons. It's obvious he'd like to spy, son of a bitch doesn't trust us."
"I will not tolerate you speaking about my father in such a manner!" Sarah suddenly shouted.
"Well, I was really insulting your grandfather there, but sure."
Great, so he's a smartass too. Sarah thought bitterly.
"I think your old man has a hidden agenda. He's suspicious about us for whatever reason. Probably just wants eyes and ears everywhere he can, so he sends out his little flies. Let me tell you something, here, no one respects you insects. Sure, no one will hurt any of you, and I'll see to that, but I won't make them like you. To make your stay here as enjoyable as possible, I'd recommend not pissing anyone off. Just be as small and unnoticeable as possible, and people may even forget you. Though I've seen that you like to spit fire, so it may be hard. I like that."
"Excuse me?" she asked dubiously. Now that she thought about it, it really didn't surprise her that a man like him had already said something suggestive.
"Whoa there, don't get your panties in a bunch. Only a joke. Oh, and I guess I never told you my name. It's Barrett, Commander Barrett. I know your old man, heard of you, but can't quite put my finger on your name."
"Sentinel Sarah Lyons."
"Alright, Sarah-"
"Sentinel Lyons." she interjected.
"Oh, of course! With such a prominent rank, you'd want it to replace your name! Typical of you dogs."
"Dogs?"
"Yes ma'am, that's what we call you around here. You follow every damn thing your beloved Elder Lyons asks. When he tells you to jump, you don't even ask 'How high?', you just jump. I told you he indoctrinated you."
This guy was really starting to vex the already foul-tempered woman, she was inches away from exploding in his face.
"Maybe that's because our leaders are actually competent at making the right decisions."
"Touché! That was a good one! I'm looking forward to the future biting remarks you come up with, but for now, I've things to do. You can go around, and get familiar with the camp, and all of its jolly inhabitants. It'll be great fun! I only wish I could see how you deal with the chauvinists, Sarah, I trust that they'll rip you apart." and with that, he gave her one last grin, a different one this time. It showed a a charm so surprising it would often stop people in their tracks, and it showed how bright he really was, how dangerously bright. Then, he entered his quarters, and no one dared follow.
The Sentinel gave a sharp exhale, not looking forward to these "chauvinists" Barrett had mentioned. Even in the Brotherhood, she had to fight to gain the respect of her male peers, now she'd have to do that again, but only intensified. She hadn't noticed any female mercs here at all, and she was sure she'd never come across one in her life.
"Let's get out of here." she said finally.
"Ma'am?" Lombardi asked.
"We can patrol around this area, or something... let's just go."
The Knights followed without dispute, and then started to notice the hostility of their "companions". Nearly all of them glared or even laughed at their visitors. They would have glared back, if it weren't for their helmets, except for Sarah. While they were leaving through the gate, one of the guards stopped them.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Missy?" he demanded.
"That's not your concern." she responded.
He glared at her, "There's a curfew. Anything that comes here later than 11:00, we shoot at. Best to come here earlier, we don't use clocks."
They left without another word. Sarah didn't know what time it was herself, but she imagined it was somewhere around nine o'clock. They'd make it a short trip, just investigate the area. She wasn't all that concerned about the time, not really believing that they'd dare shoot at her squad.
They didn't find anything aside from a few of the somewhat innocuous critters the Wasteland houses, and that was probably a good thing. Fighting muties at night wasn't a walk in the park. When they returned, that same guard was there at the gate. He greeted them with a friendly "Dammit, it's not passed eleven yet..."
They went straight to the room Barrett had indicated was theirs. It wasn't the first time that Sarah had to share a room with all males, but it was the first time that they had been strangers. She wasn't too worried about it, she trusted the Brotherhood's soldiers a lot more than those of the Talon Company. They made no comments about her, and didn't look at her differently when she stripped down to her plain shirt and shorts.
Once everyone was in their bunks, a Knight couldn't help but speak, "I never thought I'd say this but, I wish they had put me at the front line in the Mall instead of here."
Sarah agreed.
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The next day they were awoken by Barrett. Waking up to the sight of him made them all thrilled to death.
"Jesus Christ! Are you guys going to sleep all day? Up and at 'em!"
"What time is it?" came a very groggy female voice.
"Time to get ready to fight some Mutants!"
"I thought you... thought you didn't need us."
"Believe me, we don't. But I don't want the guests to be bored! We're going soon, so get ready quick." and with that, he left, closing the door behind.
They all threw on their armor hastily, each of them wanting to make the mercenaries look bad, and eager to prove themselves on the battlefield. Once they had grabbed their weapons, they shoved the door open, and saw no other movement in the underground base. They mistakenly thought that meant everyone was already up above, and hurried to the exit (luckily for them, there were plenty of helpful signs). Opening the door to the great outdoors revealed just how dark it still was. There was no way they were going to be fighting any Super Mutants until a couple of hours.
One of the guards currently on duty spotted them, and beckoned for them to come over to him. Once they got to him, he smiled, and it wasn't the type Barrett would give them, it was genuine. He shivered a bit in the cold Maryland air, even though he had a fire barrel.
"What're you guys doing out here?" he asked with a polite voice.
"Commander Barrett told us that we'd be going after some uglies. He told us to hurry, too." the Sentinel told him sourly.
"Well, everyone is supposed to wake up in about an hour from now, and then they'll get ready to go after the muties."
"Really? So he just got us up as a prank." it was more of a statement than a question.
"That's what it sounds like. Commander Barrett is like that, he's not... serious." he hesitated a little, not sure if he wanted to be talking about his superior like that.
"I'm flattered he bothered to get up early just for that."
"He's usually up early anyways, it's strange, sometimes we see him pacing around the base. He even joins us on watch duty."
"Man, I already hate this Barrett guy." Knight Ashby chimed.
Before Sarah could scold the Knight, the mercenary laughed, "Yeah, a lot of visitors and new recruits don't like him. He doesn't exactly go out of his way to be friendly to people. Watch him though, he's slippery."
"Visitors and new recruits can despise your leader as much as they want, but I expect more out of the Brotherhood of Steel. And what do you mean, slippery?"
"He's sharp as hell, and he knows it. Don't let him fool you into thinking he's just a stupid Talon Co. meathead, he does that with people all the time."
"You're awfully willing to give us the dirt on your Commander." Sarah stated with a suspicious look in her eye.
The man laughed nervously, "Yeah I've always been way too trusting. I just figured you'd appreciate the heads up there."
Sarah held out her hand, "We definitely do. Any information you can give us about the people here will be a great help. I'm Sentinel Sarah Lyons."
"I'm just Jeff, no fancy title." he said, taking the gloved hand, "Why don't you take a seat? You guys'll have to promise to help keep watch, but I'm up for conversation."
"Certainly," the Sentinel felt obliged to, and it was good that they'd have an ally within the camp. Maybe everyone wasn't so bad.
They were able to maintain a conversation until a very loud and annoying bell rang, and Jeff identified it as the "get the fuck up" alarm. He was still on duty, but if they wanted to be early for breakfast and not wait in line, it was time for them to go get their meal. They thanked him for his time, and hurried to the mess hall. They were one of the first ones in there, but a few people had somehow made it before them. Commander Barrett was already seated with a tray. They all grabbed their food, which was boiled pre-war macaroni, and the Knights followed Sarah as she stomped towards Barrett.
"Ah, Sarah. How nice of you to join me, please, sit." and much to his surprise, she did, right across him.
"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" she accused, fixing him with a glare.
He considered playing dumb, but it was too old a trick, "Of course I did, Sarah. I thought that all that lanky armor would take some time to put on. Was I mistaken?"
"Cut the crap. You've dealt with the Brotherhood before, you should know this type of thing."
"Yeah, but it's not like we were ever able to actually wear the armor from your dead 'brothers'."
"You bastard!" Knight Marino hissed, but not loud enough to draw attention. He was a rookie Knight, and not yet used to the fact that people in Power Armor could die.
"Shut up, Marino." Sarah ordered calmly, even though it had offended her, too.
"Struck a nerve? My mistake, I'm not used to people who have been coddled most of their lives." Barrett "apologized".
"Why are you so damn argumentative? Can't we collaborate into making this whole thing easier? It's not impossible to have a mutualistic relationship between the Brotherhood and the Talon Company."
"It'd be possible if you wouldn't look down on us mercenaries as the scum of the earth, thinking that we're lesser just because we need an income to function. I don't know how you lucky bastards did it, but you struck gold and have so much shit, you don't have to sweat about feeding your men. We work for our cash, we don't stumble upon it. It may not be the most noble way to make a living, but it's better than being some asshole weighed down with morals who starves to death because he won't put a bullet in some other asshole's brain. I know some of my guys are in this because they're genuine psychos, and like to kill, but most of us aren't. We're just a little more cut throat, you have to be if you want to survive."
Sarah scoffed, "It's not like you guys are starving, you have more than enough of the basic necessities to live on."
"Here at Fort Bannister, yeah, we're doing pretty well. Wasn't always like this, though, I can remember skipping a lot of meals. Especially when I was young, Talon Company sucked back then. I've helped forge this organization into what it is today. Now we can focus more on expanding, our profits can go towards new armor and weapons. The Company is going to be big, real big, soon. I wouldn't be surprised if, when all of this shit with the Super Mutants is over, Talon Company and the Brotherhood have a huge power struggle with each other. I wonder how the Brotherhood will fare against such a ruthless opponent. Hopefully, Talon Co. opens up a can of serious ass whoop on 'em. Now, as much as I'm sure you'd love to continue this conversation, I suggest you start chowing down, we're leaving soon."
Looking around and seeing that most people had already finished their breakfasts, even her Knights, she focused on her food.
I can't wait until he sees what just six members of the Brotherhood can do. If that doesn't earn his respect, nothing will.
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"Alright you needle-dicked-twinkle-toed-Communist-cock-suckers, listen up!" Barrett shouted in a way that made you wonder if you should give him a little chuckle, or pretend you just had a pole rammed up your ass. Most people had no idea of what a "Communist" really was, but they were known to be the cause for the world being the shithole that it was now, so it was quite an insult. "Couple of scouts found a hangout for the uglies, we're gonna go snuff 'em out! I don't want to see anyone even jokingly shoot at Sentinel Lyons and her little flock! Anyone who does take a shot at them is my enemy. No excuses. Now let's go!"
They started their march to the North, and it was quite unorganized. Sarah was very surprised that Barrett made no plan for the upcoming battle, she thought the Talon Company was known for its structure in fighting. Oddly enough, she found herself walking beside him, her "flock" close behind. She gave a quick wave to Jeff, who was still on guard.
"So, you've made some friends." Barrett observed.
"One, and the only decent person in the Talon Company that I've met so far."
"Hey, everyone in Talon Co. can be irresistible, some have to settle for decent. They make the rest of us look better." he kidded, and felt accomplished when he saw her lips slightly twitch upwards.
"Yes, you and your corny catchphrases, stupid name, and ugly haircuts are so enticing." when she said this, his eyes widened. He didn't even know she knew how to joke.
"They're not corny, they're badass. The name isn't that bad, it has a nice professional ring to it, and we don't force the guys to have haircuts like that... they just choose to." they were referring to those flat top hairstyles that so many of the mercenaries had, they really were unsightly.
"You've got to be kidding, when I first heard 'I want this one's head on a fucking plate!' I almost pissed myself laughing."
"The purpose is to make you pee yourself, so I think that's an accomplishment." he said defensively. "Well, Sentinel, it appears that we're approaching our destination. It's time you see how a real man fights."
Sarah just rolled her eyes. She was sure "real man" fighting was impressive, but could it compare to real woman fighting?
We'll see.
This isn't "that thing I've been working on" that I've told people about, it's just an idea that popped into my head. And just so you know, Sarah and Barrett aren't on a friendly level just because of that little exchange they just had. Sarah Lyons may be a slightly different character than she is in the game, I'll characterize her a little more in future chapters. I also understand that a lot of the Knights seem insignificant, and honestly, that's okay with me right now. I'm not sure if I plan on giving them a major or minor role in the story.
This is just the rough draft, I'm hurrying to finish this before I go pick up my tux for homecoming, so it's probably littered with mistakes. If you caught any, even the smallest one, I want to hear it.
Thank you for reading, and if you want me to keep producing, reviews are the greatest motivation.