Disclaimers: I don't own fallout 3 nor do I own the mods that inspired this story, but I do own the OCs not in the game.
As Sam walked into the citadel courtyard with Fawkes & star paladin cross, the brotherhood members in the courtyard stopped work & slowly started to clap.
"Sam, Elder Lyons wants to see you." said Paladin Tristan "nice job on vault 87 by the way".
Sam nodded & when to meet Elder Lyons.
"Ah Paladin Sam come in and have a seat" said Elder Lyons.
"Paladin?" asked Sam as she took a seat
"Yes, you deserve it after destroying vault 87"
"I had help" said Sam and then she waited for Elder Lyons to begin.
Elder Lyons nodded and said "Now, four days ago raiders attacked Canterbury commons, during the fight a raider accidently sent a missile in to the cliff to the east of the town. The inhabitants cleared the rubble to use in the towns defences, they uncovered a door with a symbol of a tree inside a circle inscribed in the middle. They tried to pick the lock and when that failed they tried blowing it open. The door was scorched but nothing else."
"And you'd like me to investigate" said Sam
"Yes as soon as possible"
"I'll set out to tomorrow then. Anything else sir?"
"Yes I need star paladin cross back"
"Yes sir"
"Dismissed"
Sam went to find Fawkes.
She found Fawkes arguing with the quartermaster while star paladin cross & others looked on.
"What's going on here" said Sam pushing though the crowd.
"This mutant freak wants to buy ammo" said quartermaster durga
"Well ignore him for a second, I want to get my ammo back" said Sam
"With pleasure" said durga
"I want 2 boxes of mircofusion cells, 3 boxes of assault rifle rounds & the rest in electron charge packs please" said Sam.
"Of course" said durga & handed them over.
"Thank you my friend" said Fawkes.
"Oh, Cross Elder Lyons wants you for something" said Sam as she walked out with Fawkes in tow
"Hey wait a minute!" shouted durga as they left.
"Get some rest Fawkes, we're heading to Canterbury Commons in the morning" said Sam.
"I will, my friend"
As Sam & Fawkes reached Canterbury Commons, they were greeted by a cry of "super mutant".
Derek ran inside, screaming about super mutants.
Sam jogged ahead of Fawkes waving her arms.
"Sam thank god, your here, a band of super mutants are about to attack" said Uncle Roe.
"It's not a band of super mutants, it's just one & it's friendly" said Sam.
"Friendly ... how can it be friendly!" shouted Uncle Roe.
"Friendly as in it won't try to kill you, if you don't try first" said Sam
"Stand down! There's just one mutant and it won't try to kill you!" shouted Sam to the other inhabitants of the town.
They turned to look at Sam, with surprise & relief battling for control of their faces.
"She is right I will not harm you" said Fawkes.
The townsfolk jumped, but relaxed went they realised if Fawkes wanted them dead, they would already be.
"So why are you here then?" asked Dominic
"The mysterious door, what else." Said Sam
To its credit the lock on the door lasted 3 minutes before it giving up.
Sam jerked back & raised the metal blaster as the door hissed open.
"That's interesting" said Sam as she stared down a tunnel bathed in red lighting with a vault bearing the same symbol that was on the door.
As they walked down the tunnel Sam noticed writing on the wall
I am the start of raiding
I am the end of life
I am the beginning of nukes
I am the beginning of the end
I am the start of war
I am the beginning of the alien
I am the start of loss
"Creepy" said Sam
"Indeed, my friend" said Fawkes
As they reached the door, Sam walked to the door panel & pulled the lever.
The lever hissed back into to back, but the door didn't move, but an AI woke up & began checking the ancient security system.
Sam typed in renewal and pulled the lever.
A siren blared as the door began to open.
The door opened with the howl of tortured metal.
"I will go first" said Fawkes, he walked in keeping his Gatling Laser spinning slowly.
Sam followed and saw a protectron hiding in the shadows out of the corner of her eye. As it left the shadows she noticed the symbol repeated on the robots chest.
She spun round & as it took a step towards them & spoke "Welcome. You are entering Vault Renewal, Please indentify yourselves "
"Samantha Gardner, from vault 101" said Sam.
"Fawkes, from vault 87" said Fawkes.
"Welcome Samantha Gardner. Fawkes you are not human, what are you?" said the Protectron.
"He is a product of the super soldier program of vault 87." Said Sam before Fawkes could speak.
"Very well follow me" said the protection.
The Robot walked thought the door leading to the reactor.
"You must power up the reactor in order to access the rest of the vault" said the protectron.
"Hold on, how do we know we can trust that we activate won't try to kill us?" Asked Sam.
"Because I control all security in this vault, and I detect no faults with the robots or turrets" the Protectron fluently said in a feminine voice.
"I repeat my question & who are you?" asked Sam.
"I am Aurora, the AI in charge of maintaining the vault. I will not harm you as you are to be tested."
"Tested?" asked Fawkes & Sam together.
"Yes, the renewal foundation will want to talk to you if you pass the tests." Said Aurora.
"And if we fail the tests?" Asked Sam.
"You will not survive failing on most tests, however you will not be killed by me for failing. How if you are indeed the lone wanderer, you should have no trouble at completing the tests, alone."
"Do we have to do alone?" Asked Sam.
"One of you two has to." Said Aurora.
"Why does one of us have to do it alone?" Asked Fawkes.
"This is a multipurpose Vault, the first is to protect the inhabitants of the vault, the second is to identify the Lone Wanderer, the third is restore the capital wasteland." Said Aurora
"I'll do it Fawkes" Said Sam, she raised a hand before he could speak and continued "I'm faster and a better problem solver than you."
"You can watch your friend from the test observation area after you power up the reactor." Said Aurora.
"Why are you so interested in the lone wanderer? And why did you make the tests easy for her?" Asked Sam.
"She is the one predicted by George Smith, founder of the foundation. And the tests are not easy for her or anyone, but she could do with a estimated chance of 76% of success completion." Said Aurora.
"What did George Smith predict, and how do we know we can believe you?" Asked Sam.
"To release any information would colour the lone wanderer's response to the psychological aspect of the tests , so I cannot release any information. And you don't know you can trust me, you will have take it on faith or leave. "Said Aurora.
Sam grunted and walked into the reactor control room, with Fawkes following behind.
"The code of the control computer is Instruction, Samantha" said Aurora.
"Call me Sam." said Sam as she brought up the reactor status on the computer.
"Right, the magnetic containment system needs to be activated but the area is flooded with radiation, the particle accelerators are offline & the electron strippers are offline as well." Said Sam.
"Will the area need to be purged of radiation?" asked Fawkes.
"No, but it would be useful." Said Sam.
Sam & Fawkes spilt to activate the reactor.
Sam reached the electron stripers. She ran a diagnostic on the electron stripers. Two of the electron strippers were receiving insufficient power but the third showed nothing at all.
She powered up 3 of generators but found shrapnel had severed the connection between the generator & the electron stripper. She removed the shredded conductor & replaced it with one from her backpack. She went to the third electron stripper both generators had exploded.
"Aurora, where're the reserve generators!" shouted Sam
Sam heard a whirling sound behind her & spun around. A part of the wall had dropped away to revel a hidden door.
"In there Samantha."
"It's Sam!"
Sam walked through the door.
Sam assessed the condition of the 4 generators and found 2 in near perfect working order after some minor repairs. She conducted them to the third electron splitter. And went to the electron stripper computer. She powered up the 3 electron strippers and went to fix the particle accelerators.
Meanwhile, Fawkes was stabbing at the ventilation computer buttons with a pencil. He grinned as activated the radiation purge.
"Fawkes, you if connect the computers to my network and power them up I can activate the magnetic containment system myself" said Aurora.
"How do I connect the computers to your network?" asked Fawkes.
As he spoke 4 thin cables fell from the ceiling.
"Insert the cables in the computers & power up the computers" said Aurora.
So Fawkes did so.
And started to head back to the control room
As he left the room Sam reached the magnetic accelerators, she used the particle accelerators computer to run a diagnostic. Two acceleration rings were flagged as offline; one had no magnetic field emitters & the other actually decelerated particles. She picked the lock on the storage room and replaced the magnetic field emitters on one of the particle accelerators & switched the power cables around on the other particle accelerator. She activated the particle accelerators and when to the control room.
When Sam arrived she found Fawkes waiting for her.
"Fawkes and I activated the magnetic containment system." Said Aurora
Sam nodded & started the reactor, power was restored in a few seconds later.
I would like constructive criticism please