Heart of Steel
Chapter 1: Com's Out
"Coms are out, Paladin Bruce," said the initiate, checking the static of the short wave communication feed attached to his urbanized combat armor, "What are your orders, sir?"
Paladin William Bruce was clearly recognized among the initiates and apprentices for the Brotherhood of Steel because he was the only one wearing a full set of T45-D power armor. The armor had a certain glint to, despite the lack of sun in the clouded sky and the twisted metal of the D.C. ruins. The grotesque statues to the Great War jutted into the skyline like the hand of dying man trying to grasp onto one more day. Paladin Bruce looked at the scrawny rag-tag-crew that looked to be members of his Brotherhood, it feels like the Brotherhood will fare better now that the Enclave are in their death throws. Now hopefully this crew will help bolster our number against all that remains in this lawless Capital Wasteland.
"Listen up you bloatfly lavas," commanded Bruce as walked heavy footed on the rubble of what used to be the capital of the United States of America, "You all think you can be Knights and Paladins in the Brotherhood of Steel. We'll see about that, lavas! I am Paladin William Bruce, you will refer to me as Sir or Paladin, nothing else, is that clear?"
"Sir, yes, sir," intoned the thirteen initiates and nine apprentices standing at attention.
"Unholster your weapons, lava, where do you think you are? In the comfort of the Citadel," barked out Bruce in a metallic twang under his helmet; the initiates and apprentices unholsted their crude assault rifles and sub-machine guns, "Elder Lyons has seen fit for me to train you in not being Mirelurk chow. Paladin Gunny can teach you weapons and armor, I'm to teach you survival."
"Our coms are cold, as Initiate Zimm pointed out," Bruce pointed to one of the male initiates that had black hair and the beginning of a five o'clock shadow, "and this is how most of your time outside of the Citadel will be. Get used to it!"
"Sir, what if the Brotherhood established relay towers over the ruins," asked one of the male initiates with chestnut brown hair and young face, "half of these ruins are just twisted metal, Sir."
Paladin Bruce turned his attention instantly to the insolent initiative, "what is your name, mole rat!"
"Roe, sir, Initiate Daniel Roe!" The initiate barked back, standing back at attention after his stance had loosened when he unholsted his assault rifle.
"Well Roe, seems like you should be part of the Scribes with all that knowledge in your head!" Barked out Bruce as he stood right in front of Roe, being a full head taller then the kid, the intimidation was multiplied, "or maybe you should be a Knight and build these relay towers! Have your own ass prone high up without any substantial support. How would these towers survive, mole rat? Would you guard them yourself? I hope you have enough 5.56 ammo, because you're going to need it!"
Paladin Bruce than put his hand on the muzzle of Roe's assault rifle and forced it downward motion. Roe's finger was on the trigger and fired two rounds into Paladin Bruce's foot. The power armor deflected the shot off into the rubble of the road. Bruce proceeded to punch Roe in the chest, sending him flying backwards off his feet, the gun leaving his hand. The Paladin then took out the magazine of 5.56mm ammo and took the last round out of the chamber. He held the assault rifle by the stock and held it up into the air.
"Let Initiate Mole Rat be an example to you all!" Paladin Bruce turned around as he addressed his charges, "always keep your finger near the trigger but not on it. Ammo is scarce and important, use what you can when you can. Controlled shots, no random spraying. You are no longer Wasteland scum, you trying to be an elite fighting force.
"Likewise, if you have ideas or comments," he turned around still to face Roe as he leaned up from the ground, "keep them to yourself until you can find a Scribe back at the Citadel, where it is safe."
"Aye, sir!" yelled out the crew as Bruce threw the rifle at Roe.
Roe slowly leaned up as one of the other initiates leaned down to help him up. She was white with freckles and auburn hair that she wore in the mandatory pony-tail of the Paladins. She reached out a hand gasped him by the forearm to help him to his feet. She can't be more than a teenager, thought Daniel Roe as he examined her before picking up his rifle and reloading, a few years younger than me.
"My eyes are up top," she said noticing his gaze stopped at her breast plate of the combat armor that had the Brotherhood's seal on it.
"What, sorry," said Daniel as shook his head not hearing Paladin Bruce's orders as he followed the rest of the group as they moved through the wreckage of D.C., "I'm Dan, what's your name?"
"Well it's not on my chest," she said as she pulled the bolt back on her sub-machine gun keeping it pointed down as they all walked forward slowly, "Hannah, Hannah Newton."
"Thank you, Hannah," replied Roe as he quickly blew out the sand from his bolt.
A young black man with a goatee slung an arm around Roe's shoulder, "don't get too close to this mole rate, Newton, looks like he might want to take a nibble out of you."
Dan pushed the arm off his shoulder, "Zimm cut it out."
Hannah reach behind to shake his hand in greeting, "nice to meet you, I'm Hannah Newton."
"So I heard," he replied, "I'm Zachary Zimm, friend to this mole rat."
"Stop calling that to me that!" Shouted Dan as the initiate ahead of them with Asian decent turned around.
"Will you pay attention!" He hissed as he adjusted his ill fitting helmet, "Paladin Bruce is informing us on the Super Mutants."
"Listen, I don't know you name," started Zimm.
"Lolli," replied the Asian kid, "Initiate Lolli Pop."
"Wait, your name is Lolli Pop? Really?" Stated Zimm in disbelief, "Who the hell named you that!"
"My family," replied Lolli, "it was my favorite song before I was kicked out to Big Town."
"You're from Little Lamplight?" Asked Hannah Newton, "I've heard about it, but never met anyone from there."
"I'm not from Little Lamplight since becoming a mungo," replied Lolli, "now I'm from Big Town, hopefully from the Citadel now too."
"Lolli, you're from Little Lamplight no matter what," said Newton, "and we're all hoping to become part of the Citadel."
"Than listen up, you feral gouls, before you get us all killed from you senseless chatter!" Barked out Paladin Bruce, "causing trouble again mole rat? That's rhetorical don't answer it!"
Dan turned to Hannah, "what's rhetorical?"
"Come to the front you four! Now!" Ordered Paladin Bruce, "you have the honor to lead point, basically your my bullet shields from raiders and super mutants."
"Sir, please, I was telling them to pay attention to you," said Lolli as adjust his helmet again.
"I don't rightly care, Initiate Commie, get to point," he turned back to the rest of the group, "Schieber and LaCroix, watch the back!"
Initiates Schieber and Apprentice LaCroix agreed and guarded the back, he turned forward to the four initiates. He pointed forward for them to lead on before continuing to address the hopeful members of the Brotherhood of Steel.
"We are approaching Dupont Circle, it is not held by the Super Mutants and is a known strong hold for raiders and the lawless individuals of the Wasteland," said Paladin Bruce, "if it wasn't so porous, the Brotherhood would like to secure it as it is the backyard of GNR. However, we will only engage the raiders if they choose to engage us, otherwise we're try to approach the metro. Traveling above ground is okay during the day, but expect a firefight. Underground is more confined but easier to fight as it is mostly all bottleneck and common threats are feral gouls, radroaches, and," Paladin Bruce turned his head to Roe, "mole rats."
Dupont Circle's fountain glistened in the overcast weather, it's stagnate pools reflecting the minimal light. The hue of yellow from mines could be made out by the initiates and apprentices. The sand-bags set up by the raiders for defense were standing high. The pop of rifle fire was clear and twenty-two hands tightened on their own weapons. However, all the raiders had their backs to the Brotherhood of Steel. Paladin Bruce thought this odd but was not willing to risk removing the mines. The initiates would not be quick enough, he thought.
There was a load explosion and a roar that sent a chill down Paladin Bruce's spin, deathclaws have never been this far into the D.C. ruins. The roar continued as Paladin Bruce turned to the initiates and commanded for them to find cover, mailboxes and walls.
"Stay away from cars," he shouted as he pulled off a laser rifle from his back and loaded it, "those explosions are the fusion batteries that powered those wrecks."
Bruce took position behind a garbage can making him the first to see and fire on the upcoming creature. He held his holodisk to his lips and quietly prayed to be written in the Great Codex for an honorable death. He snuck a look past the garbage can and saw a raider with a blonde mohawk go flying into the fountain. The raiders swarmed around the sand-bag defenses and fired high as the large devilish shape of the deathclaw appeared. He turned to his initiates.
"The deathclaw's greatest weapons are it's claws and long reach. Aim mid-level and protect your head," I wish I had the special gizmo from Scribe Vallincourt now! Thought Bruce as he kept looking beyond to the deathclaw as it ripped the raiders to shreds.
Thirty feet behind Bruce crouched Dan, Hannah and Zach took cover against a jersey barrier. All three were looking over the barrier to see what was happening in Dupont Circle and saw the raiders getting gutted and smashed by this devilish beast.
"Shit, man," yelled out Zachary, "it's a fucking deathclaw, we can't take this we can't!"
"Can you see it!" Yelled Lolli who was crouched behind a mailbox, "I can't see anything from over here."
"It's tearing apart the raiders," yelled out Zach, "it's ripping through them like it's going to rip through us! I need to get out of here!"
"Shut your mouth, Zimm," ordered Paladin Bruce.
"It'll be okay," soothed Newton, "we'll kill it."
"I hope it doesn't come our way," replied Dan as he fidgeted with stock of his rifle on his shoulder.
The final raider was thrown by a backhanded swipe of the deathclaw. She landed in the mines, right on top of one. She looked down briefly, surprised to be alive only to realize her true fate. The mine went off sending her flying, without an arm and leg, on top of another mine that exploded and caused her to go airborn again. Her bloody torso landed on the dumpster Paladin Bruce was hiding behind and her head hit the mailbox Lolli hid behind. He fell backwards with a start and on his back kicked the head away with his boot.
"We're all going to die," whispered Zach, staring at the bloody torso that now dripped a little onto Paladin Bruce.
"Shut your mouth," Newton said, obviously startled now.
The deathclaw lifted it's head into the air and sniffed loudly. From the alleyway behind it heavy boot falls could be heard. Five super mutants, two with chain guns and three with hunting rifles appeared in view. The deathclaw turned around to them, the ones with hunting rifles fired a shot at it's feet causing it to step closer to the fountain. Holy crap, thought Paladin Bruce, the big and uglies lured the deathclaw to the Ruins! He stood up and turned to his initiates, his booming command alerted the super mutants and the deathclaw.
"Run and cover," he shouted, "move out now, we can't hold this position!"
The deathclaw charged forward, it's lowered hands setting off mines in it's wake as several nervous initiates opened fire. Paladin Bruce turned back just as the creature was upon him. It swiped at the dumpster causing it to fly at an angle backwards, hitting the Paladin hard into a wall. He slumped over, and the initiates couldn't tell if he was dead or unconscious. The initiates opened fire onto the deathclaw, all twenty-two opened fire with their crude weapons. The deathclaw saw it was in a trap and decided to swipe at the closest initiates. The three of them hid behind a car as the deathclaw swiped, hitting the fusion battery.
The explosion was small and knocked the deathclaw off balance. One of the initiates was killed instantly, the other two were hurt bad. Two apprentices came to their rescue, but Roe could tell the main explosion hadn't occurred. He pushed Zimm and Newton back and told them to find cover farther back. He motioned for Lolli Pop to follow. They all ran to the last jersey barrier where Schieber and LaCroix were held out.
The two injured initiates were being pulled away from the flaming vehicle. The initiates were shifting their position as the deathclaw got back to it's feet. The second explosion caused a shock wave that knocked Lolli down as he get behind the barrier. Puffing like a mushroom cloud, the mini nuclear explosion killed the two initiates trying to help their two injured comrades. The dumpster that was at an angle before was thrust against the wall where Paladin Bruce had landed.
The power armor protected it's owner as the dumpster bent around him. The deathclaw was on the ground, and as the mist of the nuclear explosion lifted into the air, the initiates could see it was missing it's legs. The initiates near the explosions that were covered well stood up and gave each other high-fives, celebrating the victory. They moved forward to check on the remains of the others and see if they could wake Paladin Bruce. As the mist rose higher, the lightened projectiles whizzed pass.
The initiate that kicked the deathclaw in the head fell backward as his chest exploded spraying blood upwards. The rest scattered to cover, two were with Paladin Bruce. LaCroix looked over the barrier and reported what was happening to the rest. The mist and dust settled and the five big, green, ugly super mutants came into view.
"Two 5mm chain guns and three .32 hunting rifles," she said as she brushed the hair out of her face, "five ugly super mutants in all."
"We can't stay hear," shouted Zimm, Newton held him from running.
Two other initiates felt the same way and picked up an ran from their safe cover. The miniguns were unloaded into their backs, their weapons fell from their hands as they went rigid. The rounds went through their backs coming out of their chest before the recoil lifted to the back of their heads causing gray matter to spray everywhere.
"Holy Shit!" Yelled Lolli as he saw the two get riddled with bullets, "Zach's right, we need to go, now!"
"Wait, wait, wait," said Newton turning to Roe, "what should we do, Dan?"
Dan looked into her chocolate eyes and rubbed his face. He looked to the others, Zimm, Pop, Newton, Schieber and LaCroix. He bit his bottom lip and looked over them to the embankment they passed. The raised cement gave a ledge that blocked off the entrance to an old office complex. The benches and sitting area had a draining system. A draining system, thought Roe, that's it, the sewer!.
"Head to the sitting area," he pointed forward with his back to the jersey barrier, "there will be a manhole, we need to head to the sewers to live."
They all nodded and moved fast at a crouch to get to there. They knelt behind the small barrier. Newton turned to Roe.
"We need to get the others over here or they'll die," she said, tugging on his shoulder pad.
"We need to worry about ourselves," said Zach as he passed his combat knife to LaCroix to help pry open the manhole.
Schieber had a crowbar with him as well, he looked at LaCroix; "mum always said be prepared," he jostled the manhole up putting the crowbar back in his belt pulling out a flashlight. He shines the light down finding the ladder before swinging over and placing his feet in the rungs. Schieber placed his rifle on his back and looked up to LaCroix.
"Cover me, okay love?" He asked as he slowly climbed down the ladder, LaCroix blew him a kiss causing Schieber to smile coyly.
Roe looked over where they had just come from, the super mutants hadn't made it all the through the pass yet. He could see two initiates behind a vending machine. One had dropped their rifle, the other was firing rounds blindly. Roe whistled to get their attention. The looked over as Dan motioned for them to join.
The one who dropped his gun quickly got up and ran, his hands on his head as he ran all the way over. The other one grabbed the fallen rifle and ran after. He jumped over the barrier and looked at Roe, Newton and Zimm.
"Here's your gun, Alvarado," He said as he tossed the rifle over to the other initiate, turning to the others he asked, "What's the plan?"
Roe pointed to the sewer with his thumb as he still heard the exchange of gun fire, "how was it out there?"
"They took him," said Alvarado with a shaking voice, "They took Paladin Bruce and the two initiates with him!"
"What, why would they do that," said Newton.
"Dunno," replied the other initiate, "we need to get out of this radroach hunt through."
"What's your name," asked Newton, "I'm Hannah Newton, this is Daniel..."
"No time for formalities, lass," he replied with a little Irish twang, "just call me J.R. and my buddy over there is Alvarado, Al for short."
The silence was a clear cue that the resistance against the super mutants had been defeated. The initiates all looked at each other. J.R. got up and looked over to the sewer.
"Looks like the time to move is now," he ran to the ladder, smiled at LaCroix and started to climb down.
Alvarado followed J.R. quickly, Lolli right behind him. Zach, Hannah and Dan looked at each other before Dan moved out to the sewer.
"The man has a point," he said turning behind to look at the two.
They followed quickly to the sewer. Following the person before them they jump down to the ladder and climbed down to the murky sewer of the D.C. Ruins. LaCroix closed the manhole above them, the group moved in darkness to the one source of light, Schieber's flashlight. As they landed, their boots sinking into the muck, they took out their flashlights to illuminate the water stained walls. A radroach scurried to them, Schieber stepped down hard on the enlarged bug crushing it; better than super mutants, thought Dan.