"So… In, uhh… Recent news, things are continuing to improve around the Commonwealth. From what I've heard, from… multiple sources… Is that the Institute is under new leadership; the one and only 'Vault Dweller', it seems, has taken control of the Institute. They recently sent out a message, you may have heard it since they… kinda hijacked my equipment again… They sent out a message that the Institute wants to- wants to work with people. I've heard reports from across the Commonwealth that Synths have started popping up all over… and- and here's the craziest part… They've started protecting people. I even heard from one guy, but, I dunno if it's true… that they've been trading for salvage! Now, I don't know how much of this is true… because I never leave the city, but uh… Maybe this is a good thing? I mean, they promised to stop replacing people with synths, so that's definitely good… Right?
Anyway, here's 'The Wanderer'... I hope you enjoy it…"
"Excuse me, Director?" One of the many doctors of the institute poked her head into the room, "The Directorate is assembled. We're ready when you are, ma'am."
Nora Taylor, the Sole Survivor, General of the Minutemen, and now Director of the Institute, continued to stare out over the balcony absentmindedly.
"Right… Thanks, I'll be over there in a minute."
No point in reminiscing over the past. Shaun may have been her son, and he certainly wouldn't have approved of the way she had been leading the institute these past few months, but there had to come a point where pragmatism won out against sentimentality. If it hadn't been for her timely arrival, then the Brotherhood almost certainly would have destroyed the Institute in their quest for a "pure humanity".
Bunch of hypocrites.
She had been hopeful back when she had encountered Danse and his team, but Maxson and his "acolytes" had squashed that hope. Those self-righteous assholes would have stripped the Commonwealth of any chance to rebuild for their own gains. Maybe Gage's appraisal of "Raiders with fancy gear" wasn't that far off after all.
Not like it mattered now.
With a sigh, the "Sole Survivor of Vault 111" stood up from her seat on the balcony, taking a moment to stretch before her meeting with the Directorate. After that was last minute preparations for her latest "mission".
It took only a minute for her to reach the meeting room, the directors of the five divisions of the Institute already seated and waiting, along with a few newer additions.
"Alright," Nora drawled, reclining in her seat, "I hereby call this meeting to order, yadda yadda yadda, et cetera." Some of the more… uptight members of the Institute might have disapproved of her informal behavior, but that didn't really matter. She knew how to keep everyone in line, and keep the divisions productive, and that's all that really mattered, in the end. "Allie, your report?"
"Right," The older woman pulled up a clipboard, "Nothing to report from our division. The reactor is running well within acceptable parameters, it's producing plenty of power for the Institute, and then some; most of the other issues are just minor fixes to the superstructure. We have everything well under control here."
"Good," Nora responded, flashing a small smile, "Ayo, Holdren, how are your divisions holding up?"
"The SRB is reporting a significantly decreased number of escaped synths, most likely thanks to the destruction of the Railroad," That was probably true, as much as she hated to admit it. She hadn't wanted to destroy the railroad, but it was one or the other, and the Institute was just too valuable to destroy. "That said, coordinating the deployment of synths across the Commonwealth has more than made up the difference in work… Though I'm not sure why you're so hell-bent on assisting those people…" Ayo muttered under his breath, just loud enough to hear.
"Well, Justin," Nora retorted, "I'm sure that a division as powerful and important as the SRB should be able to handle it just fine. Maybe if you took the time to work with others then you wouldn't have so much work to do yourself, hm?" She was laying it on thick. Served him right. Not like he could do anything about it; she had already proven that she could deal with whatever the scientists could cook up. And she had made it very clear that the next time someone tried to "rebel" like Doctors Higgs and Loken wouldn't get off so easily. "And you, Holdren?"
"The Bioscience Division is reporting favorable results with our most recent samples." He exclaimed, "I must admit, Doctor Penske has really given us a fresh perspective on some of the issues we've been facing." Penske. Just one of the dozens of intellectuals invited to the Institute in the past few months; any discontent when she had started the effort to bring some fresh blood into the institute had been quickly silenced, and despite the Institute's reputation, no one could deny that they were probably the safest place in the Commonwealth. Most agreed without a second thought.
"And what about the gorillas?" He nearly choked. He must have been hoping she had forgotten about them.
"Well… We haven't made any advancements yet," he admitted, "But I'm sure that given enough time, we can-"
"Holdren." She cut him off, "If you can't give me a good reason to keep funding your little pet project by the next meeting, then I'm pulling the plug." The Institute needed to focus on public image for the time being. Anything that couldn't be used to help either the Institute or the Commonwealth was getting cut for the time being.
"Yes, ma'am…" He finally muttered, with a scowl.
"Sorry, but we've got other more important matters right now." Nora turned to the last division head, the one she was most interested in hearing from, "Li, how about you?"
"Well, we've started making progress on reverse engineering the servo systems used in power armor frames. Once that's completed, we should be able to use them to create schematics to manufacture our own frames." Nora nodded. Good news as always.
"And the Molecular Relay upgrades?"
"The upgrades have been installed and the coordinates set. We're all ready and waiting on you."
"Good. I'll be over right after this meeting. You all are dismissed."
"Of course, Director." Li nodded. With that, Nora turned to the group on the other side of the meeting table. None of them looked particularly comfortable with the Institute, and if the nervous glances of the department heads was any indication, the feeling was mutual.
"Preston, give me an update on the Minutemen."
"Uh, yes, General." He pulled out a clipboard, "The Minutemen have successfully retaken Quincy from the Gunners and are busy fortifying it. We estimate about two weeks before it's ready for resettlement." He flipped to the next page, "Also, Ronnie Shaw is reporting that we've almost finished outfitting a platoon with the power armor we salvaged from the Prydwen. She estimates about one week until they're ready to fight."
"Good," Nora smiled at him, "Once they're ready, send them to go relieve the defenders at Quincy."
"Yes, General." He saluted, "I'll go relay your orders at once." With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Nora with the remaining two men.
"Sturges, have you got something good for me?"
"Well, yes and no," He replied, rubbing the back of his head. "The Commonwealth itself doesn't have much in the way of heavy industry like you asked for. If we're gonna start manufacturing anything near as complicated as power armor, or on a mass scale, then we'll need to either build our own factories or find it outside the Commonwealth; we don't have the tech to do it, and the Institute can't support that level of mass production."
"Right…" That wasn't exactly surprising, honestly. Boston wasn't exactly known for being a center of industrial might. "What's the good news?"
"Well, we can't make power armor, at least not yet, but that doesn't mean we can't make anything. I just got a notice from the guys down at Sunshine Tidings, and we're finally in business with the ammo plants. Now we should be able to supply all the ammo the Minutemen could need, once we get them the raw materials they need."
"Good, you've got free reign to redirect whatever shipments you need to get it going."
Sturges gave a little salute before walking out.
"Yes ma'am."
Finally, Nora rounded on the last member of the meeting, the one she was most apprehensive hearing from.
"Alright Hancock…" She sighed, "Please tell me you haven't made anyone angry." The ghoul just laughed.
"You're givin' me way too much credit here. I was the mayor of Goodneighbor, y'know."
"I know, I know." She massaged the bridge of her nose, "I trust your ability to lead people, but I don't trust your ability to keep your mouth shut when you should. Some people are already unhappy that the New Provisional Government is being 'run by a ghoul'."
"Aw, I'm wounded. And anyway, most people are just happy to have someone with a plan beyond 'not dying' at the head. I mean, Diamond City's kicking up a fuss, but what else is new, yeah?"
"Alright… Good, good. Don't forget, you're in charge of keeping things from falling apart when I'm away."
"Of course, don't worry about me." Nora shot him a look.
"I sure as hell hope I don't have to, Hancock." Another laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, you made your point. Now why don't you go get back to whatever sciencey thing that the docs've got you wrapped up in now, and I'll focus on keeping the Commonwealth from shooting itself in the foot from paranoia."
"Alright, good. Take care of yourself, Hancock."
"You too, Boss."
With the meeting finally concluded, Nora stood up and stretched, taking one last look around before heading to the elevator.
She hoped that X6 had gotten the things she asked for without causing too much trouble.
Some members of the Institute did have a tendency to… provoke people when he was alone on the surface. The man was surprisingly blunt for a courser, let alone one specialized in 'delicate operations', so hopefully that meant he had at least some semblance of tact.
Finally arriving at the top of the elevator, she found that the room had been converted into a staging area of sorts, with several synths and scientists bustling around in preparation.
Over in one corner, she spotted a hulking figure in white armor.
"X6!" She called over to the figure, who turned and waved in recognition. As she walked over, the back of the power armor split open, allowing the Synth in question to step out.
"Ma'am, I retrieved all the equipment you requested." He gestured to the armor, as well as a small pile of weapons, apparel, and ammunition at its feet.
"Thanks, X6," She gave him a suspicious look, "You didn't cause any trouble up there, did you?"
"No ma'am. I infiltrated the armory and retrieved your gear while avoiding unnecessary contact." She sighed.
"Alright, good. Just make sure that they know I took it, and that it wasn't stolen. There's some sensitive equipment in there."
"Of course, Director."
With that, Nora turned her attention to the stark white suit of power armor, with the Institute symbol painted on. The X-01 variant was one of the most valuable and dangerous things in ter entire Sanctuary armory, besides maybe a few of the experimental weapons from Bradberton's "Project Cobalt". With so many dangerous weapons in one room, she had made sure to put in some heavy security to keep anyone from getting any funny ideas.
Pausing only to wipe a bit of grime off one of the shoulders, Nora twisted the switch on the back of the armor, stepping back as the plates split to allow her to step in. Once it had closed, she turned her attention to the pile of gear left at her feet. It took a moment to stow the Marine combat armor, as well as the piles of ammunition X6 had grabbed for her. Even though she usually wore her suit of power armor, it sometimes helped to keep the combat armor around for when she couldn't or didn't want to tromp around in a several ton armored suit.
The things she was most concerned with was the weapons X6 had grabbed for her. She couldn't really afford to carry around her usual armory's worth due to the nature of the mission. Li had said something about how "The more you carry, the less accurate the relay gets", so she had to limit it to a handful of weapons and the ammo to go with them. First up was the custom super sledge she had received from the Children, Atom's Judgement. She wasn't much for worshipping 'Atom', but she'd be damned if they didn't pay well. The massive hammer had quickly become her primary weapon. Also among the pile was a pair of guns. One was a revolver. Kellogg's revolver, she realized, recognizing the small carvings, dents, and nicks unique to the gun. She didn't know if X6 knew it had been Kellogg's originally, or if he even cared, but she had always found a bit of irony in using his gun to hunt down the Institute. At least, up until she ended up joining them.
The other gun was nearly as interesting. The Problem Solver. At least, that was the name scratched on the side. Either way, it was damn good at killing anything you pointed it at. A 'problem solver' indeed. Maybe not as diverse as her usual loadout, but between the three of them, Nora would be more than able to deal with whatever she encountered. Finally, she noticed a small pile of several grenades, including frags, pulse grenades, and even a few of those Quantum grenades, which she pocketed very carefully.
Satisfied, she turned to Doctor Li,
"Alright, I'm ready."
"Good. I'll just give you a rundown of your mission," Li turned to reveal a holographic map of the United States, "As you know, the Institute is here," She pointed to a symbol in the top right of the map. "However, the C.I.T. was not the only major research center before the war, and there are almost certainly others that are still standing, not to mention the others that have sprung up after the war: The Shi, in San Francisco; Mariposa, in California; and Big Mountain, in Nevada just to name a few." Three other symbols appeared on the map, marking their approximate locations. "Our recent efforts to establish a connection with any of these facilities has failed; all we've been able to retrieve of our scout teams is scraps, damaged beyond all hope of salvaging."
"Sounds... dangerous." Nora muttered.
"Correct. Your combat abilities are far above even our best coursers, as I'm sure you know," She muttered, "So you're our best chance at successfully reaching and making contact with them, now that the Relay's been upgraded."
"Alright then," Nora sighed, "What kind of intel can you give me?"
"Unfortunately, not much. Our scouts were all too damaged for us to pull anything useful from their memory. However, analysis of the scraps seems to indicate that they were shredded open by an animal's claws."
"Well darn, I left my Deathclaw hunting gear in my other jacket," Nora joked.
"...Indeed," Li continued, "Well, we aren't sure what to expect, but yes, Deathclaws seem likely. I would also suggest you be careful of radscorpions out there. They're always a problem, no matter where you go.
"Right. Deathclaws, Radscorpions, just another day in the life. Should I also be on the lookout for Yao Guais? Or maybe," Nora gasped, "Mirelurks? Oh who knows what could be out there?" She chuckled.
"I already told you, we have no idea what you'll be facing on the other side," Li retorted, irritated, "I'm sure you can handle it, though. If you're done joking around, I believe the relay is ready."
"Alright, alright, I'm going." Nora turned to the massive teleporter which whirred and spat bolts of electricity as it powered up, bumping into a nervous looking technician.
"Here," He said, handing her some sort of strange device, about the size and shape of a lunchbox, "This is a locator, similar to our relay grenades. Simply activate it once you're ready to return, and we'll lock on to its signal to pull you back." Nora grabbed it with a nod, sticking it in a pocket.
"Thanks."
"We'll be sending you to Big Mountain." Li yelled over the noise of the activating relay, "Try to grab any advanced technology you find, and look for any sign of the research teams there. Once you make contact, use the locator to notify us, and we'll relay over to you."
In response the 'Sole Survivor' gave a short salute before a blast of light sent her off on her journey.
The first thing Nora noticed, once the haze of teleportation wore off, was that the area she was in looked nothing like what she imagined Nevada would look like. There was a distinct lack of desert. Or dust. Or anything that wasn't trees.
The second thing she noticed was the trees.
"...Huh, I thought the Great War destroyed all the trees." She muttered.
The third thing she noticed was the rustling bushes to her rear. Quickly drawing Kellogg's revolver, she aimed it at the approximate origin of the rustling.
"Who's there?"
Immediately, the rustling stopped, and a bony, wolf-like head poked out.
"Hey there… Lil' guy…" Nora began backing up. Hopefully she could just back away… very… slowly…
The creature, noticing her movement, growled, before stepping out from the bushes, revealing its large claws, bony spikes protruding from its arms and back.
"Whoah," Nora took a step back. "Please don't be another Safari Adventure, please no more Gatorclaws…" She muttered.
With a howl, the "Wolfclaw", as Nora decided to call it, began charging, only to be quickly cut down by a volley of shots from her revolver.
"Well… That was easy…" She muttered. The creature, whatever it was, was certainly weaker than any deathclaw she had come across before, which brought up the question of how it had been created. The first explanation she could think of did not bode well.
"I really hope no one's been trying to create domesticated Deathclaws…" She muttered
If one scientist in an underground bunker could create those Gatorclaws, it wasn't impossible that a pre-war research center could do cross Deathclaws and wolves. Hell, it was more than likely, really. At least she was on the right track…
(Divider)
It was another quiet night in the halls of Beacon Academy. With only a scant few weeks before the beginning of the new school year, many of the faculty members had already returned in order to plan and prepare for the old and new students that would soon be arriving.
Professor Ozpin, however, was more occupied with the contents of the his Scroll, having been alerted to a "large presence" in the Emerald Forest, which was essentially shorthand for a large Creature of Grimm.
Normally, this wouldn't be cause for concern, as the creature would either be hunted down by Port, or otherwise killed during the first-years' initiation, depending on just how big it was. However, the person currently trekking through the forest was most certainly not Grimm. From the stark white armor, he could only assume that it was Atlesian in origin. James had mentioned that Atlas was developing a suit of powered armor, but why in the world would he decide that a forest in Vale was the proper place to test it?
There was only one way to find out. Even as he dialled Professor Goodwitch's Scroll, he couldn't help but wonder just who this stranger was.
"Ozpin?" Goodwitch's voice rang out over the scroll.
"Ah, Ms. Goodwitch." Ozpin turned to address the deputy headmistress on the scroll, "We seem to have an uninvited guest in the Emerald Forest. Would you mind taking a Bullhead to go retrieve them?"
"Of course, Professor. Right away."
With that, she hung up, off to bring in the armored stranger. As Ozpin's focus returned to the stranger, he made the decision to brew up a pot of coffee. Whoever this stranger was, tonight was sure to be a long night indeed.
Nora had been traveling for a good fifteen minutes when she stumbled upon a cave carved into a mountain.
"That's… definitely a radscorpion," She muttered, noticing the crude paintings on the wall, "But who uses images instead of words?" Evidently, whether the images were meant as a warning or a story, they hadn't been painted by normal settlers. They looked more like something painted by a tribe of savages, or maybe some unusually civilised raiders.
Regardless, the cave would make a suitable shelter for the evening, and she could resume her search for Big Mountain in the morning. Activating the headlamp on her power armor, Nora slowly crept forward, revolver at the ready to blast any mutant that might be hiding in the caves. As she turned a corner, she found herself face to face with a massive scorpion, the creature hissing in anger. With a yelp, Nora loosed a shot at the creature, only serving to anger it further as the bullet ricocheted off its hard carapace. Emptying the revolver as she retreated from the hissing monstrosity, Nora felt something collide with the armor just feet from entrance, the combined momentum from the armor and the scorpion sending them both through the cave entrance and collapsing it behind them. As the massive claw flung her around, Nora noted that the experience wasn't dissimilar to fighting a Deathclaw, both creatures attempting to crack the armor by slamming it on the ground like some sort of nut. Eventually, the shaking stopped as the scorpion brought the surprisingly resilient human to its face to investigate it, a surprising show of intelligence, even for the creatures of the wasteland. After a moment's hesitation, Nora managed to pull out Problem Solver, firing a spray of bullets at its face. The creature hissed in response, throwing her away as it brought its other claw up to protect its face.
Nora righted herself quickly, rifle aimed and ready to fire, before she noticed the sound of jets growing louder. The scorpion, too, seemed to notice the noise, as it began looking up in search of new prey, shortly before being impaled by the trunk of a tree.
As the creature hissed in pain and expired, Nora looked up to see an aircraft that vaguely resembled a vertibird hovering over the clearing they stood in. Strangely, the woman who had apparently saved her was dressed more like a teacher than any kind of fighter, clad in only a white shirt and a skirt, rather than any sort of practical armor. She also didn't have any sort of visible weapon on her person, besides the crop in one hand. Nora waved a greeting to the woman, who locked onto her, signaling to the pilot. As the Vertibird touched down, Nora could make out the woman mouthing the words "Get on" over the howl of the engines.
"Well, I guess I found the place…" She muttered, making her way over to the craft.
"So you're telling me," Nora finally spoke, "That not only am I not at Big Mountain, I'm not even on Earth?"
"It would seem so, Miss Taylor," Ozpin replied, "I'm afraid I've never heard of 'Big Mountain' or 'The Institute'. I must say though, your story is quite difficult to believe."
"Believe me, sometimes I don't believe it myself." Nora assured him, "But like it or not, I'm stuck here for the time being," She pointed to a pile of scrap, all that remained of the crushed locator beacon, "Since my only connection is scrap, and I doubt that tapping my heels and mumbling 'There's no place like home' is gonna work."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, you haven't read that book, have you?" Nora realized, "It's just an old kid's story from back home. I don't suppose you've got a tin woodsman, a scarecrow, and a cowardly lion working here too, do you?" She asked, chuckling.
"No, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you there," Ozpin smirked, "Though that is rather ironic. Personally, I've found that many old legends tend to have a kernel of truth about them." With that, he leaned forward, assuming a much more serious posture. "That said, I have an offer for you: Assuming you are telling the truth, it would be remiss of me to turn away first contact with another civilization, even more so one in need such as yourself. Furthermore, if your world is truly as hostile as you say, then you must have acquired a wealth of information to be as successful as you have." He took a sip of coffee. "To that end, I would like to offer you a position here at my academy. You will be provided with room and board for as long as it takes you to return home, and in return, I would like you to teach your skills to my students." As Ozpin finished his proposal, a machine beeped behind him, having completed its task. "By the way, could I offer you a cup of coffee? I've just finished brewing a pot."
Nora's eyes widened at the mention.
"Coffee? I… Y-Yes, of course." She stuttered.
"Are you alright?" Ozpin inquired, an eyebrow raised, "You seem a little… Off."
"Would believe I haven't had a real cup in over two hundred years?" Nora joked, "I tried getting the eggheads in the Institute to engineer some for me, but they've never been able to get it quite right."
"Well, far be it from me to deprive someone of a taste of quality coffee, let alone after such a long time going without." He finished pouring two mugs, handing one to Nora. Quickly, she grabbed one, inhaling the scent of the fresh brew.
"Ozpin, you have got yourself a deal." She breathed, before chugging the drink.
"That is good to hear," Ozpin smiled, "I… Are you alright?"
Indeed, the Sole Survivor seemed to be in shock, staring at the ceiling, unblinking.
"This is the best damn coffee I have ever tasted in my entire life." She whispered.
Ah, the miracles of Caffeine addiction. All the Addictol in the Commonwealth can't cure the SS of that. (I wouldn't know, I don't drink coffee...)
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Alright, Two months without an update and I finally end up with this? Man, I am a piece of shit, ain't I?
Anyway, if you're coming here from my other story, I've got some explaining to do, don't I?
Long story short, a lot of different reason came together to completely throw me off my groove with writing in the past couple of months, including final tests, computer repairs, and (very minor) medical issues.
Anyway, somewhere along the way, I fell back into Fallout Hell HARD, so I ended up starting this story to cope with both that and writer's block.
For the record, I'm still writing Remnants. I will finish it. All goes well, I might have the next chapter up next week.
Hopefully I can alternate between the two over the summer, and keep a semi consistent schedule.
Not much else to say really. Check out my other story Remnants of the Payday Crew if you haven't already, I guess.
Peace.