Life of Steel
A/N: Ok, I've had this idea swilling around in my head for like 3 years now and with my recent replaying of Fallout 3 and while reading the Modus Operandi Trilogy by comanndocucumber for the first time (I know, I'm ashamed it took me this long to read but that shit is amazing, nearly finished it in 3 days) This story has been begging me to be published. It'll be set over the course of a few years, From 2270 to before the Lone Wanderer story but also after. The outcast split happens in 2276 and I may jump from there to after the Lone Wanderer is an established figure, so late 2277-78. I know, I have a shit way of explaining things.
The reason for the long timeframe is due mainly to the fact that ranks aren't earned so quickly. Like Sarah won't become a Sentinal after two years, by 2272 for example. Also, without giving two much away, the Outcast Split happens six years later, like I said therefore I feel things would beed to be explained and shit, Just stick with it, it'll all make sense in future chapters.
Chapter 1: Prelude
In 2254 the brotherhood of steel sent a squad of people to the east coast; Paladin Owyn Lyons has been tasked to find out the cause of the super mutant increase in the country's former capitol city of D.C. This building used to be where the country's former military was stationed and they had planned to use it as a headquarters for the east coast chapter.
The first obstacle encountered by them was Pittsburgh or 'The Pitt' as it had become known to many others since the fall of the bombs. The Brotherhood's actions there are never mentioned; it was with the horrific deaths of hundreds of people, that the remnants of the Western ways died. Many of Lyons' chapter questioned what the brotherhood deemed 'necessary' and this was the last straw. Never again would they be forced to carry out an act of genocide on again. Then again, a good soldier follows orders and that's just what they were doing, following orders. This building used to be where the country's former military was stationed and they had planned to use it as a headquarters for the east coast chapter.
After finding what lied within the pentagon, Paladin Lyons sent word back west to Lost Hills and they had granted him the title of elder of the east coast chapter after the technology they had found in the underground labs of the old military base including Liberty Prime. Liberty Prime was a giant robot that was meant to be used in the liberation of Alaska from the Chinese forces but never got the chance. Since then Liberty Prime has become the pet project of head scribe Reginald Rothchild.
After seeing the horrors of the wasteland, Elder Lyons made it his mission to protect the people of the Capitol wasteland from the super mutant threat thus putting his original mission to collect the regions technology on hold until the wasteland was safe. A few see it as a way for repenting his sins after what happened in The Pitt, a way of trying to fill the hole he had carved inside himself...nonetheless, it was decided and the course they were now on was set in motion. Due to the small number of assets that Lyons party that consisted of: Scribe Rothchild, Star Paladin Cross, Paladin Henry Casdin, Paladin Ishmael Ashur, Night Commander Tristan, Junior Knight Colvin and Junior Paladin Gunny. This was not enough people to secure the Pentagon, which was renamed The Citadel and secure the area from the super mutant threat. In order to get more people to help protect the wasteland, Lyons broke the rules of the brotherhood and started sending teams to local settlements and recruit the best warriors and scientist they had.
News of this did not go un-noticed by the Western Elders. They said that Lyons should be evicted from the brotherhood for breaking the rules. After a long debate the High Elder came to a decision that Lyons' chapter would still be able to continue their mission and be a part of the brotherhood but would not receive any help from the original brotherhood out in Lost Hills.
Many people stepped up and answered the call when the brotherhood came knocking; leaving behind their families and lives to be a part of something bigger, a stronger force. People had their reasons for joining: safety, family, cool tech, no matter what it was, the brotherhood's numbers swelled. It started slowly at first, only allowing a set number at a time. No more than 16 people would be taken on at a time and trained. Those who passed out joined the ranks of the knights and scribes. The washouts were forced to leave and held a personal grudge against the brotherhood from then on.
The initiation training usually takes a set annum to complete due to the lack of initiates not having a single clue about the brotherhood ways or culture. Many got there in the end, going from beaten down wastelanders to skilled militants. The numbers were now on a scale that the eastern coast chapter was now a force to be recognised. True, many had fallen in the field but they were still strong and from the looks of things, with a new initiation annum starting, they could be even stronger.
Our story begins in the year 2270. A new batch of initiates has been selected from the camps surrounding the local area to strengthen the brotherhoods numbers. This group consists of 16 men and women that wanted to join the brotherhood of steel and help them in their mission in the capitol wasteland.
They had all arrived at The Citadel at early hours of the morning and were a few hours into the first day of training. After being kitted out in their set of recon armour, they had received the usual formalities and opening speeches, the training started. Most of them were utterly useless and couldn't stand up straight to save their lives. They were a fairly shit bunch and Gunny was having an extremely bad headache due to how upsetting he found them.
-"You're all worthless you hear me, worthless! I wouldn't let you shine my armour you're all that displeasing! You actually make my ass hairs hurt! I'd be surprised if any of you make it past the first day! Now let's try these drills again" Gunny spat in a sound of utter disgust.
Gunny always had the hard job of perfecting the new wastelanders and honing their skills so they were able to perform to the best of their abilities. His assigned role brought a lot of stress but Gunny wasn't gonna disappoint Elder Lyons. If he trusted Gunny to train them, then train them he would.
The first day had just officially started; the new squad of initiates were led to a set of bunks opposite the entrance, where they changed into the recon armour before falling in, in the middle of the Citadel. Elder Lyons addressed them all with an opening speech that was just there as a brief way of saying where everything was located and a fancy welcome.
The initiates were first off taught things along a Military Knowledge route. Things such as how to address ranking members, how to stand properly while in lessons, what and how to respond when spoken and they were also told of timings that they would run on.
After doing drill for three hours, the initiates started fighting in what was called 'The Ring'. The ring was a small fighting arena in the bailey that was for a two person sparing match but because they were initiates Gunny wanted to see them go full out on each other. They were to fight until one of them gave up or...couldn't speak properly.
Time passed as the new breed of initiates just fell over each other time and time again. Gunny could see he was getting nowhere and it hurt his eyes to see such an embarrassing sight. He shook his head in disbelief as he signalled for the next two to enter and begin fighting. Despite it being the first day, Gunny literally felt as if no one in front of him knew what they were doing. It was usually by this point that he had noticed at least someone who wasn't a complete waste.
Gunny imitated the bell ringing and prepared himself for another piss poor performance but when one of the men punched the other full force in the face, knocking him out in one punch, Gunny smiled at this action, looks like not everyone was completely useless.
-"Yes, Initiate, that is what I want to see" Gunny bellowed as he pointed at the young kid in front of him.
Gunny wasn't so easily swayed. This could have all been a spot of luck for the young man standing in front of him. After all, he only punched someone. Gunny needed to see if he had a keeper. "Now get down and give me fifty!" he yelled.
As all the other initiates looked at each other, all confused, the man just got down and pumped out one push up after another. When the set of fifty was complete, the man stood up and fell back in with the rest of his platoon.
Gunny chuckled before walking up to the man and punching him in the gut. The initiate curled over from the sheer weight of the punch from the power armoured fist but stood right back up and stood tall. "I like you boy, you got a hell of a lot of spunk in you! Maybe the rest of you could learn a thing or two of this little snowflake! What's your name, initiate?" Gunny asked, looking straight into the man's dark blue eyes
-"Initiate Matthew Winter, sir!" He answered back, not meeting Gunny's gaze, just staring straight ahead.
-"Well Winter, you get the lucky job of choosing what weapon you wanna fire first in the rifle practice" Gunny called in a slightly quieter alternative to his drilling bellow.
-"Thank you sir" Matt responded before standing at ease.
His face was gaunt but not in a bad way; it made his cheekbones and jaw stand out prominently. His hair was a light shade of black and styled into a shaggy shave that was noticeable due to the absence of his recon helmet. His skin was a pale shade of white but not so pale that it would cause him to stick out.
Gunny droned on and on about how life in the brotherhood would be different than their previous ones in their home settlements. He talked about the brotherhood codex and how they would have to learn to live by it and how it would govern every action of their lives from here on out.
Matt stopped paying attention when he heard the sound of marching getting closer and closer. Turning his head to the source of the sound, he noticed 16 people in recon armour with R91 assault rifles sloped in their left shoulders with one of their number detached from their ranks calling out 'Left' and 'Right in correspondence with what foot was hitting the floor. They came to a halt in perfect time and turned to face the woman who had been in charge of marching them before taking positions at the Citadel's ranges.
This group intrigued Matt as he wondered who they were. There was such a high level of discipline and professionalism that they all carried when acting out their tasks As if on cue, Gunny stopped talking about the values and standards of the brotherhood and answered Matt's particular thought, as if it were spoken out load.
-"Those there are 16 sons and daughters of serving brotherhood members. Essentially trained from birth, they have been bred with one goal in life: To join the brotherhood of steel as full members. They're also your competition"
-"Competition for what, sir?" A curios initiate asked.
-"Altogether, your 16 and their 16 make 32; 32 initiates and only 16 promotions to be handed out. Now, that's not to say not all of you will get promoted, this is for things in the long run, for ranks such as Senior Knight or Star Paladin for example. Their training started a month before yours. Well, official training anyway. They've been preparing for this for their whole lives but they weren't perfect by any standards. Then again, they were like that after their first week and you guys have that standard to reach...yeah, good luck with that" Gunny responded before gesturing for another two combatants to enter the ring.
A week?! There was no way this group of people would be anything like that after a month! Matt though as his mouth hung slightly ajar in astonishment.
The fight seemed to be a blur in the background for Matt as his attention was solely focused on the more adept squad of initiates, especially the one who lead them. That's where Matt wanted to be, in a position of leadership. Roles such as Elder or Head Scribe didn't interest him in the slightest. He was a fighter, plain and simple-he also knew a thing or two about battle tactics-growing up in the wasteland with no walls around you had to be good for something.
He watched as the group split down six were at the firing point, three on each side with another six behind them, presumably for spotting or coaching. Five of them were stripping down their weapons, most likely for cleaning before they were fired. Finally, the one who had marched the squad down was walking between the firing posts, talking to each member of the fire teams and their assistants.
She was young, somewhere between eighteen and twenty Matt would guess. She had blonde hair done up all 'Wendy the Welder' and clean white skin. While walking between the two posts, she caught Matt looking at her and their blue eyes locked for a short moment. She tried burning a hole in Matt as if to say 'you should be paying attention' Matt wasn't backing down, he continued to stare, in awe and appreciation more than anything.
Sarah stared at the dark haired man with eyes of steel; he should be listening to Gunny, not looking at her squad. Sarah had been made the Senior Initiate of her group due to her resilliance and leadership skills and was tasked with carrying out the training set by Gunny to the rest of her squad.
She'd been training her whole life for this; even as a young girl on her fathers knee, Sarah would make sure that when the time comes, she would be ready to show everyone that being the Elder's daughter meant that she got somewhere due to her own skill, not nepotism. It was moments like these that reminded Sarah some scruffy wastelander wasn;t worth her performance. she'd train her squad and get them ready for their lives in the brotherhood. He was just a distraction that probably won't be around for much longer.
Turning back to her original point, Sarah made her way upto the firing position and observed the initiate's shooting and the spotters coaching ability. Sarah would comment on things like how well they were doing and what could be improved. she was a good squad leader and was determined to show it
One thing Gunny had learned to do over the years was to test their limits. He'd get 'good ones' with every batch he'd train, certain individuals who were better at being a soldier than others. One way to find out who they were was to push them. Go that little harder on them to see if they will continue to step up and show they have the ability.
Gunny had first spotted Winter on his ability to learn quickly; one of the first things the initiates were taught was how to address a ranking soldier properly and with all the formalities that came with it. By addressing Gunny in the appropriate manner was a step in the right direction.
The second trait was he actually knew how to fight, at least with his fists. There was no nonsense, he stepped in the ring ad did what he was told. That was an exceptionally good quality to have in a soldier.
What sealed the deal for Gunny was how Winter did the push ups without question. His situation would have meant the very opposite of a punishment such as them but Winter did them without question. Gunny knew to keep his eye on this one and pass it on to Elder Lyons in the end of day report he'd have to produce.
With a loud call from Gunny, Matt was pulled back to reality and snapped his head over to meet Gunny.
-"Winter, what line of our codex did I just say, repeat it back to me!" Gunny said loudly.
-"Through discourse, we gain the strength of our Brothers' minds" He repeated nonchalantly.
-"Hmmm, seems you can oogle the elder's daughter and listen at the same time. I'd give up now kid, she'd make you eat your balls for breakfast" Gunny couldn't lie, he saw promise in this kid, that didn't mean he was gonna make his training any easier.
As the mid day sky passed shone down, Matt felt his cheeks go red; he wasn't 'oogling' anyone, he was just impressed by the sheer discipline of the other initiates. Is she really the Elder's Daughter?! Matt thought to himself. It would explain her high standards and Matt could see from then on, the Elder's Daughter would be his competition...
A/N: I know it seemes a bit short but I didn't wanna add anymore to it and risk fucking it up. It seemed like a good place to end the first chapter so I did. The second one should be up either tomorrow or Tuesday for definate though! Please Follow/Favorite, it would mean a hell of a lot and show me I'm doing something right. Also Review so I can inprove on how shit I am, also the feedback would help a great deal aswell. Until next time, I shall see you in the future...well I hope.