Author's Note: Well, this should get the ball rolling. Remember, I'm going to need help developing characters so please, feel free to ask any of them a question that may or may not have been bothering you the whole journey. Don't expect the next update to be too soon.
Thanks for all the encouraging words so far and for all your hard work, beta reader. Blessings
"Conquer the angry man by love. Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness.
Conquer the miser with generosity. Conquer the liar with truth."
-Dhammapada
Their opponents were relentless. They sometimes hunted in packs but even a solo one was crafty enough. They came from the dark, emerging from the most unexpected corners. When you might have thought you were safe, they would come and prove you wrong. The mighty Brotherhood of Steel group in New York City had faced many tough, highly advanced and ruthless enemies but this was just a different breed of resistance altogether.
They usually were about three and a half feet in length, four if you included the tail and came to about half a foot in height. Usually, they were hungry. Finally, they were always furry.
But most diabolical of all was the fact that to most human eyes, they were cute.
Initiate Hardings bellowed at a New York Rat, the rodent clearly wanting to get at their packs which was loaded with their rations. Most people would not expect it but in this rather desolate part of the city, the New York Rats learned that most of the tin can men usually carried extra food with them. Otherwise, the rats were harmless and never intentionally tried to hurt anyone.
They just wanted the backpacks.
"Oh shoot, someone get this one off of me!" Hardings shouted. Just when he had chased one off another had jumped from the rubble and attached itself to his backpack.
Another knight had simply had enough and fired his revolver into the air. The pack of rats, some eight of them that had kept in their peripherals, hesitated but otherwise did nothing. Including the rat hanging on Hardings' pack.
"Paladin, I don't understand why we can't just shoot them!" the knight with the revolver complained. Their squad leader, a stern Paladin with a laser rifle, looked at him through his helmet.
"They're harmless and not worth the bullet."
"But they're eating our food!" Hardings complained.
"Hardly. That one is just eating your knapsack."
"Here, let me try." Their medic offered.
The woman, also in power armor, reached into her own pack and pulled out a can of pork n beans. Breaking the can open, she spilled the contents on the ground which prompted all of the rodents to ignore the knights and go straight for the food. The medic giggled before scratching one rodent behind the ear when it looked up at her.
"There, that's all you're getting from us now leave us alone." The medic told the rodent. The rat squeaked in reply. Once the food had promptly disappeared, the pack of rodents left. All the members of the squad, with the exception of the paladin, were left staring at their medic.
"How did you do that?" one of the knights asked curiously. The medic smiled behind her helmet and replied.
"I grew up with a New York Rat as a pet. They're much smarter than they look and usually, they just want snacks. Give them a snack and they'll pretty much do anything you ask."
"Well…not just anything, Knight Captain Vanderbraun." The paladin corrected dryly.
"Yes, Paladin Vanderbraun…" the medic said in exasperation.
It was very rare for the Brotherhood to allow siblings to work in the same unit but they called an exception for the Vanderbraun twins.
Paladin Lowell Vanderbraun had become a paragon of up and coming Brotherhood members. He was a man of very few words but he was highly disciplined with a keen tactical mind and it seemed that anything put in his hands would become a deadly weapon. It didn't matter if it was high tech or a simple melee weapon. And if worse came to worse he could use his bare hands to devastating effectiveness.
Knight Captain Evelyn Leslie Vanderbraun, the group medic, could always be counted on for a smile and a tad bit of compassion. Where her brother was quiet, she made up for in energy and words. There were also some quiet mutterings within the Brotherhood ranks that she had a wild side to her. Still, none could deny that if a knight went down on the field and Evelyn had them in her hands, they would most likely live to see another day.
And if you left it to them, you almost would not have known that they were the children of two of the famous Liberators. They rarely spoke of their parents.
"Contact ahead, Paladin Vanderbraun." Knight Birns announced, himself armed with a Excelsior marksman rifle, though this one did not have a silencer, being unable to acquire that piece of equipment that was popular among their Regulator counterparts.
"What is it, Birns?" Lowell asked.
"Looks like a group of gang members. No clue as to whether they are a threat or not." Birns replied.
"Right. Birns, stay here and keep your eye through the scope. Felson and Evelyn, you're with me." Lowell ordered.
"What about me?" Hardings asked.
"Spot for Birns and watch carefully." Lowell replied.
"Anything in particular I'm suppose to be learning?" Hardings inquired.
"How you don't always shoot on sight." Lowell answered. That done, Birns hunkered down with his rifle resting on a concrete block. Lowell, Felson, their explosives expert, and Evelyn walked down the block to meet this gang.
Lowell was not impressed with what he saw. There were eight people in rather shabby conditions, bits of metal and leather slapped together on their body as some sort of excuse for armor. Their weapons all looked freshly picked from the ruins, meaning they were probably more likely to explode in the user's hands rather than hurt their intended target.
Perhaps what was most concerning was the fact that they all seemed to be so shot up on chemicals that they were as high as kites.
"Do you need help?" Lowell asked curtly.
The apparent leader, a thin man, leathered by the sun, gazed at him with bleary eyes and ludicrously blathered.
"Wha…you need help, tin man?"
"Why are you out here? The town of The Wall is just a couple blocks to the east, the House slightly further. There's no point being out here in danger of raiders and super mutants." The Paladin explained.
"That's…that's so awesome, man!" the leader breathed.
Evelyn, though she could not see her brother's face behind his helmet, could feel him becoming more and more annoyed.
"We will take you all to the Wall under escort. Come with us. You are more a danger to yourselves and unfit to be out here." Lowell said firmly.
"Now-…don't be hating…tin can!" the leader incoherently protested.
"Fine. Stay out here and God help you all." Lowell growled and started walking away, not wishing to waste any more time on the jet head. Evelyn and Felson closely tagged along behind him.
"With all due respect, that was a bit pointless, sir." Felson said with no intention of malice. Lowell simply grunted.
"If only there was a way we could-" Lowell was suddenly interrupted.
"GET DOWN!" they heard Birns shout. The trio immediately hit the dirt just in time to hear their marksman's rifle go off.
"Kill all humans!" a bellow rung out behind them. Getting up from diving onto the concrete, Evelyn pulled out her submachine gun and turned around. A group of super mutants had knocked down part of the aging concrete walls and immediately started opening fire on the gang members who pitifully fired back with their aging weaponry. There was some relief in that they could see Birns had at least exploded the heads of one of the super mutants.
"See if you can use your Tesla cannon, Felson but try not to hurt the civilians." Lowell ordered calmly as he opened fire with his laser rifle. Felson's long arm immediately unleashed a column of electricity. At that moment, initiate Hardings was in their midst, taking controlled bursts with his assault rifle.
"H-hey! I got one!" Hardings cried as he dropped the last mutant.
"Good." Lowell said quickly before looking at his sister.
"Evelyn, check the gang members." Lowell ordered. His sister dashed off as fast as her power armor would allow, clutching her medical bag. Immediately she started checking the bodies.
"I got one breather here, the others have had it." Evelyn announced, working to stabilize the only gang survivor.
The rest of her squad were already headed her direction while Lowell handed out orders.
"Hardings, Birns, check the bodies. Get what you can recover. Felson, help Evelyn. We're going to have to get this civilian to the Wall. What they do from there is their decision." Lowell finished.
In the ruins of what had once been Saint Patrick's Cathedral, the serene eyes of the marble saints watched on in quiet reverie. Even after the bombs fell the faithful had continued to come and unexpectedly a small community of people living a simple, devoted life had come to care for the building.
That all ended when the small band of pious fled from a gang of super mutants that had taken the place by force.
And now the statues of the saints watched as each super mutant fell dead, their blood staining the ancient floors of all that was left of this holy place.
"Seems like what was suppose to be a quick journey became a side trip and what became a side trip has now become a small errand." Isaac snickered, relaxing his grip on the Chinese assault rifle he had. His father, James, also lowered his trusty laser rifle.
Julia had sent the both of them down to the city to pay a visit to the Vanderbraun twins and to see how they were doing. She also wanted her husband to deliver her still continuing research notes to the Brotherhood. Of course, James had to take a side trip on the way down.
"One of the priests contacted me. Of course I couldn't turn them down." James shrugged.
Rat finally poked his head out of Isaac's backpack. Normally, the rodent stayed behind and kept Julia company as he was getting too old to be following Isaac and James around. However, since they took the ship down, Isaac was able to compensate for the adventurous rodent by keeping him in his backpack. Rat just had to put up with Isaac's Excelsior rifle constantly knocking into him. Besides, they could tell their pet was starting to miss the twins.
"Well, it's cleared, we can continue to the Brotherhood." James announced, returning his rifle to his pack before retrieving his own Excelsior. He preferred the marksman rifle over any of his other firearms. After all, he had designed it himself.
The band of the pious was grateful although James did it more out of his devotion to his faith than anything else. He could not stand the thought of the once magnificent cathedral in the hands of super mutants. Either way, it was time to get back on the road.
Paladin Lowell led his patrol back within the base of the Brotherhood at the former New York harbor. He had never seen it back in the day but he remembered his parents telling him that at one point it was just the cruiser Defiance floating at its dock that had been the base. Now, the Defiance had been all but stripped of its weapons, guns and even computer hardware. It was hard work but the Brotherhood had been able to salvage all they wanted.
That included the once thought to be irreplaceable laser turret.
"All right, you're all dismissed." Lowell simply said. The Paladin may have been formal and by the books with every procedure within the Brotherhood but made up for it in his patrol dismissals being spectacularly lackadaisical. Even he was not quite sure what in his philosophy made it that way but such was the way it was. They all wanted the day off and they fought hard, no need to torture them any more on that.
Besides, he still had to give his report to Elder Hail.
Keeping his hands light on his laser rifle, he relaxed himself within his power armor and walked to the appropriate building at what had become the sprawling Brotherhood of Steel base.
He opened to door, and as expected, he found an older man in the robes of a Brotherhood elder sitting at the desk that had once belonged to the late Scribe Lex.
What Lowell was not expecting to see yet another man, this one with gray starting to form in his dark hair as well as what was definitely a sturdy mechanical arm sticking from his worn duster.
"Dad?" Lowell asked. Even through his helmet's radio his voice fully registered his surprise.
"Hi, Lowell. Just dropped in to deliver your mother's research to Hail and to say hi to you and Evelyn."
"Squeak!"
"And Rat wanted to say hi too." James added. At that moment the large rodent jumped from Isaac's bag in the corner and scampered up to greet Lowell. It was surprising the New York Rat could recognize his old friend even within the power armor but the Liberators had learned a long time ago that Rat was probably much smarter than they ever really knew.
Lowell chuckled as he rubbed the rodents head for a moment. Elder Hail cocked an eyebrow. Lowell rarely smiled as it was. The Brotherhood leader was certain that the number of times heard Lowell chuckle was...well, this was the first time he heard him chuckle in all the years Lowell served under him.
"Your wife's research notes have always been much more of a help than we could have ever expected. Well, at least that's what the other scribes tell me. I was not privy to the project when it first started." Hail said while rolling his eyes. He continued.
"The scribes have especially been excited on her progress notes on how you got Albany up and running. It's almost a miracle that anything could have been brought back to life in that blasted crater."
"I think now she just uses it as an excuse to send me and go check on the kids." James muttered.
"Excuse me a moment, dad, Isaac." Lowell said, casting a glance at his adopted brother. He noticed that Isaac seemed to be trying to melt into the corner he was leaning into.
"Patrol went according to plan but we encountered a group of some five super mutants who jumped a gang of wastelanders. We were able to save one of the civilians and dropped him off at the Wall, Sir." Lowell reported.
"Your father was just telling me that they cleared a super mutant gang within the ruins of Saint Patrick's Catherdral…its undeniable that super mutant activity is up. It's the why that we don't know." Elder Hail murmured with a frown.
"Where is your sister, Lowell?" James asked, suddenly realizing Evelyn was not around. This bothered him a bit.
"I'd venture at the barracks, dad." Lowell replied.
"Well, I'll let you finish your report with the Elder. Excuse me for a moment." James stated before leaving, an excited Rat in tow as well as an visibly relieved looking Isaac.
Evelyn walked to her cot in the barracks and popped her helmet off, sighing in relief. No one ever realized just how stuffy it could get in one of those brain buckets until you finally took it off. She immediately started to place her equipment in their proper place. First she returned her weapons before working off her armored gauntlets. She silently disapproved of all the dust, grime and new dents she noticed in her armor that would have to be repaired as she placed them in her storage container.
She stiffened when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Hey, Evelyn." The medic noticeably became irritated.
"That's 'Knight Captain' to you, Derek." Evelyn muttered. Derek chuckled.
"Oh come on, Evelyn-"
"Don't make me report you. I'm still your superior." Evelyn interrupted. There was some attention she just did not care for as she had kept her back to the man the whole time. There was a reason she did not enjoy being around Derek.
Derek leaned against the wall directly behind her, silently hemming her into the corner.
"Well you certainly didn't report me that one night where-" Evelyn spun around silently but fiercely.
"Derek. Don't ever speak of that again! I was drunk and you took advantage of me!" Evelyn hissed.
"Hardly." Derek snickered smugly.
Both Evelyn and Derek's eyes went wide when they heard a strong rapping off of Derek's armored shoulder pad. Evelyn suddenly felt herself become very small. Derek ground his teeth in annoyance.
Derek turned around and found himself staring at an older man just a head shorter than himself. He had a hard time distinguishing the man's intent or countenance as his eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. He let out a small sigh though at the intruder's height. He felt now was a good time fold his arms in front of his chest.
"What do you want?" Derek grumbled.
"Excuse me. My name is James Vanderbraun. I see you've met my daughter." James said in an ominously normal tone . Derek suddenly found his leather and metal glove locked in a tight handshake. It felt odd because that was his left hand. Not a lot of people were left handed. Suddenly, he noticed the pressure on his gauntlet was increasing. Heavily. Derek's jaw tightened we he felt a little more pressure than he would have like coming from James' grip. Belatedly, he noticed Evelyn's father was not in fact left handed, instead of flesh and bone he just had a robotic prosthetic for a left hand.
It was threatening to break his hand within his armored glove.
Evelyn meanwhile seemed to be trying to disappear in the shadows by standing very, very still.
"I'm very, very, protective of her. One time when she was nine, a death claw was watching her very closely. He would have lunged at her too except his head exploded. He never saw me, never knew I had an eye on him." James stated ominously through clenched teeth. Derek, listening to what James was saying, tried not to gulp when he noticed one of those infamously accurate and powerful Excelsior rifles hanging on James Vanderbraun's back.
"I think I'll keep my eye on you, boy." James finished, jarringly with smile, before finally easing the pressure off of Derek's hand. The chastened knight winced at the sudden rush of blood back into his nearly mangled hand. Still, he tried to hide the pain he was feeling in his throbbing hand.
"Now get out of here." James growled. Derek took off on his heels, angrily embarrassed of himself that an older man with no power armor was able to get him to scram like that.
Evelyn meanwhile could feel herself turning red as her father turned around, his arms folded in front of his chest. She couldn't decipher just how he was looking at her.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that, daddy." Evelyn muttered, eyes downcast. James suddenly found himself struggling to figure out how to start the conversation.
"Elder Hail tells me you might have a problem with alcohol." James simply stated.
"I'm doing my best to be careful with it, honest. Lowell makes sure I don't go overboard." Evelyn replied honestly though she fidgeted a bit with her hands.
"Very well. Just please be careful girl, you know your mother and I taught you better than that." James said calmly and nodded.
"I know. I'm sorry." Evelyn apologized, still looking at the floor.
"So how have you been doing otherwise, Evelyn?" James asked, trying to change the direction of their discussion.
"I'm doing well, daddy. They're keeping us busy. I still make time to pray, don't worry, daddy." Evelyn added,knowing her father's devotion. James chuckled lightly. Evelyn finally looked up at him.
"Your mother says hi. She misses you all very much." James added. Any further conversation was interrupted by the sound of rapid pattering along the floor.
"Yip!" Rat chirped excitedly as he came scampering up to them as fast as his aging paws would allow.
"Hey, Rat!" Evelyn squealed, picking up the elderly rodent and hugging him. However, she had not been able to take off her breastplate just yet.
"Squirk…" Rat did not remember Evelyn's hide being this cold, hard and altogether uncomfortable but he still felt happy nonetheless. Lowell and Isaac also showed up, Isaac still not looking all that comfortable. Still, the two brothers seemed to be quietly engaging in small talk.
"Hey, Isaac. Enjoying being a regulator?" Evelyn asked her older brother. Isaac actually smiled.
"Don't regret the decision at all." Isaac replied.
"How long will you be staying, dad?" Lowell asked. James sighed.
"Regretfully not much longer. I need to head down to the House. Francis sent me on a bit of an errand."
"You never told me that." Isaac stated, sounding a bit surprised.
"I didn't know Francis was still giving orders. I thought Mark took over?" Evelyn asked, still holding Rat and fussing over him.
"Mark is the leader and handler of the New York Regulators, yes. However, Francis is still the mastermind." James replied.
Father and children caught up for a bit but eventually James had to leave, Isaac in tow while Rat begrudgingly returned to his place in Isaac's backpack, forlornly looking back at Evelyn and Lowell. He even seemed to protest a bit when Isaac zipped him inside. The rodent proved a little more stubborn about staying with the twins more than usual but James chalked it up to the fact that Rat never saw them anymore and goodness knew that as much as Rat loved children, the twins and Isaac were still the rodent's favorite.
Life returning to normal, Lowell went out to finish his day practicing, this time the martial arts of hand to hand combat. Evelyn, feeling the weight come off her shoulders, collapsed in her cot in the barracks, embarrassed at what her father had to overhear but relieved that the knights would now give her a little more room.
Still, between the horrors and stress of combat and the anxiety of trying to hide a few indiscretions, Evelyn had often felt overwhelmed. There just did not seem to be a way out, something to just make it all go away for a couple minutes.
Of course, there is often a medicine for everything. She had learned this quite awhile ago.
Secretly looking around to make sure she was alone, Evelyn secretly pulled out a syringe of Med-X and slowly pushed the liquid into her arm.