p Chapter 7: A Glowing Sea
Nora huffed as she approached the edge of Boston proper, heading southwest towards Vault 81. Piper, along with a pair of Minutemen, joined her to the vault to see about integrating it into the Commonwealth in full. Now that everything was in place, and the representatives were hammering out the finer details at the Castle, Nora was finally able to return to doing what she did best: commanding her men.
"Think they'll bite, General?" The Corporal joining her asked, taking a bite out of a chunk of bread as they walked.
Nora shrugged. "Can't see why not. Piper says they're… fairly open to trade with the Commonwealth. Might translate to joining it if we play our cards right."
"They seem to get along with the caravans, so it'll probably go well." Piper shrugged. Truth be told, she had never seen Vault 81 in person, but the caravan crews talked about it quite often. A successful vault for over 200 years was nothing to scoff at.
Completely ignoring a small group of bloatflies that were buzzing about near a small lakeside shack, Nora walked up a rough dirt path leading to the cave entrance to Vault 81. The area around the entrance was surrounded by old Vault-Tec pods, which now housed bedrolls for the passing caravans.
As she pulled the rickety wooden door in the cave entrance open, she immediately saw the familiar edifice of a Vault door, with a massive yellow "81" painted on the front. Of course, the Vault door was shut, and the small console controlling its hydraulics was sitting on the edge of a metal catwalk. Nora approached the console, pulling the electronic connector from her Pip-Boy and slotting it into the console. A Plexiglas cover popped open, revealing the button controlling the door. She sent a hand signal to her two Minutemen escorts to make ready… just in case she inadvertently caused an incident by opening a Vault's door.
Right as she pressed the button, she wasn't greeted by the sickening sound of a Vault door opening, but rather by an irate voice over the console's PA system. "Hold it right there!" The voice demanded. "This is Vault 81 Security, I dunno where you got your hands on a working Pip-Boy, but you'd better start talking!"
"I got it in Vault 111." Nora answered, hoping to ease the guard's concerns a bit.
"Vault 111? Haven't heard that one yet." The guard dismissed, scoffing. "Well, what sort of business are you lookin' to take care of here in 81?"
"I'm with the Commonwealth Government, here to open a dialogue with the leadership of Vault 81." Nora answered. "Name's Nora, General of the Minutemen… and soon-to-be Commonwealth Army."
The guard audibly laughed. "You really expect me to believe that?" There was a momentary pause as footsteps could be heard on the guard's end. "Oh… Overseer?"
"Who is it, Edwards?" A female voice asked from the other end, identifying the guard in the process.
"Uhh… some Commonwealth traveler claiming to represent the CPG and the military. Definitely not one of our usual traders."
"Well… 'CPG representative' or not, they can earn it like everyone else." The Overseer responded. "Let me speak to them." Nora watched the speaker intently, an amused smirk on her face as the Overseer spoke up again. "Sorry about that, Officer Edwards was just doing his job. I'm sure you understand our need for caution with outsiders. For newcomers, we like to operate on exchange; you help us and we help you."
"Alright… what exactly is it that you need?" Nora asked, knowing that the chance of convincing Vault Dwellers that there was something resembling a functional government forming topside was pretty low, right out of the gate at least.
"Three fusion cores." The Overseer responded. "Bring them to us, and you'll be let in."
"Have power problems, I take it?" Nora asked, earning a hum of acknowledgement from the Overseer. "I can radio in for some of my men to grab some fusion cores from the Castle or Hanscom Air Force Base, but either of those options will take at least a day's travel. From one vault-dweller to another, I'd appreciate if you helped us out by letting us stay here while we transport the cores… under your supervision of course."
There was a momentary silence as the Overseer considered her words, eventually ending with a hum. "Alright… but if we don't have those fusion cores in twenty four hours, we're kicking all of you out. How many of you are there?"
"Four of us, One of us will be outside radioing back to the Castle for the cores, he'll be right behind us." Nora responded.
"Alright…" The Overseer relented. "Welcome to Vault 81. I'll meet you at the entrance."
At her word, the vault door started screeching open, and Nora gave the order for the radio-toting Corporal to step outside and radio back to the Castle. Just as the Corporal stepped outside, the door finished opening and the catwalk started extending outwards. As a show of cooperation, Nora let her M16 fall back on its sling as she approached the vault's entrance, a gesture mirrored by Piper and the Minutemen Private.
Just as she stepped through the now-open vault door, she was greeted by the sight of a somewhat heavier-set woman talking with an older man. "C'mon Gwen, my guys have been working doubles for weeks now! We need a break!" The older man complained, the grease stains on his vault suit suggesting some sort of maintenance work.
"Everyone's working hard right now, Cal… you think I don't know that? Just do the best with what you can, that's all I'm asking." The overseer responded.
The older man, now known as Cal, sighed. "Fine… I'll see what I can do. But you know as well as I do that we can't keep going on like this." With that, he started heading back towards the elevator down the hall.
After a heavy sigh, the Overseer turned to face Nora. "Sorry about that. As you'll soon see, we've got a few maintenance projects under-…" The Overseer stopped, seeing three people step into her vault, two of them wearing an actual uniform and carrying military-grade weapons hardware. The surprisingly tall woman before her carried an M16 combat rifle, and wore a rather obvious officer's uniform with five gold stars on either side of her collar. Her soldier, wearing a single chevron on his shoulder, carried an R91 Assault Rifle with a bandolier of frag grenades across his chest and a rather sizeable revolver in his holster. The non-uniformed woman wore a red trench coat and cap with a little 'press' tab in the fold of her hat.
"So… you really are soldiers?" Gwen chuckled. "Now I'm really sorry about the first impression."
"Don't worry about it." Nora smirked. "Name's Nora, General of the Minutemen. This is Private Wally, and my friend Piper. Corporal Stanley's outside, radioing in for those fusion cores to be brought in."
"The Minutemen, huh?" Gwen hummed, smiling. "Thought you guys all destroyed each other a few years back, but it's good to see you're back. Caravans never were the same after you fell."
"Well, I'm glad to see you guys managed to maintain a successful vault after all these years. Impressive work." Nora smirked.
"Yeah… Blue's old Vault wasn't quite as lucky." Piper added, nodding to the General.
"Huh… so you really were a Vault Dweller?" Gwen was surprised, she didn't think any other Vaults survived. "What happened to 111?"
"It's a long story… let's just say Vault-Tec's cryogenics experiment failed." Nora sighed.
"Wait… cryogenics?" Gwen asked, stunned. "Does that mean…"
"Yeah, I'm about two hundred and thirty years old… give or take." Nora shrugged.
"Wow… a living pre-war relic." Gwen chuckled. "I'd almost call you crazy if you didn't actually look well-fed coming out of the Commonwealth. I was gonna take you up on that supervision part, but… I think you know what civility is." As they talked, Corporal Stanley walked into the Vault, hefting his radio pack as he approached.
"Castle acknowledges, General." The Corporal nodded as Nora turned to him. "The cores will be here around 0500 tomorrow, along with a security detail."
"Good to hear." Gwen nodded. "I'll see if we can't find a place for you to stay for the night. You mentioned wanting to open a dialogue with us, General?"
"Yeah… I'm here to see if your vault would be willing to join the Commonwealth Government as a member, and send a representative to the interim council in The Castle for the talks there." Nora explained.
"Hmm…" Gwen hummed. "I'll bring it up with everyone tomorrow. In the meantime, I've got some things to see to in my office. Come by sometime tonight and we can hammer out the details."
"Sounds good." Nora nodded. "Anything you need me and my men for in the meantime?"
"Not right now, feel free to make yourselves at home. I'm sure someone can show you around."
XXXXX
Nora froze in her tracks as she passed an open door, hearing some children call out to her as she walked towards the reactor room to check up on the Corporal, who was helping to fix the Vault's resident Mister Handy. She could practically feel the smile on Piper's face from behind her. It was a combination of 'Hi new lady' and 'look, it's that commonwealth lady!'
"Quiet down, kids…" The class' teacher smiled as she tried to calm the rowdy class. As Nora looked in, she saw that the lesson was evidently about physics.
"Do you have any stories from out in the Commonwealth, miss?" Erin, the young girl whose cat Nora had managed to snatch before he ran out of the Vault.
"I've got lots of stories." Nora smiled, quietly elbowing Piper as she giggled next to her.
She saw the teacher sigh. "If it's not too much trouble, would you be able to talk to the class? I'll never hear the end of it if I don't at least ask."
Nora chuckled at that. "I'd be more than happy to."
"Wonderful." The teacher smiled as the kids all let out a happy cheer.
"Oh, this is gold." Piper laughed, earning another playful elbow from Nora.
"Did you ever fight a Deathclaw?" Austin, the young boy who gave the Minutemen a tour of the Vault when they first arrived.
"Oh yeah, a couple of times actually." Nora nodded, walking towards the teacher's desk with 'Miss Katy' etched onto a little nameplate atop the desk. She leaned against the desk, adjusting her rifle so the charging handle wasn't digging into her back. "Some Minutemen helped me kill one just after I left my Vault."
"Cool! What happened?" Austin asked, the entire class listening intently.
"Well… a group of raiders had my good friend Preston trapped in the Museum of Freedom in Concord." Nora began. "Preston's the second-in-command of the Minutemen now, and this was a few months ago when he was one of the last Minutemen left."
"So you rescued him?" Erin asked, enamored by the story.
"Yep." Nora nodded. "Preston showed me where I could find some power armor I could fix up. An old U.S. military vertibird had crashed on the roof of the museum, and one of the soldiers onboard had a suit of T-45d that still worked. All I had to do was go downstairs, grab the fusion core from one of the generators, and put it into the armor."
"Woah… you've used power armor! That's awesome!" Another boy in the back called out.
"What about the Deathclaw?" Erin asked, thinking Nora was getting sidetracked.
"Well, some of the started trying to get into the building, so I ripped the minigun off the vertibird and jumped off the roof." Nora continued her story. "Their little pipe pistols weren't even close to a match for good ol' fashioned American engineering. But next thing I know, a Deathclaw crawls out of a sewer grate on the end of the street."
"Woah… that sounds scary!" Erin added.
"Preston and I just kept on shooting until the thing was finally dead." Nora added. "Good thing I know what I'm doing in power armor, it didn't even stand a chance."
"Where'd you learn how to use power armor so well?" Austin asked. "I've never even seen power armor other than in pictures!"
"You might not believe me… but I learned it in basic training back before the bombs fell." All of the class gasped, putting a smile on Nora's face. "Yep. I served in the Battle of Anchorage as a combat engineer with the U.S. Marines, Vault 111's cryogenics facility kept me alive for over two hundred years!"
"Woah! That's so cool!" Austin declared. "An actual soldier!"
Nora chuckled, watching Piper jotting down notes in the back of the room. "Alright kids… I'll let your teacher get back to the good stuff. I've gotta make sure my grunts don't break anything."
XXXXX
Nora leaned back in the chair opposite the Overseer, explaining the basics of the Commonwealth's government. Now that the fusion cores had finally arrived, along with a small squad of Minutemen to hold the perimeter outside, she was finally able to talk with Overseer McNamara about joining the Commonwealth. "Essentially, it's a mirror of the U.S. Constitution thus far." Nora explained. "We've got some talks going on in the Castle between most of the settlements in the Commonwealth. The only exception right now is Diamond City. For whatever reason, they didn't even bother showing up to the initial meeting."
"Wow… this almost sounds too good to be true." Gwen sighed. "The fact you even have an army to defend the Commonwealth is really something else."
"We're getting more recruits with every passing day, it's almost unmanageable at this point." Nora chuckled. "On the bright side, it gives us even more of a manpower advantage over the raiders."
"They're still out there?" Gwen asked.
"They've got a few holdouts in Boston, but we've managed to wipe out most of the raider gangs North of the river." Nora explained. "Central Boston's giving us a lot of trouble, especially with all of the Super Mutants and Ghouls running around. We think the Ghouls are coming from the sewers, and that's gonna be a whole other can of worms, so we're going one step at a time."
Their conversation was interrupted by the Overseer's desk intercom flaring up, the frantic Dr. Penske coming over the crackling of the intercom. "Gwen, we've got a problem! Austin's been bitten by a mole rat! When Jacob was disinfecting the bite, he collapsed! He's running a fever, and nothing's bringing it down!"
"Priscilla, slow down." Gwen's face shifted to a serious expression almost immediately. "What's Dr. Forsythe's diagnosis?"
"He doesn't know!" Penske responded, frantic. "Even stimpacks aren't closing the wound! Bobby's talking crazy about some hidden vault connected to the reactor room where he stashes his chems! Something about scientists growing viruses in mole rats!"
"Son of a bitch…" Nora muttered. "Your vault was an experiment too?"
"Hold on, Priscilla, I'll be down there in a minute!" Gwen responded. "I'm putting the Vault on lockdown."
"Gwen, Lance Corporal Petrovsky is a medic, he might be able to at least help stabilize Austin." Nora interjected. "If you need any help from us, just ask."
"Can you talk with Bobby, see about this secret vault?" Gwen asked, panic starting to seep into her voice. "And if it's not too much trouble, can your men help keep the quarantine in effect outside?"
"Absolutely." Nora nodded.
XXXXX
"Fritz, how's that terminal coming along!?" Nora asked, putting another pair of rounds downrange with her M1911, dropping one of the diseased mole rats. Thankfully, nobody had been bitten, but she was not about to take any chances with a disease like this.
"Almost got it, General!" Specialist Fritz responded, fingers dancing across the terminal's keyboard.
"General! I think we're clear!" Stanley declared, not hearing the skittering of mole rats. "Just the ones in the cages now!"
Nora let out a deep breath. "Alright… we'll put them down on the way out."
"Got it!" Fritz declared, cracking the terminal. "Door's open!"
As Fritz opened the door, the five Minutemen stormed into the room on the other end, and were surprised to see three overturned lockers with dead flowers lying at the base. There were even crosses behind the lockers, seeming to show them as some sort of gravesite. There were even picture frames atop the lockers, showing people in Vault-Tec lab coats, confirming her suspicions.
As Nora looked up from the makeshift graves, she saw a Miss Nanny robot through a window, working at some sort of chemistry station. One of its three eyes looked over to the soldiers, its French-accented voice calling out in surprise. "Oh, another stranger!" As it drifted over to window to face the five very confused Minutemen, it continued speaking. "Are you Vault-Tec Security? I've waited oh-so very patiently for you to arrive!"
"Uhh… who're you?" Nora asked, taking the lead.
"I am a Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary Engineer, or CVRIE!" The robot happily announced. "The human scientists called me Curie. I repeat, are you Vault-Tec Security?"
"No, I'm with the United States Military." Nora half-lied, hoping that was somewhere higher on the chain than Vault-Tec Security. "What were you and the scientists doing down here?"
"Oh, the military! Wonderful!" Curie happily declared. "I'm pleased to report that I accomplished my primary directive 83 years ago."
"And what was your primary directive?" Nora asked, concerned.
"Thousands of pathogens were grown in mole rat hosts, and a single broad-spectrum cure was developed to treat them all! Very satisfying work for many decades!" Curie happily announced, and Nora's jaw dropped. A few of the other Minutemen who understood what exactly Curie was talking about mirrored her perfectly. There was stunned silence for a few moments. "Please! Tell me you are authorized to release me from this room!"
"A… broad-spectrum cure?" Nora managed. "Y-yes! I'm authorized to release you."
"Superb! I will open the door for you!" Curie announced, floating over to the door's mechanism and releasing it.
All of the Minutemen turned to look at Nora, who shrugged. "Uhm… establish a perimeter?"
"Aye, ma'am…" The Minutemen all nodded, moving to guard the doors.
As Nora stepped into the lab, Curie continued her rambling. "Now, since you are a United States government representative, I entrust you with the broad-spectrum cure I developed! Please, if you have an equivalent to my digital Hippocratic oath, use it to prevent any undue suffering! However, be advised, I only have one dose left, and am unable to produce any more." With that, Curie's claw hand extended, holding a syringe identical to that of a Stimpack… holding clear liquid instead of red liquid. As the syringe dropped into Nora's hand, it finally clicked that she was quite literally holding a panacea in her hands, and it amazed her.
"O-only one dose?" Nora asked, stunned. "What about research notes? Data on this cure? Anything?!"
"Oh, of course!" Curie's central eye nodded. "These terminals all have the collective research I've been performing for the past two centuries. I've simply run out of materials to synthesize any further doses."
Nora let out a long sigh. "Oh thank God…" She gingerly tucked the syringe into her duster. "Fritz! I want you downloading every single goddamn byte from these terminals! We're not letting something like this disappear into history!"
"Right away, ma'am!" Fritz nodded, jogging into the room and fishing around in his pack for blank holotapes.
"Stanley, you're pulling security for Fritz. Regroup with us in Vault 81 after you've downloaded the data and put the rest of these mole rats down!" Nora ordered.
"Understood, ma'am!" Stanley saluted, standing guard by the door to the lab.
"And since my job here is done, I think I will follow you out!" Curie happily announced, floating over to Nora as she barked out orders.
"Alright, let's move!" Nora declared.
XXXXX
Piper watched over Lance Corporal Petrovsky and Dr. Forsythe intently as they did what they could to keep Austin's fever down. Even with the combined medical expertise of a fully-practicing doctor and a trained medic, the fever just wouldn't break and the wound refused to close. "Piper, antibiotics." Petrovsky asked, holding out a hand.
Once again finding herself cued to grab something for the medic as he monitored Austin's deteriorating condition, she reached into his medical bag and produced a small pill bottle, handing it over to the corporal.
Not long after the medic uncapped the bottle of pills, the door hissed open behind them and Blue's familiar voice called out. "What's the situation?"
"Fever hasn't broken, heartbeat's erratic." Petrovsky announced.
"Please tell me you found a cure!" Dr. Penske pleaded, seeing the General jogging over to Austin, strangely enough with a Miss Nanny just behind her.
"Not just any cure… the cure." Nora sighed, producing the syringe from her duster. "We've got one dose."
"The cure?" Piper asked, confused.
"This is a broad-spectrum cure for thousands of disease." Nora explained, handing the syringe over to Dr. Forsythe. Piper's jaw positively dropped at that.
"Wait… a Panacea?" Forsythe asked, stunned.
"Not quite." Curie responded. "Naturally, it was unable to account for some diseases due to the lack of availability, but it is effective at combatting pathogens common to the Western hemisphere."
"Alright… I'm gonna start out with a half-dose, I want to analyze this later." Forsythe began, approaching Austin.
"No need, Doctor." Nora interjected. "My men are recovering the research notes as we speak."
"Excellent, a full dose then." Forsythe nodded, injecting the clear liquid into Austin's neck.
There was a tense, thick silence as everyone watched. Piper had stepped back beside Nora, and tried to keep up with the chatter between Petrovsky and Forsythe. "Fever's broken, wound's healing!" Petrovsky declared, earning a collective sigh of relief from the many onlookers. Not even a minute later, Austin started to stir.
"Wha- Where am I?" Austin asked, slowly coming to.
"Oh thank God…" Nora breathed a sigh of relief, placing a hand on Piper's shoulder for support. She had no idea how long she was holding that breath in.
Piper felt Nora's hand shaking, and reflexively reached up to place her hand atop her friend's. Much to her internal surprise, she stopped shaking almost immediately after.
"You're in the infirmary, Austin…" Forsythe began, kneeling down beside Austin's bed. "You were very sick, and our visitors from the Commonwealth just saved your life."
"Really?" Austin asked, slowly craning his neck up to look at Nora and the Minutemen gathered around the infirmary. "Gee… thanks, everyone."
Nora couldn't help but smile. "Not a problem, Austin… five caps wasn't nearly enough for that awesome tour you gave us. Had to pay you back somehow…" Piper immediately squeezed Nora's hand when she heard her voice start to crack a bit, doing her best to comfort her friend.
"Oh my God… I had heard you were back, but…" Everyone turned to see the Overseer step inside, a relieved smile on her face now that she saw Austin was conscious. "I can't thank you enough, General… You've done so much for our vault already, and you just got here yesterday…"
"Overseer… this is the least I could do." Nora sucked in a deep breath, composing herself a bit.
"As far as I'm concerned, you and your Minutemen are welcome in Vault 81 whenever you need." Gwen nodded. "And you have my word; we'll be at the Castle for the talks."
"Glad to have you aboard." Nora smiled.
As everyone settled down a bit, Nora finally realized that her hand was on Piper's shoulder… and that Piper was still squeezing down on it, rubbing a comforting circle along the back of her hand. She almost wanted to move it… almost.
XXXXX
Nora sighed as she stepped back out into the cool Commonwealth air, a certain robot now joining them. Curie had initially asked to go with them to gather data and further her research, and the Minutemen were lacking in the science department. Nora was more than happy to oblige. "Let's see that radio, Corporal."
"No problem, General." Stanley nodded, handing the transceiver of his radio over to the General.
Nora set to work tuning it to the secure frequency used to communicate with Hanscom. After finally securing it, she activated the transceiver and called out. "Hotel Installation, this is the General, how copy?"
"We copy, General." Preston's voice came over the comms. "Glad to see you're finally done with Vault 81, we've got a situation."
"What's going on?" Nora asked, instantly growing concerned.
"Looks like our little misinformation campaign worked, for better or worse." Preston explained, sighing. "Hanscom's been hit by the Institute, we think they believed the talks were taking place here."
Nora let out a pained sigh. "Damnit… we knew it was possible. Casualties?"
"Minimal, thankfully." Preston replied. "None KIA, but we've got six wounded and one MIA."
"MIA?" Nora asked. "Who?"
"Sergeant White, ma'am." Preston replied. The very second Preston said her name, Nora's heart sank like a rock. The entire squad stopped, and the Minutemen all shared a concerned glance. "She was heading to the Armory to grab more grenades for the forty millimeter, then there was a sound like a clap of thunder, and she was gone. All that was left was her rifle and the grenade belt."
"Those motherfuckers!" Nora gritted her teeth, pushing down the desire to kill something immediately. "How the hell did they extract her without any of us noticing?!"
"We've got… a lead." Preston replied. "At the exact moment that clap of thunder sounded off, that classical radio station had some static interference. It happened right when the Synths first attacked the base, too."
"What the hell…?" Nora muttered to herself.
"Your guess is as good as ours, General." Preston's shrug was practically audible over the radio. "We've got every garrison in the Commonwealth on high alert, preparing for another attack."
Nora suppressed a sigh. "Copy that… I'm swinging by Diamond City. Hopefully Valentine has something for us by now. I'm sending a new asset to Hanscom in the meantime, it's a Miss Nanny robot named Curie, she can assist the medical staff."
"Copy, General." Preston affirmed. "We'll keep you posted if anything happens."
As Nora deactivated the transceiver, there was a solemn silence among the squad. "General…" Stanley finally managed.
"Yes, Corporal?" Nora asked, looking over to the soldier.
"Requesting permission to join the strike team when we can finally kick the Institute's ass?" Stanley asked.
"Granted." Nora nodded. "Now c'mon, we're getting answers by sundown!"
As Nora took point, Piper had to practically jog to keep up with her. "Blue… are you alright?"
"Those motherfuckers have another thing coming if they think they're gonna kidnap my men and hold them hostage!" Nora growled. "I'll be alright when I put a bullet in every piece of shit in the Institute."
XXXXX
Nora approached the front gate to Diamond City, which was thankfully open. At the very least, she could spare Sullivan her undying wrath. Sadly, McDonough was standing by the entrance with two security guards. "General…" He began.
"McDonough, I'm in no mood for your shit. Unless you're gonna tell me you'll be at the talks, go fuck yourself." Nora deadpanned, continuing past the flabbergasted mayor of Diamond City. In any other situation, Piper would have been laughing like a maniac, but she knew now was not the time.
Nora completely ignored the peddlers in the market, even bypassing her ritualistic one-sided conversation with Takahaski. She only stopped to wave off the salute of a small squad of Minutemen that had stopped in Diamond City to restock. She made a beeline for Valentine's office, and practically shoved the door open. "Nick…" She began, Piper and the rest of the squad filing in behind her.
Seeing the deadly serious look on Nora's face, Nick decided to hold onto the joke he had planned. "Something happen?"
"The Institute hit Hanscom, we've got one MIA… it's White." Nora answered, curtly.
"Son of a bitch… it's a Courser." Nick sighed.
"Courser?" Nora asked, confused. White had mentioned them before, but she could never really get a straight answer on what exactly they were.
"Elite synths designed to hunt down and recover escaped synths." Nick answered, reaching below his desk and producing a small folder. "And before you ask, I do finally have something for you." He opened the folder and started scanning over the contents. "Some mercs brought in a Ghoul that had crawled out of the Glowing Sea. He was captured by the Children of Atom who set up a little convent in the crater and forcefully 'enlightened by Atom's glow' as he put it. Before he escaped, he overheard the cultists talking about a man named Brian Virgil."
"It's all a bit of a haze for me, but that name is definitely Institute." Nick continued. "I have no idea if Virgil's gone rogue, or is just on some scouting mission, but this is probably our best chance to get some dirt on the Institute."
"Definitely better than nothing…" Nora nodded. "Would you be willing to come with us? We could use the help now that we've got so many men tied up defending the settlements."
"Of course." Nick nodded. "Been too damn long since I got outta this office." With that, Nick stood up and grabbed his pistol from the desk, slotting it into his underarm holster.
"Good to hear." Nora forced a smile. "Stanley! Radio the Castle, notify them that they're to prepare as much power armor and anti-rad drugs as possible."
"Aye, ma'am!" Stanley nodded, stepping outside to call the General's orders in.
"Blue, are we really going to the Glowing Sea?" Piper asked, terrified at the concept of walking into the highly-irradiated blast area of a nuke.
"If it means I get one step closer to kicking their ass, absolutely." Nora nodded. "Need anything else, Nick?"
"A bigger gun couldn't hurt." Nick shrugged.
"We'll get you something at the Castle." Nora nodded for the door.
"Watch the office for me, Ellie!" Nick called out over his shoulder.
XXXXX
Nora placed her M16 on the rack of the Castle's ever-expanding armory, grabbing one of the six fusion cores and slotting it into the rear of her personal suit of T-51b power armor. With a quick turn of the valve, the armored shell opened up and allowed her to step inside. When the suit sensed she was safely inside, it closed around her, and the HUD flared up. Wanting something with a bit more punch than a 5.56, she grabbed one of the AER-9 laser rifles and a few spare microfusion cells from a rack beside her, slotting the cell in and powering the rifle up.
As she turned around, she was greeted by the sight of her strike team that would be traversing the treacherous Glowing Sea. Piper had climbed into a spare suit of T-45, and carried a Browning Automatic Rifle and nearly a dozen spare magazines. Nick, being a Synth, had no need for the power armor but did decide to borrow a set of combat armor and a .50 caliber sniper rifle. Corporal Stanley, being the team's comms technician, had climbed into a suit of T-49 and carried a .30 caliber Browning HMG modified to be carried by power-armored infantry. Finally, Lieutenant Nikolov, one of the original Minutemen from the retaking of the Castle, had elected to pack the heat of the fireteam. He was wearing a suit of T-51e power armor and hefting a Bozar. Each of them carried enough Radaway and Rad-X to last the trip, plus rations and water. "Ready to roll?" Nora asked, finishing with her final armor checks.
"Ready." Everyone nodded.
XXXXX
"This is eerie…" Piper half-whispered, her voice somewhat amplified by the armor's helmet. They were right along the rim of the Glowing Sea, surrounded by blackened soil and mangled trees. There was an aura of death and decay surrounding the epicenter of Boston's nuclear annihilation.
"I really don't like the look of this." Nora agreed. She had only heard stories about the Glowing Sea, and none of them pretty. The only things that survived out here were Deathclaws, Radscorpions, and other hideously mutated creatures.
As the small squad continued along the road to the Glowing Sea, they eventually found themselves at an old military checkpoint that was now occupied by a small squad of Brotherhood Paladins and Scribes. "Hold up!" One of the Paladins shouted from atop a makeshift watchtower. "What're you doing out here?!"
"Children of Atom are somewhere in the Glowing Sea!" Nora shouted back. "They've taken some settlers prisoner, we're going to recover them!"
"Wouldn't recommend it, wastelander!" The Paladin replied, shrugging. "They're probably already dead or Ghouls now!"
"Whichever it is, at least we'll clear the goddamn cultists out." Nora returned the shrug.
"Knew you Minutemen were crazy, but this is something new." The Paladin chuckled. "Well, it's your funeral. Good luck out there!"
"Same to you!" Nora returned, simply for courtesy's sake. She didn't so much mind the Brotherhood's men, it was more their ideals she took issue with.
As the Minutemen all passed through the Brotherhood's checkpoint, they received a few looks from the Paladins and Scribes, but paid them little mind. Once they were sufficiently out of earshot, the air around them started to become choked with radioactive dust and howling wind. Thankfully, the power armor was keeping most of the rads on the outside and the Rad-X was neutralizing any that did manage to get through.
"What are they doing this far out here?" Piper asked, nodding back to the checkpoint.
"If I had to guess… probably monitoring the Glowing Sea, making sure mutants don't come swarming out." Nora shrugged, keeping her head on a swivel as she followed the pre-planned path they'd take to the crater.
"Probably." Nick nodded. "A couple of Brotherhood patrols have been stopping by Diamond City lately, overheard some talk about recovering something from the Glowing Sea. No idea what, but it can't be good."
"Nothin' out here but rocks and mutants." Nikolov shrugged. "Probably just want soil samples or some shit."
The team came to a dead stop when the distant roar of a Deathclaw filled the air. Everyone's weapons were brought to bear as they scanned the dust storm around them. Satisfied that no Deathclaws were bearing down on them, they continued on.
The trip was largely quiet, save the occasional swarm of Bloatflies or Radscorpion pack. They did proceed a bit more carefully when they caught sight of a pair of Deathclaws fighting over territory, and thankfully avoided their attention. They traversed pools of radioactive muck that had once been marshes, hills covered in dead trees, and through the remnants of an old gas station before they finally started scaling the small mountain that housed the crater. The power armor made the climb a bit more bearable, but it was still tiring having to constantly adjust their footing. Nick, being the most nimble of the group, had reached the top a few minutes before the others, and was looking down into the crater through the scope of his rifle.
"Got anything, Nick?" Nora asked, finally pulling herself over the rim of the crater.
"Definitely some Children of Atom down there." Nick acknowledged, still looking down the scope. "At least two dozen." He continued scanning their little scrap metal camp, when his eyes finally settled on something disturbing. "Wait… there's some ghouls tied to posts around a pool of water in the middle of the crater."
"Oh god… the cultists turned them into Ghouls?" Piper asked, rhetorically.
"Just like that little sting you did in Bunker Hill's sewer." Nick nodded, finally looking up from his scope. "This is probably what that ghoul was talking about."
"How do you wanna play this, General?" Nikolov asked, flicking off the safety of his Bozar.
Nora thought to herself for a moment, then finally settled on something. "Nick, you and the Lieutenant stay up here and wait for our signal. When we start shooting, give 'em hell."
"Got it, General." Nikolov nodded, crouching down beside Nick.
Nora nodded to the Corporal and Piper, and began slowly descending the crater. Thankfully, it was a fairly shallow slope. When the three of them finally approached the small scrap metal encampment, a few of the cultists emerged from their shacks and stared at them. There was some sort of leader, standing before a shrine of some kind. "Stop right there, strangers!" She declared, crossing her scarred and calloused arms over her chest. "You approach Atom's holy ground, state your purpose or be divided in his sight!"
"Lookin' for someone named Brian Virgil." Nora deadpanned, keeping her finger ready to jump down to the trigger and start dropping crazies.
"Virgil? Yes, we know of this… Virgil." The cult leader nodded. "What do you want with him?"
"I just need some… information from him." Nora replied.
"I see… well, in truth, this Virgil has caused some concern. Some believe his presence is an affront to Atom." The cultist relented. "Though he came to trade with us on a few occasions, we have had little contact with him otherwise. It was quite clear he wanted to be left alone." She pointed roughly to the southwest. "You can find him just to the southwest of the crater, living in a cave. I would approach cautiously, I feel he does not want visitors."
"Alright… appreciate it." Nora nodded. "Now… about those Ghouls down there." She nodded towards the ghouls that had been tied to wooden posts around the crater's center.
"Oh, the Enlightened?" The leader perked up. "Do you wish to learn more about Atom's many gifts, my child?"
"I more want to know if they're here willingly." Nora deadpanned.
"My child… our goal is to spread Atom's light to a world that does not want to hear it." The leader added. "Some concessions must be made for our struggle."
Nora sighed. "At the very least, I can't call you dishonest." She raised her rifle, sending a spear of red laser light through the cult leader's chest. With a faint smell of ozone filling the air around them, the cultist collapsed in a heap on the wooden floor. Behind her, where Stanley had been watching the rest of the camp, the Corporal opened up with his Browning MG. The heavy thumping of Piper's BAR sounded off, joined by the occasional crack from Nick's sniper rifle and the Lieutenant's Bozar.
The Children of Atom, taken completely by surprise, had little chance to scramble to cover before they were shredded by the incoming fire. A few did manage to fire some sort of radiation gun at Nora and her two companions, but their power armor did a good enough job keeping them safe.
With a final crack from Nick's rifle, the last cultist taking cover behind a metal barricade found himself with a new breathing hole in his neck, courtesy of a .50 BMG round. With the cultists dealt with, Nora jogged over to the three ghouls that were tied to the wooden posts and started undoing the leather strips keeping them bound. "Woah… you're Minutemen?" One of the ghouls managed, his voice even rougher than usual, likely due to dehydration.
"That we are." Nora nodded, finally freeing him. "Can you walk?"
"I… I think so." The ghoul nodded, gently rubbing his scarred wrists. "Definitely can't go back to Diamond City looking like this."
As Piper and the Corporal worked to release the other two ghouls, Nora continued helping the first prisoner to his feet. "We've got a relatively safe path out of here, if you take it and head to Fort Hagen, my men there can get you medical treatment and a decent bed. Just tell the guards the General sent you, along with the code phrase 'one if by land'."
"Really? Appreciate it…" The ghoul nodded, watching as Nora pulled out a paper map of the Commonwealth and traced a rough line of the path the ghouls would need to take to reach Fort Hagen unharmed.
"No problem." Nora nodded. "Grab any supplies you can from around here, we've got another mission to see to. Good luck."
"You too, General." The ghoul gave a smile. "Thanks again for the help."
As the ghouls started rooting around the Children of Atom camp, the Minutemen all regrouped back on the rim of the crater and set off towards the cave the cultists had described. After a short trek, Nora and her team stopped dead in their tracks as they heard the shuffling of rather large feet on the loose dirt, followed by some growls. "Son of a bitch…" Nora muttered, activating her rifle again.
As the rest of the Minutemen prepared their weapons, a Deathclaw's horned head popped up over a small ridge. It spotted the power armor-clad Minutemen almost instantly, and bared its claws. Thankfully, with the Deathclaw being rather young and its hide not having the time to harden, the combined firepower of a laser rifle, .30 caliber Browning MG, BAR, Bozer, and .50 caliber sniper rifle was more than enough to take it down before anyone got hurt.
Nora sighed, replacing her spent microfusion cell. "Y'know… they're not as scary as they used to be."
"Nice to have more than one gun going up against one, I guess." Piper shrugged, replacing her spent .30-06 magazine. "At least it wasn't one of the matured ones."
"No kidding…" Nick nodded. "Spent a week trying to fix my wrist after my last run-in with one."
Nora took the lead scaling the ridge, eventually seeing the mouth of a cave against the face of the mountain. She motioned for the Lieutenant and Corporal to stand by the entrance and pull security, while she took point with Nick and Piper.
Upon entering the cave, Nora was greeted by the sight of can chimes, and heard the chugging of a turret's internal combustion engine further down the cave. She shuffled between the can chimes, thankfully not disturbing them, and was surprised to find the turrets weren't shooting at her. They were only .223 turrets, but they could still do some decent damage if they got in the armor's joints. After cautiously walking between the two turrets, she came face-to-face with a surprised-looking Super Mutant holding a rather obvious Institute Laser Rifle. She had only seen that weapon once before on a Synth, but it was still impressive. It was sleek, far more-so than the AER-9 she carried, and significantly more-powerful. "Hold it right there!" The mutant declared, his grip tensing when he saw Nick and Piper walk in behind Nora. "I know you're from the Institute, so where's Kellogg? Trying to sneak up on me while you distract me?!"
"Jesus, take it easy…" Nora held a hand out in a neutral gesture. "Kellogg's dead, killed the son of a bitch myself."
"Dead… you really killed him?!" Virgil managed, stunned. "Don't you lie to me!"
"If I were lying, I wouldn't have his precious little .44 as a goddamn mantelpiece." Nora deadpanned. "Sorry I didn't yank out some of his cybernetics to prove it."
"You really killed him…" Virgil sighed, letting the rifle fall to his side. "That's the only way you could know he had cybernetics. Still, it's impressive. There's a reason the Institute used him for their dirty work… man was ruthless." Virgil placed the rifle on a table in the middle of his cave home, with a protectron stomping around in the back. There was science equipment everywhere, and a makeshift bed comprised of tires and a rough mattress. "So… what did you want with me?"
"What can you tell me about the Institute?" Nora asked, lowering her rifle to her side. "I need to get in there, make those fuckers pay."
"Wait… are you joking?" Virigl asked, incredulously. "Are you insane? What reason could you possibly have for taking a risk like that?"
"Where should I start? The part where they kidnapped my baby boy, or the part where they kidnapped one of my men and attacked our headquarters?" Nora deadpanned. "The Minutemen have a score to settle, and I'm gonna make it happen one way or another."
"Oh…" Virgil managed, his voice falling solemn. "I had no idea… I'm sorry. If you're son's one of the people the Institute's taken, I can understand why you want to get in there. I can help, but I'm going to need something in return."
"And what would that be?" Nora asked.
"Before I had to escape, I was working on a serum that could serve as a cure for my… condition." Virgil explained. "Not a catch-all cure for FEV, but at the very least the strain that's common here in the Commonwealth. I wasn't able to bring it with me, so it should still be in my lab in the older section of the Bioscience division. I need you to get this cure for me… if you manage to get inside that is."
"Sounds good." Nora nodded. "You scratch my back, I scratch yours."
"Alright… let's talk details." Virgil nodded, grabbing a notepad and a pen, fumbling with it for a moment. "Stupid overgrown hands…" He muttered to himself. "First things first: do you know how Synths get in and out?"
"My men described some sort of sound like thunder, a flash of light, and some static on the classical radio station's frequency." Nora rattled off, humming to herself. "If I had to wager, I was thinking some sort of teleporter, but that just sounded too crazy at first."
"Well, well… I'm impressed. Not many people know about it, pretty closely-guarded secret. You've certainly done your homework." Virgil nodded. "Wait… your 'men'? What do you mean?"
"I'm the General of the Minutemen." Nora explained.
Virgil's eyes widened at that. "Huh… so it looks like the Institute really did kick the hornet's nest. I've heard some of your radio signals, you guys have been on the warpath in the Commonwealth lately." Virgil shook his head, sighing. "Either way, that 'teleporter' is referred to as the 'Molecular Relay'. I don't fully understand all of the intricacies of it, but it works."
"De-materializes you in one place, and reverses it in another." Virgil explained. "Sounds crazy, but it works… as you've definitely seen. The Relay is thought to be the only way in and out, but there's another. Under the old CIT building, there's a sewer entrance that'll take you straight to one of the run-down sections of the Institute that was abandoned after a collapse in the early years. The entrance is an out-flow pipe on the riverbank, but there's one problem... The Institute knows about this back door, and it's guarded by a lot of Gen-1 synths thanks to my escape."
"That's a bottleneck… I don't like it." Nora sighed. "Sounds ripe for a good killbox."
"That's the thing, if you do manage to get through and into the Institute, you can get to the Relay Room. In that control room, you'll be able to take direct control of the relay and call in reinforcements from just about anywhere in the Commonwealth… so long as they have a radio transceiver."
"I like it." Nora smirked. "They definitely won't be expecting the Minutemen to kick down their front door. How heavily-entrenched is the Institute? What kind of security do they have?"
"It's hard to say, but the central atrium is relatively well-guarded. At least three-dozen Gen-1 and 2 synths, maybe a Courser or two from the Synth Retention Bureau. If you hit them hard and fast enough, you might be able to catch them off-guard." Virgil shrugged.
"I like this plan…" Nora smirked. "Shock and awe is what I do." She looked Virgil up and down for a moment, eventually settling on a rather crazy idea. "So Virgil… how'd you like to join the Minutemen as a member of R&D?"
"Are you serious? Leave the Glowing Sea?" Virgil asked, incredulous. "This place is the one thing keeping them from taking me back."
"We've already fought off a full assault at our primary HQ, it'd take a full battalion of Synths to break our lines there." Nora retorted. "The entire edge of the base is mined, set up with laser tripwires, and guarded by a 24/7 patrol and overlooked by MG nests in watchtowers. Even Stealth Boys can't sneak past, thanks to the patrols having T-49 power armor equipped with FLIR optics."
"Jesus… this place sounds like a fortress." Virgil ran a hand along his chin. "But you said the Institute already kidnapped one of your men, who's to say you can stop them from taking me?"
"They got through once because we weren't prepared…" Nora began, her voice lowering. "We're prepared now."
She spoke with a certain conviction that Virgil couldn't quite ignore, and he seriously considered it. "Tell you what…" Virgil began. "You bring me the serum, and I'll do it."
"Good to hear." Nora smirked. "Give me a week."
XXXXX
"Blue, this is crazy." Piper began, walking alongside the General as she stormed through the halls of Hanscom's command building, barking out orders as she went. "Are we really assaulting the Institute?"
"You're damn right we are." Nora nodded. "Captain! I want a full platoon of mechanized infantry on-standby when we set off! Heavy ordinance!"
"Copy that, ma'am!" Ronnie Shaw called back, immediately turning to bark out her own orders to her subordinates.
"Are you seriously gonna teleport men into the Institute?" Piper asked, still stunned.
"Virgil says it works, and Synths obviously come and go, so it should work for us." Nora shrugged. "Garvey! How's the platoon looking?!" She leaned out of a window, seeing Preston was preparing the light infantry platoon that would be joining her in the tunnels.
"Equipment checks out!" Preston called back.
"Are the sappers comfortable enough with the C-4?" Nora called down. "I don't want any goddamn doors stopping this assault!"
"Ready and rarin' to blow shit up, ma'am!" A sergeant called up, giving a salute.
"Goddamn right, soldier!" Nora returned the salute, wheeling around to face Piper. "So… you coming along?"
Piper stared at Nora for a moment, absolutely floored. "I mean… damnit Blue, someone's gotta keep an eye on you!"
"So that's a yes." Nora smiled.
Piper sighed. "Yeah…"
"Awesome!" Nora declared, smiling. "I need the Commonwealth's craziest goddamn war correspondent for the first official operation of the Commonwealth Army."
XXXXX
"Equipment check!" Nora declared, crouched down against the wall of the canal beside the CIT. She was wearing the new uniform of the Commonwealth Army, OD-Green fatigues covered by dark green combat armor. It had taken a good bit of consideration to decide what their first official uniform would look like, and it was decided that you can't go wrong with the classics. She had an old Marines Combat Helmet on over her head, complete with a full night vision system built into the visor. With it being the dead of night, and their mission taking them underground, it would likely be essential.
Nora checked her own M16's chamber and optics, making sure all of her equipment and armor was secured for the short swim down the pipe. Her rifle and M1911 handgun were now outfitted with a suppressor. She carried a bandolier of 40mm grenades on her chest, along with a carrier rig for her spare magazines and frag grenades.
Piper racked back the charging handle on her M4 carbine, which was outfitted with an old holographic optic and foregrip. Her uniform was identical to Nora's and the rest of the CA's troops, but a white 'press' was painted on either side of her helmet.
The three sappers in the platoon all checked their combat shotguns and 12.7mm SMGs, ensured their demolitions gear was secured, and gave Nora a thumbs-up. The two support gunners all checked their old Johnson LMGs and M1911 sidearms, giving their General a thumbs-up. The five light riflemen all checked their own M16s and M1911s, giving a thumbs-up. Finally, the five heavy riflemen checked their AER-9 laser rifles and M1911 handguns, finalizing the equipment check for the strike team. All of their weapons, with the exception of the shotguns, LMGs, and laser rifles were suppressed.
"Alright…" Nora began, reaching up to her helmet and activating her night vision. "On me."
The platoon of fifteen soldiers and Piper all followed behind Nora as she dropped into the canal, swimming for the small outlet pipe that Virgil had mentioned. Thankfully, given how recent his escape had been, the pipe's grate still had yet to be replaced by the Institute. Piper and a few of the shorter troops had to swim down the pipe, while Nora and the taller troops were able to wade through the water at roughly chest or shoulder height.
After navigating a few hundred feet of pipe, the claustrophobic tunnel eventually gave way to an old service area for the vast sewer system of Boston. Nora quietly stepped over the small drop down onto solid concrete, finding footing on a catwalk that followed alongside a vast network of pipes. She waited for the others to catch up, taking up a position behind a pipe and keeping her rifle trained down the tunnel before her. With the Commonwealth Army troops now out of the pipe and in the service tunnel, she looked over her shoulder. "Radio silence, hand signals only."
Piper and the troops all gave a thumbs-up in response, and continued following Nora through the tunnel. After a few minutes of a tense trek through the eerily silent service tunnel network, mentally following the steps Virgil had laid out for her in his cave, she came to a dead stop at a corner, hearing the metallic footfalls of at least three synths. She held up a closed fist, ordering the rest of her men to hold position behind her.
Seeing that the emergency lights were enough to light the area around the corner, she reached into her carrier rig and produced a small mirror, poking it around the corner to check. She saw the dirty reflection of four Gen-2 synths, three of them carrying stun batons and one carrying an Institute laser pistol. She held up four fingers to her men, and they all nodded in acknowledgement. After pointing to the three sappers and motioning towards the corner, each of them nodded and brought their SMGs to bear, creeping toward the corner. Nora stepped back, allowing the sappers to get to work.
All three of them stacked up on the corner, with their sergeant counting down from three on his free hand. When he finished his count, the three CA sappers all popped out from behind the corner, the soft rattling of the 12.7mm SMG's action and the pinging of rounds against metal and concrete filling the tunnel for a moment. After scanning the tunnel before them, the sappers' sergeant gave a thumbs-up, letting Nora take the lead again.
The next few rooms proceed much as the first, with the CA troops proceeding slowly and methodically through the sewer system as they hopefully neared their first objective. Eventually, the tunnel network gave way to run-down and dirty walls accented by a single yellow line, rooms filled with overturned desks and chairs, and old scientific equipment. They had finally reached the run-down section of the Institute that Virgil had mentioned, which meant that the pipe leading to the relay control room was close.
After clearing another three derelict office spaces, they finally found the pipe they had been searching for. It was just large enough for everyone to crawl through, and was thankfully dry. Nora took the lead, ducking into the pipe and crawling on her stomach through the cramped metal space until she found a maintenance hatch. She lightly tapped on the metal surface below her twice, signaling to her men that they had arrived. Each of the troops tapped in turn, acknowledging.
Nora quietly opened the maintenance hatch, pulling herself out of the pipe. She found herself in a relatively spacious maintenance closet, just as Virgil had described. There was a single door before her, leading directly to the relay control room if Virgil's directions were correct. Given how accurate they had been so far, she had no doubt they were.
The closet itself was bathed in light from a single fluorescent bulb on the ceiling, with all of the walls painted a sterile white. There were shelves covered in tools and equipment that Nora couldn't hope to understand, even with her experience in engineering. Taking a chance, she reached up to remove her helmet, and put her ear against the surprisingly thin door. Not having any way to convey this in hand signal, she whispered back to her men with her findings.
"Sounds like 4 synth guards, possibly a human manning the control terminal." She began. "Just like we planned. Sappers, you breach the door and take down the synths. The rest of us will secure the room and detain the scientists until reinforcements can be relayed in from Hanscom." Each of the troopers returned with a thumbs up, with the sappers stacking up on the door. One of the sappers produced a stun grenade from his carrier rig, quietly sliding the pin our and holding down the spoon. "On my mark…" Nora whispered again. "Three… two… one… mark."
At her word, the sappers' sergeant pressed the button to open the door, allowing it to slide open. Just as the door opened, one of the other sappers tossed the stun grenade in, the spoon clattering to the metal floor beside the flashbang. The instant it went off, followed by a cry of surprise from a woman sitting behind a computer terminal, the sappers stormed in with their SMGs rattling off rounds at the synth guards. The rest of the CA troops followed in behind, with one of the light riflemen running over to the stunned woman and throwing her to the ground, locking her wrists behind her back in handcuffs. As the rest of the troops fanned out, the Lieutenant eventually called out. "All clear, General!"
"Good." Nora nodded, knowing that this room was only connected to the rest of the Institute through a staircase, which was through another hallway, and an elevator in the back of the room. "Get her bound to something." She gestured to the Institute scientist with her rifle. "Fritz, get that relay online!"
"Affirmative, ma'am!" Fritz nodded, heading for the terminal. When he pulled the chair aside, he let out a reflexive "Holy shit…"
"What is it?" Nora asked, walking over, ignoring the sounds of the woman resisting her men's attempts to restrain her to a pipe along the wall. When she walked up beside him, she immediately saw it.
This terminal was unlike anything she had ever seen. Sure, it had a screen and a keyboard, but that was about where the similarities ended. Its screen was flat, and had some sort of graphic interface in place of the text-based one she was used to seeing. On top of that, it looked portable, barely three inches thick and it even folded at the base of the screen. "Good goddamn…" Nora muttered, watching Fritz fiddle with the device for a moment before he realized that the little indented square at the base of the keyboard was actually some sort of touch-sensitive pad that controlled the cursor on screen.
"What in the world is that?" Piper asked, stunned now that she was looking at the same thing as Nora and Fritz.
"No idea…" Fritz answered. "I can hack a terminal, but this is beyond me… wait, here." He hovered the cursor over a little tab on the bottom of the screen, bringing up a somewhat familiar interface that allowed for frequency numbers to be entered. "Think I found it…"
"Well, let's put in the frequency and see what happens." Nora shrugged, prompting Fritz to do just that.
After typing in the frequency that had been set aside for the troops to relay in on, he tapped the enter key. In the room directly in front of the computer station, a familiar blue flash and thundering noise sounded off, leaving a power-armored Commonwealth Army soldier in its wake. "Holy crap…" The trooper managed, looking around in confusion.
"Only one?" Nora asked, looking to Fritz.
"Oh, wait…" Fritz said, sighing. "Right here, it says 'number to relay'… ignore me, I'm a jackass." Roughly estimating the amount of troops that could fit in the room that the one power-armored infantryman was now walking out of, he typed in '3', and tapped the enter key. Sure enough, the same flash and thunder sounded off, leaving another 3 troopers in its wake. This time, Preston was among them, carrying a radio pack on his back.
"Reporting, General!" Preston nodded, stepping out of the relay with his AER-9 readied. "Glad to see you made it."
The scientist who had been detained watched in horror as more and more CA soldiers were relayed in, eventually settling in at twenty five men relayed in, most of them sporting power armor or heavy combat armor. "See what else you can dig up on that terminal there, the rest of you? On me!" Nora declared, gesturing towards the staircase.
XXXXX
"Mechanized, you take the lead." Nora ordered, nodding towards the door that was now covered by a thin line of C-4 that would serve to blast it open. According to Virgil, this door would take them directly to the Institute's atrium. "Don't fire at any humans unless fired upon, same goes for Gen-3 synths."
"Copy that." The two mechanized infantrymen nodded, hefting their Miniguns as they formed a wall in front of the rest of the large platoon that would be storming the atrium.
"Sappers, breach in three… two… one…" Right when she reached one, Nora watched the C-4 go up, blasting the door outwards and sending the thin metal slabs that were once door into the atrium. Without needing any further prompts, the two minigun-toting mechanized infantrymen stormed in, their weapons spinning up and spitting lead downrange at the Gen-1 and 2 synths that were now converging on the source of the noise.
The large atrium was beautiful, covered in actually green flora, lit by fluorescent lights that seemed to be built into the walls and ceiling, almost giving the illusion of sunlight. The troops didn't quite have time to admire the scenery, as all of them rushed for any cover they could find. Some took up positions behind elevated metal walls, some behind the metal walls surrounding planters, and some even stood in the open, raining down fire in the case of the mechanized infantry.
Stunned Institute personnel were running in every direction, not exactly expecting a force of nearly thirty soldiers to breach their home and start massacring synths. After just a few moments of synths swarming out of nearby rooms and hallways, a rather aged voice called out over some sort of PA system. "Everyone, please! Hold your fire! The synths are standing down!"
Sure enough, each and every one of the synths in the atrium that were still standing entered some sort of standby state, earning a look of confusion from the still-tense Commonwealth soldiers. Seeing all of the scientists still cowering behind cover, Nora looked around. "You the leader of the Institute or some shit?!" She shouted. "I dunno if you've heard, but we've got a bone to pick with you!"
"I have heard…" The same older, male voice called down, this time from a balcony to Nora's right. He was dressed in a white lab coat over a green turtleneck sweater. If she had to guess, Nora would place him at about sixty or seventy years old, but he was surprisingly nimble for someone so old. "And I've heard a lot about you… you've come looking for your son."
"That's right… what the hell have you done with Shaun?!" Nora shouted up at the Director. "And my goddamn sergeant?!"
"Well… I was hoping we could meet under less… tense circumstances, but…" The Director sighed. "I am your son… I'm Shaun."
Nora's mouth dropped open, along with every single CA trooper in the atrium. "No way…" was all Nora could manage.
Author's Note:
Yes, we really did bypass the whole Courser bit. Like I said, shit's getting REAL non-canon now bois. If anyone's wondering why the "main story" is progressing so fast, it's because Fallout 4's main story is about 1/5 of the story I've got planned for this. So don't worry, we've still got a ways to go :)
Right to the reviews I guess:
CT7567Rules- Soon (tm)
Joker555888- I've got… slightly bigger plans in mind for the Commonwealth's first attempt at naval warfare. Stay tuned for more.
Blaze1992- Trust me, you should be a LOT more concerned about the BoS ;)
RedShirt1453- Enclave… I see you are a man of culture as well.
96- Story's still alive, I just work a lot.
