Finding Peace & Glory Chapter 9

AN1: Sorry for another delay been sick and busy with school yet again! R&R please!

==2 Days Later – The Freedom Trail==

Glory watched from her perch high above the overlooks that spanned the Freedom Trail. Most times they were manned in key locales by those who appeared to simply be slummers and loners. Usually the Freedom Trail was one also used to run new Synths around the core of the Commonwealth from say Good Neighbor to other safe houses.

But today as the sun set over the Commonwealth wasteland Glory was perched on the broadest vantage look out point with Deacon. Who using scavenged and rebuilt camera feeds over the length of the Freedom Trail would be Glory's eyes and ears when personal view of Nora was lost from their vantage point. Right now the Minutemen General was at the Trails start listening to the reprogrammed robot tour guide. "..Think she'll notice 'Swan'?" Deacon inquired.

"..Oh she's aware, look at her stance, she's primed a pair of plasma grenades in her left pocket I'd wager by now." Glory replied lowering a set of high definition field glasses. No sooner had Glory spoken when the monstrous Swan burst from the central radiation spawned lake. Nora to her credit moved fast for a human, throwing two primed plasma grenades from the depths of her left pocket as Glory had surmised.

As the two rare military grenades fused to Swan's chest and exploded blinding the monstrous beast Nora moved swiftly under its blinding cover to draw out a six crank laser musket from the Minutemen's stock at the Castle. Coming out of cover of one of the broken cement walls she fired its powerful charge off into the open wound chest of Swan then dropped it quickly as the beast came lumbering forward in a charge of rage at her. "..Inventive.." Deacon commented from his view on the monitors.

"..Heh, you should have seen how she handled a pair of raiders at the Red Rocket gas station." Glory said, watching as Nora now drew out her Brotherhood of Steel given automatic laser rifle. Turning she peppered the injured Swan with a full fusion cell charge before diving out of the way of a slashing claw. Glory couldn't help but wince in how close it came to slicing Nora's left shoulder off but didn't say anything otherwise. As Nora finished her dive to the left, she came up in a running stance firing the rifle over her shoulder, to her credit most of the blind over the shoulder shots hit their mark on Swan's chest.

"..I read your report on Red Rocket, both then and now. Those new Minutemen under her charge sure are getting a training work out. Most of the Northern Commonwealth can't stop talking about how nice it is to be for the most part safe and with regular cooperation and free trade going on up there. Not like Mayor MacDongle ass hat in Diamond City." He said. Then as Nora avoided the near miss of before he winced, "..Oh man! That was close."

It seems by now Nora had worked her way around in a full running circle to get back to her six-crank Laser Musket. Snatching it up on the run Glory watched as the pre-war woman dumped the spent six cells and using a likely personalized speed loader slammed another six in. Cranking it quickly on the run with Swan in hot pursuit on her heels she turned as the beast lunged again at her firing it point blank into its face. A blinding flash of light obscured the results for a second before Glory's optics adjusted and revealed that Swan's head had been cored clean through dropping its heavy body inches from Nora's feet. As the pre-war woman reloaded her weapons smoothly she soon was setting out onto the Freedom Trail proper. "..Say nothing else about that Nora Shells there but she's brave. Qualities like that I don't need to tell you are in short supply." Glory commented to Deacon.

"..True enough, especially since we lost the old HQ at Slocum Joe's and just got settled into the Church. Shame about poor Tommy Whispers, only having you as our primary heavy agent for the big missions has put us on the defensive again more then usual.." Deacon said. "..Huh, interesting seems she's bypassing the usual route for following the red line markers." Deacon then said as both observer's watched Nora push through some rubble and ruins to loop around what would have been a series of small turrets put there for the purpose of testing someones resolve in dealing with an ambush.

"..I think she spotted the wires you ran!.." Glory said with a chuckle, "..look see? She's disconnecting the power feeds." Glory said as Nora did just that then proceeded to scavenge most of the 5.56mm ammo trays for the three turrets.

"..Damnit! Does she know how hard it was to find that ammo and those turrets? Bah well I guess that's one way to deal with that test. If you can't beat it head on then go over, under or around it." He said.

"..True that...hmm..looks like we got some Raider scavengers who have wandered onto the Trail too." Glory said then pointing to one of the camera feeds, where presently Nora was being approached by four leering male raiders.

"..Shit, I didn't expect that. Think she'll be ok?" Deacon said.

"..Piff, if she can stare Swan in the face of death she can handle these idiots." Glory said, and like the other challenges so far Nora seemed to adopt the pose of a struggling scavenger woman in the wastes. Letting the men get in close she struck before any of them fully knew what happened. The first went down to a inward pull of his hand then a hard chop to his neck, the second fell to a bullet to the brain from Nora's pulled 10mm side arm, with the 3rd and 4th soon following suit as Nora shot the 3rd in the chest and the 4th in the knee to incapacitate. The two then watched as Nora seemed to proceed to grill the injured Raider using an old rusty pipe to agitate the knee wound. Distantly Glory's audio receptor's picked up the pained cries of the man and the muffled echoed curses of what Nora was doing.

"..Damn, no kidding. She's brutal too it seems if need be. Going off lip reading looks like she's asking him about other Raiders and dangers. Seems the idiot first wasn't talking till she drove that rusty pipe into the bullet wound. Christ she's cold..." Deacon said, as one the screen Nora pulled out the bloody pipe, then used it to brutally smash in the last Raider's skull. After a quick scavenge of their supplies she moved on through the rubble following the Trail again.

"..You know as well as I do, that sometimes you got to be brutal and cold to survive out here. Given her origins it's surprising she has lasted this long even with her pre-war military background like she told me on the way to the Castle." Glory said.

"..I guess. I suppose I would just rather take an enemy out quick, clean, and quiet. I'm not much for torture for information's sake. But I guess that's why my skills are used as they are for our friends huh?" He said.

Glory nodded a bit as she watched through field glasses Nora approach the old Church. "..She made good time.." She said then changing the subjects. "..We should call in to Desdemona, let her know she likely will be having a visitor soon. I doubt those handful of ghouls in the upper church area will give Nora much of a pause."

"..True enough, ok signal sent, let's get down there." Deacon said hefting up his pair of 9mm sidearms to his belt with another gear pack. Over head the darkening skies of the Commonwealth in the last rays of the setting sun turned murky as a radiation storm began to roll in from the north east.

==1 Hour Later – Old North Church Catacombs==

"..What the hell is taking her so long? She's still up there right?" Desdemona asked.

"..Yep, she's cleared out the ghouls and seems to be busy pushing old pews and such that were trashed out of the way and setting up a little camp for a rest. Huh...and now she's looking around up there, and now she's….she's crying? Not uh...not sure why.." Tinker Tom said, trailing off as he awkwardly watched the private moment on his rigged up computer terminal through a camera feed.

"..Crying!? Why the hell is she doing that of all things now? Doesn't she…." Desdemona sighed rubbing her tired brow. "..Just let me know when she finally decides to actually finish the Trail's purpose," then turning to Glory she said. "..you ARE sure she is aware of it right?" she asked.

Glory held back giving her explanation on likely why Nora was crying, going off the feeds of the Church above she likely was recalling memories of her pre-war life, family, and/or moment of being married. Something which, for the Railroad Heavy Synth, none of which she would ever have. But for now those thoughts got pushed aside for later review, "..For her? She's aware it'll lead her to find the Railroad. Which as I hinted could be an asset to helping her fight Kellogg who killed her husband and took her baby Shaun.." Glory said then seeing the coming protest from how she had handled informing Nora of coming here, "..Look I know I wasn't on the usual truth line of how we recruit. But we NEED Nora, Desdemona. You saw the feed of her way here, she's talented, brave, determined. All things we need right now! Besides our lower ranked field heavies I'm all you got for the heaviest of combat. We NEED her and she is going to need us!" Glory explained.

"..We don't have the man power like you just said to go traipsing over the Commonwealth to find Kellogg, nor the resources to send if we did find him to take him out! This was foolish Glory, we don't even know if this 'General' would risk her life for a Synth. You know as well as I she helped secure that Brotherhood of Steel outpost and its team, plus got a signal out to their long range base operations for further help here locally. Which if they show up is just one other source of problems we'll have to deal with!" Desdemona said.

"..She may not be wholly on board with Synths as you say. But I believe under that sometimes cold heart and personality she puts out is a good woman. Someone who just wants her baby back, and to see Justice done for her husband's murder. How can we hold the moral high ground of helping my people from the Institute, if we turn our backs on someone like Nora?" Glory said watching as Desdemona lit up another cigarette, her 31st one today by Glory's reckoning.

"..And let's say we find Kellogg and take him out. Let's say it leads us to find her baby Shaun. Who's to say she'll stick around then huh? What's to stop her from discarding our 'help', once she has what SHE wants?" The leader of the Railroad asked, and Glory admitted had a fair point.

"..We don't, but if her work with the Minutemen up north is any indication in helping others, even if she's against Synths and helping them, she couldn't ignore the threat the Institute presents to the whole of the Commonwealth around us. If nothing else, that likely would keep her helping us till they're dealt with. So in the end worse case scenario our two end goals still cross paths." Glory stated. Desdemona said nothing as she puffed away on her smokes turning then as Tinker Tom spoke up.

"..Hey boss! Looks like she's finally coming this way. Shall I prime the last puzzle test?" he said.

"..Do it.." Desdemona said, as Tom flicked a series of switches for the Railroad lock dial, "..Alright everyone Deacon, Glory, Hans, and Barkley you're with me to the entryway. Let's….let go meet our guest, but be ready to 'tie up loose ends', if things go sour." She said ending things on a colder note.

Deacon frowned but simply nodded, while the two lower ranked heavies Hans and Barkley did likewise. Glory said nothing but sighed inwardly. Hoping against hope that a 'loose ends tie up' order didn't come about.

==Catacombs – Old North Church==

Nora holstered her 10mm pistol. Looking down coldly at the last of the Ghouls which it seems had nested in the Old North Church above and down here. The mindless Ghouls like this she reflected were really getting annoying to her in how they kept cropping up around the Commonwealth. Nests, likely were the source like here, and she reflected would need to be hunted for to keep those under the Minutemen protection, and in general even, safe from these sorts. "..Never did find out if the 'sane' ones go crazy like these sorts over time from Piper or Preston. Got to remember to ask, if they do might have to see about getting some kind of plan in order to deal with those that are nearing that point.." She thought, turning the last corner to find a small lantern lit up by a battery pack shining over a stone dial hooked up to a series of circuit boards and wires trailing off into the stone wall in an upper corner.

Nora looked it over, recognizing the setup likely was a key to unseal some hidden counter weight fed door mechanism. It was creative, she had to admit, but the design boards were based on pre-war designs for a similar security system usually used on most common military bases. Bases which she had served on and done security work for during her service. Pulling out her Pip-Boy with a wire interface she hunched down feeding the wire clippers into the control port of the board. After a moment of logging in she found a home brewed security prompt greet her. Sure enough the whole dial was setup to spell out Railroad as she had learned on her trip here. But that same prompt she soon found had a bugged security patch which with a little work for a few minutes let her bypass that nonsense.

Closing the Pip-Boy interface a series of clicks and then a spark of overload from one board in the wall came about, followed then the counterweight door sliding open. Nora by this point had taken cover off to the left of the wall her 10mm pistol drawn just in case of a trap or hostiles. Glancing in she found it pitch dark and she contemplated what to do next. That though was taken from her hands by a sound of running feet and a male voice crying out. "..She...she bypassed the lock! How did...damn she's good!" Then a muted female curse and reply and the male voice shut up with a 'sorry'.

Snorting at the lack of discipline and engrained training of this Railroad that was supposed to help her find Shaun and take out her huband's killer, Nora began to have second thoughts. But now that she was here decided she may as well go the full way. "..So yeah, whoever is in the darkness there, you're little puzzle was creative, and inventive in using pre-war tech. But you obviously never planned for someone who studied, much less regularly worked with such to come around down here. So how about we all come out of the darkness about our two spots and talk?" Nora said.

There was a pause before a female voice spoke, "..Sounds fair, but be warned if we don't like what comes we're tying up loose ends.." the woman's voice said with a cold hard quality to it that spoke of a leader and one Nora could respect. Inside the opened room lights slowly hummed to life from arc lamps.

"..Sounds fair, I'd do the same.." She said peeking slowly around the corner, finding a few deep shadows still but enough to see only one bulky jacketed tall figure was still partly hidden in the shadows. The others, a short slim built man in glasses with a 9mm pistol, a mid-sized woman lighting up a cigarette, and two men armed with heavy looking laser rifles were present. Coming around her own cover Nora slowly holstered her 10mm pistol. As she emerged she was also pretty sure a tunnel concealed a few hidden others deeper in, "..So you folks the Railroad? A friend of mine named Glory says from her own friends you might be able to help me find my missing baby Shaun, and take out a dangerous man named Kellogg." she stated.

"..Yeah we're, part of the Railroad, and we might be willing to help you, but only if you're willing to help us first. Taking out a man like Kellogg will be costly to us, even if in the end, his death would greatly help our cause against the Institute." the stocky leader like smoking woman said. "..Name is Desdemona, the glasses wearing man there is Deacon, the two men flanking me are Hans and Barkley and..." Desdemona began by way of introductions only to get interrupted.

Coming from the shadows Nora couldn't help but let a look of some surprise pass her features seeing Glory there holstering her laser rifle Honor. "..and you know me already….General." She said after a seconds pause.

Nora nodded a little, forcing the mask of emotions from her mind to focus on the here and now, "..Yeah, I guess I do..it's good to see you again Glory.." Then looking to Desdemona she said, "..So I take it this here is the part where we negotiate some kind of 'deal' for our respective talents of services?" she prompted.

"..Before we do that, you're going to answer my questions. You know us, and we both know you went through some effort to get here. So tell me first who you are." Desdemona said.

Glancing to Glory then the Railroad's leader Nora said, "..I'd wager you already know the answer to that. But since we're all trying to be civil. My name is Nora Shells, some call me the new General of the Minutemen up north." Nora answered. "..So how about you?"

"..In the world of secrets, lies, hunters and being hunted, we're a Synths only friend, as you likely know from Glory we're the Railroad.." She replied.

"..Poetic, but not quite what I meant, but to the point enough." Nora replied. "..If Glory told you then of me, you know why I'm here like I've already said and more."

"..True enough, but I got one last question for you before we head inside to more….comfortable accommodations." Desdemona said.

Crossing her arms about her chest Nora said, "..Fire away.." she said.

"..As I said before we're a Synths only friends in the Commonwealth, how far would you go to help one?" She asked pointedly.

"..I'm assuming you mean the more human like ones that I've heard of replacing folks from this 'Institute' everyone is so shaken up about and that from what Nick Valentine says this Kellogg works for and that made him and others." Nora said, "..Like I told Glory, given I can't exactly tell who's who out there, I'd judge someone on how things went between us. If that human like Synth was a friend. I'd go the length of life and limb to help'em. If they were an enemy to me…..well I guess I don't need to explain the end of that line." She said.

"..Not quite the answer I wanted, but I guess given our current state of affairs, and the vouching of Deacon and Glory here it'll have to do. If nothing else your indirect help with us settling a few Synths like that up North is a bonus in my book. Come on we'll talk more inside." She said nodding to each to head deeper into the catacombs.

Nora paused from moving right away at that little bit of a slip up of likely private news. Human like Synths if revealed could cause all sorts of issues up north, and of course draw trouble directly and indirectly that the Minutemen didn't need right now, nor did Nora. But that could wait she figured for another time. Coming over to where Glory stood, the 6'1 woman said, "..I hope you aren't mad I...well setup things this way. I really do think we can help each other reach our goals." she said with a slight nervous tone to her voice, that Nora picked up on.

Nora was quiet then a moment, considering her feelings on how to reply, "..Honestly, like I said before I'm not sure how to feel, ask me more once we deal with Kellogg and find Shaun. For now anything I gotta do to reach that goal is good enough for me in justifying why someone did what they did. And….well if nothing else you helped me give Nathan a proper military burial, that meant a lot to me especially given what we faced. I know you likely did that to probably 'test' me or something for this whole setup. But the ends justify the means as my one old platoon Sargent once told me when I was in the Army." She said.

Smiling a bit, Glory nodded a little, "..That means a lot hearing you say that. Come on let's catch up to Desdemona, she won't like to be kept waiting.." Glory said. Nodding the two fell into step together heading into the Railroad HQ.

AN2: R&R please! Hope you all enjoyed! We'll be picking up on more Nora/Glory friendship/romance bits in the coming chapters rest assured!