"You ask me why I do not write something…I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought to all be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results."
-Florence Nightingale
Dense woods of all manner of trees used to cover the state of New York before the Great War that washed the world in an atomic cleansing. Now all that remained were the bare hulls of sparse trees. Between the skeletal woods and the decrepit landscape, there were few things to dull the noise of gunfire.
It was hard to pick up but those with sharp ears in Albany were now able to hear gun fire beyond the horizon every now and then. People understood that the returning Regulators who came back from the ambushes had been harassing the approaching enemy but no one talked about it. Some people were holding onto a forlorn hope that maybe their enemies would just give up, turn around and go away before they ever got there.
But now with gunfire being heard in the distance, the reality of the situation was starting to sink deep in everyone's stomachs. No one could see the army that threatened their city yet. Still, the Regulators that returned from their strike missions were becoming more and more grim. Some even returned panting. Their assailaints were right at their doorsteps.
There was little anyone could do.
It was in this tense and agitated atmosphere that Adam woke up.
James and Alexandra had waited around for hours, keeping an eye on the unconscious Liberator. In the end, as much as it pained James to say it, he couldn't understand why Adam was out for as long as he was. It did not seem like their friend was in mortal danger, still, being unconscious was never a good sign. Alexandra was obviously upset about the whole thing despite trying to put up a brave face about it entire time.
"Welcome back to the land of the living. You remember anything?" James asked deftly as Adam let out a groan.
"How'd I get here? I just remember planting the bomb, my stealth boy going out and getting into a fight. I got a big gap after that."
"Sven and then Carl saved your sorry hide. I guess your memory is good enough. How many fingers am I holding up?" James inquired.
"Three." Adam mumbled.
"Good enough. I take it you can move your limbs too?" James continues.
"I'm good, doc. You mind making an exit so I can speak with my wife?" Adam said quickly.
"He's all yours, Alex." James said with a shrug before leaving the ship.
Alexandra, who had been standing off to the side the whole time, was staring at Adam coldly. She had heard enough about how Adam got himself into trouble. Clearly, she was not at all happy about it. Adam knew that she was giving him just once chance to explain himself. He had better make that chance count.
"Alex, we need to talk." Adam started, wearily sitting up in bed.
Night had fallen over New York City. Delta Sierra watched the sprawling urban center from the open side of the vertibird while Athena piloted it to their destination. New York City had once been a center of so many lights. Any vehicle or aircraft entering the city limits would immediately be struck by the sheer number of gleaming lights radiating from street lamps and buildings. New York was once the city that never slept.
Now, its empty buildings stood lifeless, unlit save for fledging fires and battery powered lights that signaled cradles of civilization.
And, judging by the radio traffic he was hearing, that civilization was under threat.
Listening through the receiver in his helmet, Delta Sierra tried to piece together exactly what was happening. He had already gathered that the mutant army had been assimilated into the conglomerate that was the vile monstrosity now menacing the city. ENCOM forces had mostly evacuated, save for the vertibirds that were circling overhead to keep an eye on the creature. Brotherhood of Steel troops were making an interesting strategy on the fly.
"All knights, regroup at the House, I repeat, regroup at the House." Elder Hail commanded over the universal channel.
"Elder, someone should contact the Supervisor there. They may not appreciate a sudden influx of-"
"Screw what he thinks, all knights report there! If he has a problem we'll deal with it later!" Elder Hail cut off Rufus.
"This is Knight Captain Vanderbraun, we should evacuate civilians from the general area and also point them to the House or the Wall. Civilians casualties should be kept to a minimal." Evelyn's voice chimed in.
Delta Sierra let a wry smile cross his face as silence punctured the radio transmissions. The Enclave agent doubted that Evelyn truly understood the genius behind her suggestion, after all she had no clue what the monster was capable of. Still, for humane reasons or not, it was a suggestion neither the Enclave or the Brotherhood could afford to ignore.
"All knights, evacuate all civilians spotted, I repeat, evacuate all civilians in the area." Elder Hail conceded.
"This ENCOM, all vertibirds not tasked with keeping surveillance on the entity should sweep the surrounding area and evacuate civilians."
New York City just got a lot more chaotic.
Regulators and armed recruits milled about Albany like nervous, frenzied ants. Snipers posted at the northern end of the city had confirmed that they were catching glimpses of the approaching army through their scopes. Regulator marksmen had kept their enemies from advancing further. Between the Albany ruins and the rough area that provided cover for the W.C and Hierarchy troops was a very long expanse that offered little cover. For now, their enemies did not seem too keen on sending troops to be senselessly shot up and the Regulators were not inclined to make a counter assault.
All that could be done in the meantime was prepare for the worse with barely contained panic.
Everyone who could was carrying a weapon. Even Julia had dusted off her old plasma rifle although it weighed more heavily on her than she remembered. Both she and James stood within the central square of Albany watching as people were doing everything from stockpiling ammo, carrying supplies or even considering the thought of evacuating.
"Ten years sunk into rebuilding this place…and it looks like it might all disappear in just a few short days." James muttered darkly, clutching his Excelsior rifle closely.
"We're not giving this up without a fight." Julia said firmly.
"We harassed them to no end all along the northern highway and yet with that whole army out there…it looks like they could just swarm this place and push us aside." James replied quietly, staring off into the distance.
"James, you've fought worse odds." Julia reminded bluntly.
"Hmmm…good point. I'm glad I keep you around." James admitted.
"Mom, dad!" a voice called behind them.
Julia had already flown from her spot and had caught Isaac in a tight embrace. Turning around, James cast an analyzing glance at what he saw. His oldest son had returned and his mother was already fussing to no end over him. James could see that some things had changed, most notably that Isaac had added a new look to his duster. It was stylized with rows of…spines? And who were these other people with him?
James stared skeptically at a rodent like creature about the size of a volley ball at Isaac's feet. It looked like a ball of spikes and appeared to have an equally prickly temperament.
"Isaac, it's been too long! Who are your new friends?" Julia greeted, about to brush the dust off his coat but then hesitated after noticing the spines embroidered into the fabric.
Julia did not say anything but she was very suspicious of the woman hanging onto Isaac's arm.
"Mom, this is Tanya. She was a state of slavery somewhere on the road. We got her out." Isaac started. His mother could see a bit of pride in his eyes. She did not know it yet but Isaac had been true to his word. The woman in captivity who refused to believe in freedom, he had returned to bust her out.
"You managed to purchase her freedom?" James asked curiously.
"No. I saved the caps myself. Your son just filled my head with the idea that I didn't have to live that way. I saved the money. He just provided the opportunity to leave." Tanya explained quietly. It had been a long and harrowing journey, certainly much further than she had ever traveled.
"But she's going to need help here, mom. She's blind." Isaac cautioned.
"I can think of something, Isaac. We'll find a place for her here." Julia nodded.
"And who are your other friends?" James asked, a chuckle hanging on his voice.
Isaac's teammates were staring at James wide eyed with gaping mouths.
"This is David and Joseph, the guys Francis assigned to me." Isaac introduced.
"Why did you tell us your parents were the Liberators!" David exclaimed at Isaac.
Joseph was still too flabbergasted to respond.
Isaac only shrugged awkwardly.
"Julia? James? Is it really you two?" a voice called from the back.
It was James and Julia's turn to be shocked into speechlessness when Sufia revealed herself, stepping up to greet them.
"Sufia? Where have you been all these years!" Julia cried, the three friends stepping in closer to embrace each other.
"Wait, wait, wait, you mean to tell me that this Isaac over here is your Isaac?" Sufia demanded.
"Yes, same Isaac, just grown up after twenty some years." James nodded.
"Well, why didn't you say anything? Geez, I used to babysit you." Sufia chided Isaac.
"Hey, I love the attention and all, but why is everyone bustling around like there's a fire?" Isaac interrupted, desperate to get out of the spotlight.
"…Isaac, perhaps you should walk with us a moment. A lot has happened while you were gone." Julia said quietly, leading her eldest son and Tanya away.
"So, what exactly is all the fuss about?" David asked curiously.
"Mr. Vanderbraun?" Joseph asked cautiously, not sure how to approach the living legend standing just within arm's reach.
"You can call me James." The marksman offered cordially, he did not smile although his voice was friendly.
"Uh…James, is Francis around? We obtained the seeds that he wanted." Joseph sputtered.
Knight Captain Vanderbraun, Knights Birns, Felson and Initiate Hardings moved briskly through the deserted city streets. While Evelyn may have suggested the Brotherhood of Steel to evacuate whatever isolated groups of civilians that were in the area, Elder Hail had given the Carbide Tempest a special assignment on top of the evacuation.
Monitoring the monstrosity that threatened their city.
"What do we know about this thing? Why is everyone freaking out about it? Couldn't we just drop a lot of bombs on it?" Initiate Hardings asked curiously as they stalked through the ruins. At the moment, the four Brotherhood knights were in a narrow alley between buildings. Evelyn was trying to get them into a more maneuverable place. Bad things tend to happen when you're not in a good position.
"I don't know. I heard it's some kind of huge, flesh thing that consumes other organisms and absorbs their body, organs and tissues. It can rearrange itself to make itself tougher to kill." Knight Felson shrugged, retightening his grip on his Tesla Cannon.
"It sounds like some of the older knights fought this kind of monster before, back when the chapter was stationed aboard the Defiance." Birns said.
"You mean that wreck was floating once?" Hardings inquired.
"Yes! Gosh Hardings, do you ever pay attention?" Felson grumbled.
"Gentlemen, I need you to be quiet." Evelyn warned, suddenly slowing down her steps.
"Something wrong, Knight Captain?" Birns asked.
The Carbide Tempest had quickly and readily settled back in with Evelyn being in command. Unfortunately, while they did not have time to mourn it, they still were getting used to the loss of Lowell. Evelyn's promotion as squad leader only served to remind them of that fact.
"Look at the ground…it just got wet." Evelyn whispered.
The blacktop in front of them glistened with heavy moisture. Barely reflecting the moonlight over their heads, it was hard to tell just exactly what the nature of it was. Normally, such a detail meant nothing. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times.
"Wait, why is that important?" Hardings asked, voice just barely above a panic.
"Because that monster usually leaves a layer of mucus before the rest of it arrives…" Felson growled through clenched, agitated teeth.
Evelyn knelt down and with an armored glove, touched the layer of fluid. When she pulled her finger back, the fluid stuckfast to the gauntlet. Evelyn bit her lip in response.
"Wait, I thought that thing was behind us." Birns said quickly.
"…Well…now it's in front of us too." Evelyn replied in a hush tone. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a snakelike, sickeningly blue vein swim through the fluid, heading closer towards them. The layer of fluid suddenly grew thicker and cloudier.
"We need to get out of here!" Evelyn shouted, bolting up and leading them back.
"But we just saw it back there! We're surrounded!" Hardings cried.
"Shut up, let me think." Evelyn growled through her helmet. Her heart jumped when she found what she was looking for.
A door leading inside one of the nearby buildings.
"Get in, hurry!" Evelyn ordered, wrenching the door open while pointing inside the building.
The vile ooze was growing thicker and gaining a pinker hue. The muscle mass that always followed the mucus was closing in on them.
The Carbide Tempest troopers instinctively started climbing the stairs, their metal boots landing heavily on the ancient material. All of them tried to ignore the biting thought that there could be a weak spot in the structure that could easily give way under a heavily armored knight. Under normal circumstances this was not usually a problem. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times.
Evelyn slammed the door shut and brought up the rearguard.
"This is Knight Captain Vanderbraun, we are stranded at Mt. Eden, Townshend avenue. We are heading to the top of one of the buildings. Be advised, we are surrounded by the creature, I repeated, we are surrounded and need immediate evac." Evelyn spoke into her transmitter.
All of them felt their hearts beat rapidly in the several seconds of silence they heard over the radio.
"This ENCOM, we are dispatching vertibird Raphael to your position-."
"Belay that, this is Delta Sierra. Athena is in the area. We will evac the stranded team." Another voice broke into the transmission.
There was little time to breathe a sigh of relief as the Brotherhood knights hurried to get to the top of the building. Birns was immediately scanning the surrounding area with the help of his scope. Yes, the buildings obscured any good view but what he could pick out was dismaying enough.
The creature was covering an area of roughly three city blocks. He could not have known it but that was three times larger than the original monster the Liberators had lit up two decades ago. Still, right now was not the time to figure out what to do. They needed an immediate evacuation.
"Um, guys…it's…climbing up the building." Initiate Hardings squeaked.
"What?" Birns sputtered.
Glancing over like Hardings had been doing, they could see that the vile, fleshy goo was starting to attach itself to the stone and concrete that lined the building. Adhering to the rough surface, it was building the density of its tissue to slowly climb up the complex.
"ENCOM, we need that evac now!" Evelyn screamed into her radio.
"This is Athena, it would be helpful if you could somehow signal your precise location." A woman's voice replied.
"I got that." Felson announced, yanking out a mini-nuke from his backpack and rushing towards the building's edge.
"Felson, are you sure that's a good idea?" Evelyn demanded.
"Too late!" Felson shot back.
A blast of superhot air followed promptly after Felson had dropped the heavy round over the side.
Almost immediately after the blast they could hear the whine of vertibird engines and spotted the approaching aircraft. Displaying the prowess of a daring if highly skilled pilot, Athena brought the aircraft practically within their midst.
And then they felt the roof structure starting to sway.
"Guys, I think I broke the building." Felson said nervously.
The vertibird's side door opened to the panicking Carbide Tempest troopers. They were greeted by a familiar Enclave agent in a heavily modified stealth suit.
"You lack subtlety. You better get in." Delta Sierra told them sarcastically.
Athena had brought them to a higher elevation after each knight had been safely retrieved. Watching from a better point of view, they were able to see the apartment buildings collapse upon the massive creature, the first ruined structure colliding into another, setting off a domino effect.
"Haha, you think that might have done it?" Hardings whooped.
"No. Watch." Delta Sierra said, pointing to one end of the vile mass.
While severely wounded, they could see that the fleshy mound was recollecting itself. Sliding what it could from under the wreckage, the massive flood of blood and tissues sloughed onto a major highway and started to follow the path of the old road.
"Where is it going?" Birns asked.
"It's following the path that leads to the George Washington Bridge." Delta Sierra reported.
Even robots were not immune to the flurry of activity that had captured Albany. The factory had gone into overload, manufacturing bullets in anticipation of the coming battle. While Asimov oversaw most of the operations he was still required to make sure the machinery kept running.
"Confound those bloody, mongrels out there! Couldn't they have chosen a better time to invade rather than all the machinery decides to work at half functionality!" Asimov complained loudly while trying to repair a vital press part that had stopped working.
Whiskers the rat sat next to him on his hind legs, unsure of what to do.
"Where did I put that bloody tool?" Asimov growled, fumbling for a wrench nearby.
Whiskers crept over, grabbed the tool in his snout and handed into the robot.
"Thanks, rodent." Asimov said before working feverishly on the machine.
Whiskers watched on in curiosity as Asimov finished his project.
"Finished, now I got to check on Sven, see if those explosives are ready." Asimov announced, whirring around on his chassis and heading for the open door.
Whiskers gave a squeak of excitement, bounded up and landed on Asimov's brain case, settling in for the ride.
No one could tell, but Asimov felt a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
Back in the lab, Sarah was trying to bury herself in her work to block out the thought of a war erupting right outside her door. She was finding limited success in both her experiments and her desire to ignore the conflict. Still, she had to keep trying. She was no fighter and she refused to join in the panic of the anxious masses out there.
She looked up when the door opened in front of her.
Seeing Julia come in did not surprise her. The older woman was always a welcomed sight in her makeshift laboratory and within the past few months Sarah had started to see Julia as both a teacher and friend despite their differences in ages.
What was surprising was that Julia was leading a blind woman whom she had never seen before into the shop.
And right behind them was a handsome young Regulator whom she had never seen before either.
"Sarah, big news." Julia announced breathlessly, apparently very excited with recent turn of events.
"What's up Julia?" Sarah asked earnestly, though stealing glances at the Regulator.
"First, pause your research with water filtration. A Regulator team has obtained quite a bit of seeds from a live tree out west. Francis is insistent that we try to find a way to make sure the soil is suitable for the seeds we have. Sure, the seeds came from a tree that grew in a radioactive environment but I don't think Francis wants to take any chances." Julia shrugged.
"Sounds good, Julia. I'll get started on that right away." Sarah nodded.
"Also, you're well versed in using those pre-war typewriter's right? Do you know how to teach someone how to type like you do without looking at the keys?" Julia inquired.
"Yes, I can do that. It takes awhile but it's nothing too difficult." Sarah replied.
"I'd like you to meet Tanya. She's blind but she's got spirit. James has been talking with me and we'd like to get started on recording books down, creating a library. Still, we have to start small. I'd like you to train Tanya on how to touch type. It might be a challenge but I'm sure you both can be patient with each other." Julia said, guiding Tanya's hand to shake Sarah's.
"Nice to meet you, Tanya." Sarah greeted.
"Nice to meet you too…just be patient with me." Tanya replied cautiously.
"Don't worry, I will be. I've watched grass grow and learned how to assemble bombs. It would be nice to actually talk with a person for a change." Sarah assured.
"Thank you, Sarah. I'm glad you're willing to plan ahead beyond this stupid war. Everyone is so wrapped up in it. We still need people willing to plan after we survive it." Julia grumbled.
"Speak of which, I better go check and see if I'm needed anywhere. I'll see you later, mom." Isaac announced before promptly leaving the door.
Sarah was monumentally disappointed that they had not been introduced.
Julia let out a deep breath, as if forcing herself to calm down.
"Uh, Julia, was that your son back there? I didn't know you had another son." Sarah asked cautiously, helping Tanya to a seat.
"Ah, yes, Isaac. He's my oldest. Technically he's adopted so you would never see the family resemblance but we found him and raised him as our own. We never let anyone tell him that he wasn't our just because he was adopted." Julia smiled proudly if wearily.
"Oh. I should meet him some time." Sarah said carefully.
"Yes, that would be fine." Julia nodded.
"Uh…is he seeing anyone?" Sarah asked quietly.
"Way to be subtle, sister." Tanya snickered.
Julia meanwhile stood with her arms folded, an eyebrow raised at the younger woman while a bemused smile hung on her face.
"I'm just asking!" Sarah protested.
"…Knowing Isaac, if you really wanted to get his attention, you might have to hit him over the head with a crowbar." Julia finally said.
"What?" Sarah asked in confusion.
"Go do your research, Sarah. I'll see if I can send my son around here on an errand sometime." Julia replied, shaking her head slightly.
"Uh, thanks, I'd like that." Sarah admitted, a shade of red forming on her cheeks.
"By the way, be nice to him. If you hurt my oldest son, I'll break some of your equipment." Julia warned before shutting the door.
ENCOM and Brotherhood forces held a lengthy radio discussion over the sudden turn of events. No one was expecting the Carbide Tempest to accidentally collapse several apartment building onto the creature and quite a few people were disappointed that it did not outright kill the creature.
"Latest intel states that the creature is on the George Washington Bridge. Any clue as to what it is doing?" Elder Hail asked over the transmission.
"We have visual from the air. The creature is already crossing the bridge. It is headed in New Jersey." Delta Sierra explained, speaking into the transmitter.
"We have no forces in New Jersey. Is it possible that it's leaving the city?" Elder Hail offered.
"What do you believe, Delta Sierra? You were the one within their home vault." ENCOM asked.
The Carbide Tempest troopers watched silently as they saw the agent silently racking his brain.
"Everything I saw suggests that its main goal was to first ruin New York City. I think it's more likely that it's going to regroup and lick its wounds before coming back. We should prepare for its return." Delta Sierra replied.
"We will constantly monitor it from the air but we will need expert troops. Brotherhood of Steel, don't you have men in your ranks that were at the destruction of the original creature?" ENCOM inquired.
"Negative, that was the work of the New York Regulators." Elder Hail replied.
Evelyn watched breathlessly as Delta Sierra locked eyes with her in an accusatory glare.
"Where are your parents and their friends? We need them." Delta Sierra demanded of her.
"They- they're in the middle of a big war in Albany. I don't know if they'll be able to return here in time." Evelyn sputtered.
"ENCOM, this is Delta Sierra again. We have information that the particular Regulators who killed the creature, the Liberators, are bogged down in a conflict in Albany." Delta Sierra reported.
"Affirmative, agents report that two armies are about to clash in the old capital region but we don't have any resources to commit to the area." ENCOM informed.
"We will call up the Phlygas battle walker, there's nothing that stopped that robot before." Elder Hail said.
"We're going to need more than that. ENCOM, are you sure we cannot even commit a squad of elite troops to Albany?" Delta Sierra demanded.
"We can commit no further troops." ENCOM replied firmly.
Delta Sierra hesitated a moment before finally speaking in reply.
"ENCOM, permission to activate Agent Epsilon Nu. I repeat, permission to activate Epsilon Nu."
A moment of silence hung on the transmission.
"Permission granted. We will begin preparations to activate Agent Epsilon Nu."