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Imperious If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM one of us for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen :
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Beta(s) :
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Everyone-
I am being kicked out of my home by my room-mates and former co-workers, and leaving the Walkers as well. As such, the support offered may not actually get to me.
Supporters, please DM me for details on how to continue your pledge once I have left. I will do my best to DM you in return and keep you up to date.
May affect story length and update frequency.
I am sorry. This was completely unforeseen, and I apologize for the inconvenience.
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Preston was waiting for her when she stepped out of the tower and into the brisk, early winter air. On seeing them step through the door, he pushed off the wall beside it and smiled widely, very clearly relieved to see her, "General! It's good to see you on your feet."
"It's good to be on my feet." She said, her voice just the tiniest bit muffled by the mask as she turned. As soon as he saw her face-mask his brows furrowed worriedly and she sighed, explaining quietly, "It's a gift, from Wolf and the Foremen."
"Those from before the War are respected among the Assembly." Wolf explained quietly from behind her, "The mask denotes that she is from the war, and that she is to be respected as a result."
"I always thought it was just a Ghoul thing…"
"It's a Mutant thing as well, yes." Skull answered from her other shoulder, "Everyone from before the War is also a Mutant of some kind, though."
"And every Mutant wears a mask, too." Wolf chipped in quietly, stepping up beside her and gesturing around them. "Slaves wear less ornate ones for obvious reasons, and Super Mutants don't wear any at all because of a whole host of reasons I don't feel pertinent here. Hers, though, is ornate and frilled by the black hood of the Foremen."
"Which means…?"
"That I have their support, when negotiations start." She said quietly, looking to Wolf for an unnecessary confirmation. They hummed as they gave it and she smiled behind her mask, turning back to Preston and frowning anxiously. After a moment to gather her courage she said, quietly, "And besides… We Mutants have to stick together, I guess."
"You…" Preston blinked, brows furrowing in confusion. "Since when are you a Mutant, General?"
"I believe it's due to her Radioactive Infection she endured for so long." Skull stepped in to explain, seemingly feeling free to now that she had broached the topic personally. Gesturing at her still somewhat weak right arm, the Ghoul rasped, "It's common enough, if these sorts of diseases are left alone long enough, for minor Mutations to result."
"She's no Ghoul." Wolf added helpfully, "It's a minor Mutation, not something so severe as to be worried about."
"Wait, wait, no, I'm not-" Preston pointed a finger at the masked Ghoul, then grimaced and curled it into a fist. Taking a deep breath, Preston shook his head and explained, quickly, "Look, I wouldn't care if she was turning into a Ghoul. I'm not worried about her mutating as long as it doesn't hurt her, or anyone else. That's all I wanted to know."
"I'm fine, Preston." She said, smiling behind her mask as some of the tension in her shoulders ebbed away. "I'm just… Just a lot stronger now."
"Stronger how?"
"She threw a lead sling-ball the size of her head down to the foot of her bed." Skull grunted shortly, "I trust you know how heavy those are."
"Yeah, I do… Seen those rip through shield lines, once or twice." The man nodded, giving her a once-over and grimacing ever so slightly. Shaking his head he chuckled and smiled, "Well, Nora, we're… Going to have to get you on a regimen, then. See how strong you can really get, and help you get used to it."
"That…" She laughed, nerves easing back now that she knew he wasn't about to have an aneurysm over her new… Condition. One she was still trying very hard to get her head around herself. "That sounds like a plan, Preston. Skull, do you, um, have... Ideas about that?"
"We've dealt with mutations affecting speed, stamina, vision… I can organize a regimen to help you work it out." Skull answered warily, looking between her and the technically younger man, "If you're both… Alright with it, that is."
"You're asking me?" Preston chuckled awkwardly, "I don't exactly think this is something I should get a say in deciding, General."
"We are, and I think your opinion matters, Preston." Nora answered quietly, stepping forward to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Because this is a whole handful of levels deeper than you and I agreed to work with the Assembly. And we've been going deeper and deeper every step for a while, now, too."
"...We don't have a choice, Nora." He said after a long, quiet moment of thinking and staring up at the overcast, gloomy sky. "You need to get a handle on what's happened to you. Skull may be an evil, raider bastard, no offence-"
"Mild offense taken." The Ghoul grunted, "My parents were married."
"-but he knows more about this kind of stuff than I do." Preston sighed, wholly ignoring the Ghoul's dry chuckle. Shrugging, he finished, "If he's offerin' some advice to help you get yourself sorted, I won't say anything. And besides, we have a meeting to get to as it is, General. And I'm gettin' just a little bit antsy over here waiting on it."
"Yeah." She nodded, smiling behind her mask and turning to Wolf, "Lead the way, if you please."
"Of course." They bowed, stepping by them both and chiming raspily, "General, Preston, if you would follow me."
Falling in behind the masked Ghouls, the two uniformed Minutemen were led around the great entity that was the Factory Fortress itself, towering above them. In the back of the space enclosed by the outer wall was a great, recessed gate just under three times her height and wide enough for three of Uncle Leo to move through it abreast with elbow room besides. To either side of the great gate were squat, square structures built of the same brickwork that stood with the wide slits evenly spaced around the lower parts at about head height and the flat, plated metal roof at just over twice that. Between each ran a path, walked by numerous raiders with long spears coming and going through openings to either side of the gate, ten feet away.
And all she could see when she peered through the gaps were glinting bits of armor, lights that glared down on the holes, and feet.
Anyone that wanted to beach this second, inner gate, then, would have to march ten feet up a tight path with reinforced towers to either side no doubt brimming with spears to jab out, into their backs and flanks.
She… Didn't envy anyone that tried.
"Make way!" Wolf called out as their group reached the gate and came to a stop, "The Foremen come with guests of a dignified, peaceful council!"
The two guards standing to either side, guarding the gate and the entrances to the outer bulwark alike, saluted at the words. In time, like it had been rehearsed just for her - and honestly, with as much time as they'd had, it might have been - the doors slid to the side, vanishing into the walls themselves to admit them through. Inside was a long corridor that stretched on for what very much looked like the entire length, front to back, of the Factory Fortress, with a curved ceiling twenty feet up, walls a few feet wider than the doorway, and bright fluorescents that lit the entirety.
Stairs, paths and even ladders crisscrossed the entire corridor leading to landings and doors each guarded by a single well-armed raider. Overhead, on the dozen or so metal catwalks that crossed between twice as many entries, raiders, slaves, and people she presumed to be more even more well off civilians of the Assembly came and went. To where and from where, she had no idea.
But it was still all very impressive, to say the least.
And an absolute hell to be in, if you weren't wanted.
"No wonder he failed…" Preston's words were almost lost amid the echoing footfalls and distant clanging of metalworking that had persisted since the great door granted them entry. She hummed and, when that failed, bumped an arm into him and he blinked confusedly. "General?"
"No wonder who failed?" She asked quietly, "And at what?"
"Uh, well…"
"He speaks in reference to General Whitley, I presume." Wolf answered for him peering over a shoulder and waiting until, hesitantly, the man nodded.
"Yeah." Preston sighed, explaining for her and, it seemed, the listening Raider. "He, uh… He led a few regiments of Minutemen against the Assembly in a war. Records said he breached the outer wall, and the gate back there, but he vanished after that."
"He breached nothing." Wolf explained shortly, moving on when Preston's brows furrowed and his lips thinned, "We allowed a wall that was to be replaced anyway to be laddered and then collapsed it, killing many of their number. The rest pursued our 'fleeing' troops through an open gate, and were cut down in a waiting ambush."
"And I guess I'm just supposed to believe you."
"Do as you like." The Raider answered simply, "I am certainly not concerned over what you do or don't believe."
"Son of a…" Preston cut himself off with a low growl, fingers twitching anxiously at his sides like he wanted to do something. Eventually, though, he relaxed and asked, "Don't suppose you have any actual proof o' that?"
"I do not." They answered, "I also don't have a reason to lie."
"I can think of a few…"
"Such as?"
"Well-"
"Both of you, that's enough picking fights and dick measuring." Technically, she didn't have any right to snap back on the masked Raider. But their arguing wouldn't go anywhere good, and it was better to gamble on overstepping her bounds than them continuing their back and forth. Before either could say anything, she added, "We've got too much riding on this to squabble over decades old history. If it's that important to either of you then we can hash it out later. Clear?"
"As crystal, General."
"Sure." Preston sighed, shrugging and adding, when the Raider turned around, "Not like it matters anyhow. Doesn't much matter how the good guys go down if they go down."
She waited anxiously for either of the Raiders to say something, anything, to that. But either because they were listening to her or furthering their own ends, neither said a word. After a second, the Minute Man sighed and let the matter go entirely, just in time for them to reach their missing third, leaning against the wall beside his armor.
And another ornate door, made of solid metal and emblazoned with the iconography of the Assembly.
"General." He grunted, pushing off the wall and unfolding his arms as they reached him. "A pleasure to see you so well. I was worried."
"Thanks." She smiled, "The, uh, treatment purged me of the infection just like they said."
"Good news." The man smiled warmly, eyeing the two Raiders at her side for only a single short, distrustful moment before he looked back to her, "Any complications they couldn't handle? When the Brotherhood arrives I can request some-"
"No, none." Or at least, none she wanted the very anti-Mutant Brotherhood Paladin to know about. Smiling confidently, she rolled her shoulder and made a show of spinning her arm, "Good as new, for the most part. Still a little sore, but…"
"Better than dying." Danse surmised accurately, adding a parting, joking, "Or mutating. I know such infections can do that. You're sure you don't want me to arrange any-"
"N-No, I'm fine, Paladin Danse." She rushed to cut him off, earning raised brows from the large man. Seeing his confusion, and the hard, tiny edge of suspicion behind it, she rushed to a change of topic, "And besides, we have more important matters to attend to."
"The General is right." Wolf grunted, stepping between them and paying each of them a short look. To the Paladin, he went on gravely, "The Assembly's leadership has assembled in its entirety. Much work goes undone, waiting on this meeting's ending so that we can begin whatever comes next for our two peoples."
"Trade takes arrangements, work, planning..." She added helpfully, paying Danse a look and then Preston as well, if only for plausible deniability on whether she was talking to both of them or not. She couldn't afford the larger Paladin feeling put out, after all. After a moment, she nodded and added, "So, let's get it done, yeah?"
"Aye, General."
"Yes, Ma'am."
She nodded and Wolf turned, barking out an order that had the great gate groaning and rolling to the side, once more vanishing into the walls to either side of the door. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her hat and mask and then her coat. And, finally, took a step through the great door.
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Really short chapter but it covers the first segment I wanted. Intended as of last chapter to do a double-whammy, give or take, on this. Then the events mentioned in the AN header happened.
Again, sorry, just… This is all I got in me atm.
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Dark Paladin 89 :
Yeah, ick indeed. But something I thought was as realistic and reasonable as the giant green man treating her. XD
Hope you enjoyed!
Blaze 1992 :
Not quite what I imagined but honestly, if you wanna imagine a Guy Fawkes mask, I will not try and change your mind.