1255th Intel. Group E.

HEAVY RECON / SIGNAL CORPS.

CIVIL MANAGEMENT PROJECTS DIV. 9

They drove south till mid afternoon the following day. Wolfe sat in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle navigating from memory while Captain Rhodes was at the wheel. In the back seat was Sergeant Hall, one of the two heavy weapons experts on the team. The road was heavily worn and a dusty pothole ridden nightmare. Wolfe scanned the area making mental notes of the surroundings trying to match the terrain from the data in his mid, trying not to be caught admiring the majestically big sky, which didn't seem so grand in places like bombed out Chicago or St. Louis Suburbia. Suddenly, he spotted a group up people standing in the road ahead, maybe 200 yards as they closed in.

"Hall, get up on the fifty and get ready to dust these assholes." Rhodes ordered as Paladin Hall clambered up to the large belt-fed machine gun, working the action and seating a fresh round in the chamber. A single burst would be more than enough to dismember the entire group.

"Slow it down. Stop about one hundred paces and I'll dismount. See what's the hold up." Wolfe added. It was always something. Even in a place as remote as here, they managed to run into the only people within 50 miles he guessed.

"Roger."

They slowed down and came to a steady halt. Immediately Wolfe cautiously opened his door and stepped out, taking is carbine and signaling to Hall to keep him covered from the mounted machine gun. The APC pulled up beside them covering their flanks with more than enough firepower to overwhelm any impending ambush.

"Hey you! Clear the road, we need to pass!" Wolfe called out to the group of four who didn't seem to be bothered by a person in APA yelling at them. The group were lightly armored and were loitering over a large assortment of junk which was strewn across the road. "What's your business?!"

One man looked back over his shoulder at the Paladins and then up at the sky before returning his gaze at Wolfe. He seemed absent, or confused.

"We're traders." He said, pointing to the junk.

"Where's your pack animals?" Wolfe began interrogating them.

The man looked up at the sky once again.

"The land. It came alive and took them from us!"

Wolfe poked his head inside the vehicle.

"What the hell is this moron talking about? Damn tribals." He raised his carbine aggressively against the men. "Hands up! All of you! Let's see em!"

They complied, as Wolfe approached them. He grabbed the first tribal and drug him back to the front of the vehicle briefly patting him down before procuring a small bag around the mans neck of what he presumed was metal, or caps. Upon opening the small pouch he saw that it was indeed money, Legion coin. Twelve gold coins and several silver.

"Legion. I knew it." He muttered under his helmet, pouring the coins back in the pouch and tossing it back to the man. He looked back to the other three men who stood around watching their friend, weapons slung over their shoulders.

"Alright back over with your buddies." Wolfe shoved the man back onto the road and prodded him with his carbine walking over to inspect the mess on the road.

"Make sure you have them covered." Rhodes said to Hall as they watched the scene unfold.

"I got em. Ain't gonna move an inch without a pound of lead up their asses."

Wolfe sauntered over and looked over the wares: usual stuff for trading.

One of the men spoke up.

"The hidden ones have become angered with us. My masters will want an audience with you."

"Well that sure as Hell isn't going to happen. What happened to your pack animals again?" Wolfe questioned. Tribals were always talking some sort of unintelligible nonsense just to hear themselves talk. Some bullcrap no one was interested in hearing.

The man pointed over to a small set of attractive hills not too far off in the distance.

"Well speak up!" Wolfe said pointing his carbine at the man.

"They have done it again. Terrible things…". The man had once again become disengaged from reality, speaking to himself in a foreign dialect.

"Rhodes!"

"Yessir!"

"Get Viper and Sam out here!"

Rhodes went and retrieved the corpsman (Viper), and the other heavy weapons specialist, Samantha, or just Sam.

"Hall keep these men covered. We're gonna go for a little stroll. Make sure there isn't some fucking ambush. I don't trust this asshole!"

"Rog."

"Alright everybody listen up." They gathered around Wolfe. "We're just gonna take this poor sap over to where they said they lost their pack animals, take a look, and then head out. Understand? Be about 15 mins. Over to those hills." He looked back over his shoulder. "Better not be some trick."

They bushwhacked their way through to the foothills with the Legion trader guiding them to the spot. He seemed to become hysterical the closer to the site they got. They had to stop to put the man in restraints before continuing on to keep him from running. Once they arrived they found three pack brahmans, all dead. Freshly mutilated by the looks of it.

"Sonofabitch." Rhodes remarked looking at the gory sight. "What the Hell happened?"

The brahman's eyes had been gouged out, all of their tongues and teeth were missing, as well as being disembowled and guts strewn about.

Viper inspected the corpses more closely before remarking:

"It's crazy sir. It's almost as if it were surgical. I mean it looks a fucking mess. But It was done with precision. Skill." He said confused. "Who the fuck takes time to do do that anyways?"

Wolfe looked to the guide suspiciously.

"How can you tell?" Wolfe asked Viper.

"It's my job, sir."

"Get the fuck back in formation, make sure no one is snaking up on us."

"Sir!"

"Who did this?" Wolfe asked the guide again.

The man again looking to the sky. Clearly agitated. He tried to run but Rhodes struck the man with the butt of his pistol, crumpling the man in the dirt.

"Speak up! Who did this?!"

The Legion trader writhed around on the ground repeating the same thing over and over again.

"The land, it comes alive and does this. Terrible thing! Terrible!"

"Well case closed. Probably just some rival faction." Wolfe concluded. "This nut is like a broken record." He pulled his pistol, checking to make sure it was loaded. "Better to put him out of his misery."

"My masters. They will want an audience with you." The guide said, reason returning to his voice as he began pleading.

Wolfe pointed to the Brotherhood insignia on his armored breastplate.

"We're not friends. Understand?"

"The hidden ones have caused much terror. My masters will want to speak with you. Friend, or enemy. They seek justice. Justice!"

Wolfe had a moment of intuition, reholsterting his pistol.

"Where are they located?" Wolfe took hold of the man, aggressively lifting him to his feet, blood trickling down the side of his head while he began to question him.

"Not far. Two miles walk. Very quick in those armored machines."

"And how big of a force are we talking about?"

"We were once very large. But as I have said, being terrorized has dwindled our numbers to about fifty, led by a centurion by the name of Apollo."

He called the others in for a debrief.

"Alright. Change in plans guys. Maybe we see what we can do in exchange for information about this military base. They'll know the area much better anyways. We'll go in full force, might be a tough fight in the end, but we should be able to gun them all down if things go south. I doubt they have any surprises for us."

They nodded in agreement. They knew from the reports of the area that the region was crawling with Legion. If they were to establish a mutual cooperation it could work to their benefit, and keep from an all out fight with the entire region's cohorts. That was the logic anyways.

"Muster back at the vehicles and prepare to move out. You there, you ride with us, and your pals back on the road just gonna have to walk back with all that crap."

The man shrugged wiping the blood from his head.

"Good. Lets move with a purpose."

It was a relatively short drive through the hills, thrashing through the bushy pinons which dotted the area and gave a pleasant odor which wafted about everywhere.

Upon arrival to the camp, which was well hidden in a shallow defensible canyon, they were flanked with a non threatening (lightly armed) column of troops and directed to the Eastern end of the canyon, where it opened up into natural geological structures which a small river ran through, providing a source of water to their crops which were fenced in terraced plots, large enough to keep them well fed. Odd however that there was hardly a sizable force stationed here to be fed.

Wolfe continued his observations through the camp noting there was hardly a male between the ages of 30 and 50. On top of that there were hardly any women, he hadn't even seen one. Once they arrived at what looked to be the Camps enforcer they stopped, Wolfe again dismounting to meet with the Legion in charge.

"Ave. Strange times when we greet as equals, and not as foes." The Leader spoke. "I am Apollo, centurion and overseer of these lands." He stood around 6.5, athletically built, head to toe in dull yet well kept armor, engraved and adorned with ribbons of war; a large super sledge was carried over his shoulder casually and he spoke in a refined accent.

"I'm Major Wolfe of the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel. We're in this territory looking for an old military base."

"I see. I'm sure you're aware then most have been ransacked and abandoned for many years. It is as if the Gods have shone mercy upon us in these dark times. This military base you speak of, what is its importance."

"Do you know its location?"

"I'm afraid not. It is hidden with old world tech. We have searched for many many years, and have found nothing. It is where the hidden ones are located, supposedly up on the mesa. It is where they take our women and children and do inexplicable things…Abominable things to them there. As you can see. We are but a shadow of our former selves. Our time here grows short."

"How many more Legion are in the area?"

"Not many now. Many had fled, after being betrayed by the hidden ones, The larger contingents have moved on, their numbers mean nothing against those who dwell inside the old base. They find more suitable lodgings further East until our numbers recover and we can attack them."

"Who or what are these hidden ones?"

"They are from the old world, but not of this world. They possess great technology, but use it for evil."

"Wait a second. What do you mean, 'not of this world'?"

"It is hard to say. What ever they are. They are not human."

"Supermutants?"

"No. Even the great green dumbs ones are afraid and will not venture into these lands. For these lands are cursed!"

"Looks like we're on our own finding this base." Wolfe thought out loud.

The Centurion seemed to be lost in thought and quickly retreated back inside his tent where he stayed for a good 10 minutes before reappearing with a handful of scrolls.

"These maps have been with the tribe for many years, but no one has the knowledge to decipher them. Perhaps it will be you who they help."

He walked over and handed the maps to Wolfe who unraveled them, some falling apart showing extreme age and poor care.

"They're old geological survey maps of the area. A good start to the problem. Reggie! Get over here and start looking for clues!"

The scribe marched forth, retrieving the maps.

"Shit is all out of order. Who knows how much the landscape had been altered since the bombs dropped." Reggie said as he flipped though the maps. Of course things of this nature were right in his center of expertise, and should have no problem putting all the data together, even from this poor collection.

"Well make some order out of it and get to work. That's why you're here. I don't wanna be stuck in this heathen fucking camp longer then we have to. Smells here, probably piss where they eat too."

"Our customs may seem foreign to you, but I assure you, you have nothing to fear. Betrayal is not our strong suit." Apollo said.

"Alright commander we'll make due. Keep your men out of our business and we'll offer to do the same. Or we'll blow you all to Hell with that magnificent little bit of tech over there." Wolfe explained pointing to the APC.

"You will be rewarded if you happen to return our missing persons, that I can assure you." The Legion dispersed leaving them to decide their next footfall.

"Great. It's like damn bizzaro land around here." Wolfe sighed. But business was business. "Sam! You're on weapons detail. Hall you're on first watch. Don't let these sneaky godless tribals try anything. Send Doc, Ace and Frank to hunt down some grub. If you need me I'll be up on that ridge, taking a look at our new frontier. Rhodes; keep an eye on our new friend, make sure he isn't trying any of that voodoo bullcrap."

Later on that night under a moonless sky, Captain Rhodes and Wolfe met privately to discuss the recent developments. Wolfe was concerned he had over prepared for a flop of a mission, waiting to return and if found out, being the laughing stock of the entire Division. The humiliation was riding his heels.

"So what do you think Rhodes?"

"Somethings not right. What did your reports tell you?"

"A lot of conflicting information and data. I was expecting a much larger contingent of Legion in the area. The numbers were placed in the several of thousands. Yet by the look of things, it looks like there are hardly several hundred in the entire region. Maybe the Calculator's numbers were fabricated for reasons unknown. It just doesn't seem like it'd have any reason to do so, even to protect its own numbers."

"Agreed. When we made a post recon sweep of the area and its facilities, most repair centers and manufacturing plants seemed to be intact, with more than enough materials and sentries to continue a war for at least a decade. At least that's what our scribes projected. It was pretty lucky we struck when we did and were able to disable the mainframe. Even with our losses, the recovered tech was more than worth it, I'm not proud to say so, but without that victory, our chapter was as good as doomed. Our Brothers in the West have all but scrubbed our names from the records, and I doubt we hold any real weight any more. Do you remember when we made contact a few years back, it was made pretty clear that we were considered rogue, and unaffiliated with the main branch. So just what are we doing out here? Some sort of vindictive mission so we can rejoin ranks?"

It was a low blow, and he waited for Wolfe to outright attack him. Instead it was as if the truth passed though him, unimpeded by his rage which grew by the day, yet seemed completely absent at this point. Wolfe hated the thought. After the blood and sweat, the losses and sacrifices they had made, all just to be tossed to the wayside and forgotten, or worse, treated as traitors! They scraped out a living in the ruins of Chicago after being abandoned, slowly rebuilding their own chapter out of dust and ash till finally they stood once again with steel. They had eliminated the mutant threat with extreme prejudice, and confronted the mechanical menace although outnumbered and technologically at a disadvantage. They also secured the entire region from the beast lords, reestablished safe trade routes, and expanded their own ranks, even recruiting from pools of citizens their other chapters would find repulsive, like ghouls and mutants. They even had united with talking hairy deathclaws, a bio-weapon that even their other chapters would be jealous of. All of this for what? Like Rhodes mentioned; they were considered nothing more than a rogue chapter of traitorous imposters.

"I'll tell you what we're doing. We're winning. One battle at a time. We'll cause such a stink that they wont be able to ignore our feats much longer."

Rhodes scoffed.

"Don't you think that's a bit dangerous? They'd just as soon send in a force to exterminate us. And even if that is true, then what? What then after we have their attention?"

"Don't be blind. With the advancements that we've made out here, and contacts we've secured, we've become too valuable to be done away with like that, like common raiders who've managed to get ahold of an arsenal on par with a nuclear option. And now with Vault 0 in our possession, we've become a serious threat if that's our intentions, which I can assure you, we are not going to use it against our own, no matter what our past hast dictated. We've raised our status to a powerhouse which will have to be dealt with on equal terms. They no longer hold the advantage of technology, we do. So much so that even if the Enclave were to reappear at full strength, they'd be no more of a threat to us than our Brothers in the West are right now."

"I understand your frustration. But your arrogance will get us into trouble soon enough! And it's no wonder why you've been passed up for promotion. Sir."

Wolfe glared at his subordinate.

"Don't you ever mistake my values and justice for arrogance again Captain."

"Sir."

"You seem to be on a dangerous path. Of vengeance."

"As you were. Till tomorrow Captain."

Wolfe couldn't believe his own confidant was falling in league with the type of arguments his superiors in the West made against him. They'd see soon enough however. He knew he had stumbled upon something big. The Calculator was going to great lengths to erase all data linked to these sites. Making it obvious that whatever was hidden there were of some importance. What it could be was difficult to decipher given the small amount of information he had recovered to go on. Also the wavering faith of his unit made him doubt himself, and he needed to get them back on his side. His last mission although considered a success was swept under the rug and great efforts were made for a cover up. The reason being He had single handedly saved the Elders from embarrassment who inadvertently almost fired on friendlies causing an all out civil war within the ranks. It was this mission which had gained him the secret admiration of his fellow comrades and also gave the Elders reason to keep him away on mindless duties and keep from interfering or requesting he be promoted to . So between him keeping under the radar and keep from stirring up any more trouble he had inadvertently stumbled across these locked files in the main database in the Calculator. These were linked to files across a shared network spanning the entire Pre-War U.S. Poseidon Network. They granted access to all military bases and Vaults abandoned or still active. Curiosity was too strong to let it go, so he dug deeper. Yet before he could copy the files he was caught by the Network itself, Located in Old Washington D.C. of all places a metro station. He had accidentally activated the Network connected to the Mainframe in a Bunker or Vault in a place called M.A.R.G.O. on the East Coast. So he couldn't go any further, he had the information he had at that point. The only way to get anything more was to go directly to this military base and pick up the digital trail from there. He had to find it.