Rogue Trader CYOA Story 2
"Give me a gun, and a googly eyed alien to shoot at, and I'll die a happy man" - Guardsman Franx.
Part 2
His Glorious Aspirations. Fallout Universe
"How dare they, the alien filth!" I heard Del Arx yell.
It was so shocking for me to see the Archmagos express this much raw human feeling that I took a step back in surprise. The red robed man wasn't even standing still he was pacing the briefing room that he had requested that I meet him in at this time. I hadn't even known that someone as augmented as him could get mad like this and I was little worried when I noticed some smoke coming off him.
"Holy Mars!" the red robed cyborg figure called out.
My thinking was that he'd discovered something upsetting while checking this dimension's counter part the primary forge world. To cause this sort of an out burst it must have been something that would have driven others to a frothing rages where they smashed everything in sight.
"What is the matter Archmagos?" I asked.
If the cyborg had lungs I didn't know I'd certainly never heard him breathe yet he seemed to pause to take a breath before he worked to display a holo image of the red planet. By the looks of things it was a lifeless place with nothing of value to be found there.
"Upon reviewing the data gathered during your victory against the Xenos who dared sully the throne world of this universe with their presence a transmission was detected and followed back to Mars" I was informed "The vessel sent to inspect Holy Mars found only one feature of note".
The cyborg had to pause to settle himself. He was far more human than I'd ever realised.
"These xenos have built a base on Holy Mars" said the Archmagos "It is transmitting data to a nearby star system as far as we can tell. Not that its purpose matters. Lord Captain I must insist that you remove the blight from the surface of the red planet".
I saw no issue with this as the aliens were hostile.
"We can't simply bombard them" I pointed out "So we will need to attack with our support craft".
My cruiser carried no fighters or bombers, but we did have a number of smaller ships that could fight if needs be and the aliens had weak defences.
"The Priesthood will be grateful to you for removing this stain from the brother of our most sacred world" I was told "and once the xenos taint has been removed we can begin setting up on our operation on Mars. There are deposits of adamantium to be exploited, if we recover as much technology as I hope then your share of metal will be more than enough to cover the costs of this expedition with excess to spare. Perhaps even enough to purchase an larger vessel".
I knew that Adamantium is a metal that is perhaps the strongest substance known to the Imperium, and is invulnerable to attacks from most known weapons. It was the material used to construct the Imperial Palace's inner Eternity Gate, and is often used in conjunction with plasteel and ceramite to produce items that require incredible tensile strength, such as in the structure of Terminator Armour or in the construction of Imperial Titans.
As for purchasing a new ship if I was going to up against tougher enemies then perhaps a heavier cruiser with a fighter bay would be a good investment. My ship was a fine vessel and had served me well yet I was heavily tempted with the prospect of commanding a Lunar-class cruiser. But those concerns were for later.
"What kind of support will you need to claim the Omnissiah's bounty?" I asked.
Unlike when they Ad-Mech had claimed part of Planetos, and they still kept a small outpost there, I couldn't simply let the cogboys make use of the support craft to land people on the surface and assume that they would be okay because Mars was a very hostile world.
"There is one request" mentioned the Archmagos "We need a suitable craft for the journey to Holy Mars. A craft that can ferry large amounts of people and supplies across the solar system".
Since the cruiser would be staying close to Earth, in case more of the aliens turned up, moving materials to the red planet would be an issue as most of the support craft were only meant to travel to the surface of a world and back again.
"We require the use of your Pleasure Craft" stated the red robed cyborg "The model of ship was designed for travel within a solar system and can act as a ferry. We will compensate you for use of the vessel and repair any damage".
Since cooperation between myself and the Ad-Mech would only lead to greater rewards for me later I consented. I liked my Pleasure Craft and it was useful for impressing the natives of the worlds I visited, but I had shuttles that I could use to make trips down to the surface, they wouldn't be as impressive to the locals, it was just that this was a small price to play for future favours from the Ad-Mech.
"There is also the matter of the Lunar colony" mentioned Del Arx "It is the only sign of habitation on Luna".
If I remembered correctly, before the Great War, the Enclave built on the lunar surface, in the region known as the Sea of Tranquillity. How the base endured I had no idea since the moon lacked oxygen and surface water, but it had been picked up on scans once my ship had taken up a stable orbit around Fallout Earth. The moon base showed signs of life yet it hadn't replied to any of our vox transmissions or sent any of its own.
"Since our mission in this system is not to bring this brother of Earth or Luna into the Imperium then we'll leave them be unless they wish to contact us" I decided "This time we are playing the role of an expedition not an invasion force".
I felt sure that they have something interesting to trade stashed somewhere and while I'd considered simply landing a shuttle outside of the base to see what would happen I had a limited amount of time in this part of the multiverse and there were plenty of factions on Earth who would be willing to make deals with me.
Perhaps the Archmagos and I would have discussed matters concerning the red planet and the moon further if not for the fact that one of the ships many servo-skulls floated into the room so as to pass on a message.
"Lord Captain" said the pre-recorded message in the voice of the Master of Etherics "Your presence is requested on the bridge. We are receiving a vox transmission from the world we orbit".
Very few among us knew that we'd appeared a version of the Sol system. It had been decided during a recent meeting, one of many, that I'd had with the Colonel, the ranking battle sister and the Archmagos that most of the crew simply wouldn't understand that we'd travelled to an alternate dimension so it best to keep them ignorant of the truth.
They'd been left with the impression that both this world and Planetos were lost colonies of mankind that needed to be brought back into the Emperor's light. It also helped that gave my crew better pay and higher standard of living then they would be used to. I doubted any of the crew wanted to rock the boat and risk losing their jobs. Not when I kept them out of danger and well-fed.
Since the floating skull was playing a message there was no sense replying. Instead I spoke to Del Arx.
"Archmagos, we may have made contact with the Brother of Steel" I said "Would you care to come up to the bridge and speak with them?".
The robed figure gave me a short bow and then followed me.
(Line Break)
His Glorious Aspirations. Fallout Universe.
The Master of Etherics had everything set up by the time the high ranking Ad-Mech priest and I made it to the bridge. Once I was sitting in my command throne all I had to do was press a button and I'd opened a channel to whoever it was that wanted to chat with me. It would be a limited list of people since they would need to be able to detect something that was up in a high orbit, and therefore not visible from the ground with the naked eye, and also have the means to transmit on a vox frequency. That would be either one of the Brotherhood chapters or the Enclave. Maybe the NCR had that kind of tech if they had an intact observatory or something like that.
"I am Rogue Trader Thrax, Lord Captain of the Imperial cruiser His Glorious Aspirations" I introduced "I am here representing His Divine Majesty".
No one replied.
"To whom am I speaking?" I asked.
A moment later someone did reply.
"Greetings Captain" said a voice "I am President John Henry Eden".
I knew that John Henry Eden was not a human being, rather it was an Artificial Intelligence that inhabited, for lack of a better term, a super computer that was located deep within Raven Rock if my memory served.
The leaders of this expedition were already somewhat aware of him as part of our intelligence gathering efforts and I'd heard about how he "grew up in rural Kentucky, and also heard him state that he roamed with his dog Honey, "from Knob Creek to Hodgenville," as a child despite the fact that a kid was unlikely to survive such a journey in the wasteland even with an animal companion.
These lies were spread by the eyebots, a kind of robot probe created to roam the wasteland, spreading Eden's message of hope and the promise of a return of pre-War America, as long as people followed the Enclave.
"Is there something I can for you Mr President?" I enquired.
In order to play my role I had to feign ignorance and act as if I didn't know exactly who as well as what I was talking to.
"Well I do have a few questions if you don't mind" said John Henry Eden.
If the AI was capable of feeling alarm I could well imagine that finding my ship up in orbit was a bit of a shock to its CPU. If they'd been aware of the alien motherships, and it seemed wise to assume the Enclave had been, then they must also be wondering what happened to the two alien craft.
"Feel free to ask, Mr President" I replied.
I didn't have to wait long.
"We didn't fail to notice your battle with the hostile aliens we refer to as the Zetans" mentioned the AI who just confirmed that they did indeed know about the xenos "While the aliens have made no moves to invade our planet they were known to abduct American citizens and a few were never returned. Are you races at war?".
Officially the IOM was at war with all non-human intelligent races.
"I assure you Mr President we are neither invaders nor aliens" I told Jon Henry Eden "We are as human as you are".
Of course I knew that the person I was talking to was not at all human, but since I should have no way of knowing that I had to pretend to be ignorant of the fact. I knew that AI were called Abominable Intelligence by the Adeptus Mechanicus when referring to an adaptive, self-enhancing, factitious intelligence with its own consciousness. During the Dark Age of Technology, these intelligences rebelled against their human masters, leading to bloody wars so they were not only banned in the IOM they were be to hunted down and destroyed. Should Jon Henry Eden be discovered as an AI It would be my duty to destroy it at all costs.
Even if they hadn't been led by an AI I never would have allied myself with the Enclave due to their willingness to make use of the Forced Evolutionary Virus. It was through the FEV that the Master made his race of super mutants and how the Enclave meant to purify the world of mutation. I did not wish to unleash that level of death upon anyone and the chances of biological warfare on that scale going horribly wrong seemed very high to me.
"I can't imagine any faction on Earth being able to construct a space faring vessel of that size" said John Henry Eden "How did you even launch such a ship into space?".
He clearly didn't understand the situation, and be fair he had no way of knowing the truth.
"I never claimed to be from Earth" I told the AI "It would take too long to explain my origins. All you need to know as that we have no hostility towards the human population of your world. We've come here to explore and trade. We are an expedition".
Either the AI was leaving pauses in the conversation to make it seem as if a human was thinking or even AI needed time to think about all of this.
"Perhaps we should met in person and discuss your expedition" suggested John Henry Eden "We may be able to aid each other".
That sounded reasonable, but given the Ad-Mech's view of AI it would be best not to be known for consorting with one. Besides I'd have to destroy the Enclave anyway as they'd only get in my way. I would go along with the AI for now and be prepared to attack the Enclave.
"Very well, Mr President" I said "I'll contact you when I am ready and we can arrange a suitable location".
After some pleasantries the vox channel was closed.
"Someone find me the source of that transmission" I ordered.
Arx Del stepped forward.
"Lord Captain you may wish to know that the voice you were speaking to was artificially generated" said the red robed cyborg "I was analysing the transmission while you were speaking".
He hadn't seemed to be doing anything, but a high ranking member of the Machine Cult would have many cybernetic implants that would allow him to do things that others couldn't.
"Were they pre-recorded?" asked my First Officer "That would explain the pauses".
That wasn't the case, however I found that reasoning to be smart, and again I was thankfully for having a such a good First Officer.
"No I compared the transmission to the pre-recorded broadcasts that we have been picking up since we arrived in this system and that was a live conversation. Rather the voice was generated artificially" explained the tech priest "Possibly by someone speaking into a voice synthesiser. Which means they have something to hide".
The AI had likely chosen its voice carefully so as to sound trustworthy. If I hadn't known that the President was an AI then I would have been fooled into thinking he was a real person.
"My lord the transmission was relayed from an orbiting satellite" the Master of Etherics reported to me "We have been able to backtrack that signal to location on the planet".
If my memory served the AI was housed in a Enclave base called Raven Rock. That would have to be dealt with.
"I mistrust this Enclave, they mean to fool us" I said "I want their satellites destroyed and an assault on wherever it was that sent that transmission".
My authority was absolute so no one questioned my command,
"My lord we've also been contacted by the Brotherhood of Steel" I was informed "However it is not a live transmission".
They must not have access to a vox caster powerful enough to talk with us directly.
"We've been asked to send someone to meet with them" the officer told me.
Seemed as I'd soon be playing the role of diplomat.
"I'll prepare a reply" I said.
An alliance with the Brotherhood of Steel's east coast chapter would depend upon how I handled them so I needed to give my words some thought.
(Line Break)
The Citadel. The Capital Wasteland.
Sentinel Sarah Lyons had both seen and heard about some weird shit during her life. She'd seen super mutants as tall as some buildings, massive bugs, a battle robot march to war and she'd once watched helplessly as a Deathclaw bit the head off one her squad mates despite him wearing his helmet, only for a well aimed sniper shot to take down that monster when a bullet when through its eye. Sarah Lyons had even fought alongside the Lone Wanderer as they battled to bring to life Project Purity.
Yet recent events had somehow become even stranger. Mere days ago they'd been contacted over the radio by someone claiming to be in space ship currently in orbit over the Capital Wasteland. They weren't even aliens, someone called Lord Captain Thrax insisted that he was human and from something called the Imperium of Man which was a space empire. It sounded like science fiction to some within the Brotherhood.
Naturally many had thought that this was a prank of some sort, however when the shuttlecraft, that she would later learn was called a Arvus Lighter, touched down outside of The Citadel in what had once been a car park she started to wonder if this wasn't simply some kind of joke. The shuttle was much like their own veritbird and you couldn't just fake that sort of thing. Only the Enclave and the Brotherhood had that kind of technology.
Sarah wondered if this could still be a trick. Perhaps she was wrong about who had access to such technology. These visitors could be from some part of the world that they didn't know about yet. Only when the shuttle lowered its ramp and soldiers started to march out did Sarah Lyons begin to believe that the claims of these people might just be true.
She thought this because the guards of their important guest, who were all women she noted, looked far too clean to belong in this world, and she could tell that their equipment had been manufactured recently. It appeared too new to be repurposed tech from before the Great War and while she knew laser weapons when she saw them she didn't recognised the models used by these visitors. She was already wondering how they'd compare to her own battered laser rifle.
None of their guests wore power armour either because they didn't access to that technology or because they'd not wanted to appear overly threatening. Sarah hoped that their suits would give her squad The Lyons' Pride an advantage should the strangers turn hostile. Plus it helped that their visitors hadn't brought along any heavy weapons.
Sarah became very focused when a man came down the ramp. He was without a doubt the most well-dressed person she'd ever seen and his choice in clothing was strange. His boots and trousers were practical, and he carried some sort of pistol, only smart in the Wasteland, as well as a sword for some reason. His jacket was rather odd, it had a military style to it yet it was not very practical. She thought he looked a little dashing like some hero from an old TV show.
Once the Lord Captain, this had to be the man that her father talked to over the radio, had shaken hands with Elder Lyons, the Rogue Trader signalled for his guards to start bringing out of the shuttle some crates which turned out to contain some of their laser weapons, examples of both pistols and rifles. Sarah knew that the Brotherhood could do with these weapons yet she also knew that gifts often came with a hidden price tag.
"And this is my daughter Sarah, leader of the Lyons' Pride" her father introduced.
By now Elder Lyons had begun to make introductions, both herself and Head Scribe Rothchild would be attending the meeting with Lord Captain who as it turned out had brought a scribe of his own who seemed quite interested in how the Brotherhood safeguarded their technology. Sarah had never seen anyone liked the red robed figure who looked more like a robot than a man. She'd actually thought it that someone had robed a robot at first. In reality he was a tech-priest who worked for someone called the Archmagos and they worshipped machines.
"Your power armour is interesting" said the cyborg "I hope that we will be able to acquire some samples so that can produce our own copies".
That caught all the Brotherhood by surprise.
"You can manufacture new sets of power armour?" questioned Rothchild.
They could repair existing sets well enough and they'd salvaged a lot of equipment from their battles with the Enslave, but they'd never been able to create new sets of power armour.
"His Glorious Aspirations is blessed with a fully functional manufactorum" informed the Lord Captain "As long as we can feed the forges enough raw materials we'll be able to supply you with plenty of weapons and armour. Assuming that we can come an arrangement".
Well that explained the crates, they were samples of product that the Lord Captain wished to sell. This made sense given that one of his titles was that of Rogue Trader. Sarah didn't understand what a manufactorum could be so she could only imagine a factory inside a space ship. That was something she wouldn't mind seeing.
"We should talk inside" said Elder Lyons.
As they moved the Rogue Trader, the cyborg and the female guards got a chance to see where the training took place. There was no one out here right now as the Elder hadn't wanted their visitors to mistake the sounds of training as any kind of attack.
Once they got inside they began to move to the meeting room The Citadel had not looked so good for as far back as Sarah could remember. It had been cleaned from top to bottom so to give the best impression to their guests, but Sarah didn't think that people who had nice new gear and the ability to produce new tech would be impressed.
As soon as everyone was seated in the meeting room the discussion began.
"I'll be direct" the Lord Captain started by saying "My people are interested in acquiring as much of your advanced technology as possible. That means your robots, power armour and plasma weapons".
All things that the Brotherhood had in very short supply.
"We also are willing to accept information that can led us to acquiring this technology for ourselves" added the red robed cyborg.
The Lord Captain spoke again.
"In exchange we're offering a large amount of laser weaponry, and other manufactured goods depending on your needs" said the Rogue Trader "It may even be possible for us to produce power armour and plasma weapons for you. If nothing else we can offer you aid in the form of manpower. We brought with us an entire regiment, the Thrax 2nd".
Sarah picked up on that last part.
"How large is this regiment?" she asked.
There was no delay in the answer.
"Roughly ten thousand fighting men and women" said the Lord Captain "Along with some armoured support and artillery".
Assuming that the Rogue Trader wasn't lying then he had more than enough soldiers to overwhelm the Brotherhood in mere moments. If these Imperials could in fact wield such a force it would explain how they could simply give away laser weapons.
"With that many fighters you could simply conquer the Capital Wasteland" pointed out Scribe Rothchild "So why do you wish to ally with us?".
Sarah felt that this was a good question.
"Because we are on an expedition" said the Lord Captain "We don't have the resources to sustain the regiment for more than a few months and this world doesn't have the means to support us".
Simply keeping the Brotherhood supplied took a lot of work. The new water purify helped a lot with that, but it had already stretched the Brotherhood's limited resources even further as they tried to get clean water to as many people as possible.
"We can return" the Lord Captain was now saying "But only if we have good reasons to. So we need to get as much done as we can over the next few months. This will involve cleansing as much of the Wasteland of threats as possible while we try to acquire any technology you have that is of interest to us".
Again it was Rothchild you seemed to know what questions to ask.
"If you came here in a space ship as you claim what technology could we have that could possibly interest you?" the scribe.
It was the red robed cyborg who answered that. Sarah didn't understand most of what he had to say, but she began to understand that this Imperium had lost access to a lot of the technology that humanities past empires could use due to a series of problems. They had power armour and plasma weapons of their own it was just that they were hard to produce, and so having access to the more primitive versions of such would be a boon to them as it would allow them to arm the many of their warriors with armour and weapons that were easier to produce.
The tech-priest required the aid of the Lord Captain to get all that across, and Sarah was left wondering what sort of people could produce space ships and somehow not be able to make an easily mass produce plasma weapon. These Imperials were a strange lot and they had some funny ideas about technology.
As Rothchild asked more questioned it become clear even to Sarah that the Imperials had mastered laser weapons even to the point of mounting them on star ships and that they a great understanding of other technological matters, but it was hard to understand because of all the technical terms that were mixed with silly sounding terms. She didn't question their views on such matters as it didn't seem wise to risk offending these guests.
The daughter of the Elder ended up deciding that it didn't really matter why they wanted certain bits of technology and not others. She was more interested in these Imperials not destroying the Brotherhood and what they could get from an alliance with the Imperium.
"Mostly what we need form you is information" the Lord Captain was now saying "Ideas of what targets to hit as we begin to cleanse the mutants, ghouls and raiders from the Wasteland. Deploying thousands of fighting men and women is not easy task so we won't be marching an army into the ruins of DC. Instead we'll send in squads and clear out targeted areas. The fighting men and woman can also support your efforts".
He had more to say.
"Given our time restraints and the fact that our resources aren't limited it would be best to focus on the biggest threats while helping the human settlements to defend themselves" said the Lord Captain "We can train locals to use our weapons, build fortifications that sort of thing".
As the Lord Captain spoke more about his ideas Sarah couldn't help noticing how quickly everyone was accepting this. The Rogue Trader hadn't offered much in the way in proof that he could do anything he'd suggested and yet aside form Scribe Rothchild no one was really questioning Lord Thrax. Her father was deep in thought even as the Rogue Trader discussed what the Brotherhood would like in return for training some of his men in the use of power armour.
The younger Lyons couldn't help wondering if the Imperials had some way of making people more agreeable to their ideas, but she dismissed that and began to wonder if the Brotherhood of Steel was simply more desperate than she'd realised. They did badly need an ally, any alliances, and these Imperials had so much to offer. They couldn't really afford to refuse any help.
In her future Sarah could foresee many late night planning sessions. Her elite squad were often sent on the most dangerous of missions. If this Rogue Trader hoped to go after the biggest threat and the biggest prizes then she would be well suited to coordinating those efforts with him. Perhaps this would allow her to learn more about that the Imperials were about and what they could do.
She also wouldn't mind spending some time with the Lord Captain. He seemed like a very interesting person.
(Line Break)
Vault 79. Appalachia
As far as I knew during my time The United States Bullion Depository was located at the Fort Knox which had became active in the 1930s, and had been used to house a large amount of the federal gold reserves. In this universe, at some point before the Great War, all the gold from Fort Knox was secretly moved to Vault 79 for storage in the case of nuclear war, and Fort Knox was completely emptied of gold.
After the war, the Vault remained sealed, awaiting orders from the outside to be opened should the Vault's gold deposits ever be needed. Not that this seemed likely to ever happen as even if I hadn't come here for the gold there was no one in this world who really needed it. Trade was built around water, ammo, weapons and other useful stuff. I on the other hand had a use for gold as while it wasn't one of the more sort out metals in the Imperium of Man it still had value and if nothing else I could use it to pay my crew.
According to the detailed files of the Brotherhood of Steel, who had started sharing information with us, at an unknown point in the past, there was a mutiny led by a Secret Service agent nicknamed "Shorty" among the inhabitants of Vault 79, which killed many of them, and I imagined that time had finished the rest of them off.
By 2103, rumours of the Appalachian treasure drew people seeking it out to this region, and they enlisted the help of a Vault Dweller to obtain it. After they breached Vault 79, the remnants of the Vault's Secret Service detachment allowed them to leave with some of the gold. I wondered if those treasure hunters had been disappointed by what they found as they couldn't eat the metal or shoot gold at their enemies.
The Brotherhood of Steel had provided more than just some information to aid in my treasure hunt they had crude maps of the Vault's levels. No one I'd spoken to knew how they'd gotten this information and it didn't really matter since the Ad-Mech had a form of ground penetrating radar that gave them a much better idea of what was going on down there.
"We detect no signs of life Lord Captain" said one of the enginseers who was providing aid for this operation as getting into a vault can be tricky "As expected the vault's reactor is still active so it may be defended in other ways".
There could be quite a few robots and sentry guns within the vault and so I was glad I wouldn't be sending troops from the 2nd Thrax Regiment down there or any of our new allies as the losses would be high. The Ad-Mech group who made up part of this expedition had their own warriors and it been agreed upon that they'd be better suited for this operation.
In exchange for their efforts I'd get all the gold and they'd get all the technology in the vault. A simple deal that I and the red robed cyborgs should both profit from. I had come to this world to gather tech to trade with the Ad-Mech, so letting them just have all the tech in Vault 79 might seem foolish, however I did need their help and I wanted that gold as part of my plans. Besides the Ad-Mech were my allies not my minions I couldn't demand that they work for me.
As a Rogue Trader I had more than my own fortunes to worry about. I had to ensure that every member of my crew got wages, something to eat, a bed to sleep in, plenty work to do, and some kind of entertainment. While many Imperial citizens never got to see much of their own world or any other I wanted better for the people in my care. So I would need to arrange some sort of shore leave and in this dimension there was only place to go for that sort of thing.
Sooner or later I'd need to talk to Mr House over in New Vegas so that I could start sending crew and members of the Imperial Guard on shore leave. For that I needed money that had something backing it. Hence why I'd come here for a lots of gold as not only could I make coins from the metal the gold itself I'd have tangible proof of my wealth. As a Rogue Trader I was allowed to mint my own money as long as I had something real to trade as moving lots of resources around isn't easy. Its just a lot simpler to use coins when making deals and then later on provide the goods.
In the Imperium the forms of currency could be quite varied but unlike in my world they were not Fiat based, which is when a government-issued currency that is not backed by a commodity such as gold. Fiat money gives central banks greater control over the economy because they can control how much money is printed. Most modern paper currencies in my home universe, such as the U.S. dollar, are fiat currencies. In the Imperium the money would be back a world's mineral wealth or its food production, in the case of Hive Worlds the value of currency depends on industrial output rather than simply having value because a government decided it did. Even manpower was a valuable commodity as were how many regiments could be raised from the population.
"So are we just going to stand about out here and watch?" asked Sarah Lyons.
Elder Lyons had sent his daughter and her elite squad to aid me in my operations so that I would have experts in Wasteland survival with me. In return they got to learn more about my operations and while we were allies they'd be fools not to have someone keeping an eye on me.
"Being a leader often means having to stand around and sending other people off to risk their lives" I said "I'm sure you haven't always led from the front. Besides the Ad-Mech are better suited to handling this situation than we are".
There would be other vaults with other treasures within. As for my forces well the regiment was going to be focusing its efforts on taking out The Enclave as quickly as possible so that they couldn't get in my way.
"I already have people fortifying The Citadel" I was now saying "and you have more recruits than you can handle".
Given the size of my crew it wasn't at all hard to find a few hundred young people willing and able to go join the Brotherhood of Steel. The ideals of the Brotherhood weren't hard to grasp and while the worship of the Emperor might become an issue we had chaplains and commissars to help handle such matters.
"I get the feeling that you'll see plenty of action over the next few months" I assured the Brotherhood solider as I decided that she look sexier holding a Bolter "The Imperium is going to change this world and you'll be in the thick of it".
One step at a time, gold first and everything else would follow.
(Line Break)
Raven Rock. DC Wasteland.
More than one secure bunker was being broken into on this day. Far from Vault 79 Colonel Gwynenya 'Gwen' Ionael was overseeing the end of the Enclave an organisation that Lord Captain Thrax had decided that he wanted removed. He didn't need to explain his reasons just his command was enough for Ionael. She knew that while she could not conquer this world and bring into the Imperium if she successfully lead the guard in its efforts to make this planet, which was a brother to Holy Terra, back under proper human control that she would one step closer to reaching the rank of Lady General. She'd been promoted to Colonel at least partly for helping to bring a world of savages into compliance and this spoils of this campaign promised to be even greater than the last.
Her musings came to an end as the door blocking the way into the Enclave base was forced open by the efforts of the Enginseers. This base was well secured and once the Priests of Mars had properly blessed all the technology within it would make a fine base of operations for the 2nd Thrax regiment. The Imperial Guard had a lot of work to do while on this world and it would go much smoother if the Imperium had its own base of operations on this world.
"First squad!" she shouted out "Advance!".
The Stormtroopers she'd just sent into battle had not been part of the 2nd Thrax for a long time, having been assigned to her command after being transferred from a troop transport that had docked at the forge-world's star port for repairs. She was glad for them as the men and women of lesser training would have fallen back due to losses or panicked. The Stormtroopers ignored those who were cut down by green bolts of energy and kept advancing, clearing the way for more troops at a high cost.
Raven Rock had suffered loses when the Lone Wanderer had escape the base, so the military installation was not defended by many fighting men rather there were a number of automated defences to overcome that the Ad-Mech couldn't simply override as they could not appeal to the machine spirits of those weapons. So that meant the base would have to be taken the hard way.
"Second squad!" she shouted out "Advance!".
More Stormtroopers moved into the enemy base. Laser and plasma weapons didn't generate the same level of noise as autoguns, but even over the background noise of the tank engines she could hear the fighting. As it began to die down, either because all the troopers were dead or because they'd run of people and things to shoot at, the Colonel noticed some disturbance over the vox channels before someone spoke to her.
"Do excuse me" said a friendly sounding voice that came over the vox rather unexpectedly.
The Colonel decided not to send in the third squad in just yet.
"Who is this?" she demanded to know.
Her vox channel should be secure.
"This is President John Henry Eden" said the calm male voice "I'm sorry to inform you that I can not allow you to seize the base or take me as a prisoner".
The Colonel smirked under her rebreather, which she'd put on in case the Enclave used some sort of gas attack when defending their HQ.
"I don't think you have a choice in the matter, Mr President" she replied.
The voice soon spoke again.
"I had hoped that we would be able to come to a mutual understanding" said the Enclave leader "Yet it is clear that you mean to capture myself and this instillation. Which I can not allow, as such I have no choice other than to destroy myself and the base".
The Colonel had not been expecting this. A surrender or a defiant last stand made much more sense than the Enclave simply killing themselves.
"If you give yourself up I promise mercy" said Gwynenya.
The humans of this world were ignorant heathens rather than vile heretics or lawless renegades. Their souls could be saved if they were willing to accept the Emperor into their hearts. Surely this John Henry Eden must understand that the Imperium was the only hope that humanity had to reclaim this world?
"I have no choice" the President told her "I am programmed to avoid enemy capture at any cost".
Before the high ranking Guard officer could ponder over John Henry Eden's choice of words the enemy base began to explode as it buried itself.
"Pull back" the Colonel ordered.
Once it was over the Guard had only lost a couple of squads of stormtroops, and that would have been worth it to seize the base, only they'd gained nothing.
"Looks like we'll need to find somewhere else to set up Gwynenya decided.
They had other options.