Chapter 39 - Final Foreword
"We've had our share o' problems here in beautiful Washington D.C., but did any of us really see those Enclave idiots coming? Man, I thought that blow-hard Eden was just a pre-recorded pain-in-my-ass. That was before devil-headed stormtroopers moved into the neighborhood. Now, the Brotherhood of Steel may have taken care of those losers back at that new-fangled faucet called Project Purity. But they weren't done! Children, I am pleased to announce that the beautiful Brotherhood has mangled the last base those Enclave bastards had left! So if you see some Enclave rejects wandering around, have pity! They're homeless, after all. And if you see that kid from Vault 101-"
Ruby switched off the radio with an irritated scowl, leaning back into her seat in her new home in Megaton. She didn't need to hear the rest of the old news broadcast. She knew exactly what it said.
It had been two months since the Destruction of Adams Air Force Base.
Two months since the Enclave had been finally and decisively defeated.
Three Dog and the Capital Wasteland, like most of the Brotherhood initially, saw the battle as a stunning and resounding victory.
But Ruby and the Lyons' Pride could only ever look at it with bittersweet feelings.
She still remembered the feeling of horror and despair, as the orbital strike had hit, and the wave of fire and light had washed over her.
She still remembered jumping back into the Vertibird, once the cloud and the fallout had subsided, and going back into Adams Air Force.
She still remembered reaching the remains of the crawler, devoid of movement.
She still remembered the stirrings of hope, that it would have been just like the sewers, when they'd escaped from Project Purity; that they'd find him alive and well, despite any and all logic demanding otherwise.
In the end, all they'd been able to find, in a crater of charred corpses and twisted and broken power armor, flash-fused in the pressure and heat of the explosion, was a single half-melted pauldron, two golden crescents covered in soot and blood.
She still remembered her heart breaking, when she'd gingerly picked it up, Sarah's hand on her shoulder, trying and failing to reassure the two of them.
Ruby gingerly touched the locket around her neck.
It was the last thing she had to remember Jaune, after all.
Until today, that is.
The Wasteland would forever remember her father for Project Purity (hell, they'd renamed the Jefferson Memorial into the James Ironwood Memorial)!
But only the Brotherhood knew of Jaune Arc's accomplishments, and his ultimate sacrifice.
Her fist clenched at the thought, that the hero from another world, who had done so much for a land he hadn't even known, would be forgotten, just like that.
She would not allow that to happen.
Her resolve strengthened, she got back to furiously punching in lines in her terminal.
Finally, as she finished up, a message suddenly came over the radio transceiver: "Ruby, it's time."
"Gallows has made the preparations already?" Ruby asked, as she got up and stretched.
"He's in position and waiting for our arrival." Sarah confirmed. Concern crept back into her voice, audible even over the static: "Are you sure you're up for this, Ruby?"
"... I am."
"You sure? No one would blame you for taking more time off, Ruby. It's not like we don't know what you've been up to-"
"I said, I'm fine." Ruby snarled, before quickly coming back to her senses. "... I'm sorry..."
"... I miss him too, you know." Sarah admitted. "Honestly, it's hard to believe he's really gone, you know?"
Ruby knew exactly what she meant. Some days, she felt like she'd wake up, and Jaune would be right there, cooking some weird Wasteland creature over a fire, with a calm smile on his face as he hummed to himself.
She sighed in exasperation: "It's Jaune, after all."
The two women shared a smile at that, before Sarah offered again: "Look, if you want to sit this one out-"
"I'll go." Ruby shook her head. "It's what he would have done. I'm just about finished up with what I've been doing, after all."
"Well, if you say so..." Sarah didn't sound convinced, but she ultimately relented. She knew this was how Ruby coped, after all. "Then we'll rendezvous at the train tunnel north-west of Fort Constantine. It's time to liberate the Pitt, once and for all."
As the radio transceiver stopped receiving a signal from Sarah, Ruby got up, and ejected a holotape from the terminal.
Jaune may have been gone, but she could still follow on his footsteps (and those were some big shoes that she had to fill...), keep his legacy alive..
For the world James and Jaune had sacrificed themselves for.
For the promise of a better tomorrow.
She would continue being a hero who brought hope to the Capital Wasteland, in their stead.
But before that, there was something else she had to do, to ensure that his memory would never die.
-EXCERPT TAKEN FROM "WASTELAND SURVIVAL GUIDE", WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED BY MOIRA BROWN AND RUBY IRONWOOD IN 2277-
Foreword by Co-Lead Author and Subject Matter Expert Ruby Ironwood:
Unlike most of this book's intended audience, I grew up in a Vault, with little intention of ever actually leaving it.
"We're born in the Vault, and we die in the Vault", that was what our Overseer taught us from a young age.
My life in the Vault, while perhaps not idyllic, could not be called uncomfortable.
Food, water, shelter... all were provided to us; we never needed to learn how to secure any of these for ourselves.
And so, naturally, when I was forced to leave the Vault, I almost died.
I got lucky, however, in that I ran into someone who saved my life. Literally.
The boy didn't just save my life, however.
He befriended me, gave me advice, and helped me as I began my travels across the Capital Wasteland, as helpless and lost as a newborn baby.
When I asked why, he told me something very simple.
"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."
Then he shared his dream with me, of being a hero, who helped others.
When Moira Brown asked him to help her with his Wasteland Survival Guide, he all but jumped at the chance.
I complete this work with the notes he took, the research he did, during our travels.
And I dedicate this book to it's other Co-Lead Author and Subject Matter Expert:
Jaune Arc, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good of the Capital Wasteland.
May this book help you as he helped me, stranger.
Author's Note: And we're done with the Fallout 3 arc... in less than a month?! Shit, I haven't actually figured out what to do next...
Honestly, would anyone really be mad if I just ended the story on that note?
Jokes aside, I felt like this was a good way to show the difference between Ruby Ironwood, Ruby Rose, and DovahYang. Whereas DovahYang never stops searching for Jaune, and Ruby Rose is racked by guilt over her perceived failure, Ruby Ironwood instead accepts his death and moves on, swearing to uphold his legacy, and live up to all the lessons he imparted onto her. And I just realized, in Two Worlds; One Arc Ruby Ironwood's the one who never gives up on searching for him (while DovahYang meets Team RWBY pretty early on).
Also, when did Sarah Lyons passionately shout out Jaune's true title? During her private meeting with Elder Lyons and Scribe Rothchild, while they were going through the Rockland Satellite Station.
Specifically, all the people outside heard was "... KING ARTHUR!"
And yes, the Foreword from Ruby is definitely embellishing things slightly... he was nowhere near enthusiastic about accepting Moira Brown's request.
Don't expect anything from me for a long while... I was not expecting to wrap up Fallout 3 this quickly. 15 chapters within 3 weeks was... just... how?! I am actually going to need to figure out how to do the next part (as well as figure out what the next part even is).
Meanwhile, as is apparently tradition, I end off this volume by reminding people (including myself) that I actually have a ko-fi. Donations go absolutely nowhere and get you nothing, though.
