"Die puny humans! It our time now!" the Super Mutant cried as it held down the trigger on its minigun. 5mm rounds filled the air and slammed against the wrecked car that Knight Maxon and the Rivet City guards were hiding behind. The mutants had ambushed the water convoy and the opening salvo killed most of the caravan, including two of the Brahmin. The third was currently on the ground mooing in pain with dozens of projectiles in its body. The corpses of dead caravan guards and Rivet City Security members littered the road. "This is Knight Maxon, Super Mutant ambush in progress. Reinforcements requested," Maxon near shouted into the comm device in his helmet. More static. "We need to get out of here," one of the Security members shouted, after nearly having their head blown off. Maxon enabled his external speakers to speak to the man, "Negative, we are going to hold this position until back up arrives,"

"Yeah, take it you muty bastards!" the woman to his right said, standing up and holding down her submachine gun's trigger. Her head and upper torso exploded. The man puked. "We're security, not soldiers, we aren't trained for this," the man cried. Maxon evaluated his options. There were two other members of the caravan alive to his left, behind an old bus stop, and another to his right, hiding in the guts of one of the dead Brahmin. He stood up from behind his cover and snapped off a pair of shots from his laser rifle, melting the face of one of the mutants. He ducked back down, but not quick enough as a few rounds bit deep into his suit of recon power armor. He was about to call a withdrawal when the sound of a plasma rifle entered the cacophony of battle. The minigun ceased firing and several mutants redirected their gaze to something previously unaccounted for.

A mutant was thrown off a rooftop and land on the ground with a meaty thunk. Bolts of plasma left the roof, turning the upper torsos of a pair of mutants to green goo. A white suit of T-51 Recon Power Armor leaped off the roof and ran to his position, 5.56 and .32 caliber bullets colliding with the side of the armor. Sliding into the cover Maxon was using. Behind his armor, Maxon grimaced. "Paladin Ridger, responding to reinforcement request Knight," the white armored man said. A mutant stepped out from behind cover and before Maxson could react the Lone Wanderer let off a trio of blasts from his rifle and blew the mutant to a pile of goo. He ejected the Micro Fusion cell from his weapon before loading another one in.

"Sir, the support is greatly appreciated," the security man said while awkwardly saluting. Ridger turned to the man, "I'm going to attempt to push their position, Maxon you'll follow behind. Officer…"

"Pritchard, Officer Pritchard, sir," the officer provided.

"Pritchard, once we have their attention you push to your compatriots and fall back to the subway entrance two blocks down and wait for me or Maxon," Ridger ordered. He turned his head to Maxon, "You ready to move?"

"Sir yes sir," he said, gritting his teeth. Ridger didn't seem to notice. He threw himself over the edge of the car and ran towards the mutants, firing off plasma bolts as he went. The mutants began to fire at the Wanderer, attention drawn away from the others. Maxon steeled himself and leaped over his makeshift cover, firing his weapon at the mutants. The remaining members of the caravan took off towards the metro tunnel. Maxon dropped a mutant who attempted to get the minigun. Ridger pulled a plasma grenade off his belt and threw it onto a roof holding a pair of mutants. Blood, gore, and goo exploded off the roof, raining down on Maxon's armor.

Ridger reached a building. "Hostiles inside," he shouted to Maxon who ran and slammed the door open. Waiting for him was a massive super mutant wielding a super sledge. The damned creature smiled and swung the super sledge and crashed it into his chest. He felt ribs break and the armor shatter. The pain was so intense he wasn't able to react to the mutant as it raised the hammer to slam down onto his head. Ridger turned the corner and fired his Microwave Emitter point-blank at the mutant. It's upper body simply ceased to exist as the weapon did its brutal work. He picked up Maxon, whose grip had loosened on his weapon. The laser rifle fell to the ground. "My weapon, I need to get it!" he shouted at Ridger.

"No time," Ridger said. As he said it, several more mutants entered the room from many doors. Ridger took aim and calmly eliminated them. He also slowly marched backward, holding onto Maxon who was squirming rapidly. A mutant trampled over Maxon's rifle, splitting it in two. Ridger made it back onto the road and more mutants streamed out. Bullets were flying all around them. He heard whistling on the wind a threw Maxon away before a missile collided with the ground directly below his feet. It threw him to the ground, knocking his gun from his hand. He tried to reach for it but a super mutant placed its boot onto his neck. He felt the barrel of a gun pressed against his helmet and knew that at this range the helmet wouldn't stop the bullets.

Then he heard the familiar sound of rotor blades and a minigun warming up. "Suck it, bitch," he told the mutant before a dozen 5mm rounds tore its chest open. He stood up and picked up Maxon, who was still dazed after the throw and began to drag him to the metro again. Just in front of him, a vertibird began its descent. Stepping off came five Brotherhood members wearing their standard t-45 recon power armor and three brotherhood members wearing the new t-60 assault variant that had been scavenged from the Commonwealth to the North. They began to clear out the mutants, one suit of t-60 moved over to Ridger and Maxon. Maxon tried to straighten up after seeing the insignia on the suit, the symbol of Elder Sara Lyons.

"Easy there knight," she told the young man, "I don't want you killing yourself," Maxson ceased his movement. A scribe left the vertibird and took Maxon from Ridger and dragged him aboard the aircraft. "Elder," Ridger said, saluting.

"At ease Paladin," she said, "Status of the convoy?"

"Three survivors in the metro tunnel a block down, one hiding in the brahmin corpse. No idea on the status of the cargo, but given that it's mutants any loss was most likely accidental," he reported. Sara nodded and looked over at what had been the mutant base, which now was strewn with the bodies of dead mutants. One of the other t-60 suits, being piloted by Sentinel Tristan, marched over to the pair. "Hostiles eliminated, no Brotherhood fatalities," the man reported.

"Good," Sara said, "Load up the water you can. We'll take it back to Rivet city to be added to a new convoy," The two men saluted their commanding officer and started loading the supplies as two of knights in t-45 stood watch. After several minutes of work, the crates of Aqua Pura were loaded onto the vertibird and the Brotherhood members flew off, two of the knights staying behind to help lead the survivors back to Rivet City. Maxon was strapped to a bench in the back, his armor having been removed, with the Scribe monitoring his injuries. He was obviously under the influence of anesthetics, his head slightly swaying like a stoned raider.

"He did good for what he had to work with," Ridger said, "Except for when he barged into that room," Sara looked at Ridger, "But?" she asked him. She knew him too well.

"But, he's impulsive. Granted, he's a teenage boy but he's a teenage boy with access to power armor and laser weapons. One with something to prove to his superiors," he said, "One superior more accurately," Most in the citadel knew about Maxon's attraction to Sara, most felt similarly. But Maxson took it to a level that most found borderline fanatical, going so far as to start fights with other younger members of the Brotherhood. Of course, no one mentioned it to Sara, out of respect for the two of them.

"You're out of line, Paladin," the Sentinel said to Ridger.

"His need to prove himself nearly got himself killed and had a missile thrown at me. I think I'm perfectly in line," the Paladin said stepping closer to the sentinel who, thanks to the assault armor, stood a good head above him. The two were staring each other down, neither was willing to back down. "Cut your bullshit out," Sara near shouted at the pair, "Paladin, do not speak to your superior in that tone. Sentinel, he brings up a good point. It was a mistake to give Maxson command of this operation. When we get back to the castle, restrict him to Citadel defense after he's recovered."

"Yes elder," Tristan said, slamming his fist against his chest. They stood in silence until they arrived at the Citadel. Sara motioned for Ridger to follow her as she marched to her office, not bothering to remove her armor. Ridger followed like an obedient hound. Entering the room, she closed the door. "Please attempt to rationalize what you did out there," she said. Ridger removed his helmet.

"Saving Maxon's ass? Challenging Tristan? Revealing the kid's affections for you? Or all three?" he asked. She gave him an exasperated look, "You've been a member of the brotherhood for nearly a year. You should know how things are handled by now. You standing up to Tristan doesn't show you as a brother, but a wastelander who's touting power armor."

"And?" Ridger said, "I get the job done what does it matter what they think?"

"It matters because not everyone in the Brotherhood is happy with the status quo. There have been whispers that the Outcasts might've had the right idea," she answered "And other's that question my judgment in letting you stay,"

"Do you feel that way?" he asked, "Does the Pride think that way?" She shook her head.

"Those who fought with you and me at the purifier and the air force base know you can be trusted. They know the value you bring," she told him, "But the new blood from the West and the men manning the long-range outposts don't know you the way we do."

He moved over to a small table set against a wall with a picture of Lyons and her father. To the left, there was also a picture of the Pride, including him, after the raid on the Adams Airforce Base. He stared at it for a moment. He said something inaudible to Lyons.

"What was that?" she asked him.

"I said fuck them," he told her, "Where were they when we fought the Enclave tooth and nail for the purifier? Where were they when Tristan led the hunt for the Enclave after the fall of Ravenrock? Where were they when we attacked Adams Airforce base when Cross died?" his voice lingered for a second, "Where were they when you and I lay dying after the purifier's shockwave? They were either fucking toasters in the western bunkers or fapping off waiting for the fighting to be done by the Pride,"

Sara had no response. Ignoring the crass language, he was right. There had been several fights between what remained of the Pride after the war with the Enclave and those who hadn't participated, mostly deriving from the fact that her father and, now her, distributed the purified water across the wasteland. Ridger had stood with her when others among the Brotherhood hadn't. His anger was justified, but out of line.

"Don't express these opinions outside this room," she said, "Moreover, don't antagonize the other members of the Brotherhood. Can you do that?" He looked at her, his face was the emotionless mask he took whenever he needed to hide something from her. "On one condition, you take a break," he said. Before she could open her mouth to protest, "When was the last time you rested properly, and no the three hours of sleep you get every other night doesn't count," he told her.

She stayed silent, not knowing how to answer. "What did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Tristan, Vargas, Kodiak, and I planned on heading over to the Muddy Rudder tonight," he informed her "Are you interested?"

She began to laugh, "You and Tristan planned this?" she asked.

"The argument that got you and me alone? Yes," he told her, "The topic? No, that happened because Maxon was being a teenager. So, again, are you game?"

"You're buying Paladin, that's an order," she told him, gracing him with a smile.

"Yes ma'am," he said, saluting before leaving.

Author's note

A few things I quickly want to say 1) this is my first fic ever so any feedback, positive and negative. 2) In this Maxson was Fifteen during the events of Fallout 3 instead of his canon age. 3) Just quick clarification when I say Recon power armor I mean the power armor found in Fallouts 3 and New Vegas while the Assault Pattern is the Variant found in Fallout 4.

Thanks for reading and please review.