Claws of the Wastes

by Claws of the Wastes

A talking, intelligent Deathclaw wanders the Wastes to bring closure. For himself, for the Wasteland. With a cross-country trip, spawned by the desire for vengeance, along the way. Believing that he is forever; the last of his species. This is a journey that is going to get reckless! Wandering with little of an ultimate purpose. He might just find one.

15. Dawn of Dusk

Chapter 15: Dawn of Dusk

Leaping to the right, I landed a short distance away from that heated-up coil upon the Sledge. I leaned on my full heightened state, ready to fight back, and made my retaliation. I charged the soldier with breakneck speed, using my size and strength to slam into him. As he fell back, I gave a wide swipe upward, across his chest of power armor, leaving a wide metal gash upon the bulky and hardened chest plate. He landed against the rock formation as I bolted forward to make a gash upon his helmet, but no; he saw that coming and got back up quickly before hitting the side of my body with the heated Super Sledge, causing me to recoil back and revel in the intense pain and burn upon my side, if not for my hardened scales I would surely have broken a few bones from such forced trauma.

I quickly recovered from the stinging and sizzling of my flesh, I stepped to the side of him in one quick motion before giving two quick slashes across from left to right my talons were far too quick for him to even suspect such a motion the armor once more, from his arms to his legs I left a deep tear of the armor, a trail of my resolve as his armor was slowly but surely deteriorating. This caused him to fall upon his knee, crouching on one leg and standing on his foot with another, gripping the handle of his Sledge for support.

It was all but a trap; I went to give his helmet an uppercut to get underneath and get right at his neck but he didn't even allow me a chance as I charged to make my move the Paladin quickly stood up, spun the Sledge in his hands before pulling it back and using all his force and weight to hit me right on my chest and knocking me a distance away from him. This made me lose my balance and fall to my back a few feet from where he stood.

He wasted no time before making a full sprint in my direction. I was still on the ground unable to get up because the hit had knocked the wind out of me, and getting launched into the air and landing with all my weight didn't help in the effort. I was hurling, gasping, and sputtering for any semblance of air.

Mustering the strength, I raised a leg and caught him right in the stomach. I used one of the previous gashes in his armor to use as a grip for one talon on my feet, as I used the same grip to push him up and over myself. I threw him past my head. I quickly stood up, still unable to breathe from the impact of my fall.

He landed with a loud thud, as his armor and weight made the ground rattle and shake the dust from the Wasteland. It soon engulfed a massive cloud where he landed. I could hear the rattling and clanging of the armor, expecting him to charge me from the dust but in a quick leaping swipe of both of my arms, in a criss-cross. Did I hit... nothing but air?

How could that be? Then I heard it, the steps behind me, shuffling the ground. I couldn't even turn around before I felt the crushing pain of the Sledge hit my side, and then again before I had embraced the pain and grabbed the handle while turning to face him. I wouldn't allow myself to be hit a third time, not like that.

Snatching it from his hands with brute force and a shove of my shoulder as I bent and contoured his hands within the suit to release his grip.

I swung the hammer over my head before giving a wide golf swing, all while backing up, hitting directly at the bottom of his helmet and forcing it clean off. It landed a short distance behind him as he stumbled back before looking back at his helmet, and then quickly back to me and raising his arms, ready to continue and commit to this battle.

I looked down upon the dented Sledge; it was so mangled and dis-proportioned, the head of the hammer was especially useless as it was now just a flat edge with no weight. I grumbled in frustration as I chugged it in the direction of the Brotherhood Soldier who didn't even flinch as it went past his head, in a spiraling. The air from the force of my throw caused his hair to flow from the sheer speed of the hammer.

He sped up with his leisure walk, picking up speed as he jabbed me twice right in the face and then a kick to the groin, which he was visibly shocked when I didn't react to that aside from the jolt of being kicked between the legs. Who would have thought being a bipedal lizard would have had its advantages?

I took this moment of his surprise to give my hits, which he tried to deflect and evade to no avail, I gave a wide drawn out horizontal slash across his chest once more, piercing the previous cut I made and contacting his skin as my claws dug into his chest before he pushed into me and blocked my other slash, gripping and bending my wrist forcing me to pull back and lose my grip within his armor.

But not before I tore up the inside, leaving a trail of blood flowing steadily from the inside of the gash in his chest, down the power armor. His shove caused me to stumble and trip. I recovered my traction and posture before looking up to see he had retrieved the Super Sledge and didn't even hesitate and hit me right across the side of my head and then hit me again from the opposite direction. This fully knocked me down and my vision went blurry. My mind felt like a cave collapsing in on itself. I could feel the warm flow of blood go down the sides of my head. I found the will to get back up on my feet and continue this fight. Everything was dizzy and incoherent, blurry waves blinded me, my reaction was lacking and my strength was dwindling. I got a few weak hits, which did nothing but scratch his suit of armor before I felt one last hit against my chest. Causing me to fall upon my front, against the dirt and sand of the tainted Wasteland ground; the last thing I saw was the blurry outline of his legs before the darkness fully embraced me.

Some time passed, I'm assuming. It jolted me awake, shaking down my whole body and the large metal pounding off in the distance. I gave a pained groan as my vision eventually straightened itself. I was in a cave laid down on my back on a flat surface of the rock; the cave was lit up with various fires and a massive bonfire in the middle.

I felt okay. Aside from the wrapped a bandage around my head and the stinging feeling on my right side, I went to put pressure upon it, then it hit me; I didn't have my robe on. I had nothing on me. My wrappings around my claws and my legs. I was visible as a Deathclaw now. Great. That means whoever fought me knew now.

The pounding of metal eventually stopped, and I sat up. I was lying on my back, and I noticed my robe and other garments neatly folded next to my satchel with a... Nuka Cola Quantum? I didn't have that with me. What on Earth is going on here?

I stood up with a slight stumble. I gripped the side of the cave wall for some more traction. My vision got blurry once more than I adjusted to the light of the various fires around this inner cave.

I wasn't sure who or what saved me at this point, but it can't possibly be that Brotherhood Soldier, right? I leaned down onto four legs and gave a wide stretch, a satisfactory crack went through my body and I felt alright enough to stand back up. I slowly strolled over to the Quantum and picked up and investigated the bottle. It didn't seem tampered with and I was honestly unsure if poison would kill me anything, besides; who would kill me after taking all this time to treat me?

I used my thumb claw upon the cap to open it and gave a whiff of the contents of the Quantum. If I died, I wouldn't enjoy this one, that is for sure. It didn't smell of any nefarious contents, so I gave it a small sip. Upon tasting it, I cared little about the risk. I quickly gulped it down without even realizing how thirsty I was till I drank something. How long have I been out?

Then I saw him peek out from behind the tunnel of the cave. It was the Brotherhood Soldier! He wasn't in his power armor this time; he wore a pair of jeans and had a sniper strapped to his side, a large bandage across his chest, and a slightly hunched-over stance.

He stared at me with wide eyes before saying. "I, uh... didn't think you would ever have woken up," before raising his arms up and slowly backing away, "I'm going to just leave you to it. I hope you won't butcher me."

It must be quite a sight, a Deathclaw holding a Quantum in one hand, standing over a rock, resting upon it with the other hand. I tilted my head to the right, almost in confusion, and asked, "Why would I butcher you?"

He put his arms down and cleared his throat, unstrapping the sniper from his side before approaching closer at the other end of the bonfire. "It speaks! I mean, I know you are the same robed person I ran into under the bridge. I followed you, but seeing you speak is...wow!" he collected himself as I looked in amusement. "We fought, and I knocked you out. I took your hood off once you were down and was just horribly confused, like what trickery is this?"

I sat on the rock on which my bag rested; I leaned back and adjusted till I was comfortable resting a leg upon my knee and set the bottle down. "Then why would you have helped me after such a vicious attempt on my life? And may I remind you? That it was YOU who followed me for no reason at all."

He gave a somber sigh before sitting himself down in front of me next to the bonfire. "I thought you were someone else honestly, I watched you from a distance just completely shoo away that other deathclaw like it was nothing, there is a group of people who have some kind of ability to pacify these Wasteland creatures and are an enemy of the Brotherhood."

He continued, all the while adding to the pile of fire as I listened. "As for letting you live well, it was multiple things, mainly you are an exceptional fighter and it would be shameful to end someone who learned through hardships and survival rather than like raiders who can't even take a Brahmin in groups. Another reason when I took your hood off and saw that you were not human, many things clicked with me and made sense now. For example, you took many, many more hits from me than an average human. Which I knew confused me, and seeing you were a Deathclaw, I guess I just wanted to know more."

He paused for a moment and I rubbed the top of my head, the intense pain still ever-present, but I unwrapped the bandage from it as he watched me.

I stood myself up and walked past him into the tunnel before asking, "Where are we, and how long have I been out?"

He jumped up himself and jogged to reach my side before backing up and saying, "Sorry, I wanted to see how large you were compared to me and I can't help but notice you are smaller than other deathclaws, is there a reason for that? Oh, you were out for about two days and we are just outside the Potomac River, and this cave is my hiding spot when I'm on patrol. It's hidden enough where it can't be found, and this is where I go to tinker and experiment when I'm not needed by the Brotherhood."

I used a hand to grip the edge of the cave as I passed into a lavishly decorated interior, it had many tables and guns upon guns on racks and tables with various parts and components, a red carpet covered the bottom of the cave floor, and a fridge with a bed next to it, a terminal as well near the wall of guns."This is.. rather impressive, how long has this taken to accumulate?"

"Most of my life, since the Brotherhood took me in, but I was always a tinkerer and experimented with plenty while I was exploring the Wasteland."

I have seen the table he was working on something with. It was a Laser Rifle with a tri barrel and a glasskose regulator from a plasma rifle attempting to be attached to the barrels.

He went over to it and picked it, seeing that I was eyeing it, "See I've been trying to combine the barrels of a laser rifle with the stopping power of a plasma rifle, but I can't seem to get the reflector of the-"

I put a hand up to stop him. "I am aware of what a glasskose regulator is. It's what refracts the light, which allows the plasma from the cartridge to flow from the barrels of the said plasma gun. I can set it up for you, hand it here, and give me a copper wire."

He looked at me with incredible confusion and almost didn't give it to me before addressing how impossible it would be for me to be so precise and able to do such a thing as that. I will prove him wrong.

He attempted to attach it to the battery of the Laser Rifle but I told him why that was wrong. "See, you are trying to flow plasma through a battery that was never meant to do such a thing. The tri barrels you have, however, can be changed to accommodate such a modification." He looked on in awe, which just made me smile.

I placed the Laser Rifle upon the table and disconnected the glasskose regulator from the battery and instead placed it down the actual barrels of the Lasers themselves, I precisely added the wires on each corner of the regulator before then attaching those wires and then welding them to the back of each barrel, using my claws to get into the thin space and lock the regulator into the place where its connection between plasma and laser will be met. I lifted it by the trigger and gave it a good shake to ensure that I locked it in place. "See? Now give it a shot and see what it can do."

He gripped it and looked it up and down, inspecting it before aiming at a target he had against the cave wall. With a single shot of the rifle burst out a ray of three green and red beams, which turned the entire target to ashes. He let go of the trigger before lowering the gun with an audible, "Holy shit!"

I rubbed my claws together in a victory of sorts before he placed it back upon the table and excitedly asked, "How.. what... where do you even know how to do that?!"

I gestured with a hand back over to the bonfire and told him, "This is going to take a while to explain. We might as well get comfortable and acquainted, yes?"

He gave a nod before going over to his bed and putting a white shirt on. He followed me to the other chamber, and I sat back down near my bag and I went through it and pulled out my journal, glad to see this unharmed. There was a chair in the corner which he pulled up next to me and sat in it, resting his arms on the back of it and reaching out to shake my hand.

"I am Myles, by the way, and it's an interesting, if not confusing, pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

I reached out myself and gently shook his hand. "I am John and, likewise, but how did you assume I would've known how handshakes work?"

He thought for a moment before saying, "Everything you have done so far has led me to throw everything I know about deathclaws away regarding you. Obviously, you are much more human than that of a mindless beast, but I want to know why, assuming you know yourself. I would be very interested to hear where you come from and I'll trade with my life story too, if you like."

"Well then, Myles, get comfortable, because this is going to take quite a while. I grew up in a Vault for most of my adolescence and the beginning of my teenage years as you would say. There were about over 200 of us intelligent deathclaw. We were peaceful. Our people comprised philosophers and scientists. We wanted to figure out why we're like the way we are. We had a functional society as well, with various laws, a school, and teaching system, and our government of sorts." I continued as he listened. I'm assuming questions would come after I was finished, "As for myself, I was a special case when the current egg batch hatched from the various matriarch's I was different, not only because of my albino coloring but instead of being hatched with the normal strength like that of my clutch mates, I was instead blessed with a heightened intelligence, many saw me as weak and inferior, some fanatic older ones even apparently suggested I get killed because of being so different."

"I was the only cause of an albino since the original batch of intelligent deathclaws all those years ago, in regards that I believe I'm a 4th or 5th generation, so all things considered we were doing pretty good; if you were interested, my parents tried to have offspring for so long, but after so long of nothing I had happened, their little miracle. They embraced my difference, as well as my father's, father, father. Being a direct descendant of those original intelligent deathclaws, who was also an albino according to our history. It all seemed made up, information minimal."

Myles thought for a moment. "You figured you were like the original one who started it all. You would have been met with a much more positive reaction to being hatched, don't you think?"

I shook my head. "Not like one would have assumed. I was treated as a curse and assumed to be undesirable, but where I didn't excel in being a brute, I excelled in various intelligence tests, which they used to make sure the young ones are capable of free thought and sentience and such. Lucky for me, our alpha or overseer took a liking to me. In fact, he downright punished those who suggested I get killed off. The thing is, it didn't stop those growing up at the same time as me to make fun of me and fight me, as I was literally the runt of our pack."

"I wouldn't have imagined you to have been a runt. I mean, you aren't as large as a usual deathclaw but you don't lack strength by any means."

Scoffing, I said, "Yeah, except that is now. Back then, I was far weaker than every other male. I couldn't win any fights at all. Are even in our society it is the strongest and most fierce who get anywhere in life, being so 'weak' and inferior to my clutch mates means I stood no chance of being any sort of guard for the vault or even having a family of my own eventually as my weakness wasn't desirable and only those with the best qualities get to have children, decided directly by the Alpha of our pack who gets to breed and who doesn't. It seems almost selfish and unnecessary for him to be the one to decide that, but he was our leader and needed to contain the population, as we lived in a limited space vault."

"So, your alpha wasn't the only one who sired young there, obviously. You mentioned your parents, but I know from our records and observations that deathclaws out in the wild follow no such rule and it's only the alpha of a pack who has that privilege. It is survival of the fittest, sure, but no diversity. It's a wonder how regular packs end up lasting so long. So I have to ask, did you ever have any children?"

This question took me by surprise and I gave a deep breath and closed my eyes before saying, "Yes, well, no, potentially. I would have actually, but that's where this incredible tale gets to the end. To make a long story short, the Enclave found our Vault and wasted no time wiping it out completely, everyone was killed even my mate who was expected to bear our children, I was pretty young still but matured at a quicker rate, our alpha asked me to have some offspring to see if they shared my enhanced intelligence. It doesn't matter now because I don't know how that would have ended. They killed my mate before she could have even laid our egg. I don't know what had been worse, having them been crushed or not even being laid, to begin with." I paused for a moment and collected myself. "They went in and butchered everyone. My mother got shot full of lead and everyone I knew died around me. I only got out because I ran into my father and he sent me through a hidden passage under the Overseer's office. The only bodies I didn't find were that of our Alpha and my father when I returned."

Myles lit up with sympathy and understanding. "I am sorry to hear that. Not only did you lose your home, love, potential children, and your parents all at the same time. I can't possibly imagine what that was like all at once."

He wiped his eyes as if getting a little weepy himself. "These damn Enclave ALWAYS have to destroy everything. Do you know why they did it or how they even found your vault?"

"Thank you for the condolences, no. I do not know how they found us or why they wiped us out. All I know is I am on a mission to destroy everything they love as they did to me. I remember the face of the man who killed my mother and father very well. I will find him and tear him apart. Even if it kills me, I need this revenge. It isn't a want, not anymore. When the Enclave burns, I will have my time to grieve. Until then, I need to keep myself strong and level-headed."

Myles was still looking sympathetic. "I understand that there is no need to let out those feelings when the deed isn't done. I can only imagine how much you have boiled up and need to let out. I can kind of understand that, even let me explain. I had my parents wiped out by the Enclave and an old town to the east near the coast? Anyway, I was pretty young then, but I spent a lot of time on my own. I tinkered with many things as my mom was an old trader and picked up a thing or two. Eventually, the Brotherhood heard of my advances and found me. A group hunting the Enclave and saving technology? Yeah, it sounds right up my alley."

It was then I realized we were more similar than we had ever thought. We have a common goal and would most definitely make great allies... Once we got over the part of trying to kill each other a couple of days ago. "So, John, how old were you when the whole vault situation happened?"

I tapped my chin with my index claw. "I was, I believe, 14 or 15, which is beyond maturity, by the way of our species. I feel I need to clarify, as you know I had,"attempted" at having children after all. Anyway, that makes me 45 now."

He almost looked in shock. "Wait, wait, you are 45? Damn, you look good for that age. I mean, I don't know if age shows on you guys, but hey and that makes sense as animals and such do mature faster than humans in that regard," He said with a shrug, laughing.

I gave a small chuckle to myself before noticing the Quantum again. I hadn't finished it. Picking it back up and leading back, I asked, "So how did you know I like Nuka Quantum so much? It was quite a treat to wake up to."

"Well... I took a slight look at your Journal thinking it was like a record of something suspicious, but, no. It was the writing of your journey and I am very sorry to have been so noisy but... I noticed you mentioned liking Nuka Cola, so I figured to say sorry for beating the crap out of you. I left it for you when you awoke."

I went to say something, and he stopped me before I even had a chance. "When I say beat the crap out of you, I mean you certainly held your own, and I got very lucky. I know for a fact that if you were trying to kill me. I would have been dead, but you were holding back and I have no doubt about it."

He complimented me... what is this? This took me aback. "Did I hear that right?"

"I am confused. What do you mean?"

"Just, you recognize how it should have been and I suppose I'm glad you didn't kill me, and you are a hell of a soldier yourself. You have such a standing in the Brotherhood for a reason."

"Well, thank you for that. I'm glad we recognize my efforts, so I have a question for you: how were you conceived?"

I blinked in confusion, testing. "Well, Myles, when a mommy and daddy deathclaw love each other very much they-"

He waved both his hands in front of him, dismissing me completely. "No, no, God, no. I don't mean that process. I mean, how did you get intelligence and what exactly happened with that?"

I gave the most cheeky of grins before saying, "Yes, I know what you meant. I just wanted to see how you react, and I can't say I'm disappointed. Thank you for that."

He looked dumbfounded, and I continued. "Well, let's see, we are an experiment with F.E.V which grants us our intelligent gene, we were created by the Enclave..how ironic, we were supposed to be smart enough to follow orders and not question them well you can imagine how that went, obviously not in their favor some escaped and that is our legacy."

"You mentioned F.E.V. Is it like the same F.E.V that makes Super Mutants?" he asked.

I gave him a nod. "Yes, and the same F.E.V that makes whatever it touches sterile, turns out it doesn't affect us in that way and just makes us smarter, who would have thought they were on to something?"

"I guess so. Who would have thought something like that would have ended that way, huh?" I finished the Quantum, as Myles stood up and opened a locker off in the corner, and pulled out an old book showing it to me. "This is my record I have made since I joined the Brotherhood. It states each one of my kills and great achievements I made." He walked over to where I sat and dodged around the fire. "Since I read your book, I figured it would only be fair to let you know... see mine."

I gently picked it up from his hands and opened it. The pages were old and worn, but it kept plenty of numbers and records from Bloatflies, to raider bosses, to Enclave soldiers. I skimmed through the pages, noticing all his impressive feats and accomplishments. "Quite the collection of deeds you got going here, pretty good at your trade, aren't you?" I said, handing it back to him.

He gave a very satisfactory agreement. "Of course, I am sorry about the deathclaw count, but they don't know when to not attack sometimes...no offense."

I passed him a glance of reassurance. "You needn't worry about feeling bad for ending those mindless beasts. They only care about violence and instinct. They share an appearance with me, but nothing more."

He sat back down by the bonfire, and we sat in silence for a moment. The crackling sound of the fire and the lingering sounds of wind filled the cavern. "So, John, I wanted to say sorry for kicking you in the jewels when we fought."

I thought for a moment. "Sorry, jewels?"

I looked up at me with a faint smile before explaining, "Oh, sorry, I mean between the legs I kicked you there when we fought and well, yeah, I suppose. I'm sorry for that."

I gave a small chuckle. "Obviously, it didn't work out the way you planned, as we don't have jewels. At least externally.,' I put my hands up and even did the quotation with my claws to empathize,"jewels."

"Ha, yeah, we had to learn the basic anatomy of all the Wasteland creatures, and had I known you were a deathclaw, I would never have tried, as it did nothing."

"Well yes, I still felt the kick obviously, but it didn't incapacitate me like it would have a man, for example, though I gotta ask, has knowing creature anatomy ever helped you in a pinch?"

"Hmm, you know, there was this one time I remember fondly. I was in training for being a Brotherhood Soldier and we were out in the Wasteland on our first actual test and mission. Long story short, I was unfortunate enough to get pinned by this massive Yao Guai, and I'm talking about just an insanely large bear. Well, I did the only thing I could do at the moment. Right before it bit into me, I kicked my right leg up and scored right in its balls. I swear I heard the clang of my armor against it as I backed off of me and yelped and screeched as it ran away from us, I didn't see it again," Laughing at the end of his story almost not getting the whole thing out.

I almost lost it myself. "Oh, that is incredible. Serves that damn bear right. I would have loved to see that happen."

"Yeah, and all my fleet were pretty amazed. The story gets told to all the new cadets to show them that anything can be done; No matter how scummy or dirty it is, you get out alive no matter what."

I agreed with that. "Survival at the cost of anything. I can understand that, so should we move on from here? I still need to see the Brotherhood to hear me out, and you know we share a common interest. Maybe we can benefit each other?" I made a proposition, with both our interests in mind.

He stood up and walked to the entrance of the cave in the other chamber. I could just barely see him, but he thought for a moment deeply before coming up with a conclusion. "You know convincing Maxson will be the hardest part, but yes, John, I will take you to the Prydwen. Let me get ready and you should get that robe back on."

I gave a nod and gestured with my hand to send him off, and he promptly dismissed himself. I wrapped my garments back on myself, covering myself on my legs and arms before getting to the claws. I then tucked my tail upon the strap on my waist, then adorned my satchel and then my robe before finally placing the hood upon my horns and moving down the cover so my face isn't visible.

I saw Myles suited up in a heavy combat armor tinted blue and had a Brotherhood insignia on the chest, and holding the rifle I had rigged up for him "So that's how you do that, wow. It's just as convincing as before. I'm impressed you can do that alone, but it has been such a long time."

I approached him. "Yes, it has been quite some time. Shall we move on?" He gave a nod and gestured for me to leave the cave which I did and waited for him, he exited the very hard to see cave before he pulled a hidden metal vault door, and promptly locked it before moving in my direction and stated how we should be there quickly, he didn't enjoy being out of power armor.

We made our way down the edge of the river, then we heard a familiar roar. It was that of a Deathclaw, in fact, the same one I had run into earlier. I recognized him from the scars.

"John, was that you?"

Why would that be me? "No, Myles, eyes up, to the sun!"

Then he saw it, the beast, the sun glowing behind his body, showing rays of light under his legs and past his arms. He was upon a hill and was above us. He didn't even hesitate as he charged at Myles, he couldn't even keep up with the speed of this beast, the deathclaw leaped down the hill as Myles looked up at him as he fell to land on him but I wouldn't allow that, oh no I leaped in front of him and lifted on the deathclaw before it contacted Myles and threw the beast down the hill and moved in front of Myles.

This didn't stop the beast from charging back at me, which I promptly gave a wide swipe from above, causing the deathclaw to recoil in a reaction as blood flowed down from his chest, and he hissed at me before charging once more.

Myles took a shot and hit him right in the leg, stopping him in mid-air and using me as a cover of sorts, relentlessly shooting him before we heard a click.

"Aw shit, John, I'm out. I only kept enough on me to load my gun, damnit!"

The deathclaw took this opportunity when he stopped getting shot to use both his claws to grip me and push me to the right, before pinning Myles with one hand and raising another to swipe across his entire body, I didn't even give him the chance before I shoved the entirety of my claws into the back of the neck of the deathclaw, his body went limp and I took the time pulling him back off of Myles, the cut I made was so deep it killed him instantly.

I murmured, "God damnit," before asking Myles, "Are you alright?"

He stood up and wiped himself off and let go of this rifle, which was attached to a strap on his neck. "Yeah, I'm fine, thank you for the save. I am sorry you had to do that."

I shook my head before wiping my claws against the dirt. "It was his choice. He could have left us alone and saw you as easy prey. It's just one last deathclaw to kill some wastelanders. I probably did him a favor."

As much truth as that was, beast or not, I don't like killing other deathclaws, but I wasn't just going to let Myles die because of a preference he is more important than some mindless monster who won't ever know right from wrong.

I looked at the body of the now-deceased deathclaw before looking back at Myles, who was still shaken up from that endeavor. "I would prefer if we moved on now. No need to linger on here."

Myles agreed, and we continued the walk down the edge of the river. We both were silent for the moment till he spoke up. "Look, I know you didn't want to kill the other deathclaw, I can even get it there is a sympathy there for them but-" he noticed I wasn't exactly paying attention, he ran up behind me and grabbed me on the shoulder and turned me around, "John, please stop dismissing me I appreciate you made that decision and outright saved me, I know that wasn't easy for you, but know I am sorry I put you in that situation, if I had my power armor it wouldn't have even happened."

I snorted, "I know, Myles I know, but I just feel like killing deathclaws like that. I know they are mindless beasts running on instinct. I would never choose that over having saved you, just... give me some time to sort my conflicted feelings out."

Backing him gave me a somber nod. "I understand. I'll leave you to it. Let us continue to the Prydwen."

Nothing too amazing happened as we crossed under the bridge where we first met. "I thought you were going to shoot me here, honestly. I'm glad I didn't base that on reaction and fight you here. Now that I think about it, how in the ever-loving hell did you even get me into the cave?"

He stopped and turned in my direction, the flow of the purifier in the distance was auditable and it was peaceful, a completely different reminder of the opposite side of the spectrum in this terrible Wasteland, it was a bastion of hope and what could be an effort to put this broken world back together.

"John, I had enhanced strength because of the power armor, naturally. I simply dragged you by your arms till I got you in and patched you up. Keeping you from bleeding out was the hardest part."

We stopped just outside the area where the Prydwen was. It hovered proudly over the massive walled-off almost fortress. "Okay, John, this is the Citadel. Do me a favor and wait here."

I gave a nod and stayed behind a rock as he went up to address the two soldiers at the gate. They talked for a moment before he gestured for me to come over; I had strolled my way up to the entrance, and they relaxed their guns before scolding Myles. "You know, Myles, you can't be bringing strangers into the Citadel like this. We don't allow outsiders by any circumstances, you know that."

It was then Myles gave a jerk of his neck, addressing me. "Show them what you have. Surely they will be convinced then."

Oh right. "I had run into someone who I believe you all will recognize this from." I then pulled out the Insignia which the Lone Wanderer had given me to show them, they both looked at it and then at each other and then back at Myles and then to me before giving a grumble and then stating, "Fine, I get it, goddamnit. Myles, you win, you may proceed with the both of you, but know this, stranger. Whatever business you have here you so much as look at our Brotherhood the wrong way. I will assure you that death will embrace you before you realize it. Proceed!"

Myles then went up to him before stating, "I am alive because of this stranger and I don't need permission to enter, private! Do I make myself clear?" The two soldiers at the gate gave a nod and the typical, "Yes, sir." before we went into the courtyard.

We entered a massive open area with plenty of recruits training and doing various physical exercises. One scribe approached Myles and me, asking who I was and why. I can answer for myself, I told them, "I am John and I am here to see Maxson, my business is my own. It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. No threat or causing problems." I assured.

The scribe didn't press, but still took a record of me and Myles entering the Citadel, the various soldiers and recruits keeping up with their tasks, paying no mind to me, and giving the occasional wave and salute to Myles. I continued behind him. I could only assume due to me being with him is why no one has tried to or will stop me, now that I think about it all, I would have had no chance of getting in let alone having an audience with Maxson, we soon arrived at an elevator of sorts which went to the Prydwen from the looks of it.

"Afternoon, Myles going up? Maxson was looking for you. He wanted your opinion on a mission debriefing a behemoth who is terrorizing a small settlement just off of Rivet City."

Myles smiled and told them, "This will be a cakewalk, thanks for the heads up!"

He then addressed me. "Excuse me, stranger, you don't have the authorization to board the Prydwen. I'm going to have to ask you to-"

Then Myles cut him off. "He's with me, Proctor. Don't worry, he has the Wanderer Insignia, and I allowed him to enter. He has the most confirmation aside from Elder Maxson himself."

The proctor took a short moment before deciding, "Right, Paladin Myles, and your friend here may board. Best of luck with whatever you wish to discuss with Maxson." They turned to me for this last part and I thanked them and wished them luck myself.

Myles gave a thumb up to the operator, and they flipped the switch and we went up. The cord stretched and echoed in the confided tower. I was kinda surprised it held my weight, but it made sense as Power Armor is rather heavy. I held the handle on the edge of the rail, which had helped stabilize me. I looked over at Myles, "You know, I have never been on an elevator this extensive. I'm appalled by the ingenuity of it all."

He gave a jump and landed as we went up at a steady pace, almost there. "See, you needn't worry about it. This here was built by the best of the best. We designed it to hold a good few thousand pounds before it even slows down."

I sighed before explaining, "I'm not worried about it collapsing or breaking on us. I've just never been on such an elevator and I like its design. That's all I meant."

We arrived at a massive platform. The Prydwen had many vertibirds hanging off the side ready to eject. Many soldiers and engineers worked on this hangar of sorts while we walked into the entrance.

Myles was told Maxson was in the main hall, in his usual debriefing room. We passed a chamber with many Power Armor stations; it was pretty much on the same floor and I can tell this place was massive and housed plenty of soldiers and scientists for the Brotherhood. It's no wonder they don't just let anyone on. There are plenty of trinkets and technology that could destroy a settlement or two if it got into the wrong hands.

I and Myles had some small talk as he warned me not to lash out at Maxson and reveal myself when it's opportunistic. Great, I can't wait to absolutely fuck this up.

There he was, in a black leather long coat with a fur neck on that jacket and down the coat itself, various medals and he stood at the window of the main observation point with his arms crossed behind his back, he saw us come in and he could see our reflection, his shortly cut hair, and grizzled tactician face was just noticeable, he had a scar on the right side of his head and was visible under the hair, a beard and his eyes spoke of experience and no-nonsense.

He immediately spoke up before even allowing us to get halfway into the room. "Myles, you know we don't allow strangers into our vessel. This applies even to YOU. Soldiers permitting wastelanders to wander around our base is a way to get infiltrated and destroyed. Have we learned nothing?"

Myles rushed past me and stood a distance behind Elder Maxson before giving a salute and a small bow before stating, "I am very sorry, Elder. I had no way to ask beforehand, and this stranger saved me, and they bore the Lone Wanderer's insignia and asked directly to seek an audience with you, Sir!"

Maxson gave what I can only call a grumble of annoyance. "Paladin, Myles, this is a stranger, the same people who will shoot you for being a Brotherhood Soldier. I would have expected you to know better than to trust someone simply because they saved you." This was when the man turned around to see me, a robed figure standing in the doorway, he looked me up and down before he rushed past Myles who promptly stepped out of the way, he was looking nervous, and Maxson was going to discover what I was no doubt.

He kept his arms behind him as he circled me, almost as if trying to see what I'm hiding before clearing his throat, "You are keeping a secret, Wastelander. I have an issue with that. If you want me to even consider talking with you, I am going to need to see behind that hood, or get out of my sight!"

Okay... sure, a reasonable request. It was inevitable, after all, right? I couldn't remain hidden and work with the Brotherhood to rid the Enclave.

I heard an audible gulp from Myles and if he could sweat bullets, he undoubtedly would be right now. He stared at me with worry and just fear, almost as if realizing how this was going to go.

"I am waiting, Wastelander. If you continue to keep me waiting, I'll throw you off my Prydwen."

I looked at him before speaking up for the first time this entire exchange, "Elder Maxson, I must inform you I am not a human, I am not Ghoul or mutant, I am simply telling you before you get, I suppose a surprise."

He didn't seem to like that very much before he moved up to me with great haste before reaching up and gripping my hood. I resist the urge to naturally retaliate. "If you aren't even human, why in the hell would I bother with you?" He then flipped my hood down to reveal my face and horns in full.

This surprised him, but he quickly regained himself in record time. He backed up and reached in his coat and pulled out a knife, and pointed it at me. "You are exactly what is wrong with this Wasteland! A taint on humanity, some science experiment went wrong. You are a monster, and monsters don't have the right to speak!"

I stared at him and simply said. "There are plenty of monsters in the wasteland, some are among you, some are below you, you of all people should know that! Humanity is the worst in this world, the most untrustworthy species. It's not like I was the one who dropped the bombs."

He looked at me before lowering the knife. He never kept his eyes off of me before saying, "Let me see the rest of you."

I took a sigh before I opened up my robe and revealed the rest of my body. It's almost as if he didn't expect to see a whole deathclaw under this. He continued to look at me before he shuffled over to Myles asking him, "Did you know he was a Deathclaw, and if you did, why didn't you tell me?!"

Myles gave a nervous chuckle before stating, "Sir, would you have believed me, anyway? I came in here with no plan, but I figured it would be best to hear it from the beast himself."

Maxson looked at me and then at Myles and then back at me, but addressed Myles, "Does it have a name?"

Before Myles could answer, I did. "I am perfectly capable of answering for myself, thank you!" I turned to Maxson, practically staring daggers at his expressionless composure, "My name is John, Elder Maxson"

Maxson didn't seem to like my response. "I didn't ask you, beast, keep your mouth shut."

I narrowed my eyes at Maxson directly. This treatment is unfair. I approached him as I said, "Maxson, despite my appearance, I'm probably more human than most of these Wastelanders you are trying to protect. I am not some dumb lizard, so cut your damn accusations and get over yourself and please, listen to me."

Maxson crossed his arms and stood me down. No flinching, no shaking, or even wavering in any regard. "You don't scare me, deathclaw" I could feel the hate and disdain in his saying of, 'deathclaw.'

I snapped right back at him while backing up. "Good, that wasn't my intention, Maxson, and the feelings are mutual."

He looked at me almost as if to assure himself that I didn't just flip what he said back onto himself. Myles' jaw was almost on the ground, as if no one ever stood up to Maxson in this regard. I was quite pleased with myself.

Maxson gestured for Myles to come to sit with him on the line of chairs and he promptly followed before Maxson sat with his legs crossed and rested on his chin before finally speaking up. "Okay, John, you have amused me, at least. Don't think I am overlooking the fact that you are the devil of the Wasteland. I, but curiosity has peaked. What could you want from me?"

Myles gave a sigh of relief and it was massive, but he still sat up intently and waited for my response. I noticed Maxson's disposition changed at least the slightest. I walked in front of them both before facing Maxson. "I wanted to thank you for listening to me. I know you don't care or even just want some entertainment, but this is something I don't feel many get the opportunity to have." Before he could speak up I pulled out the Lone Wanderer's insignia, spinning it on my index claw and he stopped his thoughts and took it before asking me how I got this, and I told him she gave it to me, she told me we could be beneficial to each other. He then asked me her name, which, of course, I answered as Mia. It seems to have been satisfactory enough for him.

"You know we haven't heard from her in so long, glad to see she is still kicking. This gives you some more attention as she and I came up with this together. Anyone she thought worthy enough for the Brotherhood's attention would be given one of these." He gave a grumble before admitting, "If Myles trusts you and Mia does too, I can't help but give you a chance, even if you are the embodiment of everything I am looking to wipe out."

I didn't even waste a moment. "Well, Maxson. I believe we can benefit each other in many regards. I have traveled far and wide across this Wasteland. I come from Nevada and have seen it all in between here and there. We share a mutual enemy as I seek the destruction of the Enclave. I have no issue with other enemies as well, such as Raiders, Super Mutants, or any other Wasteland creatures, if they need to die considering it is already done. My experience and time across the Wasteland have taught me many ways to work with technology and various terminals, and better ways of doing things and saving power. I'm so confident in my ability that if you were to show me your power generator, I could improve upon it."

Myles butted in and said, "It's true, he compiled a tri barrel, laser, plasma rifle. I have it right here. This was John's doing."

Maxson investigated the rifle and was impressed. "Yes, this is an extraordinary feat. I hate to admit it, but I think we can use your skills, John, but you have much to prove and you need to convince everyone else on board. You should know if you kill or hurt anyone, I will end you. Are we understood?"

I gave him a nod, and he dismissed us and requested that Myles show me around as he made an announcement. "Attention, Prydwen and Citadel, there is an Albino Deathclaw who will wander around our base. Do NOT shoot and know that this is a.. speaking one I am attempting to make recruitment of sorts. I expect everyone to be respectful and tempered, Ad Victoriam, Brotherhood."

He then put down the speaker and didn't even look at me as we left. "Don't think this is mercy or acceptance. It's an opportunity to prove me wrong. Go to the medical examination. Myles will show you. Dismissed!"

We left back into the massive room of armor and various weapon benches. Myles spoke up, "Holy shit, you handled that so well and convinced Maxson. Who does that?"

I kept my hood down, and my robe untied. I got some looks from people, but mainly it was just that."I know Myles and I'm honestly shocked. Maxson didn't seem like the man to even give me a chance."

A group of soldiers approached us. There were 3 total and one held a power armor helmet and they all wore an orange jumpsuit. "Hey, Myles! If I had to guess if anyone would have brought a talking deathclaw to the Prydwen it was you, so... does it talk?"

The three of them looked up at me hopefully and Myles nudged me with a signal of talking and I gave in. "Yes, it speaks." I humored them.

They all looked in awe and elbowed each other in amazement. "What the fuck, am I drunk?" Myles gave a playful slap on his head and said we need to get going and I agreed. They waved to us and continued to talk about it as we left up the side steps up to you in the medical area.

The medical bay was pretty empty aside from a few nurses and Myles gestured at the room in which I was to get examined. The doctor turned around holding a clipboard and dropped it upon seeing me, and gave an audible "oh dear." before fixing his glasses and picking back up the clipboard before saying, "I thought this was some sick joke! Are you a talking deathclaw? I mean, you aren't tearing me apart and-"

I held up a hand to stop him. "Yes, I talk, and please, one thing at a time, but tell me, what are we even going to do here?"

He almost looked like he was going to pass from excitement. "Oh my, you are a scientific marvel! Well, I'm going to ask you a few questions and maybe some measurements will draw some blood, that sort of thing, basic stuff."

I noticed Myles was gone and had assumed he had been called for something. This doctor was certainly enthusiastic. "What shall I call you doctor?"

He looked me up and down before taking a note and mentioning, "Oh yes, I am Doctor Baker. I have been in training since I was a boy, but I never thought I would be here talking to a Deathclaw!"

He then clicked his pen on his board and said, "I'm going to need you to remove your attire, if you don't mind. I am going to get some measurements while I ask you some questions about general things."

I nodded before I removed my robe and garments and placed my satchel on the table. It didn't take all that long, and he asked me as he went to find the measurement device. "So why do you wear a robe exactly? It's not needed, or is it to hide in plain sight?"

I stood straight and spread my arms out. "Ah, a perceptive one, are you? Yes, I use it to hide without being obvious to what I am, and since Maxson gave an announcement about what I was, I had no reason, right?"

He gave a nod as he asked, "Okay, so what race are you? Name, gender, ethnicity, job, age, sexual preference, and if you have any medical conditions. We usually just have people fill out these forms. Apologies."

He then looked at me, and then the clipboard and then hit himself in the head. "Sorry, I am going through our list. We ask all our residents these questions as it's just odd having to ask you, isn't it?"

I kept myself there and told him, "No, it's fine. I understand they made this for humans, not large talking lizards." I said, with a laugh, "Let's see, my name is John Lambert. I am a male albino Deathclaw. I'm not sure ethnicity goes beyond that, but I'm technically a Vault Dweller if that counts. I don't have a job. I kind of just wandered from place to place and stayed nowhere too long. I am 45 and I am heterosexual for preference, if you had to know. As for medical conditions, the only thing I can think of is that I cannot drink alcohol as it will probably kill me. Nothing else I can think of that is noteworthy. Overall, I'm very healthy."

He continued to write and then stopped before saying, "I had a feeling about most of those answers just, had to be sure you know how it is. Sadly, I can't measure you as I have no device, so we can do that tomorrow when I find one."

He wrote on his clipboard and sighed, "I almost forgot about these. I need to ask you a short series of questions. Standard procedure. Safely for everyone, you understand."

I gave him a nod, and he proceeded. "As a child, were you ever exposed to radiation for an extended period?"

Shaking my head. "No, I didn't leave my Vault till I was 15. I never set foot outside until then. We made our own food and water. Radiation wasn't a concept till I went to the outside world."

He jotted my answer down. "Very good, next question. Have you ever had or come into contact with someone to be confirmed to be carrying a communicable disease?"

Once again, shaking my head. "I don't believe they follow the same rules for us. The answer is most definitely not."

Jotting down the answer with a reassuring nod. "Good, good. Now, answer this seriously, please. Have you ever had sexual relationships with any species considered non-human? Or in your case, non-deathclaw. I don't want details! Just a yes or no."

Much like the last question, I shook my head. "No, I've only ever been romantically involved with my species. Definitely, non-human."

He quickly jotted down the option. "Yes, yes. Glad to hear it. This question is the least important, especially for you. Final question. Do you have any issues killing enemies of The Brotherhood? Any human, Non-Human, formally Human? Or even a machine."

I pondered for a second. "No, if I'm going to be here. I will have no quarrel against purifying the Wasteland. Your enemies are my enemies."

"Wonderful! One of my easier question sessions. You wouldn't believe some answers people will give! Let me draw some blood and I'll let you go."

He cleaned a needle and flicked it with a finger and asked to draw some blood from my arm, which I allowed him, and it went by without a hitch. He told me that was all he needed for now and requested I visit him tomorrow and I agreed.

I left the medical room with my satchel which I rested my roe on and was lost, God damn Myles so much for being my guide, I wandered some of these halls till I ran into the woman soldiers who saw me and waved before hesitating and then I looked at her; she went wide eyes and then spoke up. "You must be that deathclaw I heard about on the speaker!"

"Uh, yeah, I am. I am also ashamed to admit I'm lost. Myles was supposed to be a guide, and he fucked off."

She approached me holding a box of various goods and canned food. "Oh, Myles, right? I saw him flirting with one of the female workers around here. Probably spouting some nonsense about his standing in the Brotherhood. We can find him and bust the show if you like."

This made me smile. "Yes, I would like to ruin his time for leaving me and not even saying a word. I am John, by the way, you might be?"

She kept the box with her as we made our way down the hall. "My name is Genny and there is one thing you should know about Myles. If something so much as resembles a female, he would hit on it." She said with a laugh, "It even worked on me a few times." She turned away with a blush.

We eventually ended up outside the room. The distance was short enough from the doctor's office. It really wouldn't have been too hard to tell me. To no one's surprise that he was laying down on his bed with that same woman in the bathroom, no doubt preparing to bear witness to his crazy claims. His face went white when he saw me and panicked, trying to justify leaving me, and I told him simply. "Myles, you are going to kick that filthy whore out or I'm going to do it myself and I'm pretty sure neither of you will like that."

He immediately took a very awkward stroll and threw her back into her jumpsuit, and told her he changed his mind. She left without even looking back into the room as Genny followed with a playful wink at me.

I put my satchel down on a chair and leaned on a wall and sat down, didn't even look in Myles' direction, and simply said, "I am very disappointed in you."

End Chapter: 15