James smashed the head of the synth leader against the wall.
"Surrender immediately." It groaned as James tore its head from the new hole in the concrete. He smashed it once more before being satisfied that it was finally dead. He panted, somehow even in his advanced mark II power armor, he had exerted himself. With the armor on, he wasn't supposed to even break a sweat.
"Clear?" Nick's voice came from the hallway.
"Yeah." James panted. He searched among strewn pieces of synth armor and robot parts for his shotgun. It's Charon's, I can't lose it. He thought, he began to panic when he found it, lying against a desk in the corner of the room. He rushed over and snapped it up. He inspected it carefully and reloaded it when satisfied that it was still in working condition. Katherine strode into room, synth rifle ready as Nick followed closely behind her with his own synth rifle.
"Wow, you work quickly." Nick commented as he glanced at the synth parts.
"I'm experienced." James admitted. "Dogmeat?"
"I let him stay outside to rest with Spot. They'll be fine." Katherine responded.
"I'm sure." James muttered.
"Okay then. I guess since you won't leave, I'll give you what you want." Kellogg's voice came over the speaker. James looked up instinctively. Katherine had done the same while Nick began to search through drawers and desks for ammunition or anything that would help with the coming confrontation. "We'll talk. I've unlocked the door, come on in and uh, we'll have a chat."
"I don't like that." James commented.
"Neither do I." Nick said as he continued searching through drawers. "Nothing. Nothing that will give us an edge. Kellogg really knows what he's doing."
"No surprise there. If he's as old as he looks, he's going to play dirty." James said. He froze and Katherine watched the armor's back open up and James jumped out.
"What are you doing?" Katherine asked.
"Keeping you safe." James responded. "Get in."
"I've never been in one." Katherine said, half-scared to actually enter a suit. She'd always associated power armor to be used by the military exclusively. To be used by people like Nate. Not people like her.
"Well get in. You'll get used to it." James shot her a small smile. "Trust me, it's not as scary as it may seem." He held out his hand to help her into the suit. Katherine nodded, took his hand and climbed into the back of the suit. "You in?" He asked. The suit began to close before Katherine could answer. She yelped as the light behind her disappeared and the light from the eyeports became her world.
"You all right in there?" James asked, he stepped in front of the suit. He tapped on the helmet for good measure. "Try looking up and down." Katherine nodded. "See? You got this?" Katherine looked back down at her hands and clenched her fingers. She was almost surprised to see the metal fingers of the suit respond in synch with her own movements. It was then that Katherine realized that she was hyperventilating. She hated small, enclosed spaces. James tapped on the helmet again.
"Hey! I asked you a question, you all right in there?" James asked again. Nick stood in the doorway that led to Kellogg.
"Yeah- Yeah. I'm fine." Katherine said quietly, she sighed and took a step forward. "How do you wear these things all the time?"
"I don't." James answered shortly. James slung the combat shotgun behind his back. "We're gonna be all right. Well you are at least." James gave her a smile. "You're gonna be fine and we're gonna find your boy. I promise. Just stay behind me like usual." Katherine nodded. James looked back at Nick. Nick nodded and then kicked the door open, swinging his rifle left and right to clear the room.
"No need for that." Kellogg's voice filled the room. James took cover behind a cubicle. Katherine clanked past the doors. The armor felt surreal, she had be standing at least seven feet tall. She cranked her laser musket nervously. "I've already ordered my synths to stand down." The room was pitch black. James fought every instinct to turn on his Pip-Boy light and give away his position in an attempt to see more. Katherine blinked in an effort to see through the darkness when the eyeports suddenly changed filters and shifted from a yellow-green to a bluish-gray color.
"After all." Kellogg's voice filled the room once more. The lights flashed on and a single man stood in between multiple cubicles. Katherine recognized him immediately.
"You." She growled.
"We're only here to talk." Kellogg said as he rolled the chamber on his .44 magnum. "Y'know when I first heard you'd left the vault, I gave you a fifty percent chance of making it to Diamond City. I guess even I can be wrong." Katherine rushed forward, suddenly her composure had been overcome with a wave of rage.
"Ah, ah. You don't want to do that." Kellogg warned. He snapped his fingers and two synths came out into the hallway. Along with them, they dragged a setller and a little girl.
"Marie!" James yelped as he noticed the synths passed by.
"Do it." Kellogg said. A synth smashed the settler against the window and began to beat him with a stun baton. James recognized him instantly, he was from Sanctuary.
"You bastard." James said through clenched teeth. Katherine watched, horrified at what the synths were doing to the man.
"We have the whole settlement rounded up and split up all around the Commonwealth. When the Institute realizes I'm dead, they will all be executed." Kellogg said calmly as he pulled up a stool to where he stood. "So, let's talk."
"We'll find them." Katherine said, her quiet voice amplified by the suit's loudspeaker.
"Probably." Kellogg shrugged. "But will you find all of them?" Katherine knew where Kellogg was going with this. "I wonder. Who will you look for first? Who will you find first?"
"I'll find who I can." Katherine responded. James continued watching Marie.
"Marie, it's okay. Don't move, I'll be there soon." James tried to comfort her through the thick reinforced glass. As if she could hear him.
"Yeah, maybe. And who will that be thought?" Kellogg asked. He leaned back on the stool and crossed his arms. "Will it be your cowboy boyfriend from the Minutemen? The belligerent housewife? The fortune-telling grandma? The devastated father? Any one I forget about?" Kellogg gave Katherine an ugly smirk.
"You took my son." Katherine growled.
"It was a job." Kellogg said. "Nothing more nothing less."
"You didn't have to take it."
"No I did."
"Why?"
"To get paid."
"How can you justify kidnapping someone's baby?"
"I didn't kill him."
"What?"
"I didn't kill him. Your son."
"Oh my God…"
"I could have. I'm not saying I wouldn't have. I've had jobs that made me do it."
"…"
"I never liked it."
"What's your point?"
"You asked me how to justify kidnapping. That's how I do it."
"…"
"What else did you want?"
"You know you killed that boy's father?"
"I've killed plenty of fathers. Sons, mothers, aunts, uncles. I kill for a living. What do you want from me?"
"I want to know where my son is." Kellogg gave a large hearty laugh.
"I'm sorry then. That's impossible."
"And why's that?"
"He's with the Institute now."
"And what does that mean?"
"I think our talk's gone long enough. I don't owe you anything anymore."
"Owe me?"
"Y'know. For killing your husband and kidnapping your son. And now… you." Kellogg smiled. Then he disappeared.
"Dammit!" Nick grunted. He fired his rifle numerous times at where Kellogg had sat. Katherine tried to search for signs of Kellogg. She saw two flashes and felt her power armor buckle from the force of the blows.
"You've survived this long, I'll give you that." Kellogg's voice filled the room. "But you've never fought anything like me." Katherine ran to James, who continued to stand by where Marie knelt, sobbing while held captive by the synths.
"James, I need you to help me."
"Marie." James whispered. "I failed you, Ashur. I'm so sorry."
"She's still here, Kellogg has some use for her. Kill him and we can still save her." Katherine said quickly knowing Kellogg may exploit James's moment of weakness to gain an edge. James looked at Katherine and nodded. He reached into his pack and produced a pulse grenade.
"Nick, take cover!" James shouted as he primed and tossed the grenade. Nick ducked under a desk, the grenade exploded, destroying the circuitry of one of the synths in the room. Kellogg shifted in and out of seeming invisibility.
"Stealth boy." James said. "You see a shimmer, shoot it." James said. He drew his combat shotgun and blasted at where he guessed Kellogg would be. \
"Impressive. You have some friends in high places after all." Kellogg's voice taunted Katherine .Two more flashes and the armor bounced back from the impacts. But Katherine felt nothing. James really upgraded the thing to be durable. "Nick Valentine, synth detective. What are you doing here? Fighting the powers that made you."
"The powers that dumped me out here with nothing? No thank you." Nick shouted from behind his cubicle. He stuck his head out of cover. Another flash, Nick's hat flew off and Nick dropped back below cover.
"And your other friend," Katherine stepped out of cover and blasted the second synth in the room. It flew back four feet and slumped into a chair, the rolling chair continued to roll back from the synth's momentum. Katherine cranked her laser musket as she walked down the center looking for shimmers in the air. "Recognizing stealth fields with a glance. Your friend here is an experienced fighter. I wonder how good." Katherine gritted her teeth.
"Don't let him get to your nerves." James said calmly. "This is how he'll try to pick us off one by one."
"One by one? Don't make me laugh." An object clanked in from of Katherine.
"Flash bomb!" James shouted. "Look away!" The flash did not really affect Katherine, but the sudden change in light caused a glitch with the helmet's light filtering system. While it rebooted she was running blind. James looked up and was able to make out a man shape sprint towards Nick and slam a combat knife into his shoulder.
"Ergh." Nick grunted. James ran at the shape and tackled it. Katherine turned and the helmet rebooted itself. James and Kellogg wrestled for the .44 magnum. Kellogg headbutted James and took the opportunity to wrestle James to the ground. James held a trench knife in his hand and Kellogg reached to wrest it away from James's hands. James kicked Kellogg off and managed to keep Kellogg from grabbing his knife. Katherine had a shot and she took it. The red beam of laser flashed forward and slammed straight into Kellogg's torso.
Kellogg was knocked back by the sheer energy of the blast fell onto his back. Somehow still maintaining the strength and will to fight, he used to the momentum to roll onto his feet and aim his .44 at Katherine. He fired once. The round bounced off of Katherine's head and the force of the blast to her helmet disoriented her while also knocking her off balance. James drew his 10mm when he saw a shimmer move quickly towards him.
James planted his feet into the ground and aimed at the shimmer. She squeezed off a few rounds. One clipped Kellogg's arm. The stealth field dissipated and blood smeared Kellogg's leather jacket. Kellogg tackled James. James took the opportunity to stab Kellogg's back with his trench knife. James slammed into the desk behind him. Kellogg raised his fist and smashed it against James's face. James saw stars and attempted to continue stabbing at Kellogg. Kellogg punched James again.
Katherine rushed at Kellogg and sprinted towards him instinctively. Kellogg was too preocpied with James, he didn't notice a huge five hundred pound suit of power armor rushing towards him at a great speed. Kellogg turned and saw it too late. Katherine shoulder tackled Kellogg into the wall. The resulting impact caused the wall to the crack and crumble behind Kellogg. Katherine backed away while Kellogg simply slumped and became limp while still stuck in the wall. Katherine lifted the helmet from her face and took a breath of fresh air.
"James?" Katherine called out at James's limp form on the desk.
"hmm?" he mumbled.
"I think I got him." Katherine panted.
"mmkay." James grumbled. He wiped his face and sat up. His face was red and bloodied and his hair was messed up. He nodded at Katherine and took a look at Kellogg. "I had that under control."
"Sure you did." Katherine panted, she planted the helmet plate back on her face. James inspected Kellogg and checked his pulse. James looked at Katherine and shook his head.
"Uncle James!" Marie's voice called from the hallway.
"Marie!" James shouted, he leapt to his feet and began to run after the synths who ran away with her.
"I'll check on Nick, we'll be there soon!" Katherine called after him. Katherine inspected Kellogg's body herself. She took her pistol. The pistol that killed Nate. She placed it in her pack, it may come in handy. She found a few strange pieces of metal hanging from Kellogg's bloodied and beaten body. Katherine carefully placed them in separate leather bags she made and placed them all carefully in her pack.
"Nick?" She asked. She walked over to Nick, who sat slumped against desk, flicking his lighter with his left hand, cigarette in his mouth. His right arm lay limp at his side, green fluid spurting out of the defunct limb.
"Gimme a hand here, will ya?" He asked.
"You know these kill right?" Katherine asked. Nick gave her a funny look. "You know what never mind." Katherine took hold of Nick's lighter and flicked it on. She lit the cigarette and let Nick take a good long puff.
"Will you be all right?"
"I don't know." Nick responded. "Maybe we'll get your boyfriend to check me out and tell me then."
"One thing at a time, Nick." Katherine said. She offered her hand to help Nick up. Nick took it and let him be dragged up. They both then rushed off to find James.
Katherine exited the elevator, rifle raised. She found bits of synth all over the floor and the door open. A carcass of what used to be a synth lay at the door, holding it open. Katherine could see James outside hugging Marie.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." James repeated again and again. Katherine stepped out and knocked on the door to let James know that he had company. James looked up immediately. He saw Katherine and his expression softened. He nodded and looked Marie in the eyes. "I'm never leaving you again, I promise Marie." Katherine opened her mouth to interject. But then she saw something come over the hill.
"Uncle James. Look. It's… It's…." Marie began. James turned and saw it. The Prydwyn.
"People of the Commonwealth. We are the Brotherhood of Steel. We come in Peace." James didn't recognize the voice on the intercom but recognized what the Brotherhood was doing. His thoughts drifted back to the burning Pitt.
"What is that?" Katherine asked. Nick began to recite an extract from some forgotten book.
"It's the Prydwyn." James responded. "And it's here to wage war."
To be continued