April 5th, 2289
Head Paladin Ahmad Crawford's face was in his hands when Paladin Kate Hanover found herself in his office, watching the Paladin's attention snap up to them as their palms slam into the steel desk, eyes blinking - Bags under them giving him a skull-like look.
"Hanover." He muttered, producing a holotape in his hand, idly turning it over. "Good, you're early. This is… Incredibly important."
"Everything is, Sir."
Crawford laughed, it'd been a while since he'd done that.
"The Republicans, they're swarming en-masse. You know why. We're lucky that the scavengers and mercenaries pouring in have no idea about the truth of where," Crawford paused, reading the name off of the tape, "Bunker 4SK truly is. I need you to get to Four-Sake and stall Republican efforts to breach the bunker. Meet with who sent that distress message, and if you must, destroy the bunker."
"Sir," Hanover kept composed, almost like a statue compared to the tired and battered Crawford, "Shouldn't we try to retrieve what materials we can from the bunker?"
"It would be beneficial, yes," Crawford sighed, closing his eyes as he spoke, "But we do not have the manpower to retrieve the armaments contained there. There's simply too much, and we can't risk the NCR getting those weapons - They've already captured one of our own, and I'm not going to allow them to gain another knife to stab into us."
Hanover nodded, reaching out to take the holotape held out to her.
"You'll find the bunker location on that. You will be going alone, you have full access to the armory. I don't want war with the Republic, but I can't let them rob our armories."
"Of course, Head Paladin."
Hanover turned to leave, stepping through the threshold before her attention was snapped back by Crawford clearing his throat, letting out "Hanover. Be safe, will you?"
She only returned a nod as she stepped away, heading toward the armory of Helios.
Bunker 4SK - Hanover read the name off of the manilla colored tape stuck to the holotape in her hand. So that's where that squad of Paladins disappeared to? It made sense, Bald Mountain - That site was almost purely a glorified watch tower, if you wanted to disappear, Bald Mountain was one of them.
Everyone knew the story of those Paladins, constantly moving during the war, getting seperated after the rout of Helios One - But to think, they survived, survived all of that.
She was quick to take the grey combat armor of the Brotherhood's recon, a hand lifting up a plasma rifle and what other equipment she needed. It'd be possibly weeks before she's back here, and while she'd prefer not to get into a fight with the Republicans or the horde of mercenaries, it's best to be armed against it.
Hanover gave a look to the great basalt tower of Helios One, wondering if this would be the last time she saw it. Her hands held onto the cool alloy of her helmet, pausing to look into the red panes for eyes. She wondered, if for only a moment, she would be the spark to another war - Or if that roaring, raging fire never burned down, that they were mistaking embers for ash on the wind - Only to watch it blaze everything back down into an ugly black char.
There would be no survival, there would be no peace if this goes hot. For as much Crawford pleaded to avoid war, if it came to it, there would be no way for him to stop the Council from burning the world down around them. The Mojave, in one way or another, would be the gravesite of the Brotherhood she was born into.
The Paladin pushed those thoughts away, swallowed them like a pill and felt it fall into the pit of her stomach as she pulled the mask of her covenant, her Brotherhood onto herself. A hand idly touched her rifle, her sidearm, her knife, her pack. All limbs, all extensions as her armor is. A breath came out as static as the red lenses flared to life - The first step north fell onto ancient asphalt.
There can be no fear, there can be no hesitation. Only the will to go forward.
