Chapter 21: Once More Unto the Breach
The cold pre-dawn wind whipped through Nora's hair as she stood atop of the CIT staring in horror at the fiery inferno on the horizon. The Brotherhood's massive airship was gone. Eye witness reports say that their robot blew it out of the sky. Nick stood on the roof next to her. His fingers entwined with hers and he ran his thumb across her knuckles.
"What does this mean?" Nora asked Dr. Filmore.
The woman frowned, "I'm getting reports from our detachment of Gen-1 synths that the explosion took out about half of the Brotherhood's forces. The other half, on the other hand, are pissed and they still plan to attack the Institute. I believe it will happen before dawn.
"And what of Liberty Prime? Did it get damaged in the attack?"
"I don't know." she replied. "It is still standing in the courtyard of the Logan International Airport, but I doubt that it's too damaged. Nothing short of a direct artillery strike would bring that thing down. A little splash damage from an explosion isn't enough to hurt it."
Nora let out the breath that she had been holding. "It's time for us to get ready then."
"Shall I assemble the troops?"
Nora gritted her teeth. Once she gave the order, the next sequence of events would happen in quick succession. She was about to pull the trigger on something massive. This decision might define the rest of her life. Hell, it might end her life.
"Let's get this over with." Nora said.
At that order, Dr. Filmore relayed the three of them back to the Institute's Atrium. It was barely four in the morning, but the place was bustling with activity and nervous tension. Synths and scientists ready to fight were grabbing armor from Newton Oberly who ran the commissary. Rosalind Orman stood next to him with a table full of modified Institute rifles and boxes upon boxes of fusion cells.
X6-88 stood nearby. His expression was unreadable but his chest rose and fell in quick succession. He was either nervous or excited for the battle. Nora never knew X6 to be anything other than a cocky albeit competent fighter, so she assumed that he was just itching to get back out there again.
Everyone else who didn't want to fight or who were too young, too old, or too sick, had gathered up what they could and made their way through the SRB and towards the barracks. Their wan faces were drawn tightly in anxiety as they shuffled like refugees deeper into the Institute's labyrinthian corridors.
Nora ran upstairs to her quarters. Her makeshift bed was mussed; the blankets and pillows were scattered after Dr. Filmore's intercom announcement interrupted them in mid coitus. She still felt the twinges of arousal and unfulfilled desire which left her irritated and a little frustrated.
She quickly stripped out of her Institute scrubs and grabbed her traveling clothes, which were neatly folded and freshly laundered, and started getting dressed. She felt Nick's eyes on her back. After she pulled on her shirt, she turned to him.
"You okay?"
He frowned. His fingers twitched in want of a cigarette but there wasn't enough time now to enjoy a smoke.
"I can't help but feel like history is repeating itself a bit."
"Oh? What makes you say that?"
He didn't respond right away. Instead he helped Nora with her armor. The chest piece, leg guards, and arm guards were all made out of bulky polymer. Nora missed her leather set that she crafted under Arturo's guidance. She also missed her gun, the one that Sturges modified for her and named after her late husband. Granted, the laser pistols that they gave her were much more powerful than a 10mm pistol, but Nora still felt naked without it. Lastly, Nora strapped on her Pip-Boy. The green LED screen wobbled a bit as it powered up.
Nick took hold of Nora's hands and brought them up to his lips. His gaze was intense and Nora felt an unexpected surge of fear flash through her body. Did Nick know something she didn't?
"What's going on?" she asked. "You're hiding something from me Nick."
His face was neutral. "It's nothing to worry about. I promise to explain everything once this is over."
She shook her head, "Fuck that. You're gonna explain —"
Dr. Filmore's sharp voice interrupted her over her Pip-Boy. "Nora! We need you on the roof. Our Gen-1 spotters have caught sight of Liberty Prime. It's headed our way as we speak."
Nora gave Nick an impatient and insufferable scowl that said that their conversation wasn't over.
"Relay us up there." Nora responded.
Blue light swirled around them and the disorienting and gut-churning feeling mingled with the cold pre-dawn air as they relayed back onto the roof. In the short span of forty-five minutes, the entire courtyard in front of the CIT had filled with people.
"Holy shit…" Nora breathed.
She walked towards the edge of the roof and peered down into a sea of faces all roughly grouped up into factions.
Sharp dressed ghouls in three piece suits stood off to Nora's right. The ghouls of the Neighborhood Watch sported sizable tommy guns and they stood behind Hancock whose red frock coat fluttered in the winter breeze. The mayor's hardened expression was coupled only with the defiant cock of his hip where he kept his combat shotgun. He looked up at her and touched two fingers to the brim of his tricorn hat in a mock salute.
Farther up some scaffolding, she saw MacCready hunkered down behind a pile of sandbags. His hefty sniper rifle rested atop of the bags and aimed out towards the river. He gave her a cavalier grin and a thumbs up.
Meanwhile, KL-E-0 stood in between Daisy and Ham. The fembot's forehead laser held a crackling ball of red superheated plasma at the ready. Her left arm had been replaced with an honest-to-God minigun turret. Daisy wasn't a shrinking violet either. She wore combat armor over her threadbare vintage 1950s housewife dress. She was wearing a bright red wig which framed her face in a long bob, and she had a belt of grenades strapped around her thin waist in addition to a combat shotgun.
In the middle of the ruined courtyard stood Preston Garvey, Sturges, and a band of ragtag settlers dressed in whatever scrap armor they could find. Some wore heavily augmented raider armor while others wore the blue jackets of the Old World revolution. All carried laser muskets and pistols and they all looked up at Nora with intense determination.
God damn you Preston. Nora thought.
He got his General after all.
A silver-haired woman stood on Preston's other side. She was dressed in the regalia of a militia officer and she wore a dark blue frock coat cut in a style similar to Hancock's. Her weathered face and hawkish eyes appraised Nora, and after an intense and long couple of seconds, she gave Nora a nod. The woman's reputation preceded her and although Nora hadn't formally met Preston's interim General of the Minutemen, Nora heard tales of Ronnie Shaw's past glory whispered among some of the Sanctuary settlers. No matter what, Nora was just glad to have her on side.
The meager Diamond City crew were mixed in with the Minutemen. The eight or so Diamond City guards were easy to spot as they all wore their baseball gear and carried baseball bats augmented with nails or razor wire.
Nick whispered under his breath, "Sorry, doll but Diamond City is still reeling from synth McDonough's infiltration. It was a hard sell getting these eight guards here. I suspect they're mostly here on account 'o me. I might've bribed them a little. Damn fools."
"No matter why they're here, just know that I'm grateful for their help." Nora replied.
Piper and Travis stood out in the crowd. They weren't wearing any armor but they were carrying some crazy portable contraption that looked like a larger version of a CV radio. Nick raised his hand to them, they both nodded at the signal, and they scurried away towards the lift bridge at a fast but rough jog.
"Piper and the radio jockey volunteered to be our press on the ground." Nick explained. "They've got a whole thing set up over at Hangman's Alley and they — and by 'they' I mean Tinker Tom — managed to hack into a defunct satellite dish and he's gonna broadcast Travis's and Piper's reports all across the Commonwealth. P.A.M. is at Hangman's Alley too. Apparently it'll be a disaster if she falls into the Brotherhood's hands. They thought it was best to keep a piece of sophisticated AI with predictive algorithm capabilities out of the techno-zealots hands."
Nick pointed out at least five eyebots floating nearby the Minutemen contingent. "And those bots are partially our morale-boosting military band — which was all General Shaw's idea — but Liam then suggested that they act as technological spies and he installed a short-wave EMP field into each one. They ain't powerful enough to stop Liberty Prime, but they will screw up any technology that the Brotherhood has brought with them, including Power Armor."
"Damn." Nora murmured. She glanced up at Nick and shook her head in disbelief. "You have been busy."
He gave her a sly grin, "You don't know the half of it, doll."
Deacon and the rest of The Railroad were off to her left, and all of them — Desdemona, Glory, Wallace, and Drummer Boy — were all dressed in stolen Brotherhood gear. Ten Brotherhood heavies stood in traveling clothes, but Nora was sure that those clothes were augmented with ballistic weave. The pompadour-wearing spy lifted up a radio to his mouth and spoke into it. Deacon's voice came in loud and clear through Nora's Pip-Boy.
"Our eyes down by the airport estimate that the Brotherhood and their overpowered automaton will be on our asses in a matter of minutes." Deacon said. "We'll disperse and try to infiltrate the group once the fighting starts. Glory worked with her old synth cohorts and installed detonation charges in the corridors leading to the reactor just in case the Brotherhood breaches the interior. Just give Glory's the word and she'll activate the charges. And I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, she's assured us that the detonation charges will merely collapse the tunnels leading to the reactor and not actually — you know — blow us the fuck up."
Nora's heart pounded in her chest and she thought about home and about her life before the bombs fell. She thought about the Battle for Anchorage and her late husband's campaign, the television broadcasts of the hundreds dead and the handfuls wounded by roadside mines or enemy fire. She thought about the nightmares that Nate experienced as a result of PTSD from his duties as a soldier, and then she resolved herself to possibly traumatize a whole new population of people by exposing them to this fight.
Nothing had really changed. War hadn't changed.
They all felt the footsteps of the robotic behemoth off in the distance as it lumbered past Bunker Hill. It would be upon them in a few short minutes and Nora could hear the din of the machine's anti-communist speech as it approached.
"Artillery units. Be ready to fire on my command." Nora announced into her radio.
"Yes ma'am." Preston's voice echoed in reply.
Silence fell and everyone felt the heavy footsteps of the Brotherhood's automaton and she watched as it traversed the Charles River while a battalion of over 100 Brotherhood soldiers followed their metal mascot across the bridge.
"Are you ready to do this?" Desdemona asked. The passion in her voice crackled over the radio like oncoming thunder.
Nora's heart caught in her throat. Her body was primed for a fight. All of her senses narrowed and adrenaline and pure fear powered her.
"Get to your stations!" Nora ordered over the radio.
Each group dispersed through the CIT ruins like ants returning to their ant hills before a heavy rain. Nick gave her hand one last squeeze and he took the stairs from the roof and descended into the marble building.
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends." Deacon quipped.
Soon, Nora was the only one on the roof. Fear gripped her chest and it made it hard for her to breathe. She was the only one who saw Liberty Prime approach.
The massive robot crashed through buildings, cars, and barricades like it was walking through tall weeds. It crossed the Charles River while the Brotherhood infantry ran to the Tucker Memorial Bridge to cross. Nora raised binoculars to her eyes and saw that leading the ground charge was someone dressed in charcoal black Power Armor.
"Elder Maxson." she hissed.
Then she spoke into her PipBoy. "They've crossed the Charles River. ETA is fifteen to the CIT ruins. Elder Maxson is the one in the black Power Armor. Try to take him out first. Maybe if their leader falls they'll consider surrendering."
"Understood Mother." X6's cool voice replied. "I will have all available courser units target the Elder."
Nora swallowed thickly. Her heart thudded in time with Liberty Prime's trembling footsteps. Each step it took sent tactile shockwaves out which shook her chest. She wanted to run, but she needed to wait until the last minute to provide Dr. Filmore and X6 with visual intel on their enemy. What she never expected was for the figure in black Power Armor to run ahead of the marching army and stop in front of the CIT.
Several voices echoed out over her PipBoy in a panic asking what they should do. Those who were in the CIT ruins could see this figure through the broken windows and gaps in the crumbling East wall, but the people in the Institute proper had no idea what was happening topside.
"Hold!" Nora commanded.
Then she addressed the soldier. "Elder Maxson, you have one chance to surrender before —"
The voice that cut her off wasn't Elder Maxson's.
"Come down here Vault Dweller!" Danse roared. "Give yourselves over to the Brotherhood and your people will be spared."
Nora could feel Hancock's self-righteous smugness through several dozen feet of concrete. Danse had betrayed them. She let them go and they went back to the Brotherhood and took arms against her anyway. That sonofabitch.
"No, I don't think I will!" She yelled back. Petulant defiance colored her tone. "And if Elder Maxson sent you thinking that a tactic like this would work, you're sadly mistaken."
A wounded sound emerged from Danse's throat. It almost sounded like a sob but Nora knew that was impossible.
"Elder Maxson is dead." he snarled. "I am the Brotherhood's new Elder and I demand that you give yourself over now, or our forces will crush you and everyone who has threatened the Brotherhood by joining up with you. What is your choice?"
Nora was floored. None of this made any sense. What had caused Danse's change of heart? They two of them weren't bosom pals, but Nora had no clue as to why he'd suddenly march on the Institute, or better yet, why the Brotherhood would let a synth become Elder.
"I don't understand Danse!" Nora replied. "You got what you wanted. You're the Elder now. Why go through with Maxson's hair-brained plans? We agreed that if you became Elder then you'd leave us alone if we stopped working on the synth program."
Danse's voice boomed and pure vitriol spilled from his lips. "That promise was voided when your spy sabotaged our property and committed genocide!"
"Commit genocide? What are you —"
"You blew up the Prydwen!" Danse was irate and his voice was starting to crack from the strain. "Your scientist, Dr. Li, sabotaged Liberty Prime's attack matrix and it unleashed its munitions on us, on our airship! WE HAD CHILDREN ABORD!"
Nora heard a slight ringing sound in her ears as struggled to process the news. Dr. Li's sabotage wasn't news to Nora. She knew that Dr. Li had made several augmentations to Liberty Prime to render it weaker or more prone to malfunctioning, but she had no idea that one of the failsafe protocols was to blast the Prydwen out of the sky.
Danse's rage continued, "You are responsible for the deaths of hundreds Vault Dweller. And yet Haylen vouched for you. Against my better judgement, I trusted you. But that's done now. You will surrender to The Brotherhood or I will kill you."
Nora injected every ounce of bravery into her voice as she could. "I can't surrender."
She could almost see Danse's lip curl into a snarl just from the tone of his voice alone. "Then we have nothing more to talk about."
Elder Danse ran back towards his advancing crew. They had a few short minutes left before the Brotherhood would round the corner and start firing on them all.
Nora swallowed the bile that burned her throat. The sky was lightening with tinges of grey-blue as another dismal February morning was upon them. Liberty Prime lumbered forward across the Charles River churning great swaths of rusty water in its wake.
Its voice boomed Old World propaganda that fell on deaf ears. Nora had heard enough of this robot's bullshit in the anti-military protests and riots that filled the streets of Boston in the weeks leading up to the bombs.
"Mac. Think you can shoot the robot's eyes out?" Nora asked.
There was a moment of silence over her PipBoy and then Mac replied, "Yeah. No problem."
MacCready answered confidently and Nora just had to take the kid's word for it. He didn't get the reputation of being a deadeye for nothing.
"X6 the Brotherhood have crossed the Tucker Bridge. Dr. Filmore we're ready for the Gen-1s." Nora said.
"Affirmative." Both synth and human replied at once.
"Hancock. I want you and your group to handle the close-range fighting. If anyone tries to breach into the building, I want your guys to give 'em hell."
"Give 'em hell. You got it, sunshine." He rasped.
"Preston. You will handle the mid-range fighting from the second and third floors. The Brotherhood will try to surround us and bust in through the North entrance. You'll be spread thin but the DC group and the Railroad will provide guerrilla and melee support from the first floor."
"Yes ma'am." he replied.
"Nick?"
"Yeah doll." his voice came out as a smokey rasp.
"Cover me."
"Always." he replied.