A/N: I know it's rather soon after the previous upload, but I got inspired and really found my metaphorical writing groove. Next thing I knew, I had another chapter written. So, here you go.
The half-dozen power armored humans stood still, as if waiting for me to make the first move. My sword was practically quivering with excitement at the taste of human blood being so close after so many months of gorging on nothing but fauna and mutants. "Well what are you waiting for? You spoke so succinctly about how I was nothing more than something to be put down. Where did all that bravado go?" At the word 'bravado', they simultaneously opened fire on me. The whole 'taking damage to intimidate my enemies' bit was more Alucard's thing than mine, so rather than eat all of their weapon's fire, I opted to simply vanish into shadows and reappear on the second floor of a nearby building balcony.
"Cease fire!" The leader shouted, apparently the first one to realize that I had disappeared. I was disappointed in their lack of situational awareness. Had I actually been trying they never would have even gotten the chance to shoot me.
"You know" I called out to the cadre. "Your attempt on my life is almost depressing. Therefore, I've decided that if you survive against my pet, then I'll allow you to go back to your 'Brotherhood' in peace. If you don't…" I trailed off, shooting the soldiers a sly smirk. "Well, that's not exactly my problem. Is it?" The Brotherhood soldiers moved to fire on me once more, only hesitating when the ground started rumbling.
"What the Hell is that?" A female soldier called out. About ten meters down the road, the ground exploded upward as what looked like the largest Mirelurk Queen in existence emerged. The most notable differences were that this one had pitch-black carapace, glowing red eyes, and stood half again as tall as the average Queen. It also was more armored than its mortal counterpart, meaning that the Brotherhood stood practically no chance against it with their current weaponry.
"Bloodrage Queen!" The leader shouted and opened fire. The rest of his squad followed suit, making the Queen roar in anger. I could feel the impact of their weapons on its shell, not even causing enough damage to produce pain. The Queen reared up and slammed her claws into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that sent the Brotherhood reeling. The impact also collapsed two nearby buildings, causing a massive dust cloud to form. To my delight, the glowing red eyes of my pet were still visible through the cloud. Another shrill bellow sounded and the earth shook as the Queen charged.
Upon seeing the massive black figure emerge from the dust, the leader shouted "Fall back!" I leapt to the next building, knowing that they couldn't outrun my pet.
"Try not to rough them up too much," I called out to the Queen. "After all, they can't be good snacks if they're flattened." My shout was more to the Brotherhood than it was to my pet, as I didn't need to speak to communicate with it. They quickly realized that they weren't going to get away, so they turned and started firing, with surprising accuracy, at the Queen's exposed face. Their fire only served to antagonize my pet further, the hits feeling more like mosquito bites than bullet and laser wounds. The first victim of my pet was one of the soldiers that was just a bit too far forward compared to their companions. They caught a claw to the side and were flung bodily into a nearby building, smashing through the brickwork and drywall.
Smirking as the Queen's first victim was taken, I moved closer to the action. My good mood was suddenly snuffed out by a shout from the downed Brotherhood member. "AD VICTORIAM!" The dying man yelled with a pained cry, followed up by a massive explosion as the building where he had crashed. It set the Queen reeling, the heat and blast wave from the explosion washing over her and causing her to fall into a building in the opposite side of the street. She wasn't even close to dead, but the revelation that the soldier had suicide bombed my pet was both disturbing and upsetting.
"That's it." I growled and stood from my spot, staring down at my recovering Queen that was still taking fire from the remaining soldiers. "Put your toys away. We're going home." The gunfire ceased as they all turned to look at me, seemingly in disbelief. "And to be clear I mean kill them all, so I can eat them and find something better to do." The soldiers, wisely, turned and fled, taking advantage of the opening that their suicidal companion gave them. The Queen let out a massive, disorienting shriek, causing the Brotherhood troops to stumble. Sadly though, by the time my pet freed itself, the Brotherhood had already made it a good distance away. Deciding to remain true to my word about letting them go if they survived, I recalled the Queen and moved to examine the crater where her first, and sadly only victim's body lay.
It was little more than charcoal at this point; utterly unsalvageable. Not even a mote of sustenance could be taken from it at all. The residual radiation from the explosion was making my skin tingle. I wasn't worried, as I had consumed the blood of innumerable irradiated creatures in the past with no repercussions. Despite having fed very well only a few hours prior, the possibility of genuine human blood had set my appetite wanting. If only there were more of those green armored humans nearby. They were both stupid and squishy enough to easily consume. Plus I doubted that they could self-destruct to deny me my prize. Come to think of it, didn't Nora say that these 'Gunners' had a main base of operations in the southwest? A grin split my face as I decided on my new destination.
Nora P.O.V
It had been several hours since Seras had left and I was, despite knowing that there was likely nothing left on Earth capable of killing her, worried. I had heard her name mentioned several times in passing by various members of the Brotherhood and anytime I asked, they fed me some bullshit line about how it was 'Brotherhood-only' business. I mean, I was an initiate in their damn organization for fucks sake, how could they not tell me? Currently I was waiting in Danse's personal quarters, having been sent here by Lancer-Captain Kells after he had gotten tired of people complaining about my questioning. The rain had been stopped for a while now, leaving me wondering why we had not departed for Fort Strong. I let out an exasperated sigh as I used my Pipboy to sort through my inventory for what felt like the hundredth time.
The door suddenly hissing open gave me a start. Elder Maxson walked in, flanked by two armored, masked Brotherhood soldiers. They were Paladins, if I read the insignias on their shoulders right. "Hey, I was wondering when-" He cut me off, grabbing me by the neck of my shirt and lifting me up. He was practically fuming with anger, and from the way my back slammed hard into the wall, I was the source of it.
"What the Hell did you bring onto my ship!?" He bellowed madly.
"Uhm, what?" I asked confusedly. Apparently that wasn't the right thing to say, as he slammed me into the wall again, this time making me wince in pain.
"Don't play stupid!" He yelled. "Your friend, Seras. What the Hell is she?" I gulped nervously. It seemed like her secret was out, and not in a good way either.
"She's a vampire." I rasped, slightly winded from his second hit. "She said she was a vampire." This didn't seem to satisfy the Elder, as he threw me against the wall, this time letting go. The hit knocked the wind out of me, sending me to the floor in a coughing fit. "I'm not lying!" I gasped. "She said she was-," Bile nearly rose in my throat at a particularly vicious cough. Through tear-blurred eyes, I saw the Elder and his two companions exit the room, and a third armored Brotherhood member enter. I could vaguely see Danse's familiar form enter and move to help me up. My coughing fit had calmed down to ragged gasps, and I whispered a thanks to my friend.
"I didn't know the Elder was going to be so… forceful. I apologize." Came his soothing voice. About ten seconds later, I was recovered enough to sit on Danse's bed.
"What happened?" Was my weak-voiced question to seemingly the only person I could now trust on this ship.
He almost seemed hesitant, but eventually he said "Your friend uh-" He cleared his throat. "She attacked a patrol of ours using some incredibly large Mirelurk Queen, killing one of them. Before he succumbed to his wounds, Knight Lucius detonated his armor, both to distract her and the Mirelurk and to buy time for his brothers and sisters to escape." At face value his words seemed honest, but from what I knew of Seras told me that had she actually wanted to kill that patrol, they wouldn't have gotten away with only one casualty let alone at all. Danse had never told me a lie in the weeks that I had known him, so it was likely that whoever told him was the liar.
I didn't want to jeopardize Danse any more than I likely already had, so I decided to play along with the lie he had been told. "That's uh. I knew that she was a vampire, but-" I trailed off, letting him infer what he wanted from my statement.
"I'm sorry, soldier." He placed a massive hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me. "You trusted her, and she betrayed you. That can't be easy to deal with."
"Thanks Danse." I shot him a half smile and stood up. "So um, when do we leave for Fort Strong?" I asked, hoping to get my mind off of the drama within the Brotherhood.
"Um," He started. "The Elder has postponed all nonessential missions until your f-" Danse coughed in an attempt to cover his mistake. "Seras has been hunted down and brought to justice." I couldn't imagine that going well for the Brotherhood. I had seen her sword-arm-thing slice through a dozen armored Gunners and a Sentry Bot with practically no difficulty. I doubt that their T-60 armor was in any better condition to resist her sword.
"In that case do you think I could get a ride back to Sanctuary? I kinda need time to process what's happened." The best lies are always half-truths. I truly did need time to process what happened, but I also wanted to be off this damn ship so I could start looking for Seras. It felt awful lying to Danse, but I couldn't risk him losing his position in the Brotherhood. He truly cared for the organization and was practically a walking, talking, poster boy for everything they stood for.
He smiled warmly, "Sure, let's go see if we can convince one of the pilots to do it." With that we headed out of his room and towards the docking area.