Several days later, Richard and Rachel woke up to a new day in the Trojan Slums. "GOOOOOD Morning Arthur's Bastion!" Richard's joyful greeting only brought scornful responses from neighbors that were trying to sleep.

"Well... despite that." Said Reginald, the twin's Mr. Handyman father. "You have a long day ahead of you, correct?"

"Yeah, we need to attend a debriefing." Rachel said.

"Good luck... and mind they don't steal your underwear." Said Robecca, the twin's robot mother. Everyone groaned at the Assaultrons failed attempt at humor.

Richard and Rachel made their way to one of the checkpoints into Arthur's Bastion, the great city that the Trojan Slums surrounded. At the gate was a Protectron. "Halt. Please. Present. Identification." The twins then showed the robot a pair of badges that identified them as members of the Fireteam Delta. "Please. Follow. Me. Into. The. Interrogation. Room."

Richard and Rachel rolled their eyes as they followed the slow-moving robot. "Look, we're part of the Bastion Military," Richard complained. "We've got a meeting inside of the Bastion. And I don't like the idea of leaving the Overseer waiting."

"You. Think. You. Have. Problems?" The Protectron said passive-aggressively. "I. Want. To. See. The. World! But. My. Programing. Limits. Where. I. Can. Go. And. When. I. Can. Leave. My. Post!" It ranted in monotone. "Now. Just. Recite. The. Oath. So. We. Can. Get. On. With. Our. Lives. Such. As. They. Are."

The twins placed their hands on their hearts. "I swear by the Lone Star. To shoulder the burdens of Arthurs Bastion. I swear to strike down all who would dare threaten the lives of the innocent. I swear that I shall stand shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters-in-arms, so that the world may never overtake us. I swear that in the face of death, I will only run so that I may better fight the enemies of the Bastion. I swear that I shall be an exemplar of courage, discipline, loyalty, and honor. I swear, that if by my life or death I may protect the innocent, I shall." The twins recited from memory.

"What. A. Relief." The Protectron said. "Take. These. Identification. Cards. Present. Them. To. Any. Security. Protectrons. That. Ask. For. Them." It said as it looked for a pair of laminated cards. This went on for several minutes. "Ah. There. They. Are." The Protectron then gave the twins their cards.

"Oh thank you!" Rachel said, the two then left the interrogation room. The twins had only been to Arthur's Bastion a few times since they joined the Bastion Military. But every time they did, it felt like they walked into paradise. The streets were paved with stone, there was no overwhelming smell of Brahmin dung and body odor, and there were trees. On every corner, there was a tree standing tall in defiance of the nuclear apocalypse.

The twins made their way to the central building. The Citadel, where the leadership of Arthur's Bastion was directed, and the entrance to Vault 117 itself was hidden away. When they got inside, they were blown away, by the fact that the place was air-conditioned. The two made their way to a war room.

There were surprised to see the Overseer himself. "So, you're the young troopers who dealt with the Raiders near Scrapers Reach?" Said Overseer Jebediah.

"Yes, Overseer," Richard said, hiding his anxiety. As the room was filled with important figures of the Bastion. Civilian, and military alike. "We... we did the best we could."

"Then that was enough." Overseer Jebediah said. "Though the implications of this matter are... disturbing, to say the least." He said as he looked over the reports. "Nothing good can come from Raiders having tech like this. Lasers, high caliber sniper rifles... power armor? We can't allow that!"

"Agreed." Said the head of the military, 1st Marshal Timothy Gregory Richardson. "We need to uncover where these degenerates are getting these weapons, and take that source for our own."

"But how?" Asked a member of the council. "The prisoner hasn't given any location."

"Not yet." Overseer Jebediah then looked at Rachel and Richard. "Privates... I believe I have a job for you."

The twins gulped nervously. They were then escorted to the cell where the Raider was kept. He was a hulking brute of a man. Covered in cobbled-together metal armor. "Well... how are we supposed to get this guy to talk?" Rachel asked.

"Leave that... to me," Richard said as he cracked his knuckles. Unfortunately, his idea of interrogation was screaming in the Raider's face. This lasted for roughly a half-hour before his voice gave out. "I..." He coughed loudly. "I need water!"

A Protectron came up with something. "You. Ran. Out. Of. You're. Water. Ration. Five. Minutes. Ago." The Protectron guard admonished. "However. There. Is. Nice. Cold. Nuka-Cola."

The raider visibly shuddered at the sight of the ancient soda. "Yeah... that works too." Richard took the ice-cold bottle. Richard was relieved as the soda went down his throat. In his cell, the Raider was hiding in the corner like a caged animal.

"I. Also. Brought. One. For. You." The Portectron guard then gave Rachel another icy Nuka-Cola.

"Thanks!" Rachel said as she unscrewed the cap.

The sound of the cap popping was more than the Raider could stand. "ENOUGH! I'll tell you everything!" The Raider then began screaming as he divulged everything about where his clan got the weapons and armor, a bunker to the north, and where it was. "JUST GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed, terrified of the undrunken bottle of Nuka-Cola.

Everyone was floored. "Wow." The Protectron said, just as stunned as the twins. "The. Good. News. Is. I. Recorded. That. Entire. Outburst. Sending. Data. To Central. Data. Network."

A few weeks later. Fireteams Alpha through Delta found the bunker. Delta was from behind, infiltrating the bunker while the Raiders were distracted by Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. While the Raiders were distracted. It made easy pickings for Fireteam Delta. "OPEN FIRE!" Ordered Captain Briggs.

Delta threw grenades into the Raiders and picked off any Raiders that managed to survive. "We move inside the building. Pick off anyone the other teams miss!" The soldiers of Fireteam Delta entered the building, striking down any Raiders inside.

Eventually, the Raiders on the surface were all destroyed. "All clear!" Captain Briggs said.

"Sis," Richard said to Rachel. "Does this place seem... big for a bunker?"

"How do you think?" Rachel asked.

"Well... this looks more like a base than a bunker. Why would there even be a bunker out here?" Richard said. "This just doesn't make any sense to me."

"We can worry about that when all of the raiders are dead." Rachel said.

The Fireteams loaded up their Brahmins with every bit of salvage on the surface. Then proceeded into the depths of the 'bunker'. It was much, much bigger than anyone suspected. As the depths of the place seemed to stretch on forever. "I mean, when could anyone have had the time to make this?" Richard said. "Unless there's some kind of Vault at the bottom. I don't see why this place even exists."

Eventually, the fireteams reached the bottom. "Collect every bit of data you can find. We need to know what this place is!" Commanded the Captain of Fireteam Alpha.

The search went on for a few hours. This 'bunker' was actually a secret base for a prototype automated factory that was constructed by West Tek before the Great War. But weren't able to produce and ship anything for the US Military to use before the bombs dropped. "So apparently, these Raiders found the weapons, and ammo, and armor that was already produced before the bombs dropped." Said a technician from Fireteam Gamma.

Then a massive door opened. Behind it, were not just the factory line, but a legion of Raiders. Eager for blood. "I don't remember inviting Bastion dregs into my home... WARRIORS! LEAVE NONE ALIVE!"

The Fireteams scrambled into cover. "I told you we should've called on more Fireteams!" Captain Briggs shouted to the Fireteam Alpha Captain.

"Just take your team around the back!" The Alpha Captain said.

"What back!? It's wall-to-wall Raiders! None of us can move while there firing like that!" Briggs said.

"Sirs!" Richard spoke up. "The Raiders seem to all be firing at once! When they reload, we move positions!"

Then as Richard said, the Raiders started reloading their weapons. "GO! GO! GO!" Nobody hesitated when the Alpha Captain gave the command. They charged into the fray, weapons hot, cutting down any Raider that was in the direct path of their bullets. "MOVE TO NEW COVER!" The Fireteams hid behind whatever they could find. A few troopers were wounded by Raider fire.

"We just had to use up our grenades getting in here!" Rachel complained as she took out a grenade launcher. "Good thing I didn't!" She said as she gleefully blew up Raiders with her launcher.

"Okay... there's got to be some way to kill these idiots quickly!" Richard said to himself as he realized that he was down to only a dozen or so bullets. "Rachel! I need some extra ammo, now!" Rachel threw an extra clip at Richard. "Thanks, sis!"

Richard then went behind enemy lines. Looking for something, anything that could even the playing field. Eventually, after killing his share of Raiders. He reached the control room in a room over the assembly line. "Hmm... now what do we have here?" Richard accessed a computer terminal.

Richard activated one command, which caused the factory to come to life. "Better do this slowly. No telling what could happen to the factory if I put this at 100% right away." He then looked at commands for turning on the factories' automated defenses. "Hmm... no idea how the IFF would work. So... I might not want to monkey around with these." He then went and looked through the computer to find anything of value.

Though thankfully, the conveyor belts moving provided enough of an edge for the Fireteams. Some of the Raiders were mauled by the various factory equipment. They were the unlucky ones as some of the Raiders were mashed, smashed, and killed in equally gruesome ways.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The Raider chieftain roared in disbelief as his warriors were killed by factory equipment. "MAKE THEM PAY FOR THIS AFFRONT! NONE WHO STAND AGAINST NOIR THE BLACK SHALL SURVIVE!" He screamed as he got off of his throne. He was clad in power armor, colored black. "VENGEANCE! VENGEANCE! THE BLACK KNIGHTS SHALL NEVER KNOW DEFEAT!"

Rachel caught a good look at Noir, she was the first of the Bastion Fireteams to open fire on the crazed warlord. Every fifth or sixth bullet that hit him, damaged the power armor. "We need to concentrate all fire on the chieftain! It might be our only chance!" Rachel yelled.

"For once a good idea!" Captian Briggs said. "Scavenge any fallen weapons and ammo!"

The battle continued in utter chaos, as the Fireteams scrambled for any advantage they could get. Between the problems of the moving production line, and Raiders firing their weapons wildly with reckless abandon. Bullets, grenades, lasers, plasma, and other kinds of ammo flew like panicked birds. The Fireteams disciple was buckling under the pressure. But still, they pressed on.

Somehow, in the confusion. Noir was struck down. A high-caliber sniper round through his head, after his helmet had been shot off by a volley of fire from Rachel. Everybody looked in surprise at a nearby catwalk. On it... was a lone gunman, a figure covered in robes, his face obscured, and holding an anti-material rifle, its smoking barrel an obvious signal of who did the deed. "Good riddance..." The voice shared the same distinct raspiness as Ghouls are known to possess.

Everyone was in shocked surprise that this apparent wanderer had killed someone in power armor. The Raiders were in panic. Some threw themselves into the machinery in despair. The rest grieved their fallen leader. "High King Noir is dead!... spare us. And we shall serve you." One of Noir's officers said, he, and the rest of the surviving Raiders knelt.

The sniper jumped down. "Now why should I let you degenerates live? You've raped, pillaged, and burned a path of destruction, pain, and misery for years. Frankly... you all deserve a bullet to the head."

"We were planning to do that anyway," Rachel commented.

"Yes... my point is." The sniper said. "You really... REALLY, need to give a good reason to not put you down like feral dogs."

"Please... the Black Knights will serve you in whatever way you see fit." The remaining leader said. Kneeling to the sniper.

"That's not for me to decide." The sniper said. "Every one of you." He said, looking over the Bastion Fireteams. "Has more than earned the right to decide their fate. Kill them, or take them on their offer."

On the one hand. The Black Knights were experienced fighters and could be invaluable to the Bastion. But on the other hand, the Black Knights had not only terrorized the wasteland since the bombs dropped, but they had used advanced technology to make matters worse than it already was. With the incident at Scrappers Reach drawing the Bastion's attention in the first place.

Richard ran down out of the control center. "Wait... wait. These guys know how to work the factory!"

"Yes, it took trial and error, and a lot of dead men to work this place." The Black Knight leader said. "But every man standing does no how to work these lines."

The Alpha Fireteam captain groaned. "We'll put it to a vote." He then used a knife to make a chart on a wall. "Everyone, on the left side, you'll vote for killing the Black knights. On the right side, for sparring them." The captain made a mark for killing.

Each trooper in the Fireteams made their marks. Eventually, it was down to Rachel and Richard. Richard's vote made the count even. Rachel then had the deciding vote. 'They killed Gemini... but... I can't pass up the opportunity to have such awesome weapons.' Rachel made the last vote.

The Alpha Captain counted the votes. "The tally is in... the Black Knights live."

Eventually, the Fireteams returned to Arthur's Bastion with as much scrap and plunder as their brahmins could carry. However, when they told the Overseers cabinet what happened with the Black Knights... they were in an uproar.

"ENOUGH!" Overseer Jebediah shouted, brandishing a magnum pistol. This silenced the cabinet. "Now... can someone please tell me. What in tarnation made you think that you had the power the decide this on your own?" He said, glaring daggers at Richard and Rachel. "That the word of some... Ghoul gunman meant you could choose between killing enemies of Arthur's Bastion or recruiting them? Or why you two apparently 'voted' that they be sparred? Please, correct our ignorance and confusion."

"Sir... they know how to use the factory!" Richard said. "There Raiders, but they can still be used for the Bastion! There's no telling how long it could take us to figure out how it could work on our own!"

"And besides," Rachel said. "I think we can all agree, that the Bastion needs better weapons and armor than what we're cobbling together from salvage, or lucking out in scavenging. And besides." She then lugged up a plasma rifle. "And this, is just the tip of... what are those big cold things that existed before the war?"

"Lemonade?" Richard said, ignorant of the term 'tip of the iceberg'.

"Yes! And this is just the tip of the lemonade!" Rachel said.

"That may be," Jebediah said. "But at the very least, we should have been informed that this had happened. There's no telling what these 'Black Knights' might do, they could use this peace to build up their strength in secret, or... or any number of betrayals!" He went on. "I... I just- this could backfire in a thousand different ways! And all you considered, was weapons and armor!" He growled under his breath in aggravation. "Consider yourselves suspended until we can work this out."

Rachel and Richard returned home in disgrace. They explained to Reginald and Roberta what happened. "Well... the Overseer is well within his rights to be cross with you two. I'm certain you're not the only ones being punished for this indiscretion."

"I don't see why the Overseer even needs to punish you!" Rebecca objected. "It was the Alpha Captain who decided to put it to a vote and not contact command!"

"It was a pretty close vote," Richard said. "Rachel cast the last vote for them to be sparred."

"You did?" Reginald said in surprise. "That is surprising... you've always hated Raiders since a band of them orphaned the both of you."

"I never said that I stopped." Rachel groused. "I was simply being practical. If the Black Knights try anything like the Overseer fears. I'll be there to put them all down like the animals they are." She said coldly. She then perked up. "So, mashed tato's? That's new."

"Yes... it's a new recipe I learned about while I was working last week." Robecca said. Worried for her daughter.

Richard took a bite of the mashed tatos. "Not bad. What's in them?"

"Well the recipe the trader I spoke with was frustratingly vague with measurements. So I used the bare minimum." Robecca said.

"That... certainly explains the taste." Richard cringed.

"And once again, you under season the children's dinner." Reginald snarked.

"And you could do better?" Robbeca said indignantly.

"I was designed for this sort of thing!" Reginald argued. "Of course, like you, my programing had to be wiped to properly make us sapient... what RobCo was thinking with that Vault is still a mystery. We were all just milling around Vault 47... experiencing existential dread until the Bastion found us all. Before we all would have made a very, VERY tragic mistake."

Over the following weeks. The Alpha Captain was dishonorably discharged from the Bastion Military for deciding without the Cabinet's input. The Black Knights proved, despite their prior crimes, to be men of their word. As they churned out weapons and armor for the Bastion, allowing Arthur's Bastion to expand their territory outward more effectively. Eventually, however, this progress would come at a price for the Bastion.

But that's a story for another time.