A/N: Another chapter. As always, please read, review, and point out any grammatical errors you may notice.
Fallout: Crusaders of the Brotherhood
Part I: Chapter 6
This had been the second time Veronica had visited the Aerotech Facility. She had stopped there once before to get some R&R during a trip to Vegas. At the time, it was controlled by the NCR and used as a place to shelter people who had gambled too much away and were unable to pay for the costs to get back home. It was kind of depressing to see so many people down on their luck in one place. Now, it was used as a staging ground by the New Vegas Military to conduct operations for their campaign against the fiends.
Tents were erected in the space that was considered the courtyard. What used to be wandering junkies and lowlifes were now soldiers in light combat armor and desert rangers walking back and forth through the camp. Several securitrons manned the main entrance, while others were patrolling the camp. A couple of makeshift sniper perches and watchtowers had been erected since her last visit.
Shortly after the battle for the dam, the Fiends mounted an assault on Camp McCarran. After enough pushing, the band of Raiders finally managed to take control of the fortified camp, using it as their main base of operations. Once the NCR had completely withdrawn from the region, the Fiends were in control of most areas around outer Vegas. It wasn't long after that when they made an attempt to hit the strip, which failed miserably. House decided that it would be better to rid outer Vegas of the Fiends instead of waiting for them to plan a better organized and likely more successful attack.
House deployed the New Vegas Military against the Fiends about a year and a half ago. Progress was being made, but the fight was slow going. Since the conflict's beginning, the Fiends, though chem riddled, became more organized. Their strikes were better planned and they chose their targets more wisely. There was still the occasional stray raiding party that one might come across along the road, but the Fiends behaved more like a military than a gang of raiders. The NVM managed to take down Violet and Driver Nephi, but Cook-Cook and Motor Runner were still at large.
"Alright here we are" said Maria as the three of them walked into the middle of the courtyard, "The Aerotech Facility, or should I say base?–doesn't matter. I don't know where you guys are headed, but I'm gonna hang here for a while. I think I'm going to hitch a ride with a caravan headed south. What are you guys planning to do?"
"I guess I'm headed up to Vegas," responded Veronica, thinking about the invitation that House had sent her. It couldn't hurt to see how the guy was holding up.
Maria raised an eyebrow, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, you're going to be passing straight through Fiend territory if you take this route,"
"I can handle myself. It's not the first time I've had to sneak past a few Fiends," retorted Veronica.
Despite Veronica's assurance, Maria continued to warn her, "I…heard that the Fiend's presence along this stretch of road has gone up recently. Its one thing if a caravan armed to the teeth passes through, but I doubt they would let a pretty girl like you pass through alone without some…trouble,"
"I can handle myself," said Veronica confidently. When she was part of Ben House's "Gang," she once had to sneak past three camps of Fiends with Boone to retrieve ammo from a concealed weapons cache.
Maria shrugged "Well don't say I didn't warn ya," she then turned to Butch, "and what about you Ranger Butch?"
Butch was quiet for a moment. It looked as though he was going through another phase of silence until he finally spoke up.
"Um…I've been ordered to report farther north to Vegas,"
"Then you can come with me then," noted Veronica, "I could use some company."
Veronica shot a smile at Butch, who in return gave her a nod. It was an odd gesture, even rude, but she noticed that the edges of the man's lips curled ever so slightly. She wasn't sure whether he was hiding emotion or if that was how he showed it. She normally would give out sarcastic remarks to anyone who acted rude or odd around her, but the guy saved her life during the caravan ambush; so in Veronica's book, he could be a little strange if he wanted to.
Veronica and Butch said their goodbyes to Maria and left the base. They continued up the road for a little while until they reached the outskirts of NVM territory. Veronica decided to ask a question that had been on her mind since they left the Aerotech Facility.
"So, how experienced would you say you are with handling Fiends after they took Camp McCarran?"
A confused look grew on Butch's face, "Camp McCarran?"
Veronica halted in her tracks in a degree of surprise, causing Butch to do the same. She looked nearly as confused as Butch did.
"Yeah Camp McCarran," pressed Veronica, "What kind of ranger wouldn't know about Camp McCarran?"
Butch's eyes darted around as he was looking for an explanation, "Well…of course I have. It's–it's…just I've never been stationed there,"
Veronica called bullshit on that excuse. Every ranger was stationed at Camp McCarran at some point. She wasn't able to read people like Benjamin House could, but she could tell if a person was lying if she caught them off guard.
"You're not really a ranger," concluded Veronica, "are you?"
Butch was quiet for a moment. He then let out a sigh, "Look, its not that I don't want to trust you; it's just that the less you know about me, the better things will be for the both of us. I won't blame you if you decide to head back because of me, but I'm heading up to New Vegas with or without you."
Without a response from Veronica, Butch started walking up the road. Veronica was still trying to decide whether she wanted to travel with this guy or not. Though her common sense was telling her to turn around, something else inside was telling her to go with him. An old thought resurfaced, causing a light bulb to go off in her head.
"Hey Butch," called out Veronica. Butch stopped and turned around. He was only about ten or fifteen paces ahead of her.
"What kind of equipment did the Brotherhood confiscate off you?" inquired Veronica, thinking of the claim he made at the 188.
"You don't need to know that," said Butch dryly as he turned around and continued walking.
Without thinking it through properly, Veronica blurted it out, "was it a Pip-Boy 3000?"
Veronica's words seemed to hit Butch like a brick wall. He halted his pace and turned around once again. Except this time, he had his hand firmly planted on his holstered pistol.
"What makes you think they took a Pip-Boy off me?" asked Butch, narrowing his eyes. The question seemed more like an accusation than anything else.
Veronica immediately regretted the sudden outburst. Her mind trailed to her conversation with Ramos about how the prisoner managed to injure two soldiers in power armor with his bare hands as she stuttered for an answer "I–I–uh …heard about it; w–word travels around kinda fast around the 188."
"You're lying," said Butch as he unholstered his pistol and pointed it at Veronica, "tell me the truth,"
Veronica threw her hands up as a shield, not that it would help much if Butch started shooting. She was conflicted. She wasn't too sure if the truth would keep the guy from killing her. After a few seconds of contemplation, which seemed more like forever to Veronica, she finally decided to tell him the truth.
"Okay! Okay!" Veronica took a deep breath as she tried to calm her nerves to explain herself, "I…I was once a scribe for the Brotherhood of Steel, but I left a few years ago. I'm still on good terms with some of them."
Butch's finger eased of the trigger as he let Veronica continue, "Yesterday, Ramos, the guy who was transporting you, came up to me telling me about you and asked me about the model of the Pip-Boy they took off of you."
Veronica stopped for a moment, wondering if her story was good enough to appease Butch, but after a long pause, he was still pointing his gun at her.
"Look, I know it looks bad," added Veronica, "but I'm not spying on you for the Brotherhood. Personally, if all you had on you was a Pip-Boy, I think they should have left you alone, and had I known you were the prisoner who had escaped last night, I would have stayed out of your way."
The man's cold, steel eyes were scanning her as if he were a sentrybot evaluating her threat level. He was sending chills down Veronica's spine, and it wasn't just because he looked as though he might shoot her. After a moment of what seemed like forever, he finally lowered his gun, which brought some relief to Veronica, but he still had it pointed in her general direction.
"I'm Sentinel Kane," said the man as if he were reporting to a superior officer, "I'm belong to the Brotherhood of Steel Chapter in the Capitol Wasteland,"
"The Capitol Wasteland?" pondered Veronica aloud.
"I think we're referred to here as the Northeastern Chapter," clarified the Sentinel.
"Oh," said Veronica. That was the chapter she heard about who managed to power some giant battle robot and claimed to have defeated the remnants of the Enclave. If she recalled right, they had a small civil war due to disagreements over the Chapter's goals.
"I'm not planning on hurting you or any other members of the Brotherhood of Steel, but I will if I have to," continued Sentinel Kane "all I want is a council with the Elder of the Chapter in this region so I can explain myself and get my equipment back,"
"Okay, nice to meet you, Sentinel Kane," said Veronica, somewhat relieved by the man's words, "so what now?"
"Now, since you know who I am and have ties to the Brotherhood, I can't risk letting you know where I'm going or what I'm planning. I'm sorry,"
The Sentinel approached Veronica with his gun still drawn, causing her to panic again. Veronica had read stories about the Sentinels who existed in the Brotherhood long ago. Their own people feared them just as much as their enemies did.
"Hey! Hey! W-wait!, "cried Veronica, "I–I can help you!"
The Sentinel stopped, "How so?"
Veronica started stuttering again, "E-elder McNamara is going to be at th-the Lucky 38's reopening tomorrow–I-I can help you get in there, a-and you could talk to him. Just–y-you don't have to kill me!"
The Sentinel pondered her words before putting his pistol back in its holster, "Killing you wasn't what I had in mind,"
"Y-you weren't going to kill me?" asked Veronica. Despite the fact that Kane had already put his pistol away, she was still stuttering.
"Knock you out, restrain you, and leave you somewhere safe maybe," elaborated the Sentinel, "but kill you? No. Just something to make sure you wouldn't be able to follow me, but if you can help me…"
"Yeah," said Veronica, letting out a small sigh in relief, "as long as you don't hurt anyone, I'll help you"
"Okay, So what's this Reopening?"
"It's the Reopening of the Lucky 38 Casino. It's been closed since the War. Mr. House has invited various friends and VIPs across the Mojave. Elder McNamara is one of them,"
"An Elder of the Brotherhood going to a casino party?"
"Yeah," related Veronica, "That was my reaction too until I heard that he's holding a meeting with all major factions in the Mojave afterwards"
"Okay, so how do you suggest we sneak in there?"
"We won't have to," stated Veronica, "I was invited; I'm a friend of Mr. House. He and I…traveled together a few years back. Each invitation allows the invitee to bring one companion. Here, take a look."
Veronica reached into her duffle bag and pulled out the invitation and handed it to Sentinel Kane. Kane took the letter, opened it, and scanned the contents.
"This is the letter that Ned gave before the caravan left right?" inquired Kane.
"Right," confirmed Veronica.
"I see, and who is this Mr. House?"
"Wow, you're really not from here, are you?" remarked Veronica, "Okay, so anyway, in a nutshell, Mr. House is the Overseer of New Vegas and leader of the New Vegas Military. Just about whatever he says goes; so he's basically the Ruler of New Vegas. His laws aren't unreasonable, though, and he'll leave you alone as long as you don't break them, so no one's really complaining."
Up until this moment, Kane's eyes had been surveying her from top to bottom. Veronica primary reaction was that the man was checking her out (which was most men did when their eyes were "surveying," her), but reason told her that he was probably studying her body language to determine if she was lying or not. Maybe it was both? Regardless, hether it was her words, her plan, or her body language, it seemed to make the Sentinel think it was okay to keep her company.
"Okay then," he said in his typical monotone voice, lacking in emotion, "lets get going,"
"Not so fast," demanded Veronica. For a moment she could hardly believe that she was making the demands. Just moments ago, the man had a gun pointed at her.
"I answered your questions. Now you're going to have to answer mine,"
"I'm sorry," said Kane, apologetically but still in his plain and unemotional tone, "but I'd be putting both of us at risk if I told you more than you need to know,"
"Look, do you want my help or not?" asserted Veronica, putting a hand on her hip.
The Sentinel seemed to think it over before giving in to Veronica's demand, "fine, what do you want to know?"
"First off," expressed Veronica, "I'm not too good with formalities. I'd prefer to call you by your real name rather than 'Sentinel Kane,' all the time,"
"It's Logan," answered the man, "Logan Kane,"
"So you're name's not really Butch then," affirmed Veronica.
Logan shook his head, "no."
"Okay Logan," said Veronica as she moved on to her next question, "why do you need to meet with the Elder?"
"The Brotherhood has confiscated some valuable pieces of equipment off of me," elaborated Logan, "I've tried explaining myself to the Head Paladin, but…he wasn't willing to listen. My last chance of getting my belongings back peacefully would be through the Elder,"
"I see, and why do you need your equipment back so badly?"
"The Brotherhood has my Pip-Boy. It contains information that I need to complete my mission, which includes mapping data that will get me home."
"And what exactly is your mission? Why are you this far west?"
Veronica caught a wince in the man's stare, breaking his stoic aura, as she asked the question. He was quiet for a moment. She thought he was going to go through another silent phase until he finally spoke up.
"My mission is to deliver classified information to the Elders of the Brotherhood in the West. Now does that answer all of your questions?"
"Yeah… for now," said Veronica. Though he didn't show it, she got the sense that she was starting to run Logan's patience thin. The short interrogation didn't answer all of Veronica's questions, but it savored her curiosity for the moment.
"Aright, lets move," said Logan as he continued walking down the road. Seeing the Sentinel walk along an open highway caused Veronica to remember something that was rather important.
"Hold on. Wait! one more thing," Called out Veronica, causing Logan to turn around with a slightly annoyed look in his gaze, "We're about the cross through Fiend territory. If we take the road, we'll be sitting ducks for any snipers; we're going to have to move from building to building."
Logan nodded, "Okay, good to know. Can we go now?"
"Yep, let's go make trouble,"