Paladin Wells watched the new group of initiates intently. These newbloods, all now in matching uniform and cleanly shaven, no longer looked like mere wastelanders. He analysed every push up, ever jump and even how they ran. Some still had poor posture, others weren't too well built yet, but he still had hope. Paladin Wells cast his eyes around the bailey of the Citadel, the central training and sparring area built into the centre of what used to be the Pentagon before the Great War. How times had changed. The Citadel was considered huge in the past, but now, it was simply glorious.
"I know what you're thinking Brian." said a voice behind him.
Paladin Wells turned, meeting the eyes of a shortish woman who wore her auburn hair in curls that lay lightly across the grey shoulders of a scribe's robes. Her face was weathered and her blue eyes wise. The woman stood next to the paladin, a dwarf in comparison to a man in power armour.
"And what exactly would I be thinking Norah?" he said to her with a smirk.
"That you're getting old. This Citadel has stood for several decades now and you're just about to get nostalgic aren't you?"
Paladin Wells looked down at the woman then back to the training initiates, now being yelled at by another paladin. He looked up to the evening sky and scratched his grey grizzled chin awkwardly.
"Well…" he looked back at her to find her staring at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Why are you scribes always right?" he sighed, looking up again, then squinting as if trying to spy something in the distance.
"I'm sorry Norah, but I've gotta run. It looks like the research patrol I've been waiting for is about to fly in. I'll come and annoy you in the mess later." he quickly said with a fleeting wave goodbye before running up a set of stairs along the northern wall that led onto a walkway that spanned the bailey like an overhead crossroads. Paladin Wells ran to the centre and then turned right towards the western wall and the vertibird hangars.
Paladin Wells ran across the width of the western wall, descended a short set of stairs and found himself standing on a large platform that sat halfway up the western wall. The platform ran the length of the western and northern wall, curving right around the Citadel itself, and was loaded with a large array of VB-02 vertibirds, large tilt rotor aircraft that carried both cargo as well as numerous weapon systems. Each pad was marked out with a white rectangle and a number. Many of the pads lay empty, due to currently being in the field or deployed somewhere else with the Brotherhood.
Paladin Wells walked further into the platform and turned around, looking up and shielding his eyes as a vertibird flew directly overhead and began to circle back around. Wells always noticed a strange sort of thrill from watching the vertibirds in action, there was nothing else quite like them throughout the wasteland. He watched as the vertibird came around towards the helipad, its twin rotors now aiming vertically, and as it gradually slowed and flew lower before eventually hovering above the pad. From underneath, four landing gear unfolded and with that, it landed, settling on the platform with a thunk and rolling forward slightly.
While the rotors gradually slowed in their spin and the sound of the engine whirred down, a bearded man in power armour stepped off of the vertibird, followed by two smaller men who were clad in the black and grey field uniform of the Brotherhood, light combat armour strapped to their bodies.
The man in power armour approached Paladin Wells, his face dark with grime mixed with sweat and dirt.
"You're a welcome sight, especially after the shit we just went through…". He looked at him with almost pleading eyes.
"I know that look, Galford," Wells said with a slow sigh. "What happened, soldier?"
Knight Galford looked back at the two initiates who were now marvelling at the vertibird hangar platform before glancing down.
"One. I lost one…" he looked up, "to a fucking deathclaw matriarch in the middle of a fucking vault."
"Calm it on the language, knight" said Paladin Wells sternly.
"Sorry sir. I've marked the location for a sweep and retrieval at the earliest convenience, the amount of gear down in that vault will make the quartermaster's head spin."
Wells nodded approvingly, "Well done, knight. I'll make sure it's cleared." he pointed at the two remaining initiates.
"Which one have you chosen?" he asked quietly.
"Initiate Gareth Elwin, sir. I want to sponsor him." replied Galford with a hint of pride.
"Elwin? Not Benny?" Wells said with an inquisitive expression.
"Yes sir, Benny will make a fine addition but he is too cocky and arrogant for my liking. Elwin may be quieter, and perhaps a bit shaky here and then but I can see him going far in the Brotherhood with a bit of...fine tuning."
"Hm, very well soldier. I'll let the higher ups know that you're taking Initiate Elwin under your wing. That will be all, Galford." he stood straight, nodded and put a fist to his chest.
"Ad Victoriam, soldier"
"Ad Victoriam" saluted Galford in response.
Paladin Wells turned and walked back towards the bailey, leaving Galford on the hangar platform.
The knight wiped his face with a steel gauntlet then walked over to the two initiates, still gawking at the vertibird they'd just had the opportunity to fly in.
"...and then after getting out with Elder Maxson, the Sentinel pushed the very button that left the Institute as just an irradiated crater in the middle of the Commonwea-"
"Stand to, initiates!" boomed Galford, right behind the two men, causing them both to jump with fright and stand to attention awkwardly.
"Sorry, did I interrupt your story Initiate Benny?" he asked, amused.
"N-no, not at all, sir." he stammered in reply.
"I didn't think so, initiate. Go on to the B-wing, double time it soldier!" he roared, several inches from the initiate's face.
Galford caught Elwin's shoulder in a steel grasp before he could leave too.
"Not you, Elwin" he said more calmly and with a slight smile, "I've got other things to talk about with you."
"Sir?" Elwin asked, puzzled.
Knight Galford shook his head, "No, not here. Come."
Knight Galford led Initiate Elwin through the bailey and then into the A-wing of the Citadel. The A-wing was formerly home to the Lyon's Pride unit and also included areas such as the Great Hall, however since Arthur Maxson becoming Elder, the interior of both wings of the Citadel had been both rebuilt and expanded using the Brotherhood's newly acquired resources. The A-wing served as the part of the Citadel where mission briefings took place, meetings between/with elders and also included living quarters for Elder Maxson and the highest of authorities in the Brotherhood of Steel. The B-wing kept its role in being majorly the living quarters of initiates, knights, paladins and any sub ranks in between as well as including the med bay.
Initiate Elwin followed Knight Galford through the A-wing, with its rebuilt walls and corridors, making it look much less like a ruin as it did in the past and more like the interior of the Prydwen, the huge airship used by Elder Maxson to launch his campaign against the Institute ten years ago. Elwin felt that this was a refreshing change to the chaos and radioactive dust of the Capital Wasteland. Galford brought him into a long room with a central, rectangular table. Several figures were seated at the table who ended their discussion when Galford and Elwin entered the room.
The initiate looked to the knight for advice, who nodded towards a chair, urging him to sit at the bottom end of the table. Galford attempted to sit next to him until his chair creaked audibly and felt ready to break. The knight resorted to standing after coughing awkwardly. Elwin's heart nearly stopped when he realised who he was in fact sitting with.
Directly opposite him, was a tall man with dark brown hair, short at the sides and swept over from the top. He had a thick beard with a scar running up his right cheek. The man had the face of a true veteran, and he was staring directly at him. He was clad in a large, weathered coat worn over the standard black Brotherhood uniform.
"Do not be nervous, initiate. You're in the presence of brothers here." he said, his voice proud and determined.
Elwin nodded, "Yes, of course, Elder."
Elder Arthur Maxson stood from his chair and paced with his hands behind his back.
"I'll get straight to the point. The Brotherhood has expanded incredibly over the past twenty years. In recent history, we have both brought an end to the tyranny of the Enclave and the cancer that was the Institute. Despite this, the Brotherhood of Steel has now discovered that it stands alone against threats like the ghoul infestations and the super mutant abominations. In short, the other chapters of the Brotherhood have fallen silent, including the Lost Hills bunker. By right of this catastrophe, I am now High Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel and the Citadel is the new headquarters as a whole. Which brings me onto you…" he stopped pacing and instead looked straight at the initiate.
"I am building a new order to incorporate into the Brotherhood. As with any army, there is always a special task force. The Templars."
Maxson pointed at him.
"You, Initiate Gareth Elwin, will be the first. The Templars will be of paramount importance in the near future. When you are able to head this force, you will be a paladin."
The High Elder straightened and nodded.
"As Elder Owyn Lyons had his Lyon's Pride, I will have my Templars. A unit of the strongest paladins in the Brotherhood, they will take on only the most dangerous missions and carry the best equipment we can offer. If you are still with us when your time comes, Knight Galford assures me that the role of a Templar will be a good fit for you. For now, continue your service to the Brotherhood and our cause. Fight with honour, and know that I have my hopes on you, initiate."
Maxson saluted, "Ad Victoriam, initiate".
Elwin rose from his seat, weak at the legs, and returned the salute.
"Ad Victoriam, sir"
With that, Knight Galford led Elwin out of the room. High Elder Maxson sat down and looked at the man on his left and then the woman on the right.
"Do you think he'll be fit to head the Steel Exodus when the time is right?" he asked.
The woman sighed, "Well, as an initiate he's done remarkably so far. I've been watching his progress."
"I agree," said the man "he's a little unsure of himself at the moment but...give him time."
The door opened again and Knight Galford returned. He walked towards the table and slid the Pip-Boy he'd used in Vault 104 over to the man on Maxson's left.
"Sorry, I forgot to give you that back earlier."
"Don't worry about it" he said with a smile, clipping it onto his left arm.