Initiate Elwin opened his eyes to see the imposing figure of Knight Galford standing over him in full power armour.
"Good morning, sir" he said, rubbing his eyes.
"Afternoon, initiate. It's the afternoon." said Galford sternly.
Gareth quickly got out of his bed and scrambled around for his gear while Galford sighed and started to walk out of the room.
"I want you out by the front gate in ten minutes, Elwin!" he called back.
Elwin hurriedly fastened the straps of the different sections of his armour after relieving himself in the restroom. His armour secure, he grabbed his rifle, loaded the cell from last night and grabbed some extras from his bedside table before running out into the bailey.
Gareth ran across the length of the bailey to the front gate, a set of rusted double doors that was protected on both sides by barricades, shelters, sentry bots and knights. Knight Galford stood waiting alongside Benny.
"Why didn't you wake me up before it got too late?" asked Gareth, his eyes locked on Benny, who looked very tired himself.
Benny smiled mischievously, "Well you did tell me not to wake you up…"
Galford sighed, "Enough pissing around. We're heading out, so keep your eyes open for any threats and the chatter moderate. I'm on point. Let's move."
Over the next three hours, the team of three traveled north from the Citadel at a decent pace along the west side of the Potomac River until they reached the outskirts of the broken city, then headed west. Here, there wasn't much sign of civilisation; just dirt, scrap and the odd ruined house. Galford continued to lead the team at the front, with Elwin in the centre and Benny at the rear. They hadn't encountered a single living thing on the careful trek, mostly thanks to the Brotherhood's highly efficient 'Sweepers'; small teams of Brotherhood knights with a sentry bot each that dedicate themselves to keeping entire sectors clear of mutants and other undesirables like raiders or hostile mercenaries.
"Sir…" started Benny, pointing past Knight Galford, "what's that over there?"
Initiate Elwin eyes followed the aim of Benny's pointed finger, settling on what looked like a gigantic scrapyard. As he looked more deeply, he realised it wasn't all exactly just junk, but the great structure had been built from what appeared to be an old pre-war bomber plane, except the structure also was in heavy disarray, as if something had erupted from the inside.
"That's Megaton, initiate, or rather what's left of it. It's also our sign that we now have to go north." he said, pointing a steel arm to the right of the group.
"What happened to it?" asked Elwin, now making sure that both he and Benny were moving northwards.
"It was built ages ago around an old nuclear warhead that hadn't detonated, which if you ask me is just crazy on its own, but you know those Children of Atom fanatics? Well, they started out from there too. About twenty years ago, at around the time we were fighting the Enclave to keep hold of Project Purity, the town just exploded in a great big nuclear fireball. I was an initiate at the Citadel at the time, but even that far away you could feel the shockwave under your feet,and the sky just lit up. But that's what you get for building a town on a nuke. As I said, those people were just plain crazy…" Galford raised a fist, clear for the two initiates to see, and stopped before crouching down behind the cover of an old burned out car.
Elwin ducked down and then peered ahead, trying to see what had caught the knight's eye. In front of them was a small town comprised of several burned out buildings and the ruins of a school that surrounded a red shelter fashioned in the likeness of a rocket that stood over a courtyard. There was no visible movement, but vigilance was always advised. Galford stood up again while still scouring the town, then spoke to Elwin and Benny in a hushed tone.
"I don't know what's ahead, but this is the last known position of the research patrol so be ready for anything. We'll take this slow and steady, we don't want to be a second missing team after all." he glanced back up to the town, then pointed at the two initiates.
"We'll split up and move in from different sides. I want you two to move in from this side while I move in from the west. I'll double back and circle round so give it five minutes before making a move. You've got each other and I've got my power armour, so this should go smoothly. Understood?"
"Absolutely"
"Affirmative, sir"
Galford nodded and then left them, running back a ways before beginning to move west around the town. Elwin quickly checked over his laser rifle and mentally readied himself for a firefight. Even if the area was infact clear, it was always worth being prepared. After a few minutes, Elwin felt a hand pat his shoulder twice, to which he quickly moved out from behind the car and towards the back of one of the burned out houses, conscious of any noise he was making. The initiate moved with his back to the wall and up to the corner before peeking his head round. The courtyard was littered with the ruins of vehicles from a bygone era; rusted and charred hulks of steel amongst long dead greenery. Elwin dropped to one knee and raised his rifle while Benny moved past him to take cover behind an old school bus that rested around the front of the burned out house. He watched as Benny peered around the bus before raising a hand towards him, his thumb and index finger pinched together to form the 'okay' sign. Elwin quickly joined his comrade behind the school bus and peered around himself, a grey figure catching his eye.
Knight Galford moved along the road to the edge of the square, seeing the two initiates to his right behind a bus. They were covering him. The pinging in his helmet was louder now, louder and faster. They were close. Galford double checked his laser rifle before walking out into the open, his gun raised and his eyes glancing from window to window of the school on the eastern side. The building was large and grey with concrete, with several floors caved in. It was a traditional pre-war american elementary. Springvale.
The knight continued to move to the centre of the square, the pinging continually increasing in speed. Galford walked under the Red Rocket shelter and the pinging became continuous. Directly below the shelter was a small box with a flashing red bulb, a Brotherhood of Steel distress pulser. Galford knelt down by the pulser and let his rifle rest on the ground before drawing his attention to the small antenna next to the red flashing bulb. Several holotags were draped around it, some stained with blood. His eyes widened and he looked up.
A loud, electric crack sounded, quickly followed by a stream of blue light, a scream of pain and the shearing of metal. Elwin watched in shock as Knight Galford was flung backwards in an anticlockwise spin, spraying blood all over the ground. The initiate rushed forward while Benny fired beams of red towards the school like a madman. When Elwin reached the still figure of Knight Galford, he couldn't believe his eyes. Whatever had shot at the knight, had torn clear through the layers of steel and the frame itself, ripping off the soldier's limb halfway up his upper arm and leaving him bleeding profusely. Elwin turned towards the school, looking for a target when several trails of gunfire erupted from several windows, leaving faint blue streaks in the air as the rounds churned up concrete and metal. The initiate dived behind a low concrete wall and glanced back to see several more shots tear through the body of Knight Galford. He winced and ducked down.
What the hell are they using that's so powerful?
Elwin was forced to duck lower and lower as chunks of concrete broke out from the wall. Almost immediately, the gunfire stopped, leaving a sudden silence that made the young soldier's heart race even faster.
"Gareth! You alright!?"
Elwin felt a strong sense of relief that his friend was still alive, and shouted back.
"Yeah, are we clear?"
There was a moment's silence before Benny clambered over the wall preceded by another hail of gunfire. Elwin grabbed him and pulled him down so that he was flat on the ground. Benny looked at him, his face coated in concrete dust, and nodded.
"That'd be a no…"
"Just keep down, dammit! Whatever they're using can go right through steel and concrete!"
"I fucking noticed!"
Elwin ducked his head as several more shots came towards them, breaking up chunks in the road. He quickly glanced around. They needed a way out, and quickly. His eyes fell on the remains of the knight. Gareth planted a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Give me some cover fire, I've got an idea."
Benny nodded, "I've got you."
Benny ran out towards the burned houses while blindly firing his laser rifle towards the school, disappearing behind cover. Elwin waited several seconds, then took his chance. The initiate ran towards Galford at a sprint, then slid to a halt at the body. He rolled the knight over with a great deal of effort and checked his waist, producing a small smoke flare. He quickly lit the flare and rolled it out past the Red Rocket shelter before running west and into one of the devastated houses. Elwin looked back to see Benny running towards him at full sprint. He moved his gaze from his friend to the school. The gunfire had stopped, however he could only just make out the darkened silhouettes of the shooters, now scrambling around in what looked like a desperate bid to escape.
Gareth Elwin slumped down in the rubble of the house as Benny entered the charred building, a smirk on his grimey face.
"I guess they don't like blue smoke eh?" he said, pointing to the flare.
Elwin looked and frowned, "Or they know what the smoke means…"
He let the suggestion trail off as the sound of distant rotor blades neared, echoing across the wasteland. Benny turned and left the house with Elwin following suit. The roar of engines came clear as a Brotherhood vertibird circled over Springvale, it's side-mounted minigun making an audible whirring noise as it spun. Benny waved an arm toward to the gunship and it slowed down as it circled, eventually coming down to land in front of the school. The gunner disembarked when Benny and Elwin beckoned him over to help carry Galford onto the craft, leaving a thick pool of crimson with small splinters of flesh and metal where he lay. The three of them laid Galford across several seats and buckled him in, then the gunner nodded to Elwin and resumed his duties while Elwin and Benny stood and held on as the vertibird's rotors began to spin more quickly, soon lifting the craft into the air.
Elwin looked down onto the Capital Wasteland below, watching as the desolation passed by like a blur. He cast a glance to his friend, finding him staring down at the steel floor of the vertibird with tears in his eyes. He felt a pang in his chest, like a weight tugging on his heart, and moved over to where Galford lay. The initiate reached under the knight's chest plate and pulled out his holotags.
NATHAN
GALFORD
#28371
B.O.S. KNIGHT
A TYPE
Elwin slid the tags into a pocket and closed the knight's eyes.
"Ad Victoriam, sir…" he whispered.
He quickly turned away, blinked back tears and coughing shakily.
Within several minutes, the vertibird came up to and landed at the Citadel, casting a long shadow against the setting sun. The two initiates stepped off the vertibird and onto the landing pad, both covered in dirt, cuts, bruises, grey dust and wearing a weary and solemn face. Initiate Elwin walked forward with a little difficulty, his legs weak, and looked ahead to see a familiar face running towards him.
"Gareth! I've been waiting for you. Yuliya-"
Elwin held up a hand, cutting him off.
"Anton… now really isn't the best of times."
Anton clenched his jaw and squinted past him towards the vertibird, eyeing the scribes that were tending to Knight Galford. His face fell and he looked back at the initiate sympathetically.
"The knight…, my friend, I am so sorry." he said, lowering his head, "I just needed to let you know that Yuliya wants to talk to you at some point."
Several seconds passed between them before Anton spoke again.
"Look if you need anything, just friendly company or an ear to listen…"
"It's alright, I'll...I'll be fine I think. Thank you, though." Elwin half-smiled and moved past Anton and made directly for the B-wing. After traversing the bailey and the many sparrers, he found Benny sitting in the initiate dorm section of the B-wing alone at a table, his helmet on the floor and his right hand spinning a knife against the wood.
Elwin dropped his rifle and helmet on the floor next to Benny's and sat down next to him, turning Galford's tags over and over in his hands. The initiate living quarters was mostly empty at the moment save for several sleeping soldiers who had come back early after being beaten black and blue in the bailey. Several minutes passed while they sat in silence.
"It's fucking bullshit, Gareth."
The knife was no longer spinning.
"Galford?"
"Not just him, Edwards too. Them and all the others."
"Yeah...I know."
Benny let the knife drop on the table and sighed before picking it up again and sheathing it.
"Edwards had only just started…, and Galford… well, he was just too goddamn good of a man and a soldier to be killed in a fucking ambush!" he slammed the table with a fist and tears in his eyes, his voice pained and shaky.
It hurt Gareth to see his friend like this. He wondered if he'd be fit for duty over the next few days. Elwin sighed and put an arm around Benny.
"They didn't die for nothing. They died fighting for the Brotherhood, and for us. So the least we can do is stay strong and remember them and their sacrifice as we go forward. Galford was a tough son-of-a-bitch and a damn good soldier. Infact, all of us are, and we'll do their memory proud as we win battle after battle against the shit that puts humanity in danger. If not for the Brotherhood, for them."
"Ad Victoriam, Gareth."
He nodded.
"Ad Victoriam."