Chapter 26: Meet Liberty Prime
The loud bang of a massive explosion awoke me from my slumber, and I rolled off the bed in my surprise. Madison sat up and looked around as the room rumbled. A few cracks ran up the walls and part of the ceiling, and bits of dust and concrete fell to the floor.
"What was that?" she asked in a daze.
I got myself up off the floor and ran to the door. I threw it open and looked out in to the hall to see a dozen Brotherhood members scurrying about. I grabbed one of them by the shoulder as he darted past.
"What's going on out here?" I questioned.
He had a frightened look in his eyes, "They're attacking! Those damned Enclave bastards are attacking the Citadel!" he shouted before prying himself from my grip and running off down the hall.
I went back in to my room and then went over to the locker where I had stored the prototype light power armor Durga had issued me and pulled it out.
"Madison, come help me put this on." I ordered, and she complied without hesitation.
She helped me slip in to the grayish armor and then handed me my helmet, which had a visor that could be adjusted to hang over my eyes or rest above them. I grabbed my weapons off of the table and put them where they needed to go. The 500 Magnum went in to the holster on the bandolier, the Sawn-Off I strapped to my thigh, and I placed the harness of the Chinese AR over my chest and let it hand from my back.
I turned to Madison and placed my hands on her shoulders, "This is it Madison, this day will determine what kind of future the Capitol Wasteland will have. Do what you can to help, but make sure you stay out of harms way alright?" She nodded and I gave her a quick hug.
"I love you, and I'll see you when it's all over okay?" I told her as a tear ran down my cheek.
"I love you too Jason, now get out there and show the Enclave why they should never have crossed you!" she yelled, and it helped put me in a fighting mood.
I left her and made my way to where the Brotherhood was storing Liberty Prime as I figured that's where most everyone would be. My instincts proved to be right and I found Sarah, all suited up and ready for battle, standing next to her father shouting orders at the soldiers and at the scientists making the final adjustments to the hulking robot.
Sarah glanced over her shoulder and a look of relief came over her, "Oh thank God you're here Jason, we could really use you right now." she said as I approached her.
"Just tell me what you need and I'll be there." I replied in a stern manner.
"The Enclave is practically at our doorstep, and I need you to take your companions and help defend the courtyard while we get Liberty Prime up and running. When he's ready, we'll send the platform up through the floor of the courtyard and wipe out any resistance that might remain." she explained, and then held a familiar looking object out to me, "Here, take the G.E.C.K. and once we've pushed the Enclave back to the purifier it'll be up to you to activate it. All you have to do is install it in a slot at the top of the main control console and enter the code 216."
I took the cube from her and placed it in my pack. "How long do you need?"
She smirked ever so slightly, "As long as you can give us."
I then turned from her and ordered a few soldiers that were just standing around to follow me up to the courtyard. A few Vertibirds flew overhead as we emerged back outside. There were around twenty or so other Brotherhood Knights and Initiates raking defensive positions and aiming their weapons at the large metal gate at the edge of the outer circle.
I spotted Fawkes standing up on a raised platform with his Gatling Laser fixed on the gate, and Kirk crouched behind a pile of sandbags with his MP5 at the ready.
"Alright men, we've been ordered to hold this courtyard until Liberty Prime has reached max power. He'll ascend through this shuttle door in the ground right here and give us the extra firepower we need to push forward! Take up your positions and don't fire until I say so!" I ordered, and everyone continued getting in to position.
I settled down near Kirk and aimed at the gate. Everything went silent, and the air was still. Then, a loud bang rang out across the silence from the front gate, and another, and another. Finally, after a few more explosions, the large steel gate blew apart and a wave of Enclave soldiers poured in. The ones at the front of the line were using Plasma Rifles while the ones in the back used the napalm launchers Sarah had told everyone about.
Giant balls of flame soared through the air and rained down on us like hell from the sky. A few Brotherhood soldiers were hit and burst in to flames. They screamed in agony as they were burned alive before finally collapsing to the ground.
"Fire now! Send these fuckers straight to hell!" I roared and everyone in the courtyard opened up on the incoming Enclave soldiers.
Red bolts erupted from Fawkes' Gatling Laser and tore the front line soldiers to shreds. Other green and red bolts flew through the air and struck against the walls, sandbags, and ground. I leaned over the sandbags and sprayed in to the crowd of soldiers and managed to take a few of them down. I took cover once again so I could reload my gun.
"Missile Launchers!" one of the Initiates shouted as three Heavy Troopers stepped through the giant hole in the gate.
The missiles whistled through the air as they made their way towards their targets. They made contact with a small group of Brotherhood soldiers and sent them flying, most of them losing limbs or being blown in half. Another struck one of the support beams holding Fawkes up and he was forced to jump down as it toppled to the ground. The last one detonated right in front of the sandbags Kirk and I were taking cover behind.
Two of the heavy trooper's suddenly crumpled to the floor as a single bullet went through each of their visors and sent their brain matter spewing out the back of their heads. I looked back and noticed Knight Captain Dusk standing on a balcony loading another bullet in to the chamber of her Sniper Rifle. The Enclave heavy trooper attempted to load another missile in to his weapon, but promptly received a bullet to the head.
Another wave of Enclave soldiers poured through the gate and Fawkes screamed at the top of his lungs as he tore through their ranks with ease. Kirk helped him by tossing a couple of frags at their feet which caused them to break in to disarray.
"Ha, these guys ain't got nothin' on us!" Kirk shouted as he gunned down the last of this wave of soldiers.
For now it seemed like there weren't any more Enclave reinforcements and so I took this time to tally how many soldiers we had lost so far.
"Status report!" I shouted to a nearby Brotherhood Knight, who came running to my side.
He saluted me, which no one had ever done before, "Sir, we've sustained heavy casualties. We've lost half of our men and a couple of them are seriously injured and need immediate medical treatment!" he informed me.
"Alright soldier, get the injured down to the medical bay and try and get some backup." I ordered, and he left in a hurry.
Kirk walked over to me with his MP5 slung over his shoulder, "How much longer till that giant scrap heap will be ready?"
I shook my head, "I don't know, but what I do know is that the Enclave will be sending more reinforcements at any moment so we need to set up closer to the back of the courtyard and strengthen our defenses."
Just then a few Sentry Bots broke through what little remained of the gate and started firing missiles at us.
"Incoming!" I shouted, and everyone dove for the nearest cover.
The missiles struck the walls at the top of the Citadel and blew chunks of debris which fell over us. Thousands of bullets flew all around us and sent large clouds of dust up in to the air.
As I was getting ready to fire on the Sentry Bots, the ground beneath me began to rumble. The loose pebbles and debris shifted across the surface of the ground, and the shuttle door at the center of the courtyard slowly began to open up.
"Weapons systems operating at maximum capacity, main power core showing 100% functionality. Uploading primary objective: Eliminate all Red Chinese Communists!" the giant robot shouted in its synthetic voice as it raised up from the ground.
The Sentry Bots turned their attention on the thirty-five foot robot and opened fire. Their bullets simply bounced off of Liberty Prime's deflective plating and caused no damage whatsoever.
The massive robot looked down on the seemingly puny Sentry Bots and said, "I am Liberty Prime, and you are trespassing on American soil." The red visor on his face then lit up and multiple blue laser beams erupted forth and blew the Sentry Bots to pieces. Giant craters were all that remained where the bots once stood.
All of the remaining Brotherhood soldiers whooped and hollered after Liberty Prime had shown off his amazing firepower.
"The Enclave don't know what's coming!" one of the Initiates shouted through his helmet.
The doors at our back were flung open and Sarah, along with the rest of the members that would form the assault teams, came rushing out.
"Now's the time to push forward men, everyone pile in behind Liberty Prime!" she ordered, and everyone formed in to their teams.
Liberty Prime put one foot forward and took the first step in our assault against the Enclave. He crashed through the walls of the Citadel and made his way out in to the wastes. A couple of Vertibirds flew over him and bombarded him with machine gun fire. Liberty Prime shot a few blue bolts at them and they erupted in to massive balls of fire and fell in to the water below.
Our first obstacle was a long bridge that led to a maze of buildings on the other side where the Enclave probably had an ambush set up. Three shield barriers were set up at different intervals atop the bridge, and they looked heavily defended. Liberty Prime turned towards the bridge and took long strides all the while shooting lasers everywhere.
When we came upon the first shield Liberty Prime took a hold of the two metal poles on either side. "Detecting plasma shielding blocking our route. Probability of mission hindrance: ZERO PERCENT!" he shouted as he tore the poles from their foundations and tossed them to the side. Bolts of electricity coursed through his metal body, but they did little else than make him look like a walking lights show.
He made his way towards the next shield while Fawkes, Kirk, Gallows and I ran in to sweep up the remaining Enclave soldiers. Most of them took cover inside the outposts they had constructed and fired blindly from within. Kirk took the Double Barrel off his back and ran forward. He jumped through the window of the outpost and unloaded in to one of the soldier's chest, and then unsheathed his machete and drove it through another's head. A single red bolt went through the window and took the last one in the small building down as he tried to attack Kirk.
I looked back and saw Sarah Lyons aiming her Laser Rifle our way. I gave her a quick wave and she let the weapon fall to her side. Kirk crawled out of the window and wiped a layer of grime from his forehead, "Hot damn kid, I haven't been this excited since I first joined up with you!" he blurted out.
"More hostiles on the way!" Fawkes pointed out, and sure enough, four more soldiers were heading our way. Knight Captain Gallows and the big guy ran forward and entrenched themselves behind what remained of the shielding's frame. Gallows remained silent and collected as he fired a few rounds from his modified Laser Rifle which shot multiple beams at once. One of the soldiers screamed at the top of his lungs as he disintegrated in to a pile of ashes from being hit by a few bolts.
Fawkes revved his Gatling Laser and sent red chunks everywhere. I looked up and saw That Liberty Prime had already destroyed the second shield and was working on the third one. We trailed behind him as fast as we could but met more resistance at the second shield's outpost.
An Enclave soldier standing atop the outpost fired a few balls of napalm at us and forced us to disperse. A sniper shot rang out and took the soldier down with little difficulty. We snuck around the back of the outpost and positioned ourselves outside the back door. I kicked it down and sprayed inwards, then fell back so Gallows and Kirk could clean up anyone I had missed.
The cycle continued at the next outpost, and we thought that as long as things went like this we would be at the purifier in no time. Liberty Prime stopped at the other end of the bridge, and Sarah's group caught up with mine and we were about to go on when Liberty Prime looked up at the sky.
"Tactical Airstrike detected!" he shouted, and we all looked up and saw the mortar shells falling from the sky.
"Run!" Sarah shouted, and we all took off in different directions.
The shells impacted a few yards away and sent everyone sprawling to the ground. Liberty Prime's left leg and arm had taken some damage, but he analyzed that it wouldn't effect his combat proficiency.
"Everyone sound off!" a recovering Sarah ordered as she strained to get herself to her feet.
Everyone had survived the airstrike, but Vargas' right leg had been blown off, and Fawkes had taken a large chunk of shrapnel in his side. He tore out the piece of metal with ease and threw it on the ground.
"I'll be fine my friend, but I'm not so sure about your other friend over there." Fawkes reassured me as he pointed to Vargas.
Sarah knelt at Vargas' side and removed his helmet. He grunted and writhed in pain as she used a piece of cloth to tighten the area around the wound to stop the bleeding. She then ordered two soldiers to help him to the medics waiting at the back of their ranks.
"Let's continue forward, Vargas will be alright." She said, and everyone turned to head out.
"Multiple communists detected up ahead. A tactical nuclear strike against the overhanging bridges between the buildings should cause maximum damage." Liberty Prime advised.
He then reached back and took a hold of one of the bombs strapped to his back and let it fly. It struck a building at our front and the bodies of Enclave soldiers that had been taking cover were sent sky high. Large piles of rubble had formed in the middle of the street below. The giant death machine then continued onward and blew away any stray soldiers that hadn't been hit by the blast while shouting anti-communist propaganda such as, "Democracy is truth, and Communism is death!" or "The Red Chinese shall be crushed under the boot of the free people."
When we rounded the corner at the bottom, something struck Liberty Prime in the chest and actually made him stumble backwards. A large dent had been made in the front of his armor plating.
"Damage sustained: minimal. Detecting multiple vehicles ahead."
After he said this, three large vehicles drove forward and took aim at him. They all fired off and blew Liberty Prime back. He crashed in to a nearby building and almost fell to the ground.
"Are those…tanks?" Knight Captain Dusk questioned to no one in particular.
"Everyone fall back!" Sarah ordered, and we all headed back for the cover of the building as the tanks advanced on us. A few more shells were fired off and blasted the corner of a building just as we rounded it.
Liberty Prime collected himself and held his right hand out towards the tanks. The palm of his hand began to glow a bright blue, and just as he made ready to fire, multiple shells struck his hand and blew it off. A few more shells struck his chest and actually tore through his armor plating. Sparks flickered from the holes in his chest and caused him to twitch a bit.
"Your death warrants have just been signed communist scum!" his synthetic voice roared as he shot a massive wave of blue bolts from his visor and wiped the tanks off the face of the Capitol Wasteland.
He then turned to us, "Power levels at 65%, right plasma cannon has been destroyed, and heavy damage has been sustained to the chest area. Self-repair systems have been activated, but it will not increase my power levels by much." he reported.
"65% is better than 0%. We still have a mission to carry out. It's a straight shot to the memorial building from here, so let's pick up the pace!" Sarah ordered, and everyone cheered.