Chapter 5
The Metro Defense Plan
"I thought about both options and considered the advantages and disadvantages, but I feel it's safer to just move into the Metro System. We have greater advantages of setting traps and hiding civilians. Besides, should the Citadel get hit too hard, we'd lose our winning edge. The metro also has a working, abide contaminated water system and we can effectively close of parts of the Metro and move into another station. We could even live there for months should the need arise."
The Wanderer sighed and gave her the papers back.
"Well, at least we can gain access to the Purifier and Rivet City that way. We could guard it, come to think of it. At least our water supply would not run low, just as long as the enemy doesn't know about it. We should only tell a handful of people so to minimize information leaks. There are probably enemy spies among us already."
"Yes, sadly I think you are right. But with the Metro plan even spies will have a hard time to gather information. It's best if we divide the troops among the stations and make the enemy come find us."
"But what about the Citadel, the West Chapter clearly is here for the rockets, why would they bother finding is, once they have access to the Citadel."
"I thought about it and it turns out that the Vault underneath the Citadel is too thick to be penetrated efficiently through conventional means. That means that whether they like it or not they have to get to me to get the access codes to the rockets. Meaning also that they probably will try to catch me alive. It's a great advantage."
They both stood in silence for a while before Sarah clapped her hands and said "Alright, time for me to go. It's just a matter of preparing and waiting."
Before she could leave the room though, the Wanderer stopped her.
"Wait Sarah…."
"Yes Paladin?"
"It's…well…never mind. Sorry to keep you. Elder." The Wanderer said flatly and turned back to her own room.
Sarah stood surprised for a second and left the Vault, making her way back to the Citadel.
The Wanderer debriefed Amata on the situation one last time and made sure that she would keep the Vault closed for the duration of the war and should they lose they should keep their location a secret for the time being. Sarah Lyons would make sure to purge any records they have of the Vault and other settlements to lower the risk of the West Chapter attacking those as well. Little Lamplight was advised to stay in Vault 87 and to lock it in case of emergency. The bodies of the Super Mutants had been cleaned out long ago and the electronics of the Vault fixed, making it an ideal living place for the residents of Little Lamplight.
xxx
(Recording Start)
"The food these degenerates eat tastes like shit. Elder Hardin, if you can hear this, Fuck you! On another note, I gathered information on the Lone Wanderer in Megaton. Apparently this self-proclaimed hero decided to defuse this huge-ass atomic bomb in the middle of town to prevent it to "accidently" explode one day. Oh well, no bomb for you Elder. These savages live as if they don't know what technology is. Everything here is primitive and not comparable to the standard back home. I'd advise to ignore it, nothing worthwhile to mention. No, wait I did break into the Wanderer's home here. Almost forgot to tell you about it, HaHa. There wasn't much left, but this person seems to collect weapons, some of them weren't half bad. There was a dog as well, but you don't need to worry about it anymore. Katherine out."
(Recording End)
xxx
Morning came and the bloody corpses of the NCR soldiers were laid out next to each other, many of them not possible to identify anymore due to the extensive damage of the face. The Lone Wanderer ran around looking for survivors and helping where she could when suddenly a handy grabbed her shoulder.
"Relax. It's me." a female voice said.
The Wanderer turned around and saw Katherine looking her with dark rings under her eyes.
"Jesus. Katherine you look horrible. Do you feel alright?"
"Don't forget me."
"What? I don't unders-"
"DON'T FORGET ME!"
xxx
The Lone Wanderer awoke with a loud gasp. She was unsure what to make of her dream but she remembered a name and a face this time. It was always hard for her to remember dreams, since as soon as she woke up they were gone. But this time, this image of the young woman has been branded inside her head. She wondered what it meant. Katherine…
xxx
In the following days the Soldiers and Citizen alike were relocated inside the complex Metro System under Washington and the Citadel. Records were downloaded from the computers inside the labs and then purged. Only the most important things were taken underground so as not to delay any longer. Scout reports came one morning that they saw a massive movement of armored figures approaching the Citadel. They hoped that they would take the bait and come directly into the Metro, which has been set up with traps. The Brotherhood hoped that the narrow corridors and stations would help them establish good defense positions as to lower casualties. Food and Water weren't a problem, since they could always randomly choose a station and go to the surface. That way the West Chapter could not effectively predict their movements or cut them off.
Sarah refrained from holding a big speech and instead assured everyone that their plan will work and she was proud to serve with them. It was only a matter of waiting now.
xxx
(Recording Start)
"Scout Report 42. The bastards have set themselves inside the Metro system. I can't effectively predict where they have set up traps and where we should attack Elder. Attacking someone down here will blow my cover and the narrow corridors will make sure I will die quickly. The only thing we can do is to try push forward until we get an opening. Very risky. I recommend sending the cannon fodder first. Also the Vault is closed so I'm guessing we have to capture Elder Lyons.
(Recording End)
xxx
As predicted the first wave of enemy soldiers were blown apart by mines or other dangerous contraptions set in the Metro tunnels beneath the Citadel. To their surprise though the uniforms didn't look like they belonged to the West Chapter. The Brotherhood assumed that the first wave of attackers were random mercenaries that were used as cannon fodder, so the West Chapter Paladins only had to storm the tunnels. The flaw in the Wanderers plan proofed dangerous and the fight continued for many days. Each time they sealed parts of the Metro they were fighting in with explosions, to try and trap the West Chapter soldiers. After a few days of fighting off wave after wave of attackers the Brotherhood was pushed to the Central Station. The Civilians were safely escorted to the surface on the way, but the Brotherhood was trapped inside the Central station. The enemy closed off their exit with an explosion and the only thing left was to hold the line until they or the enemy would run out of people, ammunition or both.
"Don't worry Sarah, I won't let them get near you!" the Wanderer said breathing heavily. An ugly cut going from her right eye across her nose down to her chin was bleeding profoundly and she stood on shaky legs.
Sarah herself didn't fare any better. She suffered from a dislocated joint and a shot to the belly that didn't heal properly without medical attention.
The Elder groaned in pain and threw herself against a wall unable to stand anymore. The rest of the Brotherhood tried to keep the enemy from coming up the escalators, but even they suffered from sleep deprivation and wounds. It was only a matter of time before they would reach the Elder.
The Lone Wanderer wanted to look at Sarah's wounds when she suddenly heard a loud explosion next to a group of Knights. The group was blown away by a rocket propelled grenade and to her horror a blonde woman in Power Armor and an ugly scar on her head went up the escalator.
"I assume you are the so called "Lone Wanderer", the blonde woman mocked and laughed.
"I saw posters of you. You don't look like a Messiah to me." With that she aimed her shotgun at the Wanderers face and asked "Any last words?"
The Wanderer swallowed hard and reached for her Shock sword. It was a long shot, but she had to try.
"Fight me with honor. What have you got to lose? We are surrounded. Come on…"
The other woman raised her eyebrow and laughed for a moment and to her surprise threw the shotgun on the ground.
"You're cocky, I'll give you that. Not many have faced me and survived…"
The blonde woman pulled a blade from her back with a quick motion, turned the gas handle on its handle and ignited it with a golden lighter.
"…the truth is the game was rigged from the start."
Sarah watched with a pained expression as the two women ran at each other, trying to kill the other. Their movements were quick and amazing, like two people engaged in a dance of death. Their blades making a beautiful sound each time they met each other. Neither of the women seemed to gain an advantage, but suddenly the blonde woman kicked the Lone Wanderer in the knee cap, breaking it immediately. A painful agonizing scream escaped the Wanderer's lips and she started to fall to the ground. Before hitting the floor tiles she shifted her weight one last time and supported herself on her Shock Sword, which was about to break under the Power Armor's weight.
"…I expected better from you Katherine…" the Lone Wanderer managed to say and for short moment the blonde women was surprised that the person before her knew her name. That short moment was all the Lone Wanderer needed and she raised her left hand to Katherine's face. A loud bang escaped the Wanderers palm and the blonde woman, now without a head, fell dead to the ground. When she was in Vault 101 the Wanderer modified her left suit hand to be able to fire one shot in case of emergency. The problem was that she didn't have much time to finish the prototype and by firing the bullet right then, her left hand took most of the trauma that the shot created. It was probably broken or worse. With her last strength she took out some Med-X from her pouch and injected it inside her neck. Afterwards she dragged her body next to Sarah who watched with a sad expression unable to move herself.
"This is it Sarah…" the Wanderer began, "I'm dying. I can feel it this time…"
"Don't talk like that you idiot" the Elder responded, tears streaming down her face.
"I have one last request though…please…turn around…to face me." The Wanderer managed to say under the agonizing pain of her wounds.
Sarah shifted her weight and looked directly into the face of her friend. The Lone Wanderer unable to hold her own tears grabbed Sarah's face with her right hand and pressed her lips against her owns. For a moment in her life everything came to a stand and it just felt…perfect.
"I…love…you."
Surprised Sarah opened her eyes only to see her friend leaning against the wall next to her. She cried out to her, slammed her hand against the Wanderers chest plate, but it was to no avail. The Lone Wanderer was gone.
Epilogue
The fight in the Metro went on for many more days, but in the end the Brotherhood lost to the West Chapter. Sarah Lyons succumbed to her wounds and was unable to provide the West Chapter with the codes to unlock the Vault. The mission was deemed a failure and a small team was left to try and figure out how to open the massive doors. Many years passed and without any progress the whole endeavor was called off. The Capital Wasteland once again without a protector succumbed to its old ways. Because War. War never changes.
The End