Gate: Thus the Brotherhood of Steel Lyon's Pride Fought in Their Land
Chapter Three - Adam
The Dawn broke, and with it the view of the battlefield became clear. The would be advancing army laid in shambles at the foot of the fortified hill. Bodies of the not super mutants were mixed in with humans. For Adam it was a sight he unfortunately had gotten pretty used to. From the moment he'd stepped out of the Vault until now he'd seen death in various situations. The worst of it was still the raiders.
The splayed bodies that hung in grotesque decorations bothered him. The first moment he'd stepped into Springvale School had been a moment when he first felt what it was like to look at depraved horror. This was a battle, and it reminded him more of Adams Air Force Base. The battle with the Enclave had looked similar to this. It had been similar, but not the same. Even in the war with the Enclave there had been losses on their side.
This was a massacre pure and simple. He shook his head as he looked over the bodies. Part of him considered the old habit of looting the corpses. It'd been something that he was squeamish about before, but he quickly learned that it was necessary. All too often those that had perished had a few bits of ammo, some supplies that they couldn't use anymore, armor that wasn't too destroyed, and maybe a weapon or two.
Still, he didn't see that here. He saw nothing but bodies upon bodies. Broken bows, snapped arrows, and ruined swords that looked as if they had simply been broken by impacts from the shots that had been fired. Looking it over he recalled lessons they had learned in the school in the Vault. Specifically he remembered the history lessons. One of them had been over the Massacre of Little Bighorn.
As he looked at the bodies he couldn't help but think about the devastation he read about in what he had to assume was an ancient history book. He hadn't been the best student in the school. Hell, he wasn't even in the top ten. The fact that he managed to test into becoming a Vault Morale Officer was pure blind luck.
Of course that was before he left, and since then his life had been vastly different. He shook his head and continued on. After several moments he came across a few soldiers that were hiding. Looking down at them he could see the fear in their eyes. All of them had cast down their swords, and all of them had injuries.
"Offer no resistance and you will be taken into custody," he said slowly, "Your wounds will be treated, and you will be questioned, do you understand?"
Their blank expression was more than enough to tell him that they had no idea of what he was talking about. He began to move when all of them put their hands up. A strange language he'd never heard before spilled out as they began to speak over one another. One of them got up, and he watched carefully. Per the suggestion of Star Paladin Vargas he was carrying a combat shotgun. He watched as the one that stood looked at him. He watched behind the safety of the power armor, "Please, please don't give me a reason to put buckshot into you."
"Lician, lician, fearr aliefan," he said, his voice sounded desperate, "Fearr alienfan."
The others did the same, all except for one. The one stayed down, his eyes looking at the ground, "Hildlata," he said, his voice scornful, "Hildlata."
What they were saying sounded vaguely like German, but it was different. The inflection was similar, but again it was different, and to be honest he didn't study German in the Vault. There had been a class offered, mostly off of old holotapes that had been recorded Prewar. He shook his head, "Okay, slowly crawl out," he said moving his gun in front of him, "and we're going to go to the camp."
The three that stood moved slowly, but the fourth simply looked at him. He stood, after a moment, and he saw the gleam of something. A blade, a short blade, and it came out. He moved forward and Adam hated what was going to happen. He let the blade meet his armor, and it sparked off of it. The force had been enough to cause the man to stumble. He looked at Adam with his eyes wide.
He dropped the blade, his hands moving up, "Lician fearr aliefan!" he shouted, and the scent of ammonia filled the air. The realization that the man had pissed himself, it was enough to make the entire thing funny. Still, it was obvious that this person was determined to fight for his people. Maybe he was just determined to hunt and kill. Whatever the case was, he didn't want to let him have the chance. But at the same time he didn't want to be an executioner.
The one that had tried to stab him looked around frantically, and then without warning he attempted to run. He didn't make it two steps before a shot fired out. Adam held his shotgun, knowing that it wasn't even a choice. He didn't have a choice but to do it. Instead the others cowered there before him, and he breathed out. "Follow me, do not attempt to cause harm to anyone, do not attempt to escape, and you will be treated fairly."
He pointed the gun toward the encampment, and slowly they began to move. This wasn't what he wanted. He had accepted his invitation to the Brotherhood because he felt that Elder Lyons had done the right thing. He felt that his cause was right, and he felt that it was the right thing to do. Helping to heal the Capital Wasteland was the right move.
His father had died trying to do it, and in the end it had been his work with the brotherhood that brought it all to fruition. There was clean water going all over the Capital Wasteland, and more to the point it was making it easier for people to live. Between the water purifier, the Wasteland Survival Guide that Moria had written with his help, and of course the end of the Enclave the Capital Wasteland was slowly beginning to turn into something that resembled the beginning of true change.
There was hope that things would turn around, and for that he was certainly thankful. Of course he wasn't someone that believed that it would simply happen all at once. No, he was certain that it would take more than a single lifetime before the wasteland was turned back into something that resembled prewar. It certainly made him understand the reasoning behind why Elder Lyons wanted to gain the resources from here.
Even a small foothold in this world would be enough to change things. There was a very real chance that people could gain a healthier life from the food that was grown here. The pure water that was in the wasteland was a start, but getting everything from here to the people back home was the next step. He saw the others moving near him, and he watched as they helped corral the prisoners he'd caught.
"Everything okay Paladin?" Star Paladin Vargas asked, "You seem tense."
He nodded, "One of them attempted to stab me with a dagger, it broke on the power armor, they tried to run, and I shot them," he replied, his voice shaking despite the change made by the helmet, "I've fought with raiders before, and I know that when they run usually they're going to get reinforcements, so I reacted. But there's no one else here. He was just running."
He felt the hand on his shoulder, "You did the right thing," Vargas said, "If he managed to escape he could have explained what he'd seen, how many we were, and possibly if there were any weaknesses they could exploit. I know it doesn't really help, not right now, but trust me, you did the right thing."
He nodded, "Thanks," he replied, his voice still wavering, "I'll report in to Sentinel Lyons."
He left and hoped that Sarah would reconfirm what Vargas had said. She was the other reason he'd joined the brotherhood. She was passionate about what her father was doing. And more to the point she was passionate about protecting those that shared their ranks. All of the Brotherhood of Steel was family to her. That passionate side also showed the strength and character she had.
He moved toward the encampment and took in what the Protectrons had been doing. The first building stood mostly finished. Cement walls came halfway up the building, and then the lumber that had taken from the former Raider strongholds had been used in constructing the rest of the building. While the lumber looked old the building looked well built. He moved near it and saw the door open.
Sarah stepped out, and she wasn't in her power armor. Instead she was wearing a simple Brotherhood of Steel uniform. She looked at him, gave him a slight salute, and then almost as if she could see his body language through the power armor she reached out, "Adam, come with me."
He followed her into the building, and then when he was inside she looked at the suit, "Go ahead and step out, please."
He opened the power armor, stepped back, and got out. His blue Vault 101 suit stood out among the rest of the room. He'd worn it because it seemed right to do so. He felt her hand touch his own, "Now, what's wrong?"
He looked at the ground, and he couldn't stop it. He couldn't stop the words from tumbling out as they came, "I shot him," he said, his voice wavering, "He was scared, tried to run, and I shot him. It wasn't a raider heading back to get reinforcements. There wasn't anyone else, it was just a scared guy that broke a dagger on my power armor."
He shook as he stood there, "I killed someone that didn't pose any threat to me, or at least he didn't at that moment," he said, his voice edging toward panic, "My God, does this mean I'm a raider? Am I some broken person that just takes what he wants?"
She moved toward him and he felt her pull him against her, "No, you're not," she replied as she held him, "I know that you aren't thinking about it, but he would have ran back to the ones that sent him. He'd let them know what had happened. You did what was the right thing."
He stood there and felt her hands on his back, "And I'm proud of you," she said after a moment, "Not for taking his life, but for showing remorse over it. That means that you're not a raider. You're a long way from one. You're a good man that comes from a place where they are in short supply."
He breathed out, nodded, and then looked at her. There was a quiet moment between them before he felt it. The first kiss that they shared was something he hadn't expected, but was certainly needed at this moment. It was a true first for him, and she was willing to lead him in it. The kiss deepened for a moment before she finally broke it. He could hear her breathing, how ragged it was, and he looked to see here standing in an uncertain way, "I'm sorry," she said after a moment, "I don't know how your feelings are, and I don't want to push anything. I meant what I said, you are a good man, but I understand if you want to keep things professional between us."
She seemed to close her eyes for a bit, "Actually, we may need to keep things professional between us. We're in the enemy's territory, and we need to be ready to act a moment's notice."
He could see what looked like regret, and he took her hand. She looked at him, and he leaned in again. She didn't hesitate, and once again they kissed. It deepened, and after a moment Sarah Lyons pulled back. A soft smile crossed her lips as she stood there, "Are you sure about this?" she asked, her voice uncertain, "I mean, outside, in battle, I'm still going to be Sentinel Lyons. I will have to lead our troops, and the choice may come to do something that I know you won't approve of."
He looked at her and nodded, "And you'll do it because it has to be done," he replied, his voice still slightly wavering, "You'll do it because you're strong enough to."
She breathed out, "I hope so," she said, her voice softer than he'd ever heard it, "If we're doing this, and we're going to go down this road, then I need you to understand that while I will cherish this all of my life I will put the needs of the Brotherhood before my own."
She touched his shoulders, "Adam, it means that there will be times that I have to put the Brotherhood of Steel before both of us."
He took a breath, "I get that, and I'll do my best to support you."
She grinned at him, "Then, I… Actually I don't have a damn clue," she admitted with a small laugh, "I mean I'm not, by Roger Maxson here I am about to admit that I've slept with other people to the one person I actually want to be with."
She took a breath, "Are you, I mean have you been with anyone?"
He looked at her and then shook his head, "No," he admitted after a moment, "I mean, Amata and I fooled around a little, but we never really did anything."
He laughed a little, "She was worried that her dad would find out, and he most likely would. The Overseer had the ability to pretty much listen in on every conversation in the Vault."
He saw Sarah smile, "I can't say much," she admitted after a moment, "I mean dad kinda of did the same with me. He respected me enough to make my own choices, but I know that when I was a teenager he wanted to keep me as safe as possible. I think that he actually had a Knight that was interested in me get assigned to taking the Washington Monument."
He saw her smile brighten, "I think that it's just dads being dads."
For a moment he considered it, "Maybe," he admitted, "But Amata's dad was pretty paranoid. He constantly tried to keep everyone in their place, and he made sure that people understood that he was the first, second, and last bit of authority in the Vault. When she took over as Overseer I think that was the best possible thing. It means that he can't make people do things they normally wouldn't want to do."
He could see the questions, and he shook his head, "Trust me," he said after a moment, "There were things that I thought were normal, but obviously weren't when I got out."
She studied him, "Like what?"
He shrugged, "The Vault was never supposed to open," he said after a moment, "I read it on the Overseer's terminal. That was the experiment. It was supposed to study the effect of lone term isolation. The second Overseer had actually instituted a forced marriage law. It basically stated that everyone in Vault 101 would be assigned a job at thirteen years old, they would graduate basic education at sixteen, and at eighteen they would be assigned a spouse."
He shook his head, "The idea was to keep the genetic pool from becoming stagnant for as long as possible."
She stood there, and he could see her shaking her head, "So, they're basically all inbred?"
He shook his head, "No, a later Overseer realized that staying isolated indefinitely would lead to massive problems, so they began to unseal the Vault and explore a little. That's how my dad got in. It's also how a few others' grandparents got in," he replied as he stood there, "There was the realization that other people were needed."
She smiled, "Well, luckily we don't have to worry about that here," she said, before she looked at the building, "It's strange, isn't it?"
He looked with her to see the building itself. It looked like it was in remarkable shape, "It is odd to see new buildings," he admitted after a moment, "The Protectrons are doing a good job."
She nodded, "They're nearly finished with the main buildings, and I know that they're working on our brig at the moment. When it's finished we'll be putting the prisoners in there."
She breathed out as she led him further in and he noticed that there were actual rooms, bed frames had been made from the concrete and were located around the walls. The Protectrons had actually built a well designed building. She sat on the side of the bed frame itself, "We're going to be dealing with a lot of issues pretty soon. We'll need supplies, ammunition, and from what we saw they had a large scale army out there. It was easily the size of the one that attacked before. I think the only thing that kept them from completely storming us was the fact that they were trying to wait for night.
She shook her head, "Adam, the size of that force was more than enough to make me worry. If things would have been different, if they would have attempted to attack with more light, if we hadn't surprised them, it could have ended differently."
He looked at her, "So, what do you think we should do?"
She looked at the ground, and then she looked at him, "We need to meet with the locals, see if we can get on friendly terms, and continue my father's implementation of recruiting from the locals," she said after a moment, "We need to build the Brotherhood of Steel's forces here."
There was no hesitation, no considering if it was the right thing, she said exactly what she meant. They needed to build on the forces here. Of course it was far easier said than done. For one their language was considerably different. It sounded remotely Germanic, but that didn't mean much. Again, he wished that he had taken the elective of foreign languages while he was in the Vault. But then again Mr. Brotch had said that the foreign languages were incomplete.
He'd long since guessed that it meant that the holotapes for them had began to degrade to the point that they didn't work properly, "We need to learn how to talk to them first," he said as he looked at her, "I mean we can try to get on friendly terms, but if we don't know how to talk to them then it might be a moot point."
She nodded, "I know," she said as she shook her head, "I've got someone looking into it. Actually, I've asked Scribe Moore to look into it."
He considered that for a moment. He'd talked to Scribe Moore a handful of times, and he knew that she had been a Vault Dweller like him. More specifically he knew that her Vault had been over four hundred miles away from where she ended up. That kind of trek on foot was no easy feat. Especially since the wasteland itself was full of dangerous creatures that were exceptionally hostile.
It meant that she had somehow managed to make it all of that way, and he was sure that it hadn't been alone. He didn't ask her about her Vault. There wasn't really a reason to ask her about it. He knew, thanks to the Vault-Tec headquarters computer, that most of the Vaults had some kind of experiment going. He'd only focused on the ones in the Capital Wasteland, but the idea of going back and looking into the other Vaults was tempting. If nothing else it would allow him to see if there was a possibility of other Vaults out there where people might still be alive.
Well, alive and not insane clones of a single guy running around and screaming 'Gary!'
He thought of the memory, and then he looked at her. There was a determination on Sarah's face that he'd seen multiple times. She was determined to see this through, and she was determined to ensure that it would work out. To say that she was steadfast and loyal would be an understatement. He touched her hand, "If you've got Scribe Moore working on it then I'm sure she's going to do everything she can to be able to communicate with them."
She nodded, "Thank you," she said after a moment, "After I assigned it to her she did make a request."
Adam looked at her, uncertain of what she was going to say, but certainly interested to hear it, "What did she ask for?"
She smiled, "She asked if either the Roosevelt Academy Library or Arlington Library had a protectron in them that had linguistics programmed into it."
He sat there for a moment and his eyes widened, "That's actually a good idea," he replied as he sat there, "I mean, I wish that I would have paid more attention to this when I was in school in the Vault, but I remember Mr. Bortch saying that understanding how languages worked allowed you to pick up and use another language fairly easily."
He grinned, "That protectron could figure out their language for us."
He saw the way she looked at him, the moment of surprise, and then he felt her lips against his. The kiss was deep, passionate, and completely took him by surprise. She stopped after a moment, "That's brilliant!"
She moved toward the radio, and he noticed that it wasn't just using radio signals, but instead it had been wired in. In a way it looked almost like it was wired to a satellite dish, but he hadn't seen where a dish would be. He was about to ask, but she shook her head, "I had a wire ran through the gate, connected to an antenna outside, and I've tried once already. We can communicate with the other side."
She clicked the radio twice, "The Pool is Clear," she said and waited for a moment, "The Pool is Clear."
There was a pause, "But the water is still radioactive," came the reply, "I repeat, the water is still radioactive. Sentinel Lyons, it's good to hear from you."
She smiled, "I need to speak to Elder Lyons and Head Scribe Rothchild."
There was a pause, "Head Scribe Rothchild is currently here, and I'll wave him over. I'll send someone to get the elder."
There was another pause and she waited before she heard the voice of Reginald Rothchild, "Sentinel," he said, his voice cool and even, "What brings on this surprise call?"
She smiled, and while Adam knew that Head Scribe Rothchild couldn't see her he was certain that he could hear the smile through her voice, "We need to requisition a protectron with linguistics programmed into it," she said as she waited for a moment, "We're hoping that there is a functioning one at either the Roosevelt or Arlington libraries."
There was a pause, "Arlington library has that," he replied, his voice still even, "The Library of Congress does. Thanks to Paladin Jefferson it was liberated from a group of individuals that were attempting to fortify it."
She looked at him, and he could see her eyes practically sparkling, "How soon can it be sent over?"
There was another pause, and this time she heard another voice, "How soon can what be sent over?"
She held the microphone like it was a lifeline, "Elder Lyons, we are asking to requisition the protectron from Arlington Library that has linguistics programmed into it," she said after a moment, "We believe that it is the best way of communicating with the people of this world."
There was a pause, "Interesting," he replied, "We will get another protectron and have the programming from the one that has linguistics programmed into it copied over. We will then send the copy to you."
There was another slight pause, "Sarah, we would send the one from Arlington, but I believe that we need to speak to our captured guests here as well. This should assist."
She couldn't deny that he was right, "Of course," she said, her voice still reflecting her excitement, "Thank you Elder."
There was a slight pause, "You're welcome Sentinel Lyons," he replied, "Expect it by midday tomorrow."
Adam heard two clicks from the radio, and she put the microphone down. She then looked at him. There was something in her eyes, something he'd seen once before with Amata. He hadn't really understood it then, but since that time he'd become aware of what it meant. She took his hand, and the two of them stood. Outside there was only the sound of the protectrons going about their business.
The collective sounds of other buildings being finished could be heard, and he knew that there were guards moving through the camp. He could hear life outside, and yet this room had become far too quiet. He felt her hands at the collar of his vault suit, "One thing that I've learned," she said as she leaned in, her nimble hand moving lightly, "Is that tomorrow is never promised. I've grown up knowing that each day could be my last, and that a person should never simply wait on what they want."
He felt the front of his suit open, "I won't regret that I've been with others," she said, her voice husky, "I will never regret that, but I can swear that for as long as we're together I won't be with anyone else."
He was about to say something, and instead she stepped back. The Brotherhood uniform, the suit she wore currently, was similar to his own vault suit. It was designed with more protection of course, but it was similar. He watched as she unfastened the two connecting clips, and then pulled them apart.
What he saw was beautiful in its own right. Small scars ran across her. Places where she'd been shot, places where knives had managed to be plunged in just the right place to pass through power armor, and still she had come out alive. Her beauty was in that she was flawless, but instead it was in that she was here. She was strong, willful, and he couldn't help but admire her.
What had happened earlier wasn't forgotten, it wasn't even gone, the guilt remained, but the realization that she believed he was a good man was worth it.
