Gate: Thus the Brotherhood of Steel Lyon's Pride Fought in Their Land

Chapter Four - Adam

The bed itself was fairly comfortable, despite the frame being made from cement. There was no sheet, blanket, or anything else covering them. It had been midday when they talked, when a discussion about how to translate the prisoners' language was made with the Elder, and finally when they had taken the next step. The direction had certainly been something that was hoped for, but never would have been pushed for.

The two of them laid beside one another, his arm draped across her, and he felt the warmth of her back as she spooned her back against his chest. There had been so much talk about what it would be like the moment they were adults. There had been bragging, but as he thought back on it none of it made sense.

It wasn't that they didn't understand what was expected of them when they got older in the Vault. There had been classes over the act of reproduction, over having a child, and what to expect the first few years of life. All of those things had been taught, but the finer points were left out. Guys like Butch had claimed that all that mattered was that they got to enjoy whoever was given to them. Of course then he proceeded to brag that he'd probably be the Vault stud. A term he'd learned from part of their history lessons that dealt with horses.

Laying there with Sarah he realized how much was left out. He started to move, and he felt her shift slightly, "Don't go," she said, her voice sounding drowsy, "Please, don't go."

He settled back beside her, "We need to get around," he said after a moment, "I'm sure that they will need us to help deal with whatever is going to happen."

She breathed out, and for a moment he believed she was going to remain right there. If she was then he would have no problem following her example. After all, he made the suggestion. He couldn't do much more than that really. Instead she slowly moved forward, and he watched as she stood. He could see the scars on her back. The places where bullets had been removed, burn marks from plasma and laser rifles, and of course the acid burns from the more inhospitable places in the wasteland.

And it was those flaws that made her beautiful. She was strong enough to survive them. She was able to exist in the wasteland. That was the one thing that the wasteland did better than anything else. It took anyone that was willing to live within and it forged them into something far stronger. There was no place for weakness out in the wasteland itself. She moved toward what looked like a dresser and she began opening it.

He realized that it had been built from wood, but not the wood they brought with them. Instead it looked darker, newer, and he had to admit it looked healthy. He got up and walked toward her. She pulled what looked like a simple pair of white boxers out. Pulled them on, and then he watched as she selected a basic white bra. She pulled it onto place, and finally she grabbed a gray tank top and pulled it on before walking toward her uniform. She slipped into it, and he walked and found his own pair of boxers. Part of him cursed himself for not getting his clothes into a building yet, but then he didn't realize that they were this complete yet.

He dressed in his Vault suit, and he followed her outside. Where it had been midday before it was now early evening. He could see Star Paladin Vargas, but the older man didn't look upset. Instead there was a slight smile on his face. He seemed to give a nod, and moved his way toward them. The helmet for his power armor was hanging from a small hook on his power armor's side.

"Sentinel Lyons, you look refreshed," he said, but a quick glare from Sarah seemed to be enough to stop his teasing, "Ma'am, we've got the prisoners into the newly formed brig. We're treating them humanely, and they're being given food, water, and reassured that they will not be slaughtered like their kinsmen."

She nodded, "And I imagine that they didn't understand a word of it, right?"

He gave a nod, "Yes, from what we've seen they're reacting as if they simply expect us to open fire upon them."

She shook her head, "Well, that won't happen," she replied as she looked toward the newly built brig, "I won't needlessly slaughter someone if they pose no threat. Right now they're not a threat. More to the point they may be negotiation tools if nothing else."

He gave a nod, "Pretty much what we were thinking," he admitted as he stood there, "I do have to ask, what are we planning on doing with the bodies?"

Adam looked toward the battlefield and he could see the bodies of those flying things, the bodies of their soldiers, other not quite super mutants, and the pig-like things all throughout the area.

"Upon translating we will attempt to contact the local communities. I want to give their people a chance to bury their own dead," she replied as she looked at the battlefield, "It would make sense to me to allow them to bury them for themselves."

Adam gave a nod, "If nothing else it could be seen as us being merciful."

He saw Star Paladin Vargas tilt his head, "Hopefully merciful here won't be seen as a weakness," he replied as he looked at them, "Then we'll begin working on translating as hard as we can. Which, did you contact the elder with Scribe Moore's request?"

Adam saw her nod, "And they're sending a protectron with the copied programming over. It should be able to translate for us once it hears their language enough."

There was a more relaxed look to Star Paladin Vargas' face. He seemed to accept that answer happily, "Good," he said after a moment, "Because currently we're stumped. Scribe Moore is talented as you please, but she's the first to admit that she doesn't know that much about languages. The other two initiate scribes are in the same boat."

Adam considered it for a moment, "Maybe one of the things we can do after the protectron translates for us is to have it make some sort of dictionary or maybe just write some of the more useful phrases they have?"

He saw them both stand there stumped for a moment before there was a nod, "Actually, that's a wonderful idea," Sarah said, a faint smile on her lips, "If we can communicate without the Protectron that will be better. It will allow us to make strides ourselves."

He could see Paladin Vargas considering it, "It would certainly make things easier," he replied, "If we had the most useful phrases, and I assume if we began communicating with the locals then we should pick up on the language. It should, in theory, allow us to not have to rely on the Protectron as much. In addition if something were to happen to it then we wouldn't have to worry."

That was the other part that Adam was thinking about. For the most part Protectrons weren't overly easy to take out, but if someone was to damage their arms enough they would go into self destruct. He'd learned that the hard way when going into the Robco building. The basement had several returned protectrons which had been shipped out without the combat inhibitors.

The moment the entire building became active those protectrons began attacking one another just as much as himself or the molerats and rad roaches. Of course when he found the main office, accessed the mainframe, and then managed to turn them into showroom mode it made things easier. He was able to simply get through the building, collect the information that Moira had sent him after, and return to her.

Not having to have a potential walking mini nuclear explosion around them when they went out would be a bonus. He certainly didn't want to see something like that happen in a peaceful village. Not that he believed that they would be able to really damage the protectron that much. He noticed that he was being looked at, "Sorry, I was thinking that it would be a good thing to not have a miniature nuclear explosion walking around with us."

He could see the realization in Star Paladin Vargas' eyes, "You've got a point there. Wouldn't be much of a reason to start peaceful relations with the locals if we have the protection get damaged enough to self-destruct."

Sarah nodded, "Okay, so once it learns their language we'll have the protectron create a basic dictionary for their language. In addition we'll ask it to write down common phrases that it learned from our prisoners," she said before shook her head, "We can't send the protectrons that we have back. We need them to continue to build on our base here."

He looked at her, and then looked around them. The buildings were built, there were roads, actual roads, throughout the area. He could see that they had created cement streets from the same crushed rocks that they had been using to build the buildings from. Currently there were eight main buildings, the brig, and what looked like an additional building that had plumbing to it. He couldn't help the curiosity and walked toward it.

He opened the door to see multiple stoves building into the side of the building itself. In addition from what he could see the Protectrons had actually created pipes that ran from an unknown source and it was currently set up on a very basic on and off valve. Walking toward them he could see something he hadn't really seen in a long while. Even in the Citadel it was practically coveted. There were showers, and more than that there was a large tub.

He looked at it, and felt a little thrill of joy rush through him. Of all of the things to get overjoyed about, this was likely to be low on the list. After all, he understood that he wasn't supposed to be all giddy over a shower, but the last place he had been able to take a shower normally had been inside of Vault 101. The rest of the time he had to worry about using slightly radiated water.

He heard the door, and felt a hand on his shoulder, "This is nice," Sarah's voice said from behind him, "I mean, I wasn't expecting something like this."

He studied it, "Too bad we don't have any soap."

There was a light laugh and she shook her head, "Yeah, I agree, so let's get some, and then we can break this place in proper," she said as she leaned against him, "I'm sure that this is going to become the most popular place on base. I can't think of anyone here that won't want to enjoy a hot shower that isn't irradiated."

There was some serious truth to that, "I think so too," he admitted as he looked at it, "And look, they made a huge tub," he said as he looked at the stoves, "I bet that the stoves heat the water in the pipes that are in the walls. That makes the hot water."

He felt her leave him for a second and he watched as she walked toward the valve. She turned it, and he watched as the first shower turned on. The water shot out with a slight rattle of the piping, and then she pulled her hand back, "Yeah, we need to build a fire in the stoves before we use these."

He grinned at that, "Sounds like a plan."

They left the bathhouse and he looked back at it. He had expected a bucket and a wash rag. This was a nice surprise. At the same time he wondered if this would be one of the things that would help people want to support them. The moment some of them tried a hot bath would likely be the moment that they decided that these people were worth getting to know.

Of course there was also the fact that he was probably being too optimistic. Then again he knew that a hot shower in non-irradiated water was often enough to stop normal folks from firing at a person in the Wasteland. Mostly because pure water was so hard to come by. Or rather it was hard to come by. The water purifier was helping that fact. It was slowly making things better, and he knew that it would go a long way toward fixing things for them. It wasn't a complete and total cureall, but it would help go a very long way in repairing things.

"How big are we going to make this place?" he asked as they walked back toward the buildings, "I mean, I get that we likely need it to be large enough to keep ourselves, but what is the size we're going for?"

There was a slight pause, but it was Paladin Vargas that finally broke that silence, "Once we saw the size of the hill we informed the protectrons to level the top of the hill, and to create our base from the materials we brought and from any materials on the hill itself."

Adam took a moment to really look at the hill that surrounded them. The base they were going to build would rival the Citadel in size. It would be large enough to house a full community. He began to wonder if that couldn't be the plan. Would they take in people to live and work there? In a way it would make sense to do so.

The idea of having others living among them, those that native to this world, he had to wonder if it would work out, "Sorry to be asking so many questions, but have we made any decisions on what each building would be?"

From the reaction he got from both Star Paladin Vargas and Sarah he realized that the idea of assigning the buildings had slipped their minds. He let out a chuckle, and then he considered Vault 101. The Vault's layout never changed, but he'd heard that the pretty much every time a new generation was born into the Vault there was discussions on how to deal with the rooms. From what he'd been told the rooms themselves were pretty basic, but that they worked well enough.

"If we haven't then it'd make sense to assign a few for barracks, we have the brig built and we know where it is, and then assign the others either as the armory and or storage, right?"

The smile that crossed Sarah's face was one that he was glad to see. It wasn't a mean spirited smile, but instead it was something that reminded him that she was certainly on his side. She nodded, "That's a decent idea," she replied before she looked at Star Paladin Vargas, "Vargas, go ahead and start helping to assign the barracks. From the layout of the buildings it would be fairly easy to house four members per building. It will actually allow them to have their own private quarters."

Adam could see the excitement in Vargas' eyes, "Of course," he said before he gave a slight pause, "Although I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't tell you that from the looks of things we could potentially fit double that per building. It would mean sharing quarters, but it would also give us the much needed assistance of ensuring that we have extra buildings open for visiting dignitaries."

Adam watched as she shook her head, "No, keep it four per building. We can always reassign if we need to. Besides, it appears that the protectrons have went above and beyond the call of duty in building our base for us," she said as she pointed at the work that had been done, "From what I can see we have more than enough room currently four our current troops, and then we have buildings to spare on top of that."

"Sounds good, I'll begin assigning them now," Vargas said before he turned and began to walk off, "I'll get the report to you by tomorrow morning!"

Adam stood beside her and watched as she breathed out, "I'm use to this," she said as she looked at the darkening sky around them, "I mean it, I'm used to the command, and I'm used to my troops. Even being in this new world is something that doesn't get to me too much."

She turned to look at him, "But, I'm not used to this part of things yet," she said to him, "I'm trying, and I know that I will eventually be used to it, but it's going to take time."

He nodded, "I get it," he replied as he looked at her, "It's weird, but in a good way."

He laughed, "To be honest, I never imagined that we'd end up in an issue of Grognak the Barbarian," he said, "I didn't really expect to see dragons, and a few of the other things. Like those pig faced things, I think that they're orcs. The bigger things almost look like how the trolls were drawn in Grognak."

She looked at him for a moment, "Do you have any of those comics with you?"

It took him a moment, but he nodded, and they walked toward the tent that he had been using before the buildings were completed. Once they were in there he dug around in his kit and pulled out a couple of issues. One of them looked to be in exceptionally good condition, "That one that looks almost new was a birthday present from Amata," he said as he passed it to her, "It's Grognak in the land of the Beast People."

She opened them, and then looked through the pages for a few moments. She studied them intently and then looked out past the area where they had established their base. She stood there for a few moments, and then looked back at the comics. She passed them back to him, "Okay, I hate to say this, but we might need to look at those as possible research."

He nodded, and put them back into his kit. She looked at the tent he was currently staying in, "I want you to go ahead and get your kit moved. The building we were in is certainly large enough, and besides I'm confident that Vargas will ensure that we're staying together," she said as she helped him get everything together, "After we move your kit we'll report in for guard duty."

He followed her, carrying his kit over toward the building they had left their power armor in. Once they had everything put down the two of them began getting into their respective power armors and moved outside. As they walked out he saw the Protectrons working on a wall around the base. The foundation of it was cement, made from the same stone they had created the cement for the houses from, and from what he could see the upper part of it was being made from the old chain link fencing that had been brought over.

It was surprising to see that so much of the base had been built in four days, but then again the Protectrons didn't rest. They didn't stop working, but instead they continued to work through the night. It made sense how so many of the buildings had been built so quickly after their creation. There was no need to wait for human laborers when the protectrons could do their job quicker, and they wouldn't need breaks.

They began walking around the area, watching the new fencing, and ensuring that no one was attempting to do anything that would compromise their position there. The amber light of the HUD allowed Adam to see everything with some restricted clarity. He could see the fence, see the cement base of it, but he couldn't see every detail of the fence itself. He could see every link in the chainlink, but he couldn't see how rusty they were.

He could hear the night around them, and he could hear the slowing of the protectrons. For them to be slowing down meant that they were nearly finished, "Why haven't we had the protectrons do this around the capital?"

There was some silence, "Mostly because the raiders and super mutants would go about destroying them," she admitted after a few moments, "It was a thought before, but anytime we tried to repair anything the protectrons would spend more time fighting against raiders or super mutants. After a couple of months of it we decided to dedicate ourselves to dealing with both problems first, and then set about repairing the damage done by the great war."

"Makes sense," he replied his voice altered by the power armor, "So, it might be something in the near future then."

"Maybe," she said, "I want to say it will be, but it's going to depend a great deal on resources."

He smiled as they walked, "So, it comes down to finding the resources we need to repair our world," he said as they rounded the corner of the base, "I'm guessing that means that what we're doing here is pretty important."

There was a small chuckle, "It is," she replied as they walked, "We need new resources badly. I've heard that there's a place near the capital that's still alive and growing. If that's true then maybe we can transplant some of the timber here to that place. If it can take root we might have a chance of repopulating some of our resources."

He nodded as they walked. The next corner was reached, and they rounded it as they began walking around the back side of the base. Up ahead he could see the last of the fencing being put into place. After a moment the fifteen construction protectrons began moving back toward the base itself. They moved toward them and all of them stopped at once, "Task, build new base has been complete," one of them sounded in, "Waiting on further orders."

Adam watched as she moved toward them, "Return to the center of the base. Once there you will be assigned to a resting station. At that point you will be brought out when there are repairs needed, or we need to build another community. Thank you for your service," she said as she stepped back. The collection of them began moving and she watched them go, "Well, I'm surprised that it's done, but so far it looks like they've done a passable job."

"So, now that they're done, what's next?"

She turned toward him, "Next is waiting for the new protectron to translate for us. Once it does we can start to reach out to the locals," she said, even through her helmet he could hear the wistfulness of her voice, "We might be able to really turn things around. It's more than hoping for the next day, and that's frightening."

He could agree. After surviving for so long the long term plans went from years to months, to weeks, to finally just the end of the day. There were far too many times that he was sure that all of it could end in moments, but now it was slowly extending back out. Once again they began to move. Guard duty lasted for the next four hours, during that time they circled the base, kept their eyes opened to any threats, and finally when they got back to the center of the front of the base there was two others in power armor waiting for them.

He didn't specifically know them, but he watched as they began to take their turn on rotation. He followed Sarah, put away the power armor, and together they moved toward the tent that had been designated as the mess hall. The first rays of dawn were peaking over the horizon, and from where he was setting it was like watching the world being made anew. Despite the battlefield that surrounded them he saw the natural beauty of it all.

Their breakfast was boxes of Sugar Bombs, some bramin milk, and it was enough. He put away his bowl of two hundred year old cereal and looked at Sarah. Behind them they heard the sound of something entering, and they looked to see a new protectron walking into the area. Beside it was Head Scribe Rothchild. He looked around astounded at the base and buildings. Adam watched as he moved toward where they were sitting, "I've brought the protectron, and it should be ready to begin working on translations."

Adam watched as he stood there taking it all in, "Amazing, it looks like the pictures of Prewar America."

"It's what we're aiming for again," Sarah said as she stood, "We want this for everyone in the Capital and beyond."

He nodded, and Adam looked at the protectron. It was colored a faded blue, a flashing light on top of its head, and he could see the faint painting of POLICE in white on the front of it. There was no real room to complain, and he wasn't going to. Still, it was interesting that a protectron originally designed to work for police security was going to be used to translate for them.