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

Chapter Eighteen - Fort Independence - Adam

The sight of Anne standing guard was one that Adam had come to know. There were differences between the two of them, but the one thing he knew they had was a shared respect for one another. He looked at Lelei, Rory, and Tuka as they began to make their way toward the fort, "Look," he said as they slowed their walking, "The Outcasts are different from the Brotherhood of Steel. They are here to gather and protect technology. They'll help out people, but only if it is to ensure the protection of technology."

He saw the confusion on their faces, "Okay, it's similar to how the sages in your world use magic, right?"

Lelei nodded, "Yes, we use the magic of our world to help out everyone."

He breathed out, "So, for just a moment I want you to imagine that something terrible happened. That a war broke out, and the sages were used on both sides. When it was over a group of sages decided that no one else should ever learn about magic again. That it should only stay with a core group, and they went out of their way to make sure that no one else learned."

He watched as she nodded, and he could see her really thinking about it, "Now, imagine that a sage saw that people were suffering, and that sage decided to use the magic he knew to help the people, just as they once had," he said as she smiled, "But the others were upset, and said that it was wrong. That doing so would cause the war again. He ignored them, and eventually the split away from him. They too would help others, but only in ensuring that any magical items, or books, were protected. They wouldn't for any other reason."

She looked at him, her face reflecting the shock, "And that is what they do?"

He nodded, "It's about as close as I can explain it. They know that people are suffering, but they believe that technology used by just anyone will lead to another war," he said as he looked in their direction, "So, they want to keep that technology from being accessed. The only reason I can go and talk to them is because I helped them once. Not with their keeping technology away, but with studying some technology."

They nodded, but it was Lelei that spoke, "I see, and that is why you were sent."

He nodded, "Yes, but I want all of you to be careful," he replied, "They don't like anything that's not human. They don't like ghouls, they don't like mutants, and they are very trigger happy against either."

With that he led them toward the fort, and he knew that there was a chance that Rory could decide that they wouldn't be worth the trouble of keeping alive. Horrigan had proved that there were some that could fight her to a standstill, but then again from what he'd seen Horrigan was basically a one man army. He could only hope that the Major could keep a tight leash on him until they figured out a way to deal with him.

"Halt!" Anne Morgan shouted before she relaxed a little, "Wait, is that you Adam?"

He nodded, "It is," he replied as he neared them, "I've actually come to speak to Proctor Caster."

She breathed out, "You realize that you just decided to whip up and serve me a shit sandwich today, right?" she asked as she looked at him, "He's already in a mood, and you being here isn't going to make it better."

He looked at her, "Is he in a mood because of the gate?"

She nodded, "Yeah, we got intel about it, and the fact that the Brotherhood of Steel has control over it pretty much pissed him off," she replied, "Added to the fact that all of the tribals that are helping out means we're fucking outnumbered. He's been sulking about it, and of course all of us are to blame."

She shook her head, "If you're here then he's going to want arrange a sitdown between you, him, me, and Sentinel Lyons," she held her hand up when he began to speak, "Please, don't say a word. I know that you and Sarah are fuckin'. Anyone with eyes in their head knows that you're both together. He's going to want to use that to his advantage. I don't know what he's going to demand, but he's been getting antsy. The new tech we found hasn't made it better."

She looked at him, "Look, I know that you don't owe me a damned thing," she said as she looked at him, "I mean really, you seriously don't owe me anything, but can you maybe try to make him see some sense?"

Adam looked at her, "I mean I'll talk to him, but if he's lost it…"

She nodded, "Yeah, if he's gone over the edge then I'm going to have to do the unthinkable," she replied and shook her head, "It means that I'm going to have to get everyone to understand that he's not capable of handling things anymore. It'll be a civil war, and it won't be a good one."

Adam looked at her, "There's already been one, and it wasn't good," he replied as he studied her, "I know your views on the Brotherhood, and I'm not going to try to attempt to change them, but we both know that the war that started between the Outcasts and the Brotherhood hasn't been a good one."

She breathed out, "Yeah," she admitted after a moment, "It's been made worse. We've tried to reach out to the other chapters, and we haven't really heard anything except for the Midwest chapter. They've called us traditors."

She shook her head, "I think that was the final straw for him."

He looked toward the fort itself, "I see," he replied, "Okay, I'll do what I can, but I don't know if I can really promise anything."

The moment that Adam led Rory, Tuka, and Lelei into the fort it was almost as if he had stepped back into time. Moving toward the underground entrance he was reminded of what had happened when he walked into the fort itself. It had been a long while since he'd been here, but when he first visited it had been more of happenstance than anything else. The Outcasts themselves weren't interested in helping anyone, but they needed help.

Specifically, they needed someone to get into a virtual reality matrix that was designed to go over the war in anchorage, and he'd been given the chance to do just that. The device itself was designed to put the user into the body of a soldier that had given full reports on what had happened during the operation. From there it was created in a way to show how the battle progressed, and of course to see if there could have been some difference that could have been made.

Ultimately he found that there was nothing that would have changed the outcome of the war. China had obviously saw that there was no winning, and in their final desperate attempt they had chosen to sacrifice the entire world instead of simply losing to the United States. That last attack had killed most of the world. Vaults, similar to the one he was raised in, had been one of the few things that had managed to protect people.

Fort Independence had done the same, in a way, for those that were posted here originally. Those that managed to get underground had managed to escape most of the blast, and most of the fallout. Still, he had no illusions about what had likely happened to them. There was evidence all over the wasteland of those that sought out shelters after the bombs. Those that managed to make it into fallout shelters only to have them overrun, or to have them cave in on themselves.

Evidence was there were survivors, but then again he saw the records that had been left behind. The holotapes, the journals, the computer entries, all of it pointed to people that had more or less simply given up hope of seeing the world return to anything other than a burned out husk it had become. They turned a corner, and he heard the sound of something striking the wall.

"It's not right, damnit!" a voice shouted, and the sound of power armor moving could be heard, "We're not the damned traitors!"

"Protector Casdin?" he asked as he neared the room, "Protector Casdin, I'm coming in."

"Who is it?" he heard the voice before he looked and saw something he never expected to see. Protector Casdin looked as if he hadn't slept in days, his pupils were almost pinpricks, and he could see empty vials of med-ex and empty inhalers of Jet lying around, "Is that you tribal?"

There was a moment of clarity, "Good, good, at least some good news," he replied, his voice sounding a little less shaken, "If you're here then it means that we can enlist you, yes, we can enlist you. I need you to go to the Brotherhood of Steel and exterminate Elder Lyons. After that I need you to capture Sentinel Lyons. Bring her here."

His voice sounded almost frantic, "See, if I terminate the elder, capture the next in line, and force her to marry me then I will control the chapter. I can get it back on track. I can make it better."

His voice was frantic now, "Think of it, the Brotherhood can return to what it needs to be. Those bleeding hearts that are looking after the idiot tribals can be brought around, and it can happen."

He moved with a large sack, "I've got our entire collection of caps. All of them," he said, "There's nearly ten thousand bottle caps, more than enough for a single job. Just go kill the elder, capture Sentinel Lyons, and then everything can go back to normal. It'll work, it'll have to!"

He studied Henry Casdin for a moment before he shook his head, "Protector Casdin, this isn't the way," he said, his voice calm, "I understand your reasoning for breaking apart from the Brotherhood of Steel. I really do. You believe that they've completely abandoned the traditions set down by Elder Roger Maxson, but what was Elder Maxson's original orders?"

There was a slight pause, "No, that doesn't matter!" Henry Casdin shouted, "He knew better! He understood after the failures in the Appalachian Mountains. After one of his own attempted to continue to help the idiot tribals before they were tribals."

Adam studied him, "He made a choice because their numbers weren't nearly great enough to continue to help, what about now?" he asked as he neared him, "Seriously, what about now."

There was a pause, and then Adam jumped as something flew past him, "NO!" he shouted, his voice strained, "You don't understand! None of you do!"

He grabbed his rifle, "Damn it!" he shouted, his voice breaking, "Damn it! Don't you get it?! It's the only fucking way!"

Adam saw the three of them beside the door, and he rushed toward it. The decision was simple. He couldn't let them get hurt. He'd seen what had happened to Rory before, and he wasn't going to let something else happen to them now. He pulled the door shut, and he felt it luck, "Sorry," he said as he turned around, "I won't let you hurt anyone else."

He saw someone that didn't look like a man, but instead he looked closer to a feral ghoul. His mind was lost, and he hated that for him. Protector Casdin wasn't a bad man, not really, but his head was certainly too far up his own ass for his own good. He dodged the first few shots from the rifle, and then he heard the all too familiar sound of a jam.

"Got to say, not a great choice in firearms there," Adam said from where he was taking cover, "I personally prefer the M1 Garand. It can take a beating and still keeps going. I even got clip extenders that allow me to put twelve shots in it. The combat rifles like that one have a tendency to jam every so often."

He rolled and saw that the rifle was thrown down, "I won't let it end like this!"

Adam saw the intercom and hit it. He knew what was going to happen, and he wanted the rest of the outcasts to know as well.

"Won't let what end Protector Casdin?"

"US!" he shouted, "I WON'T LET US END! WE'RE RIGHT! WE ARE! NOT LYONS! NOT THE MIDWEST BRANCH, BUT US!"

"What happened?"

"THEY SAID WE'RE TRAITORS! THEY SAID THAT EVERY CHAPTER HAS BEEN INFORMED, AND THEY SAID LYONS WAS RIGHT!"

Adam actually felt grateful that another chapter was agreeing with Elder Lyons, but right now he could see what was going to happen between him and Protector Casdin. There was no way a fight wouldn't happen. He didn't want it to. He didn't want it to because he didn't want to die, and he didn't want Protector Casdin to die. Sure, he had put down super mutants, raiders, Talon Company Mercenaries, but it was something that he had to do.

He didn't want to have to follow through with this. He didn't specifically want to see Protector Casdin take his last breath. Instead he'd rather find a way that they could work together. He watched as Protector Casdin grabbed something from the table. He lifted it, and Adam could see that it was an inhaler. Within a moment he'd pressed the small tube down causing it to spray the mist that he took into his lungs.

"I WON'T LET IT END!"

With that roar he ran forward, and Adam barely was able to jump out of the way. Normally moving fast in a suit of Power Armor was difficult. He'd seen a few people manage to jump or run, but it wasn't exceptionally fast. Power Armor was able to amplify a person's movements, and their strength, but it was limited in what it could do. What he was seeing was the power armor being pushed to its absolute limits.

Protector Casdin's power armor was making sounds like the joints were starting to give out. That the connections were becoming unstable, and he understood what was getting ready to happen. It was something he'd been warned about when he received power armor training. He'd been told that pushing a suit of power armor too far could cause it to become unstable. That if it was pushed beyond the normal limits it had that the resisters that were put into each of them could become damaged, and that would allow the power armor to move beyond its normal limits. Doing so could cause it to do potentially fatal damage to the wearer.

"WE ARE THE OUTCASTS!" he shouted, "WE ARE RIGHT! NOT LYONS, NOT THE MIDWEST CHAPTER, US!"

He smelled the faint smell of smoke as it began to accumulate around them, and then he saw the flash as something began to burn out. Within a second Protector Casdin jumped toward him, and then he watched as he landed and he went to turn. When he did the power armor frame didn't stop at its normal turning. Instead it turned his entire top half a complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Protector Casdin screamed and coughed. He fell his legs no longer moving, his arms flaying and then slowly the stopped moving. Blood was pouring from his mouth.

"NO!" he screamed, "NO! WE'RE RIGHT!"

The door behind him glowed blue, and he heard it move. He felt the presence of Tuka, Lelei, and Rory. The three of them walked in and saw what had happened. He knew that they had questions, "He damaged the power armor," he said, his eyes remaining on Protector Casdin, "He damaged it, and the power armor ended up wounding him. We… we need to get him help."

He felt a hand and looked at Rory who stepped forward, "It is beyond that," she said as she neared him, his face frantic, his teeth bared like a wild beast, "You chose to give him a final battle, and I understand. Now, he may rest."

At those words Protector Casdin slowly stopped moving. He seemed to grow still, and then after a few more faint breaths he completely went still. Adam turned to see Anne who had ran into the room. She stood there, her eyes wide, "I didn't want to believe it," she said, her voice tight with emotion, "I didn't think that he'd actually lose it."

She shook, "What are we going to do now?"

Adam looked at her, "The Brotherhood of Steel will accept negotiations," he said, "They will have peace talks, and there might be a way that we can help one another. I hate that this happened to Protector Casdin, but from what he said the other chapters consider the Outcasts to be traitors."

She nodded, "Yeah, at that point we're little more than technologically superior raiders," she replied, "Fuck, you know that this leaves me as the leader here. Damn it," she cursed, "Okay, I'll arrange to meet with the old man and discuss the possibility of reunification. But, we're going to want to make a few demands specifically."

Adam nodded, "I get it," he replied, "I know how important tradition is to you, but I'm sure that you've seen the Gate, right?"

There was a pause, "You know that we have, and yes we're curious about it."

He nodded, "Then, consider what we could do together," he replied, "I know that there's bad blood between the Outcasts and the Brotherhood of Steel, but I know that together we'd be far better than we were."

She shook her head, "I can't promise anything. In truth, there's a chance that my just making the suggestion might be enough for them to kick me out. They could decide that I'm not fit to lead. I wouldn't be surprised if they seek help from somewhere outside of all of this."

She looked at him, "I hate to ask, but I'm going to need you to hang around until after we've taken care of Protector Casdin, and after I make the suggestion. If needed, I might need the help to leave."

He studied her, "Wait, does that mean that you're going to come with us?"

She gave a nod, "I might not agree with Elder Lyons, but I don't want to be labeled a traitor, and I don't want to run the risk of being hunted down by any other chapters of the Brotherhood of Steel," she said, "Besides, from what I've seen Elder Lyons still isn't just handing over technology to the tribals, and that's at least a step in the right direction."

He watched as she walked toward the intercom, "Attention, I need all available members of the Outcasts to report to the conference room."

In a few moments Adam could see other power armored individuals stepping into the room with them. He watched as they seemed to see what was going on, "Wait," one of them said as they looked around, "What the fuck is this? Did Protector Casdin actually lose his shit?"

Another shook his head, "Fuck, I thought that maybe he was just venting," he said, his voice low, "Shit, Defender Morgan, that means you're in charge, orders ma'am?"

Anne stood there for a moment, "We need to see if Protector Casdin can be saved," she said, "There is a pretty much untouched hospital about four miles out. If he can be saved we will travel to it and do what we can to save him, if not we will proceed to honor and bury him."

They worked quickly and Adam watched as the power armor was removed. His entire bottom half was twisted completely around, he could see where his spine had broken through his skin, and Adam shook his head. The fact that he'd seen injuries worse than that didn't help him feel more relaxed. It actually made him feel worse about the situation. Still, it took almost no time for the consensus to come back that Protector Casdin was dead.

"Ma'am?"

"We bury him with honors, and then we are going to negotiate with the Brotherhood of Steel. The other chapters see us as traitors, and we all know what that means."

There was silence, "It means you're weak," a voice said, the sound was hateful, "You're not fit to lead us."

"Wait," she said before several weapons came out. Adam grabbed something off of his belt and lifted it. Anne saw it and looked at them, "I'm sure all of you know the Lone Wanderer. I'm also sure that you know that he's come out of scrapes worse than this. He's got a plasma grenade in his hand, and do you really want to test our armor against such a devastating weapon?"

There was silence, and slowly they began to move. Adam led Anne, Tuka, Lelei, and Rory out. The moment they got out Anne picked up something and switched it on. Adam watched as four suits of power armor began to follow them.

"Is that something we need to worry about?"

She shook her head, "It's the sentinel AI suits, I'm not leaving them with them. I'd rather they not have the extra hands."

Adam led them away from the fort, and part of the reason for doing so was because he understood that they would eventually be coming after them. He certainly wasn't sure what was going to happen now, but it was cemented into the realization that Outcasts were now officially an antagonistic group. What Anne had said before was right. They were going to be technologically superior raiders.

He had absolutely no doubts in his mind that they would start attempting to go back to hoarding technology, but that they would likely attack settlements around them as well. They were going to become a problem, and it was a problem that they were going to have to deal with. Their power armor was on the same level as his own, and of course as the rest of the Brotherhood of Steel.

The one possible benefit was that they had some new technology thanks to the members of the Enclave that ended up joining them. That would be something of an edge, and hopefully it would be enough. Taking the sentinel AI power armors from them was a good move, and he knew it, but it would also be a move that would make them act out toward them worse.

He had to hope that Mr. House wasn't lying before about being able to see and control the various Protectrons and other robots. If he could then maybe it would give them a leg up when it came to dealing with them. Even if it was ensuring that their sentinel bots, protectrons, and brain bots weren't able to directly attack them. Even something as simple as that would be helpful. Then again if he was right there was a chance that he could turn them against the Outcasts.

That thought chilled his blood. If he could do that, if he could turn their own robots against them, then what would stop him from doing that to them. He tried to remain calm. Moira had created a widgit to interface with Robco's mainframe. That widgit had limited ability to override their programming and allow limited control of them. Maybe they could expand on that technology. If nothing else it might help to ensure that Mr. House couldn't threaten them as well.

He made the decision to talk to Sarah about it later. First though they needed to speak to Elder Lyons, likely get Princess Pina and Boses, and then go to Canterbury Commons. There was still much to do, but he knew that all of it would be worth it.