Gate: Thus the Brotherhood of Steel Lyon's Pride Fought in Their Land
Chapter Twenty - Seven - Sentinel Harold Reeder
The old Apartment complex had obviously been a Raider den. The telltale signs all pointed to the same thing. Graphic graffiti adored the walls, old blood stained mattresses resided all over, and of course the occasional skull adored the area. The fact it was clean meant that someone had cleaned the raiders out already. Whoever had done it didn't leave it as a raider den. Instead they had worked on turning it into something of safe house.
Still, it was concerning that there had been an explosion. From the light he'd seen it was likely plasma grenades. If one of those was going off then it wasn't likely just a random grenade that was lying around. There were multiple failsafes that kept them from just randomly exploding. After all, he'd studied and written about them before. Still, he looked at the building through the hub of his power armor.
That was something that he would forever see things through. The world was slightly altered in how it looked. It was presented to him in such a way that he was less part of the world and more removed from it. He couldn't get out of his power armor, and he couldn't be rid of it. Sure, it made him more protected than most of the other members of the Brotherhood, but it also meant that he was forever cut off from any contact from them.
Not that he was sure that any of them would want contact with him. He breathed out as he watched the front door, and then he turned his head toward the archwizard that had come with them. Like himself she was watching the building. Everything that he'd noticed had been outside of the building. The ramshackle collection of old pallets and quickly put together fortifications were something they could observe easily enough.
"He will be fine," he said, trying to reassure her, "From what the reports said he can basically disappear if needed."
He was looking at the building again, but he could practically feel her looking at him, "And we don't need this building being reduced to rubble right now."
"Sir Sentinel," the blond haired knight that accompanied them said, "Perhaps it would be best to rephrase that. Simply putting a notation of right now merely means that in the future the possibility remains."
He considered the advice, "We don't need it turned into rubble until we're certain that there is no other choice. At that moment I will let you know."
Satisfied that the situation was handled he turned his attention back to the building in question. From the outside he could see that the Park View Apartment complex had been something that would have been used by the men and women that likely worked at the Airport. It was close enough for them to get to work quickly, and it was just at the edge of a community. The fact that it had become a raider den was likely for the same reasons. The airport itself likely attracted scavengers with the amount of prewar technology that was still there. Likely, the amount of steel and circuit boards was also an attraction.
Basically, it was just a huge open place for people to scavenge, and that was enough for raiders to lay a trap. That trap would have been enough for them to feel confident that they could either make enough caps off of the scavengers to just relax, or they could decide to simply kill them all. Whoever had come through had taken the time to completely clear the building. If they kept it clear then it would stop attracting raiders. After all raiders weren't the brightest bunch, but they weren't overly stupid either.
They learned how to do things, and they learned from their mistakes. Once they did learn they went on to raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer their weasely black guts out. It was what they did. The only way to stop them was to kill them out. Most of the time raiders tended to be those that had become so lost to the wasteland that there wasn't anything left of them to save. They were a roaming and moving disease. For all rights and purposes they were effectively a cancer.
In that regard the Brotherhood of Steel was the treatment. They were able to handle them, and they were treated with the same kindness that Super Mutants were treated with. They were often dealt with, and afterward their base was searched for any and all weaponry that could be given to initiates or to tribals that were willing to help them. He felt that it was best to do something like that.
"He's been in there for a little while," the arch wizard said, "Do you think he's in trouble?"
He heard someone step forward, and he saw Rory as she looked at the building. She began to walk toward it, and he was about to tell her to hold on. He stopped when the door opened and Kazuma stepped out. The young man was carrying something, and he could see that it looked like a small basket. He walked toward them and placed it on the ground. There was a small collection of boxed food, what looked like a few dozen rounds of lower caliber ammo, and a frag grenade.
"So, it looks like everything has been gone through already," he said as he looked a them, "Although somewhere on the fourth floor there was an entire section that looked like it was converted into some kind of green goop. I decided to not touch it."
He studied them, "But there were a few people that were in there recently. Not sure where they went exactly, but I could tell that they went out the back of the building."
Sentinel Reeder didn't get a word out before the arch wizard moved forward and caught him in a hug. He watched as the young man returned it, "Hey, I said that I was going to come back, right?"
The sight was something that reminded him of long ago. He was leaving, and Lucy had been there with him. An old song went through his mind for a moment. He hummed it for a moment, the sound coming out raspy and distorted through his helmet, but it didn't stop him. Maybe it was wrong to let a moment like this take his attention away from the task at hand, but this moment reminded him so much of that shared moment with Lucy. He couldn't help it after a moment, and his raspy voice began to echo a song that likely had long since been lost to time.
"My bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door," his raspy voice sung the words that came back to him. The same words that floated on the air when Lucy had wrapped him in a hug before he was supposed to be shipped out, "I hate to wake you up, to say goodbye…"
To his surprise it was the sound of Paladin Jefferson's voice the filled the air next, "But the dawn is breaking, it's early morn. The taxi's waiting, he's blowin' his horn,' the soft tinny tenor sung out, "I'm already so lonesome, I could die."
Sentinel Reeder felt a little joy that the song wasn't forgotten as they sung a few bars together, but it was Kazuma Sato who seemed to bring the chorus of it home, "So, kiss me, and smile for me," he sang, his voice having the slight accent associated with someone from Japan on it, "Tell me that you'll wait for me, Hold me like you'll never let me go."
The sound of the lyrics carried, and it was something that could be considered dangerous. It was announcing to anyone nearby that they were there, but there were times that release was simply needed. The fact that Sentinel Reeder himself was the one to kick off the song was enough to warrant its necessity. From behind the building another person had heard the song, and she couldn't help herself.
It was a catchy thing, but she hadn't heard it on the radio. It'd been a wastelander that was traveling around with a guitar. He seemed to travel with an old straw hat on his head, a pair of overalls that were more patches than actual overalls, and an old pair of military boots that likely had come from an old lockbox at a military installation. He'd sung the song as he traveled, and for the most part he seemed to make a few caps for his trouble.
It had struck her as odd that anyone would do that, but when asked why he was doing it he'd told her that the world was shitty enough with all of its problems. So, he was just trying to sing a few songs to make it a better place. That'd been years ago, but she remembered the song. She couldn't help it, the memory was so fresh that she caught herself singing as well.
"Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane, Don't know when I'll be back again," she sung as she moved toward the corner of the building, "Oh babe, I hate to go."
Behind Parkview Apartments - Nancy Zhao
Her voice had carried further than she'd wanted, but there was one thing that she was sure of. The people out there weren't connected to raiders. They weren't attacking for no reason. Instead they seemed to be studying her. The one dressed in the strange Vault Tec blue armor with the number 101 on the front moved toward her. His head lamp was off, and he didn't appear to be aggressive.
"Hello," he said as he neared her, "I'm Paladin Adam Jefferson with the east coast Brotherhood of Steel. We've come to help out if we can."
There was a moment of silence before she nodded, "I'm Nancy Zhao," she replied as she gave them a slight smile, "I'm helping slaves escape to a new life."
Still, the one that had started the song moved forward. There was something imposing about him. Sentinel Reeder looked at Nancy and he was taken back to the war. He'd helped hold the line, fought with other soldiers against the Chinese that had attacked, and he helped hold the line itself. He had been part of the group that pushed them back. There was absolutely no line in the fact that he had done his duty that day. Still, looking at her he saw them. Maybe not all of them, but he saw a face that belonged to the People's Republic of China.
"Don't listen to her," he said, his voice was short and to the point, "She's Chinese."
There was an awkward moment and she looked at him, "Ummmm, No, I'm Nancy," she replied, "I mean I guess that I look Asian, but then I don't know how many people were in my family that lead to how I look."
He didn't budge, "Don't listen to her, don't let her give advice, and don't tell her anything else."
The way he was talking made her realize that he did see her as a monster. She racked her brain trying to think of why, and then the answer came flying at her. The great war. It was a story that was so old that most people barely paid it any attention to it anymore. The story of how the Chinese had attacked the United States, and they had bombed the living hell out of them. After that, it left a blasted out landscape that was unsuitable for anything to live in. It was practically worthless at this point.
He was saying those things because of what she looked like. He was saying them because of her features and skin. It hurt. It hurt because she wasn't the people that had attacked the United States. She wasn't any of them. She was just someone that was trying to do the right thing. She looked toward the one that had begun to talk to her. He didn't flinch and instead he looked back at the one that was talking.
"Sentinel Reeder, sir, is she a ghoul?"
There was a moment of hesitation, "No, she's not," came the reply, "As far as I can tell she's human."
There was a nod, "Okay, does she look like someone that might have found some mystical way of keeping herself young for centuries?"
There was another hesitation, "I have no clue, but I doubt it. If she had been alive since the great war I'd like to think that she'd be a little more careful, and perhaps a little better prepared."
The one in the Vault Tec blue armor nodded, "So, we can agree that she's not a ghoul, and she's not someone that's been alive for centuries, right?"
"What are you getting at Paladin Jefferson?"
She watched as the one in the blue armor stood straight, "Only, that sir, she has nothing to do with what happened," he replied, his voice calm, "The ones that led the attack on American Soil are long dead. If we come across any ghouls that were part of the attack, then I believe that we should treat them as hostile enemies. They obviously were dedicated to the destruction of every single life over here, but her, she's blameless for it."
She felt some joy at hearing that, "So, really, what good is it going to do to be aggressive to her?"
There was a moment of silence, "Fine," came the reply before he looked at her, "I will be watching you, and if you show your true colors it will be the last thing that you ever do."
She understood the warning exactly for what it was. Whoever he was, this man held a grudge for people he likely had never met. She could practically feel the malevolent thoughts he likely had of her. The problem was that he was completely unjustified for it. Like Paladin Jefferson had said those people were long dead, and even if she was related to any of them it had been them, not her, that had attacked this land.
She was suffering just like everyone else. She was living in a land where the only things that grew were twisted and malformed. Even the vegetation that grew was altered to a point that the plants were far removed from their ancestors. Only the heartiest of things grew in the soil, and even then those things could potentially be dangerous, "I am not who you think that I am," she said, trying to keep from angering him further, "And I thank you for giving me some trust."
She could feel his eyes from inside of his helmet as he looked at her, "To be clear, Paladin Jefferson is offering trust. I am merely offering you the chance to prove how untrustworthy you are,"
With that he looked away. Instead of further talking to him she looked at the others. Their clothes were certainly different. She didn't see any that were made of molerat leather, and there weren't any real prewar clothes between them. The one possible prewar was the young girl that was wearing a black dress and stockings. Even then, it almost looked like she was dressed like an old world vampire. She studied her, and she noticed that the girl was looking at both her and G7-81. The way she looked at her was simply appraising her, but the way she looked at G7-81 was different. It was almost as if she couldn't quite understand her. That was impossible though. Third generation synths like G7-81 were indistinguishable from humans. No one could tell the difference between them simply by looking.
The girl walked toward G7-81, and she licked her upper lip as she did, "You are not marked," she said as she moved around her, obviously causing G7-81 to feel a little uncertain, "I cannot find death's mark upon you, and that is most interesting."
Nancy studied her, "She's with me," she said, hoping to get the girl's attention, "I'm helping her escape, remember?"
The girl looked at her, and gave a faint smile, "Oh, I know that she is with you," she practically purred, "Just like I know that you are marked. Currently I see that you will be old, by your standards, when you pass. I don't know who it will be with, but you won't be alone, and I know that you will be missed. But I don't see the mark on her. It is as if she has the potential to go on forever."
Nancy looked at her and felt stunned, "Who are you?"
"She's an annoying little demigoddess that thinks that she's some big deal!" a blue haired woman said, "I however am a real goddess. Behold, I am the goddess Aqua, the goddess of water, and worshiped by the Axis sect!"
Nancy looked at her, "Uh huh, sure you are," she said as she rolled her eyes, "Look, if you're one of the crazies that's running around claiming to be a hero from the pages of a comic book, like that nutcase that called himself the Black Devil, then good for you. Maybe you can help some folks, but don't go getting people killed because you're claiming to be a goddess."
"I AM A GODDESS!" she shouted, "Wait, I know!"
She walked over toward a large puddle of water, a huge one, and Nancy watched as she touched it. She was about to warn her about the radiation when the woman studied it, "Purify!"
With that she watched as the water changed. It became clear, crystal clear, and she moved toward it only to find that there was no rads coming off of it. She looked at the woman with surprise as she smiled smugly, "See!" she exclaimed as she pointed toward the water, "Worship me because I am the goddess Aqua!"
A second later the one in black dress growled and walked toward her, "You are annoying, irritating, and very grating upon my nerves," she said through clenched teeth, "What's even worse is the fact that you dare to besmirch the name of Emroy. I have reached the end of my patience with you."
What happened next was a loud slap across the blue haired woman's face. It was fast, and more to the point it was powerful enough to move her entire head. She didn't go flying, which she didn't expect that, but apparently the girl in the black dress was surprised that she didn't suddenly fly into a building. Instead the woman that was slapped turned her head back toward her and rubbed her fist, "Okay pipsqueak," she said, a hard edge to her voice, "I'm going to goddess requiem you into next week!"
Her fist began to glow, actually glow before she decked the girl hard in the stomach. She expected to see the girl lift up, or move, but instead she merely bent forward. The girl stood up and looked the goddess in the eyes before she slapped her hard again. And then she hit her hard in the boob. It wasn't in the stomach, it was in the actual tit. She watched as the blue haired woman, the goddess she supposed, boob actually morphed around the girl's fist for a moment.
"OW!" the blue haired goddess cried, "THAT WAS MY TIT!"
She watched as the girl wearing black dropped her scythe, grabbed the blue haired goddess' hair, and began to yank on it. The blue haired goddesses grabbed her black hair, and then the two of them began to have an actual cat fight in the middle of the street. The one that had talked to her, moved toward them, grabbed the black haired girl and pulled her away. The asian guy grabbed the blue haired girl and pulled her back. She wasn't sure how he did it since she actually seemed to be pretty strong.
"LETME GO KAZUMA!" she shouted, "LETME GO! I'M GONNA BEAT HER LITTLE BUTT!"
Parkview Apartments - Adam
Adam watched the display and instantly he was having regrets about having both Rory and Aqua both at the same place at the same time. From what he understood Rory was a demigoddess that was going to become a full fledged goddess when her thousand years of servitude was over. Aqua apparently was already a goddess, but she had taken a mortal form to travel with Kazuma. If he was to guess the reason why Kazuma was able to restrain her was because she had taken that form specifically to travel with him.
Maybe she had somehow bound herself to him, and in doing so made it so that he would have some sort of power over her. That was about as good of an educated guess as he could make. From what he'd been told, and from what he'd learned there were gods already here as well. Rory had all but said that the gods that were here were determined to see humanity end. Whatever it was that existed here as a god or goddess seemed to be insane and chaotic.
Maybe the presence of that god was bothering both Rory and Aqua, or maybe it was just that their personalities clashed that much. Still, he watched as the two of them were separated. He didn't doubt for a moment that it was Rory's deep respect for Sentinel Reeder that was keeping her from getting away from him. He'd seen the way she treated him. He was obviously younger than her, from what she had said, and yet she treated him as someone that had lived just as long as she had.
She treated him as a peer and not just some child that was flailing around trying to do whatever it was that needed to be done. He hoped that respect remained. Finally the two of them stopped their fighting, and he looked back to the woman that had come out to meet them. She looked concerned, but otherwise she remained mostly quiet. He was actually surprised that she didn't take the chance to run.
"She really is a goddess," the woman said as she looked at the clear water, "There's no radiation, no signs of other impurities, it's all clean."
There was a moment of hesitation before the woman looked at her, "Can you do that to a larger body of water?" she asked as she looked at Aqua who had finally settled down, "Say, like a large lake or pond?"
Aqua huffed, "Of course I can," she said after a moment, "I am Aqua, goddess of water, goddess worshiped by those desiring to receive my blessings. Fall to your knees and worship me mortal!"
She watched as the man that had held her a moment ago hit her on the back of the head, "Ouch!" she cried, "Why did you do that?!"
There was a moment of hesitation, "Aqua, just don't," he said before he looked at her, "Yes, she can, but trust me she's going to demand that all of you worship her in order for her to do it. She's more than capable, but there's not a humble bone in her body."
"Why should I be humble?!" she cried, "I'm a goddess, that means that I should be worshiped! They should practically be lining up the streets to give me great food and booze so that I can clean their water for them. I mean, if I did it would probably save this entire world."
Adam could see that he really was holding back saying something else, but luckily it seemed that his girlfriend didn't have an issue. She stepped closer to her, "Aqua," she said, her eyes glowing red, "The last thing you need to do is temporarily fix their problem. If you clean their water, will it stay clean?"
There was a moment, "Well, I mean it will until environmental factors start messing with it," she said after a moment, "Like if there's something that's leaking pollutants into it then it will become toxic again, but that's not my fault."
Adam looked at her, "So, why don't you clean out the pollutants first?"
The blue haired goddess looked at him like he had a second head, "Ummm, because that's not my job," she said after a moment, "I'm a goddess, not a trash collector."
He could so understand the reason that Kazuma wanted to hit her. Her attitude was beyond selfish and immature. She was someone that obviously did things because they made her happy. There was no other reason for her to do anything. She could purify the water, but in doing so it would just purify it until more radioactive waste leaked into it. It would take having people in power armor go into the bodies of water and drag the cracked fusion reactors out. It would mean moving old ships that had sunk, finding the pieces of jets that had crashed, and everything like that.
He had no doubt that she could possibly purify the glowing sea, but once she did the radiation of the land around it would simply irradiate it again. The best chance there was of her cleaning everything would be after everything that was radioactive was moved away first. It would take a massive cleaning effort to do that. Either the Brotherhood of Steel would have to do it, or they would have to program a massive amount of protectrons to do ti.
That option at least would work easier, perhaps better, but it would still take a massively long time. And from what Kazuma had said there was a good chance that they would be gone before then. So, the purifier that they had in the capital wasteland was still a far better option. It was purifying the water in the bay, and it was allowing them to send that water out to capital wasteland. With any luck they would be able to send it out further. Sure, there was the world beyond the gate, but more than that there was hope that what his father had done would still help save this world. It wouldn't be a goddess, but instead the vision of incredibly gifted scientists that would save the people here.