Begin Recording
Flight
Recording by Scribe Ellison
Then at last I arrived at the police station with Dogmeat and a pack full of techie toys for Haylin to find Danse testing out his repaired power armor. "Looks good. All the joints are moving well."
"At last!" Haylin sat back from oiling something and grinned, and because she was sitting on the ground she was on dog level and Dogmeat went over to say hello.
"You're here, good. Repairs complete and not a minute too soon. I've received orders to report to the Prydwen immediately and bring you along. I know you've been looking forward to seeing the ship up close and personal."
Now I was getting excited. "When are we going?"
"Whenever you're ready. There's a vertibird on the roof."
I shrugged off my backpack, "Haylin, I brought you some circuits and things. Take care of Dogmeat will you? Or send him home with Carla next time she comes past."
Haylin gave Dogmeat a rub around the ears. "Glad to have him. Have fun up there!"
Upstairs was a vertibird, the first one I'd ever seen up close. I took a minute to look at it, up at the wings and rotors. The pilot inside waved, "You the new recruit? Since you haven't got power armor you'll have to strap in. Put this on." And he tossed me a tangle of straps. I caught the thing and held it out, trying to make sense of it.
Danse rescued me, "This buckle goes in the front. You step in here and here—you'll probably have to take off most of your gear."
I did, I stowed my armor and gun harness in a locker on the vertibird and Danse helped me get the safety harness on. It was quite a process but I felt very secure with straps snug around my thighs and waist and over my shoulders. A line from my chest ended in a metal hook that clipped closed on a bar near the door of the vertibird. I also got a headset so we could communicate and I had to fit my helmet over it.
In his power armor Danse just had to sit down and clip on straps designed to attach to power armor.
My headset crackled and he said, "Your seat's there."
It was barely a seat, not even solid metal, hanging off the side of the vertibird. With a minigun mounted in front of it. I sat down, tucked my safety strap behind me, and grabbed the obvious handholds. "Ready when you are."
The rotors slowly buzzed up to speed, and the roof dropped out from under us.
And it was wonderful.
I've flown in airplanes a few times, but you're inside an airplane and unless you're lucky and get a window seat you can't see much. Hanging off the side of the vertibird I could see everything. Cambridge was all there, the colors of the buildings and the broken ribbon of the highway arcing up and down. I held on and leaned out, with the wind from the rotors whipping at my helmet. It was evening and I saw lights, people, in places I'd never expected people might be. There were touches of green too, overgrown gardens in patches of clean soil. I must have been grinning like a fool.
We swung out over the river and Danse said in my headset, "The Commonwealth looks different from up here doesn't it? It never ceases to amaze me how drastically your perception of the battlefield changes from the air."
I hadn't been thinking of battlefields. I was just thinking how beautiful and sad it was.
Danse continued, as the vertibird turned to follow the river, giving me a view down at the empty ruins of CIT. "We're going to need that edge when we take on the Institute. They've already proven that they're technologically superior, which means there's no telling what types of weapons they have in their arsenal. Hopefully our air superiority and tactical know-how will make the difference. Now all we have to do is find them. Right there probably, the Institute was CIT so there must be a connection. I'm betting Elder Maxson will have a plan already in place by the time we arrive."
I nodded, looking down at the ruins. Not so empty as I'd first thought; a super mutant stepped out of a door and looked up at us. I wondered if the minigun was live, but we were gone before I could have aimed. We went over a road and I saw a caravan, two brahmin and some guards. Cricket, maybe. I waved, but there was no way she could see me.
"I wish everyone down there believed in our cause but they've been blinded by rumors and misinformation. They don't realize that the Brotherhood of Steel is the Commonwealth's last hope for survival. Every man, woman and child below is in mortal danger. If we fail it's only a matter of time before the enemy overwhelms the population. We're here to cleanse the Commonwealth and I'll gladly spill my own blood if it ensures our victory."
Danse was speaking quietly, I almost wondered if he didn't realize I could hear. Maybe we really were feeling the same thing as we watched the land below fade into blue dusk as the sun set. The lights of human civilization stood out warm and gold in the sea of soft gloom. And he was right, this fragile civilization was in danger and seeing it like this, seeing all of it, made me want to protect it.
We flew in silence for a while as the ground below faded and only the skyscrapers stood out. Danse didn't speak until he said, "We're on final approach to the airport… and there she is."
And there it was, a huge looming shadow against the fading sky. And then the lights came on. Spotlights from the airport illuminated the Prydwen, making it glow silver, shining over the world that sank into darkness below.
I couldn't help a quiet, "Wow..."
It was another minute before Danse continued, all business now, "We'll be meeting Lancer-Captain Kells on the flight deck. Just stick close to me and answer all his questions. And try not to gawk. You're a soldier now… this is the moment when everything changes. I hope you're ready."
Our vertibird slid under the huge belly of the ship and hovered. I leaned out to look up and saw machinery overhead. I didn't get a good look but I heard and felt it when something hooked the vertibird from above, the rotors spun down and things went quieter as the vertibird was pulled upward and clunked into some kind of dock with walkways on either side.
We waited a minute then Danse stood up to help me out of my harness. I got my armor and guns back on and hopped down onto the walkway. The pilot waved to us as he did whatever postflight checks a vertibird needs. I know Danse told me not to gawk but I couldn't resist going to the edge of the walkway and looking down. Far below, water and the airport. Ahead, the ruins of Boston slumping into darkness. The walkway was solid under my feet and I could see how it connected to a main path running the length of the ship and then to stairs up to a real door that would lead inside.
Danse waved me over to speak to a ramrod-straight man in a very military hat and coat. He called, "Permission to come aboard, sir?"
"Permission granted and welcome back, Paladin! Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on a successful mission. And is this our new recruit?" Lancer-Captain Kells looked at me with sharp dark eyes. I tried to stand straight.
Danse nodded, "Yes sir. I've field promoted her to initiate and I'd like to sponsor her entry into our rankings personally."
"Yes, we've read your reports. You'll be pleased to know Elder Maxson's approved your request, and placed the recruit in your charge."
"Thank you, sir. And my current orders?"
"You are to remain on the Prydwen and await further instructions. Your quarters are ready if you want to settle in."
"Very good sir." Danse said, and they both saluted fist-to-chest and said, "Ad Victoriam" which was very strange to me. Danse headed inside, trusting me alone with his superior officer.
Kells said, "So you're the one Paladin Danse has taken under his wing. Huh. You don't look much like a soldier to me."
"What's a soldier supposed to look like?" I asked, honestly curious. I was very visibly armed.
"A soldier is supposed to be an efficient killing machine, not a relic from the past playing catch-up with the rest of the world. A vault suit? If Danse hadn't stepped in and vouched for you we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Accepting outsiders like yourself has proven disastrous in the past. But I've read Paladin Danse's reports and he seems to think you'll make a fine addition to the Brotherhood."
"High praise, I'll try to live up to it." I said. Now I wonder if the disastrous outsider he mentioned might have been your famous Lone Wanderer, whose reputation must not be great with Maxson's followers.
"You might expect an endorsement like that to grant you a great deal of latitude with us, but let me make one thing clear. The Brotherhood of Steel has traveled to the Commonwealth with a specific goal in mind. As captain of this vessel, I won't allow anyone to jeopardize our mission no matter how valuable they think they are. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Good. Elder Maxson will be addressing the crew shortly and I'm sure any questions you have will be answered there. Your orders are to proceed through that door to the command deck for the address, after which elder Maxson wishes to have a word with you. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." came out without thought. Kells is the kind of guy you call sir, even if you don't normally call people sir.
"Good. Dismissed, Initiate."
I didn't rush, trying to get my bearings on the platform. Several other people in different sorts of uniforms were also heading towards the door and a young man dressed like Scribe Haylin beckoned to me to come with them. Through the door and across a metal room I saw banks of windows looking out over Boston. A semicircle of people had gathered and I saw Danse still in his power armor saying hello to his comrades. Then Elder Maxson made his appearance.
