The methodical beeping of Sarah Lyons power armour was what awoke her from her forced slumber. As her eyes flickered open through the helmet of her T-60 power armour she could see the sky, not the hallways of the citadel she last remembered.
An earth-shattering headache hit her as she recalled the last day, Brotherhood outcasts none too pleased with her father's more humanitarian focus for the brotherhood had attacked the Citadel en masse. She was leading her Pryde spearheading the defence when she caught radio chatter of infiltration in the lower levels and some sort of device the outcasts had brought in, then nothing.
She didn't know what happened, she didn't know where her Pryde was and judging by the sky she didn't know where she was. And Sarah Lyons didn't like not knowing.
"Paladin Vargas report" she spoke into her suit's short-range radio only to receive static in return.
"Paladin Glade, Paladin Kodiak report" again static.
"Knight Colvin, Dusk, Gall-" she stopped and ignored the static of her radio as she had just sat up and was gawking at the most vibrant and lush forest she had ever seen.
No amount of green could have ever been found in the Capital wasteland the clue was in the name.
It took her a minute to organise herself, where she was, she didn't know and that bothered her. Finally, the instinct of a well-trained soldier kicked in and she came back to her senses.
"This is Sentinel Lyons broadcasting on an open frequency to any brotherhood personnel do you read me" static again.
'Dammit, am I alone here' was all the thinking she could do before the radio came alive.
"Sentin *KKSSSSHH* ns this *KKSSSSHH* adin Hardin we *KKSSSSHH* sup *KKSSSSHH* *KKSSSSHH* od Dammit ju *KKSSSSHH* the flare *KKSSSSHH*" was all she could make out, she went to respond but was stopped when in her peripheral vision she caught sight of an emergency flare standard to most Knights coming over a small hill in the landscape.
The Flare looked to be only just within range of her radio and the hill and trees didn't help either. But that didn't matter. The message was as clear as can be.
"Understood, I'm on my way" Static was all she received but Sarah Lyons knew where she needed to go.
—
Paladin Harding was having one of those days, he'd had a few of them before but this… oh this took the cake.
"Gareth where are those grenades I needed them five minutes ago" he barked
"Here sir" Knight Gareth placed a sack on the ground as he stumbled into the shack Hardin was using as cover "Sorry for the delay, I took one of those bolts to the leg"
With a glance Harding could see the damaged leg, the knight's combat armour was good but it couldn't take the full blow of one of those red bolts. "OK get back to the second line and tell them we'll need to fall back soon so they need to pull more civilians back, we'll provide you covering fire to get back there".
A quick 'yes sir' was his response and with a quick order both he and the other Brotherhood soldiers around started firing for effect.
What he was firing at exactly, well the easy answer was raiders, it appears even on this world there were those who prayed on the weak for their own gain. It wasn't the 'what' that confused Harding; it was the 'who'.
Sure there were humans but that wasn't all, there were some humanoid creatures with red skin, some looked like ghouls but clearly weren't and even one that looked like a lizard man. All wearing mismatched clothing and carrying mostly small arms which all screamed raider to the paladin.
That wasn't all of it. The people they were protecting, probably a farming community by the looks of the place, were also very strange.
Again some humans but others with long tentacles handing off the head, even an alien that looked like a fish.
Harding thought if he was ever going to meet aliens then it would be little green men not big blue women with a chest that would put most to shame.
'Damn me and my chivalry'
That's how this had started, he'd been guiding a group of brotherhood stragglers when they came across this place mid-raid and his morals pushed him to act, was he going to get chewed out by one of the Paladin commanders oh most certainly, was he going to regret it not at all.
' I only hope whoever was on the radio will get here in time', he frowned. They were certainly outnumbered by the pirates and if they brought around that hover-sled vehicle again, things would not be good.
His grimace turned to a smirk, 'Who I am is where I stand, and where I stand is where I fall'
"Show these raiders who they're dealing with" he shouted to the other soldiers. "Ad Victoriam" the shout resounded with the others as they too shouted.
—
Sarah could see the battlefield, it had taken her a while to reach the flare's point of origin in heavy power armour. She could see the streaks of laser fire from her fellow brotherhood members and guess at the perimeter they had set up.
The attackers however were using a different type of laser, red like hers but instead of a quick continued beam, they were long rods of red like arrows. She shelved that for later, having confidence her armour could absorb whatever kind of damage they could deal.
Instead, she was analysing the battlefield for an opening, she and the Lyons Pryde speciality were using opportunities to break the back of any enemy.
And just now she had found her opening. What she could only describe as a boat-like vehicle floating in one of the forest clearings with a mounted weapon on top was heading towards the village.
If she could at least destroy it if not capture it she could give the defence an advantage. So she was making her way to intercept the vehicle, it was moving slowly thanks to the trees which made her best option to jump aboard, so here she waited near a small incline near the path she saw it taking ready for her opening.
All she had was her laser pistol but it would be all she'd need.
A low humming was her first indication followed by the shouts of those aboard. Concealing herself as best as possible she let it get closer.
'100 metres 70, 50, 30, 10'. Quickly sprinting out of cover she leapt aboard, body-checking a raider to slow her momentum and sending him off into the forest.
'First that mounted gun' was her thought as she brought her laser pistol and killed the stunned gunner with two well-placed laser shots to the chest.
Their response was quick as the other two raiders on the sled reacted, the first shooting into her chest plate doing nothing more than blackening it while the other grabbed at her shooting arm.
A quick backhand with her other arm sent the grappler flying, the T-60's hydraulics made her easily much stronger than your average person. The other raider only got off another blast to her chest plate before a laser blast to the head ended him.
This had only taken a few seconds but the sled had made it out of the forest and into view of the village, confident he wouldn't crash the last raider turned out of the driver's seat blaster in hand and was promptly sent flying with a power armour assisted punch to the face.
Sarah, seeing the defensive line falling back and the raiders pushing out of their cover decided it was a great time to test out these strange lasers starting with the mounted gun on the boat.
The raiders meanwhile were advancing out of the bits of cover they'd made to push the attack and were quickly caught out of place by the autocannon tearing into their rear flank.
Paladin Hardin was caught off guard too, but being a trained soldier was quick to put another plan together and quickly sent orders to counterattack.
As the boat slowed to a stop behind the raider positions it made the sentinel an easier target but any round that did find her was simply absorbed by her armour.
Caught between the autocannon fire and a renewed attack from the Brotherhood soldiers, any remaining spirit from the raiders died and they quickly fled all in different directions like rats.
Soon the shooting stopped and the brotherhood knights began to go about checking corpses and the abandoned buildings as their training demanded.
It was two people who approached Sarah Lyons from the village, one decked in power armour, the other in combat armour with the rankings on display.
"A Sentinel" as soon as they saw Sarah's rank they were both quick to salute their senior. "Knight commander Keith Rogan, Sir"
"Paladin Johnathan Hardin, Sir"
"Report" Sarah was quick to order the two
"Ma'am since I woke up two hours ago I followed basic survival protocol and eventually met up with Knight Commander Rogan and a few other knights." there was a pause as he gestured to the man in question. "After that, we followed what appeared to be a road to this village where we saw these raiders attacking, as the ranking member of our group it was my order that we came to their defence"
Sarah nodded and paused for a moment whether the paladin's call was a good or bad one could be decided later. "Paladin Harding as of this moment I'm taking command of this group, understood"
Two quick 'yes ma'am's was their reply.
"Good, Commander secure the perimeter of this village and gather all the bodies in one place outside, secure all weapons and anything of value on the bodies of the fallen, then see to fortifying our position" He left with a salute to carry out the sentinel's order.
"Paladin, since you've been here longer than me do you have any idea where we are?" she asked.
"No ma'am, this place is as alien to you as it is to me, the locals speak English but there's been little time for talk since the engagement started and I haven't been able to read any signage" he motioned to the pole in the ground and with a board with scribbles on it. "I ordered our Scribe, Polk to set up a gathering point in the village centre he should know more than me by now"
The paladin gestured to follow and she did. "Why do you say alien?" Sarah was quick to pick up on the Paladin's wording.
"We'll ma'am some of the villagers aren't exactly human but they aren't mutants or ghouls like anything I've seen" he hesitated for a moment. "It's best you see for yourself"
It wasn't long until the two found themselves in what could loosely be described as a field headquarters. She could see a few knights running about and some of the locals looking at them from the sidelines.
Sarah could indeed confirm that some of the civilians more than qualified as aliens with one blue-skinned female with tentacles on her head coming up to them.
"Mister, mister" the woman spoke in heavily accented English, "shooting stopped, yes?"
The Paladin was the first to respond, having obviously interacted with this woman before. "Yes, all pirates have been driven off for now".
A joyous smile seemed to spread across her face and she turned to face the civilians gathered in the village centre and speaking in a new dialect. As she made the announcement the villagers seemed to alight in joy hugging one another even trying to hug the few knights standing guard by a large pile of crates.
It was then both Sarah and Hardin were swarmed with grateful civilians as the two made their way to the person in scribe clothes taking inventory of the brotherhood supplies they had gathered.
"Where did you get this equipment? I woke up with only my armour and side arm" Sarah was quick to question.
"Found most of it on our way here, scattered and slightly buried, like they had been caught in an explosion". Sarah simply nodded as they proceeded
Hearing two sets of heavy footsteps the scribe turned to address the two and gave a quick salute seeing the Sentinel insignia.
"Paladin Hardin tells me you've been able to interact with the locals more than anyone, anything you can tell me about where we are". Hopefully this time she would get an answer to the increasingly important question.
"Yes we are in a town called Dandore on the planet of Eulea in the Eulea system located within the galactic outer rim of the galaxy." the scribe stated as if such knowledge were common sense.
"That is very specific Scribe Polk"
"The blue lady also known as Tele-ko that seems so fond of you was a veritable goldmine of information the rest of the regular folk seemed timid to our arrival, seems they thought they were trading one pirate band for another" Polk let out a sigh as he watched the town folk begin to celebrate.
"Alas Tele-ko was enough, it seems whatever it was that those outcasts used on the Citadel has sent us far, far away. When asked she knew nothing of the brotherhood, any super mutants or even the United States." taking a deep breath Polk gazed at the sky. "And as it would appear there is absolutely no radiation, no bombs, no wasteland, take a good look, this is the Earth as it was meant to be".
It was at that Sarah decided to take in her surroundings. Green so much green, and a clear blue sky unblemished by Rad-storms and even through her helmet's filter the air was fresher than ever.
It was like something out of a painting, project purity was set to help the capital wasteland ten-fold but this was beyond anything that could have been foreseen.
'Could this be a place like in the fairy tales, green land, blue freshwater a place without want or strife' Her line of thinking was abruptly stopped.
'No the presence of those bandits proved that wrong' she thought, perhaps conflict was human nature and the bombs simply extricated the problem, a thought for another time perhaps.
"You say pirates and not bandits, any reason for that".
"Well that's what Tele-ko called them and by the fact the villagers believe them to possess a starship would seem to agree with that statement".
'Starship!... no that can wait until later, more pressing matters' Sarah was fast to centre herself. "What of other Brotherhood survivors this can't be all of us"
"Ahh yes, I was worried about that but it's a good thing you're here Sentinel, we were able to acquire a long-range transmitter" he motioned to the device in question that had a junior squire maintaining it, "Without the necessary codes I was unable to broadcast on the brotherhoods encrypted channel and thought it would be best to avoid an open broadcast of our location"
"Squire Ruffing if you would," the scribe said, motioning the squire to a diesel generator they had connected to it "At your command and with your clearance code we can begin directing Brotherhood personnel towards us".
Sarah nodded, removing her helmet and gesturing for the speaker, with a quick motion to enter her authentication she could begin the broadcast.
"This is Sentinel Sarah Lyons to any Brotherhood personnel able to hear this. Follow the beacon coupled with this frequency as of now with my authority I'm making this a rallying point." she paused for a moment wondering how to word her next statement. "This is an alien world that we are completely unfamiliar with, use your hostile environment survival training as you go and carry or mark any brotherhood equipment you find. This is a strange place and we may no longer be on earth, but we are brothers and sisters of the brotherhood of steel, show kindness to the innocent and your iron fist to those who oppose us, Ad Victoriam".
A small clapping broke her out of a stupor she didn't know she was in. "Nice speech" Paladin Hardin said with a slight mirth in his voice.
A roll of the Sentinel's eyes was the only response he got.
"I'll go check on the perimeter, leave you and Polk to interrogate the locals" With that the Paladin had his helmet on and was walking back the way he came
Sighing, Sarah made a mental note that it was going to be one of those days.
"Scribe Polk is the transmitter broadcasting the beacon alright", a nod was the response she got, "very well then, I don't suppose you could show me who's in charge of the village"
"That would be the large human with the grey hair" he motioned to one of the larger houses with the most people gathered around "Brajun I believe his name was".
'Time to talk with the locals'
—
It was half an hour later that Sarah found herself still in her armour, helmet off, standing in the living room of the village's mayor with the man himself. "I must admit, I've never heard of the Brotherhood of Steel before though with how big the galaxy is that's no surprise"
The two had been talking most of the time mostly about the current surroundings and the pirate situation. "Your ship must have crashed to leave you all scattered, no?"
"Something like that" She had to come up with some on-the-spot lies to not sound like a complete nutcase. "Speaking of, I have turned this village into an impromptu rallying point for us, we can be self-sufficient as needed, and any misconduct by our men will be punished"
"It's good to see you have a good military structure something the planetary militia lacks" A frown covered his face before he shook it off, "Yes, your people are free to gather here though I can't guarantee housing for you all. In truth, I'd request you stay for a few weeks, those pirates are bound to be back and the Militia nowhere to be seen"
"We'll be more than happy to offer security while we're here, in fact-" Whatever Sarah was about to say was cut off by Knight Commander Rogan stepping into the room.
"Sorry to interrupt Sentinel Lyons but we have spotted movement down the village road" was all that needed to be said before Sarah put on her game face as she proceeded to follow the commander.
It was minutes later the two and Brajun found themselves beside Paladin Hardin watching as down the road came a large group of Brotherhood Paladins, Scribes, Knights and Squires around 40 in all. Some carrying supplies others carrying wounded on stretchers.
The first to approach the perimeter were two in power armour both Paladin commanders, one bearing the Lyons pride symbol.
Sarah knew the armour and weapons immediately, "Paladin Glade, good of you to finally join us". At the mention of his name, he removed his helmet not to reveal a happy or relieved look but one of grief and sadness.
"Glade?"
It was the other paladin that spoke, with their helmet off to reveal an older woman "We came across your transmission and came right here" There was a solemn pause before continuing "But not before we got into a fight of our own, we had managed to find Elder Lyons but during the battle he sustained wounds".
It was as the group of soldiers split could Sarah saw her father on one of the stretchers.
It took only a second for the Sentinel to be at her father's side with absolute shock in her eyes and not a word to say as she looked over her father's still form. She could see the burn marks left by the laser bolts the pirates used, his stomach was hit dead centre as well as his arm and hip.
When she finally snapped out of her trance it was with a loud shout that she ushered the two carrying the stretcher to move to the medical station they had set up.
She stayed with her father right up until the scribes started to prepare what they could for surgery. It was then she felt the heavy hand of her second in command set upon her shoulder.
No words were said, none were needed. They both silently hoped the elder would be ok.