Blood from Vault 18
You trust me… don't you?
Kieron woke up from his slumber as some turbulence made the Vertibird shake. A light was gently flickering in the cockpit making him look around, there was no one awake but him at the moment. Deciding it would be best if he checked it out he moved closer and frowned "Loosing altitude… shit" Kieron muttered to himself as he tried to make heads or tails of what the rest of the screens said but it was to advanced for him. He was no science kid or anything like that.
"Come on there has to be something here to help" he checked the faded words on some of dials and buttons but nothing really had anything to do with landing the darn thing. "I don't want to jump down to the fucking rocks" just when he was about to wake some one else up to help he noticed how one small button near the microphone had something that read "Contact-command" curious he pressed it and prayed that the Vertibird didn't explode.
Nothing happened for a second as the screen simply said 'audio system damaged-searching for other form of connection' and Kieron simply snorted but he felt something move in his pocket. Startled he pulled it out immediately and to his surprise it was the black cube he had picked up back in Pinehaven, from the Enclave supply "Shit" his first instinct was to throw it away but before he could do so he heard the distorted voice of someone speaking as the cube transformed into what he could only describe as an advanced radio "This Eagles nest, distress signal detected, agent do you copy" a distorted voice asked as Kieron bit his lip for a second.
He needed to land the vertibird "This is Patriot, sir the vertibird is losing altitude I need assistance to land it"-"Patriot? Who is your CO?" Kieron gritted his teeth "John Bragg" there was a pause and Kieron was sure that he was going to threaten him or to simply terminate the call but to his surprise the man continued like this information meant nothing to him "Bragg sent a list of his 'patriots' who are you?"
"Kieron Star" there was a long pause as Kieron waited for something "Oh I see, then… here is what you need to do son. The Vertibird is a fine piece of American ingenuity, so obviously it is the most responsive vehicle in the world. Only the best can pilot it, and luckily for you I happen to be the best in what I do" Kieron felt some sweat form on his brow as he held the control. "First thing you actually need to do is visualize where the hell you are actually landing, wont do if you plop down like dumbass on the side of a mountain"
Kieron spotted a dry patch of land near a river "Target spotted"-"Good, then do exactly as I said" it was surprising how precise the process had to be, so for now he turned off everything in his brain but the voice of what he assumed was an Enclave agent. "Cut Power off, the big red button NOW!" Kieron slammed as the Vertibird softly landed on the ground. Kieron exhaled as he leaned back on the chair "Done"
"Great work agent… so before you destroy this thing Kieron I wanted to talk with you" Kieron narrowed his eyes as he grabbed the communicator "You know…"-"Oh we assume, that Bragg and his little project failed. But you were mentioned in the last report, so right now you are our only lead so tell me Patriot. What the hell happened?"
Kieron glared at nothing as he remembered what happened in the vault.
So much lost… so many dead "Bragg destroyed the vault and… triggered the self destruct. He went down along with his sister in a massive mushroom cloud"-"Huh, you know we expected more resistance from you for the information. The United States thanks you for your cooperation. But we also have a proposition"
"There is NOTHING you have to say that interest me!"-"Oh but we do, we would first like to extend an apology. Do not think that we, the Enclave, are all like that. Do you truly think that the only form of government that is left on the world would try to hurt its citizens? REAL americans like you? Come on kid there is more to us than that"
Kieron let out a sigh "You did not leave the best impression, he just… switched and destroyed everything. We considered him someone we could trust"-"Sometimes kid event the greatest agents can make a mistake and one simple mistake can make it so that everything falls apart. I don't know what happened… but let me help you son, you were not made for this world that now stand" Kieron lowered the machine as he thought what to do.
"Can I think about it?" there was a pause as the wind entered the machine and a small sandstorm assailed the vertibird "Sure, be careful out there kid. You are not gonna make it out there if you hesitate to do the right thing"
He let the machine die as he rested on the seat and wondered what the hell was he doing, this was the enemy… right? The Enclave as they have called themselves back in the vault had taken everything from him, or was it just Bragg? It would be so much easier if everything was black and white but sadly that was not how the world worked and he was in no position to deny any help. Someone sat next to him, sparing a quick glance he nodded at Eric "Got up early?"
"Jamie woke up with a nightmare she was having, she went back to sleep… I cant. Then it felt like we had landed and I wanted to check out what was going on, did the machine died?"
Kieron nodded "In a way, we were loosing altitude. I pressed the button again and it landed" why was he lying? He could tell him about the conversation he had with the Enclave but as he looked at Eric the younger teen felt like he could not. Eric was the oldest of them and had been handpicked by Rossman to be a wasteland scout while Kieron was never liked by the higher ups at the vault.
His brother painting him in a bad light with the scientist did not help and as for the overseer he felt like the man had been tolerant because the wasteland kids had been more or less obedient, but when Bragg managed to steer them to his cause maybe then he started to dislike them and by extension him too… and Eric.
"Man, I am glad that it was that simple. So what now?"
Kieron let out a sigh as he leaned back "That depends, in how much of a hurry are you to get to the NCR?" Eric let out a sigh as he looked back at where Jamie was still sleeping. Shaking his head he smiled sadly "I think is our best bet Kieron, but we should not run to it after all who know what rules that nation has, better to have an idea before we ask for help"
"That's something I can get behind. True wasteland scout stuff" he hoped that would lighten the mood but Eric simply snorted "Don't feel like I have been able to live to that legacy in all honesty. You have been acting more like Doctor Rossman and Hail than me" Kieron frowned "Don't talk like that man, I got lucky if it wasn't for… the people I met in the mine we would not be here"
Kieron bit his lip as he fought the weird feeling that blossomed on his chest.
He did not want to share what he had seen down in the mines about himself, the scars told a tale but they did not know how fast they healed. Mandrake had shown him that he was something different and it scared him to show it, would they reject him? Such a childish thought but he could not bring himself to share it, Kieron felt horrible Eric was showing him a vulnerable side of himself and he in turn had lied.
"Kieron we need to be careful, I thought that I would not see her again… that some freak was going to take her away from me and put her in a collar, I cannot let that happen again" Kieron nodded "I agree, we need to put distance with the raiders. Our best bet is to hide with their enemy, they are nation… maybe even get work and move into and work their land"
Eric smiled "A small farm would be nice, we could work together to make it work. Hell maybe even make something like the hydroponics lab we had back at the vault and sell it to the NCR" Kieron smiled as he nodded at the idea. Morning arrived as little by little everyone woke and rummaged trough the loot the raiders had and ate whatever they could find "We are short on water"
Kieron nodded at Kira as she leaned on the wall holding her injured body, the young Vault Dweller moved towards her and placed a finger on his lips telling her to be quiet, gently injecting her with a stimpack "B-but.. these are yours? What about your injuries?" she stared at the whip marks on his chest and the dried blood scattered around his arms and torso "I can manage, don't worry about me"
Deciding that it was time that he inspected the area they had landed Kurtz elbowed Kieron and tilted his head outside "We should check around the area, who knows where the Vertibird landed"
"I saw nothing when I landed this thing" Johnny snorted "Yeah right "YOU" landed this thing that not even the nerds over there can figure it out" Kieron shrugged "I pressed the big red button what can I say" he told his friend (?) as he opened the vertibird and was met by the soft breeze of the plains. He landed on the ground with a soft thud as he felt the dry grass die underneath him.
Looking around Kurtz placed the spear that he had made out of a piece of loose metal he found on the ground "Nothing on this side, nothing but that broken down house over there. I follow your lead"
Kieron nodded as he walked through the grass as he kept an eye for any sort of creature that might want to end him or his friend, but the only thing that he could spot was broken down machinery all over the ground. Centuries old and destroyed by the passage of time, the duo walked further and further away from their broken down ship.
The metallic door to the house stood, but a simple push was all it took for it to fall to the side as it ended its guard of the house after two hundred years "It reeks of mold and decay" Kurtz muttered as they entered the building "But it might be our best hiding spot, go tell the others of what we found, I'll check if there is anything of value on the rooms" Kurtz nodded as he headed out leaving Kieron to his scavenging.
"Where would I hide useful items?" he had never seen a home, only rooms. When you are in the vault, the vault itself was your home but he had read comics and seen the holo-tapes from way back then he remembered holdings his siblings close as they watched La Fantoma, they were scared of the bad guy but Kieron was more fascinated with the large house that the last fight took place.
Things that many took for granted back then seemed so alien to him, moving on that memory Kieron opened the door to the bedroom as he checked for anything that could help them. "Nothing on the nightstand" Kieron talked to himself a lot now he noticed, maybe it was his way of coping with things. Opening the old wardrove he found something that did catch his eyes, a plain black shirt that by some miracle was still in a plastic bag.
Kieron looked down at his bare torso and nodded to himself , ripping the plastic apart and placing the shirt on himself he grimaced as the skin made contact with his bruised skin but it felt great to finally have something that would protect him form the sun. Leaning inside to see what else he could take from the wardrobe he spotted a large duster jacket that even if it had some holes in the sleeves it still looked good enough to be worn and he also spotted a black cowboy hat.
"It would make me blend in better" he told himself and put everything on. Something fell from the pockets of his new jacket making a metallic click on the ground, a small revolver.
Preserved inside the piece of clothing.
Kieron snorted to himself, now he really looked the part. Leaving the room he looked outside as Jenn waved at him from outside, Kieron smiled and waved but in his chest his heart felt as if it was being twisted by an invisible hand. She trusted him… they all trusted him and yet here he was keeping secrets from them.
Using his new hat he covered his from the sun as he stepped back into the shadows.
A/N: I always found it weird how little the Enclave was in the actual mod when I played it. They have an operation going on there we should feel their presence, I want to add them across the story in creative ways and test Kieron against them. Mentally and physically.
Thank you for reading!