Hardin had been on watch many times before, but never in a place as beautiful as this. He allowed himself to be absorbed in the landscape as the sun settled behind the mountains while still aware of his surroundings.
Like Head Scribe Rothschild had asked he had assembled his new squad minus Walsh who was still recovering. Alongside him, he had chosen to take Viking squadron as his contingent of knights.
They had set out nearly two days ago with the village convoy consisting of Brajun the village mayor, seven other villagers and nearly a dozen beasts of burden that looked like very hairy brahmin.
A smile came to Hardin's face remembering the trip so far. Eulea was a far cry from the capital wasteland, it was so full of life and the wonderment on the faces of his brothers and sisters had shown.
On the first night the convoy had stopped, they had set up camp near a river. Years of conditioning from the harsh radiation-filled wasteland were thrown for a loop as the realisation that the water was safe. That night Hardin found himself reprimanding two knights from Viking squad as they went for a swim.
On the second day of travel, they had entered some mountains and not soon after mid-day, they had been set upon by rain which only got more torrential as they continued. He had voiced his concern to Brajun about returning to seek cover in the forest they had left but the mayor had assured him that there was a place to rest further into the mountains.
And low and behold they had found themselves in what Hardin would describe as a small weathered out military bunker. He had sent the knights to get dry while he and his squad maintained watch.
So here he was, staring out at the twilight mountains as the downpour spattered against the bunker walls.
A flash of white followed by a crack of thunder indicated that a storm was above them but Hardin took solace in the fact that it wasn't a rad-storm.
"Certainly is wild out there tonight hmm". Hardin turned to look at Brajun as he approached from his side.
Hardin undid the latch on his helmet and took it off, setting it aside. "I've definitely seen better weather that's for sure".
The portly man chuckled as he sat next to the paladin, and joined him in staring out into the dusk. A ruffle caught Hardin's attention and he turned in time to see Brajun take out a strange blue plant and use a small knife to cut into it, revealing a pink inside and offering him a slice.
He took it and studied the strange fruit for a moment before shrugging and taking a small bite. It was after a few moments of chewing that his face scrunched up as his taste buds filled with sourness.
"Hahaha, I've been told Broog fruit is an acquired taste". He took a bite of the fruit and made a similar if much more controlled face.
Hardin finished chewing and couched a few times. "Could have fooled me".
The two then chuckled again letting silence settle again for a minute as another flash of thunder washed over the mountains outside.
"Say, I've been meaning to ask". Brajun turned his attention to Hardin. "What is this place exactly? It looks a hell of a lot different to your settlement and well a lot older too. Back in the uhhh–... back home we're used to dealing with ruins and the like, and this place looks to me a lot like a military installation".
"Yeah, you pretty much hit it on the head with that one. As far as the stories say these used to be a military outpost a very, very, Very, long time ago, well before even my great grandfather was born".
"Who did they belong to?"
"Could be the republic, could be some other faction, we never cared to find out. There are a bunch of places like this scattered all over the planet, there's even a big town settled around one of them a few weeks north of here. But they're mostly used as waystations, a good place to stop on a journey and big enough to handle plenty of people".
Brajun stood and moved closer towards the door to outside. "We keep 'em maintained, nothing fancy just enough to stop the walls from caving in. What they were used for and why they're here, to us is just not important. But if you ask me whoever thought to put them here was either an idiot or using 'em for some kind of political money dump".
"There's nothing here on Eulea; nothing to see, nothing to guard, nothing to protect. We're right slap bang in the middle of nowhere". Brajun turned to face Hardin. "And that's just fine with us".
Another flash and this time the room shook slightly as the sound of thunder rolled through them, they both turned to look out the door but soon turned back to face one another.
"So what about you?" Hardin raised an eyebrow. "Where are you from, you all seem like fish out of water, like it's all new to you".
Hardin bowed his head slightly. There had yet to be any kind of address either by Sentinel Lyons or Rothschild on what to say. Between the rank and file, there was an unspoken policy of keeping tight lips but so far to his knowledge, no one had asked. Letting out a long sigh, Hardin decided a little bit of the truth was better than nothing for the people who they were protecting.
"It is all new". This earned a curious look from Bajun. "Earth, that's where we're from, specifically a little place called the capital wasteland. As the name would tell you it's not a pretty place, the whole world torn asunder by war leaving not much of anything left. Most of us grew up in the ashes, coming here none of us have ever seen so much green, so much life".
"I see why you'd leave, but why come here of all places".
"It's not like we were given that much of a choice". Hardin left the man to come to his own conclusions about what that meant.
"Not the first time I heard that". Brajun chuckled for a moment. "I'll tell you something though. We're all damn glad you arrived when you did, can't imagine what those bastards would have done if you hadn't".
"Just doing what's right sir".
Brajun stood with a smile on his face and handed Hardin the rest of the fruit as he passed. "Goodnight Paladin, we'll be reaching the city tomorrow".
Hardin too, let a smile onto his face before turning back to his watch and wincing slightly as he took another bite of the strange fruit.
—
"You ever imagine you'd end up like this". Paladin Lukas looked up to his squadmate Knight Commander Harper walking over to him followed closely by Knight Captain Jules.
"What, do you mean landing in a place that'd give the Garden of Eden a run for its money?" Lukas had been a paladin for a good while now, he was no stranger to the less than normal aspects of the wasteland.
Jules sat opposite him and placed her helmet at her side. "That's true but uhh… we were thinking more along the lines of this whole 'squad' situation".
"Ahh… that". Suffice it to say that when they arrived on this world, they had all been a bit disoriented. Lukas hadn't seen the few members of his squad that he knew were alive at the explosion at the Citadel.
He had been cleaning his weapon in his assigned bunk when Hardin had come by and requested him for an urgent mission. He had accepted and soon found himself with Hardin and four other Brotherhood members, all of them found and brought together at random.
Harper, like himself, was Brotherhood born and raised. What little of her squad that was alive after the assault on Adams air force base, had died at the outcast attack on the citadel.
Jules was a wastelander, among some of the earliest to join up. She had only recently made Knight captain and this was her first experience in a paladin squad.
Berger and Walsh were close and Lukas could see that Walsh's absence was felt by Berger on this mission. They had been part of a squad but hadn't seen any of them since the explosion.
Hardin had briefed them on their mission and they had spent the next two hours going over the execution. And not long after this newly formed hodgepodge of a squad was assaulting a spaceship.
"What about it?".
"Well, Jules and I were talking and she mentioned how she knew Hardin from when he was a knight". Harper leaned against the wall trying but hesitating to continue.
"What exactly is your question, Harper".
"What Harper means is that he's been a paladin for only around a year. He's a good leader don't get me wrong but we're just wondering why he's squad leader and not you, you've been a Paladin for going on five years now".
Lukas let out a sigh, this wasn't the first time he'd been asked this. "You're right he is a good leader just as I'm a good second in command". The two Knights looked at him with confusion. "We all have our strengths and weaknesses, we should play to our strengths and trust our brothers and sisters to cover our weaknesses as we do the same for them".
"I can lead a squad, I can get a squad from A to B and overcome any obstacle in between. Even discounting my time as a knight, my four years as a paladin have given me a lot of wisdom, I've seen many good leaders and bad ones." Lukas let his memories fill with the many people he had served under.
"The one thing all of the best leaders share is a kind of spark, a certain look in their eyes and he has it". He looked at his squad members with determined eyes. "The only thing he lacks is experience and all that takes to fix is time".
"I have no problem serving as his second, no problem doing my duty. Trust him and trust me when I say he'll lead us just fine". He met the eye of both of them. "Understood".
"Yes sir".
—
"So let me get this straight, this place has wizards as well. Like Grognak the barbarian wizards".
"No not like that-".
"Because spaceships and space aliens I can handle. But I draw the line at space wizards".
"Listen, when she was telling me the story she was very adamant that these people exist".
"Yeah sure these Jedahs or whatever".
"Jedi that's what they're called".
"So she claims".
Hardin turned out the bickering of the knights, if this had been the DC ruins he would have told them to button up before their noise got them shot but there was no imminent threat so he'd let them talk for now.
He along with Knight Captain Jules, Berger and a few members of Viking squad were in the head of the convoy with Paladin Lukas at the tail end.
He had sent a few knights forward as they were coming up on a hilltop that according to the villagers, they would be able to see Wasulta from.
"Paladin Hardin we have a visual of the city sir and it sure is a sight to see. But uhhh…"
"But what Knight".
"We're picking up radio chatter. Brotherhood radio chatter, it's faint but it's there".
Silence was Hardin's only reply as he put together that his secondary objective just got a lot clearer. "Understood, I'll be joining you in a second".
"Jules, you take the lead here and continue at pace". Hardin pressed his radio on. "Berger, fetch Senior Scribe Francis and bring him up to the hilltop".
The Soldiers responded with affirmatives and Hardin moved to meet up with the forward scouts. It was as he crested the hill he saw the city of Wasulta for the first time. It was huge, there was no other way he could describe it. He didn't know if it was bigger than DC simply because he'd never looked at it from above.
The city sprawled out into the distance, to Hardin the sea of buildings was its own kind of beautiful, distinct from the life filled forests they had been travelling through. He could even make out spaceships taking off and landing from somewhere on the far side of the city.
"Paladin". He turned to see scribe Francis and Knight Captain Berger had caught up with him and as they approached they too caught sight of the city.
Hardin let the two gawk for a moment. "Sure is a sight". He said, mirth clear in his voice.
"I suppose we'll have plenty of time to look at it later". Francis was the first to snap out of it followed soon by Berger. "Now what was this about a Brotherhood broadcast".
Hardin saw one of the forward party approach them, the knight snapped to salute before speaking. "Sir, we moved up the road to see if we could get a better signal".
"Show us knight".
The group of four soon joined the scouting party and gathered around a knight with a radio backpack. Scribe Francis in a fluid motion put on the connected headphones and began fiddling with the dial on the pack.
"Hmm, it's a patchy signal, it's likely they don't have access to a long range transmitter beacon so we couldn't have received anything from them and neither would they from us before coming here".
"What are they saying?"
"It appears to just be standard communications". The scribe flicked a switch. "Here listen".
It was quiet and spotted with interference but he could just make it out.
"*Kssshhh station two report".
"This *Kssshhh two reporting no activity from the main road *Kssshhh".
"This is on brotherhood frequency". Hardin asked.
"Yes sir". One of the knights answered. "We also heard them mention about a paladin before you arrived".
Hardin nodded and thought for a moment. "Alright, Scribe Francis, would they be able to receive a radio transmission from us".
A nod was his answer.
—
Star Paladin Cross' brow furrowed, to say that she had been having a hard few days would be putting it mildly. There she was shooting at Brotherhood outcasts then all of a sudden she was lying face-first in a field of grass.
What she thought was just a radiation induced fever dream was shattered after only a few hours of walking; she was nearly blown off of her feet by what she now knew was a spaceship coming in for a landing.
Eventually, she had found other brotherhood members and they had started to get organised, now they had set up on the outskirts of a city nearly the size of the ruins the brotherhood had been fighting the supermutants for.
The abandoned warehouse they had set up was convenient enough for them and allowed them to keep an eye out for anyone approaching them. That wasn't to say things had been easy as the near hundred or so brotherhood personnel had little but the clothes on their back and the few supplies they could find lying about.
Things only got worse when what Cross guessed was local bandits decided to come and see who had set up in the warehouses and decided to fire on the first brotherhood patrol they saw killing two knights and wounding another.
Retaliation from her brothers and sisters had naturally been swift and efficient but had stopped when they fled into a more urban area. This had led to a few nights of hit and runs where a few shots would be fired but nothing more.
As the ranking brotherhood soldier, she had taken command of the group and had organised a defence as best as possible. It was what came next that led to her current indecision.
Cross' group so far only had around thirty paladins, fifty or so knights, another hundred scribes and even a few lancers. She was sure that couldn't have been all of the brotherhood, they had to be out there somewhere.
What she wasn't sure of was how to proceed; either A, send out scouting parties to the surrounding mountain areas, or B, make contact with the local populace and perhaps use their resources to locate other Brotherhood members.
Neither option sounded great to her but it was clear a decision needed to be made.
'Elder Lyons was always better at this than me'. Cross sighed and let her head hang for a moment. 'Where are you old friend, and what would you do?'.
"Star Paladin Cross". An initiate came barreling into the room and she simply raised an eyebrow. "There's someone on comms".
"Who?"
"He's on our channel and he claims to be a Paladin".
The initiate is nearly trampled as Cross hastily exits the room with him following her not long after.
She arrives at the designated comms room at the same time as Paladin Vargas. As she approaches a scribe hands her his headset and she puts it on.
"This is Paladin Hardin of the Brotherhood of Steel". She hears the faint voice of the paladin and hope flashes back into her eyes. "To those using this channel. Identify yourselves".
"This is Star Paladin Cross, it's good to hear from friendlies".
She looked to her side and saw Vargas, with his own headset, send her a smile.
"Star Paladin Cross!" the voice exclaimed. "Sorry ma'am we just didn't expect… nevermind what's your status".
"We're mostly green here Paladin. We've managed to base ourselves a little way outside the city in an abandoned. We're a hundred and eighty in number and other than a skirmish with local bandits we're undamaged. What about you, what's your location, we'll come and pick you up".
"We're good here too as for where we are uhhh… Hold one".
The atmosphere in the room was one of joy, to cross there was nothing like knowing your brothers and sisters were in good order.
"From our scribe's estimate we're about 20 kliks out from the city, we're approaching from the west and our escort says we should arrive by sundown".
Confusion comes to Cross. "An Escort who are you escorting?"
"We're escorting a local caravan to the city, that's our primary objective. Our secondary is to look for other brotherhood personnel".
The room fell quiet as the Paladin's words were digested.
"Are you saying you're a detachment of a larger group?"
"Yes ma'am, last I heard we had accounted for over seventy percent of brotherhood personnel, looks like you're among the last missing people".
The room was filled with elation as the soldiers in the room began to cheer and laugh. It was over the joyful noise of her comrades that she asked one last question and the silence she received afterwards drowned out the whole room.
—
Knight Captain Gallows kept his rifle trained down the road waiting patiently for any movement along the weathered mountain road.
As a stealth specialist, he had naturally been selected to lead the furthest venturing scouting parties, though only of the city outskirts so far.
So when news came that a message had been received from brotherhood soldiers not of their own and soldiers from a larger group at that. Star Paladin Cross had radioed for his squad to find them.
So here he sat, on a small incline watching down the road that headed west into the mountains, the most likely path such a group would take.
"Knight captain Gallows any movement down the road".
"No ma'am, nothing yet". The star paladin and a squad of others had joined him not long after his scouts had set up an overwatch.
"Something ain't right". Gallows looked to his spotter, giving him a long glance before turning back to his scope. "She seems a bit too antsy".
"Mmmmhmmm". Gallows intoned.
"What… you know what I mean. Star Paladin Cross, the very picture of cool and composed, chomping at the bit to see these guys". He looked at Gallows expectantly, receiving nothing for his trouble. "All I'm saying is that it's off".
Despite giving no outward reaction Gallows found himself agreeing with the man, something was afoot. But Gallows was an expert of playing by ear, he'd know when he'd need to.
"Movement". he called out and his spotter was looking down his own scope instantly.
"I don't-... oh wait there it is". It was a few seconds before the figure came into view. "That's definitely-".
"Brotherhood". Gallows moved and pressed his radio on. "Star Paladin we've got movement down the road and they're unmistakably brotherhood".
"Understood Gallows". The radio cut off and he was free to witness the rest of the procession come into view.
A squad of paladins and a squad of knights all in various positions around a caravan of beasts of burden and the locals walking alongside. He could even make out a few scribes.
He let a small smile creep onto his face. Reuniting with the rest of the Lyons Pryde was something reassuring to think of.
He watched through his scope as the Star paladin stepped out into view of the caravan and after a short exchange, weapons were lowered and greetings were made. The lead paladin took his helmet off and began to converse with Cross and even from this distance Gallows could see her body lock up and tense.
Soon she seemed to snap back and her helmet came back on and she began to shout orders to the brotherhood soldiers.
"Knight gallows we'll be moving this caravan back the way we came. I want you and your team moving ahead of us". Her order came through the radio and no sooner had she hung up than Gallows on her feet and prepping to move out.
He turned to his spotter to see he hadn't moved and was simply looking at him, an uneasy expression on his face.
"I know, I saw it too". Gallows answered his unasked question.
"Right, yeah of course" his spotter said slowly grabbing his gear.
"Let's get moving". Gallows clasped his hand and pulled the man up."We'll find out soon enough".