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Head Scribe Harper flipped a switch on the control panel and started up the old overhead projector.
The light from its flickering bulb illuminated the dark room where a squad of five knights were brought for their mission briefing. Their eyes looked on in anticipation as the white glow revealed their battle-tested faces, all set with grim determination for the coming assignment. Attached to their squad were two veteran scribes, who were responsible for overseeing the retrieval of many technological artifacts in the past decade. The Head Scribe and Head Paladin introduced to them the documents pertaining to a key component in their construction of the Brotherhood's airships, a component that the retrieval team would be responsible for digging up and bringing back to Landfall.
"This is a photonic shield emitter." Harper explained, showing slides depicting a pair of large bulbous-shaped devices, each lined with an assortment of miscellaneous hardware designed to house and protect the emitter core. "It is patterned after the repulsion devices used by the Commonwealth before the Great War to wall off areas from enemy personnel or to incapacitate robotic entities. This particular model is a prototype, however, that we believe to possess the capacity to provide auxiliary shielding for our airships."
The slideshow shifted to an old map of a region lying close to the Permian Basin, which sat in close proximity to the Corpse Coast. On the map were drawn depictions of a half-covered site sitting in the middle of a sprawling complex built on top of a rocky mountain range. "After careful analysis from our scribe-brethren, recovered intelligence from Pre-War holodisks point to this location as the primary production center of the Commonwealth's experimental emitters. We have reason to believe that the base is a government vault, so it's safe to assume that it will be heavily fortified."
Harper paused as the next slide went blank from the faulty projector's mishap, "Ahem. You'll be dropping in by vertibird transport at the base's outer perimeter. Knights will provide cover for the scribes to gain entry, extract the artifacts then you will immediately fly back to Landfall. Any questions?"
A knight raised his hand, "May I ask something, Head Scribe?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"What opposition should we expect?"
Larsson leaned over his desk, "The usual threats. Sentry-bots, sentry-turrets, maybe some local primitives. However, those aren't the ones you should look out for."
"Sir?"
"Our forward scout teams reported of Dominion activity in the region. It's been confirmed that they're in the process of unearthing every vault in the area along with the artifacts stored within them, which could only mean that it's only a matter of time before they retrieve the emitters well in advance of the Brotherhood."
A senior scribe inquired, "Sir, what if they get to the emitters before we do?"
Larsson put more emphasis on his next words as a reply, "You are not to leave the area without it. Do I make myself clear?"
It went without saying that the Head Paladin wanted them to retrieve the emitters, regardless of the cost or the opposition. This meant that if the Dominion resisted their attempts to extract the artifacts, they had permission to engage.
"Dismissed."
The retrieval team stood up as one, saluted their superiors, then exited the briefing room to head over to the main hangar to get themselves in gear. The hangar housed the skeletons of the airships under construction, and scribe teams worked round-the-clock to put them together. The three ships took up much of the space in the hangar, so most of the vertibirds were brought outside, revealing their growing fleet to the locals of the Permian Basin.
Leading the team was Knight-Commander Reginald Marko, an aspiring soldier in the Brotherhood whose bloodline could be traced to the original knights of Lost Hills. His parents were firm believers of Maxson's creed, and brought the young Marko up to share their zeal for the Brotherhood of Steel along with the second generation they begat in the First Chapter.
Like many gifted young men and women in the Brotherhood, Marko distinguished himself both in training and in active service. He climbed quickly through the ranks, cementing his position as Knight-Commander at the young age of twenty. While his superiors described him as a impulsive operative, it was easy to tolerate his flaws as Marko always came through with satisfactory results in every mission.
He was, like Paladin Danik Brand, the very model of the go-to soldier in any scenario.
As the team suited up in power-armor, Marko could barely contain his excitement. He shared the popular disdain the Brotherhood showed for anyone they deemed inferior in the Wasteland, which pretty much encapsulated everyone they met in the past decade.
But the Dominion was a different thing entirely. Every member of the Texan Chapter had been briefed on who they were and what they were capable of. Most dreaded the day they would have to face them, but for some, like Marko, they looked forward to it. However it would start, the Brotherhood of Steel would make it an explosive introduction.
Once the team finished suiting up, they got onboard a vertibird and headed East.
Along the way, the knights decided to pass the time with some idle chatter. They talked about their misgivings concerning the local communities surrounding Landfall, or griped about their hard-ass commanders. But most of all, they talked about the Dominion.
It was almost always the topic on everyone's minds as of late.
Knight Nance Mckenzie, who unofficially acted as Marko's second-in-command, brought up the subject first. "You heard what Brand and the others uncovered?"
"Gonna have to narrow that down a bit, Kenzie." Knight Felix Timely replied, "There's a lot the Paladin's team uncovered these past few months."
"I'm talking about the Dominion's slave camps. Thousands of primitives working the quarries day in and day out. Sounds awful."
"Forced labor camps, Kenzie." Timely corrected.
"There a difference?" Marko asked.
"Oh yeah, a big one." Timely leaned forward in his seat as far as his suit would allow, "Way I heard it, those primitives were slavers and raiders themselves. If that's true, they got off easy."
"That doesn't make it any better." Knight Hoskins, the team's heavy-weapons specialist, joined in with the conversation. "They'd pretty themselves up with fancy gear and better weapons, but they're no different. The Dominion's just a bunch of primitives with a bigger stick and even bigger delusions. Real soon, we're gonna show them that the Brotherhood's way is the right way out of the apocalypse."
Marko turned to look at Knight Chavez, a marksman recently brought in from Lost Hills and attached to provide support for the team's mission. The sniper kept to himself the whole time he was at Landfall, and had difficulty adjusting to his new life in the Texan Wasteland. Any attempts at forming a connection between himself and his comrades were rebuffed, but still Marko remained adamant in getting Chavez to come out of his shell. The Knight-Commander maintained that a team was only as good as the bond shared by its members.
It was by his recommendation that Chavez got assigned under him. The knight was reluctant, but his obedience to the Head Paladin was strong enough to overrule his misgivings, so he went with him without a word of complaint.
"Chavez, what do you think?"
The sniper kept his eyes on the open terrain outside the vertibird, and answered without turning his head. "I'm afraid I don't have an opinion on that, sir."
"Really?" Mckenzie piped up, "Figured a Lost Hills man like yourself would have plenty to say about primitives."
"They cause trouble, I put 'em in the ground." Chavez replied, "If they don't, they mean nothing to me."
"There, that's better." Marko said, smiling to himself. "Little bit of indifference goes a long way."
"I disagree, Knight-Commander." Veteran Scribe Calhoun spoke up after a long pause in the conversation.
"Of course you disagree, you're a scribe. That's part of the job."
"I'm just saying, the Dominion's a threat to be taken seriously. They've had plenty of time in their hands to expand and hold a significant amount of territory. We're talking about several communities united under one flag, with free reign over a vast array of technologies that they've little respect for the dangers that come with it. We really should've taken steps to reach the territories outside the Basin, we could've avoided all this, now I fear it may be too late."
"We're the Brotherhood of Steel, Calhoun. What can a bunch of primitives do to us that no one else already tried?"
"I think we're about to find out."
The vertibird landed within the old emitter facility's outer perimeter, and the team disembarked to make the long hike up the sandy hills. Marko, Mckenzie and the two veteran scribes were armed with AER9 laser-rifles that were amplified by several personal modifications. Knight Timely, as the team's communications operator, had his suit outfitted with an improved radio system to keep them in touch with Landfall, and carried only a 10mm submachinegun.
Hoskins contributed to a major portion of the team's firepower, as he was tasked with bringing both the minigun and a single-barreled 64mm rocket-launcher. And finally, Chavez was equipped with a Lost Hills variant of the gauss rifle, which came with an additional set of magnetic coils for added penetration.
The team stopped at the crest of the hill so Marko could take a good look around first. He peered through the dust clouds blown from the East and caught a glimpse of distant silhouettes moving along the base of the mountain range. "We've got movement. Six unidentified vehicles, moving within the inner perimeter of the op-zone."
"Roger, reporting in." Timely repeated Marko's report to Landfall, then waited for confirmation. "Knight-Commander, we're good to go."
Picking up the pace, the knights crossed the treaded road cut across the flat desert face. They stopped again after closing a distance of thirty meters, and Marko carefully studied the silhouettes, realizing that they might be Dominion vehicles. Not long after, he spied the ashen eagle painted on one of the trucks and it was all he needed to confirm his suspicions. Dominion soldiers were guarding the perimeter, while the hired help loaded up priceless Pre-War artifacts onto their cargo trucks. Peering in closer, he spotted the shield emitters getting locked up into crates and hauled off with the rest of their bounty.
"Damn it, they beat us to it."
"Sir?" Mckenzie asked.
Marko ignored her, "Timely, inform Landfall we've got Dominion forces on site. Tell them they've got the artifacts."
"Landfall, this is Recovery Team 23. We have confirmed Dominion presence." Timely declared into the radio, "I say again, we have confirmed Dominion presence, and they have the artifacts."
"Copy, 23. Your mission remains unchanged."
The knights, along with the two veteran scribes, exchanged looks of astonishment. They expected it would happen sometime, but they were surprised nonetheless that it was happening so soon. Some part of them hoped that they would arrive on site ahead of the Dominion, and avoid any violent confrontation. It was a small part, but it was enough to make them hesitate.
Then, there was the big part where they wanted it to happen, to finally show the Dominion that they couldn't just take whatever they wanted.
There was no time to talk it over, and Marko wasn't about to waste any effort trying to get their attention. The Dominion had what the Brotherhood wanted, and they were gonna hand it over. Not tomorrow, not next week or the week after that.
Now.
"Alright, get into ambush positions!" The Knight-Commander barked, "Hoskins, ready HEAT and target the lead vehicle. Follow up with the rear vehicle, box them in. Kenzie, you're with me. We're taking the offensive."
"Will do." The knights acknowledged.
"Chavez, provide cover. Timely, keep a lookout for enemy reinforcements."
"Knight-Commander, what about us?" Scribe Calhoun inquired.
"You stay in cover, both of you." Marko replied, "If you get killed in this mission, it's my ass on the line. Move it, squad!"
With the trap set, the knights waited patiently for the Dominion convoy to move out of the old vault and drive out into the dirt road. As the lead vehicle, a Centaur IFV with a mounted 20mm cannon, made a turn, the squad feared they may have set the trap at the wrong place. When they spotted the dust cloud coming their way, they all heaved a collective sigh of relief.
The convoy wasn't entirely made up of Dominion military vehicles. Comprised of four civilian cargo trucks, the convoy was protected by only two Centaur IFV's, which worked well in the Brotherhood's favor.
Marko issued one last order before all hell broke loose, "Watch your fire, don't blow or damage the cargo trucks. We need those emitters intact."
"Relax, I'm a professional." Hoskins replied, rising up slightly to shoulder the launcher properly. As soon as the Centaur came in range, the knight squeezed the trigger and launched the first rocket.
The armored car opened up in a giant ball of flame, then flipped over to its side. The blast killed the entire crew, stopping the convoy in its tracks as the suddenness of the attack caught everyone completely off guard. This allowed Hoskins all the time he needed to load up another rocket and fire at the second Centaur before its gunner could retaliate.
The launcher fired again, punching a fist-sized hole in the front of the IFV and blasting its roof sky-high, with the gunner's torso along with it.
"Move up! Mow 'em all down!" Marko yelled, scrambling up from his hiding place to fill with air with laser-fire.
The Dominion soldiers fired back, but the knights shrugged off their bullets as they approached the trapped convoy. They tried to put up a good fight, but there was only so much they could do against enemies in power-armor. Outgunned and outmaneuvered, with only the flimsy cargo trucks to serve as cover, the Dominion soldiers were easily dispatched within the next few minutes. Their corpses dropped like flies all over the road, leaving the frightened civilian contractors to fend for themselves against the BoS knights.
Two truck drivers bolted and tried to flee through the bushy field, only to find themselves within Chavez's crosshairs. His gauss rifle made quick work of them.
With the fight ending as quickly as it began, the knights poked their way through the battlefield, making sure that there were no survivors before inspecting their cargo. The trucks holding the shield emitters were left still intact, as were the emitters themselves. However, they proved to be much larger than Marko expected.
"Call in our bird." Marko told Timely, stepping back to let the scribes analyze the artifacts. He took one look at the cargo truck, then decided on taking the vehicles with them to Landfall so they could save time and energy. "Actually, scratch that. Inform Landfall that the mission's a success and we're coming home with the emitters."
"What're you thinking, sir?" Kenzie asked.
"I figure we could put these trucks to better use once we've added them to our motor pool." Marko eyed the Dominion eagle, thinking how it would look better with the Cog, Sword and Wings. "Well, once we've put the right paintjob on them, that is."
The knights got into the remaining trucks, then drove off towards the Permian Basin. The vertibird flew overhead, leading the way back to Landfall. Hours later, when the team returned to the safety of the BoS Texan Chapter's walls, they were received warmly and welcomed as heroes. Head Scribe Harper and his fellow scribes were delighted to find that Marko brought the emitters intact, and they resumed work on the airships as planned.
Head Paladin Larsson, on the other hand, took the Knight-Commander aside and had a quick debrief of the mission. "Did you leave any witnesses?"
Marko stood up straight and answered proudly, "No sir, we left no survivors."
"Good." Larsson congratulated, "Very good. You're dismissed, Knight-Commander."
The Head Paladin allowed the team to celebrate their success with some recovered refreshments from the local settlement. Decontaminated beer bottles, and even some Scotch from the Knight-Commander's personal footlocker, were passed around. Pretty soon, the whole mess hall was filled with Brotherhood knights, drinking and trading stories from their many adventures in the Wasteland.
But not everyone shared in their merriment.
Elder Corvinus, even though he had long made his decision, remained unconvinced that he had done the right thing. Larsson noticed his pensive stare when he approached him in his office, and immediately understood his misgivings.
It didn't necessarily mean he agreed with them, "You should be happy, Elder. We've made a statement today."
"A statement, yes." Corvinus acknowledged, "One that the Dominion will not soon forget."
"And if they do forget, we'll just remind them again." Larsson replied, handing the Elder a shot glass of Scotch. "And again, and again, and again. Until they get the message and submit to a power greater than theirs."
"You mistake my meaning, Larsson." Corvinus sighed, taking the glass out of his hands to swallow the burning liquid in one go. "I fear that all we've done today was kick the sleeping giant in the face."
"You're exaggerating."
"And you underestimate them."
Larsson scoffed, "Elder, we're the Brotherhood of Steel. We are more than just one chapter in the desert, and with each passing day we grow stronger."
"So does the Dominion." Corvinus argued, wincing as suddenly felt his chest tighten. He brushed off the feeling, thinking that it was the Scotch. "Tell me, what purpose unites people better than a common goal?"
Larsson shrugged, confused as to what the Elder was referring to.
"An enemy, Larsson. A common enemy, and I fear that we just gave them one."
"Marko left no one to tell the tale. Your fears are unfounded, Elder." Larsson said, disregarding Corvinus' words. He turned to look at the Elder, his apprehension turning to concern as he watched the man clutch at his chest. "Elder?"
Corvinus didn't reply, he couldn't even if he wanted to. The Elder's face grew red and the veins beneath his skin bulged as the pressure built up in his system. Paralyzed with pain, he could only stand with his back doubled over as he trembled like a palm tree in a sandstorm.
"Elder! Someone help!" Larsson yelled, "The Elder's having a heart-attack!"
BoS medical teams hauled him off in a stretcher and rushed the Elder to the clinic, but the Brotherhood couldn't help him. For all their technological prowess, they had neither the medicines nor the auto-docs on hand to stop what should've been a curable disease in the 22nd Century. All those technologies that could've saved him remained locked up in Landfall's vault of recovered artifacts, waiting hopelessly to be used as they were meant to be.
Elder Corvinus died that day, and with him all thoughts towards a diplomatic solution to the war.
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