Chapter 12: Consolidation

The next six months were filled with constant effort. Brian and I traveled to Vault Eighty-One where we met Curie, a robot who had worked alongside Vault Tec to create a miracle cure-all for every human disease. I killed the mole rats which would have later become a problem, and convinced the residents of the vault to help me bring the Commonwealth under control by assisting with crop supplies. In return, they would enjoy resources they needed to keep their vault running smoothly. A few of the residents were grateful enough that they decided to join us.

We returned to Diamond City and collected T'Preea who had been hard at work finding a space for a church. The acolytes had done a fine job of setting up the church so that there were places for worship, teaching, and providing care, food, and supplies to the needy. T'Preea and Mother Isolde had done an excellent job of increasing the Church of Atom's reputation. Good works alongside care and a willingness to help had garnered a large amount of attention. They still had to work against the reputation that the Church had earned over the past several years, but with a new focus on ridding the Wasteland of radiation, people were more willing to give us a chance. T'Preea had managed to work with the mayor to start construction on a stable nuclear power plant which the Church would be happy to run in exchange for tax exemptions.

Mother Isolde was left in charge of the Church at Diamond City after T'Preea, Brian, and I left to go back to the Ala Miraculorum. Brian had been privy to a few more shows of my abilities, but after seeing the vision of my full potential his faith in my level of divinity had grown. His scientific mind opened up to accept the fact that there was room for gods which could bend science to their will. This, as well as his excitement to work on the cure-all which we'd procured in Vault Eighty-One had guaranteed his loyalty. Dozens of members of the congregation were brought to the Institute to begin learning alongside the scientists, and Brian was made their Confessor. He would ensure that the Ala Miraculorum would conform to my demands about changing their instruction manuals and research to reflect the glory of Atom.

During the week or so we'd been gone, some members of the Ala Miraculorum had gone through the trouble of creating a much sleeker set of robes for me. They were a more modern style, and the machine stitching wasn't as intricate as anything I could do, but I appreciated the gesture. Adam had worked alongside them to help ensure that there were correct symbols used, which I liked. It was something different to wear, at least.

Adam had ensured that the work to remove the memories and sentient levels of AI from all synths had been accomplished. There were a number of complaints about this, but the level of excitement about using synth bodies to become synthetic human bodies overcame most of the protests. While I had no intention of ever needing a synth body, bringing that level of extended life expectancy would be enough to get people to join my cause. Coupling the synthetic bodies with the cure-all which the Ala Miraculorum would eventually be able to replicate and mass produce meant that our ability to care for the people of the Wasteland would be unparalleled.

Another project Director Tanner had taken to begin was to focus efforts on radiation scrubbing. Over time, I could easily absorb the planet's radiation, but I wasn't going to complain about a little bit of help. Nor did I wish to discourage the proactive efforts of the Ala Miraculorum. If they wanted to begin starting projects that would help me in the long run, I wanted to encourage them. To that end, I met with the members of the Synth Retention Bureau. They no longer had a real purpose and so I directed them to begin focusing on signal tracking. I knew what kind of enemies we would be facing through the Wasteland, and being able to track their communications to find out where they were coming from would be invaluable. I also brought members of the SRB, along with their Courser units, with me once I was ready to tighten my grip on the Wasteland. Their combat prowess would prove to be invaluable.

We spent a month with the Ala Miraculorum ironing out our plans. They had a better knowledge of the current state of things throughout the Commonwealth, so we planned our conquest accordingly. Mierune's intelligence was growing just as quickly as he was. I had a set of advanced armor made for him and took the opportunity to learn about the advanced materials the Ala Miraculorum could create. This gave me the opportunity to improve the quality of items I could create in the future.

When we were ready to fully enact the plan, we returned once more to Diamond City. Mother Isolde had been wise enough to begin paying for a daily announcement that invited people to visit the Church for any aid they may need. I decided to use this to my advantage and scheduled the day after my arrival to make my announcement.

This time, the old man was more pleased to see me, "Ah. Going to be making today's announcement?"

I smiled up at him, "I am indeed."

"Well, I'm not dead," he said. "I guess that business you had with the Institute didn't pan out for you?"

"Oh, they did," I corrected him as he led me to the chair. "They're working for me now."

"I guess that means you won't be putting another target on my back with this announcement, then," he chuckled.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," I dodged the suggestion.

A few moments later the song that had been playing ended and he pointed at me to let me know I could begin speaking.

"Hello everyone!" I said chipperly. "This is Merida Orodum, High Priestess of the Church of Atom. I'm happy to announce that the Institute is now under the Church's control and you will no longer have to worry about synths. I've put a stop to all of that."

I waited a moment to let that sink in before continuing, "Now that the Institute is a part of the Church, it is now being called the Ala Miraculorum. They will be working on better medicine and ways to care and support for all of you. Remember, the Church of Atom is dedicated to cleansing the Wasteland of radiation and helping anyone in need. So, please, take advantage of our services if you need help."

Another moment's pause before I breached the true subject of my announcement, "I would also like to announce that the Church will begin eradicating all threats to the people of the Commonwealth. This includes gangs, raiders, super mutants, ghouls, and other factions that wish to work against the common good."

"To every raider band or gang in the Commonwealth, I make this offer to you," I said, with as much authority as I could muster in my voice. "Pledge your loyalty to the Church of Atom. Lay down your weapons and be trained to become a force for good in the Commonwealth. In exchange you will be given food, shelter, supplies, and a regular stipend. Those of you who refuse will be rounded up and executed as an example to those who would compromise the safety of the Wasteland."

"You have a period of one week to arrive at Diamond City's gates to relinquish your weapons," I continued. "If you do so, your training and education will begin immediately. For those who do not, and believe you can withstand our might, I will give you the opportunity to witness what will happen should you defy me. In two day's time, I will arrive at Trinity Tower. It is crawling with Super Mutants. You can see how I deal with them, then make your decision."

I altered my voice to be more chipper, "That is my offer to you all. Thank you for listening, and remember to come to the Church of Atom if you are in need. Atom bless you all!"

I put on the next song and smiled at the old man who was staring at me in horror.

"You just declared war on every gun in the Commonwealth on my radio station…"

I chuckled, "Not true. I offered them a peaceful solution. But don't worry! Nothing bad will happen to you. Thank you again for letting me speak!"

Two days after the announcement, I went to Trinity Tower. This was one of the largest skyscrapers still standing in the city. I was escorted by T'Preea, Adam, Mierune in his full set of armor, as well as a dozen Courser Synths. I cleared the roads using the stones to shove all of the debris out of the way and smooth the road in the process. We met a number of gangs and raider bands waiting on the roads near the building. Some laughed at me, some cursed, some threatened to open fire, but after Mierune ripped one such man in half and ate one of his arms, no one else threatened to shoot us. No humans threatened to shoot us, anyway.

Super mutant tribes from all over Boston had heard the announcement and came to reinforce their fellow mutants in the tower. They were already hollering and roaring threats to the raiders and gangs that surrounded the building to watch the show. The bellowing grew silent as we neared the towers and a larger mutant with scrapped together armor bedecked with numerous bones stepped forward.

"Little humans and lizard go away! We waiting for Atom Girl!" it growled.

I craned my head up to look the mutant in the eyes, and dipped into a curtsy, "That would be me. I am Merida Orodum, High Priestess of the Church of Atom. Daughter of Atom, Granddaughter of Mars."

"You Merida?" it laughed. "I eat you with one bite!"

I laughed, "You can certainly try. But wouldn't it be polite to introduce yourself first?"

"No polite!" the mutant yelled. "You die!"

The hulking creature reached for me and I raised my hand, pointing my palm toward it and released a concentrated nuclear blast. The explosion shot forward in the blink of an eye and atomized the mutant from the waist up. The legs quivered in place for a moment before toppling to the ground in an unceremonious heap.

The area around us went deathly silent.

I scowled and turned to look at the criminals that had backed up slightly, "I want you all to watch very closely. The Church of Atom does not suffer super mutants or feral ghouls to exist. They are abominations and a threat to humanity. Anyone and anything that intends to be an agent against the common good of the Wasteland will receive the exact same treatment as I am about to exact on these mutants."

"You kill boss! You die!" came a shout followed by a loud series of cracks from the blown out windows of the tower's first floor.

I felt a sudden punch to my side that forced me a step back. The punch left me winded. I knew this sensation, though I hadn't felt anything like it since my first life. I looked down and found a wet, red spot growing on my robes. One of the mutants had gotten in a lucky shot. Thankfully, adrenaline flooded my system and numbed me to the immediate pain. I gripped my side as T'Preea and Adam looked at me in a panic.

I grit my teeth and lyrium blue light burst from my eyes as I screamed, "You think bullets can stop me you filthy green vermin? I'm a walking nuclear bomb! I'll melt that entire tower down with all of you inside!"

T'Preea and Adam were shoved aside as I roared in defiance and lifted my hands, tapping into the latent radiation around us and within me. I condensed the radiation and forced it to coalesce into a pillar of nuclear fire that encompassed the entire skyscraper. The heat and light forced everyone else away. The blast lasted for nearly a minute before I relented and allowed the energy to dissipate. When the blast ended, the building had been melted down into a massive slag heap.

My eyes still burned with lyrium fire as I turned to look at all of the terrified raiders and gang members, my voice a pained growl, "And before any of you get the bright idea to try and shoot me… watch carefully!"

I ripped open my robe to reveal the bleeding bullet wound. A soft green magical glow surrounded my hand and I pressed my palm to the wound. With full access to my magic once again, I could use my healing spells. The wound closed quickly and I could feel the internal damage mending itself after a few moments. As the damage heeled, I summoned another pair of wings of radiated light.

With the pain gone, I glared at the gathered crowd who stared at me with a mixture of terror and awe, I called out, "I will let those of you who are here leave peacefully and think over your decision to join me or not. However, if you wish to swear your loyalty here and now, we will let you live and begin incorporating you into our forces."

Nearly everyone who had come to watch swore themselves to me that day. Those who didn't ran away in fear. I had the new forces clear out and repair several blocks worth of buildings where they could be housed. I took the next few weeks to grind them all into a cohesive fighting force. There were a lot of bad habits to break. Drug addiction, bad relations, blood feuds, and more had to be worked through. I trained them in traditional warfare tactics, as well as combat tactics from my first life. Marching, drills, combat practice, indoctrination into the Church of Atom, as well establishing a rank system for them.

By the time I thought they were ready to serve in combat they were turned into a respectable military force that I had dubbed the Impius Mille; the Wicked Thousand. There weren't quite one thousand of them. There were only a few hundred, but that didn't really matter. We began to expand into the Wasteland from Diamond City. We killed every remaining raider or gang member left in the Commonwealth over the course of a few weeks. No conversions were accepted, no mercy allowed, no quarter given. Acolytes of the Church of Atom traveled with us to offer aid to people who the defiant raiders had been a threat to.

In the end, the Commonwealth was brought under my control. Things were being slowly consolidated and coming into line when news of something terrible reached us. Sanctuary, and the entirety of the area I had contained with the stone wall… had been destroyed.