A/N: Chapter 100. Can you believe it? I can't. It's a little surreal this has grown into one of the longest stories on this site. It isn't what I intended for it when I started but here we are. I hope you all have enjoyed the journey as much as I have. In celebration, I made a little side-story I'll be posting the first chapter for this weekend. That's for later, though, and this is now. We're fully involved in the catastrophe that is Far Harbor and now we not only have to worry about a plague in the Commonwealth, we have nuclear warheads! It's always something, isn't it? Anyway, leave a review if you're so inclined and, as always, enjoy!

Chapter 100 (!): A Little Nuclear Field Trip

"We still have to figure out if the auxiliary access is guarded", Chase said.

Figure it out? "Unless these assholes are completely inept, it will be", I muttered.

I was standing in Faraday's office with the Courser and Nate. DiMA had provided us with a blueprint of the submarine base and the location of the terminal Chase would need to interface with.

And that's all I wanted him there for. Longfellow, Nick, and Faraday too. This situation was aggravatingly complicated and for no other reason than DiMA didn't want to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Now, instead of a cult with a death wish and a town full of disgruntled but still relatively pacified people, we had a potentially armed nuclear submarine in the mix. DiMA hadn't given any thought to what leaving fanatics with a love for radiation in charge of nukes would mean. That much was obvious without knowing he didn't retain any data on whether the sub was armed, what it was armed with, and whether they'd be able to launch it.

Getting upset with him wouldn't do any good but…

God… fucking… dammit. How careless could someone be?

So once we had the information we needed to put a plan together, I told everyone else to get out. The last thing I needed was more distractions and irritation. We came here to save the Commonwealth from the Institute. Now we're saving it from nuclear warheads.

Chase crossed her arms. "So, how do we get inside without being seen?"

"Your cloaking still works?" I asked.

She frowned, narrowing her eyes.

Are you- "Let's skip the part where you're suspicious and move to the part where you answer."

"Slow down, Damon", Nate said, standing up straight from his position leaned over the desk. "We're familiar with what Coursers can do. Once we get to know each other a little better, I won't mind telling you. For now", he motioned at the blueprint, "I'd like to focus on this."

Chase took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, it works."

"Then we just need an open door and distraction to get you inside unnoticed. You can get to the auxiliary access and let Damon in."

"If we get me inside, why would we risk bringing him in?" Chase motioned at me. "Unless I haven't heard about it, you can't cloak, and you aren't exactly subtle."

"I can be if the situation calls for it. Me being inside adds options if things go sideways. The Children don't know we're working with you so if I'm discovered, they're discovering an outsider. I can provide cover for you to get out if needed."

The Courser's frown turned thoughtful and she glanced up at the ceiling. "That isn't a bad point…" She looked at me, eyebrow cocked. "And you aren't overestimating your ability to infiltrate their position?"

"No", Nate replied. "I've been on the receiving end. He can get damn near anywhere he wants to be."

"We need to figure out how to get you inside", I said. "From what I see, our only option is the dock's main access." My eyes drifted to that part of the blueprint. It wasn't anything special: a concrete structure set into the hillside with a massive reinforced steel door for the submarine on one side and a personnel access door on the other. According to Chase, the Children primarily used, and guarded, was the personnel entrance. There was one auxiliary door beside the large main door but, like I'd said, it would be guarded, too.

Nate put his hands on his hips. "I suppose her walking through when one of them opens the door would be too simple."

"Yes", both of us said in unison.

Chase shook her head. "Too many unknowns. There will be security inside, too and there's always the risk of bumping into someone in a space that tight."

"So we need the door to be open and no one to be walking through…" Nate mused.

"Which likely won't happen. The Children are very careful about their security."

"We need a friendly walking through that door", I said. "Someone it won't matter if she bumps into. And someone who can provide some initial cover. They can't be associated with anyone on the island."

I looked down at the ex-soldier.

His eyes drifted from the blueprint spread on the desk to me. "You enjoy this."

"Right now, no. I'm too irritated to enjoy it."

"Are you saying he figures out a way to get inside the base?" Chase asked. "They only let Children in."

"Well…" Nate frowned. "Looks like I'm joining a cult. Do you know how I'd do that?"

Chase shook her head. "No idea. They don't take in outsiders often. High Confessor Tektus is protective to the point of being paranoid."

"How so?"

"The Children interacted with both Far Harbor and us during Martin's leadership", Chase said. "Not that their dealings with the town were very friendly, especially over the last year or so. Since Tektus took over, they've become entirely insular. No contact."

"Could be because Allen shot the last person they sent to talk with Far Harbor", Nate mused.

The Courser shook her head again. "No- well, yes, that's part of it but their teachings don't help. And, from what I can tell, their organization has grown far more militant recently. It isn't a good mix."

While learning about this cult would probably have some value down the road, my objective was to prevent fundamentalists who worship radiation from gaining control of nuclear warheads.

"We need to move quickly", I said. "If we don't know how they'll react to a new party and our best option is to get Chase through the front door, we should take a direct approach. That suit will keep things from getting too dangerous. Chase is cloaked and running close security, I'm on overwatch. If you get in, we go with plan A. If you're turned away, we figure out a way to break in through the auxiliary hatch. If it goes hot… we might be forced to do this violently."

Chase looked out the office's large front window at DiMA and Faraday who were working on the computer banks. "As much as I agree the Children are a massive security risk and physical threat, fighting our way in and extracting DiMA's memories would make things worse."

"We know", Nate replied. "If it comes down to that, I don't think there's any way we do this besides removing their ability to be a threat."

"Probably." Chase grimaced. "They might be crazy but I don't think they deserve that."

Do other people deserve to have a nuke dropped on their heads?

If the change happened once Tektus took control, he's probably the main issue.

That may be true but eliminating him may not solve the problem.

Maybe. For now, I need to focus on how to do this nonviolently.

I took a deep breath. "Unless they aggress, we can disengage if the shooting starts. Maybe we can do something with Tektus in that case. Limit casualties and get rid of the current leadership. Whatever happens, we'll need to do it quickly once things light off."

Chase nodded. "Agreed. Let's get moving. Faraday showed me how the program functions so…" She took a deep breath. "No reason to wait around when nukes are potentially in play."

It was odd. Every Courser I've encountered has been largely emotionless. Did they change her programming or did this develop independently?"

As she marched toward the office door, I looked down at the blueprint DiMA provided us with one more time. Besides the auxiliary entrance on the south side of the dry dock, there were no secondary points of ingress or egress. That didn't make sense. It would be nearly impossible to evacuate in an emergency. I'd explored several military installations in the Commonwealth. Most of them, like Listening Post Bravo, had hidden alternate exits.

There was more to… it wasn't just the lack of alternate exits, it was the lack of things like ventilation ducting, plumbing, or any other…

Leaning back over the blueprint, I traced the exterior walls with my finger. I'd used unconventional entry methods in the past and a dry dock would have to have more points of entry.

"Wait", I said just as Chase reached the door. "We don't have all the information. We're missing potential options here. There's no ducting, plumbing, drainage, or emergency evacuation routes on these blueprints." Who would be able-

"We need to have Kasumi look at this."

"You think she'd be able to identify what we're missing?" Chase asked.

"Unless you have a more qualified engineer somewhere."

She turned back to me. "We're introducing a security hazard."

"Is it a larger security hazard than you two walking through the front door? Or the fallout of a failure? We can maintain that plan as our alternate if Kasumi doesn't find anything. It's more likely to trigger a violent contingency."

"When you put it like that." Chase shrugged. "She's the most talented engineer I know. We should talk with DiMA first."

We left the office to find Faraday preparing to hook DiMA into the computer bank.

"DiMA", Chase said, "we need to get Kasumi involved. The blueprints don't have everything we need and she's the best person to identify what we're missing."

That request caught him off guard. The old Synth hesitated, looking from his security head to me and back.

"We are already taking on too much risk doing what we are doing."

"DiMA, you gave me the go-ahead to take care of this problem. You promised me, when I agreed to join, if something was a matter of security, you'd let me handle it. The plans we have right now are risky. If you want this to stay nonviolent, you need to let me do my job."

He nodded. "Yes, I understand, but we are not in the business of taking unnecessary risks."

"Consider it a necessary one, then", Chase shot back. "Because it is. With our current information, our best plan is to have Nate join them to get me inside."

"We do not know how one would join the Children of Atom. Especially under Tektus."

"That's exactly the point." She paused and closed her eyes for a heartbeat. "Please, DiMA. Give me the resources to do this right. I understand you want to keep everyone safe; we're trying to do the same thing."

I could almost see the gears turning in DiMA's head as he thought… which may have been a more apt comparison than normal.

"Okay, you may discuss this with Kasumi. I believe Nick and Mr. Longfellow are with her in the basement."

"Thank you", Chase said before nodding to me.

As we marched toward the stairs, I felt DiMA's eyes on my back. What was the old Synth thinking? How was he so bad at this if he'd been around for as long as he supposedly had?

Sure enough, we found Kasumi, Nick, and Old Longfellow in the basement. Kasumi was working on one of the generators in the hall across from DiMA's lab. When we walked in, Nick was, unsurprisingly, talking.

"- you and your grandfather made?"

Kasumi set a panel back in place and began putting the screws in to hold it in place.

"We were working on a project to desalinate and clean ocean water. It would give us an unlimited source of potable water, right from the ocean. Think about it!" She turned from the panel to look at Nick. "We wouldn't have to worry about radiation in our drinking or cooking water anymore! And if we could scale it up- I heard rumors about something like that being done in the Capital Wasteland and figured we could do it here. Well- when I say here, I mean…"

Nick nodded. "I know what you mean." He looked at us as we stopped beside the generator.

"What can we do you for?" he asked.

"Kasumi?" Chase said. "We'd like your help. I'm aware you think DiMA is up to something but, rest assured, he has all of our best interests at heart. We're trying to prevent the Children of Atom from accessing nuclear arms and need you to look at a set of blueprints we have of The Nucleus. We need a way to get inside without being seen and what we have doesn't show ventilation, plumbing, drainage, or anything else like that."

The young woman's eyes went wide. "Blueprints? For what? Nukes? No, you said it's missing- is there a base on the island that has nukes?"

Guess she's interested in helping…

"Yes." Chase nodded. "There's a submarine dry docked in a base on the west side of the island. We don't know for sure but we think it has nuclear armaments."

"So… the simulations in DiMA's computer banks were in case the Children figured out how to blow one up?"

"That's correct."

Kasumi's shoulders sagged as she took a long, deep breath. "Oh. Good, okay. Yes, I'll help however I can."

Nate shot me a quick grin.

I have my moments.

It didn't take long for Kasumi to dive into her task. We got back to the office; she pulled a pencil and notepad from one of her coveralls' pockets, sat at the desk, and began pouring over the blueprint.

She was quiet as she worked, tracing lines on the page and writing notes as she went. After a few minutes, Chase left to talk with DiMA. I was too engrossed by Kasumi's work to pay Synth much attention.

Some people, when they bury themselves in their work, pull others with them. I knew what Kasumi was feeling as she deconstructed the blueprint. Everything else disappeared. She had a task that interested her and was putting her talent to use. The rest of the world could fade away while she worked.

Nate was watching her too. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

The two of us stayed quiet as minutes ticked by, the only sounds were the rustling of paper and the scribble of her pencil. After 15 minutes, Kasumi set her pencil down and leaned back in the chair.

"It looks like you really only have one option to get in if you don't wanna use a door", she said. "I can't know for sure without more complete drawings, but it looks like the ventilation shafts are small. There are a lot of them; none would fit a regular-sized person." Kasumi looked at me, frowning. "And definitely not you."

She waved us forward and we walked up to stand behind her.

"The other two options are the drainage pipes for the dry dock and the fill pipes. From these drawings", she pointed at a spot on the blueprint at the front of the chamber, "I'm guessing this is where they let the water in to flood the docks. It's submerged, so they can let the water pressure do the work. That means there's either a shuttle valve or butterfly valve to keep water from coming in when it isn't supposed to. If this is accurate, this pipe is about 12 feet in diameter, so… unless you're about 100 times stronger than a normal person, you won't be getting through that. Plus, if you did, you'd let water in, and that would defeat the purpose of sneaking in."

She pointed to another spot on the drawing, this one on the east side. "This is where the drainage pipes connect. The opening's only about six feet wide and these ones will have pumps in them. Good news there is they're above the water level since pumping water out is enough work if you aren't trying to do it into pressure. I'm missing some information because there should be a maintenance access room here but this system will probably be pretty standard. An access hatch will be on either side of the pump for maintenance. You can use the one on the exterior side of the pump to get in."

Kasumi turned to face us again. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you where these pipes come out; all I can say is it's the best way in."

Finding the access was something I could handle.

I nodded. "Thanks. We can work with that."

She offered a small, fleeting smile. "I'm just… relieved this wasn't what I thought it was."

Not sure this alternative is better than DiMA planning something.

"I better let you guys get going." Kasumi stood from the desk and hurried from the office, careful to avoid meeting my or Nate's eyes.

… Okay…

"Let's get Chase and get this show on the road", Nate said.

After one more look at the blueprint, I nodded again. Infiltrating a 21st-century sub-dry dock through a drainage pipe. That would be a new one…

X

I wasn't a fan of leaving Nate on his own. It was dumb, I know. He was more than competent, was in a suit of T-60, and had Dogmeat with him.

That being said, we were on an unfamiliar island with new and exciting things trying to kill us next to a dry dock with, potentially, a nuclear-equipped submarine inhabited by a radiation-worshiping cult, and it always seemed like the bad things happened when I wasn't around.

Taking a deep breath, I slipped between two trees about 20 meters from the shore. Chase was on point, another element of discomfort. I'd spent my entire military career either on my own or running point for Fourier's team. Letting someone else do it, someone I only met a few hours prior, felt wrong.

But Chase was more familiar with the island in general and the sub base in particular.

At least, with the exterior.

It was on a short peninsula that jutted out into a large runoff from the ocean. Whether it was time or some effect of the nuclear bombardment, the body of water didn't look large enough to sail a nuclear sub through comfortably. While the murky water made it impossible to tell how deep it was, the passage back to the Atlantic was very narrow. It couldn't have been more than 30 meters wide.

Our best guess was our entrance would be on the west side of the peninsula, where the base's primary door was. We'd run out of treeline once we reached the north end of the water. It faded into a sickly-looking marshland. Still plenty of cover in the uneven, rolling land, but it would be slower to move across.

My eyes drifted back toward where we left Nate for a few seconds, directly across the channel from the base. Our… introduction to the Children of Atom had been interesting.

When we'd reached the spot Nate would watch from, I tried to figure out what we'd be up against. It wasn't easy. The entire area had been covered in lengths of ragged-looking sheets or… maybe flags? They had crude images drawn on them, circular patterns, each centered around a shape.

Both shores had been littered with long-wrecked boats, everything ranging from fishing vessels like the one we'd come up in, to small row boats.

I'd pulled the MacMillan from my back and settled its bipod on the stump. Looking through the powerful scope didn't do much but I'd been able to see down the narrow path in the center. On the other side was-

The dock's entrance.

"Eyes on the door", I'd called quietly.

There were five people around it. Three were dressed in relatively uniform combat armor. It was… odd. Patterns similar to those drawn on the flags were all over their kit. The two others were different, one in what might have been a robe and the other wearing more regular clothes.

While I couldn't be sure, it seemed like they were talking. The one on the left, in the robes, was gesturing. One of the men in armor shook his head. Apparently, the guy in the robes didn't like that. He threw his arms up and stepped forward-

The one on the right pulled a handgun from her hip and a strange green light speared from it to the man's head mid-stride.

It blew part of his head open.

In the next instant, his body tumbled to the ground.

What the hell did I just watch? An execution?

As if nothing happened, the one who'd fired holstered the sidearm and walked past the other three, through the door and into the base.

"One of them just executed another."

"Hmm", Chase mumbled. "Wouldn't surprise me. From what I know, Tektus is… unforgiving. If he suspects someone of nearly anything, it's grounds for exile or execution. Since we haven't seen any Children outside the Nucleus since he took over, he probably leans more toward the 'execution' side of things."

"Guy sounds wonderful", Nate said, his voice once again filtered through the distorted speakers of his helmet.

Chase grunted. "It's one way to keep people in line and minimize the risk of a leak. Make them afraid they'll be the next person suspected of something and they'll do anything to either avoid it or shift the attention to someone else."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Just like you don't want to tell me how you know about my cloaking, I'll keep my past to myself until I know you better."

"Fair enough", Nate replied. "Well, do we want to get this thing started?"

I'd looked from my rifle's scope to Chase. "Now."

She nodded.

Nate could handle himself; I knew that. This cult gave me a bad feeling. It wasn't just the execution. The banners they had flying everywhere, the matching patterns on their armor… and something else I couldn't place. These people were dangerous and, if Tektus created an environment where summary executions of their own were normal and the people went along with it, maybe Tektus wasn't my only target if things went sideways.

Worry about that later.

I turned back to the north. We were less than 100 meters from the end of our visual cover. Chase would be fine; her cloaking would make her undetectable at this distance. I'd have to be a lot more careful.

She'd supplied Nate and me with radios (apparently, they also have secure comms) so we could communicate once inside.

As convenient as it was, I really needed to get the comms in my helmet fixed and tied in. It would make life significantly easier.

When we reached the point where there was more open area than tree cover, I moved further north, away from the water, and down a gentle slope that would hide me from sight. Chase stayed on the same line we'd followed as she faded from view.

Dropping into a high crouch, I kept moving. It had been a long day and the sun would be going down soon. It was low enough to cast long, warped shadows across the uneven ground.

Even if I wasn't feeling any fatigue yet, that would only last so long. My body was still recovering from our escape. It would limit my operational time until I was fully healed.

Chase was good: quiet and knew how to take advantage of her cloaking. I was just able to track her from the barely audible sounds of her creeping along the shoreline and the occasional puff of dirt or imprint in the wet ground.

It was odd; I was using skills I'd been taught and had implemented to track enemies to keep pace with a friendly.

This whole thing was just full of new experiences.

We made good time, reaching the west side of the water less than 20 minutes after leaving Nate. Once we were behind a ridge that rose up above the shoreline, Chase deactivated her cloak.

She looked at me and shook her head. She hadn't been able to spot the drainage pipes on the way in.

I held a hand horizontally, motioning toward the ground, then pointed at where my eyes would be and to the ridge.

Chase nodded and we both dropped to the wet dirt and crawled to our impromptu overlook.

As we neared the edge, I moved far enough south of her, if someone decided to take a shot at me, she wouldn't be at risk but still close enough we could talk quietly. She faded from view again just before we crested the small rise.

"Sweep north of the door", I called, hopefully just loud enough for her to hear.

"Got it", came her reply.

Like the rest of the marshy land around us, the peninsula was largely unremarkable from this side, aside from the massive door that climbed out of the water. This span of water, while not as wide as I'd expect, was at least 300 meters across. It would be tight, but that was more than enough to maneuver a medium-sized submarine in and out of a dock.

The sheer face the door was set in was a mixture of exposed rock and green algae. The Algae extended about two meters up the rock face, likely marking the level of high tide. If Kasumi was right and the drainage pipes were above the water line, they would have to be above the algae.

Propping the Mk18 on its magazine, I set the magnification on its variable optic as high as it would go and began my search. I would have to imagine the exhausts would be close to the high-tide line for the same reason they weren't underwater: overworking the pumps.

Would they be camouflaged? This installation wasn't large, so the military could have been trying to keep it secret.

After a few minutes of scanning, my eyes settled on a spot about a meter above the algae line and 20 meters south of the door. I couldn't tell for sure… but the rock looked irregular in that area. Instead of the normal, randomly patterned face, it felt too regular.

Staring at the area for a few more seconds let my eyes adjust to the harsh light cast by the sun.

… Yes. There were three distinct circles side by side, all within an area that was probably 10 meters across. From this distance, with my low-powered optic's magnification and the sun's glare shining off the face directly at us, it was hard to be sure, but it looked right.

I need to get a monocular at some point.

As I pulled the MacMillan from my back, I scanned the area around our target again. No obvious signs of a patrol.

If these guys were as anal about security as Chase seemed to believe, why wouldn't they have regular patrols?

Settling the large caliber rifle on its bipod in front of me, I peered through its much more powerful scope.

Sure enough, those three distinct spots on the wall were our mark. They had a rough grate over each opening. It wasn't deliberate camouflage; the gratings had just been caked in salt and corroded over the centuries.

"Got them", I said. "2 meters above the high-tide line, 20 south of the door."

I clamped the rifle back to its magnetic strip and began pushing myself away from the crest.

Once I was far enough away, I climbed to my feet and checked the undulating marshlands behind us. It was clear.

Chase settled next to me and deactivated her active camo. "I didn't see any patrols."

"Same", I agreed. "Is that normal?"

"Yeah. Besides the guard at the other door, they try to stay as secluded as possible."

Even if that was the case, I'd rather not take any chances with being spotted.

"How are you at rock climbing?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Better than you in that armor."

Doubt it. "Are you comfortable traversing 200 meters of rock face?"

"It's featured enough. I won't have a problem."

I nodded. "I'll drop into the water and meet you there, then."

"Fine by me."

She turned south and skirted along the ridgeline. I didn't watch her go. I still had to get down to the water. I didn't like the idea of trusting they wouldn't happen to look in my direction…

There were enough irregularities in the shoreline I could find a place to enter the water while out of sight.

It only took me a minute of backtracking to find such a spot. The water had carved a 20-meter chunk out of the damp ground. The pool was deep enough to submerge me if I crawled.

It wasn't lost on me, as I slipped below the murky surface, using water was becoming a constant. Sure, I'd done it before I'd been dropped into the Commonwealth plenty. Back then, I also had the option of inserting from above. Without that added dimension, this was the most readily available unconventional method available.

Good thing my armor was well-made and well-maintained… until now.

If I ever made it back… I'd catch so much hell from Jamie and Mark.

The pool's floor was gummy. My gauntlets sunk into the tacky mud, which tugged at my legs every time I pulled myself forward. After 20 seconds of crawling, I was deep enough to push myself into a low crouch.

This water was dark. I couldn't see more than a half-dozen meters in front of me. My helmet's lights would help, but this shallow would be like sending up a signal flare to anyone looking at the water.

The addition of Mirelurks to the equation only made things more tense. My eyes were constantly darting from rocky outcropping to sunk wreckage as they came into sight. I didn't see where they'd come from when they attacked me last time, so I wouldn't be able to narrow down where to look.

The bad footing and constantly shifting floor made it hard to place my armored boots in the loose slick rocks and sand. Getting to the other side of the channel would be an exercise in patience but, unfortunately, it was still my best option.

As I plodded along the seabed, I caught glimpses of several new types of… well, they were sea creatures of some sort. It was impossible to make out anything besides rough shape in the gloom. There was the normal complement of fish… alongside other, less conventional… things. Strange, long, stringy forms wriggled through the water at the limits of my vision.

It might have been some kind of deep-ingrained instinct sending pangs of unease through my head but whatever the hell they were, they could stay away from me.

I pulled my knife from its sheath. Those things like getting up close and, in the water, a gun doesn't get me much farther than I can reach with a knife.

But I didn't have to deal with any. It took me 10 minutes of trudging along the bay's floor to reach the rock face. Another minute of climbing and I was out of the water, looking up at the grating covering one of the pipes.

Like I'd seen from the shore, it was corroded to the point it might fall out on its own. What wasn't covered in water stains was brownish-red with rust.

Pulling myself up alongside the opening furthest to the right, I braced my boots against the rock face. Right hand on a hold just over my head, I grabbed the grating and yanked.

The corroded metal gave up almost immediately, a sharp snap accompanying it breaking away from the pipe.

With a quick swing, I tossed the ruined grating away from the rock face and it disappeared into the water below, the splash lost in the surf's noise.

Then I stopped and listened.

Nothing besides the sound of waves lapping against the rocks below me and a soft, rhythmic tapping to my right.

When I looked, I caught sight of Chase uncloaking a few dozen meters away.

She was making good time.

I pulled myself into the pipe and my NVS activated to wash away the darkness. It was large, almost wide enough for me to stand upright. About five meters ahead of me was a downward turn in the pipe, no doubt going to the pumps.

The pipe itself was free of corrosion. There were water stains and a lot of silt, but no rust. Unlike the gratings, it must have been made of stainless steel.

At least that meant we didn't have to worry about them collapsing on us.

Looking down the turn, the pipe dropped away at a 45-degree angle, and about 30 meters further in was another grating. This one, like the pipe, was free of corrosion. That would be the pump.

A minute later, Chase climbed into the pipe behind me.

Descending the slope toward the grating without turning it into a slide was tricky. I braced a forearm on the pipe overhead and shuffled my feet forward. The farther down the pipe we got, the less dirty, which meant it got more slick. By the time we reached the grate, it was almost entirely smooth. Climbing back out would be fun…

It was time to see how well those thermite charges held up when they were soaked. The last time I used one was when I'd broken into Listening Post Bravo with Haylen. They weren't hard to make but I only had two more on me.

As I reached into the pouch on my waist, I studied the pipe to my right. There was a seam around a meter-and-a-half square section of the pipe wall. Which side was the latch on?

Without any real tools, there was only one way to find out.

Placing a hand against the right side of the hatch, I pushed. It flexed.

Not there.

I repeated the process around the seam and discovered it was hinged from the top with two latches splitting the bottom into thirds.

One thermite charge against the pipe over each latch and I pulled the igniter on each.

A split second later, the brilliant orange-white of the thermite washed out my night vision. My HUD switched it off and polarized against the glare.

The burn only lasted a few seconds but, when it was over, there were two neat, five-centimeter-wide holes melted into the pipe. Without the glare, my NVS reactivated.

"One click if you're at exfil, two if you need a distraction, three if I need to engage", I whispered.

Chase nodded.

When I pushed, it swung open with a dull groan.

The room past the hatch was just as dark as the pipe. That was a good sign.

Holding the hatch up, I squeezed through and lowered myself onto a steel grating beneath it.

A few tool cabinets were on the wall ahead of me and the pump assembly was to my left. Other than that and the elevated walkway I was standing on, the room was empty.

Chase followed me out and crept over to the steel service door. It was her turn to take lead.

Maybe, one day, I can figure out how to install that active camo into my armor.

A nice thought, and one for another time.

Lowering the hatch, I fell in behind her.

With a slow twist of the handle, I heard the door unlatch, and she started pulling it open. The instant she did, dim light spilled through the crack, and the Courser faded from view.

After, I assume, checking to make sure the hallway was clear, she pulled the door open the rest of the way. I didn't bother hiding; if someone was outside the room, it wouldn't matter if they saw someone or not. A door that wasn't supposed to be open was seemingly opening on its own.

It was empty.

The gentle shimmer that was Chase slipped through, feet almost silent against the concrete floor. At the end of the hall was another steel door. This one had a small window set in it. That's where the light was coming in. I could hear… something outside the door. It sounded like someone was talking.

Loudly.

I followed Chase into the hall and up the the next door. As I neared, I turned the gain on my helmet's audio up.

"- doomed brothers and sisters… and they know it", a voice came through the door. Whatever was past the door was large enough for it to echo. Probably the dry dock.

"The people of Far Harbor need only peer out their windows to look upon the face of Atom himself given form in holy fog. Yet no matter how inevitable atom's reign in this land may be, they deny it scoff at us behind their condensers, kill our missionaries, slay those who only wish to bring them The Light."

There was a short pause in the rant and I could hear jeering from a chorus of other people. This was probably 'High Confessor' Tektus.

"... No longer", the High Confessor continued. "After years of skulking in the shadows like whipped dogs, our purpose is clear, and I know the key to our victory lies within the nucleus itself. We will claim the secrets hidden away by that accursed robot and, with them, we will wipe Far Harbor from the island. Atom's Veil will roll down its streets, holy fog cleansing the land of their heresy, and when we are finally granted Division, it will be as heroes a new day dawn, brothers and sisters. Glory to Atom."

"Glory to Atom", responded a cacophony of voices.

That signaled the end of, what I'd guess was, the sermon and I heard the pounding of footsteps on metal and concrete from outside.

DiMA has no idea how to control these people. They aren't his allies anymore and they clearly want to get access to the sub's armaments. And use them.

The thought DiMA had wanted to stay hands-off with all this going on was laughable. What would have happened if we hadn't shown up when we did? Would he have waited until some sign the Children had gotten access to the warheads? And what would that have been? When Far Harbor had been glassed?

I shook my head.

This brought up another issue: these people weren't looking for peace. Between what Chase had told me earlier, what I saw at the entrance before coming in here, and that, the Children were looking for a fight. Hell, from that speech, these people almost sounded like the goddamn Covenant. Setting off nukes, in this world, was just as bad as them lighting off the Halos.

Berating DiMA for his terrible decision-making could wait. We needed to get whatever information they wanted out before they got access to it.

"Exit is clear", Chase whispered. "We're at the bottom of some stairs; looks like the base of the dry dock is above us."

"Understood."

The door eased open and I watched her vague shimmer disappear up the stairs on the other side.

Slipping through, I settled at the bottom of the stairs and shut the door behind me. They extended up maybe 15 meters, high enough to be above the waterline when the drydock was full.

30 seconds should be more than enough time for her to get away from our entry. If someone did spot me, I'd rather she wasn't close enough to get caught.

While I waited, I listened to the activity above me. People talking, feet on steel, and the clank of doors opening and closing. The only thing I could see through the narrow staircase's exit was a walkway above it.

30 seconds seemed to take forever to tick by. I was relying on someone else to accomplish the mission objective while I played support.

That was new.

Yes, Chase was better equipped to do it than me but… aside from not trusting someone I'd just met to take on a high-risk task, I wasn't used to doing that.

Get over it.

Right…

When I reached the top of the stairs, I realized this infiltration was better than we'd originally thought. The staircase was set against a wall, cast in the shadow of a walkway above it.

Ahead of me, the steel walkway extended to a junction where a half-dozen lanterns were swinging from the ceiling. Someone was on it, their back turned, walking in the opposite direction. They were wearing armor that looked a whole lot like the guy I'd seen at the entrance on the other side of the dock.

I stayed low, only my head exposed over the top of the staircase, until he took a right and disappeared from view.

Once he had, I crept to the top of the stairs and got my first look at the dry dock.

It was poorly lit, which was good for me. Most of the light came from hanging lanterns, like the ones in the intersection. That made it easy to move without being spotted.

The first thing that caught my attention was the submarine to my left. I didn't have much knowledge on the subject so I didn't have anything to compare what I was seeing to. The submarine was long and narrow, at least 100 meters end to end and 10 wide. The thing was cylindrical aside from the conning tower- no, it wasn't a conning tower, that was on ships. A sail? I didn't remember.

It was perched on top of a dozen gantries for support.

The Children had built shacks on every available surface around it. They were sitting on walkways, hanging from walls, and on the dock floor under it. The Children used everything from wood planks to what looked like hull plates. Half of the shacks looked ready to collapse or drop off the walls they were attached to. At the far end, sitting above the front of the submarine, was a large structure built into the back wall of the dock.

There were enough to house… I don't know, probably a few hundred people. Maybe even larger than Far Harbor.

The town was in trouble if this turned into a fight, even one without nukes. How the hell had so many of them gotten here?

That was a question for another day.

Even the dock door was covered in shacks built on and hanging from it and the ceiling.

Most of the activity was around the far end, near where Chase was going, and the large structure was built over the submarine.

I looked up toward the shacks arranged on the dock doors. They extended all the way up to the ceiling. Several of them were secured by the I-beams that made up the frame.

Perfect.

With another quick sweep of the area, I climbed over the railing and shimmed toward the dock doors. There were plenty of foot and handholds in the dry dock's structure and with how dim the area was, I made it to the doors in no time.

Once I was hanging from the door's frame, I paused to study the docks again.

A dozen or so people were milling around the ramp they made onto the sub's starboard side. A few guards roamed the area, each carrying some variety of rifle. I could hear people talking in the shacks to my left. Even if they couldn't see me, I'd have to be careful not to make any noise. I'd be in a good spot for overwatch but there'd be no way to exfil both quickly and quietly from it.

After a minute of looking, I started my climb to the top of the frame. It didn't take long and, between the frame and the shacks, I had my choice of holds.

By the time I pulled myself up onto an I-beam near the top, just over five minutes had passed since Chase left to complete her task.

And my heart was starting to pound. She was on her own, surrounded by people who would definitely be hostile if they discovered her.

While I'm well aware of how effective Coursers are at infiltration and combat, not being the one in that position-

This is something I've already worried about. Leave it alone and do my damn job.

With nowhere convenient to go prone, I leaned against the concrete wall behind me, pulled my left leg up onto the beam, let my right hang down for balance, and propped my rifle on my left knee. It wasn't the most comfortable shooting position, but I'd done worse.

The vantage point gave me a phenomenal view of the dry dock. Even if it was difficult to watch anything directly below me, I could see everywhere else. The position was dark enough, with no lanterns in the area, the risk of being spotted was basically nonexistent.

Then, it was the hard part: waiting.

Unless Chase or Nate signaled an issue or something was obviously wrong, I didn't have anything to do but wait for… something to happen.

Feeling helpless and useless was one of the worst things I'd experienced. I hated it.

It wasn't like I could do anything useful while I was sitting there. Eavesdropping was pointless, with the surf lapping against the door below me and the constant conversations around me, turning the audio gain up in my helmet didn't get me anywhere. It wasn't like when Tektus was shouting his sermon earlier…

So I waited, watching the Children of Atom go about their day. Over the next 10 agonizing minutes, I counted at least 50 unique individuals. Everyone besides the guards was dressed in what I could only describe as ragged robes.

Dammit Chase… hurry up.

Another five minutes ticked by and I saw the guard who'd been standing out front emerge onto the catwalk to my left. He spent a few seconds talking with another guard before both of them climbed a set of stairs so flimsy they probably wouldn't support me and into the main structure.

That's probably where Tektus is.

My first instinct was to figure out the best way to infiltrate it. That's what I was trained and conditioned to do, after all. And, despite the changes I've been trying to make, Tektus seemed like a mark deserving of my talents.

But I didn't have enough information to make that determination.

What? He wants to detonate a nuke.

… Okay, fair. Assassination could be on the table if this fails.

What did it say about me that I wasn't sure if I wanted Chase to succeed?

That I like permanent solutions.

Or that I'm not as far along as I thought.

Probably. It's something to worry about once nukes aren't in play.

A few more minutes dragged by and the two guards marched from the structure. They made their way down the staircase and back out the front door-

My radio clicked once.

A mixture of relief and disappointment fought for control. It was… good Chase had accomplished the mission objective without raising the alarm…

I took a deep breath and scanned the dry dock one more time. The Children of Atom were still milling around the makeshift sanctuary. None of them seemed aware of our infiltration.

It wouldn't be the last time I was here, not with this damn submarine.

Slipping over the member's side, I started my downclimb. Like the trip up, it was quick and easy. As dark as the area was, my only concern was making noise.

Two minutes later, I was back at the bottom of the stairs, crouched beside the door to our exfil.

A few seconds after I arrived, the telltale shimmer of Chase's active camo appeared at the top.

Once she joined me beside the door, I swung it open and we started our return journey.

I couldn't help feeling this wasn't finished. We may have gotten whatever information DiMA had stored out but that didn't mean there were no other ways to use those missiles.

No, a radiation-worshiping cult was in possession of nuclear warheads. We still had work to do.

This was the first step.

X

With time not as critical, we took a wider path around the north end of the bay on our way back. Chase remained uncloaked during the trip.

Reading people, especially ones I'm unfamiliar with, was still near-impossible outside of certain circumstances. Even so, the Courser seemed… off. She was still careful and attentive, moving more quietly than anyone else I've worked with here but her movements weren't as sharp as they had been earlier.

For that matter, I was starting to feel fatigue dim the edges of my own awareness. Even with the rest before coming to Far Harbor, it had been a long, tedious few days.

Before I could think we'd just need to get back to Acadia and the first part of this little trip would be over-

My goddamn radio started receiving.

"- the fuck you doin' out here?"

Chase's head snapped to me as I jerked the handset from my bag.

"Sorry, Allen, I don't think that's your business."

That was Nate's voice.

Shit. I met Chase's eyes. The firm set in her jaw said she was thinking the same thing I was.

Both of us started running.

"Think it is", a different voice said.

We were about a klick from where we'd left Nate and Dogmeat. I could be there in less than a minute-

"Are you good on your own?" I asked.

"Affirmative", she responded.

"I'll meet you at the base of the mountain on that road we used on the way down."

"Do we have to go through the part where you threaten someone in power armor?" Nate asked as I surged forward.

The slimy, uneven ground didn't want to cooperate. I didn't want to risk a sharp change of direction and slipping, so I picked as straight a line as possible toward the trees to our south.

I leaped over a 10-meter wide pool of water, landing in the middle of a small thicket of shrubs, and kept going.

"Unless you wanna start a fight with Far Harbor", Allen said, "I don't need to."

"I don't but you can't force me to do anything. I'm guessing you're here scouting the Children of Atom."

"We got a fuckin' genius."

It took less than 20 seconds to reach the treeline. I had to slow as I did to avoid crashing into the trees. My footing was better as the ground softened which made avoiding them easier, at least.

30 seconds.

"Considering you ain't from the Island, I gotta wonder why you're here. And where are your buddies?"

"I already told you I'm not explaining myself", Nate said. "As for Damon and Nick… well, they're minding their own business."

The dirt under my right boot crumbled as I planted. My momentum tried to carry me down into a shallow ravine. I caught myself on my left before it could and resumed my run.

It was dark enough a regular person would have trouble seeing without some form of assistance. That probably meant Allen and whoever he had with him would be carrying lights.

And they were out at night trying to do a little covert recon.

Seems like everyone wants this fight. DiMA thought he could stop this by being nice…

That was something I could worry about later.

Skirting a large thicket of trees, I saw a gentle glow shining through the trees up ahead.

Looks like I'd been right. I slowed as I drew near.

It wasn't in the same spot we'd left Nate. They were further into the forest, away from the shoreline and the Nucleus.

"Uh huh… I don't like that answer."

"I asked if we can skip the part where you threaten someone in power armor. You don't have anything powerful enough to penetrate it. There's no convenient weakness to exploit with small caliber weapons."

Once I was within 100 meters of the group, I turned my radio off. They were close enough I could hear without it and I didn't need to give my position away.

"You sound awfully confident we don't have anything", Allen said.

Their lights all seemed to be pointing northwest. I widened out to my left, giving myself space for an approach.

"You would have threatened me by now."

I stopped once I was level with the group, about 50 meters east of them. Sure enough, there were 12, including Allen. Each of them had a light. Nate was standing with his back toward the shore, his rifle held at the low-ready in the armor's oversized manipulators. Dogmeat was to his right and slightly behind. He was using Nate as cover…

That dog was too damn smart.

"You told me to skip that part."

My first instinct was, as always, to eliminate the threat. 12 of them, most facing Nate. Only four were scanning the surrounding forest. It wouldn't take long.

… But this wasn't a battlefield. Not yet. Treating it like one would, likely, only make things worse. While Far Harbor wouldn't know who killed their people, they would know they'd gone to scout the Nucleus. They'd assume the Children killed them.

DiMA likely wouldn't be happy with that decision either.

So, as much as I hated to admit it, my best option was probably to intimidate them. They were already unsure of what to do with Nate. Adding myself to that equation would make that indecision worse.

It was a stupid decision. I'd be putting myself in someone's line of fire.

Yeah, that's true. Doesn't make it the wrong decision.

Shaking my head, I slipped between the trees toward the group. Their lights were bright enough, they'd see me once I was within 20 meters. Would it be better to… announce myself before then?

It might make them less likely to shoot at me. If they do that, all bets are off.

"Let's skip the part where you keep this conversation going, too, then", Nate said. "I'll go about the rest of my night and you do whatever you want out here."

"I want to know why an outsider's hangin' around the Children of Atom."

I took a deep breath. Announcing myself. What I was about to do was against everything I'd ever learned. It went against my training and my experience.

This place loves making me uncomfortable.

"And he told you to mind your own damn business", I called as I settled next to a tree just outside of their lights' range.

Every person in the group scrambled for cover, both from Nate and me.

At least they had that much sense.

"So there's the other big bastard", Allen called. "Now we just need your ugly Synth friend and we'll be set."

"I'm a lot less diplomatic than Nate. We're leaving. Don't try to stop us."

They weren't sure where I was. I still had sightlines on six of them, crouching behind trees or in divots. Several of the ones who had happened to take cover from me were still vulnerable since trees weren't great for stopping bullets.

"You want a fight with Far Harbor?"

"Even if that concerned me, I wouldn't have to worry about it. You came here to scout the Children of Atom so if you don't make it back, they'll assume it was them that killed you."

He barked a laugh. "Cocky enough to think you can get all of us?"

"I got within 20 meters of you without your friends noticing. You only know I'm here because I said something. I'm not in the habit of making threats, so you're letting Nate leave and doing whatever you came here to do."

"Allen", someone whispered, clearly trying to keep his voice too low to hear. "I ain't lookin' to fight some assholes in power armor. Let's leave it for now. We ain't got nothin' on them anyway."

"Gotta go with Sam on this one, boss", another said.

"Chicken shits", Allen responded before raising his voice again. "Alright, get outta here. I will be findin' out why you were around that cult's hideout."

Good luck with that.

Nate and Dogmeat backed away to the north, never turning away from the group. For their part, Allen and his people were sweeping their lights through the forest, trying to locate me.

Once the two of them were out of sight, I disengaged and circled toward them.

It only took me another minute to find the pair 50 meters north of the group. In a dense forest, with the Fog and as dark as it was, that took us well out of their sightlines.

They fell in and we started toward our rendezvous with Chase.

With most of my attention occupied by making sure we didn't stumble onto anything we shouldn't, like a Crawler, I didn't have much bandwidth to think about what had just happened.

That didn't mean I had none, though.

As I stopped to scan the still-darkening forest for signs of any threats, I glanced back toward where Allen and his people were.

From the way they talked about venturing out into the Fog, and my experience on the island, coming this far was risky. Allen wanted help dealing with the Children, it seemed like he was determined to start a war.

A war with a relatively large force in a hardened position and access to nuclear weapons.

They weren't equipped to handle a threat like that. We'd been able to get in and out without being noticed but these people weren't me or Chase. It wouldn't be a covert infiltration or assassination if they did something.

We started forward again and after a few more minutes of weaving through the forest, we reached the rendezvous. The road was clear and I couldn't hear any activity around us. Chase would be hiding somewhere either in the woods around us or on the north side of the road.

"Chase, you copy?" I said into the radio.

"I hear you."

"We're in the woods on the south side of the street."

"Were you followed?" she asked.

"Negative. We need to get moving."

"Alright. I'm on the north side of the street, 30 meters uphill from the turn."

"Copy, heading your way."

I stowed my borrowed radio and headed for the prescribed location.

Aside from one run-in with a pair of Gulpers, our journey back up the mountain was uneventful. Between the Fog and the lack of a moon, it was completely dark. Even with my augmentations, it would have been difficult to see more than a dozen meters clearly without NVS. Asking Helen for her armor was turning into a better and better move.

Yeah, I can pat myself on the back later.

Whatever enhancements Chase had, even she struggled with how dark it was. About halfway up the mountain, she asked me to take point. None of us wanted to use lights; that would be a great way to get attacked.

As it was, Nate's pounding footsteps and the sounds of his armor's ancient mechanical systems were enough to put me on edge.

Eventually, Acadia's lights peeked through the forest up ahead and, not long after, we were walking through the observatory's perimeter.

"Damon", Chase said when we reached the bottom of the front steps.

I stopped and turned to her.

The Synth frowned. "You're… well, the rumors I've heard don't seem to do the breadth of your talents justice. We still need to consider the possibility this turns violent, especially with Allen scouting the Nucleus. I can infiltrate their base again if needed…"

"But fighting a force that size is a different story", I finished for her.

She nodded. "You have the Brotherhood, Institute, and Raiders all worried about you. Your help could make a big difference here.

"Our priority is getting to the Institute." I looked at Nate. "We had a week's deadline and this is the end of the second day."

The ex-soldier offered a curt nod. He knew what was at stake.

And… there was a massive personal investment in this mission.

"That being said", I continued before Chase could respond, "the weapons in play are too dangerous to leave alone. If you can't find another solution, I'll- help do whatever needs to happen to remove them from the board."

Chase closed her eyes for a heartbeat and took a deep breath. "You know, I heard a lot of conflicting stories about you on that front. I didn't know what to think. Didn't know, if I ever ran into you, if I needed to be ready to fight."

Nate snorted. "Well, that really depends on who you are and when you met him."

I… couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah." I shrugged. "I try to help where I can but we still have our own objectives."

The Courser nodded. "I get that. You are the Minutemen's Tin Man."

"Damn", Nate said. "Guess that nickname's getting around."

"Yes." Chase looked up the stairs toward Acadia's front door. "I… hope we don't need someone like you but-" She cut herself off. While I could only see the side of her face, her grimace was so intense that's all I needed.

Something told me that wasn't about Allen and his people or the Children of Atom.

I followed her gaze up to the observatory.

DiMA. She found something in his memories she didn't like. And she hadn't known about it before. If she hadn't known about whatever was in there, and it unsettled her, there was no way Faraday would have agreed to let her go if he knew.

Which meant DiMA had been hiding whatever it was from both of them.

He didn't know what was in them either.

True…

This may have gotten a lot more complicated.

Would asking Chase about it be a good idea? Probably not. Whatever she found, she'd only just met us.

The question that I needed answered was how it would impact our mission.

I need to talk with Nate and Valentine. Let them handle it.

Next Chapter: 1/24, Dirty Little Secrets