Fallout: Origins

Chapter 11: The Boys are Back In Town

      Michael stormed from the Brotherhood base, cursing at himself. He wasn't attached in any way to anyone there, aside maybe Patricia, yet, he felt like he'd belonged there more than with the Enclave. They needed help with their gear, as it was virtually falling apart in their hands. But  he knew that he was stronger, and needed to tell the Enclave about this new enemy. Though their equpment may have been a load of Brahmin shit, they were way better trained than the Enclave and knew the area better, so they needed to be erradicated.

He marched through the forest in the morning, and saw a cloud of smoke in the distance, slightly to the East of the base. Following the smoke, he kept the safety on his plasma rifle off, just in case. He kept moving until the camp was in sight, where he ducked down and surveyed the area. It was empty. Just then, as he was about to move, he heard a gun cock.

"Drop the rifle, asshole." The voice said menicangly.

Michael complied, and slowly turned around, which was followed with laughter. When he turned, there was Jack, with the widest smile you'd ever seen. Jack dropped his gun and extended his arms to give Michael a hug.

"You're a dick, Jack." Michael said while looking Jack in the eye.

"I know. Now stop flattering me, you'll make me blush, sir." He stuck his tongue out at Michael. He motioned Michael to follow him into a bundle of trees about 30 metres from the fire, where there were the rest of Omega squad. Along with a new face and a new uniform, using an outdated rifle.

Michael pulled up his plasma rifle and pointed it straight at the stranger. "Who are you?"

"Careful," Jack said. "You'll never believe who he is."

They told James' story at a fire, over some Pork N' Beans, and some Salisbury Steaks, and Micheal was positively befuddled.

"How the hell did that cryo pod hold up for 200 years?" He asked.

"No clue," James replied, shovelling the beans into his gullet. "All's I know is, most of my team was dead, and the rest were gone. I was the only one left. And I guess that not eating for 200 years while frozen solid builds up a helluva appetite, eh, guys?"

"Wait a sec," Green said slowly, "What was that last thing you said?"

"What, 'guys'?"

"No, you said 'eh'. What does that mean?"

"Umm..." James stopped for a moment. "It was a Canadian thing back before the war. A lot of Americans said it in the midwest. I guess technically, since America annexed Canada, that Americans also said it, but nevertheless. I guess it means 'you know what I mean?', but who knows. It used to be like our culture to say it." Everyone was enthralled when it came to him. He could tell countless stories, and everyone in the Wasteland would want to hear. Better to have Pre-War stories that weren't told by Ghouls every once in a while.

 "Helluva story, Sarge," Michael broke the silence after James explained everything. "But the question is, can we trust you?"

"Depends what you are doing." James said after pausing a moment. "Just because I knew your ancestors does not mean that I worked with them. I worked for them, and hell, I hated what I was doing when it was all done. So if you guys are seeking world domination or some shit like that, count me out."

Michael sat and thought a moment. The Enclave's goal was ultimately to reunite the entirety of America, although their methods were... unothodox. They mirrored the 20th century Nazi's, uniting everyone through aggressive means, slaughtering all who opposed them. This got the Enclave in trouble around 2242, when they lost their main base of an oil rig just off the coast of California. So if Michael really wanted an ally, he'd have to choose his words carefully.

"We're not in it for world domination." He said at last. "We simply want to unite the Wasteland."

"I sincerely hope that's true." James held out his hand and Michael shook it. "But mark my words, if I find out that you people are lying to me, I will finish what should have happened 200 years ago. We clear?" Michael nodded.

"Good. So, what's our current mission?" James looked at Riker.

"We were looking for this guy, truth be told." Jack piped up.

"Me? What did I do?" Michael asked.

"Umm... let's see, you left us for a week without telling anyone for starters, then we found those Raider corpses and saw they were stripped of useful gear, so we knew you were nearby, then we heard that firefight the other day."

"Yeah, that was Raiders too. Killed some Brotherhood of Steel guys." Michael said. Everyone stopped cold.

"Did you... just say 'Brotherhood of Steel', Mike?" Jack said slowly.

"Yeah, they're pretty cool. Why, have you heard of them?"

"Where's the base?" Jack asked coldly.

"Jack, I'm going to say this right now, whatever hard-on you got for killing these guys, drop it right now. I say that these people are good people."

"Oh, really?" Jack pulled out his old PIP-Pad, which was like the PIP-Boy, but more of a tablet, which had a mission report on the screen. When Michael saw it, his heart sank in his chest.

We recieved reports that a new faction, calling themselves The Brotherhood of Steel, has wiped out several of our squads. We recovered the Holodisks on-site for the outposts. The library outpost we established at the library last week was wiped out, and a note was stapled to a soldier's chest, reading 'This was for Elder Wolff.' All units are to open fire on any and all Brotherhood soldiers. You will know them by their T-45D power armor and the odd T-51B models as well.

"Guys," Micheal said slowly, "I know what happened."