The Danse Dilemma

2. Fire Support

Luckily, man's best friend saves my ass, as a feral emerged from behind a rundown car. Dogmeat grabs the feral by the ankle and dragged it away from me before it could rip me to shreds. I quickly grab my 10mm and shoot it in the head. Nasty thing drops dead. I sigh in relief but it was short lived as I heard a man yell in pain.

'Shit!' I yell to myself as I continue to run to the station. Whoever these people are, they need some help.

We rounded the corner to find a well guarded police station getting torn apart by feral ghouls, a strange group in different clothing and one in power armor were fighting the ghouls off as best as possible, but it was easy to tell that they were the losing team. The initial group of people were small, three of them, but only one of them was fighting the ferals. The other was tending to one who had a nasty gash in his side.

"Civilian on the perimeter! Watch your fire!" Yelled the man in power armor as he shot two ghouls that had come from a back alley. Not really having many options left, I ran and stood beside the power suit person and together it was an easy battle against the herd of ferals. It took a lot of ammo but we eventually got all of the ghouls. "We appreciate the assistance, civilian. But what's your business here?" The hairs on the back of my neck jump up and I turn around to find the man in power armor looking down at me. For someone in a heavy machine, he was surprisingly quiet.

'Rude much.' I thought as I starred up at the tall man. "Pest Exterminator. I heard you had a feral problem." I say with sarcasm laced in my voice. I'm not telling this random guy in a power suit to know where I was going and why.

He seemed taken aback, I guess he's never been talked to that way. "Evading my question is a surefire way of getting yourself ejected from the compound. Are you from a local settlement?" The man asked, pulling his lips into a tight line.

'What is this? A police interrogation?' I crossed my arms and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Do all these questions really matter? After all, I helped you fight those ferals." I nudged my foot against the ruined skull of a feral by my feet.

"You make a fair point." He clears his throat. "If I appear suspicious, it's because our mission here has been difficult. Since the moment we arrived in the Commonwealth, we've been constantly under fire. If you want to continue pitching in, we could use an extra gun on our side."

I look past him at the injured man sitting by the front door, the woman attending to his care. The tiny woman looked up at me and gave me a wave. I gave an awkward wave back. I can't just leave these people. If I'm going to help them, I'm going to get some answers. "I'll continue to help, but you owe me an explanation first." I say with a straight face, my arms still crossed.

"Very well." He clears his throat. "I'm Paladin Danse, Brotherhood Of Steel. Over there is Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys." He turns and motions to the two on the steps. Haylen gives me a small wave while Rhys is in to much pain to even look this way. "We're on recon duty, but I'm down a man and our supplies are running low. I've been trying to send a distress call to my superiors, but the signal's to weak to reach them."

"Sir, i-if I may?" Haylen quickly interjects.

Danse turns around to give his full attention. "Proceed, Haylen."

"I've modified the radio tower on the roof of the police station, but I'm afraid it just isn't enough. What we need is something that will boost the signal."

I saw my opportunity.

"Our target is ArkJet Systems, and it contains the technology we need... The Deep Range Transmitter. We infiltrate the facility, secure the transmitter, and bring it back here." Danse explained, as if I already was on the team. "So, what do you say? You willing to lend the Brotherhood of Steel a hand?"

I was just ready to get this over with. I hesitate just to make him sweat a little. I already knew I would help them, get in their good grace's, probably meet their boss, become part of the team. Perhaps I could use the power of the Brotherhood of Steel to help me. "No time to waste. Let's get moving." I said, tapping my foot on the ground as Danse gave a relaxed smile.

"Outstanding." Danse says with a slight grin. I take this time to take in all his details. The scar over his right eye down to his cheek and a small scar within that eyebrow. The thin beard covering the jaw, but what really stood out was his eyes. Pale blue eyes. They look just... just like Nate's eyes. Before Danse could see my shocked expression, he turned to his team to give the next set of orders. "Haylen, take Rhys inside and bind his wounds."

"Yes sir." She slowly lifts Rhys by his arm to help him inside.

"Rhys, once you're on your feet, I want you to make certain that the perimeter is secure." Danse finishes off.

"I'm on it." Rhys grunts out before disappearing into the station.

"Alright civilian." Danse says as he turns back to me. "It's time to prove your worth. Head into the police station and resupply yourself, then let me know when your ready to begin." He gives a nod and heads into the station. My heart lifts at the idea of ammo, it's just as valuable as caps in this world. Without a second glance at the massacre of ferals, I make my way to the stations doors.

I walked into the station, Dogmeat following behind me. It was run down, like every other building, but it had coffee cups everywhere and a few sleeping bags, there was even a personal terminal beside the doorway. Before I make my way to the front desk, I can hear Rhys complaining about her touch being too rough. "Gonna patch me up or what?"

"I don't know." Haylen replies. "Your prognosis looks grim. Might be more humane to just take ya out back and shoot ya."

'Now there's an idea'.

"Your're all heart, Doc."

"Just quit squirming so I can get these bandages on." Haylen commands. Growing tired of hearing him yell at the poor girl, I threw a stimpack at her and she gratefully smiled at me as she injected Rhys with it. He seemed to calm down. For now.

The stranger came in through the doorway from behind the counter, his power armor caused the floor boards to squeak beneath his feet. "Once you're done restocking, we'll be able to talk." He nods at me. I copy the nod and look around for some ammo. Most of the ammo being in the room to the left of Danse. I got enough ammo to fill my pistol and a couple of clips for on the go.

I come back out of the room and find Danse sorting through files and what looked like dogtags? "Paladin Danse?"

He looked up from the files and to me. "Ah miss uh- actually I never got your name?"

"Y/N. Y/N is fine." I told him, he nodded. "What are you doing?" I asked, trying to look over his shoulder.

"Nothing important." He stuffed the files and all the dogtags back in the box and put the lid back on. "Ready to move out?" Danse asks.

'We're not getting any younger.' "Ready." I say, nodding at him and I can see the hint of a smile on his lips.

Danse nods "Outstanding. Follow me and try not to lag behind." Danse grabs his helmet off the counter, putting it on and coming out from behind the counter. We both make our way outside.