Afton and Sandra still hadn't completely recomposed themselves when the convoy was ordered to start moving again, Christine had to follow orders and so left them to rejoin the front, albeit reluctantly.
Zachary did all he could to encourage them, but Sandra was still looking particularly pale when they started walking. Afton himself didn't really know how to feel about the situation, he was still disconcerted at having watched a man's head explode, and he felt some sort of incongruity...
Regardless of his feelings on the matter, the convoy advanced, fortunately it seems one man dying instantly while achieving nothing was enough. It took a couple of days of stopping, making camp and then carrying on again, but this gave Afton the time to rationalise what'd happened.
He'd ended up talking about it to Veronica, Christine, and his mother, it was good that he had, because they all gave good advice... Well, apart from Veronica who just wanted to beat him up for feeling bad about it. Musclehead.
Eventually the convoy was able to see a large mountain with some sort of satellite dish placed atop it, Afton had checked the radio to see if it was broadcasting anything and was surprised to find it was actually inhabited by super mutants.
They seemed to be relatively peaceful, which was completely contrary to what he'd been taught in his classes. He knew from Fallout 3 that super mutants could be intelligent, but hadn't thought it'd be enough to create a peaceful community with.
He relayed what he'd learned to his father who frowned upon hearing the news, "Super mutants? Here?... Didn't think any would've made it into the Mojave... I'll let the others know and we'll decide at a later time how to deal with it, might even be able to bring you along depending on if you get tall enough to wear your Power armour." he says, patting him on the shoulder.
"They're broadcasting to attract any stray super mutants, if we leave it too long their numbers might get too big to handle." Afton explains, not entirely sure it'd be moral to wipe them out.
"You concentrate on your studies and we'll concentrate on keeping you safe, with how you acted after seeing a man die, I don't think you want to enter a war so soon... Trust me." his father explains.
The convoy continued for another few days before they were told to set up a defensive perimeter around a raised position. Their destination was nearby but had apparently attracted unwanted "flies", Afton could see the build Elder Elijah wanted, it was a huge factory looking place.
Behind it was an incredibly tall spire which was for some reason surrounded by mirrors, all pointing at the top of it. He'd like to get a better look as curiosity was killing him, but they'd have to clean out the raiders who'd set up camp first.
Around the facility, the damaged remains of robots that'd previously been defending and keeping the place tidy were littered everywhere. A few corpses of the raiders appeared to be lying around as well, telling the story of a grim battle fought... Unfortunately for them, they were squatting in the Brotherhood's new base.
Head Paladin Mcnamara, Paladin Hardin, and his father all readied their squads before moving in, none of the Initiates were allowed to join this battle, as the hallways would make it far too easy for the raiders to get a lucky shot off. Additionally, the had no idea what traps they could've lain...
Afton kept watch around the convoy as sounds of guns, lasers, and screams travelled out from the building. It only took thirty minutes before ragged-looking people starting fleeing from the building. Some Knights and Initiates in the convoy were taking potshots at them, but all seemed to be missing... Afton wanted to make sure they'd not start spreading information that the Brotherhood of Steel had set up shop here, but when he aimed at the young men and women who were only a few years his senior, he wasn't able to force himself to pull the trigger...
The sounds of death stopped, but it took another hour for the place to be scoured to see if anyone else was hiding, they did apparently find some as the couple discharges of a Gauss rifle could be heard, making it clear that no mercy was tolerated.
Afterwards, the Knight and Paladins slowly streamed out of the facility, all looking no worse for wear. They all gathered below the hill as Elder Elijah went to address everyone, "Brother, sisters, today begins a new opportunity for our Chapter, while the NCR have taken Hoover dam, they do not know how much they have lost in the process... I promise you all taking this facility instead of the dam was the smarter choice by far. Those that doubt me will see their error soon enough, this place is called Helios One, and once it is operational again, I will show you the true meaning of power." his voice travels over them.
Afton had to admit, this singular speech held more emotion than he'd ever seen the man exhibit before, in the past eleven years. The uncomfortable shocked silence from the man's sudden charisma slowly gave way to restrained clapping.
The Elder was clearly pleased with the response he'd gotten, as no on had ever reacted positively to him acting publically before...
Afton turned towards Helios One, from what he could tell, it was a solar array... Sure it was impressive it was able to produce a good amount of energy, but he didn't think it was valuable enough to trump the worth of the Hoover dam...
The Elder was playing a dangerous game, Afton had no doubt that the NCR would soon find their location... The position wasn't an easily defensible one, and would be difficult to fight against multiple angles...
Hope you bois like the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
With the raiders now gone the Brotherhood slowly made their way inside Helios One, the Knight and Paladin's had already checked it over for traps, which allowed the Scribes to go mental and do whatever they like.
They'd already requisitioned what looked like a control room, someone's voice echoing through the building as a young Scribe spoke into the intercom... Apparently, they hadn't realised it was working and had said some embarrassing things that they'd not soon be allowed to forget.
Afton had to assist with carrying the half-disintegrated bodies of the facilities previous inhabitants... They were all dumped into a large pile a good distance away from the building before being set ablaze.
He couldn't help but notice the ages of the raiders, it seemed that Head Paladin Mcnamara, Hardim, and his father hadn't shown mercy, even to the children of the raiders. The youngest was around eight to ten years old, half their face had been reduced to ash by what could only be a laser weapon. It was a grim reminder of what could've happened to himself had he not been fortunate enough to reincarnate in his current situation.
Some wanted to bury the bodies as a sign of respect and regret for their deaths, but in the end they were burned to prevent predators, and potential diseases from becoming a problem. Afton still hadn't shrugged off his previous worlds sensibilities, so he was finding it hard to digest just how indiscriminate the Brotherhood was at removing threats.
When he asked his father about it the man just gave a shrug, "The moment they raised a weapon against us is the moment they sealed their fate. I might not like it, but there's no other recourse, its kill or be killed out here son, a moment of hesitation could mean your end."
Afton felt like his fathers feelings on the matter were actually the minority opinion, so he went to ask Paladin Hardin what he thought... "Anywho don't follow the Codex's axioms are no friend of mine, our role is to safeguard humanity against themselves, regular people don't know what responsibilities they have, they are only concerned with their own struggles. So, dealing them a swift end is a mercy, the alternative is letting them out into the Mojave...
Those raiders, they don't have any skills or ability to survive without causing harm to others, its better they die at my hands instead of in a ditch someone after ransacking a settlement." he explains his view, a pragmatic and unempathetic argument that Afton couldn't really find faults in.
"But, what about the children that were killed?" he asks, wanting to find out where Hardin stood on that particular matter.
"As I said, its a mercy to kill them. Their parents didn't teach them how to survive properly, and in turn would only die of starvation, getting eaten, or continuing to raid. Had we let them live, and assisted in getting them to a nearby settlement, they'd still likely hold a grudge against us... I'm not in the business of making enemies, only ending them." he states.
After his talk with Hardin he'd began walking back through the facility to his room, but ended up walking into Head Paladin Mcnamara... He'd ended up asking the man about his own position on the subject,
"I'm not like the others Afton, I think we could be a little less strict with how we deal with our enemies... The raiders we faced today stood no chance against us, our armour and overwhelming firepower saw to that. I had tried to intervene when the slaughter of the younger raiders began, but it was a lost cause when they started taking up their parents firearms and retaliating."
He looks around the hallway as if he was about to give a big secret before leaning down and speaking quietly, "I think we could do a lot of good for the wasteland, unfortunately, the Codex strictly forbids it. I'm sure you've learned of what had been happening in the Capital Wasteland, I imagine that group has been eradicated by the Brotherhood due to their insubordination...
As Head Paladin I have many responsibilities that are hard to fulfil, but the one I feel is the heaviest to bear is the one I've placed on myself... You are not wrong in that we could have done something for those children, but there's nothing that can be done. All we can do is try to make decisions that'll have the most merciful outcomes, the Elder wanted this facility, so everyone inside had to be eradicated... But in my capacity as Head Paladin, I can sway the Chapter in the direction that'd be more beneficial for everyone." he explains, clearing remorseful over what'd been done to the children living here.
Afton nods, "I see, thank you for you time sir." he says and gives a nod before beginning to walk away.
"Ah, and Afton." Mcnamara's voice causes him to turn, "Let's keep this chat to ourselves, you know as well as I that questioning the Codex is... Not regarded well."
"Don't worry sir, I'm very aware of that." he says with a knowing look and finally leaves.
It'd taken around three weeks to completely clean the facility, there was trash everywhere and the raiders that'd previously been inhabiting the place weren't worried about tidying up after themselves. Afton wouldn't put it past those savages to shit on the floor just because they felt like it.
He was honestly started to agree with Hardin the more he saw inside Helios One, the raiders hadn't just gone around stealing food and supplies, no, they'd been kidnapping people... Specifically women and children, what for? You can use your imagination. They'd even been writing plans for their next raid on the walls with the blood of their victims.
Afton regretted not following everyone else and taking potshots at the surviving raiders, the despicable bunch of cunts deserved everything that came to them.
Hope you enjoyed the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
If you like my content or wanted to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT