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After the Ants
Sep. 17th, 2010 02:26 pmEllen didn’t much care for emerging from Milliways and heading straight into the same running battle with giant ants that she’d left some time ago, but it had one advantage. Star Paladin Cross was far too busy to notice any differences in her appearance, or in the way her supplies and the captured Enclave armor were tied to Jangles’ back. By the time the last ant fell to the ground in charred, broken segments there was so much smoke and blood scattered about that no one short of Sherlock Holmes could’ve been expected to realize anything had changed at all.
“Well,” Cross said as she surveyed the scene, “I suppose we’ll have to find somewhere else to spend the night.”
“Somewhere outdoors,” Ellen murmured. “I’ll take first watch. Somehow, I just don’t feel like sleeping any more.”
Cross made a sound that might have been laughter. “If you insist,” she said, her voice muffled by her helmet. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. Besides, I want to see about getting into the new armor.”
“Mm.” Cross turned to eye the black cerasteel gear strapped to Jangles’ back. “May I make a suggestion?”
Ellen tensed a little. She couldn’t remember whether she’d rearranged the armor properly before leaving Milliways, and Cross had a certain speculative cant to her head that seemed to promise extended questions very soon. “Okay?” she said warily.
“If it does happen to fit you, I strongly recommend that we make an attempt at altering it,” Cross said. “There aren’t very many Brothers loyal to Elder Lyons outside the ruins, but there are Outcasts. And many of them have even less love for the Enclave than we do.”
“… oh,” said Ellen; she hadn’t thought of that. “There’s no emblem. I checked-“
“You’re quite right,” said Cross. “But how many other suits of power armor have you seen in the Wastes? If an Outcast spots you and thinks you’re alone, you’re one head shot away from your suit being taken to Fort Independence without you.”
Ellen winced. One hand went up reflexively to the back of her head. “I couldn’t see a thing in that helmet,” she protested.
“I understand, and I agree with your decision,” Cross said. “The eye design was… surprisingly poor. But even with a helmet, you still make a target. Possibly even more so, since no one can see you’re not an Enclave soldier until it’s too late.”
“Even with you standing next to me?”
“I might be your prisoner,” Cross said reasonably. “Or you might be mine- but that wouldn’t stop the Outcasts from shooting first and apologizing later. If they apologized at all.”
“I thought they were Brotherhood once,” Ellen said. “You said the Brotherhood started from soldiers who revolted because they couldn’t stand how prisoners were being treated. How did they end up like this?”
“How an organization begins, and how it looks two hundred years later, seldom bear as much resemblance as one might like,” said Cross. “When the Brotherhood began, they sought to reclaim as much technology as they could just to survive. And, yes, for the sake of the people around them- and to keep it out of the hands of people who could do the kinds of things they’d just seen. From there it’s only a small step to considering any outsider’s hands the wrong hands, especially in a time when good men turn savage.”
( “After the war, four families survived here. They continued on just like we have. But when their shelters ran out of food, they had to eat something.” )
“From the very beginning, the Brotherhood of Steel has never forced its members to serve against their will. If they disagree with their commanders and their goals they are free to leave. The Outcasts have chosen to do so,” Cross said quietly. “Although if it comes down to it, Elder Lyons’ views now would have made him outcast had he come to them in the west.”
“What?” Ellen exclaimed. “Why?”
“Because the High Elders in California believe that the technology that will triumph over the horrors of the Wastes is paramount to all of humanity,” said Cross. “If the entire world is ever to be saved, they say, it will take everything we can muster. Expending our efforts on any one village, any one group of people- well. I’ve heard it said that any two people can make another human being, but the secrets of making a P94 plasma rifle are all but lost. You can most likely fill in the rest yourself.”
“That’s horrible.”
“You’ll notice,” said Cross, “that we’re here, and not with the High Elders in California.”
Ellen flushed and looked away, muttering something apologetic.
“Accepted. We should put this behind us for now, and look for a spot to rest. I’d like to start for Vault 106 before sunrise.”
“Well,” Cross said as she surveyed the scene, “I suppose we’ll have to find somewhere else to spend the night.”
“Somewhere outdoors,” Ellen murmured. “I’ll take first watch. Somehow, I just don’t feel like sleeping any more.”
Cross made a sound that might have been laughter. “If you insist,” she said, her voice muffled by her helmet. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. Besides, I want to see about getting into the new armor.”
“Mm.” Cross turned to eye the black cerasteel gear strapped to Jangles’ back. “May I make a suggestion?”
Ellen tensed a little. She couldn’t remember whether she’d rearranged the armor properly before leaving Milliways, and Cross had a certain speculative cant to her head that seemed to promise extended questions very soon. “Okay?” she said warily.
“If it does happen to fit you, I strongly recommend that we make an attempt at altering it,” Cross said. “There aren’t very many Brothers loyal to Elder Lyons outside the ruins, but there are Outcasts. And many of them have even less love for the Enclave than we do.”
“… oh,” said Ellen; she hadn’t thought of that. “There’s no emblem. I checked-“
“You’re quite right,” said Cross. “But how many other suits of power armor have you seen in the Wastes? If an Outcast spots you and thinks you’re alone, you’re one head shot away from your suit being taken to Fort Independence without you.”
Ellen winced. One hand went up reflexively to the back of her head. “I couldn’t see a thing in that helmet,” she protested.
“I understand, and I agree with your decision,” Cross said. “The eye design was… surprisingly poor. But even with a helmet, you still make a target. Possibly even more so, since no one can see you’re not an Enclave soldier until it’s too late.”
“Even with you standing next to me?”
“I might be your prisoner,” Cross said reasonably. “Or you might be mine- but that wouldn’t stop the Outcasts from shooting first and apologizing later. If they apologized at all.”
“I thought they were Brotherhood once,” Ellen said. “You said the Brotherhood started from soldiers who revolted because they couldn’t stand how prisoners were being treated. How did they end up like this?”
“How an organization begins, and how it looks two hundred years later, seldom bear as much resemblance as one might like,” said Cross. “When the Brotherhood began, they sought to reclaim as much technology as they could just to survive. And, yes, for the sake of the people around them- and to keep it out of the hands of people who could do the kinds of things they’d just seen. From there it’s only a small step to considering any outsider’s hands the wrong hands, especially in a time when good men turn savage.”
( “After the war, four families survived here. They continued on just like we have. But when their shelters ran out of food, they had to eat something.” )
“From the very beginning, the Brotherhood of Steel has never forced its members to serve against their will. If they disagree with their commanders and their goals they are free to leave. The Outcasts have chosen to do so,” Cross said quietly. “Although if it comes down to it, Elder Lyons’ views now would have made him outcast had he come to them in the west.”
“What?” Ellen exclaimed. “Why?”
“Because the High Elders in California believe that the technology that will triumph over the horrors of the Wastes is paramount to all of humanity,” said Cross. “If the entire world is ever to be saved, they say, it will take everything we can muster. Expending our efforts on any one village, any one group of people- well. I’ve heard it said that any two people can make another human being, but the secrets of making a P94 plasma rifle are all but lost. You can most likely fill in the rest yourself.”
“That’s horrible.”
“You’ll notice,” said Cross, “that we’re here, and not with the High Elders in California.”
Ellen flushed and looked away, muttering something apologetic.
“Accepted. We should put this behind us for now, and look for a spot to rest. I’d like to start for Vault 106 before sunrise.”