Behemoth, Fallen
Sep. 27th, 2010 11:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aaaaaaaagh_skyEllen emerged into the sunlight blinking, with Dogmeat at her heels. Star Paladin Cross merely nodded, saying nothing as the younger woman walked past her. The scene had played itself out plenty of times by now: first the carnage, then the quiet, then Ellen doing her best to arrange the pieces of the dead in something vaguely resembling a respectful configuration. Cross understood doing it for raiders, but even Knight-Captain Colvin, who prayed for the souls of every mutant he put down, didn't take things as far as Ellen did.
Nevertheless Cross waited in silence. There were worse things in the world than respect for enemy dead. And Ellen was usually reasonably quick about it.
When Ellen was finished- no small task given the way the mole-people had managed to scatter the centaur and greenskin parts- Cross raised her voice. "We should continue, I think," she said. "We've spent enough time here today."
"Yes," said Ellen quietly, glancing off into the distance a moment. "I- yes."
"Is something troubling you?"
The younger woman took a deep breath. "You could say that," she agreed. "Star Paladin-"
She hesitated; Cross tilted her head, but said nothing.
"It's about the mole people," Ellen said. "They're... not what you think they are."
Cross raised an eyebrow, although Ellen had no way of knowing that, since Cross still wore her helmet. "Go on," she said. "I'm listening."
"Well." Ellen hesitated. "It's... Star Paladin, do you ever- have you ever read any of the old comic books from before the War? The- not Grognak, but the weird ones, like Drake Tungsten?"
"Not in some time," Cross said, "but yes, I've gone over a few of those in our archives. Why?"
"Because this is going to sound like something out of those," Ellen said. She reached one hand down to her dog before she spoke again. "There aren't any mole people. The only people down there are the ones the Brotherhood already knows about- thieves and raiders and ghouls and greenskins, and the occasional mirelurk hunter or vampire down on his luck."
Cross had some issues with extending the definition of 'people' to include supermutants, but let it slide. "Vampires?" she inquired.
"They're near Arefu. They're not really vampires like in the stories, they're just some very strange people," Ellen said. "They're harmless, but they're not the point. The point is that if there are any mole people down there with a real civilization, I don't know them. Everything in the Metro tunnels is pretty much what you would expect."
"I see," said Cross. "Then I suppose you already know what I'm going to ask next."
"An interdimensional nexus of some kind that I don't really understand but they tell me it's at the end of the universe," Ellen said rapidly. "At the end of every possible universe."
"... come again?"
"I can repeat the words," said Ellen, "and I can put them in any order you want, but they aren't going to make any more sense than that."
Cross found herself wishing there were some way to rub her temples through her helmet. Twenty minutes and quite a lot of explanation later the urge was a thousand times stronger. "I see," she finally said. "Ordinarily I would ask why you withheld this kind of information from me, but I'm beginning to wish I hadn't asked for it in the first place, so I suppose I can't really blame you."
"It wasn't the insanity factor that stopped me," Ellen said quietly. "I mean- that was part of it. But that wasn't the main part."
"No? May I ask what was?"
"Milliways is crazy, but it's real," Ellen said. "You've seen Agent K in action, and you've seen the psykers I've been able to bring with me. You saw Wonder Woman. You know there's nobody in the Wasteland who can do that kind of thing. None of the technology these people have is anything like ours. Star Paladin, Elder Lyons is committed to protecting the people of the Wasteland, but he's still Brotherhood of Steel. When he and the other Brotherhood members back at the Citadel find out about this, they're going to be obligated to try to find the place and claim what they can of its resources. I don't see how Elder Lyons will be able to avoid it, even if he wants to."
Cross thought about it for a while. She had to admit, the current of disquiet with Lyons' preference for people over the tech mission ran strong through the Citadel at times.
"I've never been able to open a door to Milliways when someone else from the Wasteland was near enough to see me," Ellen said. "I've never tried to hold it open for anyone here after I've opened it. I don't know if anyone else here can find the place, or what would happen. But I don't want to see what might happen to the Brotherhood or the Bar if the two sides came into conflict. Too many people would get hurt."
"You have a valid point," Cross conceded. "One that needs more thought to address, I think. I will meditate on what you've told me before any decision is made."
"Thank you," said Ellen.
"You're welcome," said Cross. "And now, that being said, we should be on our way."
Nevertheless Cross waited in silence. There were worse things in the world than respect for enemy dead. And Ellen was usually reasonably quick about it.
When Ellen was finished- no small task given the way the mole-people had managed to scatter the centaur and greenskin parts- Cross raised her voice. "We should continue, I think," she said. "We've spent enough time here today."
"Yes," said Ellen quietly, glancing off into the distance a moment. "I- yes."
"Is something troubling you?"
The younger woman took a deep breath. "You could say that," she agreed. "Star Paladin-"
She hesitated; Cross tilted her head, but said nothing.
"It's about the mole people," Ellen said. "They're... not what you think they are."
Cross raised an eyebrow, although Ellen had no way of knowing that, since Cross still wore her helmet. "Go on," she said. "I'm listening."
"Well." Ellen hesitated. "It's... Star Paladin, do you ever- have you ever read any of the old comic books from before the War? The- not Grognak, but the weird ones, like Drake Tungsten?"
"Not in some time," Cross said, "but yes, I've gone over a few of those in our archives. Why?"
"Because this is going to sound like something out of those," Ellen said. She reached one hand down to her dog before she spoke again. "There aren't any mole people. The only people down there are the ones the Brotherhood already knows about- thieves and raiders and ghouls and greenskins, and the occasional mirelurk hunter or vampire down on his luck."
Cross had some issues with extending the definition of 'people' to include supermutants, but let it slide. "Vampires?" she inquired.
"They're near Arefu. They're not really vampires like in the stories, they're just some very strange people," Ellen said. "They're harmless, but they're not the point. The point is that if there are any mole people down there with a real civilization, I don't know them. Everything in the Metro tunnels is pretty much what you would expect."
"I see," said Cross. "Then I suppose you already know what I'm going to ask next."
"An interdimensional nexus of some kind that I don't really understand but they tell me it's at the end of the universe," Ellen said rapidly. "At the end of every possible universe."
"... come again?"
"I can repeat the words," said Ellen, "and I can put them in any order you want, but they aren't going to make any more sense than that."
Cross found herself wishing there were some way to rub her temples through her helmet. Twenty minutes and quite a lot of explanation later the urge was a thousand times stronger. "I see," she finally said. "Ordinarily I would ask why you withheld this kind of information from me, but I'm beginning to wish I hadn't asked for it in the first place, so I suppose I can't really blame you."
"It wasn't the insanity factor that stopped me," Ellen said quietly. "I mean- that was part of it. But that wasn't the main part."
"No? May I ask what was?"
"Milliways is crazy, but it's real," Ellen said. "You've seen Agent K in action, and you've seen the psykers I've been able to bring with me. You saw Wonder Woman. You know there's nobody in the Wasteland who can do that kind of thing. None of the technology these people have is anything like ours. Star Paladin, Elder Lyons is committed to protecting the people of the Wasteland, but he's still Brotherhood of Steel. When he and the other Brotherhood members back at the Citadel find out about this, they're going to be obligated to try to find the place and claim what they can of its resources. I don't see how Elder Lyons will be able to avoid it, even if he wants to."
Cross thought about it for a while. She had to admit, the current of disquiet with Lyons' preference for people over the tech mission ran strong through the Citadel at times.
"I've never been able to open a door to Milliways when someone else from the Wasteland was near enough to see me," Ellen said. "I've never tried to hold it open for anyone here after I've opened it. I don't know if anyone else here can find the place, or what would happen. But I don't want to see what might happen to the Brotherhood or the Bar if the two sides came into conflict. Too many people would get hurt."
"You have a valid point," Cross conceded. "One that needs more thought to address, I think. I will meditate on what you've told me before any decision is made."
"Thank you," said Ellen.
"You're welcome," said Cross. "And now, that being said, we should be on our way."