The American Dream
Dec. 26th, 2010 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aaaaaaaagh_skyThe door closed behind Ellen, and a clock's hands resumed their motion. Not a moment had passed since she'd stepped from the Citadel into Milliways all those days before.
She sat down on the edge of her bunk- well, the bunk, it was only hers because they'd told her to nap here until Elder Lyons was ready- and rubbed at her face with both hands. She was here, alive. Cross was here, unharmed. Fawkes was here- she risked a brief peep through the crack between door and frame to verify that his vast green bulk still stood guard outside. They were waking the Elder somewhere. In twenty minutes they'd be in his office, and she'd be the one reporting to him first. He'd take Cross's statement afterward and he might take Fawkes' for all she knew, but Ellen was very sure that whatever happened in the hours ahead was going to hinge on his reaction to her words.
One hand went to a concealed pocket of her Vault suit, verified the cool cylindrical weight was still there. She'd been carrying President Eden's FEV package with her the whole time. She simply didn't have enough faith in Milliways returning her on schedule to leave it here, unmarked and unwarned. It would be a danger wherever she went with it, sure, but... at least it would be a danger under her control. She didn't dare leave it. Not for an instant.
She leaned back on the bunk, stared up at the ceiling without seeing it.Well, Dad, she thought, you wanted me to make a life for myself. What do you think of this one?
There was no answer, but she hadn't expected one, so she stayed where she was and let her thoughts spin in the dark for a while until the knock finally came at her door.
It was a good while later, and Ellen's voice had developed a ragged edge to it. Elder Lyons sat behind his desk, listening, fingers interlaced and expression solemn. Star Paladin Cross stood at his right hand, having somehow given her statements before Ellen arrived. To his left stood Sentinel Sarah Lyons, her face as grave as her father's. There were others of the Brotherhood present as well, two in the robes of Scribes, the others in the uniforms senior Paladins wore when not in their armor. Under other circumstances, the combined weight of their gazes would have sent Ellen looking for the nearest table to hide under. As it was...
"So the Enclave," murmured the Elder, "finds itself once again leaderless. But a dead wyrm's sting is poison yet."
He leaned forward and picked up the vial of FEV. Ellen had placed it in front of him as soon as they'd ushered her into the room.
"Jameson. Have you got any available manpower at the moment?"
"Sir," said one of the Scribes, a woman with short grey hair, "for this, I'll clear the slates of every member of the Order of the Quill."
"Good. I want this stuff analyzed, countered, and then neutralized. In that order." Lyons shook his head. "Small wonder Colonel Autumn turned against the President at the end, if this is as dangerous as you say. The man's a menace, but I suspect even he had standards."
Ellen thought of Janice Kaplinski's corpse slumping to the floor in the purifier control room ("I suggest you comply immediately, sir. In order to prevent any more incidents"), and said nothing.
"Regardless, we find ourselves in a most peculiar situation. I doubt very much whether the destruction of Raven Rock cost the Enclave all its leaders. You and Star Paladin Cross were able to escape alive. Those who knew the facility better no doubt fled long before you did." He glanced at one of the senior Paladins, a dour-faced bald man not far to his right, and then back to Ellen. "The purifier is not likely to be used for genocide any time soon, but it will form a rallying point for Enclave leadership in the area, and a base from which they'll no doubt strike the instant they're ready."
"We don't have time to let them do that," said Sarah abruptly. "We can take them- send in the Pride, now, before they get their feet under them. We've lost too much time already to let them shore up their defenses any further."
"Sarah, I will not risk everything on a single blow-"
"Father!"
"Unless." Elder Lyons held up his hand. "Unless I am absolutely certain that it will land. I cannot in conscience send the Pride in alone."
They were looking at her. All of them, the Scribes, the Paladins, all of them were looking at her with an unspoken expectation in their eyes. Even Fawkes; she could feel his eyes on her from his place at the back of the room. Ellen had never expected anything else, or thought this moment could end in any other way. Still, it was... oddly difficult to take the extra step forward, to raise her voice and force the words out at a respectable volume: "Sir, I wouldn't ask you to. I need to be part of this."
The Elder's eyes were wide a moment, expression perhaps of surprise or indignation- she couldn't tell. Not until it melted into a look of genuine amusement, a trace of which lingered in his voice as he said, "The offer is appreciated- and accepted, unless I miss my guess. But I had something else entirely in mind."
Ellen blinked.
"Rothchild. Is it ready?"
"What?" said the other Scribe, a balding, brown-eyed man who twitched a little as his attention snapped back to the Elder. "No! I- I mean, Li and I have solved the power problem, but we've only barely finished initial diagnostic tests-"
"So?" inquired the Elder, his eyebrows rising.
"It's not ready for field testing," protested Rothchild. "Let alone live fire situations. The weapons haven't been calibrated, the navigation detection system is offline-"
"Rothchild, enough," said Lyons, cutting off the Scribe's words with a one-handed gesture. "Can you make it work?"
"Honestly?" Rothchild hesitated. "I don't know. I think we can scrape by, and I suppose if we can't, it won't matter in the long run anyway."
"Then it's decided," said Lyons. "Sarah, you take the Pride and use the robot as support. Take our friend here and secure that purifier. Everyone else, dismissed. You know what to do."
As the others filed out of the room, Cross came down to Ellen's side. "Ellen," she said, her voice low and urgent, "I need to talk to you."
"All right, I'm listening..."
"I won't be coming with you and the Pride on this mission," said Cross. "I'm sorry. Elder Lyons asked me to undergo medical examination as soon as this meeting was over."
Ellen opened her mouth to say but you're all right, and then closed it. Unless they wanted to waste time explaining Milliways to Elder Lyons, there really wasn't much choice. "All right," she said. "I can understand that. I'm sorry to lose you, Star Paladin. You've been a lot of help, and a good friend."
The dark-skinned woman smiled. "It's been an honor working with you," she said, and saluted. "I hope we meet again under better circumstances when all of this is done."
Ellen did her best to return the salute- it was a little pathetic, but she tried- and Cross went on her way. Only once the older woman was out of the room did she realize Sarah Lyons was waving at her, trying to catch her attention. "Yes?" she said. "What is it?"
"I know we didn't get off to the best start, back in DC," said Sentinel Lyons, "but... I've been thinking. And talking to Paladin Kodiak, and Paladin Hoss, and my father. The Pride and I have decided that after all you've survived, you've done enough to be an honorary member of Lyons' Pride."
Ellen remembered Alyx asking her once if she was going to enlist with the Brotherhood of Steel, and nearly laughed at the memory. The Pride was supposed to be their foremost strike team, their special forces- this was a bit up from just enlisting... She stopped herself in time and merely offered a smile and a nod. "Thank you," she said. "I'm honored."
"Congratulations, then," said Sentinel Lyons. "Membership comes with some privileges, most of which will have to wait until today is over, but one of them is our power armor. I've gone over the Pride's supplies, and we've got a suit in your size- as well as a suit of recon armor, if you'd rather. Which will you prefer?"
"Actually," Ellen said, "I don't intend any disrespect by this, but... my suit and I, we've been through a lot together. Unless there's a rule against it, I'd be just as happy with what I've got. Can I get the Pride emblem painted on it somewhere, maybe?"
"That shouldn't be a problem," said Sentinel Lyons. "I'll have Gallows do that immediately. So, do you think you can hold it together for this?"
Do I have a choice? was what Ellen thought, but "Yes, ma'am," was what she said.
Lyons smiled. "Now, that's what I like to hear, soldier.Go and get your gear on. We won't be coming back any time soon."
"Ah- one last question," Ellen said, holding up a hand. "There's someone I'd really like to have with me."
"Sure," said Lyons. "Who would that be?"
Ellen turned to where a certain figure had been waiting at the back of the room the entire time. "Fawkes?" she said. "Would you be willing to fight alongside us the rest of the way?"
"My friend," rumbled the meta-human, "once again, I would be honored."
"I see," said Lyons. "In that case..."
Ellen held her breath; given the Pride's experience with mutants, this could go very badly indeed.
"... you'd better go see Quartermaster Durga. You use a Gatling laser, don't you? You'll need to stock up on electron charge packs."
"Thank you, Sentinel," said Fawkes. "Where shall we three meet again?"
"In the laboratory. Be quick about it, both of you. I don't want to miss Rothchild's big reveal."
She sat down on the edge of her bunk- well, the bunk, it was only hers because they'd told her to nap here until Elder Lyons was ready- and rubbed at her face with both hands. She was here, alive. Cross was here, unharmed. Fawkes was here- she risked a brief peep through the crack between door and frame to verify that his vast green bulk still stood guard outside. They were waking the Elder somewhere. In twenty minutes they'd be in his office, and she'd be the one reporting to him first. He'd take Cross's statement afterward and he might take Fawkes' for all she knew, but Ellen was very sure that whatever happened in the hours ahead was going to hinge on his reaction to her words.
One hand went to a concealed pocket of her Vault suit, verified the cool cylindrical weight was still there. She'd been carrying President Eden's FEV package with her the whole time. She simply didn't have enough faith in Milliways returning her on schedule to leave it here, unmarked and unwarned. It would be a danger wherever she went with it, sure, but... at least it would be a danger under her control. She didn't dare leave it. Not for an instant.
She leaned back on the bunk, stared up at the ceiling without seeing it.Well, Dad, she thought, you wanted me to make a life for myself. What do you think of this one?
There was no answer, but she hadn't expected one, so she stayed where she was and let her thoughts spin in the dark for a while until the knock finally came at her door.
It was a good while later, and Ellen's voice had developed a ragged edge to it. Elder Lyons sat behind his desk, listening, fingers interlaced and expression solemn. Star Paladin Cross stood at his right hand, having somehow given her statements before Ellen arrived. To his left stood Sentinel Sarah Lyons, her face as grave as her father's. There were others of the Brotherhood present as well, two in the robes of Scribes, the others in the uniforms senior Paladins wore when not in their armor. Under other circumstances, the combined weight of their gazes would have sent Ellen looking for the nearest table to hide under. As it was...
"So the Enclave," murmured the Elder, "finds itself once again leaderless. But a dead wyrm's sting is poison yet."
He leaned forward and picked up the vial of FEV. Ellen had placed it in front of him as soon as they'd ushered her into the room.
"Jameson. Have you got any available manpower at the moment?"
"Sir," said one of the Scribes, a woman with short grey hair, "for this, I'll clear the slates of every member of the Order of the Quill."
"Good. I want this stuff analyzed, countered, and then neutralized. In that order." Lyons shook his head. "Small wonder Colonel Autumn turned against the President at the end, if this is as dangerous as you say. The man's a menace, but I suspect even he had standards."
Ellen thought of Janice Kaplinski's corpse slumping to the floor in the purifier control room ("I suggest you comply immediately, sir. In order to prevent any more incidents"), and said nothing.
"Regardless, we find ourselves in a most peculiar situation. I doubt very much whether the destruction of Raven Rock cost the Enclave all its leaders. You and Star Paladin Cross were able to escape alive. Those who knew the facility better no doubt fled long before you did." He glanced at one of the senior Paladins, a dour-faced bald man not far to his right, and then back to Ellen. "The purifier is not likely to be used for genocide any time soon, but it will form a rallying point for Enclave leadership in the area, and a base from which they'll no doubt strike the instant they're ready."
"We don't have time to let them do that," said Sarah abruptly. "We can take them- send in the Pride, now, before they get their feet under them. We've lost too much time already to let them shore up their defenses any further."
"Sarah, I will not risk everything on a single blow-"
"Father!"
"Unless." Elder Lyons held up his hand. "Unless I am absolutely certain that it will land. I cannot in conscience send the Pride in alone."
They were looking at her. All of them, the Scribes, the Paladins, all of them were looking at her with an unspoken expectation in their eyes. Even Fawkes; she could feel his eyes on her from his place at the back of the room. Ellen had never expected anything else, or thought this moment could end in any other way. Still, it was... oddly difficult to take the extra step forward, to raise her voice and force the words out at a respectable volume: "Sir, I wouldn't ask you to. I need to be part of this."
The Elder's eyes were wide a moment, expression perhaps of surprise or indignation- she couldn't tell. Not until it melted into a look of genuine amusement, a trace of which lingered in his voice as he said, "The offer is appreciated- and accepted, unless I miss my guess. But I had something else entirely in mind."
Ellen blinked.
"Rothchild. Is it ready?"
"What?" said the other Scribe, a balding, brown-eyed man who twitched a little as his attention snapped back to the Elder. "No! I- I mean, Li and I have solved the power problem, but we've only barely finished initial diagnostic tests-"
"So?" inquired the Elder, his eyebrows rising.
"It's not ready for field testing," protested Rothchild. "Let alone live fire situations. The weapons haven't been calibrated, the navigation detection system is offline-"
"Rothchild, enough," said Lyons, cutting off the Scribe's words with a one-handed gesture. "Can you make it work?"
"Honestly?" Rothchild hesitated. "I don't know. I think we can scrape by, and I suppose if we can't, it won't matter in the long run anyway."
"Then it's decided," said Lyons. "Sarah, you take the Pride and use the robot as support. Take our friend here and secure that purifier. Everyone else, dismissed. You know what to do."
As the others filed out of the room, Cross came down to Ellen's side. "Ellen," she said, her voice low and urgent, "I need to talk to you."
"All right, I'm listening..."
"I won't be coming with you and the Pride on this mission," said Cross. "I'm sorry. Elder Lyons asked me to undergo medical examination as soon as this meeting was over."
Ellen opened her mouth to say but you're all right, and then closed it. Unless they wanted to waste time explaining Milliways to Elder Lyons, there really wasn't much choice. "All right," she said. "I can understand that. I'm sorry to lose you, Star Paladin. You've been a lot of help, and a good friend."
The dark-skinned woman smiled. "It's been an honor working with you," she said, and saluted. "I hope we meet again under better circumstances when all of this is done."
Ellen did her best to return the salute- it was a little pathetic, but she tried- and Cross went on her way. Only once the older woman was out of the room did she realize Sarah Lyons was waving at her, trying to catch her attention. "Yes?" she said. "What is it?"
"I know we didn't get off to the best start, back in DC," said Sentinel Lyons, "but... I've been thinking. And talking to Paladin Kodiak, and Paladin Hoss, and my father. The Pride and I have decided that after all you've survived, you've done enough to be an honorary member of Lyons' Pride."
Ellen remembered Alyx asking her once if she was going to enlist with the Brotherhood of Steel, and nearly laughed at the memory. The Pride was supposed to be their foremost strike team, their special forces- this was a bit up from just enlisting... She stopped herself in time and merely offered a smile and a nod. "Thank you," she said. "I'm honored."
"Congratulations, then," said Sentinel Lyons. "Membership comes with some privileges, most of which will have to wait until today is over, but one of them is our power armor. I've gone over the Pride's supplies, and we've got a suit in your size- as well as a suit of recon armor, if you'd rather. Which will you prefer?"
"Actually," Ellen said, "I don't intend any disrespect by this, but... my suit and I, we've been through a lot together. Unless there's a rule against it, I'd be just as happy with what I've got. Can I get the Pride emblem painted on it somewhere, maybe?"
"That shouldn't be a problem," said Sentinel Lyons. "I'll have Gallows do that immediately. So, do you think you can hold it together for this?"
Do I have a choice? was what Ellen thought, but "Yes, ma'am," was what she said.
Lyons smiled. "Now, that's what I like to hear, soldier.Go and get your gear on. We won't be coming back any time soon."
"Ah- one last question," Ellen said, holding up a hand. "There's someone I'd really like to have with me."
"Sure," said Lyons. "Who would that be?"
Ellen turned to where a certain figure had been waiting at the back of the room the entire time. "Fawkes?" she said. "Would you be willing to fight alongside us the rest of the way?"
"My friend," rumbled the meta-human, "once again, I would be honored."
"I see," said Lyons. "In that case..."
Ellen held her breath; given the Pride's experience with mutants, this could go very badly indeed.
"... you'd better go see Quartermaster Durga. You use a Gatling laser, don't you? You'll need to stock up on electron charge packs."
"Thank you, Sentinel," said Fawkes. "Where shall we three meet again?"
"In the laboratory. Be quick about it, both of you. I don't want to miss Rothchild's big reveal."