Chapter 44: Calm Before the Storm

February 1st, 2278, Brotherhood scouting patrol near Old Olney...

Paladin Sanchez took another swig from his canteen and wiped his brow. "Intel says the best way to get to the power station is underground, so when we enter the city look around for a metro tunnel or manhole access."

Knight Smith reloaded his Gatling laser. "Hey Sanchez, tell me again why we're doing this?"

Sanchez grunted. Rookies. "The power station is home to an entire supply of Tesla coils, and if you'd been paying attention, we need Tesla coils to build more Tesla cannons."

Smith shrugged. "I get all that, but what I don't get is why we even need more Tesla cannons. The Enclave's been wiped out, we have a fleet of Vertibirds giving us total air superiority, and besides...no one's even taken a shot at us in months."

Sanchez's jaw hardened, and he did his best to keep his composure. His eight man team had spent two days trekking through the Wasteland, and grumbling was just part of a soldier's life; especially when it came to the new guys. "Just because it's quote peacetime doesn't mean our mission to salvage tech stops, Knight. Besides, a soldier's duty during peacetime is to prepare for the next war. Now everyone get your gear ready, we move out in five."

Everyone gave a tired, yet determined affirmative.

"We've got contact!" Their sniper, Knight Amanda Keanon shouted. "Coming from the East!"

Smith sighed. "Please tell me it's not another Deathclaw!"

Amanda shook her head. "Negative. It's something...else."

The tone of her voice made the hair on the back of Sanchez's neck stand up, and he quickly made his way next to the sniper and looked through his binoculars. Though he was grateful it wasn't another Deathclaw (his team had already had to put down three of the abominations), what he saw made his jaw drop. "It's a child."

It was indeed a child, a boy no more then eight years old, slowly making his way towards them. Sanchez could see that he was wearing tattered Wastelander cloths, and looked to be in a daze. The Paladin scanned the immediate area looking for signs of anyone else, but saw none.

Amanda looked to her commander. "What are your orders, sir?"

Sanchez scanned the area again. "It could be a trap meant to lure us in." He addressed the rest of the squad. "Henshaw you're with me, the rest of you spread out and be ready for anything."

Sanchez and Henshaw double-timed it towards the child, while the rest of the squad spread out in a cover formation. Before long Sanchez had scooped the child up and made it back to the squad without incident. The rest of the Knights had to contain their gasps when they saw the boy up close. He was covered in dirt and blood (not all of it his own), and had a large gash on his forehead. He was clearly dehydrated and malnourished, indicating he had been wondering for days. Sanchez cradled the boy in his arms, while his squad's medic carefully poured a few drops of water on his lips and checked his vitals. "Son. Son, can you hear me?"

The child barely had the strength to speak, and when he did, his voice was scratchy. "They...they came...from...north."

Sanchez struggled to hear what he was saying. "Who son? Who came?"

"Mom...Dad. They...killed..."

"Where are you from, son? Where is your family?"

The child began to cough, and the medic gave him more of the life saving water. "D...dave. Dave." The child passed out, and Sanchez carefully laid him down on the ground, and stepped back while the medic continued his work.

Henshaw approached his commander. "Are there any settlements East of us, sir?"

Sanchez nodded; a grim expression on his face. "Only one: the Republic of Dave."

The Citadel courtyard, that same morning...

Betting on a sparing match was normally frowned upon in the Brotherhood, but when the two participants were the Lone Wanderer and Charon (the ghoul who'd taught him hand-to-hand combat), even Paladin Gunny didn't bother to stop it. A circle of three dozen Knights and Paladins had formed around the small arena, and everyone of them were shouting and cheering as the two friends began the fifth round of their fight. Sarah Lyons was in the front of the circle, and there was no doubt as to who she was rooting for. "Come on, Marcus! You got this!" There was no hiding the enthusiasm in her voice. The truth is she loved to watch Marcus fight (especially when he had his shirt off, like now).

Charon was the first to move in at the start of the round, and the two friends fists began to fly. Most did not connect, but one found it's mark and landed right on Marcus' mouth, splitting his lip. Charon smirked. "What's the matter? Getting too slow?"

Marcus responded with an uppercut that knocked the ghoul back. "I'm still faster then you, old man!"

Charon recovered and laughed. "Please...my grandmother hits better then that!"

The sparring continued for another few minutes, and the punches and kicks were going back and forth; neither opponent able to get the upper hand. Then, just before the round ended, Charon found himself pinned to the ground, and after a few seconds of trying in vain to get up, the ghoul tapped out. A loud mixture of cheers and jeers rose up from the bailey as Marcus offered his friend a hand and helped him up.

"Well," Charon said as he tried to catch his breath, "it looks like the student has surpassed the teacher, grasshopper."

Marcus smiled and slapped his friend on the shoulder, then they shook hands. "You still gave me a run for my money."

As the Paladins and Knights began to settle their debts, Paladin Gunny made his way into the arena. "Alright maggots, shows over! Everyone back to your stations!"

As the crowd began to disperse, Sarah made her way over to her champion and handed him a towel. "Wow. Impressive. Maybe someday you might actually have a chance against me."

Marcus smiled at her as he wiped the sweat from his face. He could see the glimmer in her eyes, and he was already getting excited at the thought of what would happen when they were alone. "Hey, anytime you want to go you just say the word."

The two lovers moved in closer to each other and smiled; both of them with a look of hunger in their eyes.

"Alright, get a room you two!" Charon grumbled as he placed his towel over his shoulders.

Both of them let out a sigh, and Marcus began putting his shirt back on, when one of the Knights approached them and saluted. "Knight Commander Lincoln, there are two men outside the gate who wish to speak to you."

Marcus returned the salute. "Who are they?"

"One of them is wearing a leather jacket, and the other has only one eye."

Marcus, Sarah and Charon each let out a groan. "Bring'em inside." Marcus sighed.

The Knight saluted and headed to the main gate. A few minutes later he returned with Jericho and Butch. It had been months since they had taken over the Capital's underworld, and while it had not been easy, they had kept their part of the deal to stop the drug and slave trades, and stop the attacks on the water caravans. Butch took in the sight of the Citadel and whistled. "Whoa. So this is where the high and mighty live."

Marcus ignored the comment and approached the former Raider. "Jericho. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We have a problem, kid. A few days ago I lost contact with a group of my guys who were hold up in one of those old SATCOM stations in the north. I sent a scouting party to find out what was going on, and they never came back, either."

Marcus looked over at Sarah, then back to Jericho. "So some of your Raider friends went missing. Why is that my problem?"

Jericho's jaw hardened. "Listen kid, things are pretty tense right now, okay. It's taking all I've got to keep the Raiders in line, and if someone, or something is moving on us, I can't promise how long I'll be able to keep the peace."

"Is that a threat?" Sarah snapped.

"No - it's reality, Warrior Goddess!"

Sarah was just about to tell Jericho where he could shove his comment, when Star Paladin Cross approached. "Sentinel Lyons! Knight Commander Lincoln! Rothchild needs to see you in the lab immediately. He says it's urgent."

Marcus swallowed hard and nodded. It had been months since his encounter with the then wounded Star Paladin in the infirmary, and even though there was no longer hostility between them, the best Marcus was able to get from his former friend was a working relationship. "Thank you, Cross."

Cross nodded and she led the couple, along with Charon into the Citadel's lab. One look inside and they could tell something was seriously wrong. Scribes were running between stations, and Rothchild looked like he was about to have one of his well known outbursts. The Head Scribe rush over to them the moment he saw them. "Marcus, Sarah, we just lost all radio communications across the entire Capital!"

Marcus' mouth dropped open. "What do you mean all communications?"

"I mean everything! Long range comms, short wave radios, ham radios...even GNR is no longer transmitting! We are now completely cut off from our scouts and outposts!"

Marcus immediately walked over to the lab's main computer and plugged his PIPBOY into it. "Okay Moira, tell me what you've got."

Moira's avatar appeared on the lab's screen. "Well if I'm reading this right...and I usually do...all radio signals in the Capital are being jammed."

A chill went up everyone's spine as the full weight of the AI's statement was understood. "Can you pinpoint where the jamming is coming from?"

Moira smiled. "Of course I can, silly!" Her avatar blinked out, and the image was replaced by a map of the Capital. An area to the far north was blinking red. "It's coming from this old SATCOM station; array NW-05a."

Marcus rolled his eyes. 'You've got to be kidding, me!' he thought. He unplugged his PIPBOY and turned to Rothchild; who seemed to be getting more nervous. "We need to send a team to that array and shut down this jamming devise, and we have to find out who is behind this and why."

Marcus agreed. "Okay, but I don't think we should take anymore men from the Citadel then we need to." He turned to Charon. "Can the Rangers help us?"

The ghoul shook his head. "They're still on that job down in old Baltimore. They'll be gone for at least another week."

'Damn', Marcus thought. "Well since this apparently involves them we'll take Jericho and Butch with us. We'll also stop by Megaton and get RL-3 and Dogmeat."

Charon nodded. "Do you want to stop by the Capital building and pickup the big guy?"

Marcus thought for a moment, but finally shook his head. "No. Fawkes has been helping Uncle Leo keep the remaining Super Mutant population there in line. The last thing we need right now is for those guys to get out of hand."

Sarah turned to Scribe Vallincourt. "Have one Vertibird fueled, armed and ready to fly on the double."

"Yes, Sentinel!" The Scribe responded, and quickly hurried out.

Sarah next addressed the Star Paladin. "Cross, you and Gunny rally the men and put the Citadel on lock down! We don't know what this is all about, but I want us to be ready for anything. And send a runner over to Project Purity and advise them to do the same."

Cross nodded. "It will be done, Sentinel. Good luck."

Charon let out a sigh. "Well...this whole peace thing was fun while it lasted."

It was just after 1:00pm when the Brotherhood Vertibird landed about a mile away from the SATCOM array. Marcus and Sarah had decided it was best to go on foot, since they had no idea who or what they were dealing with. They were the first to disembark from the aircraft, and they were both wearing their shield-modded T-51b armor. Sarah was armed with her guass rifle, plasma pistol and ripper. Marcus too was armed with a guass rifle, his desert eagle and "Lucy" was strapped to his hip. The next out was Charon, who was in his Ranger armor and carried his trusted Terrible shotgun. Next was Jericho and Butch, both armed with AK-47's, followed by RL-3 and Dogmeat. After Moira and RL-3 confirmed that there were no hostiles in the immediate area, the scouting team headed out. It wasn't long before the array came into view, and the team took cover in the brush.

Marcus scanned the array with the scope of his guass rifle. "I count eight hostiles; six on the ground, two manning a .50 on the catwalk."

"It's a safe bet there's more inside." Sarah whispered. "Any idea who they are?"

Marcus could clearly see the red X on the Raider's uniforms, and his blood ran cold. "Yeah - Pitt Raiders!"

Jericho spit on the ground. "Sonsabitches! We've had a few run'ins with them, but they usually just grab a few slaves and head back north."

Marcus handed his rifle to Charon, who observed the scene through the scope. "Well it looks to me like they're setting up a permanent residence."

Butch's eyes narrowed. "Well if these punks think they can move in on our turf, they got another thing coming!" He cocked his AK. "I say we give'm a nice, warm Capital welcome!"

"Settle down!" Sarah snapped. "You forget these punks as you call them wiped out two of your groups. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right."

Butch mumbled something under his breath, but he knew the Sentinel was right. Sarah turned to Marcus. "So how do you want to do this?"

Marcus sat quiet as a plan was quickly forming in his head. It there was one thing everyone in the Brotherhood had to admit, was that Marcus had a talent for thinking on his feet. "Charon, do you have a stealth boy?"

The ghoul nodded. "Oh yeah."

"Good. You and I will go dark and sneak around to the right." He pointed in the direction of the array. "We'll quietly take out those two, and then we'll be in position to get the rest in a cross fire. Sarah, when the shooting starts, you take out the guys manning that .50, okay?"

Sarah nodded, and tightened the grip on her rifle. Marcus continued. "Once we clear the outside, Sarah and I will be the first ones in since our suits are shielded. Charon you're next, you watch the right side, Butch the left. Jericho, you keep your eye on those catwalks, and RL-3 and Dogmeat will take up the rear."

Everyone acknowledged their part of the plan and got into position. Marcus and Charon both went stealth, and quietly made their way over to the right of the area. As planned, they dispatched the two guards by snapping their necks, then took cover behind some dead trees. Marcus readied his guass rifle, took a deep breath, and locked in a target with is VATS. The micro-fusion round blew the top of the Raider's head off, and it was immediately followed by Sarah's own guass rifle, taking out one of the men manning the .50 cal. The rest of the team opened fire on the remaining six guards, who to their credit, did not panic and run. The exchange of fire did not last long, and soon all six Raiders were dead. The main door to the array flew open, and four more of the Raiders ran outside, only to be cut to pieces.

The team rushed forward and stormed the array just as they'd talked about, with Marcus and Sarah going in first. They were immediately met by gun fire, and more then a few bullets bounced off their Zetian shields. There were at least another fifteen of the Raiders waiting inside, and the fire fight inside the cramped space was intense. Charon tossed a grenade to the right of the room, killing three of the Raiders, but caught a bullet to his right arm for his troubles. The round sliced right through his Ranger armor as if it wasn't even there, and he quickly ducked behind a work bench. Marcus put down the Raider that had just wounded his friend, and he quickly crouched down beside him, and began apply biogel to the wound.

The last few Raiders were taken care of by RL-3, who incinerated them with his flame thrower. "Score one for Uncle Sam!"

With the firefight over, Marcus was able to survey the carnage. In addition to Charon's arm, Butch had shrapnel in his left leg, and Jericho was using his combat knife to get it out. RL-3 had a few more dents and dings, but aside from that, they were alright. "How's that arm?"

Charon winced as Marcus helped him up. "I'll live. Damn! My armor didn't even slow it down. What the hell kind of ordnance are these guys pack'in?"

Sarah reached down and removed a magazine from one of the Raider's rifles...and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "I don't believe it." she muttered. "Look at this. Armor piercing bullets!" She handed the magazine to Marcus, and both he and Charon examined the rounds. "They're not a heavy as those tungsten rounds you use...but they definitely help even the odds when you're up against guys in power armor."

"Never mind the bullets." Jericho said as he applied biogel to Butch's leg. "Look at the assault rifles these guys are caring! I've been around a long time and I ain't never seen hardware like that."

Marcus examined the rifle. I was definitely of a design he had never seen, but what alarmed him was how...new it looked; as if it had just been manufactured a few weeks ago. "We need to find that jammer and shut it down..."

"Marcus!" Moira shrieked. "There's movement on the catwalks!"

Everyone looked up and spotted the lone Raider, clearly wounded, but still bracing himself against the railing, trying to get off one last desperate shot. Everyone down below raised their weapons, but before anyone could fire, a blade suddenly sprang from the Raider's chest. Everyone watched in stunned silence as the blade was retracted, and the Raider's body fell to the ground. Marcus and his team continued to train their guns upward, trying to see who, or what had dispatched the Raider. The mysterious new player decloaked and calmly stepped into the light. The woman was wearing a black, skin tight stealth suit, and was brandishing a blood stained Chinese officer's sword. She reached up and removed the stealth suit's hood, revealing all too familiar bleach blonde hair, parted to one side. As everyone in the team stood there with their mouths gaped open, the woman looked directly at the Lone Wanderer and flashed him a seductive grin. "Well hey suga! Been a long time."

To say that Marcus was stunned would have been an understatement. "Clover?"

The former slave girl spread out her arms and struck a little pose. "In the flesh, honey!" In a swift motion that resembled a cat's, Clover had jumped down from the catwalk, and made her way over to the team.

Marcus lowered his weapon. "Clover...what are you doing..."

He was cutoff as Clover grabbed him and pressed her lips to his. Marcus' eyes shot wide open in surprise, and while a part of him enjoyed the warm and familiar kiss, he could feel Sarah's eyes burning into the back of his head. Clover released her hold on him and grinned. "I've missed you, lover." she breathed.

Marcus swallowed hard, and gently pushed Clover a few inches away from him. "I've...a...missed you too." He sheepishly turned to Sarah...and if looks could kill, he'd be a dead man. "Clover um...you remember Sarah Lyons of the Brotherhood."

One look at Sarah's face, and Clover knew she'd made a mistake. "Oh! I'm sorry honey, I forgot. You two are..."

"Yes, we are!" Sarah snapped, her hands gripping her rifle till the knuckles were white.

In the background, Jericho and Butch were doing their best (to no avail) to chuckle at the Lone Wanderer's expense.

Clover tried to look innocent and put both hands up. "I'm sorry about that, suga. I'm happy for both of you. You got you a great man here, honey."

"Yes...I am a lucky woman. And don't call me honey!" she deadpanned.

Marcus cleared his throat and desperately tried to change the subject. "So Clover, um...what are you doing all the way out here?"

Clover kicked one of the dead Raiders at their feet. "These fuckers! We got wind that the Pitt was sending raiding parties into the Capital, so Hannibal sent me and a few others up here to track and harass them. At first the groups were small, and we were able to hit them pretty good. But now these groups are getting bigger, and are harder to deal with."

"You said there were others like you?" Marcus asked.

Clover nodded. "We managed to get our hands on a few of these suits. Don't ask how, suga. We go out alone and hunt down slavers where ever, and whenever we can. We've scared the hell out of these slavers so much they've started to call us the 'Ghosts'."

"I hate to break up the reunion, Marcus." Charon said. "But we need to find that jammer."

Marcus nodded. "You're right. Moira, do you know where it is?"

"It's at the top of the array...you can't miss it."

They were interrupted by the sound of Dogmeat barking and growling. Marcus could see he was hovering over one of the Raiders...which meant he was still alive. "Charon, Jericho, go take care of the jammer. I'm going to see what this guy knows."

The ghoul nodded. "You got it."

Marcus, Sarah and Clover made their way over to the dying Raider. Marcus knelled down and grabbed him by his hair. "What the hell are you doing here? Why are you jamming our communications?"

The Raider gasped for breath. "You're...too...late." He began spitting up blood. "You can't...stop it!"

Marcus slapped him in the face. "Stop what? Talk to me! Stop what?"

"He's coming! The Lord...of the...Pitt! His will...be done!" The Raider bit down, and Marcus heard the familiar sound of a cyanide capsule breaking. As the Raider began foaming at the mouth, he let out one final shout of defiance. "Hail...Ashur!"

The Raider breathed his last, and everyone stood in stunned silence. It was broken when Sarah asked the obvious question. "Ashur? Who the hell is that?"

Marcus stood up and shook his head. "I don't know...but this isn't the first time one of them has killed themselves rather then talk."

An urgent radio message suddenly began to come through on his radio; indicating that Jericho and Charon had destroyed the jammer. "...repeat, this is Paladin Sanchez calling any Brotherhood unit on this frequency. This is a priority alert, can anybody hear me?"

"Sanchez, this is Knight Commander Lincoln."

"Commander Lincoln! Thank the Creator! We've been trying to establish comms all day. We have a serious problem, sir. My team and I are currently at the Republic of Dave...or rather, what's left of it."

Marcus and Sarah both shared a look of dread. "What do you mean what's left of it?"

"I mean it's gone, sir. The entire settlement has been burned to the ground. We have only one survivor...a boy who was wondering the wastes for at least two days. Everyone else has either been killed or taken. But sir, it's the SIZE of this war party that's the most disturbing."

A chill suddenly ran up Marcus' spine. "How big are we talking here?"

"Based on the number of foot prints, AND vehicle tracks...I estimate it's at least a thousand strong...maybe more. And sir...the tracks continue south. They're heading for D.C., sir!"

The inside of the array was a quiet as tomb. Everyone, even the two crime bosses Jericho and Butch, had a look of real fear on their faces.

"We need to get back to the Citadel now!" Sarah snapped.

Marcus was heading for the main entrance as he began speaking once more into the radio. "This is Knight Commander Lincoln, we need immediate evac at the SATCOM array...

The Atlantic Ocean, three miles off the coast of Maryland...

Ishmael Ashur, the undisputed Lord of the Pitt, stood on the bridge of his flagship the Reciprocity. Once it had been a United States Coast Guard national security cutter, but it had been retrofitted and made sea worthy by his army of slaves in Old Pittsburgh. Behind him was an armada of fifty ships of all kinds: Coast Guard cutters and patrol boats, US navy riverean boats, tugs, private ships that had been fitted with armor and weapons, and landing craft. Within the bowels of these ships were over seven-hundred of his soldiers; slaves who believed him to be a god. Slaves who were willing to die for him and his cause. They were but a fraction of his total army. The main body of his invasion force, numbering three thousand, had easily sacked the first settlement in it's way, and was steadily creeping towards the downtown D.C. area. Ashur's landing force was to strike the heart of the Capital, and defeat his main opposition in one massive blow.

He was joined on the bridge by his second in command, Wernher. "My Lord, the Brotherhood has taken the SATCOM array and reestablished communications."

Ashur responded with a smug grin. "It doesn't matter...they are too late. Look." He pointed to the horizon, and Wernher could see the outline of a beached aircraft carrier. Rivet City. Just beyond that was their first target, Project Purity.

Ashur lowered his hand. "Now it begins. This land will be purged of it's corruption...and the Brotherhood of Steel will pay for their crimes."