Outside Brotherhood Outpost 49A "Eagle's Nest"
First Recon
Knight Austin Brantley
Brantley looked through his helmet's HUD at the dark, desolate wasteland. Silent, almost lifeless. He turned to his partner, Knight Parsons. "Got anything on thermal?"

"Notta damn thing, like usual" he responded bitterly.

His bitterness wasn't entirely unexpected; their assignment was usually used as an initiation to prove that new Knights were vigilant and patient.

Parsons was anything but patient.

"Run the scan again, just to make sure" Brantley said evenly.

Parsons irritated gaze almost showed through his helmet. "Sure thing, [censored]."

"Is that how you talk to rank?" Brantley was technically the same rank as Parsons but their superiors had wisely designated him as squad leader.

"When rank modifies its behavior, I'll change mine accordingly." Parsons started the scan, and expertly manipulated the controls on their scanner scavenged from a protectron.

There was silence between the Knights as the machine whirred.

"When do you think we'll get off this [censored] assignment?" Parsons asked frustration apparent.

Brantley was about to offer his opinion when a loud "ding!" emanated from scanner. They both turned to it and Parsons checked the results.

"Enclave Vertibirds, and lots of 'em!" he exclaimed. Brantley peered up at the sky, but he might as well try to see through a concrete wall. "Scanner's off the charts!"

Brantley listened intensely for thrumming of a Vertibird's rotors, but heard nothing. Not a peep. He climbed a small boulder to get a better position.

Then he heard a scream. Parsons! He glanced to where he had been situated.

Gone.

Brantley managed an ugly combat roll off the rock, withdrawing his laser rifle and shouldering it as he rose. He didn't spot any contacts, or hear the rustling of Enclave power armor.

Damnit, it felt like eyes bored into the back of his head. Then he felt it, a fluttering of shadows directly behind him. He did a quick 180 and fired a trio of bursts where he suspected they were. The beams pierced the night and briefly illuminated the area around him.

Empty.

A feeling of dread came over him; they knew exactly where he was now. He turned and held his rifle shakily where could they-

Pain rushed through his back, burning deep into his lungs. He dropped his rifle and his hand dipped down for his sidearm. He fired bursts all around him, hoping to get a lucky shot in.

Something slapped his pistol away, leaving him defenseless.

A silenced weapon's cough sounded twice, accompanied by Brantley's screams of agony.

Power armor piercing bullets? That's a hell of a trick he thought. A blur stepped over him, invisible, save for the blur of movement. A feeling of dread came over him, "No, please no!"

A third cough silenced him.

"Infiltrator unit Alfa to base, the way is clear, send in the troopers."



[Austin Brantley Status: KIA]

___________________________________
This only the introduction to the story, and believe me, it is far from over. The story will shift perspetives, offer different views of the defense, allowing you to see the whole situation play out. Feel free to comment and/or suggest things.

Good job. Your spelling and grammar is good, And I like it so far. Just keep a good story along with the combat and you'll do great :goodjob:

Good job, but when is this? Do the Enclave have ghost soldiers or something?

Heh, those answers are coming in the next few bits.

Keep tuned in for when it gets posted, it should be pretty soon, within a day or two.

Update: Next bit is under final review, expect it tomorrow.

First of all, the story is well written, and this critic review is not from a great writer, so i may be missing out on something. You have good conflict between the characters, but it sort of lacks introduction for the conflict.
Your characters seem like they are brilliant, but you need to explain who they are more.

Like, why does Brantley assume he's higher rank just by squad leader? Ect.

Also, you need to make it flow better. Comma's, Dashes, Sentence Fragments. All important skills. You gotta know when to use them.

I may be being picky for no reason, but I see a lot of potential from this story, and i want it to be fantastic.
I will plan on reading this onward, I liked it a lot.

Your a lot better writer then most I see.

Order of the Scroll
Scribe Chris Jameson
{RobCo Terminal Type: Mainframe}

[Login Admin]

[Password] : ********

[Password Incorrect!]

//Error- See nearest technician for help//

Chris sighed; his superiors got more paranoid by the day, and it was not without good reason. Many of his fellow scribes had seen that their overseeing officers "disappeared" in order to get field promotions, and more importantly, access to the more advanced Enclave tech they had recovered.

Chris abandoned his cushy armchair and left the Mainframe room. He deliberately walked slow past the lower ranking scribes in the cubicles, letting them seethe with envy at his lavender robes and plasma pistol his rank allowed him to posses. With a smug smile, Chris climbed a set of stairs to the Scribe overseeing their operation at "Eagle's Nest".

Eagle's Nest, the President's secret bunker in the mountains. When they had arrived just a couple weeks ago, the place had been deserted, and a fine layer of dust had covered the place. Now look at it, a bastion of intelligence and military arms, it was a wonder the Enclave hadn't located it first.

Maybe they wanted us to take it, though that was silly, who lets their opponent gain access to a highly defensible position full of supplies?

Chris spotted his superior, Scribe Michael Barrett in his office. Barrett was the visage of a skeleton with skin stretched over the bones. His eyes were dark and were sunken deep into their sockets.

But his appearance did not stop Chris in meeting with him.

Chris rapped hard on the open door, letting his hard of hearing leader know he wanted a word.

"Ah, welcome Scribe Jameson, always a pleasure to be in your fine company," his voice dripped with sarcasm.

"A pleasure to be in your fine presence as well," Chris replied with equal sarcasm.

"As much as I enjoy playing our little game, I am pressed for time, is there something you require of me?" he said, exasperated.

"I've tried to access the mainframe to no avail, the system locks up after I enter the password."

"Have you any iota why?" Sarcasm once again entered his voice.

"Because it's the wrong password?" Chris guessed.

"Yes, it appears my prayers have been answered, finally a halfway competent scribe!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands as if in prayer. Chris crossed his arms, showing his impatience, but Barrett tossed a envelope at Chris, forcing him to fumble to recover it. "The password is inside, now leave post haste, or I'll see if I can't get a few of those Paladins with itchy trigger fingers to come down here."

Chris took the envelope and coolly left the office, letter in hand. He made a mental note to plot against Barrett in his spare time. But for now he would do the job he had been assigned, recording the Brotherhood's happenings and the like.

He strode pass the cubicles again, not bothering to slow to show off this time. He then entered the cool mainframe room. It wasn't much to look at, with its peeling wallpaper and dirty floor, but then again, the room wasn't important, just the monstrous ZAX computers it housed.

Chris collapsed into the large armchair he had placed in front of the terminal. Who says rank doesn't have its privileges?

He busied himself with opening the letter and opening the paper inside.

Cerberus

Not the most elusive password, but nowhere near obvious either. Chris went ahead and put it in.

[Login Admin]

[Password]

********

[Login Successful!]

{Files from BROTHERHOOD User}

[Enclave's Appearance at the Capitol Wasteland - 1 Year, 1 Month, 14 days ]

[Project Purity's Activation- 1 Year, 1 Month, 12 days]

[Victory at AAFB- 1 Year, 27 days]

There were a number of other entries but few attracted his attention, the files pertaining to the kid from Vault 101 were the stuff of legend, and interested him the most.

[Last sighting of 101- 7 months, 4 days]

[Mysterious Flying Object in Space- 7 months 2days]

Chris couldn't help but wonder what had happened to 101, especially so close to the sighting of a UFO in space. Maybe he's solving the whole galaxy's problems by now.

A loud "Ding" emanated from the terminal.

[Message from User ENCLAVE]

>>Any US government personnel there? Respond.

Chris hemmed and hawed at what he should say. Lie and perhaps they'll leave us alone, or tell the truth and maybe they won't bother to attack.

[Message to ENCLAVE}

>This is Brotherhood outpost 49, please try contacting another terminal

>> ??.

As soon as the anomaly occurred, it had disappeared, leaving Chris dumbfounded. Had the enemy actually contacted him? Would they attack? He decided to put out a few patrols, it never hurt to be safe, and a few of the greener Knights could use a bit of training.

>>Memorandum to Knights:

Gamma Pritchet, A*

Gamma Hadner, B

Beta Miles, D*

Beta Johnson, J

Alpha Brantley, A*

Alpha Parsons, S

You have been ordered to report to scouting positions Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Knights with the * are to be designated squad leader, give them command of their designated outpost. Outposts have been refitted with thermal optics, use them to spot any incoming targets.

Scribe Jameson out.

Press [Enter] to confirm

1^st Recon (Gamma Squad)
Knight Brian Hadner
Inside a Power Station on the Edge of "Eagle's Nest"
Hadner tipped back on his rough metal stool, no easy task when weighed down with power armor, especially when it was an Enclave-Brotherhood hybrid armor. Pritchet peered through their sole thermal scope, shifting nervously.

"I'm telling you, that's a Mister Handy bot," Pritchet said, keeping up the argument they had been having over the past half hour.

Hadner took control over the scope. "See that glowing extension there?" Hadner asked.

Pritchet regained control. "Uh-huh."

"That's a plasma blaster, only Gutsies have'em."

Pritchet leaned back, "Well it's been awhile since I've done any recon work, I usually just blast everything in my way." He smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, yeah you heavy weapons guys are all the same, all firepower and no accuracy. What are you packin' for this op?"

Pritchet hefted a minigun off the floor and held it for Hadner to see. He could clearly see Old Faithful scrawled on the side with a white marker.

"Old Faithful eh?"

"Hasn't failed me yet." Hadner could sense his smile underneath his helmet.

Just then, a voice echoed through the room, "When do you think we'll get off this [censored] assignment"

Hadner glanced around to find the source and he spotted the radio glowing, active. Hadner relaxed, Alpha squad must have accidently flipped on their mics and were broadcasting across an open channel. Boy, that would make them an easy target if anyone had their radios tuned to the same frequency.

"Enclave Vertibirds and lots of 'em!"

That piqued Hadner and Pritchet's interest.

"Scanners off the charts!"

Hadner and Pritchet exchanged glances, "Get combat ready," Pritchet ordered.

Hadner had just retrieved his sniper rifle from a nearby locker when a scream filled the room. Hadner raised his sniper at the sound.

Just the radio, the [censored] radio.

"Sounds like Alpha's out of the fight." Commented Pritchet, strapping on his ammo pack.

Hadner slammed a clip home and pulled back the slide, "And we're in."

They left the relatively safe power station and headed towards Alpha's rocky outcropping. Hadner tuned in his helmet radio to their channel.

Laser fire blasted through the speakers. Hadner spotted the flash of laser weaponry beyond a copse of trees.

"Maybe Alpha's still alive!" exclaimed Hadner.

A scream came across the radio.

"Maybe not," replied Pritchet.

"No, please no!" The channel was squelched soon after.

They passed through the copse of twisted trees and emerged only to be greeted by the roar of a Vertibird's engines as it took off towards Eagle's Nest.

"Shouldn't we call this in?" Hadner asked.

"Radio's jammed, we'll take a look at Alpha first, then hoof it back to HQ."

Hadner nodded and continued to jog at a swift pace. Pritchet held up a fist, the signal to stop.

"Got contacts up ahead, looks like Enclave's grunt soldiers."

Hadner peered through his scope . Yep, he spotted three soldiers in the Enclave's standard issue power armor standing at the top of the small hill.

"Permission to fire?" Hadner asked patiently.

"Aye, send'em to hell"

Hadner sighted on a soldier's pointed helmet and squeezed the trigger. His helmet caved in and blood squirted out, splattering another soldier with the crimson color.

The remaining two dived down, a standard thing to do when sniper fire rang out.

Pritchet charged forward, minigun raised. Hadner peered through the scope another time.

No contacts.

A rustling noise came from his left, and a bush shook slightly, giving Hadner a scare.

Hadner aimed at the bush, flipping on the night vision setting on his scope.

Something leapt at him, pinning him against the ground, mauling him. He managed to bring his sniper rifle up one-handed and empty a round at the contact.

Blood and gore covered his visor, obscuring his vision. He used his scope to identify his attacker.

A mole rat. A [censored] rodent had snuck up on him and given him the scare of his life. The rattling of minigun fire brought Hadner back to his senses.

Pritchet!

Hadner peered through the scope at Pritchet's location, as indicated by their holotags electronic signal. Pritchet was dispatching his opponents with ease, but was unaware of a soldier creeping up on him, ripper in hand.

He had to warn him, do something. He tried the radio, no luck.

He pondered the odds of a round passing through the soldier and hitting Pritchet. They had to be low at the best.

He decided to risk it and take the shot he had on the creeper. He squeezed the trigger.

His round missed his target's heart, where he had been aiming. The round struck his shoulder instead, spinning his target around.

He fired again, this time penetrating the soldier's throat, making him gasp for air as blood clogged his lungs.

The soldier lay on the ground, inert in his armor.

Dead.

Hadner checked in on Pritchet through the scope, everything a sickly green. Only one foe remained, and Pritchet dispatched him with a burst of 5mm rounds.

Pritchet waved at him, victorious.

Then a plasma burst blew off his head.

His body crumpled on the ground.

Hadner was so stunned; he didn't even notice that someone was shooting at him.

A pair of plasma bursts missed him by inches, scorching his armor. The shots came from somewhere above him.

Hadner glanced up at the sky, and spotted a Vertibird with a sharpshooter hanging off one of the sides, plasma rifle in hand.

Hadner brought up his rifle and squeezed the trigger.

Click.

Damn, empty. He slung his rifle and sprinted for the safety of the copse of trees they passed on their way in. He lay down in a large tuft of grass, hoping they wouldn't notice him. A spotlight searched the area, and it easily found him.

The glaring light was on him for only a few seconds before the Vertibird left the area.

He was curious as to why it had left him alone, and then it hit him.

The blood on his visor had fooled them into thinking he was a corpse. He sat up and assessed his situation.

Pritchet murdered, low on supplies, and left for dead.

Time to get some payback.

Knight Brian Hadner Status: [MIA]

Dude, this rocks. I think we have similar paths for the future of the Enclave....
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1056873

This is a master piece in the making. I love it!

Order of the Scroll
Scribe Chris Jameson
Inside the Mainframe room of "Eagle's Nest"
Chris leaned back in his armchair, having spent his entire evening hunched over his terminal. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, feeling the pressure relieve his eyes of some stress. The order's he'd sent out earlier had been sent out and obeyed. The reconnaissance teams' annoying conversations came out over his earpiece, deepening his loathing for his position within the Brotherhood.

C'mon, Henderson had a nice cushy job handling the bases announcements, why couldn't Barrett give him an easier task?

Once his thoughts turned to Barrett, he couldn't think of anything else. Barrett represented evil in every way possible to Chris. Hell, he even looked evil.

No, thoughts like that led to becoming an Outcast.

Though last he heard that wasn't half bad, hell if half the rumors are true, their tech was as advanced as theirs if not better!

Damnit, he had to keep focused at the task at hand. He reviewed how the reconnaissance was going. Alpha was doing fine, and the results were the same across the board. He removed his earpiece and kicked back, smooth sailing from here on out. He nestled his head against the soft back of the chair, and he promptly began snoozing, comfortable in his bunker deep in the base.



A buzzing caused him to ease out of his slumber.

Was that his alarm? He lifted his head from his arms.

But he then realized the horrifying truth.

It was the sound of a soldier's heartbeat flatlining. Chris squinted at the computer screen, trying to make sense of the blurs that occupied his vision.

Alpha was down, as was half of Gamma. Three people dead on his watch, all of it his fault. He was going to get chewed out by the loss of these men, possibly get stuck in an even worse dead end task. For a moment he was absorbed in his self-pity.

Then the sound of a metal boot stepping on a metal surface rang out. Nobody should be bothering me, he thought. All the scribes had been ordered to leave him alone in his exile to the mainframe room, with Barrett being an obvious exception.

He suddenly had a feeling in his gut of impending doom.

He stood up and drew his pistol from his hip. He felt as timid as a mouse being hunted by a cat.

He spotted a blur of movement from the corner of his eye. He had reports from soldiers in the field of Enclave "Ghost" soldiers. Chris severely doubted the religious implications and he hypothesized they were utilizing some form of a stealth boy technology.

He spotted a blur in the door frame settle into nothingness, perfectly replicating the background.

He evaluated his options. He could try and fight it, his plasma pistol was devastating to normal armors, vaporizing and melting the alloys that held their armor together. But then it probably had more advanced weaponry, and it had the drop on him, able to attack from almost any location in the room.

He could try to outrun it, his robes allowed for easier movement and he wasn't encumbered by whatever armor the thing was wearing. Then again, this thing could simply block the doorway.

An idea dawned upon him, a risky, daring plan. The dangers were great, but the payoff was potentially huge.

"So I don't suppose you'd come in and talk civilized to me?" he called out, sitting down in his armchair. He heard the soldier's shuffling footsteps. Chris typed quickly, talking as he did so "Took out the recon squads did we?"

There was no response, and Chris finished his flurry of typing. He abruptly stood up, and he poked a key with a satisfying "click". He spun around and spotted the intruder.

Chris tossed his pistol to the ground, "You're gonna need me if you want to access the terminal. All I ask is that you let me join your ranks."

He saw the soldier [censored] his head quizzically, curious about a potential defector. The stealth field faded, revealing the Enclave operative.

He was wearing a cut-down version of their regular armor, armor plating smoother and sleeker than the usual bulkiness of powered armor. He had mammoth of a pistol in his right hand, dwarfing the armored gauntlet holding it. His helmet was the typical demonic looking type given to most of their soldiers, with antennae resembling horns.

The soldier collected his plasma pistol, stowing it on a utility belt on his waist. "Okay, let's see what you've got," he droned from his armor's PA.

Chris had a hint of a smile on his face.




________________________________
I would like to thank you all for your tremendous support and feedback, it gives me more motivation to continue writing.
I got a few more chapters cooking in the revision process, so expect some more action soon.

Paladin Kane
Heavy Weapons Division
"Eagle's Nest" Barracks
Kane woke to find himself in a strange locale. A thick fog hung all around him, obscuring his vision and filling his nostrils with a musty smell.

He stood up and realized he wore his power armor. Had he been unconscious for some great battle? He cautiously moved forward, his fists poised to defend himself.

A body lying on the cold, hard ground attracted his attention; it wore the age-old T-45d iconic Brotherhood armor. Blood from a gaping hole in the helmet soaked the ground with the crimson color of blood.

Kane knelt down and disengaged the helmet safety locks with a snap. He then removed the helmet slowly to see the dead soldier's face. The soldier was white, had a shaven head, and possessed a scar that reached from his jaw to his temple.

The dead soldier was him. Kane stumbled back, surprised to see his own features on the corpse.

A growling came from the fog. A Deathclaw he thought, recognizing its signature rumble. He took a combat stance behind the dead corpse, confident that his armor could take at least a few glancing blows from the mighty beast.

He then noticed his hands lacked the armored gauntlets that power armor provided. Glancing down at himself, he noticed his whole suit was gone! His odds significantly dropped.

The horned face of a Deathclaw emerged from the fog, fangs bared. It showed uncommon restraint, striding slowly, eyes fixated on its prey. Kane stood his ground, knowing it could easily catch him in one leap.

The Deathclaw closed in on Kane, almost face to face.

"Wake up"

Kane cocked his head, did the Deathclaw just speak?

"Wake up."



Kane was being shaken awake by one of his fellow Brothers. He was young, and had short brown hair and wore a tired smile on his face. "What gives Kane?" he motioned toward a yellow light pulsating on a nearby wall. "You usually are the first one up when these damned drill alarms go off."

Kane pushed himself off the bed and stifled a yawn. "How do you know it's a drill?" he asked, stifling yet another yawn.

"We have one about once a week, I was waiting for it tonight and here it is." He motioned toward the flashing beacons once more.

Kane glanced around the room, looking for more of his fellow Brothers only to be greeted with the sight of empty cots. "Where's everyone else?" he asked, arching his bushy eyebrows.

"They went topside already, I spotted you in your cot and knew I had to get you out, I mean after that stunt you pulled at the firing range, I knew I had to have you at my back." He held out an armored glove. "Names Charles."

Kane took his hand and pulled himself up from the cot.

That's when a large explosion rocked the base.

"Let's go!" Cried Charles.

Another detonation shook the room, but this one was different, it had occurred inside the barracks.

Dust filled the room, making it neigh impossible to see anything. Even Charles who was not a foot from him, disappeared in the gray dust.

Plasma bursts rang out, green wisps trailing their trajectories. Kane dove prone on the ground, hoping to be passed by unnoticed.

A body fell to the ground.

It was Charles.

He wasn't dead?..yet. They shared a glance, Charles was a dead man and they both knew it.

The dust started to settle, and the familiar shapes of Enclave Shock Troopers took form, literally shocking from their tesla power armor.

Charles groaned loudly, unable to restrain himself from the pains his melting armor was putting him through. A bright green blob bounced in their midst.

A plasma grenade Kane realized. With a huff, Kane managed to lob it toward the Enclave's troopers, hearing their screams of raw terror as it detonated.

Charles slid a laser pistol across the smooth concrete floor; landing in Kane's waiting hand.

Kane rose to his feet and began to make a dash for the stairs that would lead him topside with the rest of his Brothers.

The Tesla troopers were distracted and unorganized, easy pickings for a few potshots with his pistol. He only landed a handful of the shots he fired, and the ones that made contact merely dissipated against the tesla shielding.

Kane sprinted for the doorway, moving swiftly due to his lack of armor to weigh him down.

He then started on the stairs, taking them two at a time. A plasma burst flew over his shoulder, another singed his calves.

Damn, their aim was getting better.

Reaching the top, he turned back and loosed a few laser streams, serving their purposes as distractions.

He faced forward once again, only to be met with a heart breaking disappointment.

Enclave soldiers pointed their assorted plasma weapons at him.

"[censored]."

"Hands up!" shouted an Enclave officer, leveling a plasma pistol at Kane's face.

They were intent on taking him alive, a problem that Kane did not have. He squeezed the trigger rapidly, only for a loud clicking noise.

"Damn." He muttered, getting down on his knees.

1^st Recon (Gamma Squad)
Knight Brian Hadner
On the perimeter of "Eagle's Nest"
Hadner sprinted through the brush, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He double-timed it up the hill, hurriedly moving to Pritchet's corpse. After he reached the inert body, Hadner gagged at the sight and stench of singed chunks of brain and burned pieces of bone.

With his rifle slung on his back, Hadner rummaged through Pritchet's belongings, hoping to find some gear that would help his upcoming battles. He turned up one magazine for his sniper rifle and a few microfusion cells for an energy weapon.

Great he thought, ejecting the spent mag on the ground. He smacked the clip home with a satisfying click. He did a quick once over on the Enclave bodies, making sure they were down and checking for any usable weaponry.

He managed to retrieve a pair of plasma pistols, two plasma rifles, and laser rifle. In the end he decided to keep a plasma pistol and rifle for back-up weapons. He kept the plasma rifle cradled in his arms as he once again sprinted around the rocky countryside.

Vertibirds hummed over his head, moving in the direction of Eagle's Nest. He continued through the forest, crushing anything unfortunate enough to be in his way. After the constant crunching beneath his feet, Hadner was surprised to hear a loud metal clang come from the ground.

He came to a halt and examined the ground below him, flipping through the vision settings his visor granted him. Then he saw the bodies.



Dozens of his fellow brothers had been murdered and thrown together in a single mass grave, blood oozing out from the joints and punctures in their armor. Murdered just like Alpha and Pritchet.

The Enclave had their end coming, he'd see to that.

But in the mean time, he had to engage in one of the first things a sniper was trained to do: Reconnaissance .

Hander climbed a large oak tree, clinging to the trunk until he reached a sturdy branch. He then set up shop with his sniper, unlimbering it from his back and slinging the plasma weapon.

He sighted through the scope at Eagle's Nest.

He was shocked to say the least.

Dozens of Enclave soldiers milled about the courtyard, casually patrolling the base while screams and blasts of energy emitted from inside. Hadner noticed they were setting a number of charges by what seemed to be the barracks.

Hadner peered at the troops, trying to identify an officer amongst the crowd of Tesla armored troopers,. He failed to discern a single officer from the group.

He then settled on picking off a few of the shock troopers. Just as he sighted on a soldier's head, he realized that his ammo was severely limited; he had to save them for high value targets.

The charge they placed detonated, shaking his tree from the intense blast. The troops rushed inside, firing on any of his brothers that had stayed behind in the barracks.

A green explosion flowered amongst the tesla troopers, their shield resonating with the energy released by the plasma grenade that had detonated in their midst.

As the green dissipated, he once again had a clear view of the situation inside the barracks. A man dressed in his undershirt and pants sprinted for the door leading to the rest of the complex. No! don't do it! he pleaded in his mind.

The man was captured by the Enclave soldiers who had taken the rest of the base. Hadner tensed on the trigger, and he made a snap decision.

He sighted to the man, noting an officer threatening him with a plasma pistol. He sighted on the officer, head filling the scope completely, black cap with brown hair tufting out from underneath it. He breathed in deeply.

Then he fired four shots in quick succession; one in the officer's head, one taking out two soldiers in a single bullet, another eliminating a Tesla trooper. His last shot went wild from the recoil.

He leapt from the tree, landing on a foot and a knee with an arm held out for balance. Dust floated up from the impact.

He slung his sniper and retrieved his scavenged plasma rifle. Footsteps sounded not far off, squad pvssyr sounding faintly. They were searching for him.

Go ahead and find me he thought. I'm counting on it.

That was an awsome line.

I just finished catching up with your story, and its getting good. :goodjob:

Paladin Kane
Heavy Weapons Division


Kane had beads of sweat run down his face, adrenaline refusing to subside. "Your attempt at escape was quite futile, as some of your comrades have experienced themselves." the Enclave officer drawled.

Kane tried to think of something witty to make a fool of the officer, but rage was overtaking his mind at the mention of his brothers; dead or captured.

Four thunderclaps sounded.

The officer threatening him had his head smashed to pieces, his body crumpling to the ground. Kane seized the opportunity to snatch the plasma pistol from the officer's lifeless fingers.

Armed with a plasma pistol, he sprinted toward the main doors in a zig zag motion to avoid any shots from behind him. He left via the automated blast doors, noting that the troops in the courtyard seemed preoccupied. Probably hunting down his mysterious savior.

Kane decided to repay the favor.

He immediately went prone in the muddy ground.

Mud?

He felt the thick sludgy mud and started slathering himself all over. Soon enough, his form was covered with nature's night camouflage. He gripped his pistol and started after the troops.

He followed them into the remains of a forest, easily spotting their luminescent armor and weaponry. He spotted what looked like a grenadier of sorts, bandoliers of plasma and pulse grenades hung across his armor like a high tech Pancho-Villa.

Squad pvssyr filled the air as they confirmed clear sectors and pre-combat talk. Kane paid little attention to what they said, he merely waited for his chance to pounce on grenadier for his stash.

Suddenly the pvssyr halted, mid comment.

Hand signals went up in the air, motioning something. Kane made shook his head, unable to understand their coded signals. A plasma blast emanated from the front of the battle group, triggering their immediate response.

Kane leapt on the grenadier, arms and legs wrapped around the surprised soldier. Kane struggled to level his pistol at the man's head, armored gauntlets grasping for Kane's head. The pistol discharged an emerald blast.

At such a close range, the soldier had no chance at evasion and the helmet fused to his skull, frying his brain.

Kane relieved him of his bandoliers, readying a pulse grenade.

He pressed down on the detonation button, and hurled it at the Enclave fireteam.

Wave of electromagnetic pulses flowed through the air, dazzling the night with their bright blue electricity. The usual glow of the Enclave troopers dimmed, and then darkened.

He had literally taken the power out of power armor.

They struggled to move in their inert armor, straining to lift a finger. With a smug grin on his face, Kane executed each soldier with a single blast. Very conservative.

When there was just one left, he had a sudden thought. He went up to the last man standing and hit the helmet release, and tugged it off.

A bald man had his face contorted with rage. "Killed by a cheap trick, you couldn't face us like true soldiers."

"A true soldier does what he must to win" Kane vaporized the man's head.

I have to say this is a brilliant story, I love your writing style.

1^st Recon (Gamma Squad)
Knight Brian Hadner
Hadner stowed himself amongst a thicket of decaying bushes, hiding deep in the sickly brown leaves. Enclave troops spread in searching patterns, plasma weapons at the ready.

Hadner had his own plasma weapon out, his fingers wrapped around the trigger in anticipation of an unsuspecting target. Hadner attempted to stifle the emerald glow by covering the tip with his hand.

The alloy of his gauntlet getting vaporized turned him away from this line of thinking.

Hadner decided to let it be, my luck has held this far. A Tesla shock trooper strolled within a few inches of his shrubbery. Tesla power armor had an electric shield that protected the wearer from a limited amount of energy weapons fire, and it possessed a thicker alloy than in regular Enclave armors.

It made a man into a fearsome tank of destruction. And one such man was inches away??

Suddenly the trooper froze. Not a good sign.

Hadner decided his position was compromised somehow and that striking first was probably his wisest decision. With a roar of defiance, Hadner squeezed the trigger rapidly, hoping to eliminate the shielding as quickly as possible.

A trio of plasma blasts made contact with the shield, and it dissipated with a brief flicker of electricity. His HUD indicated only four more shots remained in the microfusion cell imbedded in his rifle. Not the best news in the world when your life is on the line.

A wave of electricity flowed through the air, and a brilliant blue lit up the night. When it faded however, it was not the only thing to fade, his HUD showing his health monitors and ammunition counters dimmed with the outburst.

Hadner attempted to move his limbs to no avail; no amount of straining would shift the formerly powered armor.

A plasma blast echoed. Hadner strained to see who fired the shot. A dark figure held a plasma pistol to a soldier's head and discharged another blast.

It continued on its ghoulish rounds, finishing the assembled Enclave one by one, the mighty shock troopers were helpless to defend themselves. For the final execution Hadner watched as the figure removed the helmet of their captain and continued to blast his face off.

Hadner went out on a limb and decided it must have been a BrotherHood operative. "Hey! Over here!" he shouted, muffled by his deactivated helmet.

The figure wore the captain's helmet and it cocked its head in his direction. As the figure got closer, he realized it was a man slathered in mud. When he made it over to Hadner's bush, the figure removed the stolen Enclave helmet and revealed himself.

"What, you get stuck in a bush?" he asked in a vaguely middle-eastern accent.

"You could say that," Hadner remarked as he was dragged out of the shrubbery by his savior.

A gruff laughter was briefly shared by the battle hardened men. "You gotta name or what?"

"Hadner."

"Hadner? What kind of name is that?"

"Well ?.."Hadner trailed off.

"Doesn't matter, Name's Kane" He smiled and shook Hadner's immobile hand jokingly. "You must be with the BrotherHood, a Knight?"

Hadner managed to move his head in a weak imitation of a nod.

"Well at least I don't have to take orders from you," he grinned. "I'm a Paladin" he said, clearing Hadner's immediate confusion.

"Care to help me out of this tin can?"

"No reason to, our new prototypes recover from EM bursts pretty quickly. You gotta 'bout a minute or two till your power is back. Kane replied, excited to share his technical know-how.

Just after Kane finished his explanation, Hadner's HUD faded back into view, once again displaying health and ammunition monitors along with an aiming reticule. I'm back in business

Hander rose to his feet, feeling the comfort of the reactive circuits that was executing his motions far more powerful than he could ever manage. "I think I like my clothes better than yours" he remarked to mud caked Kane.

Kane shrugged and donned his stolen helmet. "I'm going to borrow one of their suits for a while, you know try before you buy."

Hadner grinned, a plan taking form in his mind.