Eliminated the Enclave? Who were these people? I was so confused. This 'Ryan' character was beginning to make me mad.

"Do you think I'm afraid? You are either very stupid or very arrogant. You think I will just abandon my family and these wastes? You are a fool. You think I came up here so I could earn your respect? You've got another thing coming. Just as I gave Autumns a chance to walk away and leave the wasteland, I will give you this same chance. But know this soldier, if I ever so much as see your footprint in the wasteland, mark my words, I will hunt you down and murder you myself."

I stood there and waited for the man to reply. I was still ready to shoot him.

(OOC: Sorry for lateness! Just got back from night out. Tired now. Yawn!)

Ashley woke up with a start. She looked around wildly on her bed and then relaxed, she felt an odd sensation in her ears and frowned. She reached up to her ears and felt the ear plugs she had used when practising at the firing range during the day. She yanked them out, groaning at the same time and twisted on her bed to look at the clock hung on the wall. She groaned again, no doubt she had missed something important. Ash swung her legs off to stand up. She yawned as she walked over to her foot locker, crouching down to get her clothes out of it. She laid them on her bed and went to have a quick wash, feeling the slight sting of the radiated water on her skin.

Ashley was still buttoning up her combat pants when she exited her room, still tired despite staying asleep while others slept. She padded towards where the food was being served and sat down to eat.

I half smiled, half smirked, I don't really know why, "Oh, Andy, you don't know half the things that we've done," I saw a shudder run through him as I said his name, "You wouldn't believe what we're capable of, although, you have given me a chance to just up and go... Although, if I ever tried that, I'd rather just get shot by you, right here, right now, although if you kill me I wonder what they'd do... See you as more of a threat and put even more resources onto getting you perhaps?"

I smiled fully now, "Oh, you wouldn't believe how many of our men want to kill you Andy, because your the one thing that stands between us and victory, although, now that I've met you, I've got a feeling that none of it would be that simple..." I trailed off and looked at him seriously, "Look, I'm really sorry about this, about all of this, but I can't stop what's going to happen, no one can, except you," I pointed at him, "But to do that you need to be alive you fool, I've heard about your deeds and you can't try any of that [censored] with us."

My entire face dropped to a point where it looked like I'd never seen happiness in my life, "Look, seriously? I'm not on your side and you'd have to do something very good to make me change sides Andy, but until that day comes, I'm sorry, I can't stick with you." I sighed then put my hand in one of my pouches, the Lone Wanderer tensed to shoot but stopped after I only pulled out a bottle of vodka, I pulled the cap off, took a swig and sighed. This was it, it was now or never.

I knew this would probably be the closest I'd get to him, but if I tried to kill him now and failed, then I was dead, if I tried to be friendly would I want to try and kill him later? I scowled visibly, going deep into thought, I spoke up once again, "Okay then, kid, your young and yet your better off than any other person in the world I'd say, you've done more than people have done in their whole lives... But then again, have you had a real life?"

I wondered if he would reply, if not, I knew what I would do.

Nate arrived at the shooting range, and greeted a few people that he knew. He unslung his rifle and walked a good distance away from one of the targets. He brought his aviators down over his eyes, and looked at the target. Nate quickly brought his rifle upwards, and peered through the scope for a split second, firing three rounds at the target dummy. Smoke poured out of the barrel of his rifle, as Nate lowered it, and saw the head of the dummy jolt backwards.

"Bullseye." Nate muttered.

"Nice one." a voice said from behind.

Nate turned around to see Corporal Hunt, one of Nate's previous squad members.

"Hey Phil, whats up?" Nate asked, hitting fists with Phil.

"Not much, heard you've been requested to go on some big mission with Captain Harris." Phil mentioned, looking impressed.

"What can I say? I'm good." Nate laughed.

"Yeah we'll see about that. Lets have a competi-... What? What are you looking at Nate?" Phil asked, as Nate looked off into the distance.

Nate saw two figures atop the tower that Captain Harris often went to, to watch the Brotherhood, which was abnormal, for usually it was only Captain Harris up there.

"There are.. two people on top of the tower." Nate mumbled, still looking up at the tower.

"Yeah? So?" Phil said, wondering why Nate was concerned.

"Theres never anyone else up there, but Captain Harris.." Nate trailed off.

George finally found a friendly face, not to mention an important one too. He walked up to Ashley, and sat on the other edge of the table.

"Hello Ashley, looks like you are late as usual.", he attempted to say laughing with a smile. From what he noticed, Ashley didn't care.

"Anyways, i'm here talking to you because the Captain selected you to be in part of a squad. Don't know what our mission is yet, but he kept on laughing, saying it was a 'suicide mission'.

George waited for a response. That is, if she even gave a response.

In the time waiting, he thought about what the mission might involve. He knows it has to with the Lone Wanderer and the Brotherhood of Steel, but other than that he didn't know. Not to mention, he wondered why he was chosen to be in part of the squad.

(OOC: I hope Nate's still watching to see this part eh?)

IC:

I looked at the Lone Wanderer again and I sighed, "No, you haven't had a normal life, you've had something more, but it's meant you haven't had the chances some people have... I'm in the same boat, I never got a normal life and look where I am now, stuck here arguing with you over both our lives... Sorry Andy, goodbye," I put my hand in a pouch and took a quick breath, I turned around and pulled out one of my many painkillers, I quickly injected it into my bloodstream.

I felt the difference within two seconds, my whole arm went numb and it travelled through my body quickly, I smiled and said, "Once again, I'm sorry, and don't forget, stay away from where you would normally be..." I ran to my right and I jumped off the building, I kept falling until I quickly turned, hooked one of my hands into the building and I slowed down a great deal but probably did something to my hand. I continued falling and the ground rushed to meet me.

"[censored]! One of them just fell!" Nate shouted, fearing it was Captain Harris.

"Oh my god! What the hell man!?" Phil shouted in astonishment.

Everyone at the shooting range had looked over to the tower, and saw whoever fell in mid-flight. Nate had no time to waste, without any notice, he rushed over to the end of the shooting range, and jumped the metal fence.

In the blink of an eye, Nate was sprinting through the dry, cracked dirt of the wastes, and making his way to the tower, with clouds of dust and dirt in his wake.

Nate arrived at the side of the tower, where Captain Harris layed against the rocky ground, that bordered the it.

[censored]!

Nate ran to the Captain's side, and checked his pulse. He was alive.

"Sir? Sir are you okay!?" Nate asked frantically, as he moved the captain over to the wall of the tower, and laid him against it.

I coughed lightly and opened my eyes, I looked at Nate and asked, "Is the vodka okay?" Then I started laughing, I guess I felt okay, then again I couldn't feel anything anyway. I sighed, "I'm fine, I think I might've damaged my hand though, dammit... I should've just talked my way off the tower," I saw Nate get an inquisitive look in his eye, "Don't worry Nate, it'll be fine, just don't get near the Tower entrance in the next 5 minutes or so... I'm serious, I guess it could be an order even."

I laughed again, then coughed, "Okay, now I'm serious, is my rifle okay?" I was pretty much asking myself, I pulled my rifle off my back slowly and I looked at it, then I noticed my hand. I cursed lightly, all the skin on the palm had been half torn off and my index finger was bent in a very bad way... I cursed again, louder, "Dammit! That's my trigger finger, dammit... I guess I'm gonna need some meds," I looked up at Nate and laughed, "Say something why don't ya? Then let's get the hell out of here."

I watched in astonishment as Ryan jumped off the building. I walked to the edge and stood there starring down at him. I saw a soldier run over towards him. I could have picked them off right there and then but I was always and man of my word. This was their one chance, just like I had given to so many before. He knew a lot, about me and about the Brotherhood but little did he know, I now knew something about him and his mysterious army.

"If I'm the one thing that stands between them and victory, then they can be beaten." I said to myself as I watched the soldier help the captain.

I turned around and headed back down the stairs. I still had my blaster drawn just in case they had something prepared for me. I made my way back to the citadel as quickly as I could. When I had reached it, I got more looks of confusion. I ignored them and set out for the Elder. I ran quickly to his quarters and flung open the door.

"Sir, get on the radio to every outpost, we're about to get hit by a new enemy and it's going to be hard."

Nate laughed, and patted the captain on his back.

"All that worried rushing over here, just for you to be worried about your alchohol? You are, one, tough bastard!" Nate laughed.

"Alright then, lets get you to the clinic, from that fall, i'm sure you broke something." Nate said, helping the injured captain to his feet.

"Wait a second, how are you even alive? Much less not crying out in agony." Nate asked, with a bewildered look on his face. Well from what you could tell from his mouth, he looked bewildered, considering his aviators were guarding the expression of his eyes.

I grinned, "Painkillers, very powerful painkillers, although now my whole body's numb, wonderful hey? Okay, now Nate, if you don't mind, I think going to a clinic is a good idea..." I trailed off and I started walking in the general direction of the base, I heard Nate following, I heard him open his mouth but I quickly said, "Not now, please, I need to save my strength to talk to everyone else." I heard him close his mouth again and I kept moving quickly, soon enough we were at the gate.

They let us in very quickly and I asked to use the intercom, of course they said yes and I depressed the button, "Okay, all of the people who were asked to go to the Mess Hall, you are to come to my office at 2200 hours, everyone else, pack your things and check your orders, we're initiating Operation: Blackhawk. You have to hurry so that we still have a chance, that will be all, now hurry the hell up!" I quickly moved my hand off the button, I started to move away.

I stopped and turned, looking at Nate, "Thanks kid, that was a real help, I probably wouldn't have woken up if you hadn't said anything, good work, I won't forget it." I turned swiftly and I rushed to my office. As soon as I got in I grabbed as much equipment as I could and stuffed it into my pack, then I rushed over to the clinic, hoping I wouldn't be stuck there all afternoon and night.

"All in a days work cap'n." Nate said with a grin.

He walked to the mess hall, grabbed a bowl of warm Macaroni, and sat down at a table.

Soon a crowd of people who had heard about the news from the people at the shooting at range, gathered around Nate and were asking him what had happened.

"Captain Harris jumped off a tower, and now hes okay." Nate said bluntly, with a mouthful of Blamco Mac&Cheese.

Elder Lyons looked at me stunned.

"Slow down, tell me whats happened." He said in a calm voice.

I took a deep breath in and spoke.

"One of our men was killed by a sniper, I went to see who it was. It was a man named Ryan Harris, he claimed that he has an army, one that defeated the entire Enclave, he says that we are next. I believe he is going to attack us sir, he said I was the only one that could stop them. I saw some soldiers, sir I believe we are about to be attacked by a force, the likes of which we cannot imagine. I need you to put the word out to every outpost we have, they need to be on full alert and ready for an attack. Sir with all do respect we need the Lyons Pride here defending our most valuable asset. I will make a new team and if we are attacked, my team will respond. I need you to trust me on this one sir."

I'd never seen the Elder so speechless in all my life. He looked up at me with a very stern look.

"I'm going to trust you, Andy. I hope for all of our sakes you are wrong. I will alert our outposts, in the meantime, you alert the citadel and gather a team. We'll use a vertibird to transport you and your team to where ever is needed. Good luck and may God have mercy on us all."

"Thank you sir." I said as I left the room.

I walked down the hall and entered the announcement room. I walked up to the microphone and spoke so all members of the Brotherhood could hear me through the speakers.

"Paladins, Knights and Initiates, this is the Lone Wanderer. I'm sure you all have at least heard my name, there has been many a time when the Brotherhood of Steel has placed all of their trust and hope in me. You have ask me to complete dire tasks and I have not failed you. This time my Brothers and Sisters, I need something from you. I need to call upon your hope and trust again. We have reason to believe that the Brotherhood will soon come under an attack from an unknown army. This army claims it has forever destroyed the much feared Enclave. They have set our sights on us and are coming in full strength. As of right now you are to be on full alert and are to be prepared for imminent attack." I let out a long *sigh*.

"I do not know for certain what we are up against, I do not even know for certain if they are truly coming. The one thing I do know for certain is that when they come, we will defeat them, for we are the Brotherhood of Steel! So hurry and grab your armor and weapons, prepare for the fight of our lives. I am also assembling a team who are to meet me in the meeting room, listen out for your name. Knight Mitchell, Knight Henry and Knight Drake. Report to the meeting room immediately for debriefing. That is all for now, thank you my Brothers and Sisters."

Ashley was still chewing on her food when George showed up. She smiled at him and waited while he explained what the Captain wanted of us.

"Suicide mission, huh?" She said, pushing away her empty bowl. "Best kind of mission... Sounds fun." She leaned forward on the table, wondering what the Captain's mission could be when his voice sounded over the intercom. "Speak of the devil... Well, I better go pack for our adventure of ours." She smiled, stood up and took the empty bowl back to the counter to be cleaned.

She walked out of the Mess Hall and headed for the clinic to get her medical supplies. She found the Captain waiting there when she arrived as the other medics and medical staff were packing and checking their orders. "Ahh, Captain." She walked over to one of the cupboards to get some equipment. Looking over her shoulder she asked, "What can I do for you on this fine, radiated day? More painkillers?" She turned and finally saw his hand. "Ah..." She stepped towards him and lifted his hand up gently. "No wonder you need painkillers when you hurt yourself doing stunts every week." Ash grabbed some anti-septic spray from the counter and sprayed some lightly over his torn hand. She bandaged the hand with bandages coated with a numbing agent. "When the painkillers wear off you'll be glad these bandages are there..." She distracted him by talking and grabbed his finger, pulling it straight again with a sickening crunch of grinding bones. Ash held his index finger and middle finger together with some cotton (or a substitute thereof) inbetween them then taped his fingers together with surgical tape.

"You won't be able to bend your fingers for a while but with your fast recovery stats you should be fine soon... I'll check on it tomorrow morning. Until then you'll have to make do without bending your fingers. At least it won't take much to do a two fingered salute though." She added with a smile.

Jack gathered all his supplies, from his ammo, to his stimpaks.

It was going to be just another mission probably.

((I'm cunfuzzled! *Begs just like Silly Cat* Talk to my character, too!))

Knight stood, slightly numbed by the words of the Lone Wanderer. He was a legend, so if he said something was wrong, it was. He left the announcement room and walked towards the Meeting room. He was supposed to ship out to DC to reinforce the squad stationed at the Washington Monument, but this took priority. Nodding briefly at the other Brotherhood members in the hallway, he made his way through the hallways, stopping at the barracks he occupied to don his power armor. He was still getting used to wearing it, but it never hurt to be over prepared, only under. He reached for his holster and AEP7 laser pistol, but decided against it. He grabbed a bottle of water and took a sip, before returning it to his footlocker and sliding his helmet into place. Satisfied, he left, taking only a few minutes to finish the journey. He stepped into the briefing room and looked around. It was alien to him, and he simply stood to the right of the door, waiting for any of the others to arrive.

Henry was horrified when he was selected to assist the Lone Wanderer in fighting off this new enemy. However, if what the Lone Wanderer said was true, then staying at the citadel was even more dangerous. So Henry grabbed his trusty assault rifle and started to put on his power armor. He then filled up his canteen in a sink and put on the rest of his assorted gear. Next Henry walked down the hall and was congratulated on getting the chance to be the first to strike back. Henry put on a fake smile and thought I'd rather not be risking my life out there But as it was, his skills were still far too valuable to not have him come along. Stepping into the briefing room he saw Mitchell knight right next to him. Henry asked " Any idea what we're expecting? "

Knight shook his head. "I just got out of basic. I don't even know why I'm being chosen rather than someone with more experience." He said. "But I suppose we're going to be taking the fight to the enemy or something." He finished with a shrug. "That's the best explanation I can offer at any rate." He finished.

"Is that so?" My God! its worse than I thought! Henry hoped that any feelings he had would be hidden by his helmet. "Just stick with me and you'll get out of this one alive," Henry had to increase his chances of survival by making friends with his teammates. After all, his life depended on them.

As the punch came flying at Orson, he ducked under the hand and seized it from below. It went over his head, soon followed by the rest of the young man's body, to be slammed down painfully on the concrete floor. The man groaned in pain and struggled to get his pistol out of it's holster, while the second man who had been closing on Orson, released the strap to his pistol's holster and began to pull it out as well, even as Orson was removing his pistols from his shoulder holster.

The first man never got his out, while the second only had his half-out when Orson pointed both pistols towards them, the first towards the fallen man's throat, and the second at the standing man's forehead. He cocked the hammers and said, "Bang."

The two men quickly backed up and put their guns back in their holsters. Orson put his away as well. "Nice try boys, but not nearly enough. Come back in five years."

The two recruits scowled and walked away, the first rubbing his back as he moved. Orson had extended an offer a while ago to anyone that wanted to make the attempt, to try and take him down. It had been rather uneventful, as only the foolhardy new recruits tried it, hoping for the mysterious reward he had offered. So far, no one had come close, even when they tried in teams.

Orson cracked his neck and looked up at the loudspeaker as the orders came through. It was a non-issue to him, as he always carried around all his equipment, in case of a surprise deployment. Shrugging his shoulder, he walked down the halls into the mess hall and took a seat, staring at the room's occupants. He wasn't hungry, really, he just liked being in places where he could see what was going on.

OOC: Crappy post, but considering I'm late for the show...

Nate slid his legs out from underneath the table, and stood up, his empty styrophone bowl in hand. He ambled over to the trash can and dropped it in, tossing his metal fork in a sink. He walked out of the mess hall, and walked to his room, where he crouched down, and reached his hand out under his bed, feeling around for something. He could feel his hand becoming covered in dirt and dust, and he could feel things scurrying away when he touched them.

Yuck...

He had finally found what he'd been searching for, an issue of Guns and Bullets. He pulled it out from beneath the bunk, and took a seat on his wheeled office chair. Looking at his hand in disgust, he picked up a towel, and wiped his hand odff with it. He blew the dust off of the magazine, and quickly skimmed through the pages. Closing the magazine, he rolled it up and placed it in the back pocket of his jeans. Nate pushed off of the seat of his chair, which sent it rolling into the wall. He stretched and yawned, and stepped over to the door.

Nate opened the door and shut it behind him, and started walking towards a window. He opened it up, and leaned out of it backwards, gazing up towards the roof. The wind blew through Nate's hair, as he stepped out of the window with one leg, and reached his hand towards a brick that was jutting out of the building. He grasped the brick, and brought his foot up onto the window sill, along with the other. Soon, he was completely out of the window, and holding onto the wall of the building, he was climbing to the roof.

Sure, there were other ways to get to the roof, but Nate prefered this one, because it was more.. challenging. Nate shut the window with his foot, and reached up again towards the second window sill. His fingers wrapped around it tightly, as he brought his legs up onto two other uneven bricks he had found. The wind roared, and pushed past Nate with an incredible force, nearly knocking him off of the building.

"Damn.. the winds never this strong here." Nate muttered to himself.

He continued to the scale the side of the wall, and shortly, he could feel the weathered shingles with his fingers. Nate pulled himself atop the building and onto the roof. He stood up and looked around him. The wastes were abnormally calm, other than the wind. He gazed over to the citadel base, although he couldn't see anything, they were to far away, and he didn't feel like spying on them through his rifle scope. No no, Nate came up here for a completely different reason. To read.

Nate pulled his issue of Guns and Bullets out of his back pocket, and unrolled it, grasping it tightly, making sure the wind didn't steal it away. Nate unbuttoned his overshirt, having both sides of it flailing wildly in the relentless wind. To Nate it was calming. He opened up his magazine, and began reading it in the roaring wind.

"Alright then, here we are, page 1.." Nate said to himself, like he'd been looking for it for ages.


((OOC: I didn't think your post was crappy Ambrose, infact, i'm looking forward to winning this "Mysterious reward". ))

When Andrew heard the Lone Wanderer call out his name, he nearly choked on his Cram in suprise. He thought, "A mission with the legendary Lone Wanderer himself, I hope I'm up for it." He then left the mess hall and headed towards the meeting room. Once inside, he noticed Henry and Mitchell talking, sat down, and said, "So we're supposed to be part of some new team, huh, I wonder what makes us so special?"

"I suppose that's a question to ask the Lone Wanderer. " Knight said to the newcomer. "And thanks for the support. I hope it's well placed." He said, turning to Henry.

Dakayev looked at everyone as Captain Harris explained the situation.

A while later


" Fresh blood for Gladius, fine by me, just as long as I get a trophy, preferably in the form of a skull or head" Dakayev said over the intercom

Dakeyev then pulled out of his back belt holster, his large Gladius rifle, the only ballistic gun in all of world that could punch through PA like a knife through swiss cheese.

" Anyone up for some action?"
Dakayev moved up a small ladder, appearing rusty. He climbed it nonetheless and found a small opening in the edifice. He climbed inside and walked through what appeared to be a hallway. He found a nice hole, wind blazing in. Dakayev then aimed the weapon on the open space, nothing but the cool air rushing through his visor.He then aimed his sights on a few BOS initiates, talking about something. Dakayev clicked his visor twice and his helmet chirped a buzzing sound before it chimed in on the conversation.

" Yeah, can you believe it! The lone Wanderer is taking some of us out on a mission, imagine how awesome that is!
" Thats an huge honor, don't act like an idiot in front of him, he might get pissed. I heard he took down five hundred muties!
" No kidding, he's the lone wanderer! "


Dakayev laughed as the conversation carried on as nothing more than non-sensical mumbling about the lone-wanderer. He pulled out a bag of Kracynaya cheesy puffs and began munching on them.

" Poor idiots don't know what is going to happen. Soon... soon enough." He cobbled out of his mouth while chewing the cheese puffs


OOC: Sorry for the short post, its late from where I am, and I wasn't able to get a post in a long while. Am I in the right time or am I completely fumbled. I need some action. BAD.

((OOC: We shouldn't be so fast to rush to the action, its times like this where character devolopment takes place.))