They’ve been traveling for a few days now. For Annabeth, it felt like forever since she had traveled this far for this long. Ever since she walked The Long Road, it felt like that part of her life was so far into the past you may as well have happened before the nukes dropped. Since her arrival to the Capital Wasteland, Annabeth only spent a few days to rest up before she had volunteered to take part in various missions all over the state on behalf of the Brotherhood. Thanks to the credentials of her promotion, she was highly recommended to mediate peaceful negotiations with other tribes, in particular she was involved in the facilitation of the Tree Minders. They were an odd group to be sure, so small and lightly armed that a well armed raider could’ve taken them all out. However they were among the few and only people to have access to [i]trees[/i], which rarely grew anywhere in the wasteland due to the radiation still in the soil. And it was thanks to their cooperation that Annabeth had a rather fancy looking bag on her back.

Made from yao guai leather and decorated with leaves, this bag held Annabeth’s spears, made from fresh wood, tipped with a sharp steel blade forged from the Brotherhood’s own armory. Compared to your typical tribal spear, Annabeth’s humble javelins seem positively advanced in material alone. And it was a weapon she was well versed it, much to the derision of some of her fellow Brotherhood members. Of course most would look down upon any weapon that wasn’t shooting some sort of energy bolt or at least made of metal, but for Annabeth it had a practical purpose. A few javelins were easier to use and carry than a dedicated silenced weapon, could be retrieved if she missed, and can serve her well in both range and melee combat. No one really brought her pitch though, so Anna was the only one who used spears as far as she knew.

And soon she’d have to test them in battle once again. Originally, the convoy was supposed to stop by a large trading town in order to extend peaceful relations with the locals, so that they would have a base of operation as they worked their way through the much more hostile south. However Annabeth heard radio chatter that seemed to indicate that there was trouble ahead. Sure enough Knight Captain Finn Cassidy radioed in that the IFV needed to take point: the settlement was under attack and they were tasked to clear out the boogeys.

[color=goldenrod]”Both thorn and thistles it should bring forth, for us. For out of the ground we were taken for the dust we are, and to the dust we shall return.”[/color] Annabeth muttered quietly as she adjusted her armor and loaded a fully charged microfusion cell into her rifle. Her current Fusion Battery was sitting pretty at a 97% charge. All systems clear, her mind ready for the coming battle. The IFV would have no trouble mowing down the bulk of the raiders, routing them with ease. However even without optics Annabeth knew that some likely have already gotten inside, or possibly did the smart thing and found some cover where the IFV couldn’t simply blast through with their weapons or otherwise crush them beneath their tracks. As safe as it would be for them, Annabeth knew that soon enough they'd need to get out and clean up any raiders that managed to avoid their assault.

Soon enough the trucks stopped. Annabeth heard a familiar voice over the comms mentioning that she spotted a few raiders within the town and that she’s already marked them on their IFF’s. Anyone wearing a Power Helmet or has some form of electronic HUD would be able to see the marked enemies as soon as they get a visual on them. At the moment, the town’s own militia were too spread out and likely lacked the same level of technological information to intercept and deal with these raiders in a timely manner. That’s where the Brotherhood came in.

When her vehicle stopped, Annabeth took it upon herself to leave. [color=goldenrod]”Knight Sergeant Elliot, heading out to sweep and clear. There’s reports of raiders within the town. I’m on my way to deal with them.”[/color] Annabeth said over the radio as she proceeded with her virtuous mission. Once she had her feet on the ground Annabeth broke into a sprint. With power armor giving each step a burst of mechanical speed, moving far faster than any human ever could. Raiders, defenders, Brotherhood, and civilians would hear her thunderous steps through the town.

Thanks to the raiders being marked through her HUD, Annabeth was easily able to spot a small group of three sneaking through an alley. They saw Annabeth and in their panic, opened fire on her. They were armed with a mixture of cheaply made submachine guns, and only one had anything resembling a proper battle rifle, the ever classic R91 assault rifle. And because that was the best gun among the three, Annabeth did not have anything to fear from their firepower; their bullets would barely scratch the paint, let alone penetrate her armor. As she charged towards them she fired off three blasts from her Laser Rifle. Two shots took down the raider armed with the assault rifle, one blast slagging his weapon while the other burned a hole into his arm, chest, and face, even burning through his metal breastplate. The third blast had one beam strike the raider in the neck, killing him instantly. And even if it didn’t, the other two shots landed into the raider’s head and disintegrated him.

Before Annabeth could take her fourth shot she was already upon the last of the three bandits she encountered. Armed with only a 10mm pistol, he emptied his magazine right as Annabeth knocked him to the ground. Before he could even turn his head to look at the Knight, Annabeth’s big foot crushed his head as if it was a radroach. [color=goldenrod]”Three down. More to go.”[/color] Annabeth says quietly as she made sure to confiscate the firearms, as to prevent other raiders from commandeering them, and went to secure the town.

[hr]

Bete spent the better part of her time asleep, guzzling Nuka Cola, or playing games on her Readius. At first it was mostly just Automatron, but after a while even that got so dull she decided to boot up Grognak and the Ruby Ruins again. The problem with that though is that she’s already completed that game three times, even solo, so she already knew most of the tricks and secrets. And it wasn’t exactly the most complex story told, as it mostly consisted of turn-based combat. Still it was something to do: the convoy hardly got bothered by anything that didn’t flee as soon as one of the IFV fired on it. Short of being attacked by a horde of super mutants or something, Bete didn’t really think they were going to be in any danger.

At least they were making progress. It took Bete a good two months just to hoof it from the Pitt to the Capital Wasteland, and it was not an easy trip. Even without the benefit of working vehicles or vertibirds, the Brotherhood still traveled as a huge group and were armed to the gills with energy weapons and power armor. No one fucked with them when they went back to the Capital Wasteland. Bete didn’t have that sort of benefit, and spent most of her time on the run for the various mutants and madmen looking for an easy target. She had one too many run-ins with ruffians who shot first and probably wouldn’t even question where she came from. Bete lost a lot of useful robots getting to DC. But ultimately, it was worth it.

The Capital Wasteland was still a wasteland, and there were still plenty of scumbags and dickheads to go around. But the Brotherhood did a damn good job turning that shithole into a proper bathroom. Even has clean running water you could use to wipe your ass with. In this day in age, that was a luxury indeed. Still Annabeth has seen good men turn evil when they have too much power and not enough oversight, and she worries that the Brotherhood will get too big for its britches. She still remembers the old history of how when you run a system of government based on your military might over, say, democratic equality among the citizens, you just end up in a sort of feudal society ruled by a military junta.

In other words, just another warlord trying to take over the world. Bete’s seen that a lot. Time will tell if the Brotherhood ends up repeating history too.

Still Bete can’t deny that things are at least peaceful. She hasn’t needed to kill anyone since she arrived to the Capital Wasteland, and much to her surprise they didn’t seem too bigoted when they found out she was a Ghoul. She was even more surprised when she found a whole area full of ghouls barely a stone throw away from a Brotherhood outpost. Granted, it’s not as if the Brotherhood accepted Bete with open arms either. She was smart enough to know not to just waltz up to a paladin and ask if she could join. But thanks to a bit of networking, she was able to get into contact with some of their outreach members and find steady work using her technological skills. With a steady stream of caps, a roof over her head, and some actual safety, it almost felt like Bete was living like it was the old world again. All of that thanks to the Brotherhood having the guns and guts to make something from the mess they found themselves in.

And thus, Bete is here. Away from her rather cushiony room at Carol’s Place, drinking all the Nuka Cola she could get with her caps. Partying at The Ninth Circle. Bete just sighed and shook her head. [color=sienna]”Quit yer bitchin. You volunteered for this gig.”[/color] She told herself as she put the Readius away. Just in time too; seemed like something was going on. Some radio chatter indicated that the convoys were getting closer to the big settlement they were suppose to stop by, but it seems like they were having a minor infestation of raiders. And by minor, more like being besieged by a fuckton of raiders. [color=sienna]”And here I thought this whole operation was going to be a bust. Time to earn my caps. Scout, you know what you need to do.”[/color]

Walking towards the back of the truck, Bete took out an Eyebot from her bag. Compared to most Eyebots, this one was much, much smaller, about as big as a mininuke. But despite it’s compact size, it was fast, loaded with useful tech, and of course it could fly. As soon as it received Bete’s commands it flew out from the truck and activated it’s stealth cloak, zooming past the convoy to get a bird’s eye view of the battlefield. A battlefield that Bete was now viewing through her Readius. The Knight Captain ordered the IFV to route the raiders, an easy enough task, but as they were doing that Bete noticed a break in the wall. She wasn’t the only one; a bunch of raiders managed to escape the IFV’s by going through the break and into the town. No doubt that the defenders of the place could find them eventually, but Bete was nothing if not effective when it came to getting the job done fast. Commanding Scout to fly a bit closer, she marked each bandit she saw as hostile, and sent the information to the Brotherhood. Anyone with a Pipboy or some sort of HUD would receive the transmission to help them spot the enemy. Bete herself informed them of this over her own personal communicator. [color=sienna]”Bete here. If anyone’s got a Pipboy or a working Power Helmet, know that I just sent some data to ya. I marked a few hostiles that managed to breach the walls and it looks like they’re about to check in at the hotel. I’m sure you know what to do with that info. I’ll have Scout keep an eye on things around town in case anything comes up.”[/color]