Tiberius67

How Little We Know

Institute - Director's Quarters

"Anything new on the California earthquakes, Charlotte?", Nathan inquired.

"Still some aftershocks in the Magnitide 1-2 Range on the Richter scale..", Charlotte paused to select a ice-cold Nuka-Cola from the tray Codsworth was holding, and thanks him before continuing, "but nothing like the initial Magnitude 8 event. We've determined the epicenter was in the Los Angeles Metro area, can't pinpoint it any further than that. The damage must have been massive."

"I find it odd", said Madison, who was sitting in the Director's favorite red leather chair and wearing a blue hazmat suit less the helmet, "that this happened just as our Strike Group was returning from the first raid....I think it may be connected somehow." She then accepted a cup of hot tea from Codsworth.

"Could be", Nathan replied, "Justin has been interrogating the ghouls that were handling the ferals, they say one of our Mutants was the leader, and far smarter than the others. Brian has had to keep all three sedated as they have been climbing the walls since they initially woke up...screaming about losing something. He wants to do a MRI on them, but they are too big to fit in our machine."

"Correct", Madison replied, "My people are working with Brian on that, Medford Memorial had an open MRI machine, we've recovered it and it's being refurbished as we speak."

Before Nathan could reply, the phone at his desk, which he was sitting on the corner of, began to ring. Nathan picked up.

"Director speaking", he said, then listened intently until the report was complete. "Thank you, we'll be right down." He then hung up.

"Relay Control reports the Pitt just activated the Relay terminal", he said to Madison, "They are running the calibration tests...you'll be up in fifteen minutes unless something goes wrong." He then looked her in the eye. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes", Madison replied, trying to be inscrutable though Nathan had known her long enough to see some nervousness in her eyes. "You arriving first thing could be taken as an insult as their Queen is not expecting a State visit. And Charlotte has two young children, or should I say three?". Charlotte blushed at this.

"I just got the results two weeks ago", Charlotte exclaimed, "I was waiting until George got back from Nuka-World to tell him."

"Right", Nathan said with mock seriousness as he looked over at Charlotte, "You aren't going anywhere then. Congratulations, by the way."

"Anyhow", Madison continued, "I'm high ranking enough to speak for the Institute, and convey that we take them seriously, but not so high that it'll cause protocol problems. They aren't in a position to threaten my person even if they wanted to...I'm more concerned about the ruined environment, people shouldn't be living in what is basically a chemical waste dump."

"If something does happen, though", Madison concluded while looking the Director back in the eye, "Keep your focus on the Big Picture....they aren't Sinjin, we need them on our side."

"Yes, Ma'am", Nathan replied with a chuckle, mildly surprised she was aware of the stunt he and Hancock pulled years ago, rescuing Kent from Sinjin and his gang. The near overdose of Grape Mentats he took to pull it off left him constipated for a week, but the look on Sinjin's, Hancock's and Kent's faces when Sinjin's own lieutenants turned their guns on him to save themselves was totally worth it. "And now, Ladies, it's showtime".

The Pitt - Supply Depot

Powered on, the device came to life, and the monitor attached to the Control Panel flickered on and the bootup routing began. Once it was complete, the display changed.

>BOOTUP COMPLETE
>SEARCHING FOR REMOTE CONNECTION............FOUND
>LOCATION OF SITE 10 - PITTSBURGH............LOGGED
>CONNECTING TO SITE 5 - LEXINGTON.........CONNECTED
>BEGINNING CALIBRATION TEST...WARNING!!! STAY CLEAR OF PAD!!!!
>SENDING TEST PAYLOAD......

Static electricity and a strong smell of ozone quickly built up to a blue ball of electrical energy passing down through the roof, with no sign of damage, and smacking into the pad with a loud snap. It cleared, revealing two metal cages, each containing a live mole rat.

>TEST PAYLOAD TRANSMISSION......SUCCESSFUL
>RETRIEVAL OPERATION COMMENCING....WARNING!!! STAY CLEAR OF PAD!!!

Once again, static electricity and ozone built up until a ball of energy formed on the pad, and it abruptly darted up through the ceiling and disappeared.

>RETRIEVAL OPERATION.....SUCCESSFUL
>TEST PAYLOAD RECEIVED IN NOMINAL STATE
>CALIBRATION COMPLETE - SITE 10 - PITTSBURGH FULLY OPERATIONAL
>STAND BY....
>STAND BY....
The static electricity and ozone began again

>RECEIVING TRANSMISSION FROM MAIN RELAY CONTROL VIA SITE 5 - LEXINGTON
>TRANSMISSION IN PROGRESS - WARNING!!! STAY CLEAR OF PAD !!!
The charge built up, then abruptly a ball of electrical energy, like before, shot down through the celiving and hit the pad. It cleared to reveal a single individual, about five foot tall, wearing a blue lab hazard suit. On the floor next to the figure was a briefcase.

THE PITT - SUPPLY DEPOT - MADISON LI

Madison found herself in a large, dingy warehouse. The building itself seemed solid enough from where she stood, but was filthy from long disuse.

"I could get tetanus from just looking at this room", Madison thought sourly, knwowing it was far worse outside, "but it will do". She looked around, for the moment seemingly not taking notice of the dozen or more heavily armed Raiders eying her with a mixture of awe and deep suspicion. while careful not to make any sudden movements that would get her ventilated. She herself was unarmed, common sense dictated she would be dead before she could produce a weapon so it was pointless to bring one. Raising her left arm (slowly) she examined her Pip-Boy. Environmental readings were acceptable, if not recommended for long term exposure. She slowly removed the hood of her lab suit, and turned to face the pair that the footage from the Watchers indicated were most likely in charge of the group. One was a relatively young Raider, the superior workmanship of his armor compared to the others marking him as a man of rank....and a much older man, nearly her age, wearing a heavily patched and altered burgundy robe faintly reminiscent of the type once worn by a Brotherhood Scribe. If she did not already know who he was, she would not likely have made the association.

"Gentlemen", Madison said gravely, "I am Dr Madison Li, Department Head of Advanced Systems at the Institute. We have decided that the War against the Unity is just as much our fight as yours, and stand ready to assist you in any way that we can."

"This device", she said, gesturing with both arms at the relay terminal she was still standing on, "Is a terminal for the Molecular Relay, the Institute's greatest achievement. With it, men and supplies can safely be sent to anywhere within range in mere seconds. Until now, it was a closely guarded secret we shared with no-one, even factions in the Commonweath that we are allied to. That we do so now, in spite of our...contentious..past, underlines the depth of our committment to your Cause."

"The first shipment which we have prepared for immediate relay", Madison continued, "Is a fully staffed and equipped 200 bed mobile military field hospital. We only have two that survived the long years since the War, one of which we will give to you. We have other items that may be of use....military robots, repair parts for pre-war machinery, weapons designs suited to mass production in your factories, and more. I will stay until arrangements can be made with your Lady's Ministers to exchange Ambassadors and set up a committee to coordinate the logistics. We would like to re-establish a rail connection between Boston and The Pitt, the Relay does consume a significant amount of power."

"Any further questions, Gentlemen?", she asked in conclusion.

How Little We Know

The Institute - Directorate Board Room

The lights came on as the ending credits rolled on what was a newsreel published by the Canadian War Office, made from film of the evacuation and destruction of Chicago by what appeared to be a multi-faction fleet comprising most of the Great Lake powers. Having been part of the force that was sent in to, in vain, capture or eliminate the Canadian Prime minister and the Governor General during and after the annexation, it really didn't surprise him they had just come down from the wilderness after the War and took up where they left off. He and his predecessors had definitely dropped the ball when it came to what was going on North of the old border...some contacts there would be invaluable right now. As to the impact, the silence was deafening, as the various members of the Directorate sat and looked at each other, completely horrified. Dr Li looked like she was fighting the urge to throw up, Charlotte had been quietly weeping through most of the film, Ayo looked every bit as grim as Nathan felt, and the rest were in various stages of shocked horror.

"There are a few observations I'd like to make", Nathan said as he stood up. "What we've just seen is deeply shocking, but there is a definite logic to it. A slide, taken from the film, appeared on the screen. It showed a massive shipyard complex in the South shore of Chicago. It's five building slips were occupied by three partially constructed large freighters, one small warship that appeared to be a Destroyer, and what appeared to be a cruiser-sized warship. "If the Mutants had captured this facility intact, or in at least a repairable state, it would have been a unmitigated disaster for the entire Great Lakes region. If the Mutants were to seize control of the Lakes, they would have access to the Atlantic. As you know, we have no naval force to speak of. More slides, of factory complexes, clicked by one by one. "Chicago's industrial capacity was only rivaled by that of Pittsburgh, by destroying it to deny it to the Mutants, they have given us a chance to survive."

"Regarding Pittsburgh, there has been a recent development on that front", Nathan continued, "Charlotte will brief you". Nathan sat down and nodded at Charlotte to begin. Composing herself, Charlotte stood and presented her report on the message they had received. Once the report was complete, she sat again and Nathan stood.

"Charlotte and Justin assess that this message is an attempt to request aid, or perhaps an alliance from the Institute". Nathan said, "I find their logic compelling. The putative source of the message is a tributary gang of The Pitt, they would not be warning them of something they already know themselves. They believed, correctly as we all know, that members of the former Capital Wasteland Brotherhood would find shelter here, and hoped to attract their notice."

"If I may", Justin said, "Pittsburgh's forces are holding the Line along the Ohio River...for now...but if the Unity breaks though, and takes Pittsburgh, we all are in mortal danger. Their behavior makes clear they are intent on pushing to the Atlantic. With the industrial capacity of the Pitt at their command, there will be no stopping them, even with our technological superiority. Our survival, and that of everything we've built here, is linked to the survival of Pittsburgh. If they fall, we fall shortly thereafter."

"We have been aiding them covertly for some time now", Nathan added, "using the recently expanded range of the Relay to disrupt Enemy logistics, directing reinforcements...namely the Children of Atom...to Pittsburgh, but we must do more." Nathan then concluded "I put the following motion to a vote...that the Institute directly aid the Regime in Pittsburgh by any means necessary for our mutual survival, and that I be authorized to pursue diplomatic relations with same, up to and including a formal Alliance."

"I second the motion", Holdren said.

"Very well....those in favor?"

Every member of the Directorate raised their hand immediately.

"The motion is carried unanimously, and is deemed adopted. Preparations to open relations with Pittsburgh will commence immediately."

How Little We Know

Switchboard - Head Librarian's Office

"...the meeting is at 1800", Justin said over the phone, "Our assets in Toronto, or Ronto as people topside call it, sent back some video footage. The Director and I have already seen much of it, it's quite grim. Among other things, there is footage of what happened in Chicago."

"Did they...?", asked Charlotte in a pained tone of voice.

"Yes", Justin replied tersely. "The Midwestern Brotherhood destroyed their own city with nuclear weapons. As far as I could tell, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people died....and God knows how many Mutants. Given some of the other footage, I'm not sure I can blame them. I know enough about the Laws of the Brotherhood to know that using strategic nuclear weapons on civilians is the gravest crime of them all....but it seems that after Barnaky's death their defensive lines crumbled and they shifted their focus to the larger picture, stopping an existential threat to Mankind itself at any cost."

"Perhaps", she replied sadly, "I'll try to keep a open mind. I have to say I'm disappointed in them, what they have done is a unprecedented breach of the Codex, the Order was created explicitly to prevent this from happening again."

Her eyes strayed to a picture hanging on the wall. It was from a happier time...of her, she had yet to marry and was still Charlotte Yearling then, receiving her graduation certificate from the hands of Elder Lyons, the day she took her Oath and became a Scribe. Her parents had been so proud. They were gone now, as was the Elder, in fact most everyone she had ever known. Many of them they hadn't even been able to bury, after that bastard Sutler annihilated most of their fighting strength at Adams. They had to abandon the Citadel, collecting everyone they could find and fleeing into West Virginia, the locals were polite but not terribly welcoming. They didn't want any trouble with Sutler, as they had enough problems keeping a lid on the legacy the Old World had left in Appalachia. When the Elder had died a few weeks after their arrival of a broken heart...she herself had held his hand as he died, Sarah's loss on top of the disaster Sutler had wreaked on them, and Abaddon's perfidy (hopefully Sutler rewarded his treachery with a painful death!), had been too much for him and he lost his will to live. After the Elder was interred in a old Pre-War munitions bunker along with the original mainframes that held the Chapter archives, the surviving Proctors took stock and decided that with only a handful of Knights and Paladins left, barely enough equipment to arm them, the Chapter was doomed. A vote was taken, and the motion to formally dissolve the Chapter carried. The survivors made their final goodbyes then went their own separate ways. Rothschild led a Party West, to try and return to Lost Hills. God only knows how far he got, knowing what she knew now. George, Vallaincourt, and her joined Dr Li's party headed North to the Commonwealth...once the Institute realized how formidable an intellect she was, she managed to get them all in as a package deal. A few headed back to the Capital Wasteland, that didn't end well for the ones who fell into Sutler's hands. The rest decided not to join a faction, and scattered to the winds and could likely be found in ones or twos in any civilized faction. She herself know of several who had come to the Commonwealth but did not join the Institute. Those they looked out for best they could, so they could come in from the cold if they chose.

She was distracted as the door to her office opened. It was Will Jones, he was J6 this month. He was carrying some printouts and was clearly excited about something.

"One moment, Justin", she said and bade him to enter. "What do you have for me, Will?"

"You need to see this, Mrs Peabody", he said as he thrust the printouts at her, "Intercept from Team Golf...some Raiders in Scranton broadcast this a little over an hour ago."

Charlotte scanned the printouts, and her jaw dropped in astonishment. The July 2077 codes were the last Codebook published, the Last Days were upon them before the usual update. A Raider gang using a old codebook wasn't impossible, but why would they be reporting a imminent threat against Pittsburgh? Who would they be sending it to? And the name of the Brother sending it? Will had been a baby during the Last Days, she nursed him as well as her eldest Wendell when his mother nearly died from dysentery on the trip North, so he had no way of knowing, but she knew for a fact Ashur had been lost during the Scourge and years later James's boy found him ruling Pittsburgh as effectively a King. Something is very wrong with this message.

"Good catch, Will" she said, firmly pointing at one of the chairs facing her desk. Will got the hint and sat down, clearly excited that he was getting to break important news. "Justin", she said into the phone, "Is it confirmed that Ishmael Ashur is dead?"

"Yes," replied Justin, "Died around two months ago....natural causes, we were told, if you can say that the environment in Pittsburgh is anything like 'natural'. His armies remained loyal and his daughter succeeded him as planned. Why do you ask?"

"We got a decrypt request from Advanced Systems on a message emanating from Scranton," Charlotte explained. "Turns out it was coded in the last set of Brotherhood codes." She then read it aloud to him, then waited for him to check and reply.

"Charlotte", he said after returning to the phone, "That latitude and longitude corresponds to Ashur's Palace, in the old Cathedral of Learning in the University of Pittsburgh. There is only one logical conclusion....this message was intended for us. The Pitt Raiders are asking the Institute...us...for help. They suspected, correctly, that members of the Brotherhood had joined the Institute and hoped this would get their...your...attention. There is no other option that makes sense to me."

"You should relay over right away", Justin continued, "We have to bring this before the Director, and ultimately the Directorate. With George in Nuka-World, you wield your Department's vote."

"Agreed", Charlotte replied, "I'll be over as soon as I debrief my people." She then ended the call and turned to Will, picking up a clipboard and handing it to Will. "Start writing, young man...and not your usual chicken-scratches, please..this is going to the top."

How Little We Know

The Switchboard - J6 (Signal Operations) Office

G1-49 pulled the incoming message off the teletype machine once it finished printing. She did not know why the humans here always wanted hardcopy of documents instead of simply reading them off the secure terminal, but it wasn't her place to question it. Scanning the printout, it had been picked up by the reclamation unit in Springfield an hour ago, and forwarded for analysis after Advanced Systems at the Institute couldn't decipher it due to the brevity of the message. The source of the Signal had been triangulated to a point outside the Commonwealth, in Pennsylvania...Scranton to be specific. She took it to the office of the Duty Analyst, currently a graduate student in Mathematics all of nineteen. A boy his age Institute side would not have this level of responsibility and authority, but Will's parents had made the trek from the Capital Wasteland with Dr Li, and the Brotherhood refugees did things differently.

"Will", she said as she handed him the printout, "this came in from the Institute side, they couldn't crack it and wanted to know if you could help."

"Thanks, Gina", Will said as he accepted the document and did his best not to stare, synth or not, she was pretty, and quickly scanned it. "Scranton? That's weird." He reached for the phone, and dialed J6 (Intelligence Operations).

"Amanda? Henry here", he said as he leaned back in his chair, and spun to face his desk, "What do we have on Scranton, PA? Team Golf in Springfield picked up a message from that area, and Li's people can't crack it. Ok, I'll wait". He waited while poor Amanda had to take time from preparing her Psych Dissertation to answer his inquiry. He looked at G1-49 and smiled. "I'll take it from here, thanks Gina."

As she left the office, she wondered why she felt so odd when Will smiled at her, a odd warm sensation that wasn't at all unpleasant. She was pretty certain he liked her in the way humans liked each other, to the point of giving her a name (based on her designation), and the idea didn't bother her at all. But it was too dangerous to act on it, Grandfather's policies were quite clear, only widow(er)s could have a personal synth. After a incident involving a small group of Robotics personnel about ten years ago that no-one would talk about, this was strictly enforced. Fraternizing with Will would at best get her sent back to the Institute, at worst mind wiped and reprogrammed. That she couldn't bear.

Meanwhile, Will finally received a answer from Amanda. Scranton was occupied by a gang called the "Athols"...a bad pun on the original home of the Raider Gang, in a town called Athol in the Northern Commonwealth. They had begun as a self-defense gang, but eventually ended up running protection rackets and occasional raids on caravans heading between Boston and Albany. For that, and declaring fealty to the Pitt, they were forced out of the Commonwealth by the Minutemen in the '91 campaign. Definitely not the sort that would be broadcasting such a message.

Will shrugged and scanned the message into the local secure database, which was linked to the legacy DIA mainframe that had been bleeding edge tech before the War, and was still capable of giving Advanced System's mainframe a run for it's money. The Database could only be access from inside the Switchboard, even Institute researchers had to relay in to access it, which is just how everyone involved wanted it. The Database was chock full of things that didn't need to be common knowledge, and also contained their copy of the Brotherhood archives that the elders had brought from the Capital Wasteland with them....the main link to their own history before they joined the Institute. The only other complete copy was buried with Elder Lyons in a bunker in West Virginia....but he was a baby then so had no idea where. With the war with the Unity coming, a operation was being planned to retrieve them, and the Elder himself, so the Muties couldn't desecrate him and the archives.

With the message scanned in, he ordered the search program to execute. Surprisingly, it quickly returned a result.

>MESSAGE FORMAT IDENTIFIED
>VALID FORMAT FOR BOS FIELD COMMUNICATIONS
>CODE AUTHENTICATES FOR 18JUL2277 (FINAL) CODEBOOK
>DECRYPT? (Y,N)

Will pushed Y, and the decrypted message scrolled onto the screen.

>MUTANT ATTACK IMMINENT, LOCATION: 40°26′39″N 79°57′11″W. URGENT ASSISTANCE REQUESTED. -ASHUR, I.

Will used his non secure terminal to retrieve the coordinates in the message. They came up as the location of a building in Pittsburgh, or the Pitt as it is called now. The "Cathedral of Learning", on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, to be specific. Whatever this was, this wasn't the work of some punk Raider gang, that was for certain. He ordered a printout of the result on the secure terminal, and grabbed both printouts and headed for Mrs Peabody's office. With Mr Peabody away supervising the reclamation ops at Nuka World and Springfield, she was in charge, and would know what to do. After all, she was there for the Last Days and knew more than he did about it all.

How Little We Know

Ohio Route 229 - 2 miles South of Waldo, OH

Richard twirled the handle of the Super Sledge back and forth along his shoulder as he was wont to do when annoyed, as he watched, with bored indifference, the feral wranglers herd their charges across the old bridge and past him, towards their final destiny in the front lines, about 50 miles to the East. While he understood that the Front had to be supplied with ammunition, and ferals are as much ammunition as a bullet or rocket, and it was too important a task to be left to Dum-Dums, he still hated everything about the assignment....the ferals, the insolent and untrustworthy ghouls who they relied on to control them, and the fact he was stuck baby-sitting them instead of being at the front caving in skulls.

Damn that worm Joe! It was his stupidity that got him swallowed whole (and very much alive!) by the Behemoth Lord, his immediate Lieutenants fed to the Centaurs, and the next level of leadership, including him, demoted to "redeem themselves". And all because Joe refused to believe Ronto would lift a finger to help the Brotherhood and didn't deploy nearly enough troops to stop them when (surprise!) the Ronto soldiers in Toledo came down to break the encirclement long enough for the Brotherhood to evacuate what troops they still had in Ft Wayne. Last he heard before his demotion was scouting parties in Michigan were not only finding no-one, but signs that the Ronto and Brotherhood humans were shooting any humans who refused to evacuate.

They were beginning to learn.

Richard was shaken from his internal diatribe by a sudden explosion at the far end of the bridge. He turned left to see, it had caught the lead elements of the baggage train, which had been behind the ferals. His first thought was relief that the ferals were already across the now destroyed span. This was followed by scorn at their unknown assailants, presumably the Pittsburgh raiders, why didn't they blow up the whole bridge and wipe out most of his convoy? Such a small section could be easily repaired by slaves.....this lead to a sick sense of dread as Richard began to suspect that it wasn't an accident. Richard reached for his battered old field radio.

"Get the Ferals off the bridge NOW!", Richard roared, "It's a ambush!"

As the wranglers began herding the ferals off the bridge, Richard saw what looked like the patter of rain fall around the massed ferals. But as ferals began to scream and fall as whatever it was touched them, the unmistakable chatter of machinegun fire from the South...behind him...began, but oddly enough it sounded like it was far away. Richard whirled around to see. Parallel to the road was a field, beyond that about 100 yards or so was a treeline. This was too close for the faint sound of the gunfire. Then he saw movement above the trees and looked up. Arcing above and over the treeline, as it coming from a long distance, was two lines of flickering red tracers that converged with the ferals on and near the bridge, and it was decimating them rapidly. Eventually, the wranglers that weren't hit themselves jumped off the bridge to get out of the kill zone. Richard was astounded by this, he had never seen machineguns used in this manner before.

Richard knew they were all dead if they didn't act fast, and after the harsh tutelage of Mutants that had served the NCR, Brotherhood, and Legion before being reborn in the Unity, he knew what he must do. Ordering the Wranglers to unleash the ferals still under command towards the tree line, he quickly rallied the Mutants on his side of the bridge and lead them forward, towards the tree line, hard on the heels of the enraged ferals. Whoever was spotting for the distant guns was in that treeline, and no doubt more enemies were as well. They had to close with them or they would be cut to pieces.

As they approached, two more machineguns began to fire, this time from the treeline. They were widely spaced apart, catching the whole approach in a crossfire, scything down the ferals with brutal efficiency. But he had anticipated this.

"Target the source of the tracers!", Richard bellowed, "silence those machineguns!"

Obediently, the Mutants began firing at the locations where the tracers were emerging from the treeline. One Mutant had a Fat Man he had picked up from a fallen comrade, and managed to land his only bomb right behind the right hand machinegun, the explosion sending the blazing weapon flying into the air towards them, striking and crushing a feral directly. Parts of the crew rained down around them.

A body with both legs and left arm blown off landed about 10 feet in front of Richard, who glanced at it as he ran by, noticing the rubbery cover that looked like a mockery of human skin, and clear mechanical parts underneath.

"A robot?", Richard thought, "what kind of robot is that?" He didn't have time to investigate, luck was finally breaking his way and he had to exploit it while he still could.

"Flank right!", Richard exclaimed, "Get out of the line of fire of the other gun!"

As the remaining ferals charged headlong into the treeline, Richard and his remaining Mutants headed for thier right, hoping to flank the Enemy on their left and roll them up. But as they advanced, they found only dead ferals, and a lesser number of downed robots, all in white outfits with white armor and armed with some sort of laser rifle. Ahead, they heard the snarls of ferals and the sound of energy gun fire, the other machinegun had stopped firing. As they neared the firing, a grenade dropped from above and began to emit a voluminous cloud of smoke. As they fired into the trees, with no target in sight, suddenly one of the mutants cried out. Josh, who had their only flamer, crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from his neck. After that, the smoke was too thick to see further than arms reach, all around him were the cries of Mutants as they were attacked, one by one. Rushing out of the smoke cloud, he finally came face to face with his enemy, who suddenly winked into view, after the tell tale pop of a Stealth-Boy failing. He was a tall black man, with closely cropped hair and wearing a leather trenchcoat that reached his calves and sunglasses. His face was completely expressionless as he leveled a single shot grenade launcher at his chest. Richard rushed forward, winding up his Super Sledge for a swing, but it was far too late. The human fired, and the projectile struck him square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and toppling him over. Before he could recover, the human dropped the grenade launcher, produced a grenade and pulled the pin, and hurled it at him. It exploded with a loud pop, coating him in foam which rapidly hardened upon exposure to air, completely immobilizing him.

Finding himself trapped, Richard began cursing the human, not that he appeared to care. One of the robots approached the human.

"Report", the human said in a voice as flat and emotionless as his expression.

"Enemy force neutralized", the robot said in a odd buzzing voice. "Eight Gen2 units destroyed, fourteen damaged but assessed repairable. One support weapon destroyed. Two other Mutants and five non-feral ghouls in custody, three wounded. The cut-off force has disengaged, heading West towards the occupied settlement of Waldo."

"Half our force", the human said flatly. "We underestimated them. Prepare the prisoners, damaged units and support weapons for immediate relay out. Collect all destroyed units that can be found in fifteen minutes. All units will be relayed out in twenty minutes, sooner if the enemy approaches. Execute".

Richard resumed his cursing, adding in the casualty report for good measure. The human knelt next to him, and spoke, for the first time showing a hint of emotion.

"Shut up", X6-88 said as he injected a sedative into the Mutant's neck. As the sedative began to take effect, and the world began to dim, his last thoughts were of his old Warboss Joe.

"You bastard", he though bitterly, "I hope you lived for a while in there....."

How Little We Know

The Glowing Sea - Site Prescott - a few minutes later

"Are you sure about this, sir?", X6-88 asked, "Atom cultists are extremely dangerous. We can relay in a strike team and secure the facility easily."

"I am sure", Nathan replied serenely, "We're going to walk in there and secure this facility without a shot being fired. They want what we want, all that needs to be done is explain that to the Children and they'll cooperate gladly...you'll see".

"Very well, sir", X6-88 reluctantly agreed. He had seen Grandfather do some amazing things out in the Wasteland with his own eyes, and heard stories of others from his human traveling companions, but in his opinion convincing Atom Cultists to willingly give up what they held to be sacred relics was ambitious even for him, which is why he had quietly assembled a strike team prepared to relay in on a moment's notice if he was wrong. As the old saying went, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission, and Grandfather's life was his personal responsibility.

"Let's go", Nathan said, then strode towards the old pre-war installation without any attempt at concealment. X6-88 followed, scanning the area as they walked. "Remember, let me do the talking, and don't produce a weapon unless I tell you to."

As the pair approached the crumbling guardhouse at the ruined perimeter fence, a very young woman dressed in the sackcloth robes favored by the Children of Atom darted out to confront them. In her hands was an R-91 assault rifle in surprisingly good condition. While it wasn't pointed straight at them, she was clearly prepared to use it.

"Stop where you are strangers", she said sternly, "This is Holy Ground, there is nothing here for unbelievers that is worth dying for!"

X6-88 noticed a glint from the top of the pyramidal facility that had to be a sniper. Or worse...the Children had no compunctions at all when it came to using atomic or even nuclear weapons, even if they or their fellow cultists were caught in their own blast. His training told him he should order the deployment of the strike team, but his gut told him that it was too late for that, he could only trust Grandfather and see how events played out.

"You but speak the truth, Sister", Nathan replied gently as he held up a odd, crudely fashioned wooden figurine of a woman with her arms at her side, "but for the Faithful, dying to protect the relics of Atom inside is a Sacred Duty".

The effect on the woman couldn't have been more profound, immediately the suspicion and hostility drained from her face, replaced by shock, then reverent awe, then contrition in rapid succession. Her arms went limp and the muzzle of the rifle drooped to aim at the ground and tears began streaming down her face, leaving tracks in the everpresent dust coating her face.

"I...I had no idea you were the Herald of Atom", she sobbed, "P-Please forgive me for threatening you!"

"You have done nothing to be ashamed of, child", Nathan said comfortingly as he gently wiped away the tears running down her face, "your willingness to face a stranger in power armor with just a rifle only proves your devotion to Him." He glanced up at the pyramid the back down into her eyes. "The brethren on the roof..."

"Jessica, my name is Jessica. Oh, yes..almost forgot", she exclaimed. She then turned around to face the facility, and held her rifle over her head and waved it in a elaborate gesture. The glint disappeared, followed by three flashes from a flashlight or spotlight. She whirled around, her demeanor back to reverent awe an continued, "They understand you are one of us, you may enter in peace. They will take you to Brother Henri, he is Atom's Steward here. Atom keep you!"

"And Atom keep you as well, Sister Jessica", Nathan replied.

"Sir, X6-88 asked as they strode towards the front door, "May I ask how you did that?"

"Far Harbor. It was before we met", explained Nathan, "I was helping out Nick, ended up joining the Children myself and living with them for a time". He chuckled at X6-88's reaction and continued. "Nick's assignment required we entered the old sub base they lived in, and the only options to proceed were to join or shoot my way in. As the leader..and trainer...of their fighters was once a high-ranking member of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood, I would have gotten lit up fast so I went on their quest to join. And someone or something led me to this icon. They call her the 'Mother of the Fog'. I'll be frank, I saw some things on that quest that I still cannot explain. But anyway, when I returned with it they thought I was the neatest thing since sliced bread. It's come in handy ever since....I used my status with the Children and the Minutemen to broker a peace between the Children and the rest of the Commonwealth. For the most part, they are only a threat if persecuted."

"I'm impressed", X6-88 replied, "Kellogg would have used....different methods."

"Correct", retorted Nathan with a hint of cold ferocity in his tone, "That is why I'm still kicking and that cocksucker is dog shit!", after a pause he continued in his normal tone, "Kellogg and his methods were very nearly the Institute's undoing, I think Shaun realized that on some level. Before he passed, I had wondered why he didn't take the trash out himself..I only understood once I inherited the Directorship and could see the situation from his point of view. He didn't have the political capital to get the Directorate to let him take out their favorite Enforcer. It must have been pure hell for him to have to work with the bastard that murdered his mother when he wanted to paint the nearest wall with his brains so bad he could taste it. He then added flatly, "But what he could do is unleash me...I found a microfiche copy of my real service record in his papers, which apparently Zimmer found in the Pentagon before he disappeared...he knew what would happen."

"My point is", he concluded, "and I've spent the last decade driving it home to the Directorate, is that we can't afford the enemies we were making. We have to work with the surface dwellers, not rob them and use them as lab rats, and don't get me started on the Watcher program. Eventually someone would have found a way to strike back and everything we've done to preserve and advance science would have been swept away in a tidal wave of hatred. It doesn't have to be that way, my policies are starting to bear fruit and in the end both the Institute and the Commonwealth will be better for it." Nathan added as they reached the door, "Showtime. This will actually be the easy part, they see us as brethren now so they will hear us out."

Site Prescott - Control Room - a few minutes later

Nathan, having left his suit inside the door to reveal he was now wearing the robes of a Child of Atom, and clutching the effigy to his chest, and X6-88, who removed the helmet from his hazmat suit, were shown into the control room. Awaiting them there was a tall, almost skeletally thin bald man in the robes of a medium high member of the Children of Atom. His eyes, set in his weathered face, had the glint of a true fanatic. In a corner was an Assaultron, the white star painted over with the symbol of Atom. It was studying them, but was not in alert mode.

"I am Brother Henri, Steward of Atom for this Sacred Place", he intoned in a friendly, but curious tone, "Sister Jessica signaled that you were of the Faith, whom do I have the honor of addressing?"

"I am Nathan, Brother," Nathan replied, "I am from the Church in the North, the Nucleus in Mount Desert Island. My companion, X6-88 is seeking the Truth".

"You have come far then", Henri said, impressed that he had traveled so far, "have you come to make a Pilgrimage?"

His mind clicked on the fact that Brother Nathan's companion was a synth, but he was distracted when he noticed what Nathan was holding to his chest. He then spoke again, his voice trembling slightly.

"Brother Nathan", Henri asked, gesturing respectfully at the effigy, "If it's not too impertinent, may I see what you are holding?

"But of course, Brother", Nathan replied as he placed it reverently into Henri's outstretched hand.

Henri studied the effigy, his face lighting up with awe and transcendental joy brighter every second. He then handed it back with extreme reverence. He had expected them to be pilgrims, a joyous event to be sure, but not this. His years of faithful toil had been rewarded. The Herald of Atom had come, and Atom's mighty gaze was upon him.

"I have lived for this glorious day for twenty years", Henri said exultantly, "Pray tell me, what is Atom's Will?"

"You, and your Brothers and Sisters, are part of Atom's Plan, Brother", Nathan replied, "Your charge, which you have faithfully carried out, was to keep the relics here safe until they were needed. That time has come. To the West, a blasphemous force has arisen, determined to force mutation on every man, woman and child on this continent, if not the world, and cut them off from Him forever. Even now they are marching on the Pitt. It is the Will of Atom that the His city, The Pitt, and the infant Church there, stands! The relics here, and other places, shall be readied and unleashed to fulfill the purpose Atom set for them long before his first Child was born, to bring down upon the heads of the so-called, blasphemous "Unity" the irresistible brightness of Atom's Light, and the scourging touch of the flames of His Wrath. By this Act of Faith we shall save both His Church and His Children, as well as those unbelievers who may yet be brought to His light!"

He then folded his arms, still clutching the effigy, and intoned with all the authority he could muster.

"Thus", Nathan said, "is the Will of Atom!"

The room was dead silent, except for the occasional beep from the consoles and whirring of motors in the Assaultron. Coursers don't scare easily, but given all the Children who had filled the room behind them, and the stairs leading up to the Control room, silenty digesting what Grandfather had said and waiting to see how Brother Henri responded, X6-88 was well aware that if Henri gave the word, they'd be torn to pieces before they could react....there were too many, too close. He was clearly considering what he had just heard, but the impassive expression on his face gave no clue to what he would do.

After a full minute, which seemed like eternity, Henri threw his arms out wide and exclaimed in a voice that carried out into the stairwell, immediately spreading to the entire room as the others, including Nathan and then him, joined in.

Behold! He is coming with the clouds!", Henri shouted with a voice only someone with absolute conviction could use, his face lit up with transcendental joy, and tears of joy streaming down his face, "And every eye will be blinded by His Glory, and every ear shall be stricken deaf with the thunder of His Voice! Let the men, women and children of the Earth come forth to gather and witness the power of Atom! These ancient weapons of war were hidden here long ago by Atom for our salvation! They are the very symbol of Atom's Glory! The blasphemers shall exist no more, they will be washed away by Atom's Glow, burned to ashes in the fire of His brilliance!"

Henri was beside himself with joy. The years of isolation and loneliness and toil, which he had suffered gladly, were irrelevant now. Atom had bestowed upon him the greatest reward he could receive next to Division. He was aware of the Unity, the Prophet had summoned all the Faithful not needed to secure and tend to the Holy sites in the Commonwealth and it's environs to the Pitt to aid the secular ruler, Marie, who had been clearly received Atom's Blessing and more, in defending His city. She was clearly part of His plan too, and it was his sacred task to aid her.

"Atom has spoken", Henri said to Nathan, "And we will answer. But restoring the systems in this place requires materials and skills we don't have....unless Atom provides."

"The Institute will provide both", Nathan answered. "A team is ready to survey the facility and determined what is needed, then a repair crew will work with your technically minded Brothers and Sisters to restore this facility to operational status. As far as the others, this sacred ground must be protected more than ever. Being mutants, the Unity can enter the Glowing Sea, so we must take the possibility of a ground attack into account. We'll provide any weapons you require."

"We could use some heavy lasers", Henri replied, "As far as guns our brethren in the Pitt buy them and send them to us. What we really need is good armor, Combat or Marine armor. It's frowned upon for those with the Gift to use power armor, as you know. Atom's Glow is too severe here for those without the Gift to survive as a permanent member of the congregation. We simply lack access to enough Radaway and Rad-X to support new converts dwelling among us, just Pilgrims."

Institute - Dr Li's Quarters - Later

"You mean to tell me", Dr Li said skeptically, "that he just walked in there and convinced them to hand it over."

"Yes ma'am", X6-88 replied, "I did not believe it possible, but he proved me wrong. Though it would be more accurate to say he convinced them to agree to share it with us. They are providing security as well as assisting in the reactivation effort. Initiating a launch requires two keys, one is held by their leader and the other by X5-14, we do not assess them as having the technical skill to override the pre-war PAL system. In the worst case scenario they will not be able to overcome our force there and initiate a launch before strike teams can be relayed directly inside to stop them".

"It doesn't surprise me", Brian said, "he has a web of friends, contacts and favors all across the Commonwealth. Look at me, he made sure I survived comfortably until he could convince the rest of the Directorate to pardon me. Our predecessors should have disposed of Kellogg and woken up the three of them....he'd have the surface eating out of our hand by now. God knows what he's managed to achieve down here....you and I can't be the only people who owe him one."

"What did he do before the War?", Dr Li exclaimed. "according to his service record he was a common infantryman who served in Alaska and the Canada Annexation, he got a Silver Star at the Battle of Winnipeg....which I think is in Canada....why would they assign a man with his talents to a front-line infantry unit? Even the idiots running the country into the ground weren't that foolish."

"He hinted that that was not his actual service record", X6-88 replied, "He said something about finding his "real" service record amongst Father's papers after he passed. Said Dr Zimmer had forwarded it before his disappearance. He also said he believes Father released him from Vault 111 to avenge himself against Kellogg."

"I reviewed his papers before we turned them over", Dr Li said, "there was no dossier like that in Father's effects like the one we retrieved from the VA branch in Boston, just some old pre-war...", her eyes widened as something clicked and she sat down heavily. "..microfiches. Which I didn't bother to review. Damn it, I had it in my hands!" She folded her arms and crossed her legs, disgusted with herself.

"Does it really matter at this point?", Brian asked, "It's been two centuries."

"Probably not", she replied, "I generally agree with his policies, we have a responsibility to the people above that none before him were willing to shoulder. And no one else could have secured that pardon, Clayton and I were the only two lobbying for it before this "Unity" mess began. Ayo even went so far as to send Kellogg to kill you, Brian...fortunately Grandfather found him first. But he's been Director for ten years now and he is still as unknown a quantity as the day he found his way here. I don't like that."

"Grandfather?" Brian asked, "Is that his title now?"

"The synths started calling him that five years ago", Li answered, "It's catching on amongst the faculty more and more. It's true from a technical aspect so there is no point in complaining about it."

"X6-88", Li said, "You're dismissed. And not a word of this conversation to anyone, even the Director."

"Yes, ma'am", X6-88 replied.

How Little We Know

Glowing Sea - Virgil's Cave - morning

Brian Virgil sighed sadly and closed the binder, then looked up at Nathan, sitting patiently in a chair by his lab table. Now he understood why he had come out here himself after all those years. Not that he had abandoned him, he had seen to it that supplies were delivered regularly, including extra items to trade with the Children at the crater. Even a Rad suit so he could leave if he wanted.

"Where did you get this?", Virgil asked, wiggling the binder, "It reads like a pre-war military document. And what is this about the United States Secret Service? After two hundred years?"

"It was transmitted by radio from Pittsburg, or The Pitt as they call it", answered Nathan, "to the commander of their forces in Cleveland....our analysts believe it is the summary of a larger document." He then added, "It was encrypted, Advanced Systems was able to crack it without undue difficulty."

"Has all of this been confirmed?", he asked.

"Partially, though we have yet to get a direct report from one of our own people", Nathan replied matter of factly. "Confidence is high, however. We have a synth on the team that collected the intel that report. We know G4-20 went West as far as what was Ohio and returned, but we cannot access him for debriefing. The entire team is under some sort of close arrest. Until he is released, if he is released, we cannot verify the report."

"However", he continued, "Both the Pitt and the Enclave are mobilizing and moving troops to their West. We have confirmed that settlements all along the Great Lakes are being evacuated, as well as the rumors that the Midwestern Brotherhood destroyed their largest city, Chicago, with nuclear weapons rather than let it be captured by this "Unity".

"What does it have to do with me?", Virgil asked, adding quickly as he saw a flicker of emotion cross Nathan's face, "what I mean is, why are you telling me this? I'm a exile, what can I possibly do to help?"

"Fair enough", Nathan replied, relaxing a little. He then reached inside his jacket and pulled out a envelope, which he offered to Virgil. "By unanimous vote of the Directorate, your sentence of Exile has been commuted to time served. In addition, we are offering you a unconditional pardon and full reinstatement in the Institute. This "Unity" is a threat to the very existence of Mankind, we need your expertise to help stop them."

Virgil took the proffered envelope, opened it and scanned the document inside. It was as Nathan said, a full pardon...all the department head's signatures were on it, even that insufferable prick Ayo...he could finally go home. Joy and hope began to rise in him, but also fear of the price he would have to pay. He looked Nathan square in the eye.

"I regret my actions, and appreciate the Directorate's mercy", he said, "but I will not kidnap innocent people and turn them into mutants again. I'd rather spend the rest of my life out here than do that."

"Then we are in agreement", Nathan replied flatly, "I've spent over ten years cleaning up the mess left by the FEV program, I won't tolerate repeating past mistakes. I have specifically forbidden that practice."

"I accept then", Virgil said. "When can i go home?"

"Now if you like, Brian", Nathan said as he pulled a field transmitter out of a pocket and handed it to Virgil. "Relay in some synths to pack up for you. Get some rest, then meet with Dr Holdren, he will help you with staffing and budget details. I want a survey of the FEV lab and what it will take to stand it back up in three days." He then walked over to his T-51b power armor suit and opened it then stepped inside. "I have another stop here before I return, see you back at home." He then relayed out in a flash.

Virgil packed up his notebooks and a few other essentials, then pulled the transmitter out of his coat pocket and activated it. Keeping his voice as steady as he could, he spoke.

"This is Dr Virgil, one to relay inbound".

Much to his relief, he immediately was enveloped in a crackling field of electricity, and when it dissipated he was in the relay chamber back at the Institute. Home. Leaving the chamber, he found Dr Holdren, carrying a stack of folders under one arm, waiting for him.

Virgil began to vocalize an apology, but Holdren interrupted him.

"There's no need, Brian, that's all in the past", Holdren said sincerely, extending his free hand, "I'm glad to have you back. In any case, ten years topside is punishment enough, especially as the project was going nowhere to begin with."

Virgil reached out and shook Holdren's extended hand, "It's good to be back, Clayton".

"I'll show you your new quarters", Dr Holdren said, "Your effects from before have been moved there from storage. Once you're settled in, I have with me some dossiers for staff rfor your review that we think would be helpful, if you have any additional personnel requests let me know." He added, "Also have the interim budget figures, the Lab is high priority, so you'll find it adequate at this stage."

"What results are the Directorate looking for?", Virgil asked.

"Your serum", Holdren replied, "we want to know if it can be weaponized against them. The intelligence we are receiving is quite disturbing, they suggest that the strain of FEV the Mutants are using seems to be producing at least some mutants with their cognitive abilities permanently intact. It seems the developers of this strain succeeded where we failed. We need to understand the effects of this strain, hopefully a path to counteract it can be found. Also, you'll be working in conjunction with Dr Binet and his project to create synth mutants as infiltrators."

"I'm going to need mutant test subjects", Virgil said, "both our strains and the Unity strain. And most importantly, I will need samples of the Unity strain itself."

"In progress", Holdren replied, "SRB has redirected Coursers from synth retention to retrieving mutants, it has the added benefit of contributing to ongoing stabilization ops. Advanced Systems is projected to have the Mass Fusion reactor back online in three days, that will give us the power to relay out to around 550 nautical miles, into what was Ohio, just behind the current contact line." Having reached the destination, Holdren handed him the stack of folders and took his leave.

Virgil walked into his quarters, finding them suitable for his position. In the center of the room, stacked neatly next to the coffee table, was several gray metal boxes, marked "EVIDENCE-INCIDENT V - NOT TO BE UNSEALED WITHOUT DIRECTOR AUTHORIZATION". On top of the boxes was a clipboard, Virgil picked it up and found it was a inventory list. He put the clipboard back down, and placed the armload of folders on the desk. He checked the terminal, finding it accepted his login and accessed most of the old lab files, including some he was sure he had destroyed when he left...apparently Father had backed them up on his own initiative. He logged out, and took a look around at the bare quarters, only the usual furniture present. When his eyes fell on the bathroom door, he knew what he must do next.

"Fuck", Virgil thought, It's been over ten years since I had a hot shower!"

How Little We Know

Dawn - Mendon Ponds Park - 10 miles south of the ruins of Rochester, NY

The crows circled the clearing for nearly an hour, before finally landing on tree branches, or other convenient spots. There wasn't a living soul around, though even if there were, they wouldn't have noticed how the three birds landed exactly the same distance from the other two, and the spot between them was in the center of the clearing. No-one looked for patterns in the behavior of birds, after all. The birds, just stood, looking about or preening themselves...and waited.

Moments later, a blue spark arced up out of the ground for a moment, then vanished. Seconds later, a blue tinted ball of energy suddenly appeared in the same spot, then with a loud electrical sounding snap and a blinding light, it vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by two people, a man and a woman, and a pack brahmin. Aside from their method of arrival, there was nothing remarkable about them, just another pair of wandering traders in the Wasteland. They looked around, the woman spotting one of the birds, then tapping the male on the shoulder to get his attention, and pointing it out. The male faced the bird, then made a thumbs up gesture to it. After producing a compass and consulting it, they headed West, towards State Route 65. The birds took flight and raced ahead of them, at least one bird keeping the pair in its sight at all times.

Institute - SRB - Operations Center

In the darkened Operations room, The technician closely followed events on his monitors, the feed from the three watchers, as they scanned ahead looking for threats to the Team he was entrusted with. Aside from a small caravan heading south along Route 65, the road was largely deserted. Satisfied his charges were not in imminent danger, he reached up and activated his throat mic.

"Ops, Watcher 2", he said quietly, "Team Bravo successfully deployed, en route towards first objective".

"Very well", the Duty Controller replied, "maintain surveillance."

Harrison, the Duty Controller leaned over the map table, illuminated by a red florescent light from above and placed a small metal cube marked B at the point marked as the insertion point on the map. There already was two cubes, marked A and C, at their insertion points, placed A placed NE of Montreal, and C placed near Loganton, Pennsylvania. Bravo was the last, as it was the furthest relay shot of the three....any further and they would have had to risk a brownout.

"Hopefully Advanced Systems will get a new beryllium agitator fabricated so the Mass Fusion plant can be brought online again", Harrison thought sourly, "the power requirements to shoot a relay into the Midwest would be astronomical. As it is, it's going to be at least a week before the teams can get us answers." He rather suspected A and/or B would be reporting first, The Lakes were a major avenue for commerce before the War, he doubted that had changed significantly. If Chicago had indeed been destroyed by nuclear weapons every lake port settlement would know about it.

He picked up a phone and dialed a number. It was picked up on the second ring.

"Dr Ayo?", he said, "Harrison, the Operations Duty Controller here. All teams sucessfully inserted without incident, and visually verified to be proceeding to initial objectives." He listened to the response then added, "You're welcome, Doctor. I'll inform the Director at once. Good morning, sir." Once Ayo disconnected, he pushed and held down the cradle then released it and began dialing a different number.

Directors Quarters - a few minutes later

"Excellent", Nathan said into the phone as he absentmindedly retied the strap on his bathrobe, "Thank you for informing me...please keep me advised of any further developments." He then hung up the phone, and walked over to the stereo, a top of the line Radiation King console that Nora's parents had given them as a wedding present so long ago, and turned it back up.

"You're listening to WBZ, 1030 on your AM dial" exclaimed Kent Connolly, "100,000 Watts straight out of Goodneighbor! It's eight AM, and you know what that means...Sliver Shroud Morning Hour! I've got a whole new episode for you all...Episode 83, 'The Return of Mister Abominable'! Originally aired March 11, 2070...I thought it was lost to the ages, but a good buddy sent it and a bunch more episodes to me a couple days ago! Anyhow, lets get started, and don't forget to stick around for the news at nine! Got some great news from out Springfield Way."

As the into music for the Silver Shroud began, Nate grabbed a chair from the nearby table and plopped into it.

"Codsworth!", Nathan called, "I'm ready for my shave now!"

Codworth glided into the room, shaving cream and straight razor attachment ready.

"You have a busy schedule today, sir", Codsworth said as he shaved him, "So I prepared a quick breakfast."

"Remind me", Nathan replied as he moved his head obligingly so the robot could do his job.

"At Ten, you're visiting Miss Cruz at the Robco facility for an inspection tour", Codsworth replied, at two you're expected at the Nuka-World transit Center to travel to Nuka-World, then at eight it's a full meeting of the Directorate."

"Hmpf", mused Nathan, "Perhaps I should have Binet make a copy of me so i can be two places at once."

"Please no, sir", Codsworth replied as he held up a mirror to enable Nathan to inspect the shave, "One of you is quite enough to look after."

How Little We Know

The Institute - Director's Quarters

"Sir?", Codsworth said, "Miss Madison is here."

Nathan reached over to the speaker on the end table next to him and turned it down. It was playing the tactical radio channel the Minutemen were using in it's attack on Nuka-Town USA. He would have liked to continue to focus on it, but Madison might take it wrong, and to be honest, it was a forgone issue anyway. Of the three Nuka-World gangs, the Pack had been literally overrun in their beds, the Operators had fled the field, mostly escaping through a escape tunnel they had dug long ago, leaving behind only a holding force that had been captured. That left the Disciples and the Overboss, Coulter, holed up in and around Fizztop Mountain. Unlike the others, they were dug in deep and took full advantage of the defensible position. When the initial attempt to storm the place with T-51bs backed by infantry failed in the face of missile and LMG fire, Macready drew the correct conclusion and sent for his Forward Observer...to let the guns they hauled out there with them do the work. Nate knew the place, he'd been to Nuka-World dozens of times before the war, a howitzer section would make short work of Fizztop Mountain, which in fact is a thin concrete shell made to look like a mountain.

Nathan then turned in the recliner he was sitting in, so he could look at Codsworth, hovering quietly behind him. Unlike most of the ultramodern decor in what had been Shaun's apartment, it was the ancient recliner from his old house in Sanctuary Hills, the synths had recovered it with what furniture was still usable, and repaired and reupholstered it for him. As far as the house, the Longs lived there now, he'd given it to them as living there was impractical even if he had wanted to, which he didn't...the place only reminded him of what he had lost. Last he heard, Marcy was pregnant, which was good.

"Thanks, Codsworth", Nathan replied, "See her in, please".

"Right away, sir", the Mr Handy burbled contentedly, and hovered off. Ayo, typically, had a cow when he moved Codsworth in, as if he had any say in the matter, which he didn't. He trusted the ancient robot far more than he trusted Ayo, he really didn't care what he thought about Codsworth.

After a moment, Codsworth reappeared with Madison Li, carrying several binders and folders, right behind him.

"Good Morning, Madison", Nathan said affably as she placed her papers on the coffee table and sat on the chair next to him, "you had something for me?"

"Yes", she replied as she selected the correct binder and opened it, "Peabody over at the Switchboard sent this to me...I find it rather concerning. You recall how her team got the seismic nuclear detection system they were using working again? The Geology Department took it over, and they've been using it since for the Earth Studies program." She paused to cough. "Well, they've found something, and I wanted to talk to you about it before I presented it at the next Directorate meeting....unlike the others, we know what it's like up there and frankly, I'm concerned the other Department heads won't treat this with the concern they should."

Nathan sat up straight and looked at Madison with rapt attention. He already knew he wasn't going to like this, Madison didn't play the "fellow Wastelander" card unless it was serious. "Go on...", he said.

"Four months ago", she began, as she unfolded a map of the Pre-War US and spread it out on the coffee table, "the system picked up a earthquake of 6 on the Richter Scale...here," pointing to a spot marked in red ink near Colorado Springs, in what was the Four States Commonwealth. "Two minutes later", she continued, "a second earthquake of the same magnitude occurred within a mile of the first one." Nathan's blood froze when he heard this, though at first he could not determine why. He racked his memory to recall what was in that area that would be of importance.

"Cheyenne Mountain...", Nathan mused aloud, "...NORAD?"

"Yes, exactly", Madison, replied. "The first event took place on the surface somewhere around a mile from the facility, the second was underground and at the exact location." Madison paused for a moment, then continued. "Further analysis gives a estimated yield of 1 Megaton each...we suspect warheads scavenged from ICBMs were used. The students who recorded the events didn't realize what they had found, they weren't trained on the original function of the system. If you hadn't pushed through the program to revive the History and Earth Science Departments, we wouldn't have ever learned this had happened. Peabody had only repaired the system to get access to the data it picked up for the Great War...though it also revealed some disturbing actions by unknown parties in what was West Virginia. From 2102 to 2105, until the failure of the system in 2140 four nuclear detonations were detected at the same spot about thirty miles East of Watoga, West Virginia and one on a mine shaft just north of Monongah, in the same area. But that is a different discussion." She then tapped the map again, this time pointing at Chicago.

"This happened three days ago", Madison continued, "three separate surface detonations. These were smaller than the first, 100 kilotons as opposed to the earlier 1 Megaton detonations, but any settlement there had to have been completely destroyed."

"My God", Nathan exclaimed, "someone out West is waging a nuclear war....and they've advanced to a thousand miles from here!"

"Eight hundred and fifty-odd miles, to be more precise", Li corrected him, "but you see the problem. Something has to be done, and we don't have much time."

"Ayo", replied Nathan, with some distaste as he really didn't like the man much, useful as he may be. "We need to brief him ASAP."

"Not quite yet", Madison replied, noticing that Codsworth had glided in behind Nathan from the kitchen, carrying a food tray. The old robot was surprisingly a pretty good cook, and she found the ration packs the people born here ate tedious, "If I have to speak to that man, I'd rather do it on a full stomach."

War Never Changes

Indianapolis International Airport - flightline

Paladin-General Wilson pensively watched the Vertibirds, in close formation, lumber down the taxi-way. Overloaded with troops and supplies, vertical takeoff was not an option....to get airborne would require a traditional take-off, with rocket assist. Fortunately, the evolution had been practiced adequately in training. Lancer-Sergeant Kyle, their new member, had not done it in his time with the Eastern Order, but they had enough time to run him through the simulator a couple times and the Squadron Commander was confident he could handle it, given that he had more flight hours in Vertibirds than anyone else in the squadron. If Lancer-Paladin Morgan had faith in Kyle, Wilson was not inclined to question him either.

The Vertibirds reached take-off position, and taxed out onto the runway. the first Vertibird, Morgan's, followed closely by the others in turn, throttled up to full power then once up to speed engaged the rocket motors, sluggishly taking to the air and after jettisoning the expended rocket motors, climbing and circling the airfield. Once all the Vertibirds were airborne, they maneuvered into formation and headed Northeast for Detroit.

"This had better be worth it", Wilson thought grimly. His gut told him Hackett was making the right call, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Many of the men and women he had addressed at the briefings would never return, and he and they both knew it. Wilson also privately resented the leeway Barnaky gave the man, but he had to admit bringing the Lakemen into the Brotherhood had paid off handsomely, so he would just have to deal with it. He then turned to a aide, a young Scribe. "Tell Operations to inform Star-Paladin Hackett that Operation JUBILEE is Go".

"Yes, sir", said the aide, who passed on the order through his headset. He listened to the reply, nodding, then looked back at Wilson. "It is being done, sir", the aide replied. "Operations advises the U-2 is on station over Columbus and the feed is active. The Duty Officer is requesting you return immediately...she believes both you and the Legate need to see what we're getting."

Operations Center - Ten minutes later

Wilson, with a mixture of horror and fascination, watched the feed from the U-2, orbiting 70,000 feet above Ohio, on the main screen of the Operations Center. The video from the aircraft of the inferno below was akin to a vision of hell. He had, of course, been briefed by the Westerners on what they planned to achieve, but to truly understand it, one had to see it....and now he was seeing it happen. A massive firestorm had been ignited in the center of Columbus, and inexorably it spread out, engulfing smaller fires around it like a large blob of mercury absorbing smaller ones to become even larger. Before the Cult War, the Republic's civil government in Columbus would have had great difficulty coping with such a catastrophe, but that civil authority had been swept away by the Cult when they overran the city. The fires were raging completely unchecked, and would likely only be contained once there was nothing left for them to burn. The full story would not be told until the fires burned out and they could see what was left, of course, but the analysts all agreed that Columbus had effectively been destroyed....at a stroke rendering the Cult's victory over the IRD there a pyhrric one....it's only value now, for the foreseeable future, was it's strategic location, astride many of the routes into Cult territory proper. Data was also coming in on enemy troop concentrations, the Scourge of Columbus...already being called that by staffers...seemed to have thrown the lead elements of the Cult horde into disarray. This could also be used to their advantage.

Wilson looked over to the Legate, standing next to him where they had just received the briefing on the initial Bombing Damage Assessment, to see him watching the screen intently just as he had been. Wilson wondered what he thought about it. The Westerners had clearly mastered the principles of Strategic Bombardment, a fact that had long term ramifications for the Legion, and the Midwestern Order as well. While elements of the Pre-War anti-air defense network around the Midwest's larger cities...Chicago, Omaha, St Louis, Wichita...had been at least partially reactivated due to the tensions with Texas over the Hoover Dam War, the Legion had no defense at all to a strategic bombing campaign. The Legate was no fool, Wilson was sure he immediately understood the potential danger. For that matter, he wondered what Barnaky thought. Wilson knew Barnaky was deeply suspicious of High Elder Gladstone's intentions, and whether he really wanted to end the divide between them or not. All he could hope was that Sentinel Haddad and the others they had connected to the Calculator over the years could keep him from doing anything rash, like the early days when he was alone with the Calculator, such as the heavy-handed policies that led to the MLA War.

"Legate", Wilson said, "You had recommended earlier that we resume the march on Columbus without waiting for the Western Order's ground troops to arrive. In light of the effects the Scourge of Columbus is having on the enemy, I believe this to be the best course of action. I propose we resume the advance Eastward immediately."

"Also", Wilson added, "We can fly additional troops into Dayton to reinforce the troops from the Southern column who have moved up there from Cincinnati."

Command Bunker, Ruins of Grissom AFB, near Kokomo, Indiana

Forty feet below the radioactive hellscape that once was Grissom AFB, in a cramped and fetid cable way, a pair of scribes patiently worked, not allowing themselves to be distracted by either the near constant gunfire echoing down both ends of the cable way, or the slow ticking of their own suit's radiation detectors. It would be easier without the power armor, but as the detectors made clear, the rad exposure would kill them in as little as fifteen minutes. So they would have to accept the inconvenience. On the other hand, at least the suits kept the undoubtedly horrid stench out.

After several hours, the scribes completed their work. One of them radioed in the completion of their task to his superiors. He received a curt acknowledgment and then they waited as the now repaired fiber-optic cable was tested. After a few minutes, which seemed to last forever, another message from Command came.

"Objective complete", Command advised. "Secure covers and exfil down the north end of the cable way. Squad Charlie will escort you to extraction point."

With relief, the Scribes secured the heavy metal covers they had opened to access the cable, and once that task was complete they made their way north down the cable way towards the Knights waiting for them at the end. The weapons fire had slacked off, apparently the ferals had tired of throwing themselves at Gatling lasers. As they retreated, looking forward to getting out of this hellhole, the Scribe's leader thought to himself....why the hell does Offut need a landline to the old Site R nuclear C&C facility?

Republic Air Base Anchor Bay (Selfridge ANGB)

"Thanks, Lieutenant", Corporal Winters said as the officer filled his outstretched cup with steaming hot coffee from a battered green thermos. "Any word from the front?"

"We're holding them along Eight Mile", Lt Griffin replied. The boys in Windsor are still holding the bridges....they don't seem to be listening to that traitor Stone anymore, either."

"Bastard!", Winters replied angrily. "Him, too? If I hadn't heard him on the radio myself, I wouldn't believe it! We've been betrayed by our own leadership, what do we do now?"

"Whatever it takes", Griffin replied. "We have to hold out until help arrives."

"Help from whom?", Winters exclaimed. "Half..."

"Corporal!", Greene's voice behind him cutting him off, "you gotta see this!"

Winters turned around, to face Private Green, who was looking out of the small observation post out over Anchor Bay as clouds of smoke billowed over the shoreline.

"What the...", Winters said, as he grabbed the binoculars from the private, "..give me that!" He then began to scan the shore line, just as the first boats ran themselves aground and the landing gates dropped onto the beach. At first, he thought it was the Enemy, but the landing craft didn't look like the cobbled together junk they liked to use....they looked like purpose build landing craft. The Confederation? North Bay?

As the troops surged off the craft, and clear of the smoke, Winters noticed the insignia on the chest of a soldier in power armor and realized it was neither.

It was the Brotherhood. Hundreds of them.

"Shit!", Winters exclaimed as he whirled around and lunged for the field telephone and picked up the receiver. But before he could begin turning the crank, Griffin stepped forward and pushed the cradle back down with his finger. "we've got to call it away, sir....what are you doing?"

"This is not a secure line, corporal", Griffin replied coolly. "The enemy is probably listening to this circuit, and we would prefer this to be a surprise, yes?"

"You knew?", Winters sputtered.

"They contacted us a few hours ago", Griffin said. "I'm here to make sure you two don't do anything....rash." After gesturing at the Brotherhood troops advancing inland, he continued. "Look at it this way...the people who insisted most loudly how we must wage a Cold War against the Brotherhood are the same bastards who sold us out to the Enemy." He then held out his hand to Winters.

"As you said, sir", Winters replied as he placed the receiver in Griffin's hand, "Whatever it takes..."