Post

Danse I: Sword of Steel

Danse gazed out the window at the orange Sun setting beneath the horizon of the Commonwealth. The days were short for Danse and his team, and the winter of the Northeast did them no favors. Luckily spring is on the horizon, but it's about the only bit of luck that him and his team are getting. Over the past few months, Danse has led Recon Squad Gladius through a long journey, departing from the Capital Wasteland on a long and dangerous journey to the area surrounding Boston, Massachusetts known as "The Commonwealth". The journey itself was difficult enough, encountering various hostile creatures, raiders, and bandits. They avoided large former population centers such as Philadelphia and the irradiated hellscape that is New York City and instead took paths along rural areas, which minimized the risks.

After an exhausting journey, they finally managed to reach the Commonwealth. And then it went to absolute sh*t. Knight Keane lost his Power Armor in a raider attack, leaving them one suit down. They managed to make base at a police station in Cambridge with a long-range transmitter to communicate back with the Citadel. However, before they would be able to make contact a Super Mutant attack left it damaged and unable to operate. The group suffered their first losses when Knight Branch would be killed by the raiders at the Corvega Assembly Plant while Knight Worwick would be injured and die only a few days later. A few weeks later, Knight-Sergeant Dawes would be killed by the Mutants at Fort Strong. And then, only a month later, Knight Keane would be killed after the Police Station would come under attack by a horde of Feral Ghouls.

That left Danse four people down, with only three left, including himself. The situation is getting more dire by the day as their supplies, both munitions and food, continue to dwindle. The attack by the Feral Ghoul horde left them dangerously low on ammunition and Danse's Power Armor was damaged, but luckily still operable. They needed to make a move, and soon, as it was increasingly clear that there was no help coming. After Scribe Haylen sent out a desperate distress call with no response, Danse came to the conclusion that the majority of the Commonwealth was a lost cause. That was until Hayden had discovered a series of mysterious signals emanating from the Commonwealth, signals that could only come from an advanced source. The source of these signals would be an incredible find for the Brotherhood. But how much longer could him and the others hold out? Danse couldn't help but feel like a failure, he had lost over half of his team, damn good people, and they had barely anything to show for it. Will I also lose Rhys and Halden? He asked himself, over and over.

He shook the thoughts off and stood up from the window, heading back over into the main room where Rhys sat, cleaning his weapon, and Haylen sat at the terminal. "How're we holding up?" Danse asked the two.

Rhys grunted, "Just dandy, I don't think I can imagine being any better," Haylen turned around with an annoyed look on her face, "Could you not be a sarcastic ass for five seconds?" Rhys smirks, "Come on Haylen, you know my vibrant personality is the only thing to look forward to in this sh*thole."

Danse sighs, "That answers that question. . .Haylen, are you still picking up those high-frequency energy readings?"

Haylen nods, "Yes, they're the exact same as before, completely consistent. I'm sure if I had access to a more advanced system I could plot a correlation chart and capture the pattern of the signals, it's still a safe bet that it's coming from the Institute."

Danse frowned, the revelation of those readings had bothered him for some time, the possibility that it's coming from the Institute is a more disturbing thought. They needed to send out a message back to the Capital Wasteland. "We need to make a move soon," Danse starts, "These energy readings from the Institute could be the key in locating them and stopping them. That takes precedence in this situation. We can not afford to sit around and wait for another horde of ferals to wipe us out. We need to get our transmitter working, and the best place for us to get the parts necessary is the ArcJet Systems facility not far from here. If we can obtain the deep range transmitter, we should be able to repair our transmitter to reach the Capital Wasteland. I will complete the mission alone."

"Alone? You can't, that's far too big of a risk!," Haylen comments. Danse nods, "I agree, but it's our only choice at this stage. Rhys is still too injured to do a mission of this scale and you need to stay behind to watch over him and the base. I don't like this any more than you do, but I have to act. I am the Commander of this mission, and I will finish it regardless of what happens. I will start preparing tonight and set out first thing at dawn tomorrow. If I am not back by nightfall tomorrow, you both are to assume that I died. In the case that happens, Rhys, you will be the new Commander. Once you are better, you and Haylen will go back the same way we came back to the Capital Wasteland, is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" Rhys empathically responds.

"This will be dangerous and I can't guarantee I will come back alive, but I'll be damned if I don't try, Ad Victoriam!"