Fallout: Harmony and Steel

Chapter One: A Long Walk North

May 29th, 2279

Journal of Knight Isaac Ward

Another scouting mission, although I must say, I feel different about this one. I'm exploring new territory to the north and I have been given three months to do so by Elder Lyons. I will be going alone on this mission, as no one is available to accompany me. It seems everyone is either combatting the super mutants, mopping up whats left of the Enclave or even Citadel guard duty. I don't know what the Brotherhood expects me to find, hell, I don't know what I'm expecting to find. Maybe it'll be nothing but wasteland. The Capital Wastes has proven to be a nothing but a godforsaken hell-hole, so why should whatever lied north be any different? But still, something inside me told me that it is still the unknown and there was no way to find out what was there unless I found out for the Brotherhood. I personally feel that it is worth the look.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I cracked my eyes open at the disturbance that had interrupted my sleep. My clock beeping signalled that it was six in the morning. Time to get up. Groaning, I jerked a hand towards to direction of my helmet. I fumbled around inside the rim of my helmet until I found the button that would turn off my alarm. I slowly rose from the rotting mattress that had been my bed for the night. My back cracked loudly in protest at the movement. I winced and remembered just how uncomfortable power armor is to sleep in. I took in my surroundings, making sure nothing had crept in to the ruined house I was taking shelter in. Satisfied I was safe, I reached for my laser rifle, which was propped up against a rotted table. Sinking into the daily routine which I had come accustomed to when I woke up, I began checking my weapons for any sort of breakage. I checked over my laser rifles scope, one of the many modifications on my rifle. I found it was calibrated and no damage was present so I moved on to the weapon itself. My laser rifle and pistol was in the same condition they had always been in. They were both fine. These weapons were reliable and effective when scavenged, but when modified and tinkered with by Brotherhood scribes, they could last another Great War if it came down to it. Still, this was a routine that was drilled into my head a long time ago. I finished off the old and crusty snack cakes that were serving as my breakfast and I clicked my helmet into place.

I made for the front door of the ruined house and checked my ammunition pouch. 25 Microfusion cells, 30 Energy cells and six stimpaks. I did the math quickly in my head and counted I had six-hundred shots for my laser rifle and nine-hundred shots for my laser pistol. needless to say, I felt confident that I had enough ammo to last me until my mission was over in three months. I tuned my helmets internal radio to Galaxy News Radio and continued my long trek north. I have already been walking north for 3 days and I have only just made it to the outskirts of Old Olney, which I made sure to avoid completely. The last thing I needed was a Deathclaw chasing me down. I walked down the decayed driveway of the house and continued into the wasteland, leaving my shelter behind me.

I continued to walk north for several hours. A lot of scouting missions that Elder Lyons gave me involve a lot of this. Walking. Thanks to a recent war with the Enclave, the Brotherhood had captured a number of Vertibirds, but apart from them, we had no methods for long range transportation. My role in the Brotherhood was to explore the wastes and recover any technology of value and report what I find back to the Elder. So most of my missions with the Brotherhood involved walking. Lot's and lot's of walking. It's not the most exciting job in the order but it beats going up against a Behemoth. With Elder Lyons' new crusade to save the people of this hell-hole from the horrors of super mutant infestation, I was one of the few brothers actually still looking for technology. I was one the only people still working on our original mission here. While I did think that the Brotherhood had lost sight of it's original goal, I trusted Elder Lyons and placed my faith in his decision. If it wasn't for Galaxy News Radio playing in my helmet, I would have succumbed to boredom a while ago. A shot of distant gunfire rang through the air, but I paid it little heed. It wasn't like gunshots were uncommon here.

I gave a look over my shoulder, towards the gunfire and continued my long and seemingly endless walk. I thought over my orders as I walked. My orders were to explore the regions to the north and recover anything that can be of value to the Brotherhood. I was unsure what I was going to find north, Weapon Technology? Civilisation? Looking over pre war maps showed that there were other towns and even the ruins of New York lied to the north. I checked my geomapping device. This was a godsend for anyone scouting for the Brotherhood. It worked much like a digital map that marked any locations that are put into the map via coordinates. Though not as effective as the Pip-boy's mapping system, it was about the next best thing. I found I was only a few minutes west from the Republic of Dave and I was fast approaching the border of the Capital Wastes, I put the mapping device back into my ammo pouch on the back of my power armor. I continued north, listening to Three Dog spout on about the dangers of radiation for what had to be at least the fourth time, until I heard a distinctive beep come from my ammo pouch. I pulled out the mapping module and found that all of the marked locations on my map had vanished. I realised I was in completely new territory now and I had left the Capital Wastes. I swallowed any nervous thoughts about the unknown and pressed on, making my way over the many hills and overhangs that made up the wasteland.

"Kick ass!"

Boom!

A blast tore me from my thoughts dazed me for a couple of seconds. When the ringing from the external speakers on my helmet stopped, I looked up and found the that the perpetrator was a raider and his recently thrown grenade. The grenade made no present damage to me or my armor, probably thrown off center completely. The raider was accompanied by two more of his comrades, both of them rushing my position. The raider that had thrown the grenade loudly cursed his sub-par accuracy and drew his sub-machine gun to bear. I assessed the other two raiders, one wielding a rusty pipe and the other had a pistol. All of the weapons present were dreadfully inadequate to combat power armor, so this encounter would not last very long. I drew my laser rifle and looked down its scope. I lined up the raiders head within the circle and fired. The high-powered beam burned right through the raiders head and he hit the ground without another word.

"Fuck! You're mine asshole!" The raider swore at me.

I felt three shots hopelessly impact on my chest plate from the raiders pistol. The shots barely even scratched my armor. I lined up my scope to the one with the pipe who was charging me and let loose another shot. The laser fried through the primitive armor that covered the raiders chest and tore right through him. He hit the ground with a thud. The other raider, now regretting his choice of target threw his now empty pistol at me. The pistol bounced harmlessly off me and the raider began to flee.

"Fuck this! This is hopeless!" He said in despair.

Feeling that the Wasteland could always do with one less raider, I shot him down and the raider fell to the ground in silence. I scanned the area for any more hostiles with my scope. Satisfied that I was indeed safe again, I checked over the recently deceased raiders bodies. The only thing I found useful among the stray bullets and chems that the raiders had on them, was one dirty stimpak. It wasn't like I was expecting to find much on them, raiders usually carried nothing that useful to a Brotherhood of Steel knight, but it never hurt to check. I checked over my HUD's mission clock. It was ten in the morning and I felt that I should move on before the now stirred predators of the Wasteland move in for the free meal. I took one last look at the raiders before moving on. I looked at the one that fled, his fresh corpse now pooling blood in the dirt. I couldn't help but feel a slight pang of remorse as I looked at him.

'Poor fools,' I thought, 'They never stood a chance.'

I brushed away any feelings and continued, reminding myself that I still had a mission to do.

My continuing walk still stretched on for hours, finding nothing but burnt out remains of houses and the crumbling ruins of highways and roads. These useless ruins made my mission seem more pointless every time I passed a new one. This unrewarding walk was common in my scouting tasks. More than often, I'll find nothing of any significant value, but the key to this job was patience and the will power to just keep on walking. I turned GNR back on to keep myself from boredom, only to find that all I was receiving was static. This took me aback and made me take out my mapping device. I noticed how far I really was from the Capital Wastes, I was a good five miles north of it. I felt my stomach rumble and I realised I had not eaten anything since breakfast. Not wanting to waste the precious MRE's that the Brotherhood had gave me, I looked towards a ruined house and decided I should check it out for food. I drew my laser rifle and folded the scope to the side of the rifle. No need for that indoors.

I approached the house slowly and carefully, not wanting to disturb any would-be raiders or wild animals that might lurk with. The house itself was missing at least half of its structure and the walls were crumbling apart. I approached the door and looked through one of the many smashed windows and peeked in before I explored further. I found nothing but old, decaying furniture and old bones of the houses pre war occupants. I decided it was safe enough and I walked in without a second thought. As I entered the house, to my immediate right there was some stairs that were blocked off by rubble. To my left was what remained of the living room, which had an old couch and some other ruined furnishings inside. I walked past both rooms and made my way towards what remained of the kitchen. The kitchen was missing two of the walls completely, exposing it to the outside world. I noticed a rusty old refrigerator in the corner of the room, I made my way over and opened it. Any food that was in there was long scavenged and eaten. I frowned and looked over to some ruined cupboards. I opened them up, my rumbling stomach growing ever louder. I smiled as I saw a packet of unopened Sugar Bombs.

'Must be my lucky day' I mused to myself with a smile.

I took off my helmet, putting it on the side and began eating the long staled cereal. While not the most nutritious meal, it would keep me going. After my meal, I checked the time. Three o'clock in the afternoon, still plenty of time to explore. Deciding that this place would be a good place to hunker down for the night if need be, I marked it on my map. Putting my helmet back on I turned back towards the exit and made my way out of the house. Continuing north of the house there was a large hill stood in my way. I ascended it at a light jog as it would give me a good vantage point of the surrounding area, maybe I could see a place worth checking out. What was over the other side took me completely by surprise.

Trees. Hundreds and hundreds of trees.