In a Foreign Land

Chapter 1

Unto the Breach

"Incoming hostiles!"

"Shit, we've been spotted!"

"Everyone, take cover!"

Mike leapt behind a destroyed car to avoid being vaporized by the large number of Enclave soldiers now assaulting his squad's position. He cursed under his breath at the situation. This was supposed to be a scout mission, not a forward assault. Elder Lyons had instructed Mike and a small portion of the Lyons Pride to investigate reports of Enclave activity in the downtown area of the city, Washington DC. From the reports they had already gathered before being ambushed, a small detachment of Enclave soldiers were using an old research facility as a recon outpost to spy on the Brotherhood forces patrolling the city. Such a tactial advantage on thier enemy's part needed to be eliminated. However, it was quite obvious that previous assumptions of this 'outpost' were wrong. Dead wrong.

Another plasma blast scorched the ground near Mike's cover. He needed to get his squad moving. Getting pinned down was the worst tactical position a small group could be in.

'We could try and retreat' Mike thought. ' He glanced over his cover to see the advancing soldiers unleash another barrage of deadly plasma from their energy weapons onto Mike's position. 'Nope, too dangerous.' Even though the Lyons Pride was issued better quality power armor than the rest of the Brotherhood, thier armor couldn't withstand that mush punishment. Even Mike's T-51b power armor couldn't hold up against that kind of firepower. And if the most powerful set of power armor in the Brotherhood couldn't get the job done, then you better start praying.

Leaning forwards in his crouched position, Mike reached behind himself and undid the strap that held his rifle against his back. He pulled it over his soldier and held it firmly. Out of all the weapons that he'd been issued or managed to scavenge, this was by far the best he had ever used. It was a lever action repeater chambered in .44 magnum, with gold highlights around the stalk and foregrip. He had found it deep withing the lower levels of the Musuem of History on a mission to clear out the feral ghouls that infested the place, in order to make travel to Underworld, the ghoul city in the Musuem, safer for humans. It was strange that most of the equipment that Mike used was 'found'. Even his super advanced T-51b power armor had been merely scavanged from Fort Constantine, an abandoned military base on the outskirts of DC. Ever since then, he's never go anywhere without it (well, maybe not everywhere, but you get my point). He treated his armor like it was a second skin. He always kept its iridescent olive drab plates polished and clean (which didn't last very long), and he made sure that its airtight seals were always fully functional, in the event that the Enclave used chemical weapons and they'd all have to seal thier armor. Speaking of which, Mike unclipped his power helmet from his armor's waist plate, where he kept most of his equipment, and placed it over his head. With an audible hiss, his armor sealed the helmet to his neck covering, making it completely airtight. He hated wearing his helmet, as it made him look very intimidating. He didn't want to scare or trouble anyone in the Capital Wasteland unless absolutely necessary. People around here already have enough to worry about, but seeing a 6 foot tall hulking armoured behemoth with no face, but instead a wide, pitch black visor could give one nightmares.

Mike looked down at his favorite weapon, and satisfied that it was fully loaded, turned his head to where the rest of his squad was, about 3 meters behind him. They were taking cover behind an old bus, as when they approached the building, Mike had been at the head of their group.

"You guys alright back there?" Mike called, his voice slightly muffled coming out of his helmet's speaker.

"Yeah, we're fine, if you totally disregard the large number of Enclave soldiers ripping us a new one." Mike immediately knew who that was. His best friend and squadmate, Paladin Kodiak. The two had trained together, fought together, and almost died together on a number of occasions. "Got any ideas Mike?"

Mike sat there thinking. He looked from his cover at the research building. At the entrance to the facility was a balcony that hung over the front doors. If he could bring that down, then that could throw the Enclave defenders into dissarray, allowing Mike's team to easily dispatch them. Mike turned back to Kodiak.

"I've got an idea all right. I need you to cover me, I'm going to bring down that balcony" Mike turned and pointed "You up for it?"

"You always know how to improvise Mike." Kodiak said with a chuckle. Mike reached to his waist where three frag grenades were locked against his armor next to the several pouches that held his ammunition.

He removed one grenade from its magnetic lock and slid his right thumb through the pin ring.

'Gotta time this right' Mike thought. He listed carefully to the sounds of the Enclave soldiers' weapons, waiting until they would reload. After a few seconds, there was a brief pause in the Enclave's suppressing fire. Mike quickly rose from his cover and cocked his right arm back. He threw the frag with almost super human strength due to the enhancing abilities of his power armor.

The grenade was a blur as it flew across the destroyed plaza. It slammed into one of the supports to the balcony, embedding itself into the concrete. The Enclave soldiers had barely enough time to register what was just thrown at them before the grenade detonated, blowing large chunks of concrete and other debris all over their position. Some soldiers too close to the explosion were either blown apart or crushed by the collapsing balcony, while the remaining Enclave soldiers were blown onto their backs by the explosion.  A large plume of dust and smoke rose from the collapsed structure, creating a haze around the front of the building.

The surviving members of the Enclave squad stumbled around their now destroyed cover, both blind and shell shocked. One poor sap almost managed to get his bearings before he walked right into the twin blasts of Mike's double barrel shotgun, Justice. The rest of Mike's group did the same, disposing of the remaining enemies within the hazy plaza. Mike returned Justice to its magnetic clamp on the left part of his back and unstrapped Lincoln's Repeater from the right.

"Are all threats dispatched?" Mike asked through his helmet.

"Affirmative, all threats neutralized." Kodiak answered.

"Good. Sarah, can you and Paladin Vargas clear a path for us in this rubble? There is most likely valuable tech in this building if there were Enclave soldiers defending it." Sarah nodded, and Ghost began planting plastic explosives on the rubble over the doorway.

"Charges are set Mike, you might want to step back."

"You heard the lady, get to a safe distance." ordered Mike. Once all the Lyons Pride members were safe from the explosion radius, Knight Ghost blew the charges, creating an opening in the rubble to allow them access to the mysterious building. Mike walked up to the opening they had made and removed more of the chunks of concrete, completely exposing one of the doors.  Sarah turned to the rest of the Pride and instructed Kodiak, Gallows, Colvin, and Mike to accompany herself inside the building while Dusk, Glade, and Vargas to stay outside and watch their backs.

"Ladies first" Mike said as he gestured to Sarah.

"Wise ass" She rebuked as she entered the building. Mike just smirked. Kodiak passed him shaking his head, but also smirking. Mike strapped Lincoln's Repeater to the right side of his back next to Justice and un holstered his sidearm, a .357 magnum revolver he had named 'Big Iron'.  Gallows and Colvin entered the building, followed by Mike bringing up the rear.