Fallout: Vault X

An original novel set in the Fallout universe, written to be accessible to all, featuring unique people and places Fallout: Vault X tells the story of John. A vault dweller, who spent every day of his twenty five years underground. Like his father, and his father before him. Proud to live in the last remaining bastion of humanity, all that survived The Great War of the atomic age. Hidden deep below the surface of the earth, toiling under brutal conditions. Year after year, decade upon decade. All to expand into the natural cave system the Vault occupied, building for the future. However, John knew what his forefathers did not, that everything he’d been taught was a lie. After finishing school at the age of ten, John received his standard issue pipboy. An arm mounted personal computer, worn by everyone in the Vault. Used to coordinate the relentless pace of expansion, needed to work as an apprentice. To learn the craft that would be his life’s work. A noble calling to ensure a future for all that remained of the human race. A quirk of fate saw John equipped not with the crude, clunky, pipboy model his father wore. That almost everyone around him wore. His looked smaller, sleeker, finished in a jet black sheen. And capable of doing far more than its drab counterparts. The world above had been ravaged by atomic flames, yet life clung to its bones. The Red Valley fared better than most in the century since the bombs fell. The clean water and rich soil protected by rolling hills. All spared from direct strikes, for the most part. Life survived here. Trees spawned from charred ground, misshapen, green leaves turned red. Along with simple crops, grown wild at first, then cultivated by the survivors. The scavengers of the old world were inventive, hardy people. All determined to rebuild in the ruins of a world they never knew. In the decades that passed settlements emerged. They grew, spreading along the valley floor. Reclaiming the pre-war remnants of the once industrialised heartland. Salvaging the robotic wonders of a bygone age to build their walls and work their fields. To protect them in the dark of the wasteland. But such things are uncommon in this world, and the rarer something is, the greater its value. And the worth of pre-war technology had not gone unnoticed. The last, real, power in this world rested in the mechanised hands of The Brotherhood of Steel. Forged from the mortally wounded old world military. The Brotherhood used its access to the weapons made for a conflict no one won to strike out into the wastes. Men and women were equipped with advanced armour, aerial transportation, high grade weaponry. Accompanied by the training, strength, and will, to put them to use. They established chapters and set up outputs far and wide. All dedicated to a single purpose. To ensure the technology left abandoned by its long dead creators didn’t fall into the wrong hands. Namely, any hands that were not their own. This is the world John escaped into. A place of horrors brought forth from atomic fire. A place where survival meant battling against the darkness. Fighting a war each day to get to the next. And war...war never changes

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Vol. III Chapter 77 The Western Gate (Part 1 of 2)

Chapter 77 The Western Gate

Things were quiet inside the walls. John watched the last of the civilians leave in small groups. Some were going to the outpost. They would wait things out there with the people of Farmborough. The rest were headed to the Vault. All of them knew that the Brotherhood would win or die trying.

"You ready?" John asked, sitting next to Rosie.

"Yeah." She looked anxious.

"Matt's a fighter, you got to him quick. He'll pull through." He tried to ease her worry.

"Yeah." She tore her gaze from the distance, focusing on what she could do.

Virgil stood inspecting the four Sentry bots that protected the gates for years. He'd kept them well maintained. Next to them stood the pair of Assaultrons from the Rest. "This is a fucking bad idea." Virgil rasped, sparking a cigarette.

"The bots will be fine." Rosie handed over her four pin connector. John did the same.

"Ain't the bots I'm worried about Red." He started connecting to the bots. "I'll keep them on auto till you…" Virgil looked at them in turn. "Good luck."

John stood next to Rosie, waiting for the ranks of knights to assemble. He felt oddly vulnerable in his Shadow suit. Rosie put her hand in his.

Power armoured knights walked out onto the field of battle in tight ranks. The elder at the front, sword drawn, a cheap cigar held in his teeth. A raised mechanised hand brought them to a unified halt.

"Jones!" The elder barked, his voice carrying through the night air. "My men haven't slaughtered any of your kind for hours." He paused before raising his voice. "They're getting bored!" A cheer went up from the knights.

Nothing moved beyond the treeline. John knew the control Jones had over his kind. He knew that holding them back took real effort.

Rosie heard it first, then he did. Something in the distance, something with rhythm, something he'd heard before. The sound grew louder, rolling in on the wind. Then he saw her, flying fast and low.

Valkyrie leading a wing of eight Vertibirds in formation. Blaring the music that shared her name. Rosie worked her magic, within seconds the music came from every speaker in every suit of armour.

"Valkyrie to all birds. Try to keep up." She banked hard, bringing the birds behind her into a tight line. "Bomb gone!" Field scribes heaved drums of thickened fuel from the cabin. They tumbled slowly before impact, landing and bringing forth fire.

Columns of orange flame roared into life, growing and combining into almighty blaze. Fire consumed all it touched, fuelled by flesh and trees.

The primal fear drove the mutants into the open, some of them still burning.

"Ronin to all callsigns. Hold." No one moved. "Hold." John looked to Rosie. "Hold." The rampaging and chaotic horde drew closer. "Break!" John gave the order. In a well drilled motion, the front rank of knights split apart and withdrew. It gave John and Rosie a clear field of fire.

Direct connection to the bots sent energy coursing through him, empowering him. His senses and perception heightened. It felt like he'd been looking through a keyhole, and now the door had been blown off its hinges.

John could see more, feel more. Atmospheric data, wind speed, air temperature. All of it streamed into his brain at high speed. In all the noise he felt Rosie. Together they shared a singular thought. They raised their arms in unison and the bots opened fire.

Triple barrel Gatling cannons whirred into a blur. Half inch rounds cracked the air and ripped into green flesh. Grenade rounds fell like rain. Even wounding shots brought the oncoming mutants low, disrupting the advance.

John had never felt this powerful. He swept his arm right, the bot copied, cutting mutants down. He could almost sense the bullets travelling from his arm. The guns ran dry, the barrels white hot. Still the mutants came.

"Go." Rosie yelled, pulling back the bots to rearm. John made for his armour. The Shadow suit reconfigured, connecting to the armour. He found Sara, twin blades in hand.

"Delta!" Sara shouted. Squads of knights formed triangular wedges with their shields.

The wave of green hit, filtered into smaller groups. John swung his warhammer at the first snarling face he could hit. The momentum took him into the torrent of bodies, buffeting him violently. He lost sight of his allies. John gripped his hammer close to the head, lashing out with quick strikes. He kept moving till he saw steel.

John got within feet of his fellow knight, only for them to be knocked down. A mutant pounded the armour with overhand strikes. Blood poured from crushed steel. A swift kick knocked the mutant back and a heavy stomp finished it. Too late for the knight, already dead on the ground.

No more tricks or traps. The enemy too close for air and sniper support. It all came down to a fight in the mud and blood.

Mutants smashed and tore at armoured knights. John saved a couple, getting them up. The rest broken and brutalised before his eyes. Every savage attack drove him fight harder. John carved a path of cracked mutant skulls and caved in chests. He kept moving relentlessly forward until he saw open space.

Across the bloodied battlefield, silhouetted against the flames, he saw Jones. Still flanked by many of his kind. Those he had the most control over. John felt the uncommon sting of hate like bile in his throat. He wanted to attack, to inflict pain on the cause of his. He looked back, changing his mind.

In his wake, the Brotherhood had rallied. He'd led a charge through the enemy, two dozen knights following him. "On me Brothers!" John led the others back into the fray.

John drove into the heaving wall of green at the head of a column of knights. Attacking from both sides proved effective. The column left a trail of broken mutants. Even saved a handful of knights. Many more lay dead. Limbs ripped off. Armour pounded into the ground. Helmets caved in and seeping blood.

The Brotherhood regrouped and reorganised. A block of steel lashing out at the surrounding green horde. John fought alongside Sara and the rest of his team. Recon began laying down alarmingly close sniper cover. Trying to keep downed knights alive long enough to be pulled back up.

John felt like they were in control. Then knights would be ripped away from the formation, brutally beaten to death feet away. "Valkyrie, Tempest." Sara spoke over the comm. "Request fire support. Danger close." Sara made the call, trusting in the best pilot she'd ever known.

"Hold fast Brothers!" Sara yelled. "Rain's coming."

"Coming in hot!" Valkyrie came screeching in. She strafed the mutants from the air, breaking the gunfire as the Vertibird raced overhead. Valkyrie powered into a steep climb, the airframe fighting her. She throttled down the engines, falling into a spin. A burst of thrust and her skill as a pilot had her back on target.

More thirty calibre rounds thundered in. Zipping through mutants and pinging off armour. John felt panic grip, yet he couldn't say why. He heard Rosie scream over the comm. "Evasive! Evasive!" She saw what neither John or Valkyrie did.

Rocks the size of a man's head hurtled through the air. They landed like indiscriminate shelling, crushing mutant and knight alike. John heard the clang and screech of tearing metal. "Mayday! Mayday!" Valkyrie came over the comm, trying desperately to stay airborne. "Left engine blown, going do—"

Metal crumpled and tore. A split second of silence preceded a white hot mushroom cloud of atomic fire. The shockwave brought sound and force with it. Bracing on each other the knights stayed standing. The mutants less so.

"No." Sara dropped to a knee. John couldn't breathe. "No more." Her voice hardened. "No more!" Sara charged the stunned mutants. Swords in hand and the safety of the formation left behind.

Paladin Sara Maxwell fell upon on the enemy like a storm, earning her name once again. She unleashed a flurry of lethal strikes, severing heads and arms. The horde swarmed her, threatening to pull her down. Until John hurled himself after her.

The two of them stood back to back, slashing and swinging at the overwhelming enemy. Together they carved a space while the formation inched closer. Sara cut her opponents down. John drove his hammer at anything in reach.

John found himself confused. Something didn't make sense. Then he realised. The mutants weren't attacking. Minute long seconds passed. He saw the primal sense of self preservation began to spread.

He lunged into a hammer swing, delivering a killing blow to a mutant. He went for another with a fierce movement. It tried to get away. John sunk the spike of his warhammer into its back, dragging it down and stomping the life from it.

The sight of one of their own ripped down as it fled triggered a chain reaction. Like a small rock that started an avalanche. The dim witted, herd mentality spread the fear. The most basic of survival instincts driving them to flee.

John hadn't believed it possible, yet Elder Maxwell had been right. Recon opened up with heavy fire from both sides, giving the mutants one way to run. Back towards the burning forest, and the atomic warhead.

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