#timeless has all the wells in one right far as i can gather i don't know im comfusio hence why he's seperate from og wells | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hrefna-the-raven · 8 months ago

Text

Heart of Steel

Fallout masterlist - main masterlist

Chapter 1 - 2

Song for this chapter:

Summary: your first mission for the Brotherhood, you were hoping to be assigned to Paladin Danse but instead you were paired with a high-ranking mysterious Paladin...

Warnings: violence, blood, mild swearing

Notes: sorry this a longer chapter with some canon divergence concerning the "show no mercy" mission^^

Chapter 3 - Show no mercy

"Feels like you can take on the world in there, doesn't it?", Danse chuckled.

You walked around in your new power armor, moving your fingers and checking the settings appearing on your visor within the helmet.

"This is not my first time but damn this thing has improved a lot since I last used it", you exclaimed excitedly.

"Well let's get you on the flight deck, vertibird's waiting."

The paladin headed towards the door, holding in open for you as you stepped through.

"You're joining without the armor?"

"I'm not joining at all, I've been assigned to remain on the Prydwen for now."

Danse shrugged as you approached the vertibird stationed at the end of the flightdeck. It felt strange to see him without his armor after spending so much time together at the police station. Without it, he seemed incomplete, like a turtle stripped of its protective shell. Before you could ask about your fellow soldier on this mission, your eyes caught sight of an individual donning a T-60f power armor standing in the doorway of the vertibird. This particular suit of armor stood out from the others you had encountered on the ship thus far. Its surface was covered in scratches, with blood-red accents carefully painted across its black exterior. The emblem of the Brotherhood was proudly displayed on the chest plate in bold white. Despite wearing an armor yourself, you suddenly felt small standing in the presence of this soldier. With a wave of his hand, he gestured for you to find a seat inside the vertibird. Nervously settling into the designated spot, you stole a glance back at Danse, who offered you an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up as the vertibird began its ascent. As the Prydwen gradually disappeared from view, the paladin clad in black armor finally broke the silence.

"So you're the new recruit, the lady out of time. Freshly arrived just yesterday."

He sounded young despite his voice being distorted by the tech in his helmet. You simply nodded, allowing him to continue speaking, hoping to gather some insight before having to say anything yourself.

"I caught a glimpse of you scrubbing the latrines this morning. What did you do to piss off the Elder already on your first day?", he jeered, the visor of his helmet fixed on your figure as he leaned in closer.

"I gave him the wrong answer", you nonchalantly shrugged, "what did you do to piss him off?"

"What makes you think I did?", the paladin cocked his head slightly, displaying a hint of confusion.

"You seem to be one of the higher-ups, yet here you are, babysitting the new recruit on her maiden mission", you challenged him, your amused grin lost behind the metal plate of your helmet.

"Quite observant, timeless lady", he burst into laughter, "but you're mistaken, I'm not punished. I'm just here to make sure the muties don't kill you on sight. Courtesy of the Elder, not every fresh recruit has the pleasure of my company. You must be pretty special."

He extended his arms, tilting his heard slightly down in a mocking bow. You were starting to like whoever this was and made a mental note to dedicate some time to find out his identity as soon as you were back. However, your thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the whizzing bullets that narrowly missed the aircraft, some of them making contact with its metal surface with a loud clink.

“Time to wipe those dirty mutants from the face of the earth”, the Paladin bellowed as he aimed down with his gatling laser.

That sentence struck a nerve but before you could dedicate another thought to it, a bullet grazed your helmet causing you to instinctively grab the minigun and unleash a barrage of gunfire. More and more super mutants gathered in front of the large building.

"Shiiiit", you shouted in shock, your eyes darting to another mutant towering over the many others.

You had seen the first super mutants around Diamond City but this one was huge. A bone-chilling roar erupted from the creature as it through boulders towards the aircraft, one of them hitting the tail. The vertibird wavered mid-flight and began its descent. Fortunately, the final super mutant collapsed lifeless onto the ground just as the landing gear touched down.

"I gotta hightail back to the Prydwen for repairs", the pilot shouted from her cockpit.

"Send reinforcements, we'll secure Fort Strong and the armory", the Paladin responded, gesturing for you to follow.

A tense silence settled over the outskirts of the fort as the aircraft vanished into the sky. Your grip tightened on your gatling laser as you trailed behind your superior, muscles taut with anticipation, scanning the perimeter for any potential threats.

"First Behemoth?"

You almost jumped at his unexpected question interrupting the fragile silence.

"Yes", you sighed, "to be honest, my first encounter with a deathclaw was less frightening. But then again I was standing on a roof and it didn't hurl boulders at me."

The paladin chuckled, giving your armor a playful pat before coming to a halt at the front entrance.

"Watch your step in there, danger lurks around every bend", he warned you as his hand moved towards the door.

"Wait!", your fingers wrapped around the metal plate on his arm, preventing him from entering, "you never told me what I should call you."

He seemed to ponder for a moment as if he was not sure how to respond before he finally spoke up.

"Humour me. What would you call me?"

"Pendragon", the name slipped from your lips before you even had a chance to think about it.

"Explain", he now turned towards you, curious as to why you'd choose such a mythical name.

"I don't know", you shrugged, "it's the first name that came to mind. Back then at school, before the Great War, I was fascinated by the legend of king Arthur, his full name being Arthur Pendragon. I can't quite explain it, but my intuition tells me it suits you."

"I like it", he chuckled genuinely before entering the building.

You released a trembling breath and activated the radio on your Pip-Boy, which you had connected to your armor. Whatever awaited you inside, music would help alleviate the nerve-wracking tension.

Well, you can fly through the clouds, sail on the sea

No matter what you do, you'll never get away from me

Because I'm right behind you, baby

I'm right behind you, baby

And you're never gonna get away

You were greeted by a few angry super mutants and their ferocious hounds. It proved challenging to navigate the room while confined in your power armor; the helmet provided protection but also limited your field of vision, making it difficult to evade the barrage of attacks from the enemy. Painfully slow, the Paladin and you fought your way up to the top floor, only pausing briefly when the final mutant fell lifeless to the ground. The building was all too quiet now, almost eery, with only the occasional creaking of decaying floorboards beneath your feet breaking the stillness. Your stomach churned as the ghostly quietness transformed into a foreboding premonition.

"I don't trust this", you whispered.

The Paladin turned around, raising a finger as if he wanted to point out something when a ghastly growl reverberated from the doorway next to him. Before any of you could react, a mutant burst through the door, the wood splintering into thousands fragments, and it lunged the Paladin, forcing both of them on the ground. With an eerie, creaking sound, the floor beneath them gave way, and they plummeted to the level below. You rushed towards the hole, trying to not fall yourself as peered over the edge. A gasp escaped your lips as you witnessed the subsequent floorboards break apart, sending the Paladin and the mutant hurtling even further down into the basement. The Paladin's cries were abruptly silenced as his head collided with the unforgiving concrete floor, his immobile armor bearing witness to the impact. Before the mutant could gather itself to resume its attack on your fellow Brotherhood comrade, you jumped down the two floors through the same hole, your feet landing next to them with a metallic thud on the solid concrete, whirling a cloud of the centuries old dust that had settled. You launched yourself at the mutant, hurling him against the close-by wall, your fist punching continuously into his face, ceasing your assault only when nothing but a bloody pulp remained and the mutant's lifeless body slumped on the floor.

You rushed towards the Paladin, calling out to him while tapping in his helmet but you didn't get any response. You decided to lift him up and turned the wheel at the back, opening the armor to get him out and check for any serious injuries. Your breath got caught in your throat as you recognised the limp body that slid out from within the protective shell.

"Elder", you whispered as you gently placed him on the ground.

You got out of your own armor, sitting down in front, leaning your back against the cool metal of the leg plate as you pulled Maxson towards you, carefully cradling his head in your lap. He looked almost peaceful, his characteristic stern expression washed away with his muscles fully relaxed and the creases in his face gone. It was the first time you truly noticed how handsome and youthful he actually looked. Your fingertips traced over his features, a smile forming on your lips as they brushed against his surprisingly soft beard. Just as you were about to examine his scar more closely, he stirred, his brows furrowing and a strained grunt escaping his throat as his eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked several times in confusion before his gaze settled on your smiling frame.

"Are you alright?"

He huffed in response, lifting his upper body up with your help, burying his face in his hands, grumbling in pain as he stood up. Noticing his shaky legs, you quickly positioned yourself beside him, gripping his torso to provide support until he seemed steady enough to stand on his own.

"I feel like I've been trampled by a pack of deathclaws", he groaned, rubbing his neck.

"Oh, it was just a super mutant throwing you two floors down. Nothing to worry about", you chuckled, shrugging your shoulders innocently.

Maxson offered you a faint grin, too exhausted and sore to maintain his usual demeanour. His eyes darted towards the headless mutant corpse and then to the glove of your armor where he spotted some blood and brain matter still dripping down from.

"You punched it to a pulp?", the genuine surprise in his voice amused you.

"Couldn't let it kill the only other soldier on my very first mission, it wouldn't look good on my record. And besides, I'm relieved that you're awake and relatively unharmed. I was starting to worry that I'd have to report to the Brotherhood that their leader had perished on a mission with a rookie recruit."

The Elder huffed out a laugh you hadn't heard from him yet. Without the distortion of the helmet, it sounded jaunty, its unburdened joy echoing through the room.

"So, shall I still call you Pendragon or are we back to Elder?"

Maxson noticed the mischievous gleam in your eyes, a sight that held a beauty which would most certainly haunt him all night.

"No need for me to hide my identity any longer", he shrugged as he got back into his armor, the metallic plates closing with a whir and a resounding click, "so you found and secured the armory. Now we only need to wait for the others."

"Well technically, Elder, you found it first by crashing through the ceiling", you joked as you got into your own armor again.

"You're right, we have our new weapons all thanks to my full physical effort, Knight", he threw his arms in the air.

You snorted, unable to take in that this was the very same man who condemned you to clean the latrines for not agreeing with him.

"That fall must have been really bad if you of all people are cracking jokes, Elder", you said until a sudden realisation hit you, "did you call me Knight?"

"You deserve a promotion after today's performance even if I couldn't witness the best part of it. And don't get too comfortable with my jokes, once we're back on the Prydwen, you'll respect the hierarchy again. Are we clear, Knight?"

His tone shifted towards the same stern annoyance it carried yesterday.

"Yes, Elder", you replied, a smile creeping across your face from beneath the protection of your helmet.

Chapter 4 - Someone's gotta give (18+)

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