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Chapter 4: ArcJet Raid.

Ashley sat in one of the wooden chairs as the police brought in several rioters. She sighed as she looked around at the starving people came in. As she waited, one of the officers came up and sat next to her. He was in the normal black policeman's outfit on, he also had a riot control vest on as he participated in quelling the riots. He looked to her and smiled.

"Hey, Ash, you here for your dad?" he asked.

"Yeah, dumb bastard got caught drinking and driving again." she moaned. "I mean, come on! I'm 17, and I'm the one paying for his mistakes. Mike, tell me: what am I doing with my life?"

"You're doing what you can." he said, patting her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, whatever." she muttered as the chief came out with a man in his late sixties with greying hair.

The man looked to Ash, who gave him the all-too familiar disappointed look, and turned his head away quickly in shame. She stood and walked over to the two.

"Sorry about this, Miss-" the Chief tried to say but she interrupted him.

"George, you know me well enough; you can call me by my first name, now." she said annoyingly.

Amused, the man shrugged and nodded. "Okay, Ashley, he's on house arrest now. I know how busy you are, so I'll send Mike over tomorrow." he said before turning to the man. "As for you, be grateful that you have a daughter that still cares enough about you through all that's happened."

He then walked away as Ashley grabbed the man by the scruff of his jumper and dragged him out of the police station. More rioters were being brought in by the police as she dragged him down the street and past the metro. Finally reaching a bus stop, they both sat down and waited. The place was nearly devoid of all human life, as the riots had scared off most other people. Ash and the man sat on the seat, one noticeably upset and the other hunched over like a scolded dog.

"Look, honey..." he started to say but she cut him off.

"Don't talk to me." she said not looking at him.

"Ashley..."

She stood and looked at him. "NO, DON'T YOU 'ASHLEY' ME!" she yelled. "You've done nothing but hold me back since mom left! I was supposed to study with my classmates today, but I can't even do that anymore."

"You can still-" he tried to say but she was having none of it.

"No, I can't, and you know it!" Ashley visibly frustrated, "You're always drinking, and you've been doing nothing else for years. I can't leave you alone for a single moment! I know you miss her, dad, but so do I. She's dead and she isn't coming back, but it seems that only one of has has managed to accept it." Leaving it at that, she sat down and looked away. "You need to start taking better care of yourself because once I turn 18, I'm leaving, and I won't be around to bail you out anymore."

His daughter was right and he knew it. His life was in shambles, and he had no one else to blame but himself.

OOOOO

Ashley, Cobra, and Dogmeat walked into the police station right behind the power armoured paladin. The police station has seen better days, but aside from the rotting walls and barricades, it was the same police station that she saw her sorry dad so many times before, two hundred years ago.

"Yeah, feels like home…" Ashley reminisced.

"What?" Cobra asked, confused.
"Nothing."

With everyone gathered at the reception desk, Paladin Danse began the conversation: "Now that we're all gathered, I want to thank you strangers for the timely rescue. While my brothers and I appreciate the gesture, our own supplies are nearly exhausted from the last attack. Half of our post is dead or missing, and we have yet to receive any word of relief." Ash and the rest figured as much, but it was no less disheartening.

"That's too bad, because I thought we could help each other." Cobra said.
"Our scouts reported valuable technology at nearby research facility, Arcjet systems. If we can get the deep range transmitter, we can use it to boost our distress signal to other members of the Brotherhood. If you want, you can join us and help yourselves to any salvage we may find."
"Arcjet?" she said as an image of the moon came to mind.
"Isn't that place under the control of the Institute? Or at least that's what I heard." Cobra asked.
"We cannot confirm at this time." the scribe said. "We were ordered to investigate the premises and secure any technology that may be of value."
"Sounds fair to me." Ash said absent-mindedly.
Cobra looked to her for a moment before turning to Danse. "Yeah, sounds like a deal."
OOOOO

[Mature content starts here, kiddos.]
It was Ashley's turn to take watch that evening. It was mostly quiet outside, aside from Danse briefing his knight and his scribe. If there were any feral ghouls left, they were not here. Cobra wanted to know what was bothering her, but her predicament wasn't entirely unrelatable. Making his way outside the station, he joined her on the barricade. Sitting down next to her, the two of them remained silent for a long time before Cobra decided to break the ice.

"You seem distant. What's up?"

She still continued looking out at nothing, for what felt like hours. She glanced up at the moon, at least that was still there and not blown up over the course of the war. God, she missed her late-night dates and rendezvous with Nate. Turning to look at Cobra she just shrugged.

"You'll do." she finally said before throwing her arms around his and pressing her lips against his.

Caught off-guard, Cobra dropped his rifle as the 200 year-old woman pushed him on his back exploring his mouth with her tongue. As she did this, she removed her webbing and unzipped her vault suit. It wasn't long before Cobra clothes were also on a pile on the floor. The commander was visibly nervous as Ashley looked up and down his battle-scarred figure. With a devious smile, she licked her lips like a hungry predator. Looking down on her prey, she noticed that he was fairly well-built like her late husband. Not about to let a good meal go to waste, she put aside her memories for the feast that was yet to come.

Bending down, she began tracing the scars of his body with her tongue. The sudden contact shocked him like electricity and couldn't help but let a moan escape his lips. He couldn't resist her; how did her husband tame her? At that moment, a soft, silky hand snaked its way around to his nethers, stroking and exciting him almost immediately.

"My, my..." she said in an uncharacteristic tone with a very seductive smile, "It seems junior is enjoying himself, maybe a bit of motivation will excite him even more?"

With that, she turned so that her shapely rear was facing him. He had a clear view of her womanhood, ready for him. Accepting the invitation, he used his tongue to explore her insides, giving her a long-awaited gratification. Looking down towards her, she leaned in and began to lick his throbbing member slowly and gently. She was well-experienced in her craft, and knew most of the male erogenous zones. Although, by the way things were going, the boy was no slouch either. Moaning, she then took the member into her mouth and began to work slowly while her free hand was playing with his balls.

With her tongue dancing around the shaft, and seeing as how she didn't seem to back down from his own advances, it took every bit of him just to keep up. Cobra licked every part of her, and managed to make her moan in pleasure. She wanted this; she needed this. Worried that her cryo-hibernation may have dulled her senses, this interlude dashed those concerns. His tongue getting tired, Cobra then inserted a finger inside her and began to gently work it in and out of her.

Ash moved off his dick and looked at him, "Harder." she demanded.

Acquiescing to her request, he then inserted another and began to move them inside her faster and harder, making her squeal. She moved back to his dick and sucked on it again, getting him wet even more, wanting it inside her and soon. She had a lust that no normal man or woman could satisfy; Nate was the only one to match her voracious appetite. If she were an evil person, she would have been an expert interrogator. No one would have been able to resist her seduction. However, she had a good heart and would never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.

Her prey now defenseless and ready, she turned around and positioned herself above his aching cock. She lowered herself down and guided him towards her entrance. Making contact, she slid down on him, moaning in delight. Cobra also grunted in pleasure, and though he had been with a few partners himself, he felt like he was being crushed, almost like a Mirelurk claw. Ashley had him pinned, and was savoring the full feeling she had; he was just about as big as Nate. Slowly, she began to move her hips up and down on him, setting the rhythm and pace.

The commander was like mold in her fingers as she moved; he moaned as his own hips moved with her, bucking as much as he could. Leaning down, she began to lick rings around his nipples, making him moan even more. He could not believe how good she was at this, he thought he had conquered every woman, but she was in a league of her own. She was a black widow, and he was helplessly tangled up in her web. About to climax, she quickened the pace and just like clockwork, brought her partner to her climax as well. Bringing her lips down on his and squeezing down on him like a vice, they reached their explosive apex.

"Is that all?" asking her now-unconscious quarry. She snuggled into him with a satisfied look on her face and later drifted off to sleep.

[End mature content.]

OOOOO
The streets were full as Ashley ran down the streets as fast as she could, moving and weaving around every pedestrian she could see; it was due to her gymnastics, but she wasn't running for an award. Moving with grace, she ran past each person as tears flowed down her as she ran to the hospital. What they said couldn't be true, it just couldn't. Emergency vehicles came into sight and made their way to the building. Upon arrival, she watched as a man on a stretcher was taken into the hospital with a every manner of medical equipment attached to him.

"No..." she whispered watching the it going into the hospital.

A man came up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around to see who it was, it was Mike, one of her friends from the police. The right side of his face however was badly bruised with a rather large and bloody gash.

"Ash, your father... he confronted a group of men who were stalking you the past few days." he said in an exasperated voice. "He tried take them on, but one of them pulled a gun on him. When I came to the scene, he was already lying on the ground. I called the hospital, but he lost a lot of blood."

Ashley then ran into the hospital following the stretcher as close as she possibly could. They took the lift to the 5th floor, she followed and followed them to an operating room. She knew enough to stay outside and not interrupt. She just stared as the doctors worked; time around her seemed to slow to a maddening crawl as the doctors worked. While it felt like an eternity, she didn't notice that three hours had passed and nighttime fell. The doctors soon left the operating room and noticed her. He walked up to her and looked into the room with her.

"We repaired a lot of the trauma and gave him transfusions, but we had a very limited supply of his blood type. We have no new donors at the time, and… well... we don't know when we'll be getting any more." The doctor continued, "I'm sorry. We did what we could, but injuries like these have low odds of survival; he may not make it through the night."
Furious at the doctor's brevity, Ash screamed, "HOW DARE YOU TELL ME THAT? You're a doctor! You're supposed to save people, not tell me that they'll die!"

Slightly taken aback, the doctor replied, "If you like, you can be in there with him. We'll be right outside if anything happens."

Boiling with anger, she eventually calmed down enough to take the doctor's suggestion. Walking into the room, she saw what looked like her father under the tubes, wires, and bandages. His injuries were still fresh and visible; bruises, knife wounds, gunshot wounds. He had a single pack of blood hanging on his IV drip. It looked like he had enough; for a while, at least. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Hi, honey... I wasn't drinking this time..." he said with a weak smile, trying to ease the pained look on his daughter's face. "I heard that you... broke up with that one boy... good to hear. I heard that they were going to do terrible things to you... I couldn't allow that."

"Why? Why did you do this?" she said her tears now flowing freely.

"I'm your father... even if you may not want me to be. You're my daughter... and I'd stop anyone who would hurt my baby girl." he reached out and rubbed her chin. "I'm glad... I got to be a real father for once…"

She reached out and placed her hand on his. "You… you're such an idiot..."

"Trust me, I know... My family... has been nothing but fighters... from my father... to me... now you. Don't give up... never give up... Ashley." His words were getting harder to make out.

"I should tell you... the truth... on why I started drinking. It wasn't... all... because of your mother. Your mother... leaving... was hard... but when I got word... that Jones... one of my brothers in arms... died... making me... the last... of my unit... I felt... so alone... since everyone... had left me. I was... such a fool... that I forgot... all about you. You are my legacy… you are my unit... you are my team..." his breathing becoming more shallow. "I love you."

"Dad… I love you too." she said in between sobs.

"Thanks… kiddo. Hey, I'm... a little tired, now. I'm going to... take a short nap. Will you be here... when I wake up?"

Ashley nodded with a sad smile, and pulled up a chair next to him.

With that, he smiled and closed his eyes. She didn't know how long she stayed, but she stayed with him, hoping he'd wake up again. Now that he was sober, maybe he could rejoin the workforce and perhaps rebuild their relationship; a clean slate. But her wishes were betrayed by the sound of a long and steady tone on his heart monitor. Hearing this, the doctors rushed in and tried to resuscitate him to no avail. Exhausting every possible effort and with no other options left, they pulled a sheet over him, hiding him away from the rest of the world.
"Miss…" The same doctor, unable to gather the words, "Take all the time you need." With that, the doctor stepped out of the room; only her and her dad.

She took his hand into hers. His hand was limp but she wasn't going to let go. No need to hold her emotions back anymore, she let it all out. She couldn't let go, not now not ever. She just couldn't. But something cold was in her hand, not her father's hand but something metallic. She opened her hand to see his old military dog tags. Turning them around, she then saw a picture of her younger self sitting on her father's lap, both smiling.

A last gift from his to her; his undying love.

OOOOO

A group of boys, around the age of 18, were standing around in an old warehouse watching a TV they stole. Each one of them wore a black leather jacket with the word 'Yellow Jackets' with a Yellow Jacket Bee below it. There were 6 of them in total, all of them watching what people would call a 'psycho' movie. Somehow finding amusement in the pain and suffering of others. Even the boss, a guy with a mohawk, was laughing hysterically.

"So, boss, you know that bitch who dumped you?" one of the boys asked.

"Yeah?" the boss said back.

"Well, me and a couple of the boys were planning to fuck-her-up for ya, ya know, for dumping you. Anyway some old guy attacked us, turns out it was the bitch's dad… Hahaha! what a loser. Anyway we roughed him up good." As he spoke there was chuckling from the other members. "I thought that we could send her a message saying that 'we're coming for you, whore.'"

They all laughed out loud before the door to the warehouse opened and a female figure came walking in.

"Hey, baby, what are you doing here? Wanna have some fun?" one of the boys asked, running up to the figure. With the sun behind her, he didn't recognize the slim figure.

With an unexpectedly swift movement, she took his arm and threw him over her shoulder and onto the ground before smashing her foot down on his arm, breaking it. The boy let out an undignified scream as whoever it was also stomped on the boy's 'jewels'.

"Have fun without it." said a familiar voice.

She stepped out of the light and came into view, showing the boys that she was not in the best of moods.

"Hey, look who the..." of them tried to say but was cut short when a golf ball met his own balls.

"You bitch!" yelled the boss. "I was going to let you come back, but forget it, you're DEAD!"

"Fuck you all." she said.

"Guess I gotta teach your old man another lesson about teaching his child manne..." the gang member shut right right up as he was greeted with another golf ball.

She walked up to them slowly with fire in her eyes. The kind of fire that meant revenge, the kind that told them that she was willing to die just to bring the whole world crashing down on them. They've never seen anything like this until now, and quite frankly, it was very disconcerting.

"Come on, afraid of a fair fight?" she asked, as one of them came running at her with a knife.

He took a swipe at her, but she was faster; she took his arm and broke it over her knee like someone would break a tree branch. The first attacker now a screaming mess on the ground, two more came running up, both of them brandishing tie irons. The first one took a swing at her head while the other tried to get her legs. She dove through them and kicked them both with enough force to break their shins, reducing them to piles on the ground. Two more tried to rush her this time, both of them brandishing machetes. She may have been quick, but they had the reach. They managed to cut her arm and her thigh, but the cuts were shallow. Completely taken by rage and adrenaline, she ignored the injuries and put her gymnastic flexibility to use. She launched herself into a handstand and kicked both their knives out of their hands. Without their reach advantage, she jumped back up and kicked them both in the face, knocking them out and breaking their jaws.

Getting back on her feet, she looked back to her ex. "You killed my dad. You deserve much worse, but you and your cheerleaders are going to prison."

Intimidated by her performance but clearly furious, he replied, "Go ahead and try it, whore! I'm not going anywhere!" With that, he charged at her.

OOOOO

Ash was sitting in the backseat of one of a patrol car, sipping on a Nuka-Cola. Paramedics were administering first-aid to the thugs and the police were taking down names and identification. The police knew what happened and didn't think twice about it. However, no matter how justified she may have been, it was still vigilante action outside the law. Given the circumstances, though, she'd be on probation or put under police observation, at worst. She was in custody, since she did start the fight and drew a sizeable crowd. One of the members crowd slipped past the police tape and tried to confront Ashley about the incident.

"YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU HURT MY SON LIKE THIS!" she yelled.

"How dare I?" Ash asked with an exasperated sigh. "How dare you let your son get away with murder?"

The woman had no response as a bandaged Mike held her back and escorted her back behind the tape. Meanwhile, Ash continued to drink her soda.

"It's sweet."

OOOOO

Ashley yawned as she awoke, looking down next to her, only to see Cobra also lying there with last night's events coming back to her. Out in the cold, unforgiving air, and slaying bodies, she allowed herself a small satisfied smile as Cobra awoke as well.

"Morni-" he started to say before notice something he didn't before.

She looked to him with wide eyes and smiled. "Like what you see?" she asked seductively.

Cobra reached out and touched her cheek with his finger, there was a scar, a deep cut that was there that wasn't before. She knew where he was touching and quickly pulled her pistol out to use the gunmetal as a makeshift mirror. Granted it wasn't a good mirror, but she could still see it, that mark, that scar... where he... she shook her head, no, that bastard was dead. He had to be! Without a word, she put her clothes back on while Cobra awkwardly put on his own.

Concerned, he looked to her and asked, "What is it? That mark on your cheek."

"Shut up." she said, dropping to the lower level and walking back into the police station.

'What's with her?' he asked himself.

OOOOO

Following the road to the Arcjet facility Danse was leading the way, his Brotherhood training was fine-tuned for combat in the wasteland. Cobra was bringing up the rear keeping an eye on their back. Looking to see if Ashley was out of earshot he took out a handheld radio and called.

"Juliet Oscar Echo-One, come in." he said as Preston fell back as well.

"What's up?" he asked.

"It's Ashley. During her sleep she was muttering something about her dad, and this morning. She's got a scar on her cheek that we didn't see before." he said making the Minuteman's brow raise. "She kept muttering something to herself that 'he's dead'."

"Cobra Charlie-One, come in, Joe here." Joe said over the radio.

"Joe, listen, back in the day, before the war, did Ashley have a scar on her cheek? It looks like a knife wound of some kind." Cobra said down the device.

"What? No... I've never seen her with a scar of any kind... on the cheek you said? She must have been using a lot of makeup to hide it." Joe replied before pausing for a moment. "Wait... Nate might have something about it... yeah, he said that during the war, she was captured by a Chinese Naval Captain named Zao... she never talked about it. It's probably him, but tread carefully and don't assume anything."

"Ok, well, what about her father? She was muttering 'dad' in her sleep." Preston spoke up.

"Ahhh, that. That's really no one's business but her own. But I will tell you that he never got to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Take my advice, don't bring it up again." Joe said before the transmission cut out.

With more questions instead of answers, the two looked at each other before catching up to the rest of the gang.

OOOOO

The group made it to Arcjet systems but it looked like someone already fought through it. The security Protectrons were broken and scattered, but there was very little collateral damage. Everything else seemed relatively intact. Paladin Danse took point with his laser rifle at the ready and assessed the situation.

"Be on guard. Whoever went through here were either professionals or Institute synths."

Ashley chimed in, "How can you tell? Couldn't it be raiders?"

Keeping his weapon pointed, "Raiders in this area aren't nearly well-organized enough to mount an assault this compound, especially against posted security robots and sentry turrets. Also, there is not a single drop of blood from the firefight, and judging from the damage, they weren't here for the scraps. No, something far more dangerous is at work here, so watch your sectors."

"Got it. Dogmeat, quiet, boy." Ashley motioned to the canine with her hand.

Impressed by his observational skills, Ashley readied her weapon and watched carefully for anything out of the ordinary. Preston cranked his laser musket to full charge and Cobra loaded a full magazine into his combat shotgun. Codsworth primed his flamer while Dogmeat obediently followed the orders of his master. There was a bad vibe to this place, and they cautiously advanced deeper into the facilities. Eventually, Danse came to what looked like a control centre and the party found themselves behind a locked door.

"The security sensors must have locked the place down. Look for a terminal that can override it."

Cobra and Dogmeat stood guard while the others looked for a working computer. Most of them lost power or were just smashed through, but to Ashley's relief, she found one that still worked.

"I found one! Hey, this is the new RobCo Industries TermLink; I didn't think they'd ever upgrade to the new OS."

Preston gave an excited Ashley a puzzled look, "New?"

"Er, never mind." Remembering that she was 200 years into the future, this new terminal was literally an artifact of a bygone era.

"Can you hack the security?" Danse asked, impatiently.

"Yeah, just give me a second." RobCo Industries was top-ranked among consumers for their reliability and nearly indestructible hardware, but their software was years behind the competition. As an engineer, decoding their encryption algorithms was a matter of child's play. Ironically, it was also the standard operating system for all military hardware. "We're through." The door in front of Danse unlocked and he started to make his way forward.

"Let's go."

" Danse, wait!" The power armoured soldier stopped, but he wasn't accustomed to following the orders of outsiders.
"What is it, citizen?"

"As I was checking the security logs at the terminal, I noticed that the automated defenses are part of the security protocols."

"Aren't they they same?" Danse asked, clearly confused.

"Security protocols are meant to prevent data loss and infiltration; automated defenses fall under a defense contract. Normally, security and automated turrets run on separate networks to prevent workplace 'accidents', but runtimes show that there was communication between the networks recently, so whoever connected them might still be here."

Immediately after, a robotic voice alerted everyone to the its source, "MOTION SENSORS DETECT MOVEMENT." A seemingly nude figure came into view and aimed its weapon at the intruders, but the paladin fired first with a well-placed shot to the head with his laser rifle. However, instead of dropping to the floor, its face peeled off, revealing a metallic endoskeleton. Confirming his suspicions, Danse ordered everyone to fire at will.

"WEAPONS FREE! OPEN FIRE!"
The mysterious figure fired at Danse with a few bright blue beams from its laser rifle, but it was outnumbered and fell quickly to focused and sustained weapons fire. With the immediate threat eliminated with no reinforcements, everyone stood down and assessed the situation.

"What the hell was THAT?" A surprised Ash exclaimed.

"It's as I suspected." Danse remarked, upon inspecting the mangled remains, "THAT, was an Institute synth. The artificial skin weave and endoskeleton indicates that this one is an older model."

Preston picked up the laser rifle it was wielding and inspected it. "What is this weapon? I've never seen an energy weapon like this."

"It's the Institute's version of the laser rifle. It fires high-frequency lasers utilizing more efficient energy capacitors, making their shots more powerful and more frequent. In short, it's better than our own laser rifles."

"Danse, does the Brotherhood have a stockpile of these weapons?" Cobra asked.

"Yes. We give them to our scribes for analysis in an effort to understand the technology and perhaps upgrade our own. Why?"

"My group and I have vastly disparate philosophies from the other Gunners, so we're often undermanned and under-equipped; these energy weapons might give my team a fighting chance at the very least. We butt heads with the other cells on occasion, but some would like nothing more than to see us gone."

With a hard expression, "That's acceptable. You can salvage what weapons you need, just as long as you don't interfere with the mission." Danse moved up to a hall but was stopped again by Ash with a hand signal. Growing impatient with her, he stopped but cautiously peeked around the corner. He heard the unmistakable whirring of machinery as he faced a turret quickly taking aim at him. Suddenly understanding her advice, he ducked back behind the corner with the others.

"Careful!" she warned. "Arcjet systems had contracts with the USSA, meaning military-grade hardware, and as you just saw, automated turrets."

"But if that's the case, why didn't it take out the synths?" Preston asked.

"The runtimes show that the systems have been down for centuries and have been brought back online only recently, including the automated defenses. It's likely these 'synths' were behind it."

Danse was grateful for the new intel, but to say he was suspicious of this new outsider was a monumental understatement. It wasn't normal for her or anyone to be so well-versed in the old technologies; she knew even more than the senior scribes in the Brotherhood. She pulled back the bolt on her rifle and moved to the opposite side of the hall, firing at the turrets and taking out one of them. Putting herself in the line of sight of the turrets and drawing fire, Danse and Preston popped around the corner and neutralized the remaining turrets. Feeling a dull ache in her arm, she saw she had drawn turret fire a little too well; a few rounds were embedded in her forearm with no exit wound. "Just great, I'll have to dig those out later". Bandaging her arm to staunch the bleeding, she joined the rest of the group and proceeded to head deeper into the facility.

The group then moved into a control room with a clear view of the rocket out in front of them. There was no contacts yet but as they moved inside Codsworth alerted them.

"Mum, this may not be an immediate concern, but my sensors are detecting a radiation spike in the air. I wouldn't recommend going outside." he said.

"Radiation storm." Preston added. "I'm with Codsworth, on that. Those can be really nasty; we should stay indoors until it blows over."

"Agreed." Danse said as Ashley looked through the window down at the scorched floor a few levels down.

"Five hostiles below. Seem unaware." she said.

Danse confirmed the threat with Ashley and proposed a plan of attack: "I'll jump down into the thick of them and draw their fire. The rest of you can take the staircase down and flank them while they're focused on me. Don't worry about hitting me; my suit will protect me, so just take them down before they can fire back. Ashley, you stay put; you're wounded and if you involve yourself, you'll become a liability."

"Excuse me?" a slightly-offended woman asked.

Before she could continue, Preston stopped her, "He's right. You can barely hold anything in that arm, and a stray shot can be more dangerous than an aimed one. Besides, we can't let you have all the glory."

Preston shot her a smirk, and as much as she wouldn't admit it, they were 100% right. The bullets in her arm were weighing it down and making it hard to hold anything. With a resigned sigh, she retired herself from the attack.

On the paladin's mark, he jumped down what looked like a hundred feet and crushed one upon landing, taking the synthetic gunmen by surprise. As they readied and aimed their weapons, Preston scrapped one with a fully-charged shot. Cobra took down two more with well-placed shots from his combat rifle. As the last synth was about to fire its weapon at its attackers, it found a giant metal hand grab its head before it was crushed like a tin can. Ash, Dogmeat and Codsworth came down to join them in what looked like a testing chamber, hoping to be done with this miserable place.

Taking the lead in the search, Ashley "Spread out. There should be a deep range transmitter in the control room. It looks like a radio, so it shouldn't be too hard to spot."

Once again, Danse took suspicion to her knowledge, but his questions would wait until after the mission. He still had a bad feeling about this place. If the Institute's goal was to salvage technology from this place, why would they send their older models? It didn't add up. The few they took out looked like posted sentries. Unless-

"I can't find anything that looks like a radio in here. Just broken computers and telephones. Are you sure we're supposed to find-"
Cobra stopped mid sentence to see a giant suit of armour block the doorway.

"What are you doing?"

"Ambush." Danse whispered, and the silence was maddening.

Cobra looked up to see what he was referring to, and the colour immediately drained from his face. A sizeable swarm of synthetic soldiers gathered from above and surrounded the team from every angle. Weapons were readied and aimed, and Danse wasted no time in firing his laser rifle at the robotic abominations and neither did they.

"AMBUSH!" Both subtlety and the element of surprise were lost, and a battle for attrition was in full-swing. Preston fired his laser rifle with every opportunity he could and tried to make every shot count. It was a powerful weapon, but the crank was slow to charge and the enemy didn't seem like the kind to wait. Cobra's shotgun was best suited for close quarters and massed targets, but he could count how many shots he had left. Codsworth and Dogmeat tore down any that would try to get close. With an almost begrudging sense of respect, Danse was grateful an artificial intelligence was fighting with him, especially when it could cut a synthetic clean in half and burn it down.

The ground was now littered with scrap metal and synthetic bodies, and if Ashley didn't do anything, organic bodies would soon join them. She hated feeling helpless. She definitely wasn't a damsel in distress, and she sure as hell wouldn't start today. She couldn't hold a weapons, but there had to be something she could do! Finding a terminal that hadn't degraded over the centuries, she discovered that this was a testing chamber for rockets, as if the giant rocket hanging from the ceiling wasn't obvious enough. The control room she was in held the controls to the rocket, and if the military hardware hadn't changed over the course of the war, the controls should still be working. Tapping away at the console, she prayed her plan would work.

"RobCo, don't fail me now…"

Seconds later, the rocket began its pre-burn and ignition sparks were flying everywhere. All she had to do was press the ignition button and melt every metalhead in the room.

"GET OUT OF THERE!"

Hearing the woman's orders, the others began to fall back to the control room. Not sure of the tactical decision, but any plan had to be better than standing in the middle of laser fire.

A synthesized voice rang over the speaker system: "Rocket test burn in 15 seconds."

Dogmeat was first, obeying his master without a second thought. Cobra was next, his combat shotgun on its last magazine and armour nearly scarred beyond repair. Codsworth was third, his chassis still intact, almost as a testament to General Atomics. Preston followed soon after; his greatcoat singed and torn on every spot with his laser musket smoking at the barrel and gearbox from overuse. Paladin Danse was supposed to be next, but the blast door slammed shut before he could make it to safety.

"Rocket test firing."

"NO!" A horrified Ashley exclaimed. The room he was in burned bright with solid rocket fuel, blinding everyone behind the safety bunker. The rocket's booster had incinerated everything in the room, synth and power armour alike. With a heavy heart, Ash sat back down at the terminal and did the only thing she could do; wait.

After the rocket had finished its test burn, the blast door unlocked and opened. Ashley and the rest stepped out to inspect the remains and see if anything was salvageable. Most of everything was glowing red or a pile of molten metal and ash. Sifting through the smoking scraps, Ashley found a synth that was holding a large rectangular box. It was the deep range transmitter that the group had set out to find. Engineered to withstand atmospheric re-entry, it survived the inferno.

"Alright, we have what we came here for. Let's get back to Cambridge Police Station. Cosworth, is the storm still out there?"

"No, mum. My atmospheric sensors no longer detect any lingering radiation."

As everyone was about to head back up to the surface, something started to rise up from a pile of broken synths. Everyone readied their weapon, but instead of a robot, it was Danse, though he was looking a little more toasty than usual. He lumbered up to the group and gave his assessment.

"Nice thinking with the rocket booster, outsider. If it weren't for your quick thinking, we probably wouldn't be alive to finish the mission. My armour withstood the blast, so my injuries are only superficial."

"Paladin Danse! We have the deep range transmitter."

"Good job, soldier." he said before falling unconscious.

OOOOO

An elderly man sat at his desk in his room as someone in a white and black lab coat entered to deliver the news.

"Father." he said in an exhausted voice. "Our units at Arcjet systems just went silent."

"What images did the our surveillance units capture?" Father asked.

"A group of six, one female wearing a vault suit, two mercs, one of them wearing Gunner combat armour, a dog, a Mr. handy robot, and a power armoured soldier with the Brotherhood of Steel."

"A female Vault dweller..." a subtle grin grew across the man's face. "Get our agent to the military base and tell him to standby until further orders. Arcjet systems was an acceptable loss."

OOOOO

Danse was lying on a makeshift cot, still unconscious from the mission. Cobra considered Danse fortunate that he was even able to survive, and that a certain engineer was able to take him out of his suit; they would have had to drag him all the way back to Cambridge otherwise. There was a lot of carbon buildup from the last fight, and he used this downtime to clean and maintain his weapons. Preston, meanwhile, was sitting sitting in a chair with his hat on his face, catching up on some much-needed sleep. Dogmeat was chewing on a mole rat leg that Ash had found while Codsworth had shut down to recharged his batteries.

Ash, meanwhile, came in carrying an intact synth with a toolbox in tow. Dropping them on the floor with a loud crash and startling a certain Minuteman.

"Wah!" he muttered only to see Ash unzip her suit.

She stopped around midway and tied the sleeves around her waist. Putting on a set of welding goggles, she took out a blowtorch and tried to pry open the synth's endoskeleton.

"Wake a Deathclaw nest why don't ya." Preston said.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see the engineering on this. I've never seen anything like this-" she said in a mildly excited voice.

"What do you hope to learn from that death machine?" Danse asked as he woke and sat up surprising the Sword star merc.

"Whoa, geez man don't do that." he moaned.

Danse just ignored him and looked at Ashley. "So, miss Williams right?" he asked making her look up.

"It's Winter." she said.

The Brotherhood corrected himself. "Sorry, I once knew a woman who called herself Ashley as well, but she was following a group lead by a man or woman named Shepard, ugh I cannot remember. Anyway that was some good thinking, I can assume you've done this before?"

"Something like it, yeah, but last time I worked on a T-60, I was in it defending an oil rig from Chinese special force.." she said slightly smugly.

"Interesting, were they ghouls?"

"No, this was the Battle of Anchorage, year 2066"

Danse gave her a VERY skeptical look. "Impossible. That was over two-hundred years ago, Unless you're a ghoul, how can you be alive for that long?"

"Vault-Tec was experimenting with cryo-hibernation." Ash said before looking down at the machine. "I only just woke up, and now I'm out here looking for my son."

"I see." Danse knew some vaults were little more than control groups for Vault-Tec's experiments, and her explanation made more sense than he was willing to admit.

"Well, it's one of many reasons why we're out here." Preston said. "We're heading to Diamond City, and with a city with that many people, we're bound to find some answers."

The Brotherhood soldier nodded. "Alright. Now that the police station has its transmitter, I am going to come along to assess your performance. I haven't met an outsider as resourceful as yourself, and you'd make a fine member of the Brotherhood."

"Sure. Your power armour would also make a fine asset to my team." Ash retorted with an unsteady smile.

Description
Chapter 4: ArcJet Raid.

Ashley sat in one of the wooden chairs as the police brought in several rioters. She sighed as she looked around at the starving people came in. As she waited, one of the officers came up and sat next to her. He was in the normal black policeman's outfit on, he also had a riot control vest on as he participated in quelling the riots. He looked to her and smiled.

"Hey, Ash, you here for your dad?" he asked.

"Yeah, dumb bastard got caught drinking and driving again." she moaned. "I mean, come on! I'm 17, and I'm the one paying for his mistakes. Mike, tell me: what am I doing with my life?"

"You're doing what you can." he said, patting her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, whatever." she muttered as the chief came out with a man in his late sixties with greying hair.

The man looked to Ash, who gave him the all-too familiar disappointed look, and turned his head away quickly in shame. She stood and walked over to the two.

"Sorry about this, Miss-" the Chief tried to say but she interrupted him.

"George, you know me well enough; you can call me by my first name, now." she said annoyingly.

Amused, the man shrugged and nodded. "Okay, Ashley, he's on house arrest now. I know how busy you are, so I'll send Mike over tomorrow." he said before turning to the man. "As for you, be grateful that you have a daughter that still cares enough about you through all that's happened."

He then walked away as Ashley grabbed the man by the scruff of his jumper and dragged him out of the police station. More rioters were being brought in by the police as she dragged him down the street and past the metro. Finally reaching a bus stop, they both sat down and waited. The place was nearly devoid of all human life, as the riots had scared off most other people. Ash and the man sat on the seat, one noticeably upset and the other hunched over like a scolded dog.

"Look, honey..." he started to say but she cut him off.

"Don't talk to me." she said not looking at him.

"Ashley..."

She stood and looked at him. "NO, DON'T YOU 'ASHLEY' ME!" she yelled. "You've done nothing but hold me back since mom left! I was supposed to study with my classmates today, but I can't even do that anymore."

"You can still-" he tried to say but she was having none of it.

"No, I can't, and you know it!" Ashley visibly frustrated, "You're always drinking, and you've been doing nothing else for years. I can't leave you alone for a single moment! I know you miss her, dad, but so do I. She's dead and she isn't coming back, but it seems that only one of has has managed to accept it." Leaving it at that, she sat down and looked away. "You need to start taking better care of yourself because once I turn 18, I'm leaving, and I won't be around to bail you out anymore."

His daughter was right and he knew it. His life was in shambles, and he had no one else to blame but himself.

OOOOO

Ashley, Cobra, and Dogmeat walked into the police station right behind the power armoured paladin. The police station has seen better days, but aside from the rotting walls and barricades, it was the same police station that she saw her sorry dad so many times before, two hundred years ago.

"Yeah, feels like home…" Ashley reminisced.

"What?" Cobra asked, confused.
"Nothing."

With everyone gathered at the reception desk, Paladin Danse began the conversation: "Now that we're all gathered, I want to thank you strangers for the timely rescue. While my brothers and I appreciate the gesture, our own supplies are nearly exhausted from the last attack. Half of our post is dead or missing, and we have yet to receive any word of relief." Ash and the rest figured as much, but it was no less disheartening.

"That's too bad, because I thought we could help each other." Cobra said.
"Our scouts reported valuable technology at nearby research facility, Arcjet systems. If we can get the deep range transmitter, we can use it to boost our distress signal to other members of the Brotherhood. If you want, you can join us and help yourselves to any salvage we may find."
"Arcjet?" she said as an image of the moon came to mind.
"Isn't that place under the control of the Institute? Or at least that's what I heard." Cobra asked.
"We cannot confirm at this time." the scribe said. "We were ordered to investigate the premises and secure any technology that may be of value."
"Sounds fair to me." Ash said absent-mindedly.
Cobra looked to her for a moment before turning to Danse. "Yeah, sounds like a deal."
OOOOO

[Mature content starts here, kiddos.]
It was Ashley's turn to take watch that evening. It was mostly quiet outside, aside from Danse briefing his knight and his scribe. If there were any feral ghouls left, they were not here. Cobra wanted to know what was bothering her, but her predicament wasn't entirely unrelatable. Making his way outside the station, he joined her on the barricade. Sitting down next to her, the two of them remained silent for a long time before Cobra decided to break the ice.

"You seem distant. What's up?"

She still continued looking out at nothing, for what felt like hours. She glanced up at the moon, at least that was still there and not blown up over the course of the war. God, she missed her late-night dates and rendezvous with Nate. Turning to look at Cobra she just shrugged.

"You'll do." she finally said before throwing her arms around his and pressing her lips against his.

Caught off-guard, Cobra dropped his rifle as the 200 year-old woman pushed him on his back exploring his mouth with her tongue. As she did this, she removed her webbing and unzipped her vault suit. It wasn't long before Cobra clothes were also on a pile on the floor. The commander was visibly nervous as Ashley looked up and down his battle-scarred figure. With a devious smile, she licked her lips like a hungry predator. Looking down on her prey, she noticed that he was fairly well-built like her late husband. Not about to let a good meal go to waste, she put aside her memories for the feast that was yet to come.

Bending down, she began tracing the scars of his body with her tongue. The sudden contact shocked him like electricity and couldn't help but let a moan escape his lips. He couldn't resist her; how did her husband tame her? At that moment, a soft, silky hand snaked its way around to his nethers, stroking and exciting him almost immediately.

"My, my..." she said in an uncharacteristic tone with a very seductive smile, "It seems junior is enjoying himself, maybe a bit of motivation will excite him even more?"

With that, she turned so that her shapely rear was facing him. He had a clear view of her womanhood, ready for him. Accepting the invitation, he used his tongue to explore her insides, giving her a long-awaited gratification. Looking down towards her, she leaned in and began to lick his throbbing member slowly and gently. She was well-experienced in her craft, and knew most of the male erogenous zones. Although, by the way things were going, the boy was no slouch either. Moaning, she then took the member into her mouth and began to work slowly while her free hand was playing with his balls.

With her tongue dancing around the shaft, and seeing as how she didn't seem to back down from his own advances, it took every bit of him just to keep up. Cobra licked every part of her, and managed to make her moan in pleasure. She wanted this; she needed this. Worried that her cryo-hibernation may have dulled her senses, this interlude dashed those concerns. His tongue getting tired, Cobra then inserted a finger inside her and began to gently work it in and out of her.

Ash moved off his dick and looked at him, "Harder." she demanded.

Acquiescing to her request, he then inserted another and began to move them inside her faster and harder, making her squeal. She moved back to his dick and sucked on it again, getting him wet even more, wanting it inside her and soon. She had a lust that no normal man or woman could satisfy; Nate was the only one to match her voracious appetite. If she were an evil person, she would have been an expert interrogator. No one would have been able to resist her seduction. However, she had a good heart and would never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.

Her prey now defenseless and ready, she turned around and positioned herself above his aching cock. She lowered herself down and guided him towards her entrance. Making contact, she slid down on him, moaning in delight. Cobra also grunted in pleasure, and though he had been with a few partners himself, he felt like he was being crushed, almost like a Mirelurk claw. Ashley had him pinned, and was savoring the full feeling she had; he was just about as big as Nate. Slowly, she began to move her hips up and down on him, setting the rhythm and pace.

The commander was like mold in her fingers as she moved; he moaned as his own hips moved with her, bucking as much as he could. Leaning down, she began to lick rings around his nipples, making him moan even more. He could not believe how good she was at this, he thought he had conquered every woman, but she was in a league of her own. She was a black widow, and he was helplessly tangled up in her web. About to climax, she quickened the pace and just like clockwork, brought her partner to her climax as well. Bringing her lips down on his and squeezing down on him like a vice, they reached their explosive apex.

"Is that all?" asking her now-unconscious quarry. She snuggled into him with a satisfied look on her face and later drifted off to sleep.

[End mature content.]

OOOOO
The streets were full as Ashley ran down the streets as fast as she could, moving and weaving around every pedestrian she could see; it was due to her gymnastics, but she wasn't running for an award. Moving with grace, she ran past each person as tears flowed down her as she ran to the hospital. What they said couldn't be true, it just couldn't. Emergency vehicles came into sight and made their way to the building. Upon arrival, she watched as a man on a stretcher was taken into the hospital with a every manner of medical equipment attached to him.

"No..." she whispered watching the it going into the hospital.

A man came up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around to see who it was, it was Mike, one of her friends from the police. The right side of his face however was badly bruised with a rather large and bloody gash.

"Ash, your father... he confronted a group of men who were stalking you the past few days." he said in an exasperated voice. "He tried take them on, but one of them pulled a gun on him. When I came to the scene, he was already lying on the ground. I called the hospital, but he lost a lot of blood."

Ashley then ran into the hospital following the stretcher as close as she possibly could. They took the lift to the 5th floor, she followed and followed them to an operating room. She knew enough to stay outside and not interrupt. She just stared as the doctors worked; time around her seemed to slow to a maddening crawl as the doctors worked. While it felt like an eternity, she didn't notice that three hours had passed and nighttime fell. The doctors soon left the operating room and noticed her. He walked up to her and looked into the room with her.

"We repaired a lot of the trauma and gave him transfusions, but we had a very limited supply of his blood type. We have no new donors at the time, and… well... we don't know when we'll be getting any more." The doctor continued, "I'm sorry. We did what we could, but injuries like these have low odds of survival; he may not make it through the night."
Furious at the doctor's brevity, Ash screamed, "HOW DARE YOU TELL ME THAT? You're a doctor! You're supposed to save people, not tell me that they'll die!"

Slightly taken aback, the doctor replied, "If you like, you can be in there with him. We'll be right outside if anything happens."

Boiling with anger, she eventually calmed down enough to take the doctor's suggestion. Walking into the room, she saw what looked like her father under the tubes, wires, and bandages. His injuries were still fresh and visible; bruises, knife wounds, gunshot wounds. He had a single pack of blood hanging on his IV drip. It looked like he had enough; for a while, at least. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Hi, honey... I wasn't drinking this time..." he said with a weak smile, trying to ease the pained look on his daughter's face. "I heard that you... broke up with that one boy... good to hear. I heard that they were going to do terrible things to you... I couldn't allow that."

"Why? Why did you do this?" she said her tears now flowing freely.

"I'm your father... even if you may not want me to be. You're my daughter... and I'd stop anyone who would hurt my baby girl." he reached out and rubbed her chin. "I'm glad... I got to be a real father for once…"

She reached out and placed her hand on his. "You… you're such an idiot..."

"Trust me, I know... My family... has been nothing but fighters... from my father... to me... now you. Don't give up... never give up... Ashley." His words were getting harder to make out.

"I should tell you... the truth... on why I started drinking. It wasn't... all... because of your mother. Your mother... leaving... was hard... but when I got word... that Jones... one of my brothers in arms... died... making me... the last... of my unit... I felt... so alone... since everyone... had left me. I was... such a fool... that I forgot... all about you. You are my legacy… you are my unit... you are my team..." his breathing becoming more shallow. "I love you."

"Dad… I love you too." she said in between sobs.

"Thanks… kiddo. Hey, I'm... a little tired, now. I'm going to... take a short nap. Will you be here... when I wake up?"

Ashley nodded with a sad smile, and pulled up a chair next to him.

With that, he smiled and closed his eyes. She didn't know how long she stayed, but she stayed with him, hoping he'd wake up again. Now that he was sober, maybe he could rejoin the workforce and perhaps rebuild their relationship; a clean slate. But her wishes were betrayed by the sound of a long and steady tone on his heart monitor. Hearing this, the doctors rushed in and tried to resuscitate him to no avail. Exhausting every possible effort and with no other options left, they pulled a sheet over him, hiding him away from the rest of the world.
"Miss…" The same doctor, unable to gather the words, "Take all the time you need." With that, the doctor stepped out of the room; only her and her dad.

She took his hand into hers. His hand was limp but she wasn't going to let go. No need to hold her emotions back anymore, she let it all out. She couldn't let go, not now not ever. She just couldn't. But something cold was in her hand, not her father's hand but something metallic. She opened her hand to see his old military dog tags. Turning them around, she then saw a picture of her younger self sitting on her father's lap, both smiling.

A last gift from his to her; his undying love.

OOOOO

A group of boys, around the age of 18, were standing around in an old warehouse watching a TV they stole. Each one of them wore a black leather jacket with the word 'Yellow Jackets' with a Yellow Jacket Bee below it. There were 6 of them in total, all of them watching what people would call a 'psycho' movie. Somehow finding amusement in the pain and suffering of others. Even the boss, a guy with a mohawk, was laughing hysterically.

"So, boss, you know that bitch who dumped you?" one of the boys asked.

"Yeah?" the boss said back.

"Well, me and a couple of the boys were planning to fuck-her-up for ya, ya know, for dumping you. Anyway some old guy attacked us, turns out it was the bitch's dad… Hahaha! what a loser. Anyway we roughed him up good." As he spoke there was chuckling from the other members. "I thought that we could send her a message saying that 'we're coming for you, whore.'"

They all laughed out loud before the door to the warehouse opened and a female figure came walking in.

"Hey, baby, what are you doing here? Wanna have some fun?" one of the boys asked, running up to the figure. With the sun behind her, he didn't recognize the slim figure.

With an unexpectedly swift movement, she took his arm and threw him over her shoulder and onto the ground before smashing her foot down on his arm, breaking it. The boy let out an undignified scream as whoever it was also stomped on the boy's 'jewels'.

"Have fun without it." said a familiar voice.

She stepped out of the light and came into view, showing the boys that she was not in the best of moods.

"Hey, look who the..." of them tried to say but was cut short when a golf ball met his own balls.

"You bitch!" yelled the boss. "I was going to let you come back, but forget it, you're DEAD!"

"Fuck you all." she said.

"Guess I gotta teach your old man another lesson about teaching his child manne..." the gang member shut right right up as he was greeted with another golf ball.

She walked up to them slowly with fire in her eyes. The kind of fire that meant revenge, the kind that told them that she was willing to die just to bring the whole world crashing down on them. They've never seen anything like this until now, and quite frankly, it was very disconcerting.

"Come on, afraid of a fair fight?" she asked, as one of them came running at her with a knife.

He took a swipe at her, but she was faster; she took his arm and broke it over her knee like someone would break a tree branch. The first attacker now a screaming mess on the ground, two more came running up, both of them brandishing tie irons. The first one took a swing at her head while the other tried to get her legs. She dove through them and kicked them both with enough force to break their shins, reducing them to piles on the ground. Two more tried to rush her this time, both of them brandishing machetes. She may have been quick, but they had the reach. They managed to cut her arm and her thigh, but the cuts were shallow. Completely taken by rage and adrenaline, she ignored the injuries and put her gymnastic flexibility to use. She launched herself into a handstand and kicked both their knives out of their hands. Without their reach advantage, she jumped back up and kicked them both in the face, knocking them out and breaking their jaws.

Getting back on her feet, she looked back to her ex. "You killed my dad. You deserve much worse, but you and your cheerleaders are going to prison."

Intimidated by her performance but clearly furious, he replied, "Go ahead and try it, whore! I'm not going anywhere!" With that, he charged at her.

OOOOO

Ash was sitting in the backseat of one of a patrol car, sipping on a Nuka-Cola. Paramedics were administering first-aid to the thugs and the police were taking down names and identification. The police knew what happened and didn't think twice about it. However, no matter how justified she may have been, it was still vigilante action outside the law. Given the circumstances, though, she'd be on probation or put under police observation, at worst. She was in custody, since she did start the fight and drew a sizeable crowd. One of the members crowd slipped past the police tape and tried to confront Ashley about the incident.

"YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU HURT MY SON LIKE THIS!" she yelled.

"How dare I?" Ash asked with an exasperated sigh. "How dare you let your son get away with murder?"

The woman had no response as a bandaged Mike held her back and escorted her back behind the tape. Meanwhile, Ash continued to drink her soda.

"It's sweet."

OOOOO

Ashley yawned as she awoke, looking down next to her, only to see Cobra also lying there with last night's events coming back to her. Out in the cold, unforgiving air, and slaying bodies, she allowed herself a small satisfied smile as Cobra awoke as well.

"Morni-" he started to say before notice something he didn't before.

She looked to him with wide eyes and smiled. "Like what you see?" she asked seductively.

Cobra reached out and touched her cheek with his finger, there was a scar, a deep cut that was there that wasn't before. She knew where he was touching and quickly pulled her pistol out to use the gunmetal as a makeshift mirror. Granted it wasn't a good mirror, but she could still see it, that mark, that scar... where he... she shook her head, no, that bastard was dead. He had to be! Without a word, she put her clothes back on while Cobra awkwardly put on his own.

Concerned, he looked to her and asked, "What is it? That mark on your cheek."

"Shut up." she said, dropping to the lower level and walking back into the police station.

'What's with her?' he asked himself.

OOOOO

Following the road to the Arcjet facility Danse was leading the way, his Brotherhood training was fine-tuned for combat in the wasteland. Cobra was bringing up the rear keeping an eye on their back. Looking to see if Ashley was out of earshot he took out a handheld radio and called.

"Juliet Oscar Echo-One, come in." he said as Preston fell back as well.

"What's up?" he asked.

"It's Ashley. During her sleep she was muttering something about her dad, and this morning. She's got a scar on her cheek that we didn't see before." he said making the Minuteman's brow raise. "She kept muttering something to herself that 'he's dead'."

"Cobra Charlie-One, come in, Joe here." Joe said over the radio.

"Joe, listen, back in the day, before the war, did Ashley have a scar on her cheek? It looks like a knife wound of some kind." Cobra said down the device.

"What? No... I've never seen her with a scar of any kind... on the cheek you said? She must have been using a lot of makeup to hide it." Joe replied before pausing for a moment. "Wait... Nate might have something about it... yeah, he said that during the war, she was captured by a Chinese Naval Captain named Zao... she never talked about it. It's probably him, but tread carefully and don't assume anything."

"Ok, well, what about her father? She was muttering 'dad' in her sleep." Preston spoke up.

"Ahhh, that. That's really no one's business but her own. But I will tell you that he never got to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Take my advice, don't bring it up again." Joe said before the transmission cut out.

With more questions instead of answers, the two looked at each other before catching up to the rest of the gang.

OOOOO

The group made it to Arcjet systems but it looked like someone already fought through it. The security Protectrons were broken and scattered, but there was very little collateral damage. Everything else seemed relatively intact. Paladin Danse took point with his laser rifle at the ready and assessed the situation.

"Be on guard. Whoever went through here were either professionals or Institute synths."

Ashley chimed in, "How can you tell? Couldn't it be raiders?"

Keeping his weapon pointed, "Raiders in this area aren't nearly well-organized enough to mount an assault this compound, especially against posted security robots and sentry turrets. Also, there is not a single drop of blood from the firefight, and judging from the damage, they weren't here for the scraps. No, something far more dangerous is at work here, so watch your sectors."

"Got it. Dogmeat, quiet, boy." Ashley motioned to the canine with her hand.

Impressed by his observational skills, Ashley readied her weapon and watched carefully for anything out of the ordinary. Preston cranked his laser musket to full charge and Cobra loaded a full magazine into his combat shotgun. Codsworth primed his flamer while Dogmeat obediently followed the orders of his master. There was a bad vibe to this place, and they cautiously advanced deeper into the facilities. Eventually, Danse came to what looked like a control centre and the party found themselves behind a locked door.

"The security sensors must have locked the place down. Look for a terminal that can override it."

Cobra and Dogmeat stood guard while the others looked for a working computer. Most of them lost power or were just smashed through, but to Ashley's relief, she found one that still worked.

"I found one! Hey, this is the new RobCo Industries TermLink; I didn't think they'd ever upgrade to the new OS."

Preston gave an excited Ashley a puzzled look, "New?"

"Er, never mind." Remembering that she was 200 years into the future, this new terminal was literally an artifact of a bygone era.

"Can you hack the security?" Danse asked, impatiently.

"Yeah, just give me a second." RobCo Industries was top-ranked among consumers for their reliability and nearly indestructible hardware, but their software was years behind the competition. As an engineer, decoding their encryption algorithms was a matter of child's play. Ironically, it was also the standard operating system for all military hardware. "We're through." The door in front of Danse unlocked and he started to make his way forward.

"Let's go."

" Danse, wait!" The power armoured soldier stopped, but he wasn't accustomed to following the orders of outsiders.
"What is it, citizen?"

"As I was checking the security logs at the terminal, I noticed that the automated defenses are part of the security protocols."

"Aren't they they same?" Danse asked, clearly confused.

"Security protocols are meant to prevent data loss and infiltration; automated defenses fall under a defense contract. Normally, security and automated turrets run on separate networks to prevent workplace 'accidents', but runtimes show that there was communication between the networks recently, so whoever connected them might still be here."

Immediately after, a robotic voice alerted everyone to the its source, "MOTION SENSORS DETECT MOVEMENT." A seemingly nude figure came into view and aimed its weapon at the intruders, but the paladin fired first with a well-placed shot to the head with his laser rifle. However, instead of dropping to the floor, its face peeled off, revealing a metallic endoskeleton. Confirming his suspicions, Danse ordered everyone to fire at will.

"WEAPONS FREE! OPEN FIRE!"
The mysterious figure fired at Danse with a few bright blue beams from its laser rifle, but it was outnumbered and fell quickly to focused and sustained weapons fire. With the immediate threat eliminated with no reinforcements, everyone stood down and assessed the situation.

"What the hell was THAT?" A surprised Ash exclaimed.

"It's as I suspected." Danse remarked, upon inspecting the mangled remains, "THAT, was an Institute synth. The artificial skin weave and endoskeleton indicates that this one is an older model."

Preston picked up the laser rifle it was wielding and inspected it. "What is this weapon? I've never seen an energy weapon like this."

"It's the Institute's version of the laser rifle. It fires high-frequency lasers utilizing more efficient energy capacitors, making their shots more powerful and more frequent. In short, it's better than our own laser rifles."

"Danse, does the Brotherhood have a stockpile of these weapons?" Cobra asked.

"Yes. We give them to our scribes for analysis in an effort to understand the technology and perhaps upgrade our own. Why?"

"My group and I have vastly disparate philosophies from the other Gunners, so we're often undermanned and under-equipped; these energy weapons might give my team a fighting chance at the very least. We butt heads with the other cells on occasion, but some would like nothing more than to see us gone."

With a hard expression, "That's acceptable. You can salvage what weapons you need, just as long as you don't interfere with the mission." Danse moved up to a hall but was stopped again by Ash with a hand signal. Growing impatient with her, he stopped but cautiously peeked around the corner. He heard the unmistakable whirring of machinery as he faced a turret quickly taking aim at him. Suddenly understanding her advice, he ducked back behind the corner with the others.

"Careful!" she warned. "Arcjet systems had contracts with the USSA, meaning military-grade hardware, and as you just saw, automated turrets."

"But if that's the case, why didn't it take out the synths?" Preston asked.

"The runtimes show that the systems have been down for centuries and have been brought back online only recently, including the automated defenses. It's likely these 'synths' were behind it."

Danse was grateful for the new intel, but to say he was suspicious of this new outsider was a monumental understatement. It wasn't normal for her or anyone to be so well-versed in the old technologies; she knew even more than the senior scribes in the Brotherhood. She pulled back the bolt on her rifle and moved to the opposite side of the hall, firing at the turrets and taking out one of them. Putting herself in the line of sight of the turrets and drawing fire, Danse and Preston popped around the corner and neutralized the remaining turrets. Feeling a dull ache in her arm, she saw she had drawn turret fire a little too well; a few rounds were embedded in her forearm with no exit wound. "Just great, I'll have to dig those out later". Bandaging her arm to staunch the bleeding, she joined the rest of the group and proceeded to head deeper into the facility.

The group then moved into a control room with a clear view of the rocket out in front of them. There was no contacts yet but as they moved inside Codsworth alerted them.

"Mum, this may not be an immediate concern, but my sensors are detecting a radiation spike in the air. I wouldn't recommend going outside." he said.

"Radiation storm." Preston added. "I'm with Codsworth, on that. Those can be really nasty; we should stay indoors until it blows over."

"Agreed." Danse said as Ashley looked through the window down at the scorched floor a few levels down.

"Five hostiles below. Seem unaware." she said.

Danse confirmed the threat with Ashley and proposed a plan of attack: "I'll jump down into the thick of them and draw their fire. The rest of you can take the staircase down and flank them while they're focused on me. Don't worry about hitting me; my suit will protect me, so just take them down before they can fire back. Ashley, you stay put; you're wounded and if you involve yourself, you'll become a liability."

"Excuse me?" a slightly-offended woman asked.

Before she could continue, Preston stopped her, "He's right. You can barely hold anything in that arm, and a stray shot can be more dangerous than an aimed one. Besides, we can't let you have all the glory."

Preston shot her a smirk, and as much as she wouldn't admit it, they were 100% right. The bullets in her arm were weighing it down and making it hard to hold anything. With a resigned sigh, she retired herself from the attack.

On the paladin's mark, he jumped down what looked like a hundred feet and crushed one upon landing, taking the synthetic gunmen by surprise. As they readied and aimed their weapons, Preston scrapped one with a fully-charged shot. Cobra took down two more with well-placed shots from his combat rifle. As the last synth was about to fire its weapon at its attackers, it found a giant metal hand grab its head before it was crushed like a tin can. Ash, Dogmeat and Codsworth came down to join them in what looked like a testing chamber, hoping to be done with this miserable place.

Taking the lead in the search, Ashley "Spread out. There should be a deep range transmitter in the control room. It looks like a radio, so it shouldn't be too hard to spot."

Once again, Danse took suspicion to her knowledge, but his questions would wait until after the mission. He still had a bad feeling about this place. If the Institute's goal was to salvage technology from this place, why would they send their older models? It didn't add up. The few they took out looked like posted sentries. Unless-

"I can't find anything that looks like a radio in here. Just broken computers and telephones. Are you sure we're supposed to find-"
Cobra stopped mid sentence to see a giant suit of armour block the doorway.

"What are you doing?"

"Ambush." Danse whispered, and the silence was maddening.

Cobra looked up to see what he was referring to, and the colour immediately drained from his face. A sizeable swarm of synthetic soldiers gathered from above and surrounded the team from every angle. Weapons were readied and aimed, and Danse wasted no time in firing his laser rifle at the robotic abominations and neither did they.

"AMBUSH!" Both subtlety and the element of surprise were lost, and a battle for attrition was in full-swing. Preston fired his laser rifle with every opportunity he could and tried to make every shot count. It was a powerful weapon, but the crank was slow to charge and the enemy didn't seem like the kind to wait. Cobra's shotgun was best suited for close quarters and massed targets, but he could count how many shots he had left. Codsworth and Dogmeat tore down any that would try to get close. With an almost begrudging sense of respect, Danse was grateful an artificial intelligence was fighting with him, especially when it could cut a synthetic clean in half and burn it down.

The ground was now littered with scrap metal and synthetic bodies, and if Ashley didn't do anything, organic bodies would soon join them. She hated feeling helpless. She definitely wasn't a damsel in distress, and she sure as hell wouldn't start today. She couldn't hold a weapons, but there had to be something she could do! Finding a terminal that hadn't degraded over the centuries, she discovered that this was a testing chamber for rockets, as if the giant rocket hanging from the ceiling wasn't obvious enough. The control room she was in held the controls to the rocket, and if the military hardware hadn't changed over the course of the war, the controls should still be working. Tapping away at the console, she prayed her plan would work.

"RobCo, don't fail me now…"

Seconds later, the rocket began its pre-burn and ignition sparks were flying everywhere. All she had to do was press the ignition button and melt every metalhead in the room.

"GET OUT OF THERE!"

Hearing the woman's orders, the others began to fall back to the control room. Not sure of the tactical decision, but any plan had to be better than standing in the middle of laser fire.

A synthesized voice rang over the speaker system: "Rocket test burn in 15 seconds."

Dogmeat was first, obeying his master without a second thought. Cobra was next, his combat shotgun on its last magazine and armour nearly scarred beyond repair. Codsworth was third, his chassis still intact, almost as a testament to General Atomics. Preston followed soon after; his greatcoat singed and torn on every spot with his laser musket smoking at the barrel and gearbox from overuse. Paladin Danse was supposed to be next, but the blast door slammed shut before he could make it to safety.

"Rocket test firing."

"NO!" A horrified Ashley exclaimed. The room he was in burned bright with solid rocket fuel, blinding everyone behind the safety bunker. The rocket's booster had incinerated everything in the room, synth and power armour alike. With a heavy heart, Ash sat back down at the terminal and did the only thing she could do; wait.

After the rocket had finished its test burn, the blast door unlocked and opened. Ashley and the rest stepped out to inspect the remains and see if anything was salvageable. Most of everything was glowing red or a pile of molten metal and ash. Sifting through the smoking scraps, Ashley found a synth that was holding a large rectangular box. It was the deep range transmitter that the group had set out to find. Engineered to withstand atmospheric re-entry, it survived the inferno.

"Alright, we have what we came here for. Let's get back to Cambridge Police Station. Cosworth, is the storm still out there?"

"No, mum. My atmospheric sensors no longer detect any lingering radiation."

As everyone was about to head back up to the surface, something started to rise up from a pile of broken synths. Everyone readied their weapon, but instead of a robot, it was Danse, though he was looking a little more toasty than usual. He lumbered up to the group and gave his assessment.

"Nice thinking with the rocket booster, outsider. If it weren't for your quick thinking, we probably wouldn't be alive to finish the mission. My armour withstood the blast, so my injuries are only superficial."

"Paladin Danse! We have the deep range transmitter."

"Good job, soldier." he said before falling unconscious.

OOOOO

An elderly man sat at his desk in his room as someone in a white and black lab coat entered to deliver the news.

"Father." he said in an exhausted voice. "Our units at Arcjet systems just went silent."

"What images did the our surveillance units capture?" Father asked.

"A group of six, one female wearing a vault suit, two mercs, one of them wearing Gunner combat armour, a dog, a Mr. handy robot, and a power armoured soldier with the Brotherhood of Steel."

"A female Vault dweller..." a subtle grin grew across the man's face. "Get our agent to the military base and tell him to standby until further orders. Arcjet systems was an acceptable loss."

OOOOO

Danse was lying on a makeshift cot, still unconscious from the mission. Cobra considered Danse fortunate that he was even able to survive, and that a certain engineer was able to take him out of his suit; they would have had to drag him all the way back to Cambridge otherwise. There was a lot of carbon buildup from the last fight, and he used this downtime to clean and maintain his weapons. Preston, meanwhile, was sitting sitting in a chair with his hat on his face, catching up on some much-needed sleep. Dogmeat was chewing on a mole rat leg that Ash had found while Codsworth had shut down to recharged his batteries.

Ash, meanwhile, came in carrying an intact synth with a toolbox in tow. Dropping them on the floor with a loud crash and startling a certain Minuteman.

"Wah!" he muttered only to see Ash unzip her suit.

She stopped around midway and tied the sleeves around her waist. Putting on a set of welding goggles, she took out a blowtorch and tried to pry open the synth's endoskeleton.

"Wake a Deathclaw nest why don't ya." Preston said.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see the engineering on this. I've never seen anything like this-" she said in a mildly excited voice.

"What do you hope to learn from that death machine?" Danse asked as he woke and sat up surprising the Sword star merc.

"Whoa, geez man don't do that." he moaned.

Danse just ignored him and looked at Ashley. "So, miss Williams right?" he asked making her look up.

"It's Winter." she said.

The Brotherhood corrected himself. "Sorry, I once knew a woman who called herself Ashley as well, but she was following a group lead by a man or woman named Shepard, ugh I cannot remember. Anyway that was some good thinking, I can assume you've done this before?"

"Something like it, yeah, but last time I worked on a T-60, I was in it defending an oil rig from Chinese special force.." she said slightly smugly.

"Interesting, were they ghouls?"

"No, this was the Battle of Anchorage, year 2066"

Danse gave her a VERY skeptical look. "Impossible. That was over two-hundred years ago, Unless you're a ghoul, how can you be alive for that long?"

"Vault-Tec was experimenting with cryo-hibernation." Ash said before looking down at the machine. "I only just woke up, and now I'm out here looking for my son."

"I see." Danse knew some vaults were little more than control groups for Vault-Tec's experiments, and her explanation made more sense than he was willing to admit.

"Well, it's one of many reasons why we're out here." Preston said. "We're heading to Diamond City, and with a city with that many people, we're bound to find some answers."

The Brotherhood soldier nodded. "Alright. Now that the police station has its transmitter, I am going to come along to assess your performance. I haven't met an outsider as resourceful as yourself, and you'd make a fine member of the Brotherhood."

"Sure. Your power armour would also make a fine asset to my team." Ash retorted with an unsteady smile.