In The Shadow of Steel (Paladin Danse)

Part Twenty Nine

The last strand of my newly dyed hair had just about dried when we heard the first sound of gunfire. Then came the screams. Adrenaline kicked in faster than the scared settlers that burst through the doors of our rented room.
   "Calm down, tell us what's happening out there." Danse was knelt beside a wailing woman, her knuckles white with fear as they clutched at the opposite arm in a protective grip.
   "S-Synths, everywhere! Men and women in uniforms, a-and the Railroad too. It's a warzone out there." She broke into a frenzy of panicked tears as Danse's eyes connected with mine.
   "Aw, man. They threw the party without me. You two ready?" Deacon threw me my gun.
   "Ready."
   "Woo, let's go kick some Institute ass!" Deacon ran out into the action but I hesitated, although not without the Paladin noticing.
   "What is it?"
   "You really don't think they'll recognise me?" My hair was now blonde, and my cheeks had been painted with light freckles, makeup and contact lenses that changed the colour of my eyes.
   "Had I not seen the work being done, I'd not have been able to identify that it was you stood here before me, though I can still decipher your pretty face."
Even the thick amount of makeup wasn't enough to conceal the blush that graced my cheeks.
   "Thanks."
   "Besides, it doesn't matter what you look like. The most important thing is keeping you alive."
I didn't say anything, instead I leant forward and hugged him. We stayed like that for a while, because it felt nice and I felt safe.
   "I wish I could find a man like that." The wailing woman began crying again, and that was the moment we knew it was our cue to leave.

There were bodies everywhere, both the living and the dead. You not could move for them. And whilst trying not to tread on them or stumble over a fresh corpse, it was hard to dodge the heavy rain of gunfire coming from every direction. We were in the middle of a warzone, the lady had been right about that.
Enemies to the west, enemies to the east, north and south. But in amongst them were our allies. The Brotherhood of Steel had been deployed in full force, with power armor, laser rifles and courage. And then there was the Railroad, cloaked in heavy jackets, each man and woman rallying behind Deacon. Together they fought against the constant relaying Institute synths, and when the vicinity was clear of machinary, they turned on eachother. The Bunker had become a frenzy of bullets and bloodshed.

   "They're hiding in the underground cellar. Let's go down there and return them to the Institute."
I caught wind of two coursers and followed them them to the hatch. A bullet to both of their heads was enough to put them down. I turned my head quickly to see if there was anybody on my own tail, and headed down inside once the coast was clear. There was no sign of Paladin Danse.

Deep down inside the utility basement, guns sang to the sound of hellfire.
   "Bunker Hill is ours!" A voice called out clearly as I rounded a corner and shot the synth attacking a Railroad heavy gunner. He thanked me before moving on to destroy the MK5 machine gun turret that had begun its malicious shooting. Luckily, I'd ditched my Brotherhood flight suit to match my disguise, else he may have thanked me instead with a quick death.
   "Hold your ground! We must protect the synths!"
   "Stop firing, you are damaging valuable Institute property."
   "We need backup!"
I took that as my cue. The synths never saw me coming, and I never saw Paladin Danse from the other side of the room. Together, we rained fire upon them.
   "Damn."
   "I must end your existence."
   "Shit. They just keep on coming."
Once the Railroad were focused on the incoming storm, I signalled Danse and headed for the back room. Inside were four escaped synths, desperate for new identities.
   "No sudden moves." I warned them, gun in hand but finger absent from the trigger.
   "P-please, I-I've got money. It's yours if you let me go."
   "I don't want your money." I studied his face, weary and worn, with tired eyes and trembling lips. The other three resembled the same fear.
   "Evelyn, these are Institute synths, we've got to put them down." Danse spoke in a hushed tone to my right, yet I heard the authority ring loud and clear.
   "They're terrified."
   "It's our duty."
   "They're not our enemy."
   "They're machines, of course they're the enemy."
   "Machines that have fled the Institute, they're not going to hurt us."
   "What the hell is wrong with you? You're either with us or against us."
I pulled back, angry. "This isn't about that, Danse. Jesus. Look at them, they're unarmed. What did you once say to me? "The Brotherhood does not kill innocents. It doesn't matter what kind of tech they're sitting on, if they're not shooting at you, leave them be." Does that rule no longer apply to you?"
He looked taken aback, and words were lost to him. Whatever he might have said was taken away when the door burst open to reveal a courser wearing sunglasses.
   "These synths are to be returned to the Institute, not terminated. Further hostilities will necessitate a response. You have been warned."
   "Oh good," I stepped forward. "We'd just agreed the synths would not be harmed." I smiled at the courser and edged closer toward the door as if to leave. It was then I released the buckle from my hip and slammed the knife into his throat. "But they're not going with you, either."
Blood squirted from beneath the hands that attempted to patch up the gaping wound, and more red spluttered out beneath his lips until his knees gave out and he collapsed to the floor. I retrieved my knife and wiped the gore away before once again returning my full attention to the synths.
"When you leave this room and start your new lives, you don't speak a word of what happened here today, not to anyone." All four nodded, and all four continued to tremble. Danse, however, simply looked bewildered.
"Don't make me regret this. Danse, let's go. I'm ready to go home, I miss my son."

The ride back to the airport was short and sweet, but the peacefulness of the ride was cut too soon when the shouts of disgrace filled our ears.
   "What the hell is going on?" I asked, repositioning myself to try and get a better view of the airport. Down below on the tarmac besides Liberty Prime, hundreds of Brotherhood soldiers had congregated together as if something big were about to happen.
   "I've no idea," said the Paladin, joining me at the vertibird's edge as it lowered to the ground in a landing position. Once it had grounded, we hopped off and ran to join the crowd. At the front on a raised podium stood Elder Maxson, to his left, Initiate Shane Hopkins.
   "Oh my God." At once I began to push through the hustle, earning grunts of displeased stares and complaints. It was only when I got to the front did Elder Maxson see me. His eyes lingered on mine for a moment enough for him to recognise me beneath the disguise before he began his speech.
"To be a part of the Brotherhood of Steel is the same as being a part of a family. We thrive on unity, strength and courage. To break any of those means turning your back on all of us, and that is something I don't take lightly. So when I heard that there was a traitor in our mix, I couldn't help but feel angry. Mistrust and betrayal are not accepted within our ranks. And any person that would happily turn their back on us will be punished."
I watched in anticipation with the same feeling shared amongst the crowd as the Elder grabbed ahold of Shane's arm and yanked him forward up on the podium.
   "Most of you know this Initiate as Shane Hopkins. But none of you know his true identity. And that is that he is an Institute informant! He is a traitor. And he's been feeding the enemy with our secrets!" The anger left his mouth with the look of poisonous distaste, echoed by the gasps from the soldiers surrounding us.
   "Traitor!" A face in the crowd shouted; a shout that started an uproar.
   "You're and enemy of the Brotherhood!"
   "Synth-sympathiser!"
   "Kill him!"
    "Yeah! Show the Institute what the Brotherhood does to its enemies!"
I turned to the Paladin, "this is getting out of hand. Since when were these guys so hateful?" Danse's face was painted with concern.
   "My guess is they're angry at the fact they've been witness to two traitors in a matter of weeks."
   "But there were never two."
   "They don't know that," he gestured to the roaring voices around us. "I figure Maxson had plans to clear your name during this announcement."

At that very moment, the Brotherhood Elder cleared his throat and bellowed loud above the audience.
   "I will have order restored in this courtyard!" To emphasise his authority, he raised a pistol in the air and fired three times. The reverberations drowned out the shouting of the soldiers until silence befell the airport.
"The traitor will be dealt with accordingly, befitting his crimes, I can assure you that. Take him." He released his grip on Shane's arm and pushed him towards two Knights adorning their power armour. 
   "The Institute will bring an end to all of you!"
The crowd stopped their silent whispers as the traitor was dragged away. 
   "You've no idea what's coming for you, and when it's here, it'll be too late to plan a defence. The Institute will crush the Brotherhood of Steel! You can't stop it! You know we're coming! You know...."
His voice died out shortly after he'd been pulled inside, but his words left a tense aura in the surrounding vicinity. And I couldn't help but be swept up in it; he's right, how could we know what they have planned? We know what they're capable of, we've witnessed it first hand. But what they were scheming now left a frightening fear within me.

   "Now that that's been taken care of, there is another topic of which I would like to inform you. A few weeks ago, the airport was attacked. We lost a lot of good soliders that day. Not just soldiers, but friends, family. They were taken from us too soon, by an enemy bloodthirsty for world domination, an enemy who intend on wiping out life as we know it, replacing us with these abominations we all know as synths! And one of these soldiers, was betrayed. Not by the Institute, but by us. She was manipulated to the strenghts of the Institute, when we were too blind to defend her. This soldier, was none other than Knight Winters. She was innocent, and they played us to that."
The pause in his speech allowed for the dramatic effect of the crowd's gasps. More whispers were shared, but mouths fell shut and eyes looked once more to their leader for continuation. 
   "Unfortunately, after the Institute took her away, they were ambushed by the Railroad. I later received a certain piece of intel, that despite their best efforts to keep her alive, Knight Winters didn't make it."
I looked up to Danse, whose expression was grim. I nudged him and saw the pain clearly in his eyes, and I felt my stomach churn.
   "Hey, I'm right here." I whispered, and briefly his hand held mine. After a quick squeeze, he let go. This had to be believable in the eyes of the Institute, else our plan will all be for nothing.