Headquarters: Capital Wasteland - Chapter Sixty Three (Patreon)

Hello everyone! So, quick note, if you haven't seen it, I've posted a new Snippet this past weekend. In case you've missed it or forgotten, these are a monthly snippet releases that serve as a testing ground for new story ideas. This weeks snippet is a Warhammer 40k Chaos Gacha, but with a few major modifications.

These snippets will be around four chapters long and as they are potential future stories, your comments and likes really help me figure out which stories make it! So please, take a look and tell me what you think! Now enjoy the chapter!

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The second the words came out of my mouth, it was like the entire Capital Wasteland was encased in a block of brittle glass. No one moved, no one said anything, and for a long moment, it felt like no one even breathed. If you told me that in that second, the rain had frozen in the air, suspended in shock, I would have a hard time denying it.

Casdin was the first to recover, his eyes bulging in rage. He took a half step forward, his heavy metal boot slamming into the gravel.

"What did you just say to me, savage?" he asked, the words sounding like a threat. "You had best keep your mouth shut, or our confiscating your technology will be the least of your worries."

"And now you're threatening friendly allies," I responded, shaking my head. "Do you even remember what the Brotherhood was born to do? Why it exist in the first place?" 

"I know better than anyone!" He yelled back. "I've been trying to-"

"Why does the Brotherhood collect and quarantine technology?" I asked, cutting him off. "Is it greed? A hunger for power? Do you want to lord it over us that we have no chance of ever fighting back?" 

"We collect technology because it is dangerous and it needs to be protected!" He responded, eyeing me with anger. "The Great War destroyed so much of our knowledge, and what remains is dangerous to those who don't understand its threats! We need to protect it, and keep it from you for your own good!" 

"Yes, but why?" I asked again. "Why care about the danger, why care about the future. The Brotherhood is self-sufficient, correct? They don't rely on us savages to exist, so what's the point of taking away dangerous stuff we don't understand? If we use it to blow ourselves up, what does it matter to you?"

I let the question hang, Casdin clenching his teeth. He might refuse to say it, but everyone around him knew the answer without me spelling it out. The reason tech was supposed to be quarantined was to keep people, people who weren't members of the Brotherhood of Steel, safe. It was about protecting tech, sure, but it was also about saving and protecting the innocent. He just didn't want to admit it because it ran counter to his preference.

"Roger Maxson, just days before the great war, seceded his men from the United States," I continued. "He did so when he discovered the scientists he was assigned to protect were experimenting on civilian and military personnel alike, exposing them to FEV. He accused the US of not protecting its citizens, of allowing such horrific experiments to occur. Of maybe even ordering them to be done! He then executed the scientists who committed heinous, inhumane acts and took shelter in the Mariposa Military Base."

"I know our history, outsider," Casdin stated. "Maxson was a great man, but-"

"And now!" I said, shouting loud enough to stun him into silence. "And now your chapter has stumbled onto the super mutant threat, a threat caused by the same FEV that brought your group into existence in the first place. Your leader, the honorable Elder Lyons, saw it for what it was. Rampant technology! The hubris and danger of the old world, now threatening to overwhelm the new!"

"It is not our duty to fight wars, to be killed and ostracized by our brothers and sisters for outsiders and savages!" 

"Why not?" I asked simply, catching Casdin off guard. "Why is that not your duty? Do you think Roger Maxson felt any different? Any less hopeless, disappointed, lost, when his superiors, his fellow soldiers, ignored his cries for the truth? Do you think it was easier for him to push forward? Do you think that the military beyond the base considered him anything less than a traitor?"

I let the question float before turning from Casdin and looking through the crowd of soldiers around us. Casdin was a lost cause, he was already set on his path, and no amount of speeches would change that. My best hope to stop this situation from spiraling, and maybe prevent the breaking of the Brotherhood, was to shock the people who followed him, the people whom he had convinced of his message, into re-thinking their choices.

"Roger Maxson saw that his superiors were complicit in the suffering of innocents, allowing them to be tortured and experimented on. In that moment, he learned a difficult truth. When those in power tell you to abandon your righteousness, to surrender your morality so that you can follow their orders, those with the courage and the heart to stand must do so. They must plant themselves along their comrades and refuse."

I paused again, meeting the eyes of soldiers, looking into the power armor helmets. 

"And now, generations later in the Capital Wasteland, your superiors order you to abandon your post, to let the tide of FEV wash over innocent people. To leave the innocent to their suffering, their torture. And Casdin wants to uphold that order. He wants you to abandon your brothers and sisters so that you can scavenge the wastes for laser rifles and scraps."

I looked up at the dark clouds, contemplating for just a moment what I would say next. Eventually, before Casdin could recover from his shock and counter what I was saying, I continued, looking around at the soldiers.

"So tell me, who do you think Roger Maxson would be proud of? Who do you think he is waiting to greet on the other side with a smile and a handshake? Your "superiors" hiding in bunkers, greedily counting their shiny bits of pre-war tech as they let the rest of the world burn? Casdin, because he managed to get his hands on a couple more plasma rifles and a suit of armor or two? Or Elder Lyons and his men, who stand here, holding back the tide of green brought forward by the sins of the old world? Who stood firm for what is right, even as the 'superiors' called them traitors?"

The rain, pouring down in sheets, seemed to form a dull drone as the group's silence hung in the air. 

"I ask you, in this moment, to rethink what you are doing. What your actions here say about what you truly believe in. To re-think the words and choices you have made, and consider if you are truly happy with what they say about you, and what you believe in," I finished, looking around one last time. I let the silence stretch, letting my words hang over the crowd before turning back to look at Elder Lyons. "I think some of your soldiers have enjoyed stretching their legs, but it might be time to get out of the rain."

Elder Lyons, bless the old leader, was smart. Despite the stunned look on his face, he understood what I was saying immediately. He quickly nodded.

"Yes, I think it might be time to go inside," he said, scanning the crowd. "I do not place any blame on those feeling… agitated after being cooped up for so long. As long as you return now." 

For a long time, minutes, seconds, hours, I couldn't tell, nothing happened. I stood there silently, the rain pouring down on us, but internally I was panicking. What if no one left? This was a gamble, what if-

A soldier, a single soldier, standing in the middle of a small group, shifted, turned, and began to walk back inside. As he did, he passed a scribe, who turned and followed. On the other side of the group, someone in power armor clipped their weapon to their back and began walking back towards the citadel entrance. People were leaving, but it was slow. Not enough, not nearly enough. There were still too many…

And then one of the few who had stepped forward with Casdin, the group who had acted as leaders of their movement, turned away from them. Casdin recoiled as if struck, the betrayal clearly not expected.

And suddenly, it wasn't just a few. 

The crack in the foundation seemed to be all the permission they needed, as people started leaving in groups. Two here, three there, the numbers only going up. Some still refused to move, staying certain in their mistake. 

But soon they were the outliers, not the norm. 

Casdin was working through rage and betrayal, his face eventually settling into broken defeat. When people stopped leaving, the group was less than thirty people strong. Quite a few of them were wearing power armor, but the movement, for now, was broken. Now it was up to Elder Lyons to keep it down for good. For a moment, I thought he would simply let the movement fail without repercussions, but when people stopped leaving, he stepped forward again.

"Proctor Casdin. I think you understand the repercussions of this," he said, his arms behind his back as he looked up at the power armor-clad soldier without a hint of fear. "I hereby strip you and your cohorts of your rank and gear, and confine you to your quarters until we can devise a proper punishment. I'm sorry, my friend, I understand your frustration, but you have left me no choice." 

For a moment, I thought Casdin's frustration would bubble over. Then he simply sagged.

"The chapter is lost, if you allow outsiders to so easily influence our members," he said, bowing his head in defeat.

"Then perhaps our chapter is lost," Elder Lyons responded, Casdin's head snapping upwards, his eyes wide in shock. "Our new ally made an excellent point. When Roger Maxson was presented with an untenable position, his superiors culpable in crimes against innocent civilians, he broke away and became something new. He did so despite knowing he would be called a traitor. Perhaps it is time that we began becoming something new as well."

Elder Lyons ended his statement with a deceptively casual shrug, as if he didn't just give voice to what was probably Casdin's greatest fear. He also said it quietly enough that not even those behind Casdin could hear it. 

Before the would be Outcast could break through his shock, more power armor-wearing soldiers came jogging out of the entrance, this time taking a pretty aggressive stance around the rebels. Slowly, they were coaxed from their armors, stripped of weapons, and led back inside. As that was happening, Johnson came up from behind me, standing beside me, a damp cigar in his mouth.

"You are one crazy sonovabitch, you know that?" he said, shaking his head. "Never seen anyone spank someone so bad in so much armor. You're lucky he didn't step on you." 

"I had to do something," I responded. "I know a turning point when I see one. Maybe came a bit early with us around, but it would have been bad. And we were screwed either way." 

"Still kid, you got some brass ones." 

"Thanks. Do me a favor. Let me lean on you for a second? I locked my knees about halfway through that to keep from collapsing, and now I can't move my legs." 

Johnson chuckled, and we watched the Brotherhood as they handled business for a while, before eventually Sarah and Elder Lyons stepped away from the mess and walked back towards us. 

"That was an impressive speech," the older man said. "I believe you have saved us from quite a dark moment. I must admit, I knew there were rising issues with what was happening… but I did not consider that they would make such an overt move. I suppose the call of your strange mounts was too much to ignore."

"I'm just glad I could help," I responded. "Moments like these can often define a group like yours. I hope you can heal and grow from this."

"Not to cast aspersions, but I can't help but notice just how well informed you are of our history," He pointed out. "Is there any particular reason for?"

"I was pretty heavily briefed before being sent here," I explained. "They knew there was a chapter in the area, and we knew that you were different than most, but most of that was just the knowledge we have accrued over time."

"It's still impressive. Of course, none of it was classified, but not many show an interest outside our people," he admitted. "In fact, many of our own only learn because it is taught to them when they are young." 

"It pays to be informed," I responded with a shrug. "Clearly, because that could have been a lot worse."

Sarah let out a snort and shook her head, but her father ignored the break in composure. He simply nodded before turning to watch as the last of the now-demoted soldiers were led inside. Nearly two dozen power armors sat under guard in the rain, their backs open from when their occupants stepped out in surrender. 

"So what are you going to do next?" I asked, the older man's attention pulling back to me. "How are you going to keep this from happening again?" 

"I do not know," He admitted, shaking his head. "Now that I am aware just how deep this has set in, I can address it, but… I will have to consider my options." 

"Could I offer some advice?" I asked, continuing when the older and more experienced leader motioned for me to continue. "I know your resources are tight at the moment, but allowing smaller expeditions to gather from technological centers might help appease the less fanatical." 

"We don't have the resources to spare for large-scale operations into those sorts of locations. I am already close to canceling an expedition to Arlington Library," he explained with a frown. "Most locations that we are interested in would require full investigations to properly clear them. Multiple scribe teams, rotating staff of soldiers, supplies, equipment."

"What about smaller targets?" I suggested. "I'm not suggesting you kick down Fort Independence for a quick smash and grab. But surely there are smaller locations that you could refine down to shorter trips."

"I have considered that," he admitted with a nod. "But even something like that would require resources we don't have. Still, something to consider."

I nodded, watching as soldiers began to enter the open power armor and walk them inside. After a few moments, I could feel that it was time to go.

"Before we leave, we should trade radio frequencies. It will let us keep in contact," I volunteered. "Despite the… rocky ending, I think there is a lot we can do for each other. And any force looking to help stabilize the region is one we are interested in working with."

"I would agree wholeheartedly," Elder Lyons said with a nod, reaching out to shake my hand, as the rain slowly began to recede from a downpour to a slightly more moderate level of rain.