Just a Guy and a Gate to the Multiverse - Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Chapter 11 - War never changes

— Sanctuary, 2289 —

I really dislike what I am becoming in this world. Four years ago, I was just your average guy learning a job that I had started to dislike. Nothing more than a fucking Chef. I just lived my life, never wanting to harm anyone.

It was something I only realized recently. This entire time, I have been treating this world like a game. Everything started with that first encounter against those raiders two years ago at Concord. I rationalized my kills away, seeing them as a necessary game event. To get things started, and saving my first settlers.

While it made things easier for me overall, it also created a barrier between me and the other people. My emotions were especially affected. Sure, I avoid killing if I can. Even in the Institute, the only things that died were some synths. Yet, it affected me.

That entire shift in my personality probably started before I even got here. The moment I gained the ability to open a Multiversal Gate, I approached it as a way to become stronger under the guise of survival. Or so I could enjoy it to my fullest or something.

Everything I did in the Fullmetal Alchemist world was focused on getting my hands on all the alchemy that world had to offer. The human connections I formed were minimal, while I constantly grinded. Whether it was studying, experimenting, traveling toward the next piece of research data, or just working to get some money, it was a constant grind without any real breaks.

Even while leaving that world, I was already thinking about the next step. Getting a Philosopher’s Stone for my own survival and to bloody myself were nothing more than bullet points on a mental list. Making my first kill because I knew Fallout would force me to kill.

This can’t be healthy. And then came this entire world based on video game laws.

But that whole video game approach to this world had deeper consequences than I imagined when I got here two years ago. Becoming a distant leader working toward my own goals didn’t help the matter either. I don’t look at the people here like humans. They are NPCs to me. Characters I command to do my bidding. I forgot this was a real world.

The only reason I minimize losses as much as I can is efficiency, not because I care for them as human beings. And now that I can see it, I don’t like it at all. Honestly, it was a terrifying realization that I had forgotten I was dealing with real humans, not characters in a game for me to push around.

Some of the orders I gave would have been war crimes and violations of human rights in my old world. I need distance from this world and its lawless state. This is not my world. I can’t let it permanently shape my character.

And yet, here I am again. About to take charge of a war as a leader, almost playing god for people I don’t really care about.

I really need to get away from here before this becomes who I am. This world gave me a lot, but the chaos, the lawlessness, and the cruel fight for survival, while I kept seeing it as a video game, changed me in ways I should have avoided. A heavy price.

Didn’t I get my ability because it would grant me ultimate freedom? Is this really freedom? This grind just because it is efficient? A preparation for the real fun? Am I enjoying myself here in the post-apocalypse?

The most fun I had was getting my Power Armor and playing around with it. I always wanted one of those.

Sure, a lot of the stuff I wanted in this world was for things further down the line. I want to do a ton of things. Many of those were not the plans of a good person. I am Human, I am selfish.

But surviving? Fighting wars in this ruined wasteland? That’s just not it. It’s far too early in my journey. I haven’t even enjoyed life yet, so why would I want to be in a reality of harsh survival?

I treated my life like the fastest path through a game. A build order to work off. And that’s not a real life.

What even is the reason for this war?

The Brotherhood of Steel, one of the biggest and oldest forces in the Fallout universe. For a long time, it has been recognized as one of the good forces in this dark world. They were born from a good movement.

They originated from a group of former U.S. soldiers who decided to rebel against the government just a few days before the bombs fell because they discovered that the base they were stationed at was performing human experiments using a strain of FEV.

From then on, they dedicated themselves to the recovery of pre-war technology, its preservation, and control over its use. Pretty much, they want to prevent any misuse of technology, like those human FEV experiments.

At least on paper.

Now that I think about it more, it makes total sense that the Brotherhood would attack us sooner or later. I should have seen it coming.

Like everything else in this broken Wasteland, their goals for the good of the people became completely twisted. They turned into a paramilitary religious organization with complete mistrust toward anyone who hasn’t sworn their oaths.

A very dangerous combination.

Add to that the fact that they love being in control and never accept any power in their territory that could threaten them, and an attack is the logical conclusion. If I remember correctly, they attacked the New California Republic too when it was still in its early stages.

“War… War never changes.” I sighed to myself, truly understanding that saying. These people never learn from the mistakes of their predecessors and keep repeating them, even though they were founded on the idea of preventing anyone from doing exactly that.

“Wise words, Commander,” Garvey nodded beside me as he accompanied me in his own Power Armor with a few of his men toward the delegation of the Brotherhood of Steel waiting for us.

The moment we arrived I got to the point.

“What are you thinking, attacking us? I suggest you take your troops and go home, invader. We have no beef with the Brotherhood of Steel, but we will destroy anyone who threatens our peaceful homes.” Yeah, I don’t think I am going to become a diplomat anytime soon.

I’m not trained for anything like this. For God’s sake, I was an apprentice chef. I have no idea what I am actually doing. But I have a simple mindset and prefer to say exactly what I am thinking. What’s the point of dancing around the issue?

“We don’t have any problems with Sanctuary either and no interest in fighting a war with your people,” Elder Arthur Maxson replied just as directly as I had. I am probably overthinking things. This is the Wasteland. Nobody gets much of an education in diplomacy or politics. “As long as you agree to our demands.”

And of course, it would be too nice if they were just out here for a stroll and would simply turn around and leave. I remember this direct descendant of the founder of the Brotherhood. He was never the tolerant type. Not even to his own men. Most of the Brotherhood isn't.

One of his most loyal Paladins turned out to be a synth. The guy didn’t know it himself and always believed he was human. The Brotherhood hates synths. Long story short, they killed him even though he was very loyal and a longtime member.

At least if the Sole Survivor doesn’t interfere. I wonder if Paladin Danse is still alive in this Timeline. Poor guy.

“What do you want?”

“First of all, we want the demilitarization of Sanctuary and its allied settlements to a standard acceptable to us. We are more than enough to ensure the safety of the Commonwealth.” Yeah, right. That’s why we still get regular raider attacks. Or supermutants. Or any king of mutated beast. We just killed a pack of deathclaws yesterday.

I couldn’t help but let out a snort inside my Power Armor. But Maxson showed no sign of noticing it and kept rambling on.

“Secondly, all members of the Institute and all Institute technology need to be surrendered into our care. Thirdly, all synths need to be identified and exterminated, including those working for you,” Maxson continued with his bullshit.

As if there is any chance we would surrender any of my tech or our synths. Those synths are now full citizens of Sanctuary. Even if they can’t reproduce, for some reason the Institute created them with fully human personalities and free will, even though all they wanted were worker slaves and loyal soldiers. No wonder so many of them tried to escape from their control.

Somehow the Institute was genius and stupid at the same time.

I have my morals, and I am not going to surrender the people under my care. Even if they were constructed in a laboratory rather than born from a human mother. They are already part of our workforce, liberated from slavery.

The Coursers and defense synths even joined our military. Soldiers that don’t need to eat, drink, shit, or sleep? Isn’t that a dream?

“Lastly, we want you to surrender yourself Matt and hand over all the technology you have collected over the last few years,” Maxson finished with his completely outrageous demands.

They have to know that isn’t going to happen. What’s their angle here? Keeping up appearances? Playing for time? Is this a ruse? Are they already secretly attacking while keeping us busy here?

“You know that’s not going to happen… Your demands are pretty much an insult. If you want this senseless war—” Before I could finish the sentence, I heard a loud bang, and a warm feeling spread through my hands, followed by pain and blood.

Those fuckers shot my hands. Why?

“It’s an ambush! Retreat!” I shouted out loud as my soldiers began to return fire.

Meanwhile, the healing module of my Power Armor had already injected a Stimpack into my body the moment I received the damage, and my hands were already healing up. A neat little upgrade. Didn't even need the Philosopher Stone for healing.

But why my hands? They could have aimed at any other vulnerable spot in the armor where the plating was thinner so I could move, like the joints of my limbs or even my neck area. Their snipers are strong enough to penetrate those spots. Not every weapon can do that.

I was about to activate my Flame Alchemy when I realized what they had aimed for.

Oh, they did their homework. They didn’t aim for my hands, but the transmutation circles inscribed into them. Those circles are broken thanks to the big bullet-sized holes in them.

Seems like they still didn’t do enough research. I still have my alchemy arrays inscribed on the inside of the armor’s arms. They may not be as effective, but they are still strong enough. That is probably the reason they don’t know about them. I don’t use them that often in combat.

It's just not really my Style.

“Give me covering fire! Kill them as soon as I make an opening,” I shouted as I stormed toward that asshole Maxson, who had been pursuing us in his own Power Armor with a squad of his Paladins.

Thanks to the additional servos in my leg armor, I closed the distance faster than they could really react. The moment I touched his armor, it disintegrated into many small bits.

But I didn’t wait to see his face. I was already moving toward one of his Paladins, giving him exactly the same treatment. Intel is crucial. And having secret trump cards is even more important. Sun Tzu probably said something like that.

I didn’t enjoy the cries of pain when the bullets of my men pierced through their defenseless bodies. This is war. They should be happy I didn’t use my disintegration array like Scar and destroy their inner organs, killing them cruelly and very painfully.

It didn’t take long for us to take care of the last Paladins.

“Are you okay, Commander?” Garvey asked as he watched the holes in the gloves of my Power Armor.

“Yeah, I am fine. The wounds are already healed. I will repair those back in Sanctuary,” I replied as I carefully observed the remains of the T-60 Power Armor used by our opponents. “Those dishonorable bastards. They were planning this from the start. Their Power Armor is cushioned and modified to resist explosion damage. They were prepared in case their ambush didn’t work and I could still use my Flame Alchemy.”

Garvey gave me a tired nod. “I have heard some bad stories about the Brotherhood. Who knew how true they were? What are we going to do?”

“What else? We are not going to lie down and give up. We are at war now. The Brotherhood is going to regret this. We were always ready for a war. This is the Wasteland. We just didn’t know who the attacker would be,” I replied firmly as I led them back toward Sanctuary.

There will be a price to pay.

———

And the Brotherhood is already regretting their attack. Heavily, considering how many people they have already lost. Too late for regrets.

They probably considered us a threat that could become a danger to them one day, so they planned to put us in our place early. What they didn’t expect was how prepared we were for war. They really underestimated us.

Defense turrets were the simplest of our defenses. One thing they obviously didn’t expect was the anti-air defense turrets hidden inside our walls. A type of weapon the Wasteland hasn’t really seen since the time of the Great War. Air Combat wasn't much of a thing these days. The Brotherhood being one of the few cases who still attack from the air.

But they quickly regretted trying to strike us with a battalion of their Vertibirds once their motors were instantly destroyed by the armor piercing rounds of our anti air turrets. Those are programmed not to aim at living targets besides pilots, but at structural weaknesses in flying vehicles, like rotors and motors. Anything that brings those things down as fast as possible.

Another thing they didn’t expect was our mortars making short work of their infantry troops heading toward our walls, which were already under pressure from our men and turrets firing at them. Modern warfare beyond directly shooting at a target was not much of a thing in the Wasteland.

But least of all did they expect our troops to teleport directly into their headquarters, the massive airship called the Prydwen hovering in the distance, from where all their attacks came.

Having a squad of elite troops teleport directly onto the command deck is a devastating blow to any airship. While we called it a war, this was more of a one sided massacre. Those video game like tactics, are not that great.

Their smartest move in this entire war was the ambush against me.

The dumbest was starting a war in the first place.

They stood no chance. That is what absolute technological superiority does to warfare. No wonder guns and cannons quickly replaced cold weapons after their invention. And those idiots really thought we would give up our advantages.

The Brotherhood of Steel was just as dumb as the Institute, which never made effective use of its technology. This time, I didn’t even need canon knowledge to win the fight.

Yet I couldn’t really be happy. Once again, there was so much blood on my hands.

I didn’t even fight after that first ambush or start this war. And still, my words and commands caused so many deaths. Once again, senseless deaths. For nothing more than who would be in power.

Fucking hell, I am not even involved in governing this place, and yet I am considered the leader just because I profit from it. I pushed all the work onto others after setting this up for fucks sake.

And yet I caused the destruction of the Commonwealth chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel.

This world really isn’t good for me. It’s not a game…

[ End of the Chapter ]