Year 2102, October 23rd, 13:34…
They're ready, or so they hope. They were vault dwellers several months ago, then they were pioneers when they left, now battle hardened soldiers of the Brotherhood ready to end the scorched once and for all. They walked towards the vertibird determined and ready to die if so needed.
The man in front, Bishop Frost, a level headed and determined leader. He donned a suit of T-65 power armor he had crafted by his friends. Forge, a super mutant and Irons, a mole miner, his best friends and best damn armor smith's he's seen so far in Appalachia. They engraved the BOS symbol on the chest for him as a thank you for helping them so much and getting them to the red rocket mega stop. Bishop looked behind him and the others and saw them waving with Paige giving a smirk and a salute as then he saw Sofia Daguerre holding her baby bump looking with a worried but genuine smile as Bishop gave her a nod.
To Bishop's Right was Howard Knight, a steadfast and juggernaut of a leader. He donned a suit of X-01 power armor he still wore with his service in the enclave with Bishop, the enclave scratched out and a BOS symbol to the side of it on his chest piece. Him, Bishop and the others left the enclave because they focused more on themselves staying pure and having their priorities wrong, not even focusing on the scorched but on the Brotherhood of Steel and making sure there were no survivors and even suggesting they nuke Fort Defiance instead of focusing on the scorched. When they left they took a lot of members with them, because unlike the General, Bishop and Howard had everyone's respect and loyalty.
The others were soldiers under Bishop's command, Howard's squad was already at the destination waiting. As they all got in the vertibird and shut the doors, Bishop put a finger up to his helmet after setting a bag down carefully next to him.
"Zeta squad, come in, are you prepped and ready?" Bishop asks over the radio as in response he hears gunfire for a few seconds before halting and hearing a sentry bot say systems failed.
"Affirmative sir, Alpha site is clear and nuke is primed and the target is locked, should we launch it?" He asks with a determined tone.
"Set it to launch at the target in ten minutes then get your asses out of there and back on the vertibird to the rendezvous." Bishop's replies.
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Site Alpha Control Room
"Yes sir, we'll be there, over." The soldier says as he gets off the radio and puts in the timer and slams the button as the soldier looks to his squad.
"Let's move it people! Back to the Vertibird, we got a queen to kill!" The soldier yells out to them as the soldiers respond with an hooah or an Ad Victoriam as they begin to rush out.
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Vertibird on the way to Forward Camp
Back in the vertibird it had been three minutes since Bishop gave the order, it had been a quiet ride. Bishop was silent and staring at the floor as the others checked their armor and weapons.
"Hey boss, you good?" One of the soldiers in X-01 asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine friend… just…" Bishop sighed as he took off his helmet for a second, revealing his long black hair and beard, blue eyes and pale skin.
"Listen, we have a plan B alright?" Bishop says to them all as they all nod.
"What's plan B, Bishop? Why wasn't I told about this?" Howard asks as Bishop looks back down.
"Because I came up with it and only I have to do it and nobody else should." Bishop says in a determined and cold tone.
"What's plan B then Paladin? Shove a Nuke down the Queen's throat?" The soldier in T-51 says with a chuckle before he slowly stops chuckling as Bishop looks at him with a straight face as the soldier looks to the bag and then back to Bishop.
"Oh… shit." The soldier says.
"Bishop, hold on now." Howard says in a concerned tone.
"Boss you can't be serious!" Another Soldier yells as the other one looks on shocked.
"I am serious and no Howard, if we fail we're all fucked and I'm doing it if all else fails! Understood?" Bishop says in a stern and authoritative tone as he puts his helmet back on as he grabs his Plasma Caster and checks it.
"ETA One minute guys! Get ready!" The pilot yells out as everyone then checks their weapons and gear one last time as the soldiers mutter prayers as Howard looks to Bishop as he slings the bag on his back and gives him a nod as Bishop returns it and within the next thirty seconds the doors slide open.
"Alright we're here, now get out and good luck!" The pilot yells as then the squad drops, feet first into hell. After landing Howard quickly linked up with his squad and as Bishop looked around minus his and Howard's squads there were 10 full squads of power armored troops and heavily armed as they looked to the target area and waited.
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Cranberry fields, near Fissure Site Prime
Minutes passed slowly, each minute felt like an eternity and nothing but the wind could be heard over the cranberry field and the distant roars and noises of Scorchbeasts until the whistling that could send a chill down anyone's spine started making its presence known.
"Nuke incoming! Brace yourselves!" Howard yells out as Bishop counted down in his head.
"5…"
"4…"
"3…"
"2…"
"1…" Bishop thought in his head before the bomb finally touched down on Fissure site Prime, at first they heard and felt nothing from the blast before quickly being hit by the powerful winds generated and the familiar feel of the warm radiation roll over their armor and to many of them…
It felt like the end of everything they knew and loved all over again…
But there was no time for memories, only the present and the fight for a future in appalachia. There would be time to remember after the battle if they lived. as the dust cloud settled the soldiers readied their weapons.
"Eyes on the fissure! She'll be crawling out of there!" Bishop yells out as Scorchbeasts of varying sizes and various creatures affected from the plague crawled from the cracks ranging from mere mole rats and radroachs to humans and deathclaws before finally a large clawed hand erupted from the main fissure, a roar of anger erupted from the fissure as it climbed out slowly. A scorchbeast dwarfing every other one in size and mere terror as it looked towards the squads of armored soldiers as it fully climbed out revealing its full size as the other scorched looked towards them.
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"Oh… fuck." A soldier says quietly as the queen rears back and lets out a massive roar as the scorched join her in the roar before charging.
"OPEN FIRE! GIVE EM EVERYTHING YOU GOT" Bishop screams out as he and everyone begins firing, Bullets, lasers, plasma and explosives bombarded the scorched, mowing them down.
It was chaos, the scorched suffered but they reached the soldiers, clashing with them in close quarters. However the queen was the main threat, her minions were just a distraction, The Scorched Queen was blasting them with her sonic blasts and picking them up with her maw and chomping them in two, one by one while they were distracted.
"Focus on the queen! Me and my squad will focus on the small fry!" Howard yells out as him and his squad mow down the scorched by the dozens, 5mm and 50 cal riddling the bodies with them.
"RIP EM UP, IRON RHINO'S!" Howard yelled out as he kept firing with his squad as the other remaining squads focused the queen.
Bullets pelted her, plasma and lasers burned her and missiles and explosive rounds pierced her hide as she was one the ground ripping her apart before taking off and flying in a large circle around them, roaring. She then soared over them leaving a chilling mist fall over them, slowing them but not much, she blasted them with her sonic breath as they shot down another one of her children. She circled them and continued blasting, knowing if she landed she might not be able to take to the air again. However she missed one soldier that was aiming for her…
"Come on… just a little closer…" Bishop muttered to himself as he lined up his shot with his plasma caster and as she flew ever so closer to blast them again, time seemed to slow for Bishop as he lined it up perfectly for one of her wings.
"Got you, bitch." Bishop muttered as he fired, the plasma soared through the air and struck her wing, burning a hole straight through the membrane as she then crashed, tossing dirt and debris up from the landing.
"AIM FOR THE WINGS AND LET'S FINISH THIS!" Bishop yelled out as the soldiers lit her up, all of them including Howard's squad aftering cleaning up the stragglers continuously fired at her as the queen screamed in agony and after the firing stopped and the dust cloud settled, the queen convulsed before it stopped moving.
"Holy...Holy shit we killed it!" One soldier screamed it as he began laughing hysterically as the men joined with roars of victory and even Howard joined in as Bishop approached the queen and squinted his eyes at it from behind his helmet as he reached for his bag. But as he grabbed the bag, the queen twitched as his eyes then widened as he backed up.
"Boys…" Bishop says as the others keep celebrating as the queen begins emitting a cryo crystal mist.
"Men…" Bishop asks a bit louder but it goes unnoticed as the queen suddenly pulls back her lips, revealing her sharp teeth.
"EVERYONE SHE'S STILL ALIVE!" Bishop yells out slightly panicked before being swatted away as a ice crystal like armor covers most of her body as the soldiers begin blindly firing in a panic state.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" One soldier yells out in terror.
"KILL IT! KILL IT!" Another yells
"I'M ALMOST OUT!" Another one yells before another soldier gets picked up and bitten half before swallowing the part she bit off as she smashed another one as she roared.
Howard rushed over to Bishop who was currently getting up slowly and groaning as he tossed the bag on the ground and opened it up.
"Bishop no we're-" Howard was saying before being interrupted by a punch, as Howard looked back at Bishop.
"Get the men and retreat… I'm handling it from here… period." Bishop says in a cold tone as another soldier in the distance gets tossed like a ragdoll into a fissure as Howard nodded solemnly and before putting his finger up to his helmet Bishop looked to him after grabbing the warhead.
"Take care of the kid for me alright?" Bishop asks as Howard nods.
"It's been an honor, Paladin Frost." Howard says.
"Same to you, Paladin Knight." Bishop says as Howard puts his finger to his helmet.
"Everyone Retreat! That's an Order! Paladin Frost is handling this from here!" Howard yells across the radio.
"What!?" One soldier yells as Howard and a few others begin to retreat quickly while firing as Bishop arms the nuke and pulls out his ultracite laser pistol with his right hand as he holds the nuke in his left.
"Did I fucking stutter!? FUCKING RETREAT UNLESS YOU WANNA DIE, JAR HEAD!" Howard yells over the radio as all the soldiers begin to retreat quickly, but before the queen could pursue them she was shot in the side of her head by a laser and as she turned towards the source she saw the one she swatted away a moment ago.
"Come here you ugly motherfucker!" Bishop yells as he keeps firing, she then tries blasting him with her sonic blasts but he manages to dodge as he keeps firing.
"Gotta hold her off till there out of the blast zone!" Bishop thinks to himself as he fires until he's out then tosses the pistol at her.
"How does it feel to have all your kids dead in front of you, UGLY BITCH!" Bishop yells out at her as she swipes at him with anger and manages to scratch through his armor and swats him to the side beside a dead soldier as she roars at him.
He gets up and grabs a laser rifle from the soldier's cold hands as he begins firing it with one hand as he keeps walking back quickly but not fast enough as she slams her fist into him, launching him back and Bishop could swear she was grinning as he was getting back up as his suit administered a stimpak to him and before he could continue his radio came to life.
"Bishop… we're far enough away now… do what you gotta do…" Howard said in a solemn and sad tone as Bishop sighed and nodded.
"49 years old… Eh I lived long enough…" Bishop muttered to himself as he looked at the queen as he grabbed something from his right hip.
He then began walking slowly towards her, slowly increasing his pace until it was a full blown sprint as she roared at him, he yelled loudly as he jumped and slammed his left hand with the nuke into her mouth as she bit down, tearing his entire left arm off as he rolled to the ground beside the queen yelling in pain and profanities as the queen then walks over to him, growling as she looked down at him with rage as she swallowed his arm as Bishop looked back up at her and smirked.
"Hope you like the taste of nukes you ugly cunt…" Bishop hisses out through his clenched teeth as she makes a noise of confusion as he then presses the detonator.
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Outside the blast zone
The explosion went off, most looked on… others looked away… but soon all of them saluted after a moment. Howard took his helmet off and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he looked down and sat on the ground before looking at the explosion.
"I'll miss you but most importantly from everyone, thank you…" Howard says sadly as vertibirds fly overhead to land and pick them up.
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Foundation, 2102, November 25th, 14:55
It was a sunny and bright day but this day was the hardest for many and will be for some for years. Everyone gathered around the tarp covered structure as Paige and a few other settlers and even raiders from the crater including Meg that helped build the structure stepped up on a small stage.
"We have gathered here today to formally honor the fallen…" Paige starts out with.
"Fallen heroes that gave their lives to defend us and Appalachia as a whole so we may have a future." Paige says with a sad tone.
"So let us never forget their sacrifice for us." Paige says as he and Meg grab the tarp and yank it down revealing a metal statue of men in power armor with various weapons standing on top of dead scorched.
"Let this statue built in their honor remind future generations on who made it possible to live here." Paige finishes with, as Meg steps up.
"Anyone that fucks with this, I will personally skin alive! Ya hear!?" Meg yells out as Paige kinda frowns at her as everyone in the crowd chuckles and laughs a bit as Meg looks down at Sofia and gives her a nod along with Howard a nod and as they laughed and talked. But up on a cliff a man looked down there at them as he smoked a cigar with his robotic left hand holding it as he finishes it and tosses it to the ground before rubbing it in the dirt with his boot.
He then looks down at his ghoulified hand with talon-like nails and even dark scales as he breathes in through where his nose used to be and back out as he turns around and begins walking.
"I don't know how I survived… I should be dead but i'm not… I can't go back like this… I don't want her to know that I lived… it's… it's better this way…" Bishop thought to himself sadly, coming to terms with what he's doing.
" maybe I'll work my way up north slowly… Might go to the capitol... see who needs help there and whoever else along the way… Might take awhile… but I feel like time might not be an issue for me…" Bishop thought to himself as he kept walking and checking his backpack and pistol as he then smiled to himself.
"Guess Roger was right about one thing… War… war never changes…" Bishop thought to himself as he continued, his destination set and adventures on the horizon as his built in pip boy on his robotic left arm played I don't want to set the world on fire by the ink spots.