~17 Years Ago~
"We will not back down. The Enclave will not back down. Why would any of you think to submit to these savages?" a trimmed and uniformed man with blond hair said.
The surrounding crowd burst into excitement, yelling.
Hampshire Smith rubbed the stubble on his chin and looked down at the hastily scrawled note one of the communications technicians brought to him, a message received over the radio from the Brotherhood of Steel. No, not a message, he thought. It was a threat. And now his brother, James, was attempting to settle the matter, and failing.
"I demand order!" James Smith yelled.
"No. You demand death. Death to all of us" Hampshire said angrily, standing from his seat at the holographic command table.
"Excuse me?" James asked. "Colonel Smith. For all we know the rest of the goddamn government may come crashing down on those fools at any moment. We need only wait"
"The rest of the goddamn government? Pray tell, who exactly are you referring to? Everyone else is dead, we're the only ones left. And now. Now we have a group of some of our most bitter enemies ready to tear down our doors" Hampshire said. Some in the crowd murmured, James could hear others agreeing with him.
"Bah. They'll come. Our country has stood for the last 500 years, no one will bring down America. Especially not those savages" James responded smuggily.
"Silas?" Hampshire asked. The bunker's AI, modified well past it's original programming as a library assistant, sprung to life on the holographic table, appearing as a floating, monocled, male head.
"Sir?" Silas answered.
"Silas, read my brother the last ten highest ranking casualty reports" Hampshire said.
"Highest sir?" Silas asked, hesitantly.
"Yes" Hampshire responded.
"Certainly. Incident B-44 A, casualty: President Eden AI. Incident B-44 B, unknown: Colonel Augustus Autumn. Incident B-45 C, casualty: Acting President William Riley. Incident B-47 A, unknown: Colonel Samantha Hardwick. Incident B-47 D, casualty: Colonel Tennessee Cole. Incident B-47 F, casualty: MODUS AI. Incident B-48 G, unknown: Colonel Dol-" Silas was interrupted.
"That'll be all, Silas" James grumbled.
"Are those the people coming to help us?" Hampshire asked.
"We lost contact with the others, that's all. We can have no doubts that they are making their way here right now" James said.
"You're delusional. Have been since Samantha passed. You have a son James, you're willing to put his life on the line for pride? No, it's time for you to step down" Hampshire ordered.
"My word is law here, not your's. And I will not have insubordination. Savior Installation stays closed, and that is-" James was cut off by the sound of a gunshot, and he slumped to the floor.
Everyone turned to Hampshire, a gun in his hands.
"I'm sorry" he said. "Silas?"
It took the AI a moment to respond. "Yes sir?"
"Get the communications equipment back online. I need to speak with these Brothers."
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"Come on, come on. Everyone in an orderly fashion" Conrad said.
His and Vic's forces had finally reached Bunker Sigma's emergency exit. Soldiers clad in advanced power armor and civilians alike flocked out of the door and into the tunnels, directed towards the waiting APCs. Aisha ran out and held out her hands, holding a box of holodisks and computer equipment.
"It's all in here. Scribes uploaded Silas and all our info to these. They're coming out with some more" she said.
"Thanks. Get them to the vehicles. We've got soldiers dotted around the sewers but I didn't like the look of those mutants back there. No clue how many more there are and the ECs could come charging out the other side any minute" Conrad said.
"Gregor and Carter would contact us if anything happened. They haven't, we still have time" Aisha said.
Mara and Harris walked through the door carrying several crates each. People scattered to make room for the large creatures.
"Gear?" Conrad asked.
"Guns and bugheads" Harris replied.
"Perfect, perfect. Let's just hope we have some room. Still got a few more evacuees to go" Conrad said.
He reached to turn on his wired in radio.
"Carter, it's Conrad. Respond." he said with no answer.
"Gregor, it's Conrad. Respond. Anyone at the store?"
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"Hello? Is anyone there?" Conrad said over the radio.
"Get this shit working already!" Gregor yelled to Mendez.
This day couldn't get any worse, Gregor thought to himself. A bunker under attack, weird mutant scorpions, and now something had happened to all their radios, their side cut off.
"Patience friend. Yelling won't help" the Alpha Squad marksman said.
"And where the fuck is Carter?" Gregor yelled.
"Still patrolling I take it. Can't move too quickly with those birds in the air looking for us" Mendez said.
"No shit Sherlock. Course he's patrolling, that was half an hour ago. Vertibirds or not, he should be back. Told him to go down the damn street" Gregor said.
"Your heavy spy days must've made you real paranoid, eh?" Mendez laughed.
"Ha ha. You're not worried something happened?" Gregor asked. All of a sudden a scream pierced the air. "The fuck?"
Carter ran into the storefront yelling. "Back room! Back room!". A Paladin in T-60 and a Knight in orange combat armor came in behind. Gregor raised his shotgun to the Paladin but Carter pulled it down. "No! Not them! Back room now!"
"What the hell is going on?" Gregor yelled.
"Ghoul things, and those scorpions. A whole bunch of them, they're coming this way!" Carter panted.
"And the ECs?" Mendez asked.
"Can we talk about that later?" the Paladin asked.
"Fuck it, fine" Gregor said, grabbing the main radio from Mendez. The group ran to the back room. Gregor locked the door and knocked a shelf down in front of it.
"Sir?" one of the Knights stationed in back asked.
"Close those doors, now" Gregor ordered, pointing to the loading bay doors. The Knights went to them and pushed several buttons until the doors began to lower.
"You just couldn't keep quiet out there, could you? Had to attract attention" Gregor sarcastically asked Carter.
"We're so screwed" the EC Knight said.
"Damn right, we all are. Those scorpions, and what'd you say about ghouls?" Gregor said.
"Yeah, ghouls or something. They looked weird, had like black scales covering them" Carter responded.
"Those aren't normal in Chicago?" the Paladin asked, removing her helmet. She had an unevenly shaved head and several scars crossing her face.
"Hell no!" Gregor said. "The weirdest things we've got are hairy lizards and exploding ladybugs"
"Exploding ladybugs...." Carter murmured.
"Is that really important now man?" the EC Knight said.
"Wait, shouldn't we be arresting those two?" Mendez asked.
Gregor looked to the ECs.
"Hmmm. Get some more hands and Conrad is angry at me, tie up some folks 'n be undermanned" Gregor said, weighing the options.
"Seriously?" the Paladin asked. Banging started on the storefront-side door and the group went dead silent. Growling and hissing could be heard on the other side.
"Alright, we won't arrest you" Gregor said. "But everyone settle in, gonna be here awhile"