“Grab what you need as quickly as you can, girls,” Luna said as she stepped into their room.

Trixie and Sonata did as they were told, hurrying over to their beds and gathering up their things. Once again, Luna second-guessed her decision to allow Trixie along, but she put it from her mind and headed to her own bed. Stimpaks were the first thing she grabbed, stuffing them into her new utility belt, followed by a few bottles of water, a pack of Enclave ration biscuits, and her new torch. Next came the Pip-Boy and her assault rifle, which were slipped over Luna’s arm and slung over her shoulder respectively. Finally she glanced down at Excalibat and her Tide Stave.

“Done!” Sonata exclaimed eagerly as she hopped over to Luna’s side. She had her police baton and combat knife both attached to her belt, and her torc just peeked out from under her armor. “Aren’t you ready to go?”

Luna shook her head. “I’m just deciding which one of these to bring.” She sighed and reached for Excalibat. “I suppose this makes the most sense.”

“Seriously? You aren’t gonna bring the Tide Staff?” Sonata asked.

“It’s more of a stave than a staff, and no, I’m not,” Luna replied as she slipped a long sock over the end of the bat and used a set of velcroed straps to sling it across her back for relatively easy access. “If I carry too much big stuff it’ll just get in the way, I’ve already got a gun, and personally I think a baseball bat will be easier for me to use than a pointy stick.”

Sonata gave her a blank look. “Why don’t you just figure out how to use the magic in it while we walk?”

Luna stared at her in shock. “You mean there really is magic in that thing?!”

“Well duh,” Sonata replied in a patronizing tone. She wilted beneath Luna’s glare, and she continued in a far more respectful voice, “The, uh, Hippogryphs used to use Tide Staffs back before we were thrown into your world. Plus, I can sense the magic in it.”

“You could have just said that in the first place,” Luna huffed. She frowned at the stave, trying to figure out how to carry it without it getting in the way. Finally, she had Sonata help her to rig up some more straps so the Tide Stave would sit diagonally across her back alongside Excalibat. It wasn’t efficient or even particularly practical, but it was the best she could manage on a whim.

“I’m ready too,” Trixie announced. She rolled her shoulders to try and settle her armor a little better. “How do people manage with this stuff? It’s heavy.”

Luna didn’t have the heart to tell her that her scout armor was probably considerably lighter than the combat armor that the Rainbooms all wore. “You’ll get used to it. Are you absolutely sure that you want to come with us? This could well be dangerous, and the Rainbooms aren’t going to be there to help this time.”

A determined nod was Trixie’s only response before she strode out of the room. Luna sighed and followed her, making sure to lock the door again just in case. The trio made their way through the corridors, ignoring the stares of residents and visitors alike, until they found Elder Lyons waiting for them at the city’s entrance.

“You’re all ready to go?” Lyons asked. Luna replied that they were. “Good. Remember, these people may call themselves Brotherhood, but they’re only loyal to an older and far more insular version of our organization. They aren’t interested in the common good. If they give you any trouble whatsoever, or try to force you to do anything you don’t want to do, you’ve all got a distress pulser in your belts. Just press the big red button and Liberty Prime will come to fetch you.”

“Or I can just sing for them,” Sonata offered.

Lyons raised a curious eyebrow, but thought better of asking as she shook her head. “I don’t even want to know, just do whatever you think is necessary. Defender Morgan is waiting outside with her escort. Good luck.”

Luna thanked her and hauled the entrance door open. As expected, there were three power-armored soldiers waiting when she stepped outside. Their armor was largely the same as that worn by the main Brotherhood save for a rough black and red paint job, and all three of them were pointedly ignoring the Rivet City guards.

“Hey, Anne, pay attention! These ladies are here to help with your problem,” Lyons called out as she followed the trio outside.

The Outcasts turned at her call. Only one of them, a dark-skinned woman with brutally short black hair, wasn’t wearing a helmet. She looked the newbies over with an expression that clearly showed her derision. “These are your experts on magic?”

“Sonata knows more about magic than anyone except the Rainbooms, and Luna owns one of the Pip-Boys that you so desperately need.” Lyons fixed Anne with a contemptuous glare. “If you’re not going to treat these women with the bare minimum level of respect, then you’re welcome to fuck off and deal with your own mess.”

Anger clouded Anne’s features, but she kept her tone neutral as she pointed out, “That’s Enclave armor.”

Lyons nodded. “That’s because they’re technically the Enclave’s responsibility, not the Brotherhood’s, but make no mistake, they’re from the same reality as the Rainbooms. Take good care of them. If your people so much as look at them funny, war or not, there won’t be a damn thing I can do to stop the Enclave and the Rainbooms competing to see who can turn the most Outcasts into confetti.”

The Outcasts stiffened at the blatant threat. For a moment, Luna thought that they might change their minds and leave, but Anne just nodded curtly. “We’ll bring them back in one piece.” She abruptly turned away from Lyons and glanced at the trio. “We should get moving. There’s a long way to go and the sooner we get this done the better.” Without another word, the Outcasts turned and stomped away across the bridge.

“Good luck,” Lyons said quietly. “Remember, if you get into any trouble, just use your distress pulsers.” Thanking her didn’t seem right, so Luna just offered her a nod and set off after the Outcasts with Sonata and Trixie in tow.

Neither Anne nor her escorts looked around as the three caught up. They simply marched through the Embark Center in silence, once again ignoring the Rivet City personnel, until they reached the bottom and strode away down the road without so much as a backward glance.

It wasn’t until the ship was well behind them that one of the Outcasts muttered, “Sibley isn’t going to like this.”

“I don’t give a shit what Sibley thinks, Protectors Casdin and McGraw both agreed to this mission,” Anne retorted. “Now stow the chatter until we’re past Project Purity.”

Hearing that there was dissension in the ranks of the Outcasts shouldn’t have been a surprise to Luna, but it still made her even more concerned than she already was. Still, she knew better than to try and poke her nose in where it didn’t belong.

It didn’t take long for the group to reach the boundaries of Project Purity. Luna noted that the garrison had added an energy barrier and a handful of gun turrets since the last time she had come through. The Knights on guard duty waved the group through without any fuss, though a flicker of annoyance flashed across Anne’s face as two of them split off to guide the group through the purifier’s defenses.

Thankfully, none of the Brotherhood, Enclave, or Rivet City personnel gave the group anything more than a passing glance as they made their way around the Memorial building. Most of them were too busy tending to repairs or keeping an eye out for danger in any case.

As the group reached the front of the building, they all suddenly stopped in their tracks. “Whoa,” Sonata half-whispered.

A massive robot standing guard in the middle of the yard, shifting slightly on the spot as it looked around for any possible threats.

“That’s Liberty Prime?!” Trixie exclaimed.

“Apparently,” Luna replied in an awestruck voice. She had heard the stories about the Brotherhood of Steel’s walking superweapon, but there was a big difference between hearing stories and seeing it in person. “Suddenly I feel a little more optimistic about all of this.”

The Outcasts all stared up at the robot blankly. “I still can’t believe those traitors managed to get that thing working,” one of them said bluntly,

“THEY HAD CIVILIAN AID.” All six of the travelers tensed as Liberty Prime slowly turned to look down at them. “KEEP MOVING, COMMUNISTS. AND PROTECT THE MOONS-” he slowly raised an arm to point at the Outcast that had spoken, “-OR I WILL FIND YOU.”

Nobody moved as the shock of being addressed by a giant death machine sank in. The Knights gave the group a couple of seconds to gather themselves before growing impatient. “You heard the big guy, let's keep it moving.”

It looked like Anne might protest for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she glanced sidelong at the Knight, but she kept her mouth shut and simply marched on. Luna idly wondered about the ‘Moons’ nickname that Liberty had used, but she soon forgot about it as the group were led away from the purifier.

The Outcasts mostly kept their heads down as they walked. Luna and the other Moons, however, looked around eagerly at the defenses that had built up around the facility. Gun turrets, prefabricated barricades, artillery emplacements and energy barriers dotted the road, all backed up by Enclave soldiers and Brotherhood Knights, forming a nightmarish gauntlet for any enemy force foolish enough to attack. Even the buildings on either side of the road had been reinforced with metallic plates and even more turrets.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” One of the Knights said, seeing the looks of wonder on the Moons’ faces. “These defenses go all the way to the main bridge near the Citadel Ruins. Even with a Behemoth on their side, the Super Mutants couldn’t breach the first gate. Hell, if it weren’t for that teleporting freak, we wouldn’t have suffered a single casualty in the battle here. Now that he’s dealt with, and we’re fortifying the rear, this place is damn near impregnable.”

“Waste of good tech,” one of the Outcasts muttered.

“Can it, Hobbes,” Anne warned.

Sonata nodded sagely. “Yeah, you probably shouldn’t annoy people who could literally kill you any second.”

“Says the one who learned from experience,” Trixie shot.

“So did you!” Sonata barked back.

“That’s enough, girls,” Luna cut in. She was privately glad that Sonata had actually learned something, but she didn’t dare to say it out loud. “How far is the Outcast outpost from here?”

Anne glanced at the Knights before looking back over her shoulder. “Not far as the crow flies. We’re going to have to take the scenic route, but it shouldn’t take too long once we’re past the Citadel, or what’s left of it. Less if we stop dawdling.”

“Don’t you think you should’ve warned us that we might need our guns?” Applejack asked casually.

“Shut up,” Wernher replied sourly as he reloaded his pistol. Two feral ghouls lay dead on the tracks ahead, having appeared from a maintenance corridor and charged at the handcart. “I didn’t see any ghouls in this area last time I came through, and I had a couple of Skavvers with me as guides. Hopefully we don’t run into anything else until we can find someone.”

Applejack shrugged and resumed her job as lookout while the other two got the cart moving again. Two regular ferals were hardly a threat to her or Adam, even without their gear, but there was no point in risking close combat while they had a gun handy.

“Are you any good with a pistol, or do you just use big guns ‘cause you can’t aim for shit?” Wernher asked.

“Ah can’t say Ah’ve ever used a pistol, but Ah ain’t a bad shot with a paintball gun or a shotgun,” Applejack replied. “Why? You got a spare?”

Wernher pulled out another revolver and handed it to her. “This is my back-up piece. I don’t have any extra .32 rounds, so try not to miss.”

“You got it.” The revolver was smaller than his main pistol, lacking a scope and in need of some proper maintenance, but it was better than nothing. Applejack held it loosely at her side as the cart trundled along.

The tunnels were actually starting to get more interesting as the trio progressed. There were places where strangely colored veins threaded through the walls like otherworldly ores, crude caves and tunnels dug out of the concrete by who-knows-what, and of course the occasional corridors, sidings and offices for pre-war rail workers. Every now and again the tracks split off into a smaller side tunnel, but Wernher assured his companions that they needed to stay on the main line for the moment.

After a while, Applejack’s mind started to wander. Something about being underground in the perpetual gloom was warping her sense of time; she didn’t have even the faintest idea of how long they had been riding the handcart for.

“Heads up, I think there’s someone up ahead,” Adam said suddenly.

Applejack immediately rose into a crouch and readied the pistol. Adam could take a map to the shitter and still get lost wiping his ass, but Applejack knew better than to question his instincts when it came to avoiding danger. Soon enough, the tunnel opened up into a wide junction of sorts, with several rail lines converging and splitting off again into half a dozen different tunnels.

Ten well-muscled people were gathered in the center of the junction next to a cart full of scrap. They were all wearing battered old hard hats, threadbare high-vis jackets, and the odd armor plate made out of scrap metal. Two had railway rifles, one was lugging a worryingly large pneumatic hammer, and the rest had a mix of sledgehammers and power fists. “Who are you?” A tall woman with shaggy black hair asked. “Where you going?”

“We’re just travelers passing through,” Wernher replied warily. “We’re heading for the Pitt.”

The woman’s face darkened. “Pitt raider.”

“We ain’t raiders, Ah can promise you that,” Applejack cut in quickly. She lowered her gun and sat back down in an attempt to show that they weren’t a threat. “We just want to get through these tunnels as quickly and peacefully as possible. In fact, we could really use a guide, if you guys are willin’?”

The group glanced at each other, speaking in voices too low for the trio to hear, before the woman turned back to them. “Diamond Dogs too busy to take strangers to Pitt, but can take you to Skavver town. They’ll help.” She sent a couple of her people to man the railway switches. “Get handcart on right track, then follow Diamond Dogs. Skavvers not far.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 191 - So Many Paths, So Little Singing Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 33 Minutes