Steel Waste

Afton was sitting in class as Doran went over some advanced mathematics, he could feel himself slowly drifting to sleep as the subject was just as boring as he remembered... Fortunately, or unfortunately, something had come to disrupt them.

The metal door to the room slides open and a Knight wearing scout armour and covered in blood leans heavily against the frame, "The NCR, they're coming! Thousands of them" he exclaims, before leaving and shouting the same thing to others in the facility.​​

...

It took everyone a moment to process what he'd actually said, but once everyone understood the young Initiates were on the verge of chaos. Were it not for Doran who immediately took charge of the situation, he had no doubt they'd be running to their parents.

"INITIATES! All of you! Come with me, quickly! Ignore your study material!" he says as he briskly walks out of the class.

Afton follows closely behind next to Sandra, both knew where they were heading, but neither knew if everyone was ready for it yet...

Members of the Brotherhood were frantically making their way through the halls, everyone wielding some kind of weapon. All wearing a determined expression.

The class reached the armoury where thirty people were already waiting, the person manning it quickly passing out weaponry and ammunition. The Initiates were among the last to receive their weapons as they didn't have any official duty of specialised purpose yet.

Afton grabbed a laser rifle as he was most familiar with it, he'd not yet had a chance to try the Gauss Rifle, and he didn't think he'd be able to properly use a Gatling laser either. Sandra mimicked him and grabbed her own, shoving some microfusion cells in her pockets in-case she needs extra.

"Is this really happening... Are we really going to do this?" she asks, her voice shuddering slightly in fear.

Afton frowns, "It is, this is war Sandra, the best we can do is to try and stay alive." he states as Doran begins to address them.

"It's been an honour to teach you all thus far, but now we must part ways... Go to the Knight workshop and await your orders Initiates, do not disobey them as it could mean the life or death of the Chapter." he says before jogging out of the room, probably having other duties to attend to.

Afton doesn't waste time and immediately starts marching towards the workshop, his discombobulated classmates following him like lost ducklings.

When they reached the workshop they were greeted by a familiar sight, Senior Knight Ramos was already there trying to calm the younger Initiates which included Miles and Melissa. When he saw their group he gestured for them all to line up before him.

They stepped into formation and gave a brief Brotherhood salute which caused the man to nod at them, he looks at a piece of paper and glances around the room, starting to speak just as an older group of Initiates arrive. "Seems that everyone is here and accounted for then, I'd say it's a good thing they decided to attack while you were all having your classes, but obviously the situation is not so good." he says sheepishly.

"I've already received reports from our scouts, the ones who made it out alive at least... The NCR has thousands of troops heading our way, I have no doubt that they will eventually surround us and begin to siege the facility... We built many defences while we've been staying here, but I don't think the security turrets will last a few minutes against their firepower.

The Elder has already commanded us to hold the position, whether or not your think he's correct is irrelevant, we must follow the chain of command. If I see any disobey his orders I will have no choice but to punish you depending on the severity... This, could potentially mean execution." he states, causing some of the Initiates eyes to widen.

Ramos then gives a seventeen-year-old Initiate named Hugh Mungus the superior position of everyone in-case he is no longer able to command them. Once that's done they're all lead towards the back of the building where the back entrances are.

The large room is filled with metal walkways which lead to the second floor, many Knights and a few Paladins were already gathered in Power armour to wait for the NCR when they eventually get inside.

Ramos places all the Initiates on key positions on the walkway so they were able to easily fire upon any NCR that came through, all without putting their allies at risk if an Initiate wasn't all that great a shot.

Afton imagined that similar formations to this were placed all other Helios One, they weren't able to defend the outside due to its terrible positioning and lack of cover, so their best bet was to wait for the NCR to come through and annihilate them with superior firepower.

The intercom buzzed to life and allowed the Elder's voice to echo throughout the eerily silent halls of Helios One. Everyone was almost completely silent as they awaited the enemy, the tension only being broken by the Elder's voice.

"We will defend this facility until the last man, we cannot allow those bureaucratic slaves to gain access to what is held here, if they do the entire Brotherhood, not just our Chapter could be at risk. Remember the Codex, remember your training, and remember your friends and families who'll be lost should you fall." he states, it sounded less charismatic and more like a scheming dictator trying he best to hold onto power...

The Knight and Paladin's below them slammed their fists on their chest, the metal of their Power armour colliding to make a large reverberating sound, "FOR THE BROTHERHOOD!" they shout, adrenaline pumping through their bodies as they psyched themselves up.