The Cure For Curie (Complete!)

Soldier of Fortune

Curie lost track of how long they had sat there in the war room. No one had dared speak. The chilling words of the holotape still shouting in her mind. She felt like she couldn't catch her breath. So many innocent men and women were suffering because of a lie. A lie she had no clue how to change.

The Minutemen hadn't asked for this war. John hadn't stolen the Brotherhood of Steel's victory, he had given freedom to the Commonwealth. He had not wanted these poor people to live in terror any longer at the hands of the Institute. She knew though, that if the Sole Survivor had to make the choices again that lead them to this war, he would have done so in a heartbeat.

He hadn't asked for any of the shocking events that had shaped his life. It seemed like war was the only thing fate would bring him. A military man before the bombs fell, he was frozen for two hundred years, only to wake up in the middle of another war. Now he was again fighting for freedom, for the chance to live. She knew he wondered if the world would ever have peace, she asked the same questions herself.

The three of them sat at the long wood table, eyes staring at nothing. After the holotape's end, there seemed to be a chill in the air that Curie just couldn't shake. She wanted answers to her questions, but she was terrified of being the one to break this now heavy silence.

"How did Haylen make this tape?" John asked into the quiet room. He looked at Rhys, as the man across him tried to collect himself before speaking.

"She was the other soldier in the room. After I had listened to the tape I confronted her about it in the abandoned shop. She told me everything.

"She knew something was off the moment Elder Maxon had us turn our guns on the Minutemen. She, like a lot of us, knew that your group were mostly settlers trying to break from the hold of the Institute. That you were mostly good, hard working people, and far from soldiers. She thought it implausible that suddenly the entire group had been turned in to synths. Rather than accepting orders blindly, Haylen wanted to investigate the claims.

"She told me she had finally had her chance when one of the raid teams had captured a group of settlers that had escaped the assault on Sanctuary. She had been tasked with cataloging the prisoners belongings and doing intake searches. She planted holotape recorders on all six of the detainees."

Six. The number hit Curie like a wall. When they had made their way to Sanctuary to help clean up the devestation, she had been broken by the number that had been lost there. They had not known that there had been survivors taken in to custody. With the state that most of the bodies had been in, they were unsure of how many deaths there were. To Curie, the mangled pile of dismembered parts seemed like it had belonged to hundreds of people. If they had known there were survivors, John could have done something. Six people, terrified and tortured, all had suffered the same awful fate as Jun Long. Elder Maxon would pay, Curie would make sure of that.

"If there are six holotapes, where are the other five?" Curie asked.

Knight Rhys began to fidget in his seat, the creaking wood a plaintive plea to the level of difficulty recounting the next part of his story would be. After a while he began to speak again.

"Well, I had no idea that cracking the encryption on Scribe Haylen's terminal would spin everything out of control. Apparently, the opening of the files sent up a flag back at the Prydwen's main servers.

"Haylen and I had no idea the terminals were being monitored. Maxon was paranoid. He knew someone had begun leaking information to the Minutemen. In my investigation, I had unknowingly signed Haylen's death warrant."

"The laser rifle shot. You were discovered in that shop, weren't you?" John asked. His voice had lost all of its previous edge, taking on a caring but knowing tone now.

All Rhys could do at that moment was nod, not trusting his voice any longer. Tears of regret slid down his face at all the pain he had caused. Curie stood, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. She reassured him that it wasn't his fault, that he couldn't have known. John and her both knew that he was only doing what he thought was right. He had believed what his trusted commander had told him and the rest of his brothers in arms.

"A raid team show up just as the sun went down." Rhys continued in barely a whisper. He cleared his throat, squared his shoulders, pulling on the mask of the soldier. He needed to disconnect from his emotions if he was to tell all of it.

"They asked for our surrender. Scribe Haylen and I raised our hands in submission. She tried to tell them, to warn them that they were wrong about the Minutemen.

"It was no use. They would not listen. The small group of soldiers thought they were simply bringing in dissenters. They knew they would receive recognition for such a brave act.

"As they moved to arrest us, Haylen began to panic. She started muttering about the slaughter of innocent. That lives were at stake. That they couldn't take her.

"She moved on them, catching them off guard at first. There were no men in power armor, only standard issue uniforms. These men seemed green, as if this was their first mission off the Prydwen. They hadn't stood a chance.

"Haylen had tried her best to take them out by non lethal means. A shock baton she had stashed in her boot, quickly caught the first three by surprise. As the last man fumbled with his laser rifle she made a run for it. She almost made it.

"The soldier took the shot, catching her in the shoulder, incapacitating her instantly. Without thinking, I moved to protect her. I snapped that man's neck as he went to check if Haylen was still alive.

"I'll never forgive myself for the way it played out. Those men would be alive today if not for Maxon's bullshit. I pulled on my power armor and got Haylen out of there as fast as I could. I had no idea if more men were on the way.

"When I first picked up Haylen to carry her from the scene, I could hear her whispering coordinates. I input them in my armor and followed them. I knew they were important and I prayed that they would bring me to a place that could help. I didn't know at the time that they would bring me here."

"Now we shall see if you've brought Maxon's army behind you. I'm sure there has got to be a locator in your power armor. Maxon is probably assembling a team as we speak." John said, the anger creeping in once more. Rhys shook his head in protest.

"Doubtful. I disabled the locator beacon. I pulled it from the suit and dropped it in that shop before I left. Maxon should have no idea where we are."

The Sole Survivor took a moment, thinking about all he learned. Focus in his eyes told Curie that he was already planning his next move. His eyes brightened, clearly on to something. He pulled out the folder labeled "Rocket's Red Glare" once more, sliding it across the table towards Rhys. He looked it over before turning his eyes back to John.

"You won't be able to return to the Brotherhood of Steel. The Minutemen and I could use your help, now more than ever. I need to know Rhys, are you with us?"

Knight Rhys stood from the table. He snapped his body into a rigid salute, and with a steady gaze and steady voice he shouted,

"Aye General! My gun is yours. For freedom."