[ WP ] Civilization has fallen , but brave treasure hunters have heard the legend of Ft. Knox . The automated defenses , however , are still online .

*** [ EU ] Fallout Universe. *** 
 
 `` Everyone good? Sound off'' Paladin Daemus' voice echoes across the dusty corridor. 
 
 `` Liam, here'' Liam is the Heavy gunner, the ammunition mule. 
 
 `` Joyce, here'' Joyce is the only initiate in the task force who filled in last minute due to an injury of another task force member right before deployment. 
 
 `` Halter, here'' Halter is the team technician, he is key to this mission's success. 
 
 Silence ensues the next couple of seconds after Halter sounds off. 
 
 `` Clark, are you there?'' Daemus says. He receives no reply. 
 
 Halter uncovers Clark's corpse, his armor was heavily dented and was blasted inward to his ribcage. `` Clark's gone.'' 
 
 `` Well, Shit. Get his holotags and lets push onwards'' 
 
 `` Sir Daemus'' Initiate Joyce yells out, as her ears are still ringing. `` Is this gold still worth it?'' 
 
 `` This is n't about treasure hunting, Joyce. We're doing this for the good of the brotherhood. Not only will it help us gain wealth in terms of material standards, but in here lies the entire digital copy of the national archives.'' 
 
 `` But sir,'' Joyce rebutts `` We've already lost 5 men. We're not even sure if-'' 
 
 `` We will PUSH ON, That is an order.'' Daemus yells out as the ceiling crumbles fine dust down to the floor, illuminated by the dying light of one of their flares. 
 
 Halter finished stripping down Clark's body of any useful supplies, Ammunition, Stimpaks and his holotags. 
 
 `` Halter, throw in another flare, down the hall, and we'll keep on moving.'' 
 
 As the flare Halter lit slides across the end of the corridor and into an intersection, the hallway is suddenly lit up with gunfire, and darkens again when the flare was put out by lead. 
 
 `` Goddamnit, there's another fucking turret in the corner.'' Liam exclaims. 
 
 The group huddles near the corner where they suspect the turret to be. Liam throws a pulse grenade. A small explosion is heard, but the sound is dwarfed by the whizzing of electricity. `` Is it out?'' Joyce asks. 
 
 Liam pulls out his gun and waves it in front of the turret. No response. `` It's down.'' 
 
 After they pass the labyrinth of corridors inch by inch, meeting turret resistance along the way, they manage to enter the grand entrance. 
 
 `` That should be it, sir. The vault is down the hall.'' Halter says with relief. `` The turrets in this room seem to be down, Probably linked to a different mainframe or something.'' 
 
 `` Lets move then, slowly and quietly. This part will likely be rigged. Watch for any pressure plates.'' Daemus says, worried of possible traps that still work 200 years after the war. 
 
 They manage to reach the other side of the room with no resistance at all. The whole team lets out a sigh of relief, their mission is almost over. Before them stands the door of a great vault, similar to those vault shelters that litter the wasteland of post-apocalyptic america. But this one is bigger, sturdier. Inside it is the gold reserves of a once powerful nation, but more importantly, the knowledge of the old world. 
 
 `` Halter, check the terminals, see what you can do about opening the doors, if we ca n't, we may have to blast through one of the walls.'' 
 
 As Halter gets on a terminal, he begins overriding the system, trying to find a way to open the vault. The eerie quietness of the underground complex is almost deafening. With only Halter's keystrokes and Liam's heavy breathing to break the silence. The room is almost pitch black, if it were n't for the faint emergency lights flickering across the room and the green glow of the terminal that Halter is hacking. After almost half an hour of nervous waiting, Deacon fears that he got half his men killed for nothing. Deacon's nerves calm down as Halter yells out a `` YES!'' 
 
 Everyone's eyes goes to Halter, as he has an excited look on his face. The siren starts whirring, and the door starts screeching open. The treasures of fort knox, laying dormant for over 200 years, is now being opened. 
 
 Halter starts yelling, as his voice was quiet compared to the cringe inducing sounds of the screeching door. `` The Mainframe in this section still has power, so we should be able to access the archives. The radio tower is still functional, if we want, we can transmit all of the data back to Headquarters. We just need to acce-'' Halter was cut short as a missile detonates right above them. As everyone was focused on the door, none of them realized that the automated defenses were triggered within the room. 
 
 `` SENTRY BOTS!'' Liam shouts out, as the whole team ducks and covers. `` GET IN THE VAULT!'' Paladin Daemus shouts out in the midst of roaring gunfire of half a dozen miniguns rain over them. They take cover behind the half open door an notice they are a man short. As Daemus looks back out, he sees Halter's lifeless body sitting on a chair, his face pressed up against the terminal, with a giant chunk of shrapnel halfway in his head. Halter is gone, and soon enough, so will they. 
 
 `` Is there any way to close the door?'' Joyce yells out 
 
 `` Yeah, but we'd have to access the terminal inside. I dont see any switch controls in here!'' Liam yells back, as he pulls out the remaining grenades he has and lays them down on the floor. 
 
 `` Sir Daemus, what do we do?!'' Joyce asks in desperation, looking for an answer that is n't far from a miracle. `` Sir Daemus?!'' She asks again. But Daemus was too busy looking around the room. For that moment, he tunes out the sounds of gunfire and explosions raining outside, and tries to find the servers. He spots a door in the backmost part of the main vault, it's the only door there. The rest of the room is just filled with stockpiles of gold, some of which have already been scattered by the rumbling caused by the ordinance of the sentry bots. Daemus is focused on his goal now. He knows that death is now inevitable, the least he can do is make it worth it. 
 
 `` Liam, Joyce, on my mark, throw out those pulse grenades.'' 
 
 `` Sir, What are you doing?!'' Joyce says with a look of shock 
 
 `` I'm going to make a break for the servers. There's no other way.'' 
 
 `` Are you just gon na fucking leave us behind!?'' Joyce yells out in anger, fearing for her life. 
 
 `` We're going to die! nothing is going to change that. All we can do now is transmit the archive data.'' 
 
 Tears drip down across Joyce's cheeks, she is n't ready to die, nobody is. She grabs a couple of pulse grenades from the floor, and gets ready for their fate. 
 
 Daemus takes a few seconds to plot out his path, The door to the servers are in the Sentry bots' line of fire. His armor will slow him down, but it will absorb some of the bullets. Maybe, just maybe, there's a chance that he can make it. He yells out on the top of his lungs. `` NOW!!'' and starts running. As the robots are being electrocuted, Daemus has a small ceasefire. The grenades are enough to shutdown their systems, but they can reboot in mere seconds. Daemus reaches the server door and pulls it open, it takes the door a good tug to creak open. And before the door is opened wide enough for him to fit through, the gunfire starts again, he's hit from behind several times, but his power armor absorbs most of it. He gets in and closes the door behind him. 
 
 The door seals shut, and silence befalls him. The room is soundproof, he does not hear the twangs of the bits of lead hitting the bars of gold. He does not hear the last members of his team dying. He hears nothing, as if he had just gone through a portal into another world. But he needs to find the mainframe terminal and transmit the archives back to headquarters. as he walks pass one last hallway, he stammers and falls to the ground. It is only now, when the adrenaline wore off that the pain hits him, he's hit from behind, in the lower left part of his back. This will kill him, but he needs to push on. He grabs a needle from his Medical kit and injects himself with fast acting morphine. It numbs the pain for long enough for him to commit his final duty. 
 
 He reaches the main terminal and begins the procedure. He inputs the ID of the headquarters mainframe and begins the transfer. He will not survive long enough to see the completion of this data transfer. He does, however, survive long enough to craft and send a message alongside the archives. 
 
 `` This is Paladin Daemus of the brotherhood of steel. The men and women of the Knox Taskforce are now gone. I am the only one left, and I will soon succumb to my injuries. Let it be known that every person on this taskforce died with valor. And as a result of her last minute bravery, I request that Initiate Joyce be promoted, and remembered as a Knight.'' 
 
 Daemus sends the message to the elders of the brotherhood, and sits down on the ground, with his back to the wall. With his last breaths, he closes his eyes and dreams of better days.
