First impressions

The GNR Garrison was facing a large attacking force of super mutants. Although extremely unintelligent, and disorganized; the big uglies made up for it in numbers, firepower, and resilience. The attack that was currently happening was a large scale, full on frontal assault. While the Brotherhood remained on top of things with their tactical positioning, they were beginning to be worn down by the onslaught of muties.

Things were actually looking a little grim that is until the station got some morale boosting news:

Lyons Pride was on their way.

Lyons Pride was the Brotherhood of Steel's A team. The squad of specialists held in the highest regard within the Citadel. A small task force composed of Sentinel Lyons, Paladin Vargas, Knight Captain Colvin, Initiate Jennings, and Initiate Reddin were on their way through Chevy Chase mowing down the frankensteins.

That is when She first encountered him.

Sarah's POV

The pride and I were making it to the GNR station in record timing. We finally hit a spot near the station that seemed to be with no uglies in sight. As we weaved through a broken, decrepit building following the sounds of distant gunfire, some of the muties got the drop on us.

Literally.

Two of them hopped from the third floor and it surprised us. Jennings was supposed to check the high points. Before I even got the chance to react, or scold my brother he was hit in the neck with a sledgehammer and sent sprawling on the ground as his helmet broke. Colvin sniped the assailant between the eyes from point blank range while Vargas, Reddin, and I made short work of the other one. Not a second after we heard the sound of an unfamiliar weapon coming distantly behind us, while an angry mutant screamed. Vargas and I dragged Jennings back behind a small alleyway and laid him on the mattress we passed by earlier. I told Vargas to check on him and gave Colvin instructions to watch the front from around the corner. Reddin stayed with Vargas at his request.

He looked distraught, poor man always had to help train the initiates in live combat, and he always took the casualties personally.

I ran back to where we started and checked around the corner. I quickly saw one mutant and began opening fire on him, he screamed a mixture of agony and anger as the laser lances burned through his green skin. But he wasn't done.

"STUPID WOMAN! YOUR DEAD!" He clumsily fired his Chinese assault rifle while I took cover behind a wall. That's when the unfamiliar shot fired again.

Right next to me.

It sounded like a piece of metal being hit by a hammer, and I saw the muzzle flash from the corner of my eye and then watched as the mutants head exploded, pieces of skull and brain went everywhere and an eyeball landed right in front of me. I looked back and trained my laser rifle up where the shot came from.

There was no one there. It was like the mysterious marksmen vanished.

But then I heard a voice.

"I'm friendly, when I show myself please refrain from shooting me."

The voice was deep, smooth and had a disarming velvety tone. I lowered my rifle as I finally noticed that where I had been staring, the air was distorted and a little shiny, as though the light was being reflected and bent in millions of different directions.

After a fierce electric sound he appeared out of thin air in the spot where the lights disturbance was. He had on a skin tight black suit with an intimidating golden visor, over it he wore a green duster coat with some brown combat boots, and a sheriffs hat that matched the outfit quite well. At his side was a sword that had an interesting design on the handle and if you watched carefully enough there was an electric wave that would course through the metal. In his hands he carried a weapon I had never seen or heard about. It looked very advanced even though some of it was made of wood, or at least looked like it. I could see brass knuckles on his hands along with a 10mm submachine gun on the side where the sword wasn't.

Overall he was an impressive sight, and by the trail of headless mutant bodies he left behind him, he was not your average waster riff raff.

Still though he was not a brother, not in the Lyons pride, so in my current mindset, he was just an experienced soldier. And whatever he was he shouldn't be here. I already have two initiates and one of them was down.

I quickly thought to myself about how I have no idea who this man is so I couldn't trust him.

I finally sighed and told him, "Look I don't know who you are, but you don't belong here. The super mutants have overrun our brothers at the Galaxy News Radio building, and a small squad along with myself are headed to back them up."

His head tilted a little bit and his visor reflected an emotionless expression. I looked down and remembered I had a man down, and we may actually need a little help...I couldn't give an outsider the notion that we were in a moment of weakness so I merely added a little invitation for him to join us. "You can tag along if you want. But keep your head down and try not to do anything...stupid. "

Wanderer's POV

I was merely headed to Galaxy News Radio station to question the Three-Dog guy about the whereabouts of my father. But just my luck I run into a bunch of super mutants.

I hate those freakin things.

Haven't seen any since I helped Big Town out with their predicament. They were still as stupid as ever, and my gauss rifle definitely still worked wonders.

I love that freakin gun.

My Chinese stealth armor strategy works just like a charm on them and just seeing the mixture of surprise and anger on their faces as they die makes me feel great. Ever since I infiltrated Germantown police headquarters I have held no mercy for these monstrosities. Maybe they are mutated humans, maybe not. Either way I don't care they will die gruesome deaths at my hand. Just thinking about those bags full of human remains and blood splattered walls make me feel angry at this cold, cruel world.

I carved my way through some ghoul infested sewers and began carving through the super mutants of Chevy Chase North when I spotted her. She came around the corner wearing some power armor that looked just like the outcasts power armor, except grey. She had a laser rifle and was trying to take out a master with it. She got about three shots on it before she took cover behind a wall. I took advantage of the distraction and shot the mutie right between his eyes. His head exploded and I almost laughed out loud when the woman looked around for me.

After I revealed myself to her, she gave me an annoying high and mighty speech on how I shouldn't be there. Then she told me I could "tag along" as if I needed her permission. As annoying as her arrogant attitude was, I remained friendly. "Judging by your appearance I presume you are from the Brotherhood of Steel?"

Her head seemed to swell up even more. "You are correct, I am Sentinel Lyons of the Lyon's Pride. Don't worry we're on your side. At least I hope so."

By now I was tired of small talk, even though my visor could not show it. So I went straight to the task at hand. Maybe I would need some assistance getting to the GNR building. "You mentioned something about Galaxy News Radio?"

Her eyes became steel, "There aren't a lot of safe places in the ruins right now, but the Galaxy News Radio building is sort of our port in the storm. Unfortunately, the building's been hit pretty hard lately. We're their backup. So if there are no more questions, we really need to move out."

With that we headed around the corner of an alley where four other BoS were. One of them was laying on a mattress bleeding from his neck.

Lyon's asked the one who was firing around the corner with a sniper rifle what the situation was. His sniper rifle cracked a few more times before he responded. "All clear Sentinel, five mutants released from their torment. The rest are keeping their heads down."

The way he worded that made me think. I liked the idea that every super mutant I killed had a grateful human underneath that tough green shell. Lyons looked over at the man wearing a recon helmet and asked for Jennings. I presume she must've been talking about the guy on the mattress. The haughty looking fellow merely responded "Negative, piece of the power helmet broke off into his neck. Severed the jugular."

The Sentinel looked downcast and that is when the sniper glanced over at me and asked if I was a new recruit. I was about to give a hearty heck no, but Lyons beat me to the punch, "just a stray we picked up."

A stray...wow...

She proceeded to give orders to another masked soldier with an assault rifle while the sniper welcomed me. He seemed to be eyeing my gauss rifle down. Anything with a scope is likely to catch a professional marksman's eye.

It was only a matter of time before we went back to the fray of combat. This Lyons pride group certainly did impress me. Colvin the sniper was a crackshot, and he was actually a friendly and down to earth fellow. Vargas was brave and acted as a guardian for Reddin who was the assault rifle wielding initiate. The Lyons woman definitely knew her place in combat as well, even with a simple laser rifle. We swept through the buildings in no time. I seemed to impress the hardy group by not only keeping up with them, but exceeding them in kills.

Not that I was that much better than them...my gauss rifle and stealth suit just proved to be much more efficient than their equipment. After dispatching a good amount of muties we found ourselves in the courtyard where a bunch of Brotherhood were making a stand taking cover behind sandbags and pillars. Plenty of super mutant dead bodies riddled the ground, but the occasional gray T-45d suit was laying lifeless on the ground as well.

After clearing the area, I sat on the fountain next to a dead soldier with a large weapon next to him as the others got a status report.

Sarah's POV

The outsider we picked up was a great fighter and definitely pulled his weight. The suit he was wearing had some kind of cloaking device that worked perfectly in correspondence with his calculating movements. The unique gun that he held normally took the mutants out in one shot to the head, besides an overlord which he shot in the back of the head and it fell down. When it began to struggle to get back up he pulled his sword out and decapitated it.

Colvin and him seemed to get along well, marksman bonding I guess. He didn't talk that much, just focused on the job ahead. When we arrived in the plaza the Brothers that were beaten down, holding the fort seemed to get second wind.

"It's the Pride! To arms brothers, to arms!" Were the cries behind the sandbags. We cleared the place in no time.

About two minutes passed before I heard Vargas yelling out for Initiate Reddin. I quickly looked to see what was going on in time to see the bus on the left side of the building explode with Reddin caught in the blast radius. Vargas yelled out "REDDIN!" As a super mutant behemoth ran through the fire and rubble.

A behemoth. The thing was about thirty feet tall and carried a fire hydrant. This was the first time I would meet one in combat.

Vargas was strafing away from the huge beast while everyone concentrated fire on it. The giant seemed to merely shrug off all of projectiles coming at him. The sound of the hammer hitting metal sounded off in front of all of us as a big mass of distorted blue energy hit the monster in the face making it stumble backwards a few steps.

The figure of the duster coat clad man appeared out of thin air pointing at me. From his mask came the words, "Grab that giant gun right there!" He pointed at the fat man next to one of my dead brothers on the fountain.

As much as I hated the fact that he gave me an order, I grabbed the fat man anyway. I loaded the mini nuke as the behemoth chased the stranger. He yelled for me to go ahead and fire even though he was in the blast radius. I fired and it hit directly behind the massive mutants left leg.

The small mushroom cloud lit up the sunset sky as the monsters leg exploded. It let out a guttural roar of agony as it landed on its face. The boy seemed to be fine and was standing directly in front of it.

Everyone began cheering, but it was a bit early.

The mutant suddenly seemed to Spring back into life as it crawled angrily towards the boy. The fire hydrant swung towards him, he fired his rifle at its hand. The beast screamed in pain as he let go of it's fire hydrant weapon mid swing. As the boy began reloading the mutant swatted at him with his other hand. But he dropped the rifle and ducked under the huge hand.

He then jumped onto it's back, drew his sword and brought it down Into its neck. Electric currents coursed through the not so gentle giant. And then as he held the sword there he pulled out his 10mm smg with his other hand and unloaded a whole clip into the back of its head.

The beast was finally slain. And I had to admit, it was done with much style.

After the outsider hopped down, he went over to Reddin's mangled remains. Barely recognizable and a gory mess there she was.

He stooped over her and lowered his head. Paying his respects I presume. This opened my eyes a little bit. He fought well, and he even had the decency and compassion to pay his respects for a fallen comrade he barely even knew. I approached him and without looking up he merely said, "I'm sorry for Reddin."

One sentence but his deep voice held a different tone of sincerity that reached into me.

"She died well. In the end that's all that really matters."

He stood up and took off his hat with one hand and pressed a button on the top of his visor with the other hand. The visor mechanically sheathed upwards into his hood revealing tan skin and deep brown eyes on a stubbled, handsome face. He looked to be young...maybe around 20.

His sad eyes looked to be older though. While passive, his stare held a dangerous feel to it. As he pulled the black hood back his unkempt black hair fell across his forehead. It was dark but had a shiny sheen to it. The way it flowed in waves complimented his already good looks.

"So on another note, you guys looking for new recruits?" He said this with a smirk and an air of sarcasm. Any other person I probably would have yelled at or given my famous steel glare.

But this boy got a different reaction from me. I raised my eyebrow and smirked back at least that's what Vargas told me I did. "You can handle yourself, I'll give you that...but let's not get carried away."

He merely smiled a toothy smile and nodded. We exchanged a few more words and then he went on to go inside the building. As soon as he left, I heard the sound of chuckling behind me.

I turned around to Colvin who was giving me a weird look. "Sentinel I've always thought it would be Gallows that you would fall for!"

3rd Person POV

When Sarah heard those words come from Colvin she immediately became red. Whether from agitation, or embarrassment, or maybe a mixture of both; she took it out on the marksmen by slapping the side of his head. "What makes you think I like the outsider?"

Colvin rubbed the side of his now stinging head. "Well not only did allow him to stay with us during the fight, but you had an actual conversation with him. And...you smiled this weird lopsided grin..."

Sarah glared daggers at him as he made a mockery of the way she previously smiled at the wanderer

After a while outside making sure the area was completely mutant free Sarah took the boys inside the station to rest up for the night. It had been a day, a long day of mutie bashing. Vargas and Colvin went and sat at a table and played a game of cards with Knight Sergeant Wilks while Sarah stood at the front talking to the other brothers.

About five minutes passed by when the Wanderer trudged out of the upstairs door. His mask and hood were still off but the sheriffs hat held fast to his black haired head. The powerful rifle was connected to his back by a magnetized plate on his stealth armor, made to hold guns in place. He made his way downstairs and was about to head out the door without saying goodbye until he was stopped.

Sarah stood in front of him with crossed arms, "Where are you going?"

His tired eyes met her blue ones and she saw the anxiety held in them. He held a scowl on his face.

"I'm heading out to the Museum of Technology In downtown D.C., now if you'll excuse me I'll be on my wa-"

Sarah interrupted sharply "No. You need to rest. D.C. Is dangerous, even for someone with your skill set. You need to be fresh when you head there."

The boy frowned. "You don't understand. My father is gone. And the only way I can even hope to find him is if I run an errand for three dog. It's a matter of urgency, and I've put it off for too long."

Sarah's eyes widened as she realized who she was talking to.

The kid from vault 101 titled by Three Dog as the Lone Wanderer.

Even then Sarah realized, Lone Wanderer or not; he still needed rest.

"It is dark, downtown D.C. Is crawling with the big uglies. You are in no condition to go there right now. You need to rest."

The Lone Wanderer balled his fist up and then relaxed, his face went from tired and stoic, to extremely angry, to a sad look. He sighed and finally gave in. "You know Sentinel, if your voice wasn't so assertive and you hadn't impressed me earlier in combat; I probably would've just brushed right past you and went about my business. I guess I can stay and rest until the sun rises again."

Sarah smirked again, she was victorious. They both walked up the stairs and took a right. For the next hour Colvin, Vargas, Sarah, and the Wanderer talked.

Colvin and the Wanderer talked about guns, mostly concerning the vault kids Gauss rifle. They all exchanged jokes and stories. Overall it was a good time. Even Vargas seemed to warm up to the outsider a little...and he most definitely is the most prideful of Lyons Pride.

The Lone Wanderer was very different from them yet similar in a way. His combat style was more independent while theirs utilized a squad based strategy. He was very intelligent even up to par with the scribes as Sarah noted to herself. He was not some average wastelander.

When everyone began retiring off to bed the Wanderer went to sit by Sarah on her bed.

"I've run into a good amount of people so far in these wastes, but you guys are alright. Even if you are a little cocky." He grinned a little and looked down as he said the last words.

"Well...it's better than being too modest. Like you vault boy." She looked him over as his brown eyes met her blue eyes.

"Call me Leo Sentinel." The words rolled out of his mouth as he smiled at her.

"And you call me Sarah." She smiled that lopsided grin again. The Lone Wanderer named Leo took a moment to appreciate that awkward, dorky grin and then stood up. He began to walk away as he said.

"Goodnight Sarah, see you in the morning."

From across the room Sarah heard Colvin laugh, "uh oh the fearsome Sentinel Lyons has a crush!"

"CAN IT COLVIN!" And that's when Colvin felt an empty can of pork n' beans hit him in the face.

When Sarah and the pride got up the next morning she looked around for the mysterious Leo. She asked Wilks where he was at, but he told her that he had left as soon as the sun rose.

Sarah felt disappointment well up in her much to her chagrin. As she began to mobilize the pride and get ready to return to the Citadel, she noticed a piece of paper torn from a book barely showing from under her pillow. She read the words:

I know I said I would see you guys in the morning, but I just had to go. I hope you all understand. Give my regards to Colvin and Vargas. Hopefully we will meet again soon Sarah Lyons.

P.S. I didn't mean to lie to you Lyons.
-Leo Lionhart

She smirked a little bit as she crumpled the page up. Things just got a little more interesting in the Capital Wasteland. But there were two words she just had to whisper out loud as though the wanderer were right in front of her.

"You Liar."

-A/N

Hey there guys I'm Red Lion Ranger creator of the Ghost Squad! Within this story we will be peering into a collection of mini stories which involve the Lone Wanderer and Sarah Lyons. I've always seen this relationship as a kind of complicated relationship but together we will explore just what exactly is between these two titans of the East. Thank you, love you guys! Feel free to review I want to hear your opinions!