Chapter 46: Power Armor and Tour
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The doctor was kind enough to let me walk around the bunker for a tour, even though I had to drag the IV bag with me alongside walking around with thin bandages covering my entire body. Vault E was relatively well-maintained, if not improved by the advancement of technology here. All of the vault inhabitants were wearing Pip-Boy, albeit I could notice that the screen was colored.

Yes, they had a working full-color Pip-Boy. How the hell did they manage to do that? Then again, this Vault's main purpose was to develop electronics alongside military hardware. No wonder nobody knew where this Vault was, they must have never opened it in the first place due to their self-sufficiency. After all, electronics was king.

"I see that you look at everyone in awe, Enzo," the doctor commented.

"I… have no comment. Why don't you share the technology with the wasteland? I meant, it would make their lives better, wouldn't they?" I asked.

"With Dick Richardson and John Henry Eden around while the NCR and Brotherhood of Steel are hunting us down like a bunch of rats? Are you sure you really need to ask that question in the first place?" The doctor asked me the obvious question back.

Thinking about it again, the Brotherhood did have a grudge against the Enclave, and how they hoarded every single technology from wastelanders confirmed that they would do anything that could to get Enclave to give all of the technology to them by force.

Knowing the Brotherhood of Steel, there would be more tendency to kill everyone inside of this bunker rather than ending up with a mutual understanding. Meanwhile, the NCR was quite strong enough to give Enclave a run for the money. After all, the NCR had the numbers while you could count the Enclave remnants in Navaro by hand, I guess?

"Yeah, sorry, I don't know enough about that," I said.

"That's ok, I don't expect you to know or care about that," the doctor sighed as he opened a vault door, leading to an atrium. It was giant, like, three-story high and each floor was probably five meters tall. Nobody wore Vault Dweller attire there, it was either casual clothing or military clothing and that was it.

I looked at the whole atrium in awe. People were walking around, doing their assignments while some soldiers in power armor were guarding each and every vault door. The power armor wasn't the T-51B or the T-45D that the BOS used either. They were using the Advanced Power Armor Mk 1 with some people wearing the T-60 or X-01 power armor. Overall, it was a blessing to see them all here, knowing that I was with a very strong faction.

"Impressed, kid?"

They were probably above 200 centimeters tall, I could assume, probably at around 220 centimeters to 240 centimeters, or around 7 feet to 8 feet. They were bulky, even more, bulky than the most athletic people that had ever lived. They were massive, and getting stomped by them would probably break my entire foot. No, it was not New Vegas power armor, more like Fallout 4 power armor. Still, it was much more realistic in my opinion.

"I… don't have anything to say," I said as a power armor soldier walked right next to me.

"Good morning, doc," he said with that famous distorted voice when one was wearing power armor. He was wearing an X-01 power armor instead of the Advanced Power Armor or the T-60 power armor. It was painted in black but without any Enclave insignia.

"Morning, Charlie, how are your legs?" he asked.

"A little bit stiff, but thanks for yesterday, I can move a little bit better now," Charlie said.

"Be careful on your patrol, then," the doctor said.

"Thanks, doc."

Suddenly, another soldier approached me. He didn't wear any power armor, but he was wearing a formal military uniform, colored in grey. I'd say he was someone important with the Enclave, but I didn't know what was his rank. It was similar to today's formal military uniform with its cap and dress.

On his left upper arm was his rank insignia while on his right upper arm was his unit insignia. The cap had an enclave symbol in the middle of it. I didn't know how to read all of the fizzles about military things, though.

"Doc, is this the new guy that Squad Alpha picked up?" he asked.

"Yes, of course."

"Ah, nice to meet you, my name is Sergeant Kyle, responsible for all of these grunts' training. If you entered the conscription period, you'll meet me, eventually. Nice to meet you, new guy," Kyle smiled. I was confused, I thought Enclave didn't treat wastelander this well. This unit didn't exactly follow its main dogma whatsoever, cleaning wasteland from mutants.

"Nice to meet you too, Kyle," I replied.

"Kyle, would you do me a favor and take this man for a tour around our Vault, please?" The doctor asked.

"Sure thing, anything for my favorite doctor in the vault," Kyle said.

"Alright, I have to get back to the hospital/clinic. Kyle, don't treat him like a recruit, got it?" The doctor asked.

"Sure thing, now, c'mon, let's take a walk, shall we? Do you need a hand with the IV stand?" Kyle offered while smiling.

Kyle led me to another section of the vault and I followed him from behind. He led me to a section filled with more military personnel, maybe because he wanted to show me the strength of Enclave and put the fear of a devil into my mind.

"Alright, we'll be entering the military section," Kyle said as he opened a vault door.

It led me to a bigger room, a room the size of a football field, filled with mud, obstacles, climbing walls, etc. It was tall enough, and it had a pool filled with mud water. I wasn't standing on top of the dirt, but I was standing on top of a platform one story higher than the whole floor.

"This is our training yard, the place where you can either train navigating the wasteland or being pitted against one another in a war game. Although we do have VR combat simulators, nothing beat the real experience, don't you think, new guy?" Kyle asked.

"I agree," I said.

"Nice, I know you'll be knowledgeable. After all, you are the guy who pissed off those Romans," Kyle referred to me being the enemy of the Legion.

This vault had a massive military power the Brotherhood would have a wet dream just by seeing it. Why this Vault hadn't taken over the wasteland yet? I had no clue whatsoever about that. Just… why? They had power armor, and military training, alongside advanced technologies.

"Kyle, may I ask a question?"

"Sure, ask away,"

"Why hadn't the Enclave taken over the wasteland yet?" I asked.

"Logistic problem, manpower problem, and public relation problem, if you want me to oversimplify it. Listen, the Brotherhood of Steel had a better public relation in comparison to the Enclave, and that is not a high standard whatsoever, kinda like comparing those Romans and the Republic in our case," Kyle said.

Ah, yes, the most important aspect of warfare, was logistics. The NCR was too far stretched into the Mojave and ran into logistical problems further exacerbated by the Legion. No matter how advanced your rifle was, if you didn't have any ammo to shoot with it, it was no different than a baseball bat.

"But, how can the NCR fight the Enclave?" I asked.

"Well, they have lots of vehicles, shitton of people, and tanks," Kyle said.

"Huh? Can power armor fight tanks?"

Kyle smiled and facepalmed his own face. "Typical new guy." He murmured. "Where do you want me to start? I usually berated a new recruit if they asked a simple, yet silly question. Do you want the wasteland edition or the more technical edition?"

"What's the difference?" I asked.

"The wasteland version is just the most simple explanation, while the technical, well… it'd be a very long talk," Kyle said.

"Let's go with the wasteland version," I said.

"Alright, listen carefully. The small guns go clang clang, medium guns go bang bang, big guns go boom boom. Tank guns and autocannons go BOOM BOOM and you'll be left with your body scattered into big pieces," Kyle said, really meant the wasteland version to mean that I was too dumb to understand.

"Eh, can you get more specifics?" I asked.

"Never. Ever. Confuse light infantry, regular infantry, heavy infantry, mechanized infantry, and armored infantry. They are DIFFERENT," Kyle shouted as if his blood was boiling. "Sorry, kid, get carried a bit there."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is you need to join the Enclave first," he smiled as he continued the tour. Man, these people really wanted me to join their organization, aren't they? The NCR didn't force me to join, but well, what could I say? They saved my life from a close call.

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