The sun shone down on the wastes, bathing the Citadel's courtyard in soft sunlight. Sunset stood alone near one wall, looking at a small bronze plaque that glowed in the gentle light. A large magic-infused hammer leaned against the wall beneath it.

A month had passed since the battle at the Air Force Base, yet Cross' death still weighed on Sunset's mind. The Star Paladin hadn't given up and, even in the face of certain death, had still struck one last blow in a final act of stubborn defiance. It was both inspiring and humbling.

Cross' sacrifice certainly hadn't been in vain. The Brotherhood and the Enclave were still understandably wary of each other, but their tentative alliance was still holding up, and interactions between the two factions had largely been smooth.

Strangely, despite the tension between their leaders, the Brotherhood personnel had integrated with the Enclave researchers at the Base Crawler with incredible ease. Sunset suspected that it was largely down to sheer curiosity. The Brotherhood Scribes and the Enclave scientists were both bringing different kinds of research to the table, and each were intensely interested in what the other side had to offer.

Project Purity was also running like a well-oiled machine. The two factions had both stationed a significant number of troops there for defensive purposes, and the Enclave was taking pains to ingratiate themselves with the Rivet City security and science teams that helped with organisation. The Brotherhood and Enclave were also splitting duties when it came to water distribution, with the Brotherhood handling local deliveries, occasionally escorted by Liberty Prime to dissuade bandits and raiders, while the Enclave used their Vertibirds to handle deliveries to the more far-flung settlements.

All in all, stability was slowly returning to the wasteland now that the war was over; a fact that was only possible thanks to the sacrifices of soldiers like Cross. Sunset was a little disappointed that Cross' remains weren't buried with the plaque; she had been cremated and her ashes stored within the Citadel, but the fact that the Brotherhood had gone out of their way to create a small memorial for her was touching.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset reached out and touched the handle of the hammer. "You gave your life to save mine. I won't forget that. Me and the girls are going to be focusing on finding a way home, but I swear, we're going to do our damnedest to make sure the wasteland is a better place before we go."

Sunset snapped a crisp salute before turning away. The rest of the Rainbooms were waiting for her near the Citadel's gate. She smiled as she spotted Twilight standing with them, struggling to get her new combat armor settled comfortably.

"Hey, Sunny," Pinkie called. "Ready to go?"

Sunset nodded. "Yeah. Are you all prepared?"

Everyone voiced their assent, though Twilight looked a little confused. "Um, just out of curiosity, where exactly are we going?"

"Project Purity," Sunset replied as she moved to the head of the group. She waved for the gate to be opened before continuing, "Apparently, something went wrong with the last shipment of water to Megaton, so the Enclave is going to drop another batch up via Vertibird, and we're going to hitch a ride up there with it to see if we can find out what went wrong."

"Probably raiders," Applejack said. "We know that there's a raider camp in the nearby ruins."

"Or that awful wretch Moriarty did something to it," Rarity suggested.

Sunset shrugged. "We'll find out soon enough."

"Adam is coming with us, too," Fluttershy put in. "He's going to meet us at Project Purity."

Rarity perked up. "Does that mean that Fawkes will be joining us?"

"Nah, he's helping the mining team up at Raven Rock," Rainbow replied.

"That's a shame." Twilight grimaced and tried to shift her armor around again. "How do you girls manage to use this stuff? It's a lot heavier and more awkward than I expected."

"Just be thankful that the Enclave fixed you up enough to wear it, darling," Rarity told her. "Getting shot at is not a pleasant experience."

Pinkie glanced at her curiously. "How did they fix you? I was still in recovery when you went under the knife."

Twilight rolled her shoulders one last time, then sighed heavily. "They called it a Bio-cell Skeleton Matrix. Essentially it's some sort of organic scaffolding that holds my muscles and ligaments and things together. It takes some of the strain of movement off them, and slowly breaks down as everything heals. It's very advanced, and, according to the Enclave doctors, it's still experimental."

"Um… fun?" Pinkie said uneasily.

"It's better than the wheelchair," Twilight said with a shrug. She looked at the souped-up plasma pistol on Sunset's belt. "What about you? Did you figure out how to work that thing?"

Sunset glanced down and patted the pistol. "More or less. It seems to take specially crafted crystals infused with my magic as ammunition. The only problem is that Major Owens must have been using corrupted crystals, because the ones I have been using run out of ammo way too quickly."

"How bad is it?" Rainbow asked.

"One shot at full power drains a whole crystal cell, meaning I have to reload," Sunset replied. "I can lower the power setting, which gives me more shots, but they're nowhere near as powerful."

"The computer always cheats," Pinkie muttered.

Rainbow gave her a confused look, then shook her head and looked back to Sunset. "Have you figured out what you're going to call it?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've got Flashburn," Rainbow said, patting the sword for emphasis. "Pinkie has the Party Cannon and her Pinkaxe, Fluttershy has Vampire's Edge-"

"Ah'm callin' this Brutal Honesty," Applejack added, holding up her minigun.

"So, what are you calling your guns?" Rainbow asked.

Sunset hummed as she pondered. She had actually put some thought into it before, not that she would ever admit it. "For the pistol, I was thinking Nova."

"Not bad, not bad," Rainbow mused. "And the plasma rifle?"

"That…" Sunset trailed off. She had considered several, but none of them felt right. It almost felt like she didn't have the right to name it. "I'll ask Harkness if he ever gave it a name the next time I see him." She blinked as a random memory flashed through her mind. "I'll ask him what he meant by 'doggystyle', too."

Rarity choked and looked away, blushing furiously. Fluttershy and Twilight both blushed too, while Applejack raised an eyebrow and Pinkie and Rainbow just looked confused.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but... what context was that word used in?" Rarity asked.

"The kinda context that Fluttershy thinks about whenever she sees a certain armored idiot," Applejack muttered, though she snapped her mouth shut and wilted under the blistering glare Fluttershy gave her.

Twilight adjusted her glasses. "M-maybe you just talk to Harkness about it?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, a slow smirk spreading across her face. "It's something to do with fu-" She winced as Applejack slapped a hand across her mouth.

"Not another word," Applejack growled. "Twi's right, Sunset. Speak to Harkness. Either that or use your Geode on him, an' figure out what you're gonna do about it from there."

Sunset frowned curiously, trying to figure out what they knew that she didn't, but she was distracted as Pinkie asked, "Speaking of Geodes, how many more do you think we're going to find around the wasteland?"

Rarity grimaced. "Hopefully? None."

---

Pia scratched her head as she looked down at her sleeping daughter. Chandra's Geode was safely tucked away in a lockbox under the bed, close enough that it wouldn't randomly start a fire, but far enough out of her grasp that she couldn't accidentally spit out a fireball just because she had a nightmare.

Thankfully, such nightmares were rare. In fact, ever since she had gotten the Geode, Chandra had hardly been afraid of anything at all, not that she had been a particularly nervous child before. Indeed, the little girl had always been adventurous, to the point of recklessness, much to Pia's concern. Adding in a magical necklace that granted wings and the ability to conjure flames out of thin air had only exacerbated Pia's worries.

Sunset had suggested experimenting with the Geode, ensuring that such experiments were conducted as safely as possible. Her rationale had been simple; if they knew what the Geode drew on for power, it would be easier to train, and therefore easier to control.

Unfortunately, Pia couldn't figure out what the Geode was drawing on for the life of her. It certainly wasn't powered by Honesty, or Loyalty, or anything even remotely similar to the Rainbooms' Geodes. Instead, it was almost as if the thing was the physical embodiment of Fire itself.

What that meant for Chandra's future, Pia could hardly even begin to imagine.

---

Senator Lily swished the wine in her glass, enjoying the way the deep red liquid sloshed around, then took a light sip, savouring the flavour. It was a good vintage. Satisfied, she leaned back in her chair and let out a long, contented sigh.

Everything was going perfectly.

Closing her eyes, Lily felt the perceptions of dozens of undead creatures filtering through her mind, feeding her information bit by bit. If she concentrated, she could look through the eyes of one of her puppets as if they were her own.

The most recent of her successful reanimations was currently standing guard over her newly assigned laboratory downstairs. Properly reattaching FH-2's head had been incredibly tricky, but resurrecting the beast as a zombie had been incredibly easy. The magic already inside the creature had meshed nicely with Lily's own.

Of course, keeping the truth of her powers hidden, as well as the fact that she had a Geode, wasn't so easy, but Lily had managed to convince the other scientists that she had simply reattached FH-2's head, and the combination of FEV, robotic enhancements and magic that Acheson had pumped into it had done the rest. She was an excellent liar when she wanted to be.

Lily took another sip of wine and allowed herself to bask in her success. She had the power of Death right at her fingertips. All it would take was a few more steps, and death was something that she would be able to avoid for the rest of eternity.

---

The man grunted as he landed flat on his back.

"For fuck's sake, I thought you Talon Company assholes were supposed to be tough," Lightning spat. She snorted and turned away, snatching a water bottle from a nearby table and chugging it down. The sound of someone clapping, loudly and slowly, caught her attention.

"Very good, Lightning," Commander Jabsco said gruffly. The leader of Talon Company had greasy black hair, piercing blue eyes, and an apparently powerful build, though it was hard to tell under the moulded metal armor he wore. "I knew I made the right choice fixing you up."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, if you want me to suck your dick, you're going to have to do better than that."

Jabsco chuckled and crossed his arms. "Maybe later. I'm more interested in something else right now."

"Yeah, and what's that?" Lightning asked sourly, half-expecting a comment about other parts of her anatomy.

"When my operatives found you, bleeding to death from a ghoul bite, with a dead glowing one at your feet, they could have killed you," Jabsco said, his tone indicating that he had prepared this little speech beforehand. "At first, when they told me your story, I wondered why they had bothered bringing someone so weak back to our organisation. Then I heard about the magic, the way it had… changed certain creatures, and I realized just how poten-"

"Look, ass-munch, if this is your way of saying you want to fuck me, get your armor off, get your fists up, and fucking earn it," Lightning spat.

The Talon Company guards on either side of Jabsco raised their weapons, but he just waved them off. "Actually, I was hoping that we could recruit you. You could do great things for Talon Company, and we could do great things for you."

Lightning shook her head. "That's a nice offer, but I only go for-"

"The biggest challenges," Jabsco finished. "So I've heard. However, I believe our goals in this regard are aligned. You see, a certain group of young women has been causing some problems for us recently, interfering with business and such."

Lightning instantly realized what he was getting at. "You want the Rainbooms dead."

Jabsco nodded. "And I want you to do it. Of course, you'll need some proper training first." Lightning opened her mouth to tell him where he could shove his training, but she stopped as he held something out to her. "You'll also need some practice with this."

A grayish-blue necklace dangled from Jabsco's outstretched hand. Strangely, Lightning felt like it was somehow calling out to her."

"We found this thing when we found you," Jabsco explained. "Everyone who has tried to use it so far has died. Horribly. I think you might be able to get some real use out of it though."

Lightning stared at the necklace. Excitement rippled through her. Somehow, she knew that this thing would give her strength just like what the Rainbooms were said to possess. With power like that at her disposal, there would be nothing stopping her from becoming the greatest hunter the world had ever seen. The necklace glowed brightly, as if reacting to her Ambition.

Slowly, savouring the anticipation, Lightning reached out for the necklace. The moment her hand closed around it she felt a jolt of electricity crackle through her body. Her hair lengthened until it was almost down to her waist, and a pair of feathery green wings erupted from her back. Lightning grinned and slipped the necklace over her head. "Alright, Commander, you've got yourself a deal."

---

A cacophony of noise filled the corridors of Vault 87. Shephard ignored all of it, stomping quickly towards what was left of the Vault labs. It was frustrating, being one of the only Super Mutants to retain any real intelligence.

The vast majority of Super Mutants lost most of their intelligence upon their transformation, as the huge increase in mass and strength came at the cost of their minds. Super Mutants tended to get bigger and tougher as they aged, without any known upper limit on just how big they could get, but this came with a commensurate loss of even more brainpower.

Thanks to that, the biggest and oldest Super Mutants, the colossal Behemoths, had the mental acuity of an angry badger, and about the same level of linguistic capability. On the other hand, the youngest and smallest Super Mutants were often the brightest, not that that was saying much, but didn't have the might or the experience to lead the warbands and the raiding parties. Therefore, it was those in the middle, the elite Brutes and the experienced Masters, who directed the actions of their lesser brethren.

Then there were the Overlords. Most of them were well on the way to becoming Behemoths, though many of them still had enough of a spark in their minds to be able to lead in a pinch.

Every single one of them was little more than an idiot toddler before Shephard. It was infuriating. To add insult to injury, the only other Super Mutants to have kept their intelligence, Fawkes and the runt Uncle Leo, had been so bent on spreading peace and tranquility that the others were now suspicious of any Super Mutant with too much intelligence. Thanks to their feeble ideologies, Shephard had been spending just as much time stamping out backstabbers as hunting down fresh humans for making more Super Mutants.

As for Tiberius, the only reason that poor fool was still alive was because Shephard made a point of ripping the arms off of anyone who so much as looked at him wrong. The fact that he was the Vault's best chance at finding a way to get more FEV also helped keep the others off his back.

Thankfully, the new magic had given Shephard something of a reprieve.

Stomping through another corridor, Shephard finally found the lab they was looking for. A single Super Mutant was sitting in there, tinkering away with something on one of the workbenches. The young Super Mutant had spiky purple hair, and a set of spiny purple wings sticking out of his back.

"Is it ready yet, Zap?" Shephard grunted without preamble.

Zap looked up, blinking owlishly until he realized who was talking. "Oh, Shephard, yep. Almost, yep, almost. Zap got the magic thingamajig fixed properly, yep, and I've resized the glove bit for you, yep, so now Zap's just putting more crystals in there to see what kinda power they give it, yep."

Shephard nodded and lumbered over to a bench in the corner. Zap was one of the many Super Mutants who had been further mutated by wild magic. Unlike most of their fellows, however, Zap, and the others who had been struck by the same type of magic, had regained something of their former intelligence. Zap in particular had somehow been blessed with a keen mechanical intuition, and a knack for putting together impressive magical equipment.

Admittedly, some of Zap's experiments had gone haywire and sent magically enhanced hell-beasts rampaging through the Vault, but extreme violence and horrific deaths were something that Super Mutants were bred to handle.

Shephard had immediately pilfered Zap for use as a personal weaponsmith. With magical armaments and the power of the Geode, Shephard was intending to become unstoppable.

First, the Vault 87 Super Mutants would be brought to heel under a single banner, then the Capital Wasteland would be conquered. Breeding camps would be set up so that humans could be farmed, creating a constant supply of new Super Mutants. Then, once the Capital Wasteland had been thoroughly subjugated, Shephard would set sights on the entire North American continent.

The Geode around Shephard's neck glowed, powering up in anticipation of the coming war.

There was just one problem. The Rainbooms.

Shephard had been impervious to all forms of weaponry ever since the Geode had chosen its bearer. Pain itself had almost become a distant memory.

Then the pink Rainboom had come along. Her magic hadn't been strong enough to even char Shephard's skin, but it had still hurt. That was unacceptable. The Geode needed to be stronger. Shephard needed to be utterly invincible.

There was only one option that Shephard could think of.

Snarling, Shephard ripped the Geode from its neck and slapped it onto a nearby table. Next, the Overlord picked a large knife up from the table, took a deep breath, and plunged the knife into the skin over their breastbone.

Grimacing through the pain, Shephard sliced open a wide gash above the breastbone, then tossed the knife aside and snatched up the Geode. Thinking hard about the coming war, and imagining the desperate battles that would entail, Shephard forced the glowing Geode into the bloody pouch carved out in its chest.

Power immediately surged through Shephard's body. Dark green magic healed the bloody wound, sealing the Geode in its new home in Shephard's heart. Foul green magic coursed through veins, nerves, and muscles, agonizingly reforging them until they were utterly unbreakable.

Half-blinded by agony, head filled with dreams of conquest, Shephard rose on shaking legs and let loose a roar that shook the very foundations of the earth.

---

Raven Rock was beautiful. Sunlight sparkled off a whole rainbow of different-colored crystals, creating a radiant skyscraper that could be seen for miles around. But as beautiful as the exterior was, it was as nothing compared to the interior.

Gentle magical light emanated from every surface, refracting infinitely from every surface until each corridor and hall was filled with a kaleidoscope of color. Every time a crystal was touched it let out a soft tone which echoed in the close confines, joining with notes from the other side of the mountain to create a constant orchestra that was as hauntingly beautiful as it was utterly disorienting.

A woman stood in the lowest of the halls. In form, she appeared to be young, barely out of her teens, with flowing black hair that reached down to her waist. The woman was entirely naked, save for her pale blue Geode, though that didn't bother her in the slightest.

Surrounding her were creatures of all shapes and sizes, each formed from the crystallized remains of the former inhabitants of Raven Rock. Foul rotting fiends that had once been corpses stood patiently next to ruby Deathclaws and emerald Super Mutants, while once-human simulacra knelt respectfully. Shades and wisps floated above them all, trailing glittering dust in their wake.

"It is almost time," the woman said quietly.

None of the creatures answered. They would neither move nor speak until their Queen told them to.

The woman smiled, glad to see the order and serenity she had brought to the mountain. Soon, she would spread those gifts to the world.

Closing her eyes, the woman felt for Eden's mind, finding him sitting on a table in the Citadel as the other leaders spoke around him. The former President was entirely unaware of the woman's observation, and he had swallowed the lie about her heritage without any trouble, spreading it to all those who would listen.

These facts pleased the woman. She knew that it was only a matter of time before people came searching for her, especially now that the Brotherhood and the Enclave were no longer at war, but she still had a little breathing space before the problems occured.

Just as the woman was about to turn to other matters, she caught a name through Eden's ears. Her breath hitched at the sound of it.

A Senator.

Her mother.

The one who abandoned her.

An awful sucking sensation tore at the woman's chest, an emotion so strong and so raw that it was painful in its intensity. The woman hunched over and clutched at her chest. Despair threatened to drive her to her knees, her Geode glowing as it fed on the emotion that birthed it.

"No." The woman forced the pain down and locked it away in the back of her mind. Hopelessness. Despair. These things were rampant all over the world. Even the heroics of the Rainbooms were little more than a bandaid pressed over a gushing wound. Only the woman could end the suffering. Only she could bring peace, and unity, and an end to the pain. "And then they will all love me." The woman straightened up, her breath hissing through her teeth. "I'll never be left alone again. And mother shall pay."

---

"Life isn't fair. That is one of the very few guarantees that we have in this existence. For us ghouls, this is a truth that is stamped across every inch of our bodies for the whole world to see and smell. We are all painfully aware of this truth."

Several ghouls nodded, though most of the crowd simply watched silently. Caliban didn't mind. His followers were few in number, but they were growing by the day.

"In my case, the reality of this situation may be even more unfortunate than your own. You that some rare few among us possess different physiologies. I have seen myself that some of you are what the smoothskins call Glowing Ones. I… I am something even more unusual." Caliban held his arms up and allowed the baggy sleeves of his patchwork robes to fall back, exposing his arms. Most of the watching ghouls gasped as they saw the flame-like aura wreathing his arms. "The ignorant smoothskins call me a Reaver. They fear me, cast me out, even from places that otherwise tolerate ghoul-kind."

More than a few of the watching ghouls gave him looks of sympathy. Reavers were rare. As far as Caliban knew, he was the only Reaver to have actually retained his own mind, rather than turning fully feral. Unfortunately, Reavers were as dangerous as they were sparse. Even power-armored soldiers weren't safe from their ferocious assaults.

"You can imagine the fear that the smoothskins feel when they see me," Caliban continued. "However, I do not blame them. They are frail, where I am strong. Their reaction is only natural. It was during my travels that I discovered the truth that is Atom."

At least half of the crowd watching almost immediately lost interest. "I know, I know, you have heard all of this before," Caliban said quickly. "But I have come here, to Underworld, not to peddle the theories of smoothskins, but to show you absolute proof of Atom's blessing."

Caliban lowered his arms. He took a deep breath and reached inwards, secretly drawing power out of the Geode hidden beneath his robes. Radiation immediately poured forth, suffusing his body with energy. Caliban's hood hid his face, but the sudden storm of radiation made his entire body glow with an intense yellow-green light, then flashed out to envelope the entire room as if a dam had burst and released a veritable tide of power.

The watching ghouls practically jumped out of their skins, many of them crying out in shock. None of them would be negatively affected by radiation, such was one of the few blessings of ghoulification, but Caliban didn't blame them for reacting the way they did.

When the ghouls had finally calmed down, they all looked at him with newfound fear, respect, and awe.

Caliban was glad that the radiation had rendered his skin almost perfectly translucent. It meant that those watching couldn't tell that he was grinning. "With your help, my friends, we can spread the blessings and power of Atom throughout the wastes! No more shall our kind be forced to skulk in the shadows, but we shall walk freely in the loving light of Atom!"

---

Chains rattled as Blades was dragged through dark corridors. Pain coursed through every part of his body. He had no idea how long it had been since he had been returned to the fortress of the Red Flags. All he knew was that he had been handed to the enforcers, thrown into a cell, and then the interrogation had begun.

Blades hadn't even tried to hide anything from them. He had heard too many stories of the Red Flags' enforcers to even try, so he answered every question they asked, from where he had been, what he had done, and who he had encountered along the way. Sometimes they had believed him, and let him back to his cell unmolested. Sometimes they hadn't.

Finally, out of nowhere, the enforcers had come to the cell and told Blades that one of the bosses wanted to see him.

Blades looked up as the enforcers came to a halt before a set of double doors and knocked politely. As they waited for someone to answer, Blades idly wondered which of the bosses it was. He was probably boned either way, but there was a chance that he would be able to talk his way out of this alive.

The doors opened with a creak a moment later, revealing a large dimly lit room. The floors were covered with fluffy Yao Guai skin rugs and opulent fabric hangings on the walls. A huge roaring fireplace dominated one wall, providing the only illumination.

Terror gripped Blades as he realized that this was Shí Yáng's personal audience chamber. Shadowy figures lined the room, each of them a member of the Red Flags' inner circle. Blades could just make out two silhouettes in front of the fireplace. One of them was almost certainly Shí Yáng herself, while the other was almost certainly a bodyguard of some sort, not that she would need one.

"Ah, Blades. Bring him forward." The enforcers hauled Blades into the middle of the room and forced him to his knees. The two silhouettes stared down at him, sending a shiver down Blades' spine.

"It has been a long time, Blades," Shí Yáng said quietly. It always surprised Blades how such a powerful woman could sound like an innocent, bright-eyed young woman. "You have no idea how much it hurt me when you betrayed my trust the way you did."

"I-I didn't betray you," Blades insisted weakly. "I s-saw and easy mark, and I-"

"You and your gang attacked a Brotherhood of Steel supply run, despite knowing full well that staying out of the Brotherhood's way is the only reason that the Red Flags have managed to grow as much as we have," Shí Yáng interrupted. "And then, when your foolish plan failed, you had the audacity to try and run."

Blades flinched, but he tried to project some confidence into his voice as he said, "I had no other choice. Hell, we'd be having a different conversation if the attack had worked."

"Whether the attack was successful or not is irrelevant," Shí Yáng retorted. "The key point is not getting on the Brotherhood's bad side. All of the Red Flags follow the same laws, Blades. You broke them, and didn't even have the courage to own up to it." There was a snapping sound, as if someone had unfolded a fan. "The laws must be upheld. Those who break the laws must be punished."

An icy weight dropped into Blades' gut. "N-no… please."

"Silence," Shí Yáng hissed. "Our newest member shall handle your punishment. Nirik, you may take him."

One of the silhouettes shifted, and a purple necklace around its throat suddenly blazed with infernal light. Violet flames burst into life around its arms and legs, and wreathed its neck. Even its hair and eyebrows ignited with purple fire while its eyes themselves burned like white suns, yet somehow its skin remained black as pitch.

Wrath and heat seemed to wash off the Nirik in waves. Blades tried to move, to fight or run or away, or something, but terror held him rooted to the spot. All he could do was kneel there and watch as the Nirik advanced on him with a snarl.

Next Chapter: Chapter 104 - Holy Water Estimated time remaining: 21 Hours, 17 Minutes