The Exodus portal was glorious. It was an immense steel construct, located in the old retrofitting hangar. The bulk of it was made up of a colossal steel ring, big enough for one of the Delta IX rockets to fit through comfortably, with a wide ramp leading up to it. The rest of the machine was a mess of cables, terminals, and huge computer banks, all dotted with magical crystals. Two man-sized glass vials stood atop one of the largest banks, each full to the brim with glowing magical fluid.

Tara could hardly believe her eyes.

"As far as we can tell, it should work," Sienna told her. "All that's left is calibration, and that should go a lot quicker now that you're here to help Evans and Pickering."

"Perfect," Tara breathed. "What about the Delta IX's? Are we still converting one of those?"

Sienna nodded. "Slowly. We've been prioritizing the portal itself, for obvious reasons."

Tara smiled, satisfied that everything was on schedule and going according to plan. "Good." Okay, let's go and see Michaels." As the pair turned and headed towards the medical bay, Tara asked, "Are there any other issues I should know about?"

Paper rustled as Sienna flicked through the sheets on her clipboard. "Just a few small things. The Brotherhood of Steel wants any information we can provide on the Boogeyman."

"The what?" Tara asked, baffled.

"I believe it's the animated power armor that escaped from here after the battle with the Rainbooms. The one Vincent chased off," Sienna explained.

Tara shuddered. "The one that spoke to us through our electronics?"

"Yes," Sienna replied. "Apparently, it has resurfaced again in a settlement called… the Republic of Dave. A group of wasteland vigilantes calling themselves the Regulators are trying to deal with it, but they're already struggling to deal with a sharp increase in activity from both the Super Mutants and Talon Company. They've asked the Brotherhood for help."

"Hmm, I know that Becky severed the Enclave's ties with Talon Company at Elder Lyons' request. They must have found themselves another sponsor." Tara frowned thoughtfully. "Send the Brotherhood everything we know about the Boogeyman, and tell them to ask Rivet City if they have any further information, since that's where our scouts last saw it."

Tara waited for Sienna to note it all down before continuing. "Also send a message to Becky and ask if she can give the Brotherhood our intel on Talon Company. As for the Super Mutants, I'm not sure that there's much we can do about that."

"There hasn't been much activity around here, lately. Maybe they've abandoned the ruins and are moving into the wastes proper instead?" Sienna suggested.

"We'll mention it to Vincent and have him confer with Andrew," Tara replied. "They're the military experts, let them handle the Super Mutants."

"Gladly." Sienna checked her notes again. "Aside from that, the repairs and fortification of the surface building are almost finished, and Doctor Turner has started talking to himself." She sighed and shook her head. "At this point, I don't think there's much we can do for him. His mutations appear to be irreversible. I believe it may be in everyone's best interest to just keep him sedated, or even just euthanize him."

Tara let out a sad sigh. "I'll think about it. I know he's a blinkered idiot, but he did step in as my mentor after Professor Oliver left. I don't want to give up on him just yet."

"Okay," Sienna said simply.

Silence fell as the two made their way through the Exodus building. Technicians and scientists passed them in droves, a far cry from back when Project Exodus had first been formed.

"He's just in here." Sienna broke the silence outside one of the medical rooms.

Inside, Michaels was sitting up on a simple hospital bed. It was the first time that Tara had seen him properly since he had tried to prevent the Rainbooms from escaping Project Exodus. His head was clean-shaven, but his skin was pale and waxy, and being in a coma for so long had reduced his muscular build to skin and bone.

"Sergeant," Sienna greeted as she walked in. "How are you feeling?"

Michaels looked up slowly. He scowled the moment he spotted Tara. "I've been better."

"Do you remember anything from before you were knocked unconscious?" Tara asked.

"I remember you helping those mutant freaks escape," he said flatly.

Tara gave him a cold look. "Those 'freaks', as you call them, aren't mutants, and they're also a big part of the reason that the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel are finally at peace."

"Seriously?!" Michaels exclaimed loudly.

"Yes," Sienna deadpanned. "There's a lot that you've missed out on, so try and show a little respect from now on."

Michaels looked from one woman to the other, as if expecting one of them to deny it. He stiffened when he realized that they were actually telling the truth. "Yes, doctors."

Tara nodded. "Don't worry. I can imagine how unsettling this must be. I'll have someone sent down to bring you up to speed on everything that's happened recently." She glanced at Sienna. "For now, I think it's time I checked on Turner."

---

Sobering up wasn't easy, it turned out. Still, after a second shower, a rushed meal of apples and dehydrated meat, a change of clothes, two stimpaks, and a morning after pill, Sunset felt clear-headed enough to head back out into the wastes.

Fluttershy was less than enthused about it, but she relented so long as Sunset promised that she would follow any and all instructions. That, or Fluttershy would declare her medically unfit for duty and force her to spend a week in convalescence.

As soon as Sunset was ready, the two left the Temple and headed for Megaton's gates.

"What did you say the mission was, again?" Sunset asked.

"Mirelurks," Fluttershy replied. "There's supposedly a big nest of them in the Anchorage War Memorial, on the riverbank in the downtown ruins. Moira wants us to plant an observation module in one of their egg clutches so she can study their behaviour. Preferably without killing any of them."

Sunset grimaced. "Mirelurks. Great. This is going to be fun."

"Just remember, you promised that you'd stay back and let the others handle any fighting," Fluttershy said warningly.

"I know, I know," Sunset replied. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on accidentally shooting someone." She breathed into a cupped hand and tried to sniff it. "Do I even smell drunk anymore?"

Fluttershy pursed her lips and gave her a critical look. "Well, you're not slurring your words much anymore. I can still smell the wine on your breath, but I don't know if the others will be able to."

Sighing heavily, Sunset dropped her hands to her side and decided that Fluttershy was probably better placed to judge her health than anyone. Thinking about Fluttershy's enhanced senses brought another subject to Sunset's mind. "Uh, sorry I didn't have any tips about… y'know."

"It's fine," Fluttershy replied quickly, her cheeks suddenly taking on a crimson tinge. "Please forget that I asked. The smell of the blood and everything else just got to my head."

"Right." Sunset glanced sidelong at her. "So… you're considering taking things further with Adam?"

Fluttershy's blush grew worse. "Yes, no, I don't know. I'd… um… I'd like to, but it feels like it might be a little bit too fast. We haven't even had a chance for a proper date yet."

"Fair enough. I'm afraid I can't help you much there, I'm not exactly in a position to preach restraint at the moment," Sunset admitted with a faint blush of her own.

"It's okay," Fluttershy replied. "His name was Chris, by the way." Sunset just gave her a blank look. "The Disciple." Fluttershy looked around to make sure no one was listening, then leaned in and lowered her voice, "Um, the one you..."

Sunset blinked in surprise. "Huh. Chris. I should probably remember that. Seeing him around is going to be awkward enough as it is, not knowing his name would probably make it even worse."

"Probably," Fluttershy agreed quietly.

The two fell quiet as they stepped through the gates and into the wastes. Adam and the others were already waiting, all in their armor and ready to go. Sunset assumed they had come back for it when she was in the shower.

"Finally." Applejack tipped her hat back to stare curiously as Sunset. "What the heck did you do to have to take another shower?"

Sunset shrugged. "Meh, got drunk and decided to bone down with one of the Disciples," she said flippantly. Fluttershy squeaked and blushed, but, as expected, the others all reacted with either amused or irritated disbelief.

"Really, darling, you shouldn't joke about such things," Rarity chided. "You're starting to sound like Rainbow Dash."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow asked indignantly.

"It means you're an incorrigible pervert, dear," Rarity replied, turning and heading in the direction of the Super Duper Mart.

Rainbow scowled as the group followed. "You don't complain about Applejack being a pervert."

"Ah ain't a perv," Applejack growled.

"It's because you're so blatant, Dashie," Pinkie said brightly. "At least Applejack tries to be subtle about it."

Applejack nodded curtly. "That's right, Ah- hey!"

The girls laughed as they made their way up the hill outside Megaton, though they quickly turned their attention to what they were doing. The ground was still somewhat slippery, forcing the group, especially Sunset, to concentrate on keeping their footing.

When they reached the top of the hill, Sunset was surprised to note that Rainbow and Rarity continued making a beeline directly for the Super Duper Mart. "Uh… where exactly are we going?"

"The Anchorage War Memorial," Pinkie replied. "It's pretty much just across the river from that sweet old lady we met on the way to Old Olney."

"Old lady?" Sunset gasped as she remembered. "Oh, Grandma Sparkle!"

Twilight's head snapped up at that. "Grandma who?!"

"All of your relatives in this world are Enclave," Sunset reminded her. "I doubt she's anything to do with your family."

"Fair point." Twilight sighed softly. "Anyway, we figured that, since none of us really wants to try and swim across the river, we'll take the bridge by the Super Duper Mart then go South from there."

Sunset nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let's just make sure that there aren't any more raiders in the Mart waiting to ambush us."

"I don't see anyone on the roof," Fluttershy put in. "I think we're clear, but we should keep our eyes open anyway."

Rarity glanced warily at Sunset. She coughed delicately before saying slowly, "Speaking of raiders-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sunset said bluntly. "It was a shitty thing to do, and I regret it. Let's just leave it at that."

"Fuck regret, those monsters deserved it," Rainbow said savagely.

"That may be so, but we ain't judge, jury, and executioner," Applejack countered. She glanced at Sunset. "Still, Ah can't blame you for losin' your temper like that. Ah probably would've done the same thing in your position."

Sunset didn't answer. She had had more than enough of that subject. "Alright, we're getting close to dangerous territory now, let's stow the chatter."

It was a blatant attempt to end the conversation, but it was true enough that no-one commented.

The area around the Super Duper Mart was, thankfully, devoid of any threats. Keeping their eyes peeled, the group crossed the small bridge just beyond it. A battered road on the far side led up into the main DC ruins but, when Fluttershy informed the group that she could hear people up that way, they decided to abandon the road and follow the river instead. There was a much bigger risk of encountering Mirelurks that way, but that was pretty much the point of the trip.

A short walk later, the group came to the metro station they had passed through on their way to Galaxy News Radio. Sunset wasn't sure whether or not the fact that the dead raiders had been removed was concerning.

"At least we don't have to go traipsing through those tunnels again," Rarity said with feeling.

Fluttershy nodded, shifting her gaze to the river. "We might have a different problem, though." She nodded to a partially hidden set of steps. Sunset couldn't see where they went, but it was a good bet that they led to a jetty on the river itself. "There's three people down there."

Every member of the group immediately raised their weapons. "Raiders?" Adam asked.

"I can't tell," Fluttershy replied. "It sounds like they're… fishing?"

Sunset snorted. "As long as they leave us alone, they can fish all they want."

"How nice of you." The sound of a voice crackling out from a speaker made everyone jump.

Fluttershy gestured with her rifle to a nearby car. "Under there." Looking carefully, the others could just about see a radio set, cunningly camouflaged with chunks of debris. "They must have headphones, or I'd have heard our voices coming out from the other end."

"Then you're some sort of witch creature," the voice said flatly. "But yes, we do have headphones, just in case outsiders like you try to sneak up on us, or get past without paying the toll."

Two women climbed up the steps. Both were wearing simple pants and patchwork tops, and both had their weapons, a shotgun and an assault rifle respectively, held ready. A second or two later a third woman appeared behind the others. Sunset's stomach lurched when she noticed that the third woman was casually lugging a missile launcher.

"That might be a problem," Applejack muttered.

"We're the Bridge Keepers," the woman with the missile launcher called out. "I'm Flynn, and if you want to pass, you're going to have to pay the toll."

"We didn't have to pay a toll the last time we came through here," Rainbow growled.

Flynn arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, well, times change. We moved in last month, and now there's a toll. Consider it a small charge for keeping the Super Mutants from setting up ambushes on the bridge."

Sunset glared at the woman. She wasn't feeling particularly inclined to just let these raiders extort her friends, but at the same time she didn't think a fight would be a good idea. "How much is the toll?"

"Forty caps, five per head," Flynn replied instantly. She smirked at the surprised looks on the girls' faces. "What? We're mercenaries, not extortionists. A lot of traffic comes through here; caravans, scavengers, you name it. Super Mutants used to like ambushing people on the bridge. We put a stop to it. You can't blame us for wanting a little bit of recompense, now, can you?"

"The Brotherhood of Steel comes through here regularly, too," Rainbow chimed in. "Do you really expect us to believe that they pay the toll as well?"

Flynn grinned at her. "We don't charge the Brotherhood. Every time they come through here they make sure to blast any Super Mutants that are in the area. Makes our job easier, and the scrubs who come through after still pay the same toll whether it's us that does the fighting or the Brotherhood."

Sunset laughed and shook her head. She could almost admire the audacity of the women. They were clearly scamming a whole bunch of people, but at the same time they were actually providing a useful service when the Brotherhood wasn't around. Cheaply, too. Still, Sunset wasn't about to pay if she didn't have to. "You do realize that we are with the Brotherhood of Steel, don't you?"

"Is that a fact?" Flynn asked. The girls all pulled out their Brotherhood holo-tags and held them up. "Huh, looks like Three Dog was telling the truth." She spat on the floor. "Fair enough. You can go through, just make sure that you make a mess of any Super Mutants you find along the way, yeah? Ammo for this bitch isn't cheap." Flynn patted her missile launcher affectionately. "I'd rather not use it unless I have to."

"We'll see what we can do," Sunset replied in an airy tone. "Come on, girls. Let's keep moving."

Leaving the Bridge Keepers behind, the squad continued following the line of the river. A short way further on, down a gentle slope, the group came across the scene of a battle.

A pair of old trucks were dumped end to end at the entrance to a street. Both were scorched and melted in places from powerful energy weapons, and the remnants of shattered barricades dotted what little space remained between them. Looking past the trucks, the girls could just make out the charred corpses of a handful of Super Mutants.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight those things," Pinkie said, peeking through a hole in one of the trucks.

"I know, right?" Sunset agreed. "The Brotherhood must have been through here recently. Look, there's boot prints from power armor in the dirt."

Rainbow tapped them both on the shoulders. "You know, if you turn around, you might even see what we came here for."

"Really?" Sunset turned to see another much taller concrete embankment surrounded by debris, a short way further along, on the other side of the river. A weathered bronze statue could just about be seen on top of it. "Uh… aren't we on the wrong side of the river?"

"Damn it, Benny," Pinkie muttered.

Applejack groaned and put a hand to her face. "Moira swore that this would be the best way."

"It might be." Fluttershy pointed at the base of the embankment. "Look, there's a sandbar that leads right to it. We could walk across and climb over that debris to the back entrance that Moira mentioned. There's just one problem."

"Mirelurks?" Adam asked.

"Mirelurks," Fluttershy confirmed. "Four of them, and something else… it's swimming with the mirelurks, but I have no idea what it is."

Adam nodded and got down on his knees. "I think I have a plan. Who has the observation module?" Twilight got the boxy little camera out of her pack. "Groovy. Okay, Rainbow, I think you should try and distract the mirelurks by flying around above them. Next-"

The girls watched as Adam started scratching out what looked like a game plan in the dirt, rattling out instructions as he did so. Sunset stared at him for a moment, snapped her fingers at Twilight and pointed at the observation module, and almost dropped it when it was thrown her way.

Pretending that it hadn't happened, Sunset tossed it to Rainbow. She was gone in a blur an instant later. A few seconds passed before Rainbow reappeared. "Okay, the module is placed," she announced.

"And then Apple- wha?" Adam looked up curiously. He looked around each at the girls in turn, tilted his head when he realized that the module was gone, then his whole body seemed to sag in defeat. "Oh. Okay. I guess my plan wasn't needed."

"It was a good plan, fishcake," Fluttershy said gently, patting him on the helmet.

Bewilderment stalled Sunset's mind. "Did she just call him fishcake?"

"She certainly did, darling," Rarity replied, watching the pair with interest.

Sunset let out a relieved sigh. "Thank Celestia. I thought I really had drunk too much wine for a second." She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "Come on, let's get back to Megaton. We can save the gossip for when we're safely behind metal walls."

"Good idea," Rarity agreed. As everyone started making their way back the way they had come, she sidled up to Sunset and whispered in her ear, "We can also discuss matters involving you, wine, and a certain Disciple, can't we, dear?" Sunset whipped her head around, her throat closing up at the thought that she had been rumbled. Rarity just met her gaze evenly. "You let a little too much slip there, Miss Shimmer. I think you and I need to have a very serious discussion."

Next Chapter: Chapter 114 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Injuries Estimated time remaining: 18 Hours, 27 Minutes