Sunset’s heart pounded in her chest as she made her way to the briefing room. Several days had passed since the Citadel had fallen, but now the wait was over. Today was the day. In just a couple of short hours, the mission to retake the Citadel would be underway.

After a short walk through one of the base’s command facilities, Sunset finally reached the briefing room door. The soldiers standing guard outside nodded respectfully and stood aside to open the door for her as soon as she approached. Sunset returned the gesture before heading inside.

The meeting room turned out to be a large garage, containing the crumpled remains of the tank Acheson had deployed during the battle for the Air Force Base. Sunset supposed that it was probably the only place available that was big enough for Horrigan to stand in. She didn’t imagine it would be particularly private, though. Following the sound of voices around to the other side of the mangled tank, she was gratified to see Becky, Horrigan, Senator Lily, and the Praetor already there waiting for her.

“Excellent, you’re here,” Becky said by way of greeting. “Sorry about holding the briefing in here, but it’s the only room in the base that’s shielded from magic, radiation, and all forms of electromagnetic energy.”

“It’s fine,” Sunset replied curtly.

Becky gestured for her to take a place next to the others, then took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Okay, as you already know, you four are going to make up the strike force tasked with liberating the Citadel and defeating Unity, one way or another. Over the last few days, we’ve finished Horrigan’s inhibitor-” she glanced up at the crown-like construct now gracing his helmet, studded with tiny magical rubies, “-and, after consulting with yourselves and a select few members of my staff, I’ve fine-tuned the plan of action to give you the highest possible chance of success.”

“Good to know,” Horrigan rumbled. “What’s the plan then, Madam President?”

“It’s simple enough in theory, but pulling it off probably won’t be easy.” Becky glanced at Sunset. “First, Sunset, you’ll head in through the front door.”

“That sounds like suicide,” Lily said flatly.

Sunset shook her head. “Unity seems like the type who likes to run her mouth, so I think she’ll at least let me live long enough to hear what I have to say. Once I’m in, I’ll try to get Unity to stand down, or at least open her up to negotiations.”

Lily gave her a pensive look. “Do you honestly believe she’ll listen to you?”

“Not likely, but I have to try,” Sunset replied. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“Either way, while Unity is distracted, the rest of you will infiltrate the Citadel using Stealth Boys,” Becky cut in before turning to Lily. “I’ll need you to find the biggest cluster of Revenants you can, while Horrigan and the Praetor take up positions overlooking the courtyard. Sunset will keep her comm channel open so we can all monitor the situation closely.”

Sunset looked down at her Pip-Boy. The Enclave’s engineers had upgraded it with a new built-in multi-channel communication system, allowing her to transmit as well as receive messages from now on. Thankfully, it also had a little detachable microphone that could be tucked under Sunset’s chest armor, enabling her to use it hands-free.

“As soon as things start to go sour between Sunset and Unity, the three of you will have to work quickly,” Becky continued. “Lily, you use your magic to try and wrest the Revenants from Unity’s control, and have the Praetor start tearing chunks out of the crystal monsters.” Becky glanced up at Horrigan. “That should give you a perfect opportunity to get the drop on Unity herself.”

“I’ll grind her into dust,” Horrigan growled, punctuating the statement by smacking a fist into his palm.

Becky nodded grimly. “Don’t forget to incinerate the remains as quickly as possible, even the dust. Sunset’s Nova Pistol goes through power armor like a blowtorch through wax, but even blowing a hole the size of a baseball through Unity’s skull just slowed her down for a few seconds. She regenerates fast.” Becky waited for Horrigan to nod in understanding before turning back to Lily. “Once you’ve done what you can with the Revenants, I want you to head to the Citadel’s morgue and see if there’s any deceased Knights there. If there are, reanimate them and have them join the fight.”

The thought sent a shiver down Sunset’s spine, and even Lily looked a little perturbed. “Don’t you think the Brotherhood might find desecrating their dead a little ghoulish? I can’t imagine that they’ll be happy with it.”

“You’re going to need all the help you can get, and the dead are the only reinforcements that Unity won’t be able to control. The Brotherhood can complain after we’ve won,” Becky said bluntly. “I’d send you some Deathclaws if I could, but they’ve all had their control units removed.”

“That’s another reason we need to get Fluttershy back as soon as possible,” Lily added. “Those things are all docile for the moment, but when they begin to properly recover from the surgery we’re going to have a very angry pack on our hands.”

Becky winced at that idea. “Speaking of Fluttershy, her and Pinkie are going to be the biggest obstacles to our infiltration thanks to their uncanny senses. Keeping Unity too distracted for her to notice will be crucial.”

“I’ll keep her focus on me, don’t worry,” Sunset assured her.

“You do realize that it's going to be carnage when Unity loses control of her forces, right?” Horrigan asked.

“It’s more than likely,” Becky admitted. “From what we can gather, Unity is struggling to keep the Brotherhood and the monsters under control as it is, so she should lose control the moment you get a good hit in. Unity will have to choose between splitting her focus and trying to fight you while regaining control of her army, or just focusing all of her energy on you.”

Horrigan snorted. “Either way, I can take it.”

“I hope so,” Becky added quietly. “In any case, we’ll have Liberty Prime take up position by the bridge near the Citadel, along with several Vertibird gunships. If Unity does become too much for you, then toss her outside and let them nuke her into oblivion. Do not let your pride get the better of you here.”

“I won’t,” Horrigan promised.

Lily cleared her throat loudly. “Wouldn’t it be better to have Liberty Prime join the attack with us? The big brute could probably crush Unity by itself.”

“Not without leveling half of the Citadel in the process,” Becky countered. “Aside from being the Brotherhood’s headquarters, the Citadel is also one of the most important remnants of our old pre-war government. I won’t willingly trash it while there’s still a chance to save it.”

Horrigan hummed thoughtfully. “The problem is that this whole plan hinges on Unity being in the courtyard. What if she isn’t? Do we try to hunt her down inside?”

Becky grimaced, but nodded anyway. “You’ll have to. If you get discovered before you manage to break Unity’s control, then you’ll have to fight through both the crystal monsters and the controlled members of the Brotherhood. That’s a situation we want to avoid at all costs.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, apparently psyching herself up. “If this plan fails, we’ll have no option but to launch a nuclear strike at Unity.”

“Won’t the radiation from the bomb just make her and the monsters more powerful?” Lily asked almost conversationally. “I don’t particularly fancy another Raven Rock incident.”

“That won’t happen,” Sunset answered confidently. “The explosives that destroyed Raven Rock were smaller yield and more spread out, plus there was a lot more magic stored in the mountain than there is in the Citadel. Even with her magic, the yield of the bomb the engineers are preparing will be enough to completely atomize Unity.”

“Along with everything between the Citadel and Rivet City,” Becky added. “We’ve already got people preparing to evacuate personnel and materials from Project Purity and Rivet City itself, but the loss of both clean water, a whole settlement, and the majority of the Brotherhood of Steel, will be a catastrophic blow to the Capital Wasteland.” She swallowed hard. “As for the strike team…”

There was no need to finish her sentence. Escaping the blast would be effectively impossible, except maybe for Rainbow Dash. Failure meant death.

“We won’t lose,” Sunset said firmly. The other two quickly voiced their agreement.

Becky gave them all a respectful nod. “Then make sure you’re got your gear together, and get ready to go. You leave in one hour.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 147 - Calamity From The Skies Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 33 Minutes