There was something to be said for the simple pleasures of a towel and dry clothes. As soon as the survivors of the Citadel assault had reached Project Purity Sarah Lyons had asked Sunset to join her in the main office, but Sunset had at least been permitted to get out of her soaking wet uniform and dry off first. A shower would have to wait until the debriefing was over.

Brotherhood and Enclave personnel alike saluted or nodded in respect as Sunset passed on her way to the office. She responded politely to each of them, though she made sure to keep each interaction as short and silent as physically possible.

A single Initiate was standing guard outside the office when Sunset arrived. The salute he gave before opening the door was a little sloppy, but she was too burnt out to bother chiding him for it. Sarah, Lily, and Cross were already inside waiting for her, sitting around a desk. Dried blood caked one side of Sarah’s face.

“I have concerns,” Cross said simply.

“I’d be worried if you didn’t,” Sunset replied. She helped herself to a chair and glanced at Lily. “What have you told them so far?”

Lily just shook her head. She looked almost as haggard as Sarah. “Everything; Unity, my Geode, the Praetor, our plans for stopping Unity, everything.”

Sunset gave her a skeptical look. “Really? How has no-one killed you?”

“It’s on the table,” Cross growled. “Being raised from the dead is nothing new; been there, done that, but looking through my eyes to spy on the Brotherhood is unconscionable. I will not be a living eyebot for the Enclave!”

“For a start, you’re not alive, you’re a zombie,” Lily countered. “And as I have already stated, since the Brotherhood no longer has the resources to put you back together properly, my magic is the only thing keeping you walking and talking. Your only options are to let the Enclave take a look at you, or stay as a zombie and trust that I have no intention of using you as a spy.”

“You expect us to trust you when you’re the reason that all of this happened in the first place?!” Cross exclaimed incredulously.

Lily snorted and threw Sarah an annoyed glare. “Trust? If you want trust, then perhaps you should explain to Miss Shimmer why you lied about cremating your delightful little Star Paladin!”

“That’s simple, it was about morale,” Sunset interjected. “Cross is idolized by the lower ranks. If the brass let everyone know that they were trying to bring her back using cybernetics a second time, they’d get their hopes up, and failure would crush morale entirely. Tell everyone that she died an honorable death, however, and at worst you create an inspiring martyr, and at best you have a legendary hero coming back from death itself to fight again. Morale will rise, and it’ll give the Knights hope that if they just fight hard enough, then maybe they don’t have to be afraid of dying, either.” Sunset shrugged. “I’m a big girl. I can handle being lied to if it’s safe and for the right cause.”

The other three women all stared at Sunset in surprise, so she took the opportunity to make a suggestion to Lily, “Why don’t we make another psychic inhibitor for Cross? That should prevent her being used as a spy without interfering with your magic.”

Lily arched an eyebrow and hummed thoughtfully. “That should work. Let’s not bother with messing around, though.” She took her own inhibitor off and held it out to Cross. “Put this on, then I’ll try to spy through you. And, since you’re not going to believe a damned word I say either way, we’ll have Sunset read my mind and prove that I’m telling the truth. Is that acceptable?”

“You’re being oddly cooperative,” Sarah said suspiciously, the first words she’d uttered since Sunset had arrived.

Lily sniffed and flicked a stray hair out of her face. “Despite everything she did, Unity was still the closest thing I’ve ever had to a daughter. Forgive me if I’m feeling a little devil-may-care at the moment.”

Something about her candor clearly struck a chord with Sarah. She nodded once at Cross, who immediately took a deep breath and put the inhibitor on.

Lily checked that it was on properly, then closed her eyes. A shimmer of power ran through her body as large jet-black wings sprouted from her back, her hair lengthening and purging the dirt until it was a glossy onyx river that cascaded down her back. Sunset was sure that it was just the thrum of magic she could sense that was making her heart beat a little bit faster.

“There, even at full power, I can’t sense a damned thing through her.” Lily held a hand out towards Sunset. “Would you kindly do the honors?”

Sunset shook herself and touched Lily’s hand. A storm of images flitted through her mind, until she finally let go. “She’s telling the truth. The inhibitor works.”

Cross and Sarah both sagged with relief. “Good,” Sarah said weakly. “In that case, Cross, can you arrange a squad from the Project Purity garrison and send a message to Rivet City? Inform the Council of what’s happened, and ask them if I can meet with them as soon as possible. When the squad gets back with their reply, send another one to Galaxy News and bring Three Dog up to speed.”

“Of course.” Cross stood, saluted, and marched quickly out of the room.

Sarah glanced at Lily, but the Senator held a hand up to cut her off “Don’t bother telling me to fuck off, I’ll go and contact the President.”

Without another word, Lily swept out of the room, leaving just Sunset and Sarah inside. As soon as the door closed, Sarah sighed heavily and slumped over in her chair. “This is a fucking mess.”

“Yeah,” Sunset mumbled in agreement.

“The Citadel is bad enough, but we’ve barely got any personnel left,” Sarah continued. “Including everyone stationed here and at other outposts, we’ve probably got only a hundred people at most. Rothchild is dead, and so are all of our proctors, most of our Squires and Scribes, and most of our lower-ranked Knights.” She sat up straight and ran her hands through her hair. “The Lyons’ Pride made it out of the Citadel okay, and the Wonderbolts were stationed at Galaxy News, so we can at least protect our own holdings, but that’s about it. Unity has crippled us.”

“So, we need a recruitment drive?” Sunset asked.

Sarah let out a humorless chuckle. “I guess so. We’ll take a few days to regroup first, though. After everything that’s happened, everyone needs a break. We’ll keep busy with menial stuff. For now, go and see your friends. I’m sure you’ve missed each other.”

Sunset nodded wearily and stood up. She turned as she reached the door, but Sarah forestalled her, “If you’re going to offer sympathy, I appreciate it, but I just want to focus on getting the Brotherhood back on its feet for now.”

With another simple nod, Sunset left and closed the door behind her. Exhaustion was beginning to weigh heavily on her, and the various cuts, bruises, and splinters she had picked up during the battle were beginning to throb, but she refused to do anything else until she had spoken to her friends.

As it turned out, Sunset was so focused on her determination to find her friends that she didn’t notice them waiting as she entered the Jefferson Memorial’s foyer. She finally realized and jerked to a stop just as they all looked up at her.

Rainbow was the first to step forward. She had thick gauze over both ears, and she was a little unsteady on her feet, but her eyes were clear as she stepped over and clapped her hands to Sunset’s shoulders. “Lily just told us what happened. That was the dumbest, most awesome fucking plan I’ve ever heard of,” Rainbow said a little more quietly than usual. Sunset grunted as she was pulled into a tight hug. “Thanks for having our backs.”

Sunset suddenly found herself squashed in from all sides as the others crammed in for a big group hug. She tried to say something, to ask how everyone was, but she couldn’t get the words out. After a couple of attempts she gave up and just rested her head on Rainbow’s shoulder, finally allowing herself to relax.

“Hey there, chiiildren, you’re listening to Galaxy News Radio with me, Three Dog! We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special live update from the middle of the D.C hell-hole.

Brace yourself, children; this one’s rough.

If you’ve been following my broadcasts for the last few days, you’ll know that the Citadel had been occupied by some former Enclave experiment calling herself Unity. This psychotic freakshow was planning on using some sort of sick mind control to turn the whole Capital Wasteland into her own personal slave army. As if we didn’t have enough crap to worry about.

Thankfully, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, the Enclave decided to stick to the peace treaty. In fact, they even sent in a strike team alongside the Rainbooms to try and take Unity out earlier today, and a messenger from the Brotherhood of Steel turned up here not even half an hour ago with good news and bad news from the operation.

The good news is that Unity has been officially and thoroughly wiped from existence, and the Brotherhood of Steel has been liberated.

The bad news is that the Citadel has been completely reduced to rubble, and the Brotherhood itself was badly mauled by Unity’s monster army.

Obviously, this is going to have repercussions across the whole Capital Wasteland. The Brotherhood’s new Elder, Sarah Lyons, has assured me that the Brotherhood is going to keep distributing the water from Project Purity, but they’re going to be focusing most of their efforts on protecting important locations around the wastes while they build their numbers back up.

All of this means that, for the time being, the Enclave is going to be taking the Brotherhood’s place in patrolling the wastes. Lucky us.

I’m not gonna lie, this all seems more suspicious than a crate of pure water just sitting in the middle of the road, but the Brotherhood says that we should trust the Enclave this time around. I don’t like it, but I guess we don’t have much of a choice. Just be careful out there, folks. President Shoichet might talk a fine game, but this is the Enclave we’re dealing with here.

At least the Rainbooms and Liberty Prime are still alive and kicking, and it looks like Rivet City is going to be putting up the Brotherhood, so things aren’t totally going to hell.

Until next time, chiiildren! This is Three Dog, awoooo, and you’re listening to Galaxy News Radio; your voice in the darkness. Or at least, the radiation.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 150 - Steel Rivets Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 44 Minutes