Rainbow couldn’t believe just how nervous she was. She had fought raiders and monsters all over the Capital Wasteland, but sitting down for a diplomatic meeting with representatives from several of the biggest wasteland factions was utterly terrifying. She couldn’t help but respect how Sunset could handle this sort of thing regularly.

Several tables had been pushed together in a meeting room to make space for everyone. Rainbow recognized most of them, even if Elder Lyons did look a little odd without her power armor, but there were two that she didn’t; a ghoul swathed in thick robes that covered every inch of skin, and a black woman wearing what looked like Brotherhood fatigues that had been dyed jet-black.

“Now that everyone’s here, I think we can start the meeting.” Harkness glanced around to make sure that there weren’t any disagreements, then switched on the recorder on the table in front of him. “This is the first cross-settlement Capital Diplomacy meeting, held here at Rivet City. Present are myself, Chief Harkness, as the Security Representative of Rivet City Council, Pia Nalaar as the Science Representative of Rivet City Council, Seagrave Holmes as the Merchant Representative of Rivet City Council, Elder Sarah Lyons, Knight-Sergeant Adam Smith and Squire Arthur Maxson of the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel, Knight-Captain Rainbow Dash of the Rainbooms, President Rebecca Shoichet and Agent Bonnie Drops of the Enclave, Speaker Caliban of Underworld, Handmaiden Primrose of the Temple of Harmony, Sheriff Lucas Simms as representative of both Megaton and the Regulators, and Defender Anne Marie Morgan of the Brotherhood Outcasts.”

“One hell of a crowd,” Adam noted.

Elder Lyons nodded. “Rivet City Council and I discussed it with President Shoichet, and we agreed that hosting a meeting like this would be a good way to build trust and cooperation between different settlements and factions, as well as bringing a little transparency to what the Brotherhood and Enclave are doing around the wastes.”

“And convince us to help you fight against the Super Mutants, right?” Simms added shrewdly.

“If possible, but we’re not going to try and twist your arm into anything,” Elder Lyons replied.

Rainbow shoved her hand in the air and cut in quickly, “Hold up a second. Before we get started on all of the heavy stuff, would someone mind explaining what the deal is with there being Brotherhood Outcasts? Since when has that been a thing?”

“I was curious about that as well,” Caliban added in a raspy voice.

To Rainbow’s surprise, it was Maxson who replied, “They split off from us years ago, back when our Chapter first arrived in the Capital Wasteland, due to philosophical differences.” Defender Morgan raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.

“Does this mean you’re inviting the Outcasts back into your ranks?” Primrose asked.

“Do not misunderstand, we left the previous Elder’s command of our own volition, and chose the name Outcasts for ourselves,” Morgan told her. “I’m just here today to listen to what everyone has to say and report it to my superiors. It’s up to them if they want to open a dialogue at some point.”

Harkness cleared his throat loudly. “Getting back to the matter at hand, I’m sure that you’ve all heard about our recent battles with the Super Mutants.”

The others all nodded. “We’ve heard, but we don’t know any details,” Primrose said with a pointed stare at the Elder. Rainbow felt a chill as she suddenly realized that Prim hadn’t just come for the meeting, but to find out what exactly had happened to her ‘goddess’. Sunset’s situation was probably sending shockwaves through the Temple.

With a sigh, Rainbow explained how the Rainbooms had been lured into a trap at Roosevelt Academy, followed by Sunset’s defeat and the subsequent retaliation against Talon Company. Becky, Harkness and Elder Lyons took over at that point, telling of how the Exodus building, Rivet City and Project Purity had all been attacked simultaneously while the Rainbooms were occupied.

“So Talon Company is working with the Super Mutants,” Simms noted grimly.

“They were, but not anymore,” Elder Lyons corrected. “We’ve interrogated the surviving members of Talon Company and they’ve confirmed that the Super Mutants’ new leader, Shephard, was the mastermind behind the whole thing. Shephard is the one who came up with the ideas for the trap and the attacks, the one who personally took out Sunset Shimmer, and also the one who provided the mutated heart that attracted the feral ghouls here to Rivet City en masse.”

“Are you sure you can trust them?” Simms asked. “Talon Company are slippery bastards, they’ll lie just for the hell of it.”

Elder Lyons nodded curtly. “We assumed as much, but I had my suspicions as soon as I heard about the attacks on Project Purity and the Exodus building. Talon Company has dealt with the Rainbooms on a number of previous occasions, they knew that antagonizing the girls to that extent was tantamount to suicide no matter how prepared they were.” She glanced at Rainbow, who felt a shiver run down her spine at the thought of how close they had come to disaster. “It turns out that Talon Company was expecting a force of Super Mutants to ambush the Rainbooms from behind, but they never showed up.”

“Shephard hung Talon Company out to dry,” Rainbow continued. “We think he used them to keep us distracted while he focused on his own objectives, and take as many of us down with them as they could.” She shuddered. If Sonata hadn’t thrown a siren-sized wrench in their plans, then Talon Company might have actually managed to take out one or two of the girls.

Seagrave tentatively raised a hand. “Uh, I know I’m kinda new to being on the Council but, just so we’re clear, what is the Exodus building you keep talking about?”

“It’s a pre-war RobCo facility a few miles from here,” Becky told him. “The Enclave occupied it as a secure location to perform magical research in, with the assistance of the Rainbooms.”

Simms hummed and scratched his beard thoughtfully. “So the Super Mutants went after the Capital Wasteland’s only large-scale water purifier, its biggest settlement, and a magical research facility all in one go while the Rainbooms were distracted? Sounds like this Shephard is one hell of a strategist.”

“No, he’s not,” Defender Morgan and Elder Lyons both said at the same time. Morgan gestured for the Elder to continue.

“Shephard is intelligent, sure, but just being smart doesn’t automatically make you good at strategy. Splitting his forces the way he did was inefficient, and it meant that each individual force had much less margin for error when it came to achieving their objectives,” Lyons explained. “Plus, if you think about it, Shephard didn’t have any real plan for our heaviest hitters beyond avoiding them. There was no way that Talon Company could have taken down all of the Rainbooms, he used Behemoths to try and draw Liberty Prime out at Project Purity so he could sneak in the back way, and when Star Paladin Cross and Horrigan proved too much to handle all he could do was teleport them away from the battles.”

Caliban’s robes hissed as he shifted in his seat. “I have seen Liberty Prime striding through the ruins, and I’m aware of your Star Paladin, but who is Horrigan?”

“He’s the hardass motherfucker who went toe-to-toe with Liberty Prime and survived, casually rips Deathclaws apart with his bare hands for fun, and shouted so loud that I need prosthetic implants just to be able to hear myself shit,” Rainbow told him.

Simms grimaced, apparently disgusted by her last words, and glanced at Primrose. “You worship that thing as a goddess?”

“I follow Sunset Shimmer,” Primrose replied flatly, earning a miffed look from Rainbow.

“We’re getting off-topic again,” Harkness cut in. “The point is, we managed to crush Talon Company and repel the various attacks launched against us, but only by the skin of our teeth.” His expression turned grim. “The mirelurks in the river bore the brunt of the fighting here in Rivet City, but we still ended up with forty dead and another thirty-odd injured when the ferals broke through.”

Becky sighed and looked down at her notes. “Sixty dead and over a hundred wounded at Exodus, most of them civilians.”

Elder Lyons gave her a sympathetic look. “Project Purity was lucky, no deaths and only a few minor injuries. The tubes feeding into the purifier were damaged, but that shouldn’t take more than a week or so to fix, so just ration what water you have until we can get it up and running again. Our issue is going to be figuring out how to deal with the Super Mutants going forward.”

“You know where they’re coming from though, right?” Primrose asked. “Super Mutants need FEV to make more of themselves, and Fawkes must have told you where they’re keeping it, so why not destroy their FEV stocks and wear them down through attrition?”

“Already tried that,” Adam put in. “Me and Fawkes just got back from a mission to Vault 87. We wrecked what was left of their FEV vats, but we found evidence that they’re making an upgraded batch at a secret location somewhere else. Fawkes doesn’t have any idea where they might be hiding.”

Defender Morgan raised an eyebrow. “So you’re stuck in the middle of yet another pointless war. I warned you that this would end up happening, Sarah.”

Elder Lyons stared her down. “I wouldn’t call helping to rebuild humanity pointless, Anne.”

“Agreed,” Becky added with a glare at the Outcast. “Anyway, now that everyone’s caught up on recent events, it’s time to discuss how we’re going to move forward. I’d like to say that the Enclave could take the lead in this war, but we don’t have enough troops to defend the more sensitive areas in the Capital Wasteland and hunt down every Super Mutant lair, not alone.”

Simms sighed heavily. “And that’s only going to get worse when the purifier gets fixed and people start begging for water deliveries again. Since you’ve invited all of us here, I assume that even with the Enclave, Rivet City, and the Brotherhood of Steel all working together you still don’t have the manpower you need?”

“You’re right,” Elder Lyons admitted grimly. “The Brotherhood is in dire need of recruits, and we’re going to need an enormous amount of supplies to take on the Super Mutants. Rivet City Council has offered whatever help it can spare, and I’m looking into contacting the Pitt to try and secure a regular supply of ammunition, but it’s not enough. We need more allies.”

Seeing a conflicted expression flicker across Simms’ face, Rainbow decided to try and ease his stress a little. “Don’t worry, we’re not expecting the Regulators to drop everything and march over here. We’ve already heard from Applejack that they’re busy dealing with some raider group.”

Simms nodded, clearly relieved. “There’s a big gang called the Red Flags starting to muscle its way into the Capital Wasteland. From what we’ve heard, the smaller gangs are being forced to either join them or risk traveling through the snow to avoid getting destroyed. It’s causing havoc all the way from Megaton to the Republic of Dave.”

Rainbow noticed Becky frowning thoughtfully, but before she could say anything Primrose leaned forward and cut in eagerly, “The Temples of Harmony and the Church of Atom will do what we can to help. We’re already working to gather supplies for the Goddesses, and I’m sure there are plenty of Disciples who would leap at the chance to join the Brotherhood and fight alongside them.”

“As long as they’re loyal and can follow orders, I’m more than happy to have them,” Elder Lyons said gratefully before turning to Caliban. “I know you’ve already spoken to Adam-”

“There are a few in Underworld who are interested in joining your Brotherhood, and I am willing to trade goods with you, but I cannot agree to a true alliance just yet,” Caliban interrupted. “I must be certain that it is best for my people.”

Elder Lyons nodded her understanding, but Defender Morgan looked utterly dumbfounded. “You’re going to let ghouls into your ranks?!”

“We don’t reject people for being unlucky,” Maxson said bluntly. “If the Outcasts don't like it, then you’re welcome to stay as outcasts.” Rainbow and Adam nodded firmly in agreement.

Morgan stiffened at the sight of their expressions. She looked around at the others, clearly hoping that someone would share her concern, but all she found were harsh stares or simple indifference. “I think I should report back to my superiors,” she said tonelessly. “Unless you have anything else to discuss?”

Becky made a show of checking her notes before replying, “No, I think all that’s left is arranging Vertibird transport for our guests from Megaton and Underworld. They don’t have power armor, after all.”

Without another word, Morgan swept out of her chair and left the room. Simms raised an eyebrow when she was gone. “You guys really don’t like each other, do you?”

“Not in the slightest,” Elder Lyons replied. “President Shoichet wasn’t lying, though; we’ve covered pretty much everything we wanted to cover. This meeting was mostly just about bringing the nearest major settlements up to speed on what’s happening and sounding out whatever help you may be able to offer.”

“Your transports are ready and waiting, but you’re all more than welcome to rest or explore the city if you wish to before you leave,” Harkness added.

Primrose, Simms and Caliban all offered their thanks and, in Primrose’s case, a deep bow before leaving the room. As soon as the door was closed Rainbow let out a heavy sigh and slumped in her chair. “Thank fuck that’s over with.”

“It could’ve gone worse,” Lyons said, though without much conviction. “At least we’ve potentially got some new recruits.”

“Just be careful with any you get from the Temples. You need to make sure they know that they’re joining the Brotherhood of Steel, not the Rainbooms.”

Lyons smiled wryly. “At least a third of our troops already venerate you girls in some way or another, so I don’t think recruiting from the Disciples is going to make much of a difference.”

That little revelation was enough to frazzle Rainbow’s brain. As she was processing it, Becky leaned forward to ask a question, “I assume that the Outcasts follow the same creed as the original Brotherhood of Steel on the West Coast?” She smirked in response to Lyons’ stunned look. “Your father wasn’t the first Brotherhood Elder to work with the Enclave, he was just the first one to do so publicly. I’m honestly surprised that anyone from the Brotherhood is dismissive of wastelanders. Hell, if it wasn’t for a wastelander, the Enclave would have wiped the Brotherhood of Steel out thirty years ago.”

“The Chosen One of Arroyo,” Lyons mused. “My father actually fought alongside him back then. He tried to convince the other Elders to change the Brotherhood’s stance on outsiders, but their heads were jammed too far up their own asses to listen.” She chuckled darkly. “The Outcasts might change their tune after today though. I’ve ordered the guards at Project Purity to escort their delegation through the defenses instead of forcing them to go around on their way back to their base.”

Becky grinned at her. “So they can have a good look at the energy fields, artillery, and tesla cannons that you’ve got installed there, right after they’ve convinced themselves that your Brotherhood is weak and vulnerable?”

“They’ll also have the chance to see Liberty Prime up close,” Lyons added smugly. “On top of that, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack are both using their magic to help with repairs on the purifier, so the Outcasts get to see that in action, too.”

Becky perked up at that. “Speaking of Twilight Sparkle, I know it’s a big ask, but I was hoping we could borrow her for a while. Her knowledge of electronics and robotics will be a huge help in getting Sunset back on her feet.”

The thought of Sunset’s recovery requiring robotics expertise was as awesome as it was horrifying, at least as far as Rainbow was concerned. Elder Lyons considered the request for a moment before nodding. “I should be able to spare her. In return, do you think you can fit another two people in the Vertibird taking Speaker Caliban back to Underworld?”

“Of course,” Becky replied.

“Perfect, there’s reportedly a mercenary group known as Reilly’s Rangers based in the D.C. ruins near there. I want to see if we can secure their services for the Brotherhood.” Lyons turned to Adam. “I want you to be the one who makes contact with them and see if they’re willing to help, along with what sort of compensation they’ll want. I need Fawkes for another mission, so I’m sending Fluttershy with you instead.”

“Groovy,” Adam said with a smile.

Rainbow tried to come up with a joke about exploring with Fluttershy, or exploring Fluttershy, only to realize that Lyons was now staring at her. “What about you? How are you feeling?” The Elder asked. “If I’m being honest, I’m surprised you didn’t threaten to kick Defender Morgan’s teeth out through the back of her skull.”

Rainbow snorted and crossed her arms. “Assholes who ditch their friends just because they’re helping people aren’t worth my time. Besides-” she looked down at the table to avoid everyone’s eyes, “-someone has to step up while Sunset isn’t around.”

“Well, I hope you’re up for letting out some pent-up rage on the Super Mutants, because I’ve got a top priority mission for you.” Rainbow looked back up at the Elder, her interest piqued. “We can’t trust any plans we make while that teleporting Super Mutant is still around. I have a plan for taking him out, today if possible, but it needs you. Think you can handle it?”

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