A series of sharp blasts shook the walls of the Jefferson Memorial.

“What in the heck was that!?” Applejack spat as she and the others scrambled to their feet.

James shook his head and jabbed the intercom button, “What’s going on out there? Are we under attack?” He glanced worriedly at the computer consoles and tried the intercom again, “Anyone? What the hell were those noises?”

A few seconds passed in tense silence before the intercom crackled into life. Screams and shouted orders echoed through the speakers, interspersed with odd hissing and crackling and the sound of heavy footfalls. Garza’s panicked voice could just be made out over the din, “It’s the Enclave! The Enclave are atta-”

The transmission cut out abruptly in a burst of static.

James blanched, “No, no, no, not when we’re so close!”

“The Enclave? What the heck are they doing here?” Applejack asked.

“And why are they attacking us?” Rarity added nervously.

“Project Purity,” Doctor Li snarled, “they must have been observing us somehow. They’re here to take control of it!” She glanced sidelong at James, “James, you know we can’t let that happen.”

“I know, damn it, I know!” he shot back, thumping the console angrily. “Shit!”

Sunset looked from one doctor to the other, “Why would the Enclave want Project Purity? What’s going on?”

“There’s no time to explain,” Doctor Li replied, “come on, we have to… get…” she trailed off oddly, her eyes widening as she stared at the girls. “Oh god,” she said fearfully, “James… James, we have to get the Rainbooms out of here!”

His head snapped around at that, “The magic! Jesus Christ, if they get their hands on that…” He swore and turned to Doctor Li, “Madison, get them away from here! Use the escape tunnels and take them to the Citadel. Janice, you go with them!”

“What about you?” Janice asked worriedly.

“I’ll set the fail-safes on the system here, then I’ll go and find Adam,” James replied, turning back to one of the consoles. “We’ll follow you as soon as we can.”

“We can’t just leave you behind!” Rainbow spat.

“We don’t have a choice!” Doctor Li made to grab Sunset’s arm and lead her out of the room, then scowled when Sunset yanked her arm free. “We don’t have time for this! The Enclave’s soldiers will get in here any second!”

“What about Project Purity?” Sunset snapped, “What about getting us home?”

James stepped forward and gripped Sunset’s shoulders, looking her directly in the eye, “I swear I will do everything I can to help you, but if the Enclave find you then you might never get home! You have to go!” He stepped back and pointed back out of the enclosed catwalk. “Go!”

The last shout jolted the Rainbooms into action, sending them piling out of the airlock alongside Janice and Doctor Li. Sunset paused at the door and glanced back at James one last time, but he had already turned back to the console and was typing away furiously. Reluctantly, her thoughts whirling, she turned and hurried after the others.

How did this happen? We were so close!

“This ain’t right,” Applejack muttered as the girls rushed down the stairs, “there’s gotta be something we can do.”

“We can fight!” Rainbow cried.

Doctor Li shook her head, “It’s too dangerous, even the Brotherhood of Steel is wary of engaging the Enclave directly.” She cast an anxious glance back up at the enclosed catwalk as she stepped off the bottom step, then turned back and pointed to a nearby door, “Come on, the entrance to the tunnels is just thro-”

The doctor’s words were drowned out as the door was suddenly smashed off it’s hinges, kicking up a cloud of dust as two dark forms stormed through the doorway. A deep, electronically distorted voice called out a second later, “I’ve got eyes on the Rainbooms! Sector four!”

As the dust cleared, Sunset finally got a good look at the Enclave troopers. She immediately wished she hadn’t.

They were huge, almost a foot taller than any of the girls, clad in armor that somewhat resembled that worn by the Brotherhood of Steel soldiers, but where the powered suits of the Brotherhood Knights had been silver and somewhat clunky-looking, the armor of these soldiers was sleek, black, and far more intimidating. The fact that both bore laser rifles that were pointed directly at the group certainly didn’t help matters.

“We’re with the Enclave Armed Forces!” one of the soldiers called out, “put your hands behind your head and get on your knees, now!”

The girls shrank back away from the soldiers, except for Doctor Li. Sunset couldn’t help but admire the doctor’s courage as she stood tall and spoke in a respectable attempt at a defiant voice, “You can’t do this, this is a private venture, you have no autho-”

“This project is being commandeered on the authority of President Eden,” the soldier interrupted, stepping forward menacingly while the other took several steps to the side, flanking the group. “Now get your hands behind your head and get down on your knees, this is your last warning!”

Both Janice and Doctor Li quickly complied. The Rainbooms put their hands behind their heads to show they weren’t a threat, but not one of them made a move to get on the floor.

“Girls, get down!” Doctor Li hissed.

Sunset ignored her. She couldn’t let things end like this, she had to at least attempt to negotiate, “Please, we don’t want to fight. We spoke to someone from the Enclave earlier, a doctor, I think his name wa-”

“I said get on the ground!”

Sunset cried out in pain as the soldier lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of her hair and forcing her to her knees.

The rest of the Rainbooms yelled in outrage. A split-second later a pair of huge gemstones materialized out of thin air and slammed into each soldier, knocking them off balance before fading from sight. Pinkie and Fluttershy took the opportunity to drag Sunset back out of harm’s way as Doctor Li and Janice scrambled for cover, while Applejack hurled herself at the one that had attacked Sunset.

A hollow boom echoed through the room as her magically enhanced punch connected with the soldier’s armored breastplate, sending him rocketing backwards to crash through the wall as if it was made of paper.

“Holy shit,” the second soldier breathed. “Rainbooms hostile! We need reinfo-” he was interrupted by a purple aura attempting to yank his rifle out of his hands. A heartbeat later there was a multi-hued blur as Rainbow clambered atop the soldier, her shishkebab out and blazing. Reversing her grip on the sword, she jabbed it downwards, trying to stab it through a chink in the armor.

Looking up in apparent panic, the soldier suddenly let go of his gun and dropped into a crouch, sending Rainbow tumbling off him. As she fell, the soldier surged back up, caught Rainbow before she could hit the floor, then hurled her bodily at Rarity, knocking the unfortunate fashionista flat.

There was an angry yell as Applejack charged in and threw a powerful right hook. Terror gripped Sunset as the soldier expertly deflected the punch, then rammed an uppercut into Applejack’s belly hard enough to lift her off her feet and have her empty her stomach over his vambrace. He held her there, suspended on the end of his fist for a second, then dropped the poor girl to the floor where she curled up into a ball, retching and gasping for air.

Out of sheer desperation Sunset scrambled to her feet and dove for the soldier’s discarded laser rifle. Fully expecting to feel an armored fist crash into her, she snatched up the gun and swung it around, then paused, her jaw dropping at what she saw.

The soldier’s hand was halted inches from her face, lock in a purple aura. Glancing past the outstretched arm, she saw that his entire body had been gripped in Twilight’s magic, holding him in place. Sunset looked back to where Twilight was standing, both hands outstretched, with a nightmarish look of grim determination on her face.

A bark of pain from the soldier brought Sunset’s head snapping back around. Even as she watched, there was a horrific metallic screeching as reinforced armor plates crumpled and buckled under an incredible amount of pressure. The soldier started screaming a moment later.

Twilight was crushing him like an aluminium can.

Transfixed by fear, awe and disgust, it took an immense effort of will to tear her gaze away from the hellish spectacle and focus on the task at hand. She shuddered as the soldier gave another tortured scream and stepped towards her fallen friend, “Applejack, are you okay? Can you stand?” Applejack just moaned piteously in response. Sunset reached out a hand, “I know it hurts, but we need to get out of he-”

Sunset’s breath hitched as several small, black objects bounced through the doorway and the hole in the wall.

Grenades!

Before anyone could react there was a colossal blast, and the whole world went white.

Colonel Autumn couldn’t help a certain sense of pride as he stalked through the Jefferson Memorial. The lead scientists of Project Purity had been detained and the Rainbooms subdued, with only two soldiers injured in the process. Two fireteams were still working at securing the basement, apparently James’ son was proving himself a far more tenacious opponent than his father, but the Colonel was confident that his men would have that jumped-up little turd dealt with shortly.

Rounding a corner, Colonel Autumn raised an eyebrow as he spotted a team of soldiers and technicians working to prise a fallen trooper’s armor open. A trail of debris led from the prone soldier to a rough hole in a wall twenty feet away. “What in God’s name happened here?”

One of the soldiers turned at that, hurriedly straightening up to salute, “Colonel Autumn, sir!”

“At ease,” Autumn replied automatically. He had no intention of impeding the recovery of an injured trooper so he simply asked, “Where’s Lieutenant Simpson?”

The soldier pointed to the hole in the wall, “Sector Four, sir.”

Autumn nodded, “Thank you, soldier. As you were.”

Picking his way carefully through the trail of debris, it wouldn’t do for a Colonel to be taken out of action by something as pathetic as tripping over a rock, Autumn cast a critical eye over the hole and associated rubble.

Just what the hell did they hit that soldier with? The only man-portable weapon I know of that could knock a full X0-2 suit that far through a wall is a Fat Man, but there’s not nearly enough blast damage to indicate someone fired one of those. Some kind of experimental Gauss cannon maybe?

The Colonel briefly considered entering the Rotunda by clambering through the hole, but thought better of it and turned to enter through the door instead. The Rainbooms were laid out on the floor, unconscious and manacled, with a pair of medics moving between them checking them over and the full complement of Squads Delta and Alpha standing guard. Lieutenant Simpson and another medic were tending to an injured soldier who was slumped against the wall next to the hole, his brutally mauled suit of armor propped up nearby. Two of the targeted Project Purity scientists were sat on a set of steps leading up to an enclosed catwalk with their heads in their hands.

With a satisfied nod, Colonel Autumn strode up to Lieutenant Simpson, a faint sizzling emanating from the protruding electrodes of the officer’s Tesla armor. “Lieutenant?”

The Lieutenant glanced around, then snapped a crisp salute as he spotted Autumn, “Sir!”

Autumn quickly returned the salute, “What exactly happened here, soldier?”

Simpson clasped his hands behind his back and glanced back towards the Rainbooms, “Sir, the initial stage of the operation proceeded as planned. Upon securing Sector’s One and Two, Squad Alpha separated into fireteams as directed, with Fireteam Alpha-One accompanying Squad Delta to secure Sector Three while Fireteam Alpha-Two affected entry into Sector Four.”

“That was when Alpha-Two encountered the Rainbooms?” Colonel Autumn asked.

“Yes, sir,” Simpson replied. “The Rainbooms did not comply when ordered to stand down, and reacted with hostility when Alpha-Two attempted to force compliance. Sergeant Barnes was injured in the initial exchange. Corporal Wells,” the Lieutenant gestured to the injured man, “requested reinforcements, and was able to incapacitate three of the Rainbooms before being subdued himself. Fortunately Squad Delta and myself arrived before they could injure him seriously, though most of his armor is severely damaged.”

“Excellent work, Corporal,” Autumn said sincerely. The man just gave a shaky salute, staring blankly at nothing as the medic bandaged his other arm. The Colonel frowned and took another good look around the room, expecting to see a discarded cannon or experimental weapon of some sort, “What sort of weapon system did the Rainbooms use?”

Simpson hesitated for a second before replying, “They didn’t, sir.”

“Excuse me?”

The Lieutenant stared at Autumn, his helmet impassive, “Aside from a single makeshift blade, the Rainbooms were unarmed, sir.”

Autumn raised an eyebrow, “Are you trying to tell me that seven girls armed with a pointy stick were able to take out two highly trained soldiers?” He gestured to the ragged hole, “Correct me if I’m wrong, Lieutenant, but the last time I checked it took more than a homemade sword to knock a fully armored man twenty feet through a god-damned wall!”

“She punched him.”

Autumn and Simpson both looked down at the Corporal. “What did you say, soldier?” Autumn asked incredulously.

Corporal Wells pointed half-heartedly at the Rainbooms, “It was her… the blonde one. She punched him. Right through the fucking wall.” He swallowed reflexively, “I took her out. And the blue one, I threw her at the white one that kept throwing the shiny stuff. Then the purple one… she…”

“She crushed his armor,” Lieutenant Simpson finished for him. He shook his head, anticipating Autumn’s question, “I have no idea how she did it, I looked through the hole and saw her with her arms outstretched and some sort of purple glow surrounding the Corporal. It’s like she’s telekinetic or something.”

Colonel Autumn opened his mouth to refute that, then closed it again slowly. It sounded impossible, but it was hardly the first time impossible things had occurred in the American wastelands.

The Master, Melchior, Hakunin, the Enclave maintain several highly classified files on known psykers that have appeared in the past, it’s hardly a stretch to imagine that the Rainbooms could be more of that ilk, and if my hunch about Zetan involvement is correct…

Damn it, Eden. What in God’s name are you playing at?

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Lieutenant Simpson asked suddenly.

Autumn nodded, “Granted.”

Simpson reached up and tugged his helmet off, tucking it under an arm and ran a hand across his close-cropped Mohican, “With respect, sir, what the hell are we dealing with here?”

“I have no idea,” Autumn admitted. “I’ve told you everything the President told me, that the Rainbooms were present at Project Purity and to be considered extremely dangerous. Whatever they really are, it’s so highly classified that even I can’t get anywhere near it, no-one outside Project Exodus can.”

Simpson raised an eyebrow at that, “So the rumours are true, sir? Project Exodus really exists?”

Autumn eyed him seriously, “Those are just rumours, and rumours are what they are going to stay. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good,” Autumn sighed. “How did you manage to incapacitate the Rainbooms?”

“Flash-bangs,” Simpson replied. “I’ve got the medics sedating them now, just in case. There’s one more thing,” he pointed at the two technicians sat on the stairs, “Doctor Li. When we arrived, she was mutated.”

Autumn blinked in surprise, “Mutated? How so?”

“Her hair was blue, and much longer than it is now,” Simpson replied. “She even had two extra ears, like freaky green animal ears, right on top of her head. She only changed back about a minute or so before you arrived.”

“Animal ears?” Autumn frowned and folded his arms. “That makes even less sense than anything else I’ve heard today.”

“This whole day has gone from weird to weirder,” Simpson muttered.

“What about James, our primary objective?” Autumn asked.

Simpson pointed up to the enclosed catwalk, “He’s up there. I’ve got two Privates keeping an eye on him.”

“And the rest of the scientists?”

“All known personnel have been accounted for and secured,” Simpson replied. He raised a hand to his ear-bead and frowned, “Sir, Fireteam Kappa are reporting heavy resistance in the basement and Fireteam Lambda is not responding to radio contact.”

“Shit,” Autumn huffed. Apparently James’ son was proving to be even more of a pain than expected. He shook his head, quickly making a decision, “Have Squads Beta and Gamma take the Rainbooms out to the extraction point and keep them secure until Doctor Turner shows up. Assign what’s left of Squad Alpha to keep the scientists corralled, and send Squad Delta to reinforce Fireteam Kappa.”

“What about Doctor Li?” Simpson asked.

Autumn considered for a moment, “She stays with me while I interrogate James. Hopefully we can get some god-damned answers out of her. Pack the other one off with the rest of the scientists.”

“Yes, sir!” Simpson went to place his helmet back on his head, then stopped at the sound of a pained moan. One of the Rainbooms, the yellow-skinned one with the pink hair, was stirring feebly.

“I thought the Rainbooms were all sedated?” Autumn snarled.

“The medics haven’t got to her yet,” Simpson replied. “That particular one didn’t join the fighting. She has a nursing kit, so we assumed she was a non-combatant.”

Autumn scowled and stalked up to the Rainboom, “Get them all sedated and moved as soon as humanly possible.” Just as the girl raised her head Autumn bent and lashed out with a fist, striking her in the face and knocking her back out cold. “Don’t take any more chances with them.”

“Oh, jeez!” Adam ducked back as a bolt of green energy hissed past his head. He leaned out and fired off two shots with his laser pistol before popping back behind the wall as the soldiers retaliated.

Two power-armored troopers were at the top of a set of stairs, blocking the way up and out of the basement. Adam flinched as more plasma blasts vaporised chunks of the corner wall next to him. He’d already dealt with two soldiers downstairs, thanks to creative use of a plasma grenade and a gas pipe, but running into another two was just not fair. Adam huffed and ripped a pair of different grenades from his belt.

I sure hope this works!

He tossed a frag grenade first, not bothering to pull the pin out, then quickly primed and threw a pulse grenade after it.

“Grenade!” one of the soldiers yelled. “Shit, there’s a pul-”

The moment he heard the crackling buzz of the pulse grenade detonating, Adam sprang into action, belting up the stairs as quickly as he could. He felt a wave of relief as he spotted both soldiers struggling to move, their armor’s systems overloaded by the pulse grenade. Scooping up the frag grenade he’d tossed, he ripped out the pin and jammed the grenade into the armor of one of the soldiers, lodging it right into the neck joint before scrabbling away and diving behind some machinery.

A deafening blast tore through the air a few seconds later.

Adam warily poked his head out over the top of the machinery. One soldier was very clearly dead, smoke rising from the remains of his skull. The other, amazingly, was still moving, his armor scratched and dented but otherwise intact. Adam moved to finish the soldier off, then froze as he heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs ahead. Thinking quickly, he tossed a bucket down the way he’d came, causing a terrific racket as it clattered down the stairs, then ducked back behind the machinery, curling up into a tight ball and desperately hoping he was out of sight.

“Fireteam Kappa? Fireteam Kappa do you copy?” Adam clutched his pistol tightly as what sounded like a full squad of power-armored soldiers thundered into the room. “Shit, man down. What about you, soldier, are you good to go?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” came the reply. “One hostile, equipped with pulse weaponry. Bastard went down those stairs.”

“Copy that. Can you stand? Good. Alright, Delta, we’re going down after him, B Formation. Fenix? You and Santiago take point.”

“Yes, sir!”

Adam waited until the soldiers had all left, then crept out from his hiding place and over to where the dead soldier lay smouldering. He stuffed his pistol into its crudely stitched holster and grabbed the man’s discarded plasma rifle.

Right. Time to find Dad and the North Blockers, er, I mean, Rainbooms, then get them somewhere safe until I can figure out a way of dealing with whoever these toughs are. Rivet City should be safe enough.

Moving silently, Adam darted up the far set of stairs and out of the basement. Once he reached the main floor of the Memorial building he slowed down, scurrying from cover to cover as he made his way to the Rotunda.

Where is everyone? There’s no way those soldiers were the only bad guys around. There aren’t any bodies, maybe they’re rounding everyone up?

Adam scowled as he realised vaguely what was happening. Creeping through the doorway into the Rotunda, he took cautious note of both the gaping hole in the wall and the shishkebab left conspicuously on the floor. The sound of voices drew his attention up to the enclosed catwalk. He could just about make out his father and Doctor Li, both talking to a pair of armored troopers and some random guy in a trench coat.

Filled with grim resolve, Adam readied the plasma rifle and crept up the stairs towards his destiny.

James struggled to keep his anger and fear from showing on his face as he stared down the Enclave representatives gathered around himself and Doctor Li, “As I’ve already said, Colonel, this facility is not operational. It never has been.”

“Even if it was, you had no right to attack us without provocation the way you did,” Doctor Li added.

Colonel Autumn just stared at them imperiously, “The Rainbooms are dangerous mutants that refused to comply with orders and were met with an appropriate level of force. Now this is the last time I am going to repeat myself. You are to immediately hand over all materials related to the purifier, as well as any and all information related to the Rainbooms and their abilities. Furthermore you are to assist Enclave scientists in assuming control of the administration and operation of this facility at once.”

James clenched a fist behind his back, “Colonel, I assure you, the purifier does not work, we were never able to replicate our tests on a large enough scale. And as for the Rainbooms we do-” He sucked in a breath as he spotted Adam through the window, stalking slowly up the stairs to the catwalk. Seeing his hesitation, Colonel Autumn and the soldiers turned to see what had grabbed his attention.

Reacting on instinct, James shoved Madison as hard as he could, sending her staggering into the airlock, then slammed a hand into the airlock controls a split-second before one of the soldiers yanked him away. He gasped as he crashed painfully into one of the consoles, but couldn’t help a surge of relief as the airlock door slid shut, sealing himself and the Enclave thugs in the catwalk.

Adam sprang up the rest of the stairs quickly and bent to check on Madison, then looked up to glare furiously at Colonel Autumn.

One of the soldiers grunted and jabbed the controls, prompting Adam to raise his rifle, but the door remained stubbornly closed. James felt a sudden surge of pride as he realised the rifle his son was clutching was an Enclave plasma rifle he had obviously liberated from one of their soldiers.

“Get that door open!” Colonel Autumn snapped.

“You can’t,” James said flatly. “I’ve engaged the failsafes, the only way that door is opening is if I disengage the system.”

“I assume this must be your son,” Autumn cast an appraising eye over Adam, then snorted softly before turning to one of his soldiers, “Have Squad Delta get back up here and deal with that brat.”

“Wait!” James said quickly. He held his hands up as the Colonel looked back at him, “If you agree to let them both go, peacefully, I’ll do as you ask.”

“Don’t you dare, Dad!” Adam growled, stepping up to the airlock door. “Just open this door and let me deal with these posers.”

Colonel Autumn looked from James to Adam, humming as he considered. Finally he turned to James, “Very well. Provide me with the materials and access I have requested, and you have my word that I will allow your son and the good Doctor Li to leave unmolested.”

Bullshit. The second I open that door you’ll have your goons kill Adam and clap Madison in irons.

“Thank you, Colonel. Just give me a moment to bring the system online.”

James turned to the main console, ignoring Adam’s protests. He barely managed to repress a shiver as he brought himself to terms with what he was about to do. Project Purity was Catherine’s dream, the culmination of her desire to help heal the wasteland. Water, the most basic necessity for life itself, free and clean, for any and all, regardless of who or what they were.

But Catherine was far from naïve. She was well aware, right from the outset, that there were those in the wastes who would see the purifier as a tool, a bargaining chip in their path to dominating the wastes. Allowing the purifier to fall into the hands of those who would use it in such a way was something Catherine had refused to permit, and so they had built in a failsafe.

The purifier required a vast amount of electricity to function. That power was provided by a nuclear generator, located below the purifier itself. With the failsafes primed, entering the correct code into the main console would overload the purifier and remove certain sections of shielding from the generator, directing lethal amounts of radiation into this very room.

James looked down at the keypad on the console. Revelation 21:6, that verse was the clue to the code that would activate the purifier safely. It was only fitting that the clue for the failsafe code was in another Bible verse.

Ezekiel 7:8.

“I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices.”

One verse to bring life, another verse to end it.

“I grow tired of waiting,” Autumn said impatiently.

“Sorry. It will only take a few moments,” James replied. He swallowed and slowly pressed the number seven, followed by eight. Nothing happened at first, but the little light that suddenly blinked into life told James that the code had been accepted. Taking a deep breath, he turned to take one last look at his son.

I’m sorry, Adam. I’ve failed you, in so, so many ways. I’ve been doing a lot of that, throughout my life.

Several of the consoles at the back of the room suddenly exploded, and the Geiger counters on the soldier’s armor started ticking away at a ferocious rate. A wave of dizziness passed through James as the radiation did its deadly work. Colonel Autumn and his soldiers yelled in terror, the Colonel injecting himself with something and slumping to the ground as the soldiers desperately pounded on the airlock door in a futile attempt to escape.

James ignored them. In that moment, as his every dream burned to ashes around him, he had eyes only for his son. Vaguely, he realised that Adam was shouting something, trying to heave the door open in a valiant effort to save the only family he had ever known.

“Adam… run…” James’ voice was scarcely more than a whisper as he slid to the floor, his back against the main console.

I’m sorry. Everything I’ve ever done has been to make the world a better place for the people I love, first for my wife, and then for you. Of all the things I have ever done, you are the only creation of mine I have ever truly been proud of, the only venture that I didn’t fail at. I cannot tell you how much this breaks my heart, this final betrayal that I must inflict on you, but I cannot let you mother’s dream be tainted by evil.

James feebly raised a hand as the world slowly darkened around him.

Adam… Catherine… please… forgive me…

Welcome back! Sorry about the delay, I made a slight cock-up with scheduling

Still, here we are at the end of another story arc! Next chapter will be catching up with what everyone else is doing (expect another section with Adam!) before we return to the Rainbooms the chapter after.

Also, if anyone is interested, I went very much for the Fallout 4 design of the Enclave power armour for this fic, it just looks so much cooler!

Comments and Criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading!