Loud metallic groans filled the air as the walls finally stopped shaking. Acheson grunted with effort as he used the T.I.R.E.K. suit to suck up the last of the loose magic floating around the room. Magic was a wondrous tool, that was undeniable, but getting it to work consistently with standard technology was, at times, a royal pain in the ass.

The most recent experiment had been simple, at least in theory: Adding a quantity of modified magic to a set of repurposed armor plates to be added to the Daybreaker prototype. Unfortunately, the magic, a customized blend of Loyalty and Laughter, had apparently disagreed with the cocktail of magic that was already flowing through the Daybreaker and expelled itself rather forcibly into the surrounding air.

The unexpected arrival of a cloud of unrestrained magic had turned the workshop into a madhouse as Acheson tried to corral the magic and Doctor Holt attempted to keep all of the equipment and documents from wandering off.

As Acheson siphoned the last drop of magic, he sighed and savoured the feeling of raw power that flowed through him. He amused himself by flexing his arms, watching the magic washing out of the T.I.R.E.K. and rippling across his muscles, until a low rumble caught his attention.

The Daybreaker shifted in its restraints and let out the same noise again. Acheson couldn't help but wonder if it was laughing at him. The prototype had continually mutated with each new infusion of magic and it now stood eight feet tall, with armor plates so clean and white it almost hurt to look at them, and was so slender that it would be almost impossible for anyone bulkier than Holt herself to actually wear the thing properly. Physical changes weren't the only mutations it was undergoing, and Acheson was positive that the Daybreaker had achieved a rudimentary level of true sapience.

A loud knock on the door echoed through the workshop, prompting Doctor Holt to abandon her efforts at tidying and hurry over to see who was there. Acheson turned his own attention to the mess all over the floor, intent on ignoring whichever fool was attempting to disturb his experiments, until Holt came back with a harried-looking Major Owens in tow.

"Major? What are you doing here?" Acheson asked.

"It's the Brotherhood of Steel, Doctor. They've assembled a strike force, accompanied by Liberty Prime, the Rainbooms, and the Vault 101 boy," Owens explained.

Acheson grinned. "It took them long enough. I wonder how long the Exodus team will be able to hold out against them?"

"They're not targeting the Exodus Building," Owens cut in. Acheson turned to stare at him curiously. "The strike force is assembling at the Rockland Car Tunnel. We believe that they're targeting our primary satellite relay station."

"What?!" Acheson gasped. He had expected the Brotherhood to launch an assault on the Exodus team in retaliation for the attack on the Citadel. He never imagined that they would ignore Exodus entirely, let alone that they would find the relay station so quickly. "Is the Bradley-Hercules Satellite ready to fire?"

Owens shook his head. "Not yet, but the techs say it should be ready soon. No more than an hour or so."

Acheson nodded. "Tell them to get it working as quickly as humanly possible, then contact the relay station and tell them to hold the Brotherhood off for as long as possible. Have them fight to the last man if need be." It wasn't too unreasonable an order. That relay station was the most heavily defended Enclave facility outside of the Adams Air Force Base itself. "I'll fetch you an authorization code, so tell the techs to fire the instant the satellite is ready."

---

Sunset took a deep breath to calm herself as she stared at the exit to the Rockland Car Tunnel. The scouts reported that the Enclave defenses began just on the other side of the door, and their troops were entrenched along the entire length of the road to the relay station. Even with Liberty Prime on their side, the strike force was in for one heck of a fight.

More than that, Sunset knew that there would be no running away or cowering in a corner this time. If she wanted to get her friends home as quickly and safely as possible, she was going to have to fight. She was going to have to kill. Sunset had thought that she had come to terms with the prospect of doing just that before the assault on Project Purity, but the truth was that that awful experience had shown her just how woefully unprepared she actually was. This time would be different. It had to be.

"Remember, let the robot do most of the heavy lifting," Metzger said, seeing how nervous Sunset was. "We're just here to support the tin can until we get to the relay station itself, then we take over. And don't forget, you're not fighting alone in this, your brothers and sisters are here with you. We're a team. You watch our asses, and we'll watch yours."

Sunset nodded and straightened up. "Okay."

"You got this?" Metzger asked.

"I've got this," Sunset replied with another nod. Metzger clapped a hand to her shoulder and stepped to the front of the group, leaving Sunset to look back at her friends. They all looked back at her, their expressions tense, but determined. Sunset glanced at Rainbow Dash, who was looking far more tense than the others. "You okay, Dash?"

Rainbow shifted to settle her armor a little more comfortably. "Yeah, just thinking about the plan for the satellite."

"You mean if we can't stop the uplink in time?" Sunset asked. She could hardly blame Rainbow for being worried. If they couldn't cut off the uplink in time, Rainbow would be Liberty Prime's first, and possibly only, line of defense. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Rainbow said firmly.

"Final checks, people, make sure you're ready!" Metzger called out.

Sunset glanced back at the door, then drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before addressing the rest of the Rainbooms. "Alright, girls. You heard the Paladin. Watch each other's backs out there. Let's pony up!"

The girls all nodded and ponied up one by one. The other Knights waiting around whistled and called out encouragement to them, while Adam, Fawkes and Cross just raised their weapons in a quiet salute. Metzger looked around at the gathered troops, her own Wonderbolts lined up next to her. "I hope you're ready, people. This battle could well be the one that decides the outcome of the war. Our enemy is strong, and their defences are tough, but we're the Brotherhood of Steel! We cannot yield, and we will not falter! Liberty Prime is with us, the Rainbooms are with us, and even the little lunatic from Vault 101 is with us!" A few Knights chuckled at Adam's sigh. "There is no greater fighting force in this entire wasteland! We will prevail! Are you with me?"

The Brotherhood troops cried out in unison, and Sunset couldn't help feeling her own spirits lift at the sound of a crowd of strong voices belting out through armored speakers. Metzger raised her laser rifle and turned to the door. "Then let's do this! Everybody, charge!"

Light streamed into the tunnel as Metzger kicked the door open and charged through it. The Wonderbolts thundered out after her, then Sunset led the Rainbooms out next.

A narrow road snaked off ahead of them, bordered on one side by low cliffs and on the other by a rocky valley. A series of crackling blue energy fields blocked the road, and several concrete towers dotted the valley, each topped with clusters of gun turrets. Sunset gulped as a Vertibird soared into view, but before anyone could react bright blue lasers seared through the air and blew it to smithereens.

"ENGAGING RED CHINESE AGGRESSORS." The ground shook as Liberty Prime stomped into view, lumbering into the valley utterly unconcerned by the laser fire that crackled from the turrets.

The Knights opened fire on the turrets, while the Rainbooms ducked behind their power-armored fellows to avoid the retaliatory laser shots, but thankfully most of the turrets were targeting the giant robot.

Liberty Prime didn't bother firing again. It simply strode up to the base of the nearest tower, then stamped on something that exploded with a crackle of electricity. The turrets atop the tower were silenced instantly, and the first energy field blocking the road powered down a moment later.

"DEMOCRACY IS TRUTH. COMMUNISM IS DEATH." Liberty fetched a mini-nuke from its back and hurled it at the next field, vaporising the emitters and destroying the turrets around it.

"Keep moving! Everyone press forward!" Metzger barked. She led half of the strike force down a slope into the valley, with Pinkie, Rainbow and Applejack following, while Cross, Adam, Fawkes, and the rest of the Rainbooms joined the other Knights as they dared the roadway.

A handful of Enclave soldiers guarded the way ahead, and just beyond them a third energy field blocked the way around a corner; this one crackling with blue and pink energy. As the Knights and soldiers traded fire, Rarity conjured glittering pillars spaced evenly apart for the troops, largely Sunset, Fawkes and herself, to take cover behind.

Taking aim from behind one crystal pillar, Sunset swallowed her reluctance and fired at the nearest soldier. Adam and Fawkes both focused their fire on the same target, and the soldier's armor heated up, warped, then finally gave way beneath the storm of laser and plasma fire. Sunset felt her stomach lurch as the soldier fell, horror and revulsion threatening to overwhelm her, but she thrust her feelings to the back of her mind and focused her attention on looking for her next target.

"Shoot the same bad guys that I do!" Adam called out. "We'll concentrate our fire and overwhelm their armor, one by one!"

Sunset and Fawkes readily followed his advice, though the Enclave soldiers didn't make it easy. Crystal cracked and melted under their weapons fire, and Sunset saw two Knights fall before their guns, but the Brotherhood had the advantage of numbers. The soldiers didn't last long.

When the last soldier fell, the Knights charged up towards the energy barrier. Sunset looked around for Liberty Prime, but the robot was distracted by a particularly large Vertibird, one bristling with weapons and protected by a purple magical shield that rippled and flickered with each laser that Liberty fired at it.

A bright red laser sparked off the ground near Sunset's feet, making her yelp and jump aside in fright. A set of turrets on top of a nearby tower had apparently decided that the group stuck next to the energy field made good targets. Sunset dodged behind Adam, using him as a power-armored human shield while she shot one of the turrets until it exploded in a shower of sparks. A swift volley from Fawkes and Adam took care of the others.

"We need to find the generator, we're sitting ducks up here!" One of the Knights snapped.

Loud explosions ripped through the air as Liberty Prime finally gave up and just tossed a nuke at the Vertibird, blowing it out of the sky. "DEMOCRACY WILL PREVAIL." The robot glanced down and fired its lasers at something out of sight, then the energy field fizzled out and disappeared.

Adam huffed a laugh. "I guess that was the gener-"

A loud screeching roar cut him off, and barely a second later a two-legged reptilian nightmare bounded around the corner. The closest Knight had just enough time to yell out a warning before the creature pounced on him, claws and teeth flashing.

"Deathclaw!" The other Knights fired wildly as the Deathclaw tore through their companion's power armor with horrifying ease.

"No you don't!" Rarity threw an arm out to the side and summoned a circular razor-edged gemstone, then sent it spinning towards the Deathclaw's legs. The monster roared in agony as the gem scythed through bone and muscle, sending the creature tumbling to the ground, but its misery didn't last long as Cross darted forward with her hammer raised high. Sunset tore her gaze away just as the hammer struck home with a sickening crunch.

"AMERICA WILL NEVER FALL TO COMMUNIST INVASION." Liberty Prime stomped along in search of enemies, following the curve of the valley as it, and the road above, turned to the right. Almost as soon as Liberty turned the corner the air was ripped apart by a terrific storm of lasers, plasma bolts and missiles, all directed at the robot. Wading through the fusillade, Liberty retaliated with its own lasers and the occasional thrown nuke.

"That's our cue, let's go!" Cross led the group up on the road in a thundering charge around the corner. Sunset gritted her teeth and followed them reluctantly. Thankfully, there were no more energy fields blocking the road, but in their place were metal barriers and barricades guarded by turrets and more Enclave soldiers. The relay station rose up behind them; a windowless concrete edifice that bore no markings whatsoever. Huge satellite dishes rose up in a row on a ridge behind the building.

More firepower was directed at the advancing group, forcing Sunset to keep her head down as she ran, firing off snap shots whenever she got a chance. The flurry of lasers and plasma was also accompanied by brightly coloured flashes of light that spoke of magical weaponry being deployed, though in the chaos it was impossible to see what the effects were.

Sunset yelped as a laser scored a furrow across her armor. Ducking behind a Knight, she pulled a pulse grenade from her belt, armed it, and hurled it at the nearest barricade. The grenade detonated with an electronic crackle, and the soldiers behind the barricade lurched as their armor suddenly lost power. Cross took the opportunity to smash through the sudden weakness in the Enclave's defences, followed by several Knights, and they set to butchering the helpless troopers without mercy.

A colossal blast suddenly rocked the road, ripping a Knight to pieces and showering those nearby with grit, shards of metal and chunks of meat. Sunset hissed as she felt a sharp pain in her leg, but she ignored it and focused on diving behind a wrecked barricade. Looking around carefully, she spotted an Enclave soldier reloading a Fatman; a weapon the Brotherhood had taught her about that launched miniature nuclear warheads. She fired at the soldier, but ran out of ammunition before she could take him down.

As she ducked down to reload, hoping that the soldier wouldn't think to target her with a nuke, she spotted something pink moving down in the valley. Pinkie had spotted the soldier too and, heedless of the lasers turning patches of dust to glass around her, reached up to fish a Nuka-Cola out of her hair and stuffed it into the barrel of her Party Cannon, before pointing it up at the soldier with the Fatman.

The Cannon fired with a high-pitched thoom. Sunset watched in amazement as the Nuka-Cola flew in a lazy arc, leaving a trail of glittering pink sparkles in its wake, until it smashed against the soldier's chest. The blast that followed was audible even over the furore of the battle. When the smoke cleared, all that remained of the soldier was an armored pair of legs, standing incongruously like a half-made statue.

"Holy shit," Sunset muttered under her breath.

"Language, darling," a voice said weakly. Sunset turned and saw that, to her mild surprise, Rarity was crouching next to her. The fashionista was liberally splattered with mud, ash, and blood, but at least the latter didn't seem to be her own. "This is a little more than we bargained for."

"You can say that again," Sunset agreed fervently. She flinched as a bolt of plasma melted a chunk of the barricade next to them. "Are you managing okay?"

Rarity nodded and stood up just long enough to fling a small crystal spike before ducking down again. "Their armor is too strong for my magic, so I'm just trying to aim for their weapons. It'll be harder for them to kill us if they can't shoot us." She brushed her hair out of her face and peeked over the barricade again. "Alright, darling, let's keep moving!"

It happened in an instant. Rarity stood up and placed a foot on top of the barricade, ready to vault over it, when a hissing orange bolt struck her in the chest and exploded like a miniature sun, punching her clean off her feet.

"Rarity!" Sunset scrambled over to her. The magical shot had burned a fist-sized hole through her armor, but the uniform beneath was only singed. Rarity groaned in agony, prompting Sunset to look around at the Knights. "Medic!"

"Give me a second!" Sunset whipped her head around to face the source of the shout. Fluttershy was kneeling next to a fallen Knight, back where the energy field had been. Sunset felt her blood run cold as she realized that Fluttershy had her hands inside the Knight's abdomen, clearly trying to staunch a horrific injury, but even as she watched Fluttershy gave up and shook her head, swearing loudly before pulling her hands out and sprinting up to Rarity. "What happened?"

Sunset scooted back to give her room. "Some sort of magic bullet. Shot her in the chest."

Fluttershy put her ear to Rarity's chest and listened carefully for a couple of seconds. "No broken bones, you're fine." She pulled out a stimpak, rolled the fashionista's sleeve up and jammed it into her arm, ignoring Rarity's pained hiss. "This'll help you get back on your feet. Try not to get shot again!"

Without another word, Fluttershy turned and ran towards the next fallen Knight, ducking and weaving to avoid getting shot.

"She's scary when she's in doctor mode." Sunset glanced down at Rarity. "You good to go?"

"I think so?" Rarity grunted and tried to pull herself to her feet, then yelped and dropped to the floor as another orange bullet whizzed past her head and blew a chunk out of the ground.

Sunset looked around wildly for whoever was targeting them. A multicolored blur grabbed her attention as Rainbow flew up to the top of the relay building, Flashburn blazing in her hand. Apparently, she found her target, as she swung the blade once towards something laying on the roof and a moment later an object that looked awfully like a head rolled off the edge of the building, dropping to the ground below like a forgotten ball.

Another explosion shook the earth as Liberty threw another nuke, and all of a sudden an abrupt silence fell. Taken off-guard by the sudden lull in the fighting, Sunset carefully stood up and looked around for any enemies, only to realize that there weren't any left. All of the Enclave soldiers outside the relay station were either dead or too wounded to keep fighting.

"What now?" Rarity asked, standing up and rubbing her chest.

Sunset looked up at the satellite dishes. "Now we get inside and shut this place down before they can finish the satellite uplink."

"COMMUNIST THREAT ASSESSMENT: MINIMAL." Liberty Prime lumbered closer to the station, and a blue light illuminated the building as it scanned the structure. "SCANNING DEFENCES. STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS DETECTED. EXPLOITING." The giant robot hurled a nuke at the building. When the smoke cleared, Sunset saw a huge crater in the wall, with a spiderweb of cracks running through the concrete, but it hadn't been enough to breach the interior. Realizing this, Liberty walked right up to the crater, raised a fist, and punched a hole right through the solid concrete.

"Okay, now for the hard part," Sunset said grimly. Before she could take a step closer, two of the satellite dishes suddenly moved, metal groaning as they both aligned and pointed up into the sky. Sunset's heart sank as she realized what was happening. "No… no, no, no… we're too late."

"SATELLITE UPLINK DETECTED. ANALYSIS OF COMMUNIST TRANSMISSION PENDING." Liberty Prime ripped its arm from the wall and stepped back, tilting its head to look up at the sky. Mere seconds later, it let out a wailing siren. "WARNING. WARNING. RED CHINESE ORBITAL STRIKE IMMINENT." Liberty thrust an arm out, pointing away from the station. "ALL PERSONNEL SHOULD REACH MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE, IMMEDIATELY."

Shouts and orders rang out from the Knights, and the strike force swiftly retreated back the way they had come, dragging their wounded with them. Sunset and Rarity looked up as they ran. Bright lights could be seen in the sky, growing brighter with each passing second. Fear clutched at Sunset's heart as a rainbow-coloured blur rocketed upwards to meet them.

"Rainbow?! Is she insane?! What's she doing?!" Rarity cried.

"Trying to save Liberty Prime," Sunset replied shakily. Elder Lyons had warned them about the possibility of an orbital strike, but since they didn't have any way of attacking a satellite directly, this was the next best option. "She's going to try to intercept as many missiles as she can, and destroy them before they reach the ground."

Rarity gave Sunset a horrified look. "She's going to try and stop a barrage of orbital missiles head on?! With a sword?!"

Sunset didn't answer. Technically, all Rainbow had to do was sever a fuel line, wreck a guiding fin, or do enough damage to the fuselage to knock a missile off course, but with how fast the missiles would be travelling, not to mention getting away from each missile before it exploded, or even outrunning the explosion… it was a tall order, even for Rainbow Dash. One slight miscalculation, one wrong wing flap, and Liberty Prime wouldn't be the only one they lost.

Even as the pair ran, the first explosion lit up the sky. Sunset felt her heart clench, then another blast came, then another. After the third explosion, Liberty Prime fired upwards with its own lasers, and the sky was suddenly filled with fire and smoke.

"TARGETING SYSTEM INSUFFICIENT." Liberty Prime suddenly crouched and held its arms above its head. "NOT LIKE TH-"

The ground heaved as the first missile hit the ground right next to the robot. The force of the explosion sent seething air hissing over the fleeing Knights, and the immense shockwave made the very ground heave and split, throwing the girls to the ground. Further blasts followed as more missiles slammed home, turning the world into a hellish mess of screaming air and tortured earth.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the noise died away and the ground stopped shaking.

Sunset coughed dryly. Slowly, half-afraid that the nightmare would begin again, she removed her arms from her head and moved her legs, shifting from the ball she had instinctively rolled into. She looked around at the others, seeing the Knights, Cross, and Adam still standing, while Rarity, Fawkes and Fluttershy were all curled up just as Sunset was.

"Is everyone okay?" The sound of Pinkie calling out from the valley below sent a brief glimmer of hope through Sunset's chest, boosted a second later as she heard more Knights shout responses, Applejack's voice among them. As she stood and looked back towards Liberty Prime, however, Sunset felt that hope waver.

A great cloud of smoke and dust obscured the spot where Liberty Prime had crouched. Sunset could neither see nor hear a thing; not a glimpse of the robot, not a peep from its speakers, not even the groan of flexing metal.

A bright light descending from the sky made Sunset flinch, and her breath hitched as Rainbow touched down gently and swept Flashburn around with a flourish. "That… was fucking awesome! Isn't that right, big guy?"

Sunset's heart leapt as a giant shadow rose to its feet within the cloud. Its armor was blackened and rent open in places, but every single member of the strike force let loose a victorious roar as Liberty Prime raised a fist to the heavens. "LIBERTY SHALL NEVER DIE."

Next Chapter: Chapter 90 - Satellite Uplink Assault Estimated time remaining: 24 Hours, 48 Minutes