Circumstances in the wasteland could change dramatically in an instant. Intellectually, Sunset knew this very well. Despite this, going from sneaking past Deathclaws, to a life or death battle, to more sneaking, to sitting at a table sipping water with the motliest crew she had ever seen, was enough to throw her for a loop.

Several small tables had been pushed together in the remains of a canteen. Sunset, Pinkie, Adam, and Fluttershy were sitting along the one side with Wint and Kidd sitting on one end and a battered-looking eyebot hovering at the other.

The soldier had removed his armor revealing cropped brown hair, gaunt cheeks and a strong chin, and taken a seat opposite Sunset. Adam's own armor was propped against a wall behind the group.

"Thanks for letting us get some rest," Adam said gratefully, placing his bottle of water back on the table with a satisfied sigh.

The soldier grunted, his eyes flicking towards Pinkie's wound. "Head injuries are no joke. Better to get you sitting down than risk having someone keel over while we're talking. Mind you, the moment Lemon gets back with some proper nourishment, we'll need answers."

"You'll get them," Sunset promised.

"I imagine you'll be wanting some answers, too," Lemon called as she entered the room carrying a tray laden with small glasses and what looked like candy bars. "Starting with why we're talking instead of shooting."

"I'd be lying if I said we hadn't been wondering about that," Adam admitted.

Lemon set the tray on the table and plopped into a chair next to the soldier. "Help yourselves. It's only soy milk and protein bars, though, I'm afraid. This outpost isn't big or important enough to get any good stuff."

"Hey, food is food. Thanks." Sunset picked one of each, sipping the milk before carefully peeling the foil wrapper off the protein bar. "So… this is the Powerworks, right? How come it's just you two here?"

"There used to be more of us here, but Major Owens ordered most of the team back to the air base," the soldier replied.

Lemon nodded. "That's kinda the reason we didn't shoot you, actually. Me and Tara, Dr Strong, go way back. She says you guys wanted a peace treaty and that you're good people, so we're not interested in picking a fight. And, since none of Acheson's shitbag supporters are still here…" she shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, the only thing I'm here to do is keep an eye on the Serpent."

"The Serpent?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"The Deathclaw crossbreed you had a close call with in the sewers." Lemon jerked a thumb towards the door in response to the group's surprised stares. "We've got camouflaged cameras all over the place to monitor things, including one the researchers managed to stick on the Serpent's body long before it escaped from Raven Rock."

"Crossbreed?" Sunset frowned. "That thing wasn't mutated by magic?"

Lemon sighed and shook her head. "No, that fucker is the result of some lunatic deciding to mix Deathclaw and Wanamingo DNA and, when that didn't work, because that's not how genetics work, adding in a shitload of FEV until she got something approaching the results she wanted."

"What's a Wanamingo?" Pinkie asked.

"The product of another awful project aimed at creating a viable war beast using FEV," Lemon explained. "Most of them were released into the wild on the west coast, but the Enclave kept a few specimens for breeding and research purposes."

Sunset surreptitiously kept an eye on the soldier as she listened. Despite the man's insistence that he wanted answers, he had thus far been content to let Lemon talk and give away a whole bunch of unguarded information. Something wasn't adding up. "If Deathclaws and Wanamingos were created by the Enclave as living weapons then, setting aside why the hell those things were ever released into the wild, exactly how many other mutated horrors can we blame the Enclave for?"

Lemon hummed thoughtfully, apparently unbothered by the dig at the Enclave. "The only ones I know about off the top of my head are Deathclaws, Wanamingos, Scorchbeasts, and Yellowstone Preytons."

"And which of those, other than Deathclaws, are loose in the Capital Wasteland?" Adam asked.

"Since Raven Rock fell?" Lemon let out a grim chuckle. "At least two Wanamingo Queens, a handful of lesser Wanamingos and, worst of all, one Scorchbeast Queen."

Dreading the answer but unable to remain ignorant, Sunset asked, "What's so bad about the Scorchbeast Queen?"

Lemon raised an eyebrow. "Did you see the dead bat-thing the Deathclaws were eating in the Underground?" Sunset and Fluttershy nodded uneasily. "That was the young male Scorchbeast that also escaped from Raven Rock."

Cold fear clutched at Sunset's heart. "You mean the Queen is going to raise another monster that size?"

"Not just one," the soldier said darkly. "Scorchbeast Queens drop whole broods at a time; their young grow to sexual maturity rapidly and, thanks to the FEV in their system, they're highly resistant to the usual issues associated with inbreeding."

"As if that wasn't bad enough, the male was inoculated against the plague that most Scorchbeasts carry, but the Queen wasn't," Lemon continued. "The Brotherhood of Steel will be able to tell you how much of a problem that can turn out to be."

Sunset almost laughed. Things were suddenly starting to make sense. "You want the Brotherhood to help you find and deal with the Scorchbeast Queen."

The soldier shrugged. "That would be the ideal outcome. Acheson thinks that the Scorchbeasts, and the Wanamingos for that matter, won't be a problem; but we're of the opinion that the population should at least get a fair warning about these new threats. For now, though, there's a more pressing question." He leaned forward and fixed Sunset with a calculating stare. "What exactly are you doing out here in Old Olney, and what were you doing in the Underground?"

Sunset had been wondering how best to answer that question ever since Lemon had found them in the Underground. Lying was an option, but she suspected that these two could be trusted enough to tell the truth. Most of it, anyway. "We're looking for a piece of pre-war tech; specifically an experimental Tesla Coil. We were told that there was one here in the Powerworks."

"Sure, it's here, but what do you want a Tesla Coil for?" Lemon asked curiously.

The soldier glowered at the group. "The Brotherhood wants it so they can put together their own Tesla cannons." He crossed his arms and sat up in his chair. "Is your battle robot not advantage enough?"

"No," Sunset replied flatly. "Until your superiors sign a peace treaty, the Brotherhood, and us Rainbooms, are going to seize every advantage we can get our hands on."

The soldier bristled at her, but Sunset wasn't too concerned. Between herself and Adam, she was confident that they could take the pair and their eyebot easily enough.

"What about you two?" The soldier asked roughly, turning to Wint and Kidd. "Where do you fit into all of this?"

Wint held up his hands. "Hey, we just want to get out of Old Olney alive. We don't give a shit about whatever's going down between your bucketheads and their bucketheads."

"Lucky you," Lemon muttered.

Adam shifted on the seat. "So… are you going to show us where the Tesla Coil is, or do we have to find it ourselves?"

The soldier glared at him, but as he opened his mouth to say something the speaker on the eyebot suddenly crackled into life, followed by a familiar voice saying, "Just let them have the damned thing."

"Lieutenant Colonel?" The soldier said slowly.

"The Brotherhood developing Tesla cannons won't negatively impact our plans," the voice said, hissing and crackling with minor static. "Give them the Tesla Coil, then help them get out of Old Olney safely. Call it a favor."

The soldier nodded. "Yes, Sir." Matching actions to words, he immediately pushed his chair back and got to his feet. "I'll activate the northwest decoys, you take the Rainbooms to the south surface exit. I'll meet you there with the Tesla Coil."

"Got it," Lemon replied as the soldier marched out of the room. "Are you girls going to be alright? Are your injuries going to stop you from walking?"

"I'm fine," Pinkie said firmly. "I just want to get out of this craphole, stuff my face with anything I can find that's sugary and non-radioactive, then sleep for about fifteen hours."

"I'm down with that plan," Sunset said with feeling.

"Okay, good." Lemon stood and stepped over to a door in the corner of the room. "Come on. The south surface exit is this way. It'll take you right to the outskirts of Old Olney."

The rest of the group waited just long enough for Adam to get into his armor before following Lemon. The woman led them at a brisk pace through dusty corridors. Portable terminals and supply crates were dotted all over the place; evidence that the place was ostensibly a functional research outpost, though Sunset doubted that much progress was made with only two personnel.

"When did you tell the Lieutenant Colonel that we were here?" Fluttershy asked.

"The moment I saw you on the cameras," Lemon replied. "Like I said, me and his sister go way back and, personally, me and Brian will support him over Acheson any day." She glanced over her shoulder at them. "I don't know any details about what's going on between you Rainbooms, the Brotherhood of Steel, and the Enclave brass, but it's as plain as day that there's a rift in the Enclave, with the Lieutenant Colonel on one side and Acheson on the other. I know which side I'm sticking with."

Sunset just nodded, making a mental note to report it to the Brotherhood of Steel.

"What were the decoys the other guy mentioned?" Pinkie asked.

"Sound emitters that start screeching and drop slabs of meat when they're activated," Lemon replied. "They'll draw nearly every Deathclaw on the surface to them, giving you the chance to escape." She stopped next to a ladder leading up to a manhole. "This will take you up to the surface. You can either climb the fence next to the hole, or you can head south about a hundred meters to find an old gate. Either way, that'll get you out of Old Olney."

Adam planted his hands on his hips and looked up at the manhole. "What about the Tesla Coil?"

"It's right here." The group turned to see the soldier emerge from another corridor carrying the Tesla Coil. The device was bigger than Sunset had expected at almost twice the size of her own head.

"Who's going to carry it?" Fluttershy asked.

"I will, once I'm up the ladder," Adam replied. "I'll go up first, then just toss it up to me."

The soldier nodded. "Alright, but let's get this done quickly. Those decoys won't distract the Deathclaws for long."

Sufficiently warned, Adam clambered up the ladder and shoved the manhole cover open. As soon as he was through, he called down to the soldier, who threw the Tesla Coil up to him.

Pinkie was the next one up, followed quickly by Fluttershy. Sunset waved Wint and Kidd up next, then, as she prepared to make her own awkward ascent, she glanced back at the two Enclave people. "Thanks. I guess we owe you one."

"Just remember that when the Brotherhood is deciding whether or not to send their death-bot up here," Lemon said flatly.

Sunset nodded and focused on climbing the ladder. The painkillers were beginning to wear off already and each step brought with it the promise of future pain. As she neared the top Fluttershy and Pinkie both reached a hand down to help her up.

As the soldier had said, there was a makeshift fence next to the manhole, made up of crudely joined wooden panels and metals plates. Adam had already pried a wooden panel loose and was waving the others through. Wint and Kidd went first with the girls and Adam following. Adam pulled the panel back into place after he’d passed.

"Which way now?" Sunset asked quietly.

Fluttershy pointed. "This way, south."

The motley group went the way indicated as quickly and quietly as they could. Finally, with their hearts hammering as they half expected a Deathclaw to come leaping out of nowhere, the group left Old Olney behind, almost reaching the promontory where they had encountered the previous Enclave team.

"Well, I think that went about as well as we could have hoped," Sunset said, sagging with relief that the ordeal was over. "Remind me never to come to this shithole again."

"Agreed," Kidd said flatly.

"What are you two going to do now?" Fluttershy asked.

Wint scratched his head. "I'm guessing you guys are heading back to the Citadel. Do you mind if we travel with you as far as that? We can make our own way to Underworld from there."

"Sure thing. Would it be easier for you if w-" Sunset was interrupted by a low shuddering growl. She whipped her head around just in time to see the formerly Enclave-controlled Deathclaw they had rescued rise up from behind a boulder, flexing its claws as it stalked towards them.

"Wait!" Fluttershy threw an arm out as everyone raised their weapons. The Deathclaw hesitated, then resumed its advance. To Sunset's amazement, the creature stopped when it reached Fluttershy and crouched, making a series of rumbling growls and whines.

"What's it saying?" Adam asked.

Fluttershy nodded and said, "Of course, you'd be welcome." Turning to her very confused companions, she smiled. "He wants to come with us, he wants us to try and help him get rid of that machine in his skull. In fact…" her smile widened as she looked from Pinkie and Sunset to the Deathclaw and back. "...I think I have an idea."

Next Chapter: Chapter 98 - Conflict Looms Estimated time remaining: 23 Hours, 12 Minutes