The air was quiet and still. Even the few birds that still braved the skies of the wasteland kept their songs to themselves, as if the whole world was waiting with bated breath to see how the day's events unfolded.

Elder Lyons sighed and clasped his hands behind his back, trying not to look nervous. It had been two days since Sunset's team had returned from Old Olney. In that time, Liberty Prime's repairs had all been double-checked and his programming tweaked by Twilight, the Scribes had finished constructing a handful of Tesla cannons, the Rainbooms had been given a few last minute rounds of training, and the majority of the Brotherhood of Steel's troops had been gathered into a single assault force.

Less than an hour ago, Elder Lyons had given them the order to move out. Over two hundred and fifty Knights, Paladins, and half-trained Initiates, fully three quarters of the Brotherhood's military might, had begun the long march to the Adams Air Force Base.

Liberty Prime was accompanying them, along with all of the Rainbooms, sans Twilight, who was still stuck in her wheelchair, and Fluttershy, who had been given a separate mission.

Against the Elder's reservations, his daughter, Sarah, had taken command of the army, despite her recent coma, with Star Paladin Cross acting as her second in command. Unfortunately, owing to the lack of reliable communications technology, there was nothing Elder Lyons could do but sit and wait for the scouts to return after the battle.

The small remainder of the Brotherhood's troops that hadn't been committed to the fight were dotted around the wasteland; either garrisoning important locations or protecting Project Purity's water caravans. The Citadel itself was almost undefended. The only people who remained were the Squires, Scribes, a handful of Initiates, and those Knights who were too injured to make the arduous journey with the rest of the army.

In a rather bizarre twist of fate, the Citadel's greatest remaining defence, other than its turret network, was the Deathclaw currently snoozing in the middle of the courtyard.

Elder Lyons fought back a shiver as he glanced at the creature. Bergen had tried to demand that the creature be sent to fight the Enclave, but, according to Fluttershy, the Deathclaw wasn't willing to do anything for anyone until the ugly implant in its skull had been removed.

One unfortunate Scribe had made the mistake of suggesting that the beast be euthanized, before it could become a threat, in Fluttershy's presence. The Elder had heard the phrase 'if looks could kill' before, but that had been the first time that he had understood it on a primal level. If looks truly could kill, then hers was a glare that could strike down the Almighty himself. The poor Scribe in question hadn't been the same since.

The Deathclaw shifted in its sleep, making Lyons twitch warily, but the beast just rolled over and carried on snoring.

Tired of waiting and agonizing, Elder Lyons sighed and turned away, heading for the Citadel's laboratories. If he could not help with the fighting, the least he could do was get a head start on the mound of paperwork that was waiting for him. One way or another, the Capital Wasteland was about to change forever.

Fluttershy stared through the narrow bars of the fence, silently taking in the devastation beyond. An immense crater was the most obvious feature, with several damaged white pillars sticking out of it, indicating where what must have been a majestic monument once stood.

With a sad sigh, Fluttershy turned away from the dismal sight. Adam was standing nearby, talking to several Knights, while Fawkes was next to Fluttershy at the fence, staring at the crater.

The three of them had been selected to sneak through the old Presidential Metro tunnels, secretly meet the Exodus team at the Enclave's base of operations, infiltrate the Mobile Base Crawler, and neutralize its satellite uplink, while the rest of the Brotherhood engaged Acheson's troops directly. It wasn't a plan that Fluttershy particularly liked, but her enhanced senses made her uniquely suited for these sorts of stealth missions.

One unexpected bonus was that, for the initial step of their journey, they had been granted a Brotherhood escort. Admittedly, that was largely because there was a Brotherhood of Steel outpost right outside the tunnels that the team needed to take, an outpost that they had been asked to resupply while they were on the way, but Fluttershy was still grateful for the extra security.

Supported by Knights, the group hadn't run into any trouble, or any other living thing at all, until they had arrived at Pennsylvania Avenue, the site of the Brotherhood's outpost, and former home of the President of the United States.

"So, this is all that remains of the White House?" Fawkes placed a hand on the fence, looking at the giant crater with a melancholic air. "I read that it was beautiful, once, but it was thanks to the pride and greed of those within that the world is in the parlous state that we must now endure." He sighed heavily. "We must never allow such evil to rise again."

"We won't," Fluttershy said firmly. "That's what this battle is about, stopping that kind of evil before it can grow beyond control."

Fawkes just sighed again. Fluttershy knew that he thought she was being naïve, but at this point, a few lingering scraps of naiveté were all that she had left to cling to.

"Alright, we're good to go," Adam said as he stepped over to join the two, small chunks of debris crunching under his armored footsteps. "The Knights here should now have enough supplies to hold this outpost until our main forces return from the Air Base."

Fluttershy nodded, looking around at the outpost curiously. It was little more than a makeshift camp surrounded by sandbag walls. "Why does the Brotherhood even have an outpost here? Is it a strategic location or something?"

"Nah, it's mostly just pride," Adam replied. "This is where the old government used to reside, and, given that the Brotherhood of Steel was founded by members of the old military, keeping control of this area is a symbolic gesture more than it is a tactical consideration."

"Okay." Fluttershy double-checked her nursing kit out of habit, then made sure her sword was secure in its scabbard. "Which way do we go from here?"

Adam pointed to a nearby manhole cover. "Through there. That'll take us down into the old Presidential Metro, and from there we can hopefully find a working train that'll take us directly to the Enclave's base."

"Is it safe?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sadly, no. The Knights say that there's a bunch of hostile robots down there. They would have destroyed them, but they decided there was no point since the robots do just as good a job of protecting the place as the Brotherhood would. Luckily, they've given us plenty of these." Adam held a handful of pulse grenades out to Fawkes and Fluttershy. "These will help us deal with most of the robots down there."

Fluttershy took hers and tucked them into her pockets, silently glad that she had actually paid attention when the Brotherhood instructors had taught the Rainbooms how to use them.

"Are there any threats other than the robots?" Fawkes asked.

"I don't know," Adam replied. "The Brotherhood doesn't think so, but they haven't explored very far into the tunnels, so we'd best keep our eyes open."

"That's what I'm here for," Fluttershy put in.

Adam nodded and strode over to the manhole cover. "Fair enough, but I'm going first just in case. I've got armor, we may as well make use of it." He quickly wrenched the cover off and dropped into the darkness below.

A wary expression flashed across Fawkes' face. "Are we sure that this is the correct path to our destination?"

"It is," Fluttershy confirmed with a giggle. "I made sure to note down the exact directions we need to take before we left."

Fawkes visibly relaxed. "I am glad. Very well, ladies first."

Fluttershy smiled and followed after Adam. When she reached the bottom of the ladder, she was surprised to find herself in what looked like an ordinary maintenance corridor. Fluttershy supposed that she was being foolish; of course it would only be a regular maintenance corridor, but, for some reason, she had expected to find something a little grander.

As Fawkes stomped loudly down the ladder, Fluttershy gasped and clasped Adam's arm. "We need to be quiet, there's people down here with us!"

"People?!" Adam whipped up his plasma rifle. "Who? Where?"

Fluttershy held a hand up to her lips, and gestured for the two to follow. She was wary at first, worried that they were about to run into raiders, or worse, but as she listened to the faint sounds of conversation, understanding blossomed.

The three crept stealthily through the corridor until they found a small open door on the right. Peeking in, Fluttershy spotted five men sitting around a table in what appeared to be a makeshift camp. Five empty sets of power armor stood along one wall, while their occupants sat around drinking clean water and playing poker.

"And that's a straight flush, read it and weep!" One of the Enclave soldiers grinned as he dropped his hand on the table, prompting the others to curse and throw their own cards down carelessly.

"Um, hello?" Fluttershy ventured quietly.

The soldiers practically leapt out of their own skins. They scrambled to their feet, reaching for their sidearms, then let out annoyed sighs when they saw who it was.

"Holy shit, you scared the bejeezus out of me!" One of the soldiers huffed.

Another soldier, apparently the squad leader. Straightened up and tucked his chair under the table neatly. "It's about time you got here. I assume you're the Brotherhood's infiltration squad?"

"That's us," Fluttershy replied. "Um, sorry."

The soldiers stiffened as Adam and Fawkes stepped into the light, but made no other comment on the presence of a Super Mutant. "Who are you? And what the heck are you doing here?" Adam asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel Strong sent us, we're with the Exodus team," the squad leader replied. "We've been waiting here for almost seven hours now."

"We would've been here sooner if we hadn't had to deal with a damned feral ghoul infestation," one of the soldiers grumbled.

The squad leader shot him a glare. "Quit grousing about the ghouls and get your armor on." He cleared his throat as his men started getting ready. "Anyway, the ghoul problem has been dealt with, the Presidential robots have been reconfigured to treat us as friendlies, and the metro is fully operational. Now that you're here, our orders are to escort you directly to the Adams Air Force Base."

The tension in the conference room was so thick it could be cut with a knife. The leaders of the Exodus team had all gathered in the residential sector of the air base to discuss last-minute preparations. It was almost time for all subtlety to be cast aside, and everything had to be perfectly timed. To this end, every scrap of intelligence and planning that the Exodus team had collected was spread out on a table between them.

Lieutenant Colonel Strong looked around at each of his fellow conspirators in turn. Becky and Tara were poring over the latest reports, Agent Drops standing guard two paces behind them, while Senator Devall was reading through an attaché delivered by one of his contacts in the maintenance crews. Senator Lily was standing aside, eyeing the proceedings carefully as she idly fiddled with an odd necklace.

"Something on your mind, Lieutenant Colonel?" Lily asked with a slight smirk.

Andrew grunted and looked back down at his reports. "I'm just concerned about our deployment, especially given Major Owens' sudden shift in tactics."

"I'm sorry?" Devall looked over in alarm. "I wasn't aware of any changes, has something happened?"

"Owens had an idea that's actually tactically sound," Andrew replied. "Instead of bringing all of his and Acheson's supporters into the Base Crawler, he has redeployed a handful of his troops directly into the path of the Brotherhood of Steel's forces. He'll be leading them personally."

Devall frowned curiously. "Is that a… good plan?"

Andrew shrugged. "Under ordinary circumstances it would be. Owens has also moved all of the Deathclaw units into warehouses on either side of the route that the Brotherhood will most likely take. He's intending to draw the Brotherhood troops in, ambush them with Deathclaws, then have our own Exodus soldiers flank them while they're distracted. If we were all actually working together for the Enclave as a whole, it would be a slaughter."

"But we aren't, so our troops can be the hammer that squashes Owens against the anvil of the Brotherhood," Lily put in, rolling her eyes. "Even were that not the case, apparently, both you and Acheson have forgotten the devastatingly powerful robot the Brotherhood are undoubtedly bringing to this fight." She arched an eyebrow. "Unless, you think that Acheson has come up with a way of defeating it?"

That was an excellent question. Unfortunately, it was one that Andrew didn't have an answer for. "I don't know. Owens isn't one to admit when he's outmatched, but he still sounded a little too confident about his ability to withstand the Brotherhood's assault." Andrew shook his head slowly. "I don't like it. Acheson has something up his sleeve, and I'm willing to bet that old tank has something to do with it."

"The heavy tank they've been retrofitting?" Becky asked in surprise. "That thing is a pre-war relic, it didn't even have a functioning engine at first. Do you really think it's going to be a problem?"

"Liberty Prime was a pre-war relic, too, as is most of the Brotherhood of Steel's power armor," Tara countered. "Don't forget, Acheson has been pumping it full of magic as well, we don't know what it's capable of anymore." She grimaced as she looked over the reports scattered on the table. "And I've got a horrible feeling that Acheson has something else cooked up for us to deal with. I doubt this is going to be as easy as we hope."

Lily scoffed. "Oh, please. How many troops does Acheson even have on his side?"

"Altogether? A single platoon," Andrew replied.

Lily burst into laughter. "A single platoon? Compared to the four we have on hand? What's that, two or three hundred men?"

"Three hundred?!" Andrew gave her an incredulous look. "Try eighty!"

"Eighty?" Lily cocked her head to the side curiously. "I thought a platoon consisted of fifty or more troops?"

"A century ago, certainly, but we haven't had enough troops to fill full-sized platoons in decades!" Andrew spat. "Why do you think I was pushing so hard for this peace treaty? The Enclave is hanging by a thread, Senator. If we suffer substantial losses in this battle, it won't matter which side wins, the Enclave will be crippled either way."

The blood drained from Lily's face, leaving her looking even more pale than usual. "I stand corrected. We can't afford to leave anything to chance."

Andrew nodded. "On that, we agree. We'd better warn the Brotherhood that Acheson and Owens might have something up their sleeves. Has ED-E linked up with their troops yet?"

Tara turned to a terminal in the corner. "Yeah, he's with them now. Their leader is Sentinel Lyons."

"The same woman that led the assault on Project Purity," Andrew noted. "Open an audio channel, I'll speak with her directly."

Tara typed a command into the terminal. "I've told ED-E to ask her about a dialogue. As soon as she responds, I'll open a channel. In the meantime, our squads have returned from the Presidential Metro line. They've brought the Brotherhood's infiltration squad with them."

"Good. As soon as the rest of the Brotherhood forces are in position, we'll begin the operation." Andrew glanced at Becky. "Can you rendezvous with the infiltrators and bring them up to speed? I'll coordinate the battle from the command post upstairs."

Becky nodded. "On it. I'll try and make sure that Horrigan behaves himself with them, too." She grabbed a satchel from under the table and hurried out of the room, Agent Drops following silently in her wake.

As soon as the two women were out of the room, Andrew turned his attention back to the Senators. "Have the preparations been made for the treaty?"

"They certainly have," Devall replied. "Senator Prince is on board, and I have it on good authority that our selected representative will be accepted by the majority of the Enclave's civilian population." He gave Andrew a calculating look. "Of course, for this plan to work, we need Acheson to die today."

"It'll happen," Andrew promised. "That scumbag dies today, even if I have to throttle the fucker myself."

Living in the Capital Wasteland had given Sunset a new appreciation for all sorts of things that she had once taken for granted. This long march, however, had hammered home a message that she had thought she already understood: The value of a well-made pair of boots.

The march had been long and arduous, and Sunset was certain that she wouldn't have managed it if the Brotherhood hadn't provided her with a pair of military-grade boots. Her own pair, as good as they were, had been thoroughly wrecked by her journeys around the wastes.

"Hey, you doin' okay?" Someone asked.

Sunset blinked in surprise and looked around to see Applejack watching her. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. Just distracting myself with stupid stuff. You?"

"Yeah, Ah'm good," Applejack replied. "The Knights are sayin' that we're almost there, so you might wanna get your head on straight."

"Right, thanks." Sunset shook herself and clapped her hands on her cheeks to try and wake herself up. She stretched, working her shoulders to get the blood flowing, then glanced at the stripped-down minigun strapped to Applejack's back. "How did your training with that thing go?"

Applejack shrugged. "Not too bad. Ah'd hardly call myself an expert, but Ah reckon Ah can at least shoot the darn thing without blowing a hole in someone's back accidentally."

"Good to hear," Sunset said with a smile.

"Hey, Sunset! Sentinel Lyons wants to talk to you and the Rainbooms up front!" A Knight called out.

Sunset waved to the Knight to let him know she'd got the message, turned to pass the message on to the rest of the girls tagging along behind her, then jogged towards the front of the Brotherhood's forces. The army was marching in a great column, spearheaded by Liberty Prime, the Lyons' Pride, and the Wonderbolts, and the sheer amount of dust the force was kicking up on its march was appalling.

Passing through the ranked up Knights, Sunset found Sentinel Lyons walking with her squad alongside Liberty Prime. Each step the robot took shook the earth, and Sunset couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about walking alongside something so much bigger than her. A single misstep could spell disaster. Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she pressed on until she was within earshot of the Sentinel, noticing at the last moment a modified Enclave Eyebot hovering along next to her. "Sentinel Lyons? You wanted to speak to me?"

Lyons glanced at her, nodded, and pointed ahead. A series of warehouses and hangars could be seen about half a mile ahead. "We've got word from the Exodus team that Acheson's officer, Major Owens, is planning to draw us in through those buildings ahead and ambush us with Deathclaws on either side. The Exodus team is going to help us deal with the ambush, but I want the Rainbooms right behind the Wonderbolts and the Lyons' Pride as we go in, just in case they've got some magical shenanigans in store for us."

"We'll be ready," Sunset assured her.

"Good." Sentinel Lyons gestured to one of her Paladins. "Kodak, I want you to go back and select a few squads to spread out on each flank. Have them link up with the Exodus troops, neutralise any Deathclaws they find and secure their handlers. There shouldn't be many, if any, of Acheson's soldiers around, but tell them to keep an eye out anyway. And tell Cross to get up here. Her new magic hammer will be pretty damned useful against any soldiers we do encounter."

"Yes, ma'am!" Kodak nodded and hurried off, forgoing the usual salute since they were in the field.

Sentinel Lyons rolled her head around, wincing as joints popped. "Man, comas suck." When she was done, she straightened up and squared her shoulders, then raised her voice as she addressed the nearest Knights. "Alright, people, this is it. If we win this battle, we end a war that has been waged on and off for decades. Now let's get in there and show this Acheson asshole what the Brotherhood of Steel is made of!"

"WHAT HAPPENS AFTER?" Everyone looked up in surprise as Liberty Prime suddenly stopped in his tracks. Sunset stared at him in disbelief. His unexpected question had quashed the confident cheer of the Knights before it could even begin, and brought the entirety of the column to an abrupt halt. The fact that Liberty had even asked a question had thrown Sunset for a loop.

"Is this some new feature you girls have programmed into him?" Lyons asked uneasily, evidently just as confused.

"If it is, this is the first I've heard of it," Sunset replied. "Applejack?"

Applejack shook her head rapidly. "Don' look at me."

"You don't think Twilight went crazy and gave Liberty Prime a mind of his own so he could choose whether to help us or slaughter everyone where they stand on a whim, do you?" Pinkie asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Twilight wouldn't do something like that," Sunset replied, though her certainty dropped even as she said it. "Would she?"

Liberty shifted on his feet, making everyone flinch, and turned to look down at Sentinel Lyons. "WHAT. HAPPENS. AFTER?" He repeated slowly.

"A-after the battle, you mean?" Lyons asked. Liberty nodded once. "Well… we sign a peace treaty with the Exodus team, we hash out some agreements on how to proceed, then we work together to make the Capital Wasteland a better place."

Liberty stared impassively down at Lyons. Sunset tensed, ready to bolt at the first sign of hostility, but, after apparently considering her words, Liberty straightened and turned to face the Air Force Base. "I SEE. THEN IT IS TIME." He took one step forward and pointed at the distant warehouses. "ACHESON'S TIME IS OVER. LIBERTY IS HERE, YOUR DOOM HAS COME."

Acheson smiled as he looked around his workshop. His technicians had all left save for Doctor Holt, taking batches of magical crystals and fluid to different sections of the Base Crawler. They would prove exceedingly useful when the orbital strike was finally ready.

The Brotherhood of Steel was on its way. Unbeknownst to them, they were marching directly towards a humiliating and ignominious death, followed swiftly by the pathetic weaklings who supported Lieutenant Colonel Strong and the Exodus team.

Just as Acheson was mentally congratulating himself on his planning skills, Holt looked around from her terminal, a tense expression on her face. "Doctor? We might have a situation."

"What is it, Doctor Holt?" Acheson asked calmly.

"Horrigan, Doctor," Holt replied. "Our eyebot spotted him outside the command post assigned to Lieutenant Colonel Strong."

Acheson grinned. "So they were holding out on us. No matter. In fact, this could work to our favor, allowing us to test our newest toy and eliminate a threat all in one go. Is FH-2 ready?"

Holt shivered. "Yes, Doctor."

"In that case, let's alter our plans. Send FH-2 out with instructions to eliminate Horrigan, followed by every single member of the Exodus team's leadership." Acheson crossed his arms and glanced at the Daybreaker prototype. "What about the tank? Has the pulse cannon been fitted?"

"Fitted, tested, and operating at full capacity," Holt replied. "The tank is ready to deploy as soon as Liberty Prime gets within range."

"Good." Acheson stepped over to another terminal and typed in a command. The Daybreaker prototype shifted in apparent surprise as its restraints slowly began to unlock. "As for you, it is time to prove your worth. Find the Brotherhood troops, including the Rainbooms, and slaughter every last one of them."

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