War… war never changes.
From the ancient city-states in the cradle of civilization, to the great imperial powers bleeding each other to death in the final clash of kings. War has been what man has always aspired to wage, despite the innumerable lives lost and damage caused in the process.
However, this was before man had the capacity to destroy himself. Even when he knew that by waging another war, he would destroy all he had ever built, his money, his power, his ideas…
Man still pushed the button.
On October 23rd, 2077, Billions upon billions of lives were lost in the span of 2 hours. Man had finally reached the pinnacle of the conflict that he'd been waging for millennia, and what had appeared to be the grand finale, was simply a bridge into man's next concerto of conflict.
216 years before the world ceased to exist, one of man's many wars was fought, but not with nuclear weapons and power armor, and not for petty resources to run great industrial machines. It was fought between brothers, father and son, uncle and cousin. It was known as the American Civil War, and it almost destroyed the very concept of the nation itself.
One might think that 430 years later, only a mere 214 after the world was cleansed of life by man, one would forget about this petty conflict. But history has a way of always being taught. Even if the truth of it is altered by who's teaching it.
Chapter 1:
Rebuilding America's Future
"We just lost contact with Adams." A stressed looking man in an unbuttoned black uniform said. He was sat in front of a screen of flashing blue lights and constantly changing letters and numbers. His hat was on the desk that held up the monitor, right next to a cup of some wasteland brew coffee that had sat there for about 18 hours. The desk was cluttered, filled with documents, dossiers, code sheets, and post-it notes with several reminders and things that needed to be done. Next to the documents were a litter of all manner of pens and pencils, some more than 200 years old, some crudely made last week. An N99 10mm pistol was on top of all of these documents, as a sort of paperweight. This desk was one of many in the rather dull room with grey walls and no windows.
"We just lost what with Adams?" Another stressed looking man said, although his uniform was not unbuttoned. His hat was on his head, hiding the upper half of his face to anyone not looking directly at him. The badge on his collar and shoulders marked him as a Captain, the second-highest ranking officer in the compound.
"All satellite readings and radio contact with the mobile base has ceased, sir." the sitting soldier responded to his superior. The three stripes on the sitting soldiers shoulder marked him as a Sergeant. He was far lower ranking than the Captain that stood behind him, but due to the recent losses in personnel, he had taken up the responsibility of a Lieutenant.
"Let me see that." the Captain said, pushing the Sergeant to the side. The Captain stared at the changing letters and numbers for a few moments, before cursing loudly, and throwing the unfortunate coffee mug at a nearby wall, splashing coffee all over the floor.
"Should we inform Colonel Nightingale, sir?" the Sergeant asked, standing above the desk with a technical document in his hand. The Sergeant looked nervous, as he knew what a loss of contact with the mobile base meant. He also didn't mention that satellite Bradley-Hercules had fired a bombardment within the vicinity of the Mobile Base minutes before contact was lost.
"I will. Stay here and wait for any possible contact to be re-established." The Captain said. However, both the Captain and the Sergeant knew that loss of contact with the Mobile Base for any period of time longer than 5 minutes meant that the base was either disabled, or destroyed. Taking into account the last reported bombardment from the Bradley-Hercules satellite, someone likely infiltrated the Mobile base from within, and destroyed it with it's own super-weapon. The Sergeant sighed and rubbed his temples. This was one of innumerable losses they'd experienced over the last few months. The death of Colonel Autumn and the destruction of Raven Rock had put a strain the the Enclave hadn't felt since the Poseidon Oil Rig was destroyed decades ago. Now with the Satellite relay station in Brotherhood hands, and the Mobile Base Destroyed… the Sergeant was unsure how the Enclave would recover.
The Captain was unsure as well. With Adams Air Force Base lost, that left few options for this now dying faction. The outpost at Richmond was less than 100 miles from Adams, and with Raven Rock destroyed as well, the Brotherhood was free to expand both North and South. The Captain had been a Lieutenant two months ago, and with the loss of the Mobile base, he'd likely be a Major soon. That thought brought a stream of questions into his mind. Who was President after the death of President Eden? Who was in command after the death of Colonel Autumn? Where would the Enclave go now? Can we go anywhere as a united faction? Will the Enclave cease to exist? These questions were questions that the young Captain couldn't answer. But they would have to wait. The Captain raised his fist and knocked on an ancient metal door. "Colonel Nightingale? It's Captain O'Bannon. I have a report from Adams."
Captain O'Bannon heard the rusting doorknob turn, and open the door that had sat there for over 200 years. "Have we lost contact with the Mobile Base?" An older man said behind the door.
"Yes sir, Colonel." Captain O'Bannon said, looking down slightly.
"Come in Captain." The Colonel said. Captain O'Bannon entered the room, to be shocked by the amount of blue maps filled with a sea of red and yellow points, as well as several flashing monitors like those in the communications room. He looked at what clearly was many weeks of planning, all cluttered into one room.
"I have been aware of the loss of Adams as long as you have, Captain. In fact, ever since the destruction of Raven Rock, I have realized that the destruction of Adams was inevitable. I have spent the past several weeks scanning through pre-war maps and reconnaissance reports. I have pointed out several possible locations for us to re-build, mostly south of old Virginia." the Colonel began, beckoning to several maps with points on them. "Originally I thought that Norfolk would be a place to start, but after sending reconnaissance teams to survey the area, they've reported that most if not all of its Naval and Military infrastructure was destroyed in the Great War. This caused me to look further south, as I knew with the fall of Adams, the road to southern Virginia was open to Brotherhood expansion." The Colonel continued, stopping in front of a map. "Which is why I have sent out an encrypted radio broadcast on all Enclave frequencies for all remaining units to rendezvous at Outpost Richmond." The Colonel finished, turning around, looking directly at Captain O'Bannon. "With the Death of Colonel Autumn and President Eden, I am the highest ranking officer in the Enclave. Captain O'Bannon, you have served me faithfully since you were a Lieutenant. It is unfortunate the circumstances have forced your rapid advancement to a position you feel you aren't ready to hold. However, you must prepare yourself for further advancement. It is necessary for the Enclave to survive."
Captain O'Bannon wasn't shocked. He knew this day would come. He'd likely be promoted to Major for the time being, and assist Colonel Nightingale in re-building this crumbling vision of America. "Yes sir. I am prepared for further advancement." he said as respectfully as he could. He knew he wasn't nearly experienced enough to command the number of troops that the Colonel would no doubt require him to, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
"Very good, Captain." the Colonel said, sitting at a desk that belonged to some general or another 200 years ago. For several moments, there was an awkward silence, with Captain O'Bannon not looking directly at the Colonel, and the Colonel staring at something on his desk. "What's your first name, Captain?" the Colonel asked, catching Captain O'Bannon off-guard.
"Uh… you want to know my first name, sir?" This was not unexpected, but uncommon. Colonel's usually didn't care enough to learn Junior officer's first names. Although the Colonel said there would be further advancement in the future.
"Yes son. Spit it out." The Colonel said, slightly more forcefully. Colonel Nightingale was excellent at convincing people to follow his orders. He was like Colonel Autumn in that regard, but few knew of Nightingale's greatest talent. His knack for long term planning. He knew that there was no way he could replace Autumn while he was still alive. Now that he was dead… Colonel Nightingale saw an opportunity to secure his power, and re-forge the Enclave in his vision.
"My first name is Edward sir. I'm generally called Eddy though." The Captain said, only loud enough for the Colonel to hear it. The Colonel sat back with his fingers touching in a way that he was making a sort of triangle with his hands.
"Well Eddy, you'd better get used to being called Mr. Vice President." The Colonel said with a grin as it seemed the entire base fell silent. To say O'Bannon was surprised would be like saying that a Raider was suprised when the Cave he was hiding in turned out to be a Vault filled to the brim with food and guns. "And you better get used to calling me Mr. President." The Colonel said looking directly at him, the grin turning into a full on smile.
"Sir… I… I…" O'Bannon said, at a loss for words.
"We gotta get you fitted into one of the suits we have lying around here, Eddy. I have big plans for the both of us." The Colonel said standing up and looking out the window at the destroyed planes and buildings in the distance. "And one day, we'll be known as new founding fathers, who re-built this nation from sea to shining sea."
Approximately two weeks later, anyone left of the Enclave North of Richmond limped their way into Outpost Richmond. Many had abandoned their power armor, as they had run out of fusion cores. A few arrived on Vertibirds. Most arrived on foot. They were all identified by the records the base had, and if they weren't on record, several questions were asked that only a true member of America's inheritors would know the answer to. Only two instances of attempted infiltration occurred. Both were identified as Brotherhood spies. Both were shot.
These were truly Remnants of Remnants. Only 280 of the 1500 soldiers thought to have inhabited Enclave territory north of Outpost Richmond even showed up. Only about 730 of the non-military personnel showed up as well. However, this did not deter the ambition of Colonel Nightingale. The Colonel decided that anyone who hadn't shown up now either didn't receive the order, or didn't follow it. He had planned a speech today, a speech where he hoped to bind the crumbling remnants of a once great state together.
"Mr. President..." Eddy said, walking into the room. Eddy was still wearing his Captain's uniform, although not for much longer he was told. "We count around 1000 sir. Only a quarter are combat ready." Eddy said, looking downtrodden.
"Thank you Eddy." The still-Colonel said. "What time is my speech again?" the Colonel asked. They both knew he knew exactly when his speech was, he was just asking to make the would-be Vice President feel useful.
"1500 hours, Mr. President." Eddy said, still uncomfortable with not using the term sir to refer to his superior.
"What time is it now?"
"1400 hours, sir- I- I mean Mr. President." Eddy said, feeling quite embarrassed.
Nightingale stood up and placed an hand on the young man's shoulder. "I know I'm putting a lot on you. Being the second highest ranking member of our Nations Government is a lot to put on someone as young as you. But I know that you will exceed at your job." Nightingale said with a fatherly pat on the shoulder."
Eddy felt somewhat at ease. He wondered how a man like Nightingale hadn't taken the place of Colonel Autumn during the Exodus from the Oil Rig. Perhaps the Colonel didn't know his own talents then? Perhaps he was too young. Nevertheless, Eddy felt that with Nightingale as President, he could unite a crumbling organization like the Enclave.
"Come on, let's go over our speeches one more time." Nightingale said, producing two pieces of paper and some mentats.