The sound of claws scraping the cracked pavement caused General Mary Autumn to raise her gaze from her maps. A remote controlled deathclaw traipsed past; followed by its three guards. The officer saluted as he passed; his gaze lingering for a moment before he lowered his arm.

Sneering at his back, General Autumn returned to her maps and her useless officers who kept assuring her that the bunker survivor and the Lone Wanderer would be taken care of. Colonel Myers, the man assigned as he second in command after her son's untimely death; stood with his arms crossed as he outlined his battle plan.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, our forces are stretched thin along this front. Old Olney can be used best as an outpost at best, but we need to pull back to Canterbury Commons where we can set up our defenses." Colonel Myers explained, his gaze settling on the General's face. "Your thoughts ma'am?"

Looking out at the troops and materials amassed around her, General Autumn clasped her arms behind her back and stared down her officers; many of them fresh from the Enclave base in Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

"Gentlemen, you know as well as I do that the trip from Lejeune was perilous and that you believe that the degenerates in this so called…Capital Wasteland are not worth our time. But I assure you; we destroy the Brotherhood and their idol then we gain our foothold to rebuild our nation here."

A couple of the men glanced down at their feet as she spoke; their young faces showing the disdain they have for the current place and situation. Colonel Myers smirked at her words; resistant to her method of persuasion. He had seen her convince platoons of men to die for nothing but distracting the enemy before and this was nothing new to him. He knew why they were really here.

"General! The waster is back!" A trooper was dragging a sweating man by his arm; the man's eyes shifting back and forth to the dark soulless eyes staring at him. "He has news, ma'am."

Throwing the man to the ground, the power armored trooper stood over him; his plasma rifle trained on his back. Waving the soldier off, Autumn walked forward and crouched directly in the man's face. His breath was rank and she could see his blackened and decaying teeth as his breathing became heavier.

"You have something to tell me?"

Swallowing, the waster gazed up and grinned a disgusting grin. "I planted that bug you on that wastelander like you told me. Was real easy with that party and all too."

Nodding, General Autumn stood and turned to her officers. "And the Wanderer?"

Standing, the man wrung his dirty hands nervously. "Oh, the bitch was there alright. She was getting real chummy with the guy I bugged. So when do I get paid?"

Smirking, Autumn pivoted and drew her plasma pistol in one motion; depressing the trigger. The waster cried out as his skin bubbled and then liquefied; collapsing in a puddle of green, smoking goo. A few of the squeamish officers looked away while Colonel Myers walked forward.

"Ma'am, do we move on the Wanderer and the Marine?" Myers muttered, staring at the pile of slop.

"Make the preparations, Colonel. Make them pay for everything."

Xxxx

The ground rumbled and the building shook heavily; making me fall out of my bunk. Landing heavily on the metal floor, I jumped to my feet as Rebecca threw the sheets off her body and got dressed quickly; her leather armor quickly thrown on and her rifle in her hands.

"Please tell me this is just an earthquake." I muttered, throwing on my combat armor over my chest and pulling on my fatigue trousers and boots; my gear banging on my back as the two of us rushed out of the building.

Dozens of people were flocking to the walls of Megaton, many carrying weapons and firing at some unseen target. Simms was directing the defenders to the walls; his cowboy hat missing and his assault rifle in the crook of his arm.

"Simms, what's-

A large explosion rocked the walls and I watched as half a dozen men and women were vaporized in an instant. Grimacing, I finished putting on my gear and loaded my rifle as the sheriff wiped at his face; shock on his face.

"Simms, what's going on?!" Rebecca shouted, snapping the man back to the present. Simms shouldered his rifle and rushed up the ramp to the main gate; climbing the stairs and looking across the wastes.

I trailed behind Simms and my eyes widened at the sight before me. Rebecca cursed under her breath. Explosions rocked the walls as the Enclave attempted to pierce the city walls. Dozens of power armored soldiers swarmed over the rocks and cliffs surrounding the city and Megaton's defenders were doing their best to drive them off.

Rebecca and I quickly threw ourselves into the fray as plasma and laser bolts impacted all around us; the wall giving us decent amounts of cover. I could see Sarah and the Pride along the opposite side of the gate; their power armor shining in the morning sun as they downed trooper after trooper.

"Simms, get on the radio and call for air support!" Rebecca shouted, her rifle bucking against her shoulder as she sent a .308 round through the neck of a careless trooper.

Diving behind cover, Simms exchanged magazines in his rifle before spraying wildly over his head. "Already did, Becca! Citadel Air is ten mikes out! We just have to hold until-

He was cut off, flames blossoming around the gate and its supports as Enclave vertibirds showered it with ordinance; burning the closest defenders to a crisp. I watched in horror as Paladin Glade fell from the battlements; his legs severed and his armor burnt black. His body bounced once before lying still; his rocket launcher still clasped in his hands.

"Shit, take cover in the town! Fall back!" I shouted, grabbing Rebecca by her armor and shoving her down the stairs. Simms leapt from the balcony and rolled in the dirt; catching a defender as she jumped before he turned to guide the defenders to the town center.

"Drew! Come on!" I turned to see Elliot waving me down; his white armor covered in blood as he dragged a bloody Stockholm on his shoulders. "The gate's about to-

I could feel my blood run cold as the gates exploded inward; shrapnel slicing through the few defenders still close by, their screams echoing in my head. Clenching my rifle, I made my way down the stairs, firing into the smoke wildly as I retreated down the ramp. I could hear the Enclave's power armor as they crunched over the shattered metal and their plasma bolts cut down two settlers who were too slow.

"Frag out!"

Hearing the call, I rolled backwards, sliding the rest of the way down the ramp before slamming into one of the main water pipelines; hissing as my shoulder popped out and then back into place. Exploding, the grenade managed to tear through multiple troopers, but I could see more were still coming.

"Hold here! All that you got!" Simms barked as he opened fire; the remaining defenders following his command as we desperately tried to fill the bottleneck with suppressive fire. I could see the Pride were giving as good as they got; Sarah must have recovered Glade's launcher and used it to great effect. Her rocket scored a direct hit on a passing vertibird, its rotors screeching as it spun out of control and crashed into the saloon.

Explosions continued to rock the walls foundations before they finally took too much damage and caved in; multiple troopers came pouring in. The barrel of my rifle glowed white hot as I emptied magazine after magazine into the power armored freaks. Cursing as the rifle finally jammed, I pulled my sidearm and dove behind the nuclear bomb for cover; believe me, the adrenaline wasn't pumping enough for me to not notice the irony in this.

"Becca, you ever use an unexploded nuclear bomb as cover?" I joked, glancing to my right only to see Elliot applying chest compressions to Stockholm; his hands covered in blood. Peering from behind the bomb, I scanned the area for Rebecca but all I could see were Megaton defenders and Enclave troopers fighting tooth and nail. I was surprised the settlers were holding so well, but I remembered that this was their home and was worth fighting for.

"Simms, where's Rebecca?!" I shouted over the noise, firing a few rounds before ducking back behind cover. "I can't see her!"

Rushing over, Simms clasped a bloody hand on my shoulder; shouting in my ear. "I thought she was with you! She threw the grenade!"

My eyes widening, I looked back to the ramp where the troopers had gained a foothold and rained bolts of energy down on the defenders. I could hear the distinct sound of Rebecca's rifle booming from somewhere. I had to find her.

"Cover me!" I rushed from cover, snatching a combat shotgun from the dirt before diving behind the charred corpse of the town Brahmin. I readied myself to rush the ramp when I ducked back down at the sound of rotors hovering over the city. Gazing up, I cheered at the sight of the Brotherhood insignia on the side of the vertibirds hovering over us; opening fire with their twin miniguns.

The troopers were torn to shreds from the 5mm rounds piercing their armor and I slowly made my way towards the ramp when I heard Simms cry out. Turning, I saw him shouting and waving wildly for me, but I couldn't make his words out over the sound of the vertibirds. That's when I felt it.

An explosion rocked the ground near me, throwing me off my feet and into the blood soaked dirt. My leg felt like a freight train had run over it and I rolled over to find my legs soaked with blood.

"Shit, fuck!" I cursed, hissing as I burned my fingers on the hot shrapnel stabbing my limbs. I felt hands grab me under the arms and begin dragging me back towards the bomb; Sarah standing over me as she covered whoever was pulling me. "Sarah, Rebecca where-

I was cut off again by the vertibirds, only this time they let loose with their heavy ordinance; heavy rockets designed for max damage. I screamed as I watched the building surrounding the ramp blossom into smoke and fire. I couldn't hear Rebecca's rifle anymore, I could barely hear anything except for my screams as the vertibirds continued to shower the area in hot lead and missiles.

"No!" Elliot shouted, pulling me back down as I tried to stand. He didn't even have to pull me down because my legs gave out on me the second I stood. "Dammit, Becher, stay down!"

The medic recoiled from my fist connecting to his noise; blood spraying. I could feel my knuckle crack from the impact and knew it was broken. What I didn't expect was to feel a needle depress into my neck, my gaze becoming darker and darker as I watched Sarah kneel in front of me with tears streaming down her grime face. Her face said it all and I resigned myself to the black.

Xxxx

"Losses?"

"Half the town of Megaton and their population were wiped out during the attack the fires that started from the explosions. Paladin Glade fell in battle and Paladins Kodiak and Vargas suffered severe burns from small-arms fire." Sarah reported to her father who seemed to have grown even older over the past day.

"What of the Lone Wanderer, what happened to Ms. Evers?" Elder Lyons asked, his voice low as he stared up at his daughter. He could see the pain etched across her face as she took a deep breath.

"Rebecca Evers gave her life in the defense of Megaton, Father." Sarah choked out, tears brimming at her eyes. "We were unable to recover her body from the flames."

Clasping his hands in front of him, Lyons tucked his chin down. "Steel be with her."

"Steel be with her." Sarah repeated, tears now flowing down her face. "Is that all you require Elder?"

Standing, Elder Lyons made his way from behind his desk and wrapped his daughter in his arms. Her sobs muffled in his shoulder as he tried his best to be less of a superior and more of a father. He knew the pain of losing a friend in battle and yet it never could prepare you for when your daughter loses hers.

In a perfect world, Sarah would not have to carry a laser rifle nor wear power armor to just step outside the Citadel, but sadly it was not such a world. He was amazed at the frailty of his unarmored daughter and it just reminded him of why he seceded from the West Coast Brotherhood in the first place. To make it a better world.

"Sarah, my child. Look at me." Lyons whispered, cupping his daughter's face in his wrinkled hands. "Dry your eyes and summon your courage. Rebecca may be gone, but she will not be forgotten nor will her mission for the Capital Wastes. Go, rest, and then we will discuss our next step."

Nodding, Sarah wiped her eyes with her sleeve before straitening up and saluting before pivoting out of his office. Elder Lyons stood by himself before he walked back to his desk and sat in his chair. The scrap of parchment on his desk listed casualties and damages done by the Enclave. He gazed at it as his own eyes filled with tears, so many names, but one stood out from the rest. The Wasteland knew her as the Lone Wanderer, but he knew her as a friend to his daughter, a rock in a storm, and a woman dedicated to saving others.

"Steel be with you, Rebecca Evers."

Uh so yeah I just did that. Hoping to hear back on what you all thought and would love to hear suggestions on what could come next! Stay tuned yall!