"COMMUNISM IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF FAILURE!"
Liberty Prime moved forward across the bridge spanning the Potomac River, undaunted by enemy fire and trampling every obstacle in its path. Burnt vehicles and concrete barriers were crushed beneath massive steel feet that made the ground shake with every step. Originally programmed to target the Chinese communists who had invaded Alaska, its programming had little difficulty adapting Enclave targets firing on it to belong to be Red Hostiles. As an added benefit, it was able to recognize the suits of armor worn by the Brotherhood as belonging to the US Army.
Though the Enclave's designs were more advanced, as they were developed long after Liberty Prime's original construction, it did not recognize them. This also aided the programming of the massive mechanical war machine in classifying them as enemies. Enemy fortifications were nothing compared to the power behind its servos and armor. At the front of an assembled army of the Capital Wasteland, it led the charge against the Enclave and nothing they threw at it could stop it.
Vertibirds, against which the Brotherhood and its allies previously had little to no defense outside of surface-to-air missile launchers, were instantly obliterated when they got within range of Liberty Prime's visor-beams. The bright blue streaks of light cut through the hulls of the aerial vehicles with but a glance, not unlike a hot knife through butter. Ground soldiers fired on it, but its semi-ablative surface absorbed every laser and plasma blast. Whatever soldiers it did not fire on or step on were left to the army at its heels.
And, of course, all the while it continued to bellow across the battlefields, its voice like thunder. Its vocal programs, long ago implemented to bolster the morale of the American soldiers fighting the Chinese invaders, were still effective in raising the spirits of the wastelanders.
"TACTICAL ASSESSMENT: RED CHINESE VICTORY… IMPOSSIBLE."
Liberty Prime scraped its arms through the balcony of a burnt-out office building, destroying an Enclave firing position as it walked by. The soldiers, pushed through the stone walls by the massive steel arm, fell to the ground and died on impact. The Lyons' Pride were at the head of the army that followed the titan, charging enemy positions that the machine did not or could not reach.
In their new T-51b power armor, Lloyd and Amata couldn't help but feel nearly invincible. The suits gave them an unprecedented advantage over their older models. Gauss rifle in hand, Lloyd blasted enemy after enemy, utilizing the scope on the magnetic launcher to great effect. Amata was alongside him the entire time, providing covering fire with a plasma rifle recovered from an enemy.
Lloyd reached for his beltline for another microfusion cell. "I'm out!" he called to her through their helmet radios.
She quickly handed him one from her collection before reloading herself. Looking around the battlefield, she watched Sarah lead her Pride against the Enclave.
Compared to the Wandering Pair, even after all their time in the wasteland, the seasoned veterans of the Lyons' Pride were monsters on the battlefield. Spurned by the loss of their Elder and Sarah's father, they were merciless and cut through the stunned enemy ranks behind the walking, talking shock-and-awe weapon that was Liberty Prime. Sarah and her elite team maneuvered and communicated almost as if they were one in both body and soul. Paladin Vargas, her second-in-command, suppressed the enemy with minigun fire. Dusk and Colvin picked them off one-by-one with their snipers. Paladin Glade led Kodiak and Gallows around to flank the enemy, destroying them while they were pinned by Vargas' fire.
Though not a member of the Pride herself, Star Paladin Cross was equally motivated by Elder Lyons' death. Wielding the ARM, she was like a whirlwind of death, as graceful as she was vengeful. Cross engaged the Enclave in close quarters. Leaping over a fallen column, she used her super-sledge to knock the weapon out of one's hands before bringing it across and hitting another in the chest. To the first, she slammed her shoulder into him, knocking him down, which allowed Jericho to finish him off with a burst from his assault rifle. She herself would finish the second, bringing the hammer down upon the soldier's helmet.
"EMBRACE DEMOCRACY, OR YOU WILL BE ERADICATED."
Jericho and his men, clad in a combination of raider garb and scavenged Enclave power armor they had taken from one of their outposts, were wild cards in the battle. True to the savage nature of raiders, they threw themselves at their opponents, shouting and hollering all the while. For them, death was something they faced every day, and so they faced the Enclave without fear. Even when some of them fell to enemy fire, they did not lose the edge that years of living in the wasteland had forced them to adopt.
But now, there was something more. They weren't fighting just for the sake of fighting, or to claim something that someone else owned. Jericho and Jarrod were fighting for the promise of a better future. Ever since Jericho had first been hired by the Wandering Pair, he had slowly been exposed to another life, a whole different perspective. By following them, he had been reunited with his son and offered another chance, a chance to truly change the Capital Wasteland, perhaps even the world, for the better.
And so there was no question in his mind now as he led his former raiders alongside those who would have once been their enemies. Both he and Jarrod now passionately believed in the cause they were marching for. The old raider charged into a building the Enclave were firmly entrenched in, blasting wildly with his assault rifle. His recklessness earned him a spike of plasma in the stomach, managing to wedge itself between the plates of his improperly-worn power armor.
Jericho coughed and fell backwards, shooting all the while. Jarrod ran up behind his father and sprayed the soldier with SMG fire; the volley was less than effective, however. What finished him off was Charon's terrible shotgun as the ghoul aimed in through a broken window. Using the stock, he smashed the rest of the glass and climbed inside.
As the rest of the raiders moved deeper into the building, Jarrod dragged Jericho backwards towards the entrance. Charon knelt down next to him as he was propped up against the wall.
Jericho coughed a bit as he held up a bloody hand; the wound was quite severe. "Fuck…" he managed to choke out.
"Hold him still," Charon instructed Jarrod as the ghoul looked at the wound.
"Fuck… I'm fine," Jericho insisted, trying to stand. "Ja… Jarrod, get my fuckin' gun… We're not done here yet."
Charon took out a stimpak and injected it at the base of the wound. Outside, the battle continued to rage as another vertibird was brought down by Liberty Prime. As Charon readied another, Jericho spat and moved to stand. "Get your ugly fingers outta me…" he grunted.
"You should stay down," Charon warned. Having recently been wounded himself, he knew just how bad such a wound could truly be.
"I ain't done yet," was all he said, taking his rifle from Jarrod. "There's still more out there."
"Come on, pops," Jarrod helped his father fully stand, taking an arm over his shoulder. "Let's go."
Charon made sure to stay close to them, keeping an eye on Jericho.
Nearby, a squad of Outcasts and Brotherhood knights found themselves kept at bay by enemy fire. They were in good cover, but couldn't advance around the western position of the building alongside the riverbank. The Enclave were well-protected behind their steel barricades and were making preparations to fall back and regroup at Project Purity when their lines were broken by two rampaging super mutants.
Fawkes and Uncle Leo burst through the nearby brick wall, fast-moving terrors of green flesh and rage made manifest, Uncle Leo doubly so. Before today, he had never imagined he would inflect such pain onto other living beings, but against those who had taken his hands, he would show no such mercy. He kicked one of the barricades down and jumped on it, crushing a soldier beneath his weight as he stabbed another with the blades that had been welded onto his stumps.
Fawkes, armed with a gatling laser, roared with glee as he unloaded a constant stream of lasers into his foes, "HAHAHA! TIME'S UP FOR YOU!"
With the sudden emergence of the two super mutants, the soldiers could not keep up their suppressive fire. This enabled the joint squads of the Brotherhood and the Outcasts to advance and assist them. As they overwhelmed this checkpoint, one further up the bank was preparing to launch several missiles. The commanding officer found himself unable to finish the command to fire, however, due to the bullet in his brain.
Miles, of Reilly's Rangers, whistled to himself as he fired another round with his sniper. Nearby, Reilly barked orders at Brick and Donovan. Trigger was busy reloading her pistols. They were in cover behind a large broken statue. Reilly turned to Miles and shouted over the cacophony of gunfire around them, "Miles! Report!"
"Several enemies on the beach, and moving south! We've got'em on the run, Reilly!"
Reilly looked back at Brick, who was busy reloading her minigun. Donovan popped over the stature and fired with his rifle. Trigger joined him, firing both pistols at the same time, quickly emptying her clips again.
Just as Miles was about to take another shot at the Enclave soldiers running down the riverbank, the sand and gravel around them exploded from below as giant ants swarmed out from below. They grabbed the fleeing soldiers in their jaws, pulling them to the ground. On a nearby hill, Tanya Christoff, A.K.A. the AntAgonizer, pointed and commanded her legion to swarm.
Miles watched as two of them grabbed an Enclave soldier at both ends and began to pull. One of the soldiers jammed a ripper into one of the oversized insects when suddenly a pack of ghouls ran up and quickly mobbed over him.
"WE WILL NOT FEAR THE RED MENACE!"
Miles set his sniper rifle aside, not quite able to watch the ants and ghouls tear the soldiers apart. Instead, he sighted another encampment further up the bank and began firing at them instead. The Regulators were also attacking them, though the wasteland vigilantes were more of a distraction, as they lacked heavy firepower. This wasn't a problem for them however, as they knew that they were fighting alongside allies who did.
Sonora Cruz and her most trusted lieutenants led a small contingent to flank the camp from the side, taking advantage of an opening created by the technological companions of the Mechanist. Scott, secretly loving wearing his old costume again, commanded his machines to provide supporting fire for the Regulators. He wasn't the only one with machines on this field of battle, however. The Enclave eyebots were released further down the line and now swarmed overhead. Though equipped with only small lasers, they were useful in allowing the Enclave to retreat to Project Purity.
A group of Talon Company mercs found themselves cornered by several of the eyebots. They managed to shoot down some of them but the constant barrage of lasers was forcing them back against the wall. Vance, armed with his sword the Vampire's Edge, leap from a nearby open window. He hacked one of the eyebots in half while other members of the Family fired on the remainder, destroying them quickly. Vance quickly moved, staying low to the ground, as bullets and lasers flew overhead.
Leaping over another stone column, he found an Enclave officer about to execute one of the ghouls. Vance fell next to the man, stabbing down into him as he did so, pulling out the blade to hack at another soldier. His sword deflected off the man's power armor, but a single shot from Billy Creel's magnum revolver to the back of his head sent the man down. Vance dropped the soldier and moved on alongside his Family and the citizens of Megaton. Lucas Simms led this group, his duster blowing in the wind as he fired on an enemy position.
Vance took position alongside the sheriff and took a moment to wipe his sword clean. "Cover me, won't you?" he asked the man. Lucas nodded and popped out to fire again at two Enclave soldiers while Vance leapt over the cover and ran forward. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a grenade and bit out the pin, dropping it on the other side of the wall the soldiers were in cover behind. Vance dove out of the way as the explosion rocked the earth around him and showered him with small stones.
Two of his brethren quickly advanced to pull him to safety alongside Gob. The ghoul helped pull Vance behind a pile of debris. Overhead, another vertibird soared and fired missiles at Liberty Prime's back. The machine stopped, turned around and blasted it out of the sky, sending the flaming wreck crashing into the river.
The Outcasts, equal parts warriors and scavengers, were also possessed of repurposed robots. Sentry bots painted black and red to match their power armor rolled along the ground, armed with missile launchers and miniguns. These units augmented the impressive task force, able to take more hits and keep on going. They rolled alongside Liberty Prime as the machine's thunderous voice rang out once more.
"DEATH IS A PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMUNISM!"
The Enclave, in an attempt to deny the enemy territory, began laying landmines behind them to cover their retreat. This was initially effective and quite devastating; several members of the allied army lost their lives to the explosives before their advance was halted. Liberty Prime, undaunted, continued to advance but it seemed like the army behind it could no longer follow.
As the Lyons' Pride spoke about what should be done, two individuals decided to take action: the Mechanist and the AntAgonizer. They ordered their units to advance ahead, purposefully seeking out the landmines and activating them. Scott knew his robots could be rebuilt or, at the very least, salvaged for some useful parts, and Tanya knew that she would always be able to breed more of her mutated brood. The ants proved exceptionally adept at this task, swarming over the battlements and debris, using their antennae to feel for the mines.
Once the way was cleared, the feral ghouls barely kept under control by their Underworld brethren surged forth, a tide of burnt skin and wet, gurgled moans. What few remaining Enclave camps were between the Brotherhood and Project Purity quickly fell to them, and as Liberty Prime smashed through one of the final barricades, reinforcements from the east arrived in the form of Harkness and the Rivet City security force, along with some of its citizens who were more than willing to take up arms to defend their homes.
The final push to Project Purity, housed within the Jefferson Memorial, was the most devastating. The Enclave had prepared this area more than any other. Mortar fire blasted at their forces as they crossed the final bridge and neared and well-defended barricades lined with enemy soldiers blasting at them. Behind the disciplined soldiers was their last line of defense: a circular forcefield erected around the entire perimeter of the Jefferson Memorial. The Enclave had the high ground in this situation, and had the assembled groups of the Capital Wasteland not had their secret weapon, this is likely where the battle may have ended.
But they had Liberty Prime. The gargantuan machine stopped and reached behind itself, taking a large bomb from an automatic dispenser built into its upper back. As they fired at the machine, it placed one of its feet back and held the bomb up high, as if preparing to throw a ball. Like a baseball pitcher, it lobbed the bomb forward and it detonated on impact, shattering the defensive line. The people cheered as they watched Liberty Prime stride up to the massive forcefield.
"OBSTRUCTION DETECTED. COMPOSITION: TITANIUM ALLOY SUPPLEMENTED BY ENHANCED PHOTONIC RESONANCE BARRIER."
The glowing blue field resisted an attempt by the large robot to touch it, repelling its hand.
"ESTABLISHED STRATAGEM: INADEQUATE."
Lloyd and Amata looked at each other with some concern before Liberty Prime reached out to one of the steel frames that projected the forcefield and grabbed ahold of it. Electricity shot up the machine's arm but it refused to let go. With its free hand, it took ahold of another, grabbing both and pulling. Liberty Prime seemed to glow blue from the energy now surging through its frame.
"REVISED STRATAGEM: INITIATE PHOTONIC RESONANCE OVERCHARGE."
The machine bent both generator beams as it increased the power generated by its own core, causing the grid to overload with excess energy. The forcefield surrounding the area blinked out of power and Liberty Prime tore both generators out of the ground and tossed them aside. Now, there was nothing stopping them from reaching the memorial.
The machine seemed as though it would topple over from the stress of breaking through the enhanced forcefield. It leaned over, placing both hands on the ground. Everyone watched as it struggled to stand once more and stomped another footprint into the broken ground below.
"AMERICA WILL NEVER FALL TO COMMUNIST INVASION!"
As Liberty Prime began to encircle the monument, blasting through barricades and cutting down soldiers with its weaponry, the army followed. Alongside Amata and Russ, Lloyd led the charge into Project Purity, where more of the soldiers waited within.
Lloyd kicked down the door and ran into the shadows within. The last time he had been here, the Enclave revealed themselves and James sacrificed himself. Now, they were here again, but much more prepared. With power armor and advanced weaponry, they were going to take back Project Purity and return control of it to those who deserved it.
Lloyd would see the waters of the Potomac River cleaned before the night was through.
The Lyons' Pride was fired upon immediately. The Enclave soldiers were in position behind stacks of sandbags and sections of wall turned into barricades. They had turrets in position here which forced the Pride into cover as they neared the lobby. Lloyd, Sarah and Vargas took point as the others provided covering fire. Sarah took out a grenade and threw it into the room, shouting for everyone to take cover as she did.
The explosion sent dirt and smoke everywhere. Star Paladin Cross used her super sledge to smash through one of the weakened walls and made quick work of two enemy soldiers. Amata was right behind her, covering her from attack by another group. Lloyd popped out of cover to fire the gauss rifle at one of the sandbag walls, destroying it with the magnetic force of the round. This allowed Vargas to tear into the enemy with his minigun.
Glade reloaded his gatling laser as Gallows took out another enemy with a well-placed grenade. Sarah signaled to Kodiak, who nodded and hefted his missile launcher over his shoulder and launched it into the lobby. One of their fortifications fell and the Pride swept in, rolling over their defenses and blasting them all to pieces.
Sarah looked around at Lloyd and Amata. "Where to from here?" she asked. Lloyd pointed in the direction of the rotunda and the three of them took off, with Cross and Russ following right behind.
As they neared the doors, Sarah spoke up again. "Liberty Prime and the others will secure the perimeter. The Pride will clear the lower levels of this building. Cross, stay with them."
"Yes, Elder Lyons," the star paladin replied.
The door to the rotunda opened as they approached. They halted as they watched a figure emerge; tall, wearing battered power armor and with greasy hair that spilled down over a manic-looking face. Butch DeLoria stood there with his shocksword in one hand, his other clad in a clenched power fist.
"That's the one," Lloyd told them. "He's from our vault."
"I can't believe it really is him…" Amata whispered, mostly to herself.
Sarah stepped forward, looking at the man. Parts of his armor had fallen off or been shattered. His skin was covered in sweat and blood and his breathing was wild, erratic. He looked more like a drugged-up raider than an Enclave soldier. Sarah reached up to take her helmet off so she could look at Butch dead in the eyes.
"So, you're the one who killed my father?" she spat at him.
Butch paled slightly under her fearsome gaze. "Yeah… Yeah, I did that."
Lloyd stepped up behind Sarah. "It's over, Butch. For real this time. Drop the sword."
He looked down at the weapon as it crackled with electrical energy, then pointed it at them. "I've got no other choice," he gasped. "She won't let me live."
Sarah didn't move. Lloyd looked from her to Butch. Outside, the sounds of Liberty Prime stomping around could still be heard amidst a series of explosions. "Butch, just give up. The Enclave have lost! If you just come with us now, we can help you."
He approached the teen, standing just outside the reach of the sword. Nearby, Russ growled. "This isn't you, Butch. You were always an asshole, sure, but this, all off this? This isn't you. What did they do to you?"
"It wasn't supposed to… to be like this…" Butch said, slowly lowering the tip of the shocksword. "The president said that I would be a hero. He told me that I was changing history, changing America."
"Butch, he lied. The country is gone. The government, the Enclave? They have no real power anymore."
He paused and looked at his shaking power fist. "They gave me stuff… took the edge off, made me strong… I want some more. I need more, man."
"Combat drugs," Sarah said. "They controlled him with them."
Lloyd looked at the ruined vault dweller, feeling pity swell in his heart. "Butch, just come with us. If this is all true, then… then I promise we can try to make things better."
Butch looked up and pointed the sword back up. "I ain't goin'… I ain't. You'll kill me. She'll kill me—everyone out there will kill me!"
"Butch, calm down," Lloyd held up his hands as Amata approached. "You've already made one mistake today. Don't make any more."
"You can't… You can't stop me," he said, his eyes twitching. "I can heal! You can't hurt me!"
In a bold move, Lloyd removed his helmet as well. "Yes, I know. Because James gave it to you, just as he gave it to me. You and I are the same, Butch, we have the same gift—don't waste it on this… madness."
Butch shook his head, trying not to listen to reason. He swung his sword at Lloyd and Amata stepped in front of him with her own blade, blocking it. Sarah and Cross both prepared to step in, but Amata had the situation in hand.
As she pushed against him, Amata spoke through her helmet. "Butch! Stop! This is pointless!"
He tried to kick her leg, but the power armor didn't budge. He moved to the side and attacked his new foe with a downwards chop, which she blocked. Sparks flew from the shocksword as the blades connected. He backed off and tried charging at her with the sword pointed at her stomach, but a simple sidestep and deflection sent him tumbling off in another direction.
Butch tripped over a brick on the ground and fell. He was on his feet in a moment, flustered and angry. Amata attacked, forcing him to block, and she pushed against him some more and forced him back to the wall.
"I know it's pointless!" he grunted as the shocksword was forced dangerously close to his face. "Everything is pointless!"
Lloyd shook his head. "Butch, that's not true. You know that isn't true. Do you remember when I was leaving the vault, and you asked me to save your mother?"
Butch stopped struggling, looking at his fellow vault dweller with wide eyes. Assuming he had Butch's rapt attention, he continued, "And do you remember what I did?"
"You did," he whispered. "You saved her."
"We're trying to save others," Lloyd told him. "Please. Trust us."
Slowly, Amata let up on the resistance and stepped back. Butch slumped up against the wall and slid down.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this," he said. "It wasn't…"
Sarah looked down at him and shook her head. "My father didn't deserve to die to this… punk."
"He wasn't really himself," Lloyd reminded her. "It was all the Enclave's doing. Speaking of which… Butch, where's Autumn?"
Dropping the shocksword to the ground, he pointed at the door leading to the rotunda. Vargas and Glade approached him and picked him up, quickly securing his arms behind his back. They searched him.
"Got something here," Vargas said, holding up a metal canister.
"That's not mine," Butch said. "It was the president's. He gave it to me."
Sarah took hold of it and looked it over. "What did he tell you it was, exactly?"
Butch shook his head, not saying another word. At her beckoning, the two members of the Pride dragged him off. "Whatever it is, it can't be any good. We'll have the scribes look it over later."
Sarah secured it on her beltline and looked at them. "You ready to take down Autumn?"
Lloyd put his helmet back on. "It would be our pleasure."
Sarah did the same and went to rejoin the Pride. Cross approached the two of them as they walked through the doors to the purifier chamber. It was just as they had remembered it, with a few modifications here and there. The sounds of churning water could be heard and the massive glass tank at its heart was filled with green water, bathing the room in a dim green light.
And at its base stood Colonel Autumn, alone.
Lloyd raised his gauss rifle at the man's back. "Hands up."
He didn't move. Instead, he spoke. "You know, when I was a boy, I looked out over the waters of the California coastline and I saw a world that was lost. And I thought to myself, 'I'm going to change that. I'm going to make a difference.' And in the end, as it turns out, I was right."
"Hands up, Autumn," Lloyd repeated himself. "Your army is on the run. The people of this land have united against you and it's all over."
"Yes, I know." He sighed. "I didn't want it to be like this, you know. I advocated a peaceful occupation. Cooperation with the people."
"Don't try to sell yourself as a saint now," Lloyd said. "When I first saw you, you shot a woman in the head."
Autumn turned to face him. "Yes, I did. It wasn't the first time I shot a civilian, either. But everything I did was in the name of a cause, and I did it with conviction. I believed in the Enclave and its dream of an America reunited underneath one flag. This purifier was to be a means to an end, but it won't be our end anymore. It'll be yours."
"You're surrendering, then?" Amata asked him.
Autumn looked up at the machine. "I'm already dead. With Raven Rock gone, the supply of my anti-radiation medication is cut off. You see, Lloyd, your father did succeed in his attempt at killing me. It was just delayed."
The white-haired man reached into his jacket and took out an empty syringe. "This last dose won't last me much longer." He dropped it to the ground and stepped on it, breaking the plastic.
Lloyd lowered his weapon. "We might be able to help you. We have Raven Rock under our control, we can—"
"Don't misunderstand me," Autumn interrupted. "I'm glad I'm dying. Especially after all of this. I won't have to live as your prisoner. And, as an added bonus, I won't have to worry about the world like I have for the last fifty years."
Amata looked at Lloyd and back to the colonel, unsure of what to say. "Autumn," Lloyd began, "we're going to turn on the purifier now."
"Yes, well, the G.E.C.K. is all in place. Free, clean water for the people. Your mother's vision."
"What do you know about my mother?" Lloyd asked, his eyes narrow.
He ignored the question. "In a way, I saw this all coming. The way President Eden was stirring up the hornet's nest. A united capital… well, he achieved his goal. It's just not our flag that will be flying over it."
He turned to face them fully. Parts of his face had begun to peel off, not unlike dead skin. "So, at last, here we are. I hope you know what you're doing, the both of you. The Enclave had a plan for this land, a vision of the future. After you turn the purifier on, what comes next?"
Lloyd shook his head. "You know, I don't know. Everything up until now has been in the pursuit of this. I was born in this building. My father left the vault for this, and we followed him here. This is where it all began, and once it ends, and the purifier is on?"
Lloyd shrugged. "I truly don't know. I guess we'll just have to see and take things one step at a time."
"I hope you're prepared," Autumn replied. "When I told you that I acted with conviction, with purpose, I meant it. I won't be around to see what happens to America's capital, if you'll restore it to the glory that I dreamt of."
"If it counts for anything, it's in our interest not to screw it up," Lloyd said.
"Of course. You should be careful of the chamber; it's still irradiated after what your father did. My technicians haven't yet found the leak, but the door is working."
Cross spoke up. "The T-51b will be an effective radiation shield. If you need to, I can go fetch one of the ghouls or the super mutants."
Lloyd shook his head. "No, no, I'll do it. It should be me."
Cross nodded and Autumn decided to speak again. "Well, that's all settled. Now then… shall we?"
The star paladin stepped forward. "I'll escort him out of here, if you'd like."
Lloyd nodded and Cross walked up to the colonel and pointed to the door. Autumn passed by Lloyd and looked at him one final time, pausing briefly.
"You know," he said, "in the end, what really matters isn't who wins or who loses. It's what we leave behind for others who will come in the future. Nothing else. Your father knew that better than most."
Cross took him to the door and led him outside. Lloyd looked up at the purifier. Beside him, Amata looked back from the door to his helmet. Russ stood dutifully off to the side, panting softly as his canine eyes watched them.
"Lloyd?" she said as her hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Talk to me."
"He's right," he said, barely above a whisper. "After this, what comes next?"
"Hopefully a break," she said, followed by a small chuckle. "This is it, Lloyd. Everything, from us leaving the vault—even before that, everything has led to this. So why should we wait?"
"I don't know, I just…" He looked up at the green water. "Dad should be here to see this. I'm worried about him. What if he never wakes up? What if—"
"Lloyd." She turned him towards her. "Even if he never wakes up, and he will, he would want us to turn the purifier on."
After a moment, he nodded. "You're right… like always."
"Not always," she said. "But this time? Yeah."
As he looked through the visor of her helmet, he decided that he didn't want to share this moment with her between masks. He took his off and waited for her to do the same. She smiled as she removed hers, shaking her hair out a bit. Lloyd leaned in to kiss her but she leaned back.
"Come on," he said with a smile. "Come on, give me a kiss. Just a little one?"
Her smile was wider as she slowly leaned forward. "Promise me we'll think about that break?"
"I was going to suggest it before you did," Lloyd said, reaching up to cup her chin.
Nearby, Russ' ears perked up and he looked back towards the door leading out of the Rotunda. Sniffing along the ground, he slowly crept outside, searching for something.
Amata placed a hand on the side of Lloyd's head, pulling the taller man down to her level so she could kiss him. "I love you," she whispered before their lips connected. It was a long one, like the one they had shared in Raven Rock, when they thought that it might have been their last. They were both glad that it hadn't been. In their minds, they both shared the relief of having made it this far together. From the halls of Vault 101 to here, and everywhere in between.
They parted and walked up the stairs together to the primary chamber. The glass door that had once separated Lloyd from his dying father was functioning, but the chamber beyond was still heavily irradiated, as indicated by a nearby panel that monitored the inside of the chamber.
Lloyd moved to put his helmet back on. "Hopefully this suit works as good as Cross said it would," he said, taking a steadying breath before sealing it once more. Amata double-checked to make sure the seals around his neck were properly set and the enclosed environment of his suit was complete. "Care to join me?"
"And walk into the deadly radiation chamber? No thank you. I'll just watch from here," she said with a small shake of her head. "After all, like you said, it should be you."
He nodded and reached for the button to open the door. "Ready to make history?"
"Just do it already, you big oaf."
He opened the chamber and stepped within and Amata closed the door behind him. He couldn't feel the radiation trying to get into the suit, but his breathing still came a little bit shorter due to how nervous it made him. Approaching the primary console, the one his father had used before his sacrifice play to deny Autumn the purifier, he looked at the computer terminal next to it. He glanced over his shoulder at Amata to see her with her hand on the glass, encouraging him with a smile.
The program was ready. All it required was the password. To the right of the console were ten keys, the numbers zero through nine. Lloyd thought back to the revelation he had within the halls of Raven Rock.
He knew James had not planned all of this, but in some magnificent way, it had all fallen into place. Lloyd realized then that Autumn had been right. His father did know the value of what one leaves behind. Since his birth in the basement of this very facility—his mother impregnated while working on this very project—James had given him all the keys required to make the project a reality, to fully realize his mother's dream.
His mother's favorite passage from the bible, Revelation 21:6.
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."
Lloyd pressed the keys: 2-1-6.
And his faith in his father was rewarded.
The program began immediately. A loud whirring noise could be heard as the purifier came to life all around him. Pipes hummed with the sounds of water being pumped through them, consoles and screens throughout the chamber began displaying a number of algorithms and data. The primary chamber suddenly filled with bubbles and Lloyd's breath held still as a bright light could be seen within the tank. He held up a hand to shield his eyes as the noise grew louder. The massive turbines that powered the purifier below came to life and the water in the tank began swirling.
Lloyd watched, astonished at the sight, as the water in the tank began to change from green to a pure, clear liquid. Radioactive material, debris, dirt, metal—all of it was slowly filtered out and replaced. He could almost feel the vibrations in the ground through his suit as the chamber was made pure again.
With the water clear, he could now see the statue at the heart of the tank, that of Thomas Jefferson. The bronze statue of the founding father stood tall and powerful, surrounded by the stone supports that had been in place for more than three hundred years. Behind him, an inscription upon one of the stone reliefs in the tank, long ago moved from its original position after the walls had fallen and needed to be replaced, was an inscription in the stone, from which only the first few lines remained:
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Lloyd, while not a history major, knew well what those words meant and where they had originated. The great man depicted within the statue may have long ago lost his country, but his ideals and the causes that he stood for never truly died.
Sparing one last look at the statue, Lloyd turned to look at Amata, but she wasn't there. In her place on the thick glass door was a stain of fresh blood and a bullet imbedded in its center.
And in her place stood a man who made Lloyd's blood run cold.
Burke.
The vault dweller ran up to the door and tried to open it, but the cunning man on the other side had locked it using a safety protocol, effectively sealing the chamber off with no way out. Lloyd pounded on the thick glass.
"Burke! You open this door! Open the door, damnit!"
Behind his thin shades, the man smiled and shook his head. He reached up and took off his hat, dusting it a bit. When he did, Lloyd saw a pistol with an attached silencer in the man's hand. "You know, I was hoping to get you both, but… somehow, I like this more. It seems… right."
"Burke! So help me god, if you hurt her, I'll—"
Burke put a finger up to his lips. "Shh, shh, can you hear that? It sounds like… why, it sounds like someone bleeding to death from a bullet shot through the neck." He bent down to pick up Amata's helmet. "Guess these things really do come in handy, don't they? Such a shame to be caught without wearing one…"
Lloyd was beyond panic; his heart pounded in his chest and he was sweating like mad. "No! Burke! Open the door! Open it!"
Burke dropped the helmet and kicked it down the stairs. He straightened his white suit and placed his hat back on. "Well, I hate to leave you like this, but it's in my interest to vacate the premises. So long, Lloyd."
With a crooked smile, Burke rolled up a sleeve and activated the stealth module on his wrist, making him vanish in a cloak of transparent light. Lloyd punched the door again and again, only scratching it as he shouted. All manner of horrible words and promises of what he was going to do to Burke once he caught him were hurled at the vanishing man.
Others picked up his words from his helmet. The Lyons' Pride and Star Paladin Cross were in the chamber in moments and got the door open. Lloyd pushed past Kodiak and Dusk to run down the stairs, tearing off his helmet as he laid eyes on her. His heart nearly stopped and he couldn't breathe.
Amata was on her back, having slid down the stairs after Burke had shot her. Twice; once in the neck from behind that had passed clean through (hence the bullet in the glass) and once just off the side of her forehead. Her eyes were opened wide and were staring up at the ceiling, unblinking and unmoving. They were strange; almost glassy in a way, with wide pupils.
Lloyd broke down and fell to his knees alongside her, gently stroking her hair as tears streamed down his face. Sarah was there, trying to administer medical aide, but she knew that it wasn't going to do much good. The poor girl was already in a pool of her own blood. Lloyd cried out to her, begging her not to leave him like this, not after all they had done. With the purifier on, he didn't want to face the wasteland without her.
His cries could be heard throughout the chamber as the Lyons' Pride stood silently. Russ stood in the doorway, his head low, whining quietly. Lloyd held her head in his hands and gently touched her forehead with his own, his tears landing on her cheeks. Sarah tried to calm him down, to administer more aid, and in the end it took two members of the Pride to drag him backwards.
He didn't struggle against them. All he could do was despair.
Outside, a radically different story was being told. Two massive pipes were shooting streams of clean water into the tidal basin and the people were all celebrating. Guns and hands were thrust up into the sky as the people of the Capital Wasteland cried out in celebration; some of them even jumping into the waters to taste it. The stars and the moon shone brightly overhead as Liberty Prime stood tall and silent; its mission temporarily completed.
As the crowds of people gathered to celebrate and sing songs, Talon Company excused themselves. Nobody really noticed as the black-armored mercs and their leader quickly vanished in the direction they had come from, silently led by the invisible man that was Seth Burke, whom had carefully picked his way out of the Jefferson Memorial and through the crowds, unseen and unheard, even by the mutt that had accompanied his targets.
Across the Capital Wasteland, the news spread. Three Dog, in his studio and getting up-to-date reports, relayed the wonderful news of the Enclave's defeat and the activation of the purifier. Within the coming moments, and it did not take long, he had much darker news to report. The celebrations around the Jefferson Memorial were suddenly cut short and an air of shocked silence took hold as they learned that one half of the Wandering Pair had fallen.
Many tried to get in to see, especially their close friends, but the Brotherhood denied them under the new Elder Lyons' orders. Time seemed to come to a stop as everyone outside waited for news from within. Many of them hoped for good news or prayed for a miracle, but none knew or certain what would come of it.
Within the chamber, Lloyd sat with his back to the purifier, watching members of the Pride carefully remove sections of Amata's armor to more properly administer aide. His eyes were blank and nearly unmoving as he watched the scene unfold before him. Few people from outside were allowed within; namely, medics and doctors. At Lloyd's bidding, Harkness was allowed to enter. He hoped that the android would be able to save her.
Harkness entered the rotunda accompanied by one of the caravan merchants, Doc Hoff. With the traveling doctor's tools, it was Harkness who performed much of the operation to remove the bullet from within Amata's skull. Lloyd could hardly breathe, much less watch, as the android carefully extracted the casing from within.
"It didn't go in very far…" he said, cautiously moving the tweezers within the bloody hole. "The end of the bullet is just at her skull…"
"Is she still alive?" Sarah asked.
"Barely," he replied. "But… I can't quite get a grip on the bullet. If I push it in farther, I risk additional damage."
Sarah blinked a few times. "So is there no hope?"
"No… I just have to make the hole a little bit bigger. Cut around it. Not much, just a bit. It's going to take time."
Doc Hoff worked on stopping the bleeding around the neck as Harkness prepared to perform more advanced surgery. One of Scott's surviving Mr. Handy robots was brought in and Harkness took manual control of the arm that terminated in a small buzzsaw. Lloyd couldn't watch this part, but he could hear the sound of saw scraping on bone.
Once Lloyd had managed to calm down enough to explain to them who and what was responsible for it all, Talon Company was sought out only for them to be discovered missing. As far as the Brotherhood were concerned, the sudden disappearance of the organization implicated them in the crime and word quickly spread about the truth of what had happened within the memorial. Small groups of Brotherhood search parties were organized, along with Reilly's Rangers, the Regulators, the Family and others who could spare time to the hunt. They were more than willing to lend a hand to catch the perpetrators and quickly worked out a search pattern amongst themselves.
Others amongst the assembled army had to disperse and return home, such as the Rivet City security force and the various citizens and merchants who had contributed to the war effort, including Lucas Simms, Billy Creel and the other people of Megaton. The majority of Brotherhood personnel were needed to help secure Project Purity, contain any prisoners and stamp out any remaining resistance. As such, not many could be spared to hunt down the mercenaries, who already had likely retreated into the metro tunnels beneath the D.C. ruins.
The Outcasts, their work done, collected armor and weaponry from enemy corpses and left on neutral, if not friendly, terms with the Brotherhood and moved back across the Potomac towards their home. The ghouls of Underworld similarly could not stay for much longer.
As the sun rose, only a few small non-Brotherhood personnel remained: Charon, Fawkes, Uncle Leo, Jericho, Jarrod, Scott Wolinski, Tanya Christoff and Vance. The grizzled old raider lit a cigarette with the help of his son.
"You should quit, with that hole in your stomach," Charon muttered.
Jericho's response was to blow smoke in his direction. Jarrod was silent. The two of them were the only raiders remaining; the others had been ordered to either find Talon Company or head back to Evergreen Mills and wait for them.
Nearby, Uncle Leo watched the sunrise and commented, "I hope… little sister yet lives."
His thought, a rather simple one, effectively summed up all of their feelings on the matter. Tanya, her ant helmet removed and tucked aside, sighed. "I hardly knew her, but yeah… I hope so too."
"You came back in the end," Scott said, similarly without his costume's helmet. "Why?"
"I thought I'd follow their example," she said with a weak smile. "Maybe make some difference in the world."
"And you did," Charon nodded. The tall ghoul's pale eyes were fixed on the memorial building and his thoughts were only for his friends and their safety. But he also knew that he had no medical experience and could not help them inside. So he would wait.
Jericho flicked the burnt cigarette aside, coughing a bit. "Shit," he grumbled. Jarrod looked at the bloody rag his father was holding to his side and quickly left to find another to replace it with. Jericho looked at Vance, his face still and unreadable. "And what about you, huh? Why are you still here?"
"My Family is in pursuit of the savages who did this to my friends. In the meantime, I will stay to hear the news of my friends." He crossed his arms and sighed. "But I do not feel that this will end well, truth be told."
Fawkes shook his massive head. "Don't say that please."
Vance shrugged. "I am sorry my friend, but I have learned to trust my feelings. And I feel that within those walls, terrible news is forthcoming…"
All of them sat silent as they waited.
At Galaxy News Radio, Three Dog had little choice but to relay the facts as he had them. People from all over the Capital Wasteland tuned in to listen to the tale of the siege of the Citadel, the rallying cry that came afterwards and the push to take back Project Purity. Three Dog also relayed the news of the death of Owyn Lyons, and gave a long, heartfelt speech about the man's contributions to the people.
A radio set to his station was on in the Citadel's medical ward. Wounded Brotherhood soldiers and scribes listened in respectful silence, and among them was Lucy. When she learned of Amata's wounds, she tried to leave but the doctors kept her in bed. Confined with her leg injury, all Lucy could do was listen.
Sitting in his studio, the disk jockey impatiently tapped his foot and chewed on a nail. In his mind, Three Dog silently worried that he would have to give very bad news soon. He wasn't sure that he was ready to hear it himself. He, and all of his listeners, waited for the word that only those within the Rotunda were just now beginning to learn.
When next Lloyd's eyes opened, it was at the behest of Harkness gently shaking his shoulder. He held his hand out to Lloyd and in its palm was a bloodstained bullet.
Lloyd reached up with a shaky hand to take it.
"She's not dead," Harkness told him. "She's alive. But…"
"But?"
"My initial analysis tells me that, in her current state, she's not going to wake up."
"She's in a coma?"
"She's braindead."
Lloyd slumped back against the beam he was sitting against and closed his eyes, despair threatening to swallow him whole. "And… And there's nothing we can do?"
"We can keep her fed. Warm. Keep her hydrated, take care of her. We can keep her comfortable. Change her bandages when we need to. But… we can't make her wake up."
Lloyd's hands covered his face as he tried to breathe steadily. "That's all?"
"Except for…" Harkness trailed off.
"Except for what?"
"I'd rather not say, but you and I both know it. It's not my place to speak of it or even think of it. I can't."
"I understand." Lloyd slid his hands off to look at her. Stripped of her armor, they were preparing her for movement on a stretcher. They were planning to move her down into the lower levels of the facility into a medical room where Lloyd had been born nineteen years ago.
Lloyd followed them as if in a trance, lost in a fog of thought from which there was no escape. He watched them as they laid her upon one of the tables and found a pillow to place under her head. Two of the Lyons' Pride excused themselves to rush to the Citadel to get more medical personnel and equipment.
Lloyd pulled up a chair and sat down in it next to her. He reached out and touched her unresponsive hand, slowly rubbing his thumb along it. Half of her head was covered in bandaging and her mouth was parted slightly, with only the most basic of bodily function keeping her breathing.
"Lloyd," Sarah got his attention. She was standing in the doorway. "The Brotherhood needs me back at the Citadel, but I'll be back soon. More are on their way with supplies. We'll do whatever you want us to do, Lloyd. We'll keep her alive."
He nodded slowly. "Okay," was all he said before resuming staring at the unconscious girl.
Sarah watched for a moment before excusing herself.
At his feet, Russ curled up and softly whined, sharing in his master's pain. Lloyd leaned forward to kiss her forehead. As he did, he found breathing difficult as another fit of tears found him.
"Amata… I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry… I did this to you. I brought you out here with me, and… And if I had just had the strength to just come here without bringing you with me, I…" He was silent again for another few minutes. "You didn't deserve this. It's my fault. It should have been me in the path of that bullet. I would have healed. I…"
His voice trailed off as he looked at her closed eyes. She seemed so peaceful and quiet. Tears fell on his hands as he finished his sentence. "I love you." He said it over and over again, each time his voice growing softer and softer.
He remained there, in the room of his birth, holding her hand for a very long time, softly speaking to her and crying.
In his other hand, he held onto the bloody bullet.
Within him, past the terrible pain he was experiencing, there ignited a small spark that quickly grew into a raging fire. This fire burned within him, fueling thoughts of retribution for the suffering that had been brought upon him. As Lloyd held onto her hand, his grip on the bullet tightened, and one name came to his lips.
"Burke."
