Remember when I said it was the end? I lied.


Damian slowly opened his eyes. A cracked concrete ceiling stood before his eyes. He slowly turned his head. He was in an infirmary. A Mister Gutsy robot, painted in khaki, was slowly levitating above the floor and carefully cleaning medical utensils.

The soothing sound of a radio playing a jazz tune in a nearby room could be heard over the clattering of utensils and the humming of several computers, used to monitor a patient's vital signs.

Damian slowly straightened up. He felt strange, like he was coming out of a long dream. He felt a warm wrinkled hand against his arm.

"Take it easy," said the voice of an old man.

Damian blinked several times until his vision became clear and he recognized Elder Lyons. The old Elder looked relieved and helped Damian sit on the bed. Damian wanted to talk, but he felt a tube in his mouth that went down his throat. He pulled it out with a grimace and almost threw up before dropping it on the bed.

"What... What happened? Where am I?" Damian asked.

"It's all right. You're safe now. We're at the Citadel, in the infirmary."

Damian massaged his face and the top of his skull, trying to reorganize his thoughts.

"I was beginning to think you'd never wake up," Lyons said. "I've come every day to visit you and my daughter. At least one of you finally came out of coma."

Memories flooded into Damian's mind. He turned to Lyons.

"The purifier, I… I activated it, and then... What happened? Sarah was by the control room, too, when... Is she okay? Where is she? What about the Enclave? Did we win? Project Purity? Did we..."

"Slow down," Lyons cut him off in a calm but authoritative voice.

Damian felt he was dizzy. He wanted to get up, but Lyons stopped him.

"You have to relax," Lyons said, forcing Damian to remain seated. "Don't force too much."

Damian caught his breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"You were in the control room when there was a strong surge of energy. It was your... Friend, the Super Mutant that brought you out of there, but you were unconscious, you and Sarah."

"I... I remember activating the purifier and I felt like… Like I was gradually dying."

"I don't know what happened to you, and Rothchild's been trying to figure out what happened to you for the last two weeks."

"Wait... What? How long have I been… Like this?"

"You were in a coma for about two weeks," Lyons answered.

"What about Sarah? Is she okay?"

Lyons looked sorry. He stepped aside and looked to the back of the room. Lying on a bed, Sarah had her eyes closed and her face inexpressive. Electrodes were placed at her temples and parts of her body to monitor her brain and heart activity, and a tube, connected to a pump, went into her mouth.

"She has been unconscious for two weeks as well," Lyons said sadly. "Just like you, the surge of energy from the purifier made her unconscious, but I'm hopeful she'll wake up now that you've recovered."

"How is she doing?"

Damian stared at the young woman and remembered how she tried to stop him in the control room by banging at the door and desperately trying to smash the glass.

"Her vitals are stable," sighed Lyons. "It's probably thanks to this Super Mutant that saved you both. I find it hard to believe and admit it, but without that creature, you and my daughter would probably be dead."

Damian made a mental note to thank Fawkes the next time he saw him.

"What about the purifier? Did it work?" Damian asked nervously.

The fighting had been intense, and Damian remembered clearly the Jefferson Memorial shaking every time there was an explosion outside. He looked nervously at Lyons who smiled.

"Oh, yes. It works perfectly and the water in Tidal Basin is perfectly pure. Your father can be proud of you. Without you and his efforts, Project Purity would never have become a reality. I doubt we will ever be able to thank you properly for everything you did."

Damian couldn't help but smile and sigh. He thought of his parents. He had been ready to join them and wished that they could see that he had been able to fulfill their dream of providing pure water to the Capital Wasteland.

"So, does that mean it's over? Have we won?"

Lyons put on his serious face again. Damian dreaded what he was going to say to him.

"Despite the destruction of its main base, its retreat from the purifier, and the many losses it has suffered, the Enclave remains a serious threat. The Brotherhood's objective is simple. Destroy what remains of the Enclave."

"And? How is it going?"

Lyons ran his hand in his beard, searching for his words.

"Nearly every stronghold of the Enclave we've located in the Wasteland was quickly destroyed, thanks to the help of Liberty Prime, which proved far more effective than our estimations."

"But...?" said Damian who felt that there was something more.

"But something's not right. I have a feeling the Enclave still has an ace up its sleeve."

"What about Vault 87? Were you able to do anything about that?"

"Not yet," Lyons answered bitterly, shaking his head. "All of our troops are currently engaged against the Enclave. That you were able to venture there and come out alive is a miracle, and it will take many men to exterminate the abominations there."

Damian nodded slowly. He got up painfully. His clothes were folded on a table next to his armor. Reilly had had to come back with new armor and had left a small note. Damian grabbed it and read the few words written on it.

"Get well soon, Ranger."

Damian folded the note and put it in his bag.

"There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Or rather, two things."

Damian turned to Lyons. The tone he had used was much more formal.

"I'm ready to help you again. The Enclave must be destroyed."

"I'm glad to hear you say that. I just wanted to talk to you about your past and future contributions to the Brotherhood. In regards of your heroic deeds, I have decided to make you a full member of the Brotherhood of Steel and award you the rank of Knight."

Lyons rummaged through his tunic and pulled out a pair of the Brotherhood's standard identification tags. Damian remained silent. He took the ID-tags in his hands and read the information on them.

"'Franklin Damian. 19120993. Knight. Type 0 +.'"

Damian made the plates clatter between his fingers.

"It's a great honor Elder Lyons, but..."

"I figured you'd prefer to keep some independence. Sarah had told me of your wish to return to your Vault when this whole thing was over. That's why we'll be able to add the honorary membership to your nameplates."

"Thank you. Thank you very much," said Damian.

He put the little chain around his neck and finished getting dressed.

"The second point I would like to discuss with you is about this."

Lyons took out a small glass vial set with metal. Inside, a green-yellow liquid. Damian recognized the vial of FEV that Eden had wanted him to inject in the purifier. Instinctively, he put his hand on the satchel of his belt where the vial should be.

"We found this object in your belongings and proceeded to several tests to know its nature."

Damian knew it was pointless to lie.

"This is a vial containing a modified strain of a virus called FEV, the virus that causes Super Mutants. The Enclave modified it and Eden had asked me to inject it into the purifier. He said that this virus would gradually destroy the mutant cells of the different organisms living on the surface and would allow humanity to regain its place on Earth. He had just forgotten, or did not want to mention, that this virus would affect humans born in the Wasteland, just like Super Mutants, ghouls or any other mutated animal."

Lyons put the vial on one of the tables and looked at it for a few moments.

"Why did you take it if it's so dangerous?" he asked.

Damian shrugged.

"I don't know how, but the storage device for the vial was connected to the locks on the bunker door. Without the vial, it was impossible for me to leave the room. If I kept it with me, it was because I intended to destroy it. I didn't want to give it to you because I was afraid you'd try to modify the virus again and use it as a biological weapon against Super Mutants and ghouls."

An awkward silence felt in the infirmary. Lyons was staring Damian and seemed to be analyzing what he had just said. He sighed and put the vial back in his tunic.

"I'm pleased that you refused to use this virus and I'm both offended but sympathetic to your reluctance to give us the vial. The Brotherhood has encountered the FEV in the past, long ago and in faraway places. While this vial may contain a priceless opportunity to get rid of Super Mutants and ghouls, the danger posed by the contents of this vial is too great for the Brotherhood to make use of. I will personally make sure that this vial is destroyed."

"Thank you."

Damian finished dressing in silence. He adjusted the strap of his assault rifle and stroked the butt of his pistol before putting it away in his holster.

"I guess you're going to have a lot of missions for me," Damian said.

"Yes," Lyons said. "Given your efficiency, I decided, against protocol, to let you act alone, mainly because I don't have anyone available to accompany you."

He signaled Damian to follow him. They left the infirmary after Lyons gave his daughter one last look. The soldiers they walked by in the Citadel's corridors stood at attention as they approached and greeted Damian warmly.

"You'd better have a word with Rothchild. He'll probably be delighted to see you again in good shape. He'll give you the details of the operation and what we're working on now."

Damian nodded in silent. His mind was focused on the reasons why he did not die in the control room of Project Purity. He did not feel as if the radiations had done anything to him. No arm growing out of his stomach, no tree growing on his head, no rotting skin or flesh. Everything was normal, except the pain he could feel at his right hip where Autumn had shot him. When he questioned Lyons about that, the old Elder said that the bullet had gone in and out. No organs were hit, and the brief surgery Damian had been through during his coma, would only leave him a faint pain for a couple of days.

Lyons walked to the laboratory with Damian. They joined Rothchild, who was examining the large interactive map on the wall. Seeing them, a big smile lit up the scribe's face.

"It's good to see you awake," he said, shaking Damian's hand. "I see you're planning to immediately throw him the wolves," he added to Lyons' attention.

"Reginald, if you could explain the situation to our friend, there are some important matters concerning the water deliveries and the purifier that I have to settle."

"Is there a problem with the purifier?" Damian asked worriedly.

"No, nothing serious," Lyons answered immediately. "Only a disagreement with the scribe in charge of the place."

He took his leave and went back to his office, leaving Damian with Rothchild.

"Owyn has a lot on his mind right now," sighed Rothchild.

"I guess the fact that Sarah's still in a coma must not help," Damian said as he thought to the Sentinel lying on her bed and hooked up to a battery of machines and computers.

"Yes, it does. As far as I can recall, I've never seen him so affected by Brotherhood operations."

"So," said Damian. "I understood the war isn't over yet."

Rothchild had a sad smile on his face.

"You'll learn soon enough that the one thing in this world that never dies is war, despite the best efforts of Mankind."

Damian smiled bitterly. Rothchild pressed a button near the map and several dots lit up.

"In the last two weeks, we have discovered several sites of the Enclave scattered throughout the Wasteland. Most of them were outposts or supply bases for their Vertibird and patrols."

Damian listened carefully. He was impressed with the number of sites controlled by the Enclave and wondered how many more could be scattered throughout the Wastelands.

"With the destruction of their main command base and the loss of the purifier two weeks ago, we thought the remaining troops would eventually surrender or be routed, but against all odds, that was not the case."

"Let me guess. They still have an active chain of command and are able to communicate?"

"Exactly," nodded Rothchild. "By isolating the radio transmissions we've been able to pick up and analyzing them, we've been able to locate its origin, here."

He pointed to a point on the map, southwest of the Capital Wasteland.

"According to our recon teams, it is a former military site. Your mission will be quite simple. With Prime's support, you and the Pride should seize the site, eliminate all resistance and cut off the source of radio transmissions. If you get your hands on any useful data or information, bring it back to us."

Damian was looking at the point on the map. It would take him a long walk to get there and he doubted the Brotherhood would let him use the Vertibird to get there.

"Do you have any questions?" asked Rothchild.

"Just one. How do I get to this base?"

- The Vertibird you captured with the Super Mutant is still being examined by our scribes and needs some repairs. So, I'm sorry to say you're going to have to walk. If you follow the road, you'll find an old car tunnel in the mountains. The Pride is using it as a bridgehead to monitor the site and prepare for their attack. Once there, you'll have to find Paladin Tristan. He's in charge of the Pride until Sarah recovers."

"Tristan? But I thought it was Vargas the..."

Damian left the end of his sentence open, realizing that Vargas was probably no longer with them.

"Scribe Rothchild?"

Rothchild turned around and saw a young scribe approaching him, carrying several documents.

"Excuse me. I'll see you when you get back."

The two scribes walked away. Damian looked at the map for a few more moments. He left the laboratory.

The sun was high in the sky. The courtyard of the Citadel was filled with activity. Recruits lined up in rows, while a Paladin in full power armor spoke to them in a martial way. The Vertibird captured to the Enclave was in the center of the courtyard, and several scribes and soldiers were examining the engines and the inside.

Damian headed for the main gate, when he heard the soldier in power armor not far from him, address his recruits.

"Listen up, maggots. This is a standard AER9 laser rifle. It's an energy weapons, for the two sleepy girls in the back."

Damian looked at the instructor and smiled a little, seeing the faces of some of the recruits, who were desperately trying to understand the complex functionality of the rifle.

"Now pay attention, our guest here will make a demonstration."

Damian realized suddenly that the 'guest' was none other than Fawkes. The Super Mutant had somehow managed to repair part of his torn vault 87 suit. He approached the instructor who gave him the laser rifle and took a few steps back.

Fawkes stood in front of the target, a makeshift mannequin looking like a Super Mutant. Fawkes aimed, fired a few shots and unloaded the weapons before handing it back to the instructor.

"See, that's how you do it," said the instructor. "Now step forward and grab a BB gun on the table and fire a few rounds on the targets."

"But, Paladin," said one of the recruits. "Why are we using BB guns instead of real weapons? I mean, we are Brotherhood, right? We'll get laser rifle once we go on patrol."

The instructor stared at the recruit in silent.

"Laser weapons are more expensive and valuable than you. For now, you are just a bunch of maggots thinking they already are the Brotherhood elite. Now stop jerking around and go to the firing range. On the double."

The recruits approached the table with BB guns in a disorganized manner, and Damian could hear the instructor sigh. He saw Damian and motioned him to come closer.

"Well, looks like Lady Death was not yet ready to claim you," he smiled at Damian. "I'm Paladin Gunny, and I'm in charge of… Hey! You fuckin' donkey! Aim the gun at the target you idiot!"

Gunny approached the group of Brotherhood initiates and started yelling at them. Fawkes approached Damian and gave him the best imitation of a smile he could do.

"I was desperate to see you again, my friend."

"It's good to see you too," Damian smiled.

The Super Mutant bowed forward.

"I guess I owe you a thank you for getting Sarah and myself out of the purifier."

"I've only paid a small fraction of my debt," the Super Mutant replied.

"My life for your freedom, I believe your debt is all paid," Damian said as he readjusted his rifle on his shoulder.

"So, allow me to accompany you as your companion this time."

"With pleasure," Damian smiled.

The Paladin Gunny came back toward them, grumbling under his breath about his recruits.

"Sorry, where were we? Oh, yeah, I'm Paladin Gunny and I'm in charge of turning these maggots in Brothers and Sisters of Steel. And as you can see, it's not an easy job. Anyway, I heard that you were promoted to the Pride. That mean that if you want to get power armor training, I'll be the one you'd want to talk to."

"Thanks, Paladin, but I'll stick to my combat armor for now," Damian politely declined.

"As you wish. By the way, could I borrow you Fawkes from time to time? He seems to have way better effects on my recruit than me, and I'd like to explain them the weaknesses and anatomy of a Super Mutant."

Damian turned to Fawkes who bowed down as a sign of agreement.

"Great, now if you'd excuse me, I have to get back to my student, before they all shoot each other."

Damian watched the instructor return to the firing range and he heard him yell at some of the recruits.

They left the Citadel. Damian had initially planned to go to Megaton to resupply but, now that he was with Fawkes, he decided to head directly to the car tunnel.

The Potomac and the area around the Citadel and the bridge still bore the scars of the Battle of the purifier. Craters and traces of explosions on the road and on the buildings and wrecks of several Vertibirds protruding above the water's surface were evidence of the violence of the fighting.

Damian turned his head towards the purifier. The building was still there, and he could see small silhouettes coming in and out around it. He wanted to go there and see with his own eyes the legacy of his parents, but he decided that destroying the Enclave was more important.

During the past two weeks, Fawkes had remained at the entrance to the Citadel. The Brotherhood was still suspicious over the Super Mutant, but his help during the Battle of the Purifier had helped to ensure that the Super Mutant was tolerated on the outskirts of the Citadel and not shot on sight. Still, Damian was worried about the reaction of the Megaton or Rivet City inhabitants or the Brotherhood patrols in the ruins.

As they walked along the road, they came across a caravan of Brotherhood soldiers and Rivet City security guards. Attached to the back of a brahmin were two olive-yellow water barrels bearing the Brotherhood's logo. When the Brotherhood soldiers saw them, they greeted Damian and took a brief look at Fawkes, and the Rivet City Guards stood at a distance, holding their weapons close at hand.

The water supply seemed to be working well, and Damian thought back to what Lyons had said about his difference of opinion with the scribe in charge of the purifier. He took mental note of going to the purifier and clarifying the story once he came back from the car tunnel.

"I have to admit that thanks to your reputation and the trust some people have in you, I was not attacked. I find that remarkable."

"Who exactly are you thinking of?" Damian asked.

"Your friends... The Rangers. I understand they were fighting my meta-human brothers and I imagine their surprise to see you in my company."

"Hell of a surprise, indeed," said Damian, thinking back to the disaster that had almost been the first meeting between Fawkes and the others at the Citadel.

They arrived a few hours later in front of an old car tunnel that had half collapsed. Sitting on the side of the mountain, Damian noticed several Brotherhood soldiers guarding the place and watching the Wasteland. When they saw him arrive, they waved at several other soldiers near the entrance of the tunnel.

A soldier in power armor came out of one of the tunnel's emergency exits and greeted Damian.

"It's good to see you, Knight, You and your... Companion."

He looked down at Fawkes, probably trying to probe the mind of the Super Mutant.

"Follow me," said the soldier. "Paladin Tristan is waiting for you."

The soldier led them into one of the maintenance corridors of the car tunnel. The tunnel had completely collapsed and only a small portion was still standing. The place had to be controlled by the Enclave before the Brotherhood could establish itself. The Brotherhood had reinstalled the metal barricades to for a security perimeter inside the tunnel. Laser turrets and several soldiers stood guard while a few scribes made an inventory of the weapons, armor, ammunition and items captured to the Enclave.

Bent over a map on a table, a Brotherhood man in power armor was chatting with other soldiers. When he heard Damian arrive, he stood up and gave him a warm smile.

"Well, well, well... Look who's back among the living."

"Paladin Tristan," Damian replied to greet him.

Tristan was a man in his fifties, a bald skull with grey hair on the temples. He put his steely blue eyes on Fawkes, and Damian was surprised to see him nod to greet to Super Mutant.

Damian had had very few contacts with Tristan, before this day. He was a Pride member and was mostly taking part in special operations for the Brotherhood. The coma of Sarah and the death of Vargas had put him, one of the oldest members of the Brotherhood and in command of the Lyons' Pride.

"Some people were beginning to think that you and Sarah weren't going to make it. How is she?" he asked in a preoccupied tone.

"Her condition is stable from what I've been told. It shouldn't be too long before she wakes up," Damian said.

"Let's hope so. It would be a shame if she missed the party."

"Lyons and Rothchild told me you needed help," said Damian to focus the conversation on a more important matter.

"Yes, they told me you'd be joining the show. Won't say no to some extra hands."

He invited Damian to look at the map.

"The tunnel will take us out here," explained Tristan "We'll have to advance out in the open for several meters before we reach the objective, an old satellite relay station. Ops is pretty simple, we let the robot do the hard stuff and keep our heads down. It can take much more than us."

Tristan grabbed a plasma rifle standing next to the table and signaled his men to get moving.

"If you have any questions, you can ask me on the way."

Damian and Fawkes followed the two dozen of Brotherhood soldiers. They walked through the tunnel, lit by work lamps connected to generators.

"Any idea what happened to the purifier?" Damian asked.

"Not a single clue," Tristan replied, shrugging. "Just after you, Sarah, Fawkes and the other went in, several Vertibirds landed behind the Memorial. We had just repelled them when we felt a tremor. When we entered the purifier, we came across the Super Mutant carrying you and Sarah. We thought you were dead, but when we realized you were still breathing, we carried you back to the Citadel."

"And during the past two weeks? Rothchild said you found several sites occupied by the Enclave."

"Yes. Nothing very impressive. Just a few small encampments or old pre-war tunnels. Whenever we found one, we'd go with the tin can and flush the bastard out with flamethrowers or burry them inside. I must say, thanks to the destruction of their base, they look more like a raiding party than a proper army. Some have tried to run, surrender or hold on, but..."

A small grin appeared on his lips and he pointed to one of the corners of the tunnel with a gesture of the head. Looking in the direction indicated by Tristan, Damian saw several corpses. Men and women in black military uniforms, and a few officers. All of them had been stripped of their boots and amor and had a hole at the base of the skull or at the back of the head from which a small trickle of blood slowly flowed out. Damian also noticed that they all had their hands tied behind their backs.

"... The result was the same," Tristan smiled.

Damian looked at the corpses for a few more seconds before he caught up the Paladin.

"We've been watching the site since a couple of days," Tristan continued. "If you ask me, it's their last main stronghold, so we might encounter fierce resistance, but with Prime on our side it shouldn't be too difficult."

They arrived at one of the emergencies exits of the tunnel. Tristan waved at his men. They went through the gate and over a set of rocky hills. A road went down to the right and led to a set of concrete buildings with satellite dishes on top. The surrounding area was sparsely populated with dead trees and power pylons.

The Enclave had blocked the road with a series of force fields and installed a series of defenses encircling a small side road between two rock formations.

Crouching under cover, the Brotherhood troops waited in silence. Damian looked at the satellite relay station. They will have to run across an open field before reaching the main building and the first line of defenses. Damian hopped that the Enclave had not put any mines and if it was the case, that Prime would detonate them on his way.

"Okay guys, Prime will be here in two minutes," said Tristan, giving back a large military radio to one of his men.

Damian took a deep breath. Images of the Anchorage simulation and the Battle of the purifier went through his mind. He looked at the Brotherhood soldiers. Most of them had no power armor, and wore combat armor, like his, painted grey, emblazoned with the Brotherhood insignia.

Heavy footsteps started to resound. Damian noticed that the Enclave soldiers near the open field were looking at their direction and running to cover or from foxholes to foxholes, bringing ammunitions and grenades.

Well sheltered behind the rocks, Damian and the others were able to admire the arrival of Liberty Prime and some other soldiers of the Brotherhood. The robot fired its laser, destroying the site's defenses.

A formation of Vertibird appeared in the sky. Launching one of his anti-communist replicas, Prime used his laser on the group. The one he hit, crashed into a second Vertibird and ended up in the forcefields. The rest of the aircrafts hurried past, strafing the ground with their guns.

Damian, Tristan, and the others followed Prime, having only to admire the carnage that the great robot left in its wake and eliminating the few Enclave soldiers stuck in their foxholes.

Prime stopped his advance. It stood in front of one of the buildings on the site. Its eye-slit lit up and a blue ray gushed out, spreading over the whole concrete facade of the base.

The shooting had become sporadic, allowing Damian and the other to move a little closer to the robot.

"All right guys, as soon as the tin can finds an entrance, we take over the place, we burn the bastards, and let the scribes get the useful tech.

Damian saw two flamethrowers soldiers come next to them and he looked up at Liberty Prime.

"Scan complete. Structural weakness detected."

Prime turned off its laser and grabbed one of the warheads in store behind its back. Damian closed his eyes, turned his head away and plugged his ears. He felt the tremor of the explosion in his legs and rib cage. He opened his eyes and saw the robot arm its fist and hit the wall, which was already badly damaged by the warhead. Prime hit the wall several times.

Damian looked up. The satellite antenna on top of the building was starting to move. At first Damian thought the dish was shaking under Prime's assaults, until he noticed that the other two antennas on different buildings were also moving into position.

Prime gave a last blow to the façade and the concrete shattered. The antennas came to a standstill, all pointing to the sky.

"Satellite Uplink detected. Analysis of Communist transmission pending."

"What's going on?" Tristan said worriedly.

Prime stood still. He turned to Damian and the others and waved his hand, indicating to move away from the building.

"Warning! Warning! Red Chinese Orbital Strike Imminent! All personnel move to a safe distance immediately!"

The sky above them lit up with an intense blue. A small detonation was heard, then a second and a third.

"What the hell is that?" asked one of the Brotherhood soldiers.

"Run! Take cover!" Tristan shouted.

The soldiers started running towards the car tunnel. Above their heads, missiles were falling from the skies. One of the missiles hit the ground. The shockwave was terrible, much more powerful than the miniature warheads on Liberty Prime. A second tremor shook the ground. The shockwave threw Damian into the air and he fell heavily to the ground.

(Inside the satellite relay station, a few minutes earlier)

A detonation sounded outside, and dust fell from the cables and pipes on the ceiling. The Enclave officer looked up, dusting his uniform. He groaned and looked around him. The room he was in was filled with computers, monitored by Enclave personnel. Soldiers in power armor were running out of the room, plasma rifles in hand, and headed downstairs, through a large metal staircase.

"Major! We just lost contact with Yankee 5! Enemy troops are closing in!"

The officer looked at the young woman next to him. She was sitting in front of a large military radio and had a nervous and anxious look on her face.

"Goliath, this is Wolverine 3-1, what's our air support doing? Over!" asked a voice through the officer's headset.

"Wolverine 3-1, Goliath, stand-by," replied the Major.

He turned toward the young radio operator and pointed her device with his index finger.

"Get me that Vertibird squadron to strafe the field in front of the building! Now!"

Another tremor shook the building, making a few computer screens fall to the ground.

"Major, Vulture 2 is denying air support on our position! He says that if they get close to the robot, they'll be blasted away!" said the young Enclave woman.

The officer swore and grabbed the microphone from the hands of the woman.

"Vulture 2, Goliath, get your squadron to strafe that giant robot, now!"

"Goliath, Vulture 2, negative, negative! I'll die if I get close to that thing! Over!"

"I'll kill you myself if you don't bomb that fucking robot!" yelled the officer.

Statics came from the radio, and the officer threw the microphone away in anger. He looked around him and then walked to a man sitting in front of a computer. On the screen a map of the Capital Wasteland.

"Fire mission, four salvos, map grid 011029."

The operator typed the numbers on his keyboard and the map switched to a closer location.

"Sir, that's directly on top of us…"

"I know! Do it!"

"No, I don't want! We'll fucking die!"

"That's an order!"

The operator declined again, and shouted, seeking help from the other soldiers around him. The Enclave officer, grabbed his plasma pistol, raised it at the operator's head and fired. The plasma ball liquified the operator's face, who fell to the ground, in a last groan.

The Major briefly looked around him and typed a command on the computer. Second after, they heard an alarm.

All Enclave personnel in the room jumped from their seats and crouched under desks, sheltering their heads with their arms.

The young radio operator was crying. She was lying under her desk, her eyes closed, covering her ears, praying.

A few seconds later, tremendous explosion shook the room and the relay station.

(Outside the satellite relay station, after the explosion)

Damian opened his eyes painfully. A huge cloud of dust enveloped him, and he could not see more than two meters away. His ears were ringing. He struggled to get up, coughing and spitting. Through the whistling in his ears, he could hear the coughing fits of the other soldiers and a metallic scraping on the ground. Damian felt like his whole body had been trampled by an army of Super Mutant riding brahmins, twice. It felt like time had slowed down. All movement he was seeing were slowed.

This strange feeling stopped when Damian felt a hand on his shoulder. A Brotherhood soldier was next to him and asking him if he was wounded.

The cloud of dust disappeared. Huge craters littered the ground at the foot of the building. Liberty Prime crept slowly towards the ground. Both of its legs had been severed from its body and it was using its only remaining arm to crawl. The joint between its neck and head snapped. The robot's head rolled several meters and came to rest near the Damian and Brotherhood soldiers.

"What the hell was that?"

Tristan emerged from a pile of dust. Several Brotherhood soldiers were wounded and were lying on the ground or were slowly getting up checking their armor and their companions still on the ground. Fawkes appeared from beneath a mound of dirt, a gash on his forehead.

"Inside! Follow me!"

Tristan grabbed his plasma rifle and rounded up his men before entering the opening created by Prime. The breach led to a corridor where pipes and electrical cables piled up. Shredded body parts laid on the ground. Damian followed the soldiers, Fawkes on his heels. He stepped over the severed bust of an Enclave soldier, still alive and waving his arms to cling to the Brotherhood members, squeaking and gurgling for help.

Damian penetrated deeper into the base. The corridor led to a series of tunnels, housing various storage rooms and sanitary facilities. Pieces of concrete and steel had fallen from the ceiling in some sections of the tunnels, crushing several soldiers of the Enclave. They, too, were still a little stunned by the mysterious attack that had just taken place.

The members of the Brotherhood quickly progressed to a control room and split up to go to the other sections of the complex. A large stairwell provided access to the various floors and to the top of the structure.

Damian and the others climbed the floors, eliminating the soldiers of the Enclave who were in their way, making no distinction between those who wanted to surrender or those who tried to stop them, the latter throwing grenades from the upper floors.

"Clear!"

One of the soldiers relayed the information by shouting it to his comrades on the lower floors. Damian wiped his sweaty and bloody face. Tristan sighed and began to search the corpses around him.

"Paladin Tristan, I found something."

"What is it, Edwards?"

Damian followed Tristan into a room occupied solely by computers. The room was littered with dead Enclave soldiers and officers, who some of them had seem to commit suicide. He found the Paladin and a man named Edwards in front of a large computer console. On one of the screens, mathematical data and coordinates were displayed continuously.

"What do you think it is?" Edwards asked.

"We'd better get this data back to Rothchild," the Paladin replied. "He'll figure it out."

Tristan gave Edwards a small empty holotape and he downloaded the data onto it. He turned to Damian and Fawkes.

"You should head back to the Citadel. Give this holotape to Rothchild. If you don't mind, I'd like the Super Mutant to stay here and help us clean up this mess. We're going to stay here for a while and pick up whatever tech and intel we can find."

Fawkes bowed forward in agreement. Damian placed the holotape in his satchel and headed for the exit. On the now-silent battlefield, a few Brotherhood soldiers were looking after their wounded and dead comrades and began searching the few bodies of the Enclave soldiers that were still intact.

He went back through the car tunnel in the opposite direction and set off for the Citadel.


Hope you enjoyed.

There we are starting the Broken Steel DLC and continuing Damian's adventures in D.C.

Until next time.