Hello everyone, hope you are doing well.

Regarding the review for last chapter. The Rivet City security is not a military organization and I don't see them manning outposts in the Wastes to backup the BoS. Besides, they are less numerous than the BoS and are already streched between their duties as security of Rivet City and some of the purifier caravans.

As for the Rangers, there's only 4 of them (5 with Damian), and I don't think that replacing 4 men to an outpost would change many things, as they would better fit in a recon or small Ops team. (Again, I have no military experience in any form, so if some of you have, feel free to correct me or give your opinion)

That being said, enjoy this chapter.


The inner courtyard of the Citadel was obstructed by debris from Liberty Prime. Nearly all the scribes were working around the pieces of the giant robot.

Damian asked one of the soldiers on guard where Tristan was and was told that the Paladin was somewhere in the A-Wing of the fortress.

Damian found Tristan in one of the corridors of the building, in great discussion with Fawkes and a young scribe who was using a cane to walk. Damian recognized Alice Hood, the young scribe with whom he had tried to break into Vault 87 before she was injured by a Super Mutant.

"There you are, perfect," said Tristan as he saw the young man.

"Yes. Scribe Hood, glad to see you're feeling better," Damian smiled.

Hood smiled back at him and Tristan cleared his throat to make them focus on the discussion. Hood quickly apologized and tightened her grip around the file she had in her hands.

"Is that the data we brought from the relay station?" Damian asked. "You managed to decipher everything?"

"No," Hood said. "Well, not all of it. We discovered some are telemetry data, the kind used with satellites, but that wasn't very surprising, considering the place you found them."

"What does that mean? That the Enclave has a pre-war satellite in Space orbiting the Earth and that they used it to level the station?"

"We came to same conclusion," Tristan said with a concerned look on his face. "But I asked you to come for something else."

He nodded to the young scribe to invite her to continue. After a nervous glance at Fawkes, Hood again pointed to the file in her hand.

"The officer you and the Rangers took prisoner was very helpful," the young woman explained. "He told us about an experimental device, a Tesla coil. Apparently, a team of pre-war scientists had tried to reproduce the coil invented by Nikola Tesla and improve the mechanism of propagation of electricity."

"Do you believe him?" Damian asked.

"Well, yes. Among the documents and computer files that the Paladin and his team brought back, there were notes about this Tesla coil. I doubt the Enclave would have make up something this big. It doesn't look like a false lead or trap set up for us."

While Hood was talking, she was giving Fawkes nervous glances. Feeling the young scribe's discomfort, the Super Mutant took a few steps away and stopped in front of an old poster, probably there since the Great War. The young woman let out a little sigh of relief and opened her file and presented it to Damian.

Inside were transcripts of notes and a diagram of a circular object resembling a small gear.

"So, you want me to find that Tesla Coil?" Damian asked.

"Exactly," Tristan answered. "With the destruction of Prime, we've lost our only tactical advantage against their Vertibirds and Lyons fears that all the ground gained in the last two weeks will be taken back by the enemy if we have nothing to counter their air support."

"Well, I'm okay for it, but how is this coil going to help us destroy a Vertibird?" Damian asked puzzled.

A small grin appeared on Tristan's face.

"Our scribes have been working on a weapon capable of shooting down the Enclave's aircrafts for a little while now. Something more efficient than a rocket launcher or a heavy machinegun. This Tesla coil is the missing piece to complete the weapon. I'd give anything to see the faces on their pilots when they get shot with that weapon."

"Given that the officer we captured knew about it, chances are the Enclave will prevent us from getting our hands on the coil," says Damian.

"Correct," nodded the Paladin. "That's why you have to act quickly. There is one slight problem, however."

"What is it?" Damian asked.

"Neither the officer nor the documents we have in our possession clearly indicate where the device is. All we know is that it would be in Old Olney."

An awkward silence fell. Damian watched the grim look of the Paladin and the young scribe.

"What?" he asked, knowing already that he would hate the answer.

"You don't know?" Hood asked. Old Olney is one of the worst places in the Capital Wasteland. It's a Deathclaw nest."

Seeing Damian's incomprehensive look, Hood hastened to give him a brief description of a Deathclaw. Damian immediately recognized the reptilian creatures he had encountered inside Raven Rock.

"So, let me get this straight," Damian said, massaging his temples. "I'm going to have to go into the nest of these creatures to find something that may not be there."

"Yes," Tristan replied simply.

"The Enclave kept several of these Deathclaws in their base, I've seen what one of those monsters can do to a power armor.

"Yes, we know," Hood sighed. "One of our patrol found a squad of Enclave troops, accompanied by one of these monsters. It's seems that they were trying to tame it with a mind control device."

"Perfect," Damian mumbled.

"I won't lie to you, this is a dangerous mission," Tristan said. "But you're the only person available to do it."

"Wait, you mean that I won't have any backup?"

"You can count on me, my friend."

Damian turned toward Fawkes. The Super Mutant seemed ready to follow him everywhere, despite the danger.

"Thank you, Fawkes, but just the two of us against a pack of these creatures, it's suicide. Can't anyone else come?"

"Unfortunately, no," sighed Tristan. "All our troops are currently deployed or engaged all around the Capital Wasteland or the ruins. The Pride has been assigned as a QRF for our different outposts in the ruins. I'm afraid I can't spare anyone to help you on this one."

"Uh… What about your friends, from the Rangers?" shyly asked Hood.

"Impossible," answered Tristan. "They are already assigned to something else. Enclave patrols have been spotted near Takoma, and they have been tasked to investigate. Sorry, but you'll be on your own."

Damian felt trapped. If he refused, he and the Brotherhood would only have to wait for the Enclave to regain the upper hand, and everything they'd accomplished so far would have been in vain. He sighed before nodding.

"Do you have any idea how we can sneak into the nest of these abominations without getting torn to pieces?"

"I think you might want to talk to Scribe Vallincourt," Tristan said after a brief moment of reflection. "She's in charge of studying the Enclave tech we've recovered since Project Purity. She should be able to help you. She also spent some time studying the local fauna on her free time, so she might be able to tell you a little more."

"Where do I find her?" Damian asked.

"I can take you to her," answered Hood. "I've got to see one of her scribes anyway."

"All right," said Tristan. "I have to go and oversee current operations. As soon as you get the coil, come back immediately. Good luck, and, stay safe, both of you."

The Paladin walked away and disappeared in one of the corridors.

"Come, I'll take you to Scribe Vallincourt."

Damian followed the young scribe. She threw little nervous glances over her shoulder towards Fawkes. Damian suspected that after being shot by a Super Mutant, Hood must have felt terribly uncomfortable being in the presence of one of them. He could not really blame her. He, too, had had a hard time adjusting to the mutant's presence behind his back when Fawkes had started to follow him after his escape from Raven Rock.

"When do you think the data will be fully deciphered?" Damian asked.

"Not before two or three days, I'm afraid," sighed Hood. "Just the fact that we were able to determine that it was telemetry data is a good start, but with the mass of files we still have to analyze, it could take us a long time."

"I see."

"I heard you've been promoted and that you are one of us, now. Congrats and welcome aboard, Knight."

"It's just honorary membership, so no need to be all formal and stuff."

"Well, in that case, I'm happy to see you back and awake, it gives us hope regarding the Sentinel."

"Is she still in a coma."

"Yes," replied sadly Hood.

"Let's just hope that she won't stay like this any longer."

They found Scribe Vallincourt, a short brown-haired woman in a red scribe's robe, in the Citadel's laboratory. Reading of a paper, she didn't see Hood and Damian standing in front of her.

"Scribe Vallincourt… There… There is someone who wish to talk to you."

"Scribe Hood," hissed the woman. "I'm very busy. Can't it wait?"

"No," Damian answered. "I need your help to get into Old Olney without getting shredded by a Deathclaw."

The scribe put down her pen and looked up at Damian. She looked at him for a few seconds before getting up and waving at him to follow her.

"Good luck," Hood whispered with a small smile.

Damian smiled back at her and joined Vallincourt who had stopped a little further on in front of a table with a pile of objects and devices.

"There is perhaps, emphasize on 'perhaps', a way to help you," said Vallincourt in a kind tone that strongly denoted her previous attitude.

"Any help is good to take."

Vallincourt grabbed a small remote control and gave it to Damian. Similar to the remote control used to scroll through the slides on Mr. Brotch's projector, Damian looked at the device from every angle before giving the scribe an interrogative look.

"I assume you are aware that the Enclave is able to control certain specimens of Deathclaws. To do this, a special helmet is placed over the creature's skull and connected to a terminal and antenna that emits waves that directly affect the creature's brain. In simple terms, this is like giving them orders by means of electromagnetic impulses. It is not as simple as shouting "Sit" or "Down", but it is less risky."

The image of a group of Deathclaw being trained as dogs for a competition crossed Damian's mind and he had to control himself from smiling at the thought.

"How does it work?"

"Don't be offended but it would take far too long to explain. All you have to do is make sure that the remote control is constantly on and that as long as you are within range of the signal emitted by the Enclave, the Deathclaw will follow yours instead of the one sent by the enemy.

"So I'll be able to control the Deathclaw?"

"Yes... And no..."

Vallincourt pursed her lips before continuing.

"This device has never been tested, so I can't be categorical. To answer your question more precisely, it is likely that your signal simply cancels out the Enclave's signal and the Deathclaw simply acts as he would naturally. In any case, you will have to remain extremely vigilant."

Damian remembered how easily the Deathclaw killed the Enclave soldiers as he fled from Raven Rock. He let Vallincourt activate the remote control and stowed it in the pocket of his fatigues.

"One more thing," said the scribe. "There's a reported Enclave camp a little Southeast of Old Olney, if you ever want to give it a try. Oh, and if you ever get too far away, there could be side effects. For the Deathclaw, I mean."

"I have one more question. If the Enclave doesn't control the Deathclaw in the city, do you have any idea how I can get in?"

"You mean without shelling the whole neighborhood with white phosphorus? Well, I know the Deathclaw are day hunters, so you could try a dawn approach when the adults are gone. Keep in mind that the nest will most likely be guarded by several other members of the pack and the young are just as dangerous as the adults."

"Thank you for your help."

Damian walked away towards the exit of the lab, Fawkes on his heels. He stopped and watched the Super Mutant for a moment.

"Something on your mind?" the mutant asked.

"Fawkes, do you have a problem changing weapons for the duration of the mission?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"I think a flamethrower would be a good idea, considering where we're going."

The Super Mutant scratched his head, thinking for a few seconds. The best imitation of a smile appeared on his face.

"Oh, I see. I see. Since these Deathclaw are animals, you'd think the fire would scare them off. That's clever."

"It's just a guess," Damian replied. "Let's say that in front of a pack of these creatures it might prove useful."

"Very well," nodded the Super Mutant.

They made their way to the armory. The young initiate in charge of the place gave Damian a broad smile, before diving behind the counter where she was standing, hiccupping with surprise and terror when she saw Fawkes trapped in the doorway.

With the flamethrower in their possession, along with a spare rifle for Fawkes and a flashlight more powerful than his Pip-Boy's, Damian and the Super Mutant left the Citadel.

The road to Olney passed through the ruins of Bethesda where Damian met the Regulators and ran into Donovan on his way to Minefield and was later abducted by the aliens.

Damian looked up to the sky. Somewhere above him, thousands of miles away, the crew of the alien ship must have been keeping an eye on him. Damian had once thought of using the ship's firepower to destroy the Enclave, but he had quickly rejected the idea, believing that the existence of an alien ship in orbit above the Earth should remain a secret. He had also thought about using the Death Ray to destroy the Enclave satellite but giving the fact that there probably were thousands of broken and old pre-war satellites orbiting the Earth, it would end in a wild-goose chase.

Night would soon fall. They passed the scrapyard where Damian and Sarah had found Dogmeat, and the young man couldn't help but think of his canine companion.

They walked in the shade of one of the many elevated highways that dotted the landscape of the Wasteland. Damian spotted a large, partially destroyed building.

"We're going to spend the night here," he said, turning to Fawkes. "According to the map, we shouldn't be too far from Old Olney after that."

The Super Mutant nodded silently and followed the young man. They went down the hill and arrived in front of the ruined building.

Damian approached cautiously. The place seemed to have been occupied recently, judging by the junk barricades. The young man observed the destroyed windows and slowly pushed the door open.

The interior looked like all the ruined buildings of the Wasteland, with one exception. The hung corpses that were rotting inside.

Damian and Fawkes inspected the interior of the building with its collapsed ceiling. The former occupants must have been runaway slaves, as Damian understood it. The bodies showed signs of mutilation and one of them, a tall, colored man, had a sign around his neck that read, "I have defied my master and deserve death!".

Damian also found the remains of the head of a broken and painted statue of Abraham Washington. How it could have ended up here, when the rest was in the Lincoln Memorial, on the Mall, was a mystery.

Fawkes paused for a moment before the corpses. Damian glanced out the window. There was still enough light. With his knife he reached one of the ropes holding the corpse and sliced it with a sharp blow.

An hour later he and Fawkes had buried the bodies and returned to the building and settled in a small room that had been spared by destruction. The Super Mutant approached the window, blocked by several wooden boards, and began to observe the outside.

"You can rest," he told Damian. "We meta-humans don't need as much sleep as you do."

Damian thanked him with a nod and laid down on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed in the room. He put his head on his bag and started thinking about what to expect in the morning.

He began to think about the weapon that the Enclave had in orbit around the Earth. Such a weapon could easily annihilate the Citadel and all the Brotherhood troops inside. Then the Enclave would simply crush the small pockets of resistance of disorganized Paladins and Knights that remained in the Wasteland and be done with it.

On the other side, the walls of the Citadel had withstood the Great War, and it was possible that they could withstand an orbital strike as well, just as the Enclave could refuse to use such an expensive weapon. It was quite possible that they now had only one satellite capable of launching missiles from space and that they preferred to keep it in reserve, just as they could bluff and make the Brotherhood believe that they had a weapon capable of vaporizing them in an instant.

Damian slowly opened his eyes. He looked at the clock on his Pip-Boy, which read about 7am. He straightened up and stretched before he glanced out the window. Fawkes was sitting on an old wooden chair that was threatening to break under his weight, and was still looking out the window at the Wasteland.

"Good morning, my friend," said the Super Mutant.

Damian answered in a yawn and got up from bed. He approached the window and looked out between two planks. It was still dark outside but could still see the surroundings and the ruined highways.

"Anything to report that night?"

The Super Mutant shook his head. Damian looked at his Pip-Boy's map. They weren't too far from Old Olney.

"Let's go," he said as he grabbed his gear.

Fawkes nodded and they left the building. They walked for a few minutes under of the crumbling highway. In the distance Damian could see the sharp shapes of destroyed buildings, standing out in the night sky.

Suddenly, Fawkes put his hand against Damian's chest, preventing him from moving forward. Waving to him to keep quiet, he pointed a direction in front of them.

Set up on a hill and sheltered near a highway interchange, an Enclave camp. If Fawkes hadn't noticed it, Damian would have walked by without seeing it.

Little Eyebot flew slowly around the camp and Damian finally managed to distinguish the massive silhouettes of the soldiers in power armor. They were standing in front of a large cage, similar to the one Damian had seen at Raven Rock.

The cage was closed and one of the soldiers was standing on it, holding a strange device in his hands that looked like a helmet.

An angry, animal-like roar came from the cage and Damian could see the soldiers jumping or retreating.

A second soldier climbed onto the cage, holding in his hands a large metal bar with a collar at the end. He opened a trap door in the cage and slid the snare into it. Immediately afterwards, Damian saw him struggle not to let go of the metal bar or be ejected to the ground. After a few seconds, the soldier, holding the helmet, put his hands into the cage.

Damian heard him shouting and a little further on, an officer standing in front of a table and a computer, frantically typed on the keyboard.

The roars of rage emanating from the cage ceased, just as an antenna in the Enclave camp lit up.

The soldiers were moving away from the cage. After a few seconds, the officer pressed another button and the cage doors opened.

Slowly, two clawed hands grasped the edges of the cage. A huge mass came out from inside. The creature looked around and roared so loudly that Damian felt his rib cage vibrate.

The silhouette of the creature stood out in the night sky, like a pre-war horror movie shot. Fawkes aimed his rifle, but Damian put his hand on the barrel.

"I'd like to check something first," he said.

The Super Mutant put the gun down without hesitation. Damian resumed his observation of the scene unfolding before his eyes.

The Deathclaw sniffed the air and swung its head in several directions. Damian saw the Enclave officer typing on the terminal keyboard. The creature slowly approached the group of Enclave soldiers who were holding their energy weapons firmly. The officer typed a new command and the animal stopped.

"We need to check if Vallincourt's device is working properly," Damian said.

"Be careful," the Super Mutant replied.

Damian stepped over the piece of concrete behind which he had taken shelter and began to approach the camp.

He stopped behind the pillar of the highway and glanced at the soldiers and the Deathclaw. The creature stood motionless, its head bent forward, and his arms folded on its chest.

Damian aimed his rifle and shot one of the soldiers who fell to the ground. Immediately, his comrades dove for cover and the officer stooped behind his computer. The Deathclaw did not move. Damian fired again. The Eyebot patrolling around the camp spotted him and fired a laser beam that ended in the concrete pillar.

Damian heard the officer tell his soldiers not to fire. A few seconds later, Damian heard the Deathclaw roar and its heavy footsteps echoed and got closer and closer.

He took a discreet glance behind the pillar and saw the Deathclaw running toward him and felt that his heart skipped a beat.

The animal was only three meters away from him. Damian raised his rifle, when the creature suddenly stopped. Despite the very dim light, the young man could clearly see that the creature looked strange and confused. It began to hold its head.

After a few seconds, the Deathclaw grunted and turned around, before rushing towards the Enclave soldiers, who all turned towards their commander.

The officer typed frantically on the keyboard and cast nervous, puzzled glances at the creature.

He realized that the Deathclaw was no longer responding to the signal from his terminal when the creature fell on one of the soldiers and bit his head off with its jaw.

The creature pulverized the Eyebot with its tail and began to attack the remaining soldiers. Damian watched the carnage the monster left in its wake.

After it had killed all the soldiers, the Deathclaw returned to Damian, slowly. It stood still and looked at the young man, as if it was waiting for something.

Damian backed away slowly and saw that the creature was following him. He calculated how many meters separated him from the Enclave's signal transmitter and walked away again, still keeping an eye on the Deathclaw.

After about twenty meters, the Deathclaw stopped. It roared horribly and began to hit and scratch its head. Damian was startled when the creature's head disappeared into a red cloud.

Behind him he heard Fawkes coming. The Super Mutant watched the dead creature.

"This is terrifying technology," he commented.

Damian nodded silently. To control the mind of a creature as dangerous as the Deathclaw was an absolutely terrifying thing. A pack of these man-led creatures on a battlefield would mean a terrifying hunt.

They searched the Enclave's camp. All they found was some ammunition for energy weapons, supplies for a few days, and notes on the officer's terminal.

Damian wiped the blood off the computer screen and began to read the various reports. This team was soon to be relieved and tasked with capturing specimens of Deathclaw and then testing their mind control device on anyone who passed by.

Unfortunately, there was no note as to where the creatures were to be sent, and there was no mention of a name that would tell Damian where the base of the Enclave was located.

The young man and the Super Mutant went on their way again. The sun slowly rose and began to warm the Wasteland.

Old Olney was built on a hill, and from what Damian could see, the town had been used as a stronghold by people, before it finally became the nest of the Deathclaws.

There were almost no sounds. Only the footsteps of Damian and Fawkes walking towards the town and the slight whistling of the wind were audible.

Damian entered the town through a collapsed building. The main street was deserted. To his right was a former fire station, surmounted by a small bell tower, and to his left were various shops and apartments. He approached the fire station and found a small information board in front of the door. The main places in the town were listed. He had presumed that a Tesla Coil would be developed in a laboratory or inside a power station, there was no information on the board for both places. Damian decided to enter the fire station and climb to the top.

He entered through the garage door, wide open, and passed by the fire engine, which was nothing but a giant rusty wreck. After searching for a few minutes, he came across the staircase leading to the small bell tower.

From there he had a good view of the city. Damian looked for a large building that could serve as a power station. The only building that could house such a thing was a large white stone building in the northern part of the city.

"I don't see an entrance," he said.

"It's likely that what we're looking for is buried underground," commented Fawkes.

Damian thought about what the Super Mutant had just said. If it did, he had to find a sewer or an underground passage.

The town did not have any metro station and Damian scanned the street below for a manhole.

He heard a growl, coming from further inside the city. Damian stooped down and saw a few seconds later a group of three Deathclaws coming out of a building. The creatures sniffed the air and made their slow march to the Wasteland.

They were joined by several others of their own size and color. Damian waited patiently for the pack of abominations to leave.

Damian straightened up and after making sure that the city was deserted, he started looking for a manhole cover again. He glanced at Fawkes. He had not foreseen that the only access to the power station would be through an underground passage or a sewer.

He sighed and left the barracks and went back to the street. After a few yards he and Fawkes stumbled across a trail of blood. As Damian followed it, he saw that it led to a small alley.

Damian came to the corner of the alley and saw that the blood trail ended at a manhole. The entrance to the sewer was surrounded by pieces of meat and human corpses of various ages.

Fawkes approached the manhole. What Damian feared was finally going to happen. The manhole was clearly too narrow for the Super Mutant. Fawkes had figured that out, too. He turned to Damian and began to remove the back tank from his flamethrower.

"I think you're going to have to go on alone, my friend. Be careful down there."

The Super Mutant handed him the flamethrower. Damian had never used such a weapon before, except in a science class in the Vault, where he had mistakenly dosed a chemical experiment and almost burned the classroom to the ground. He still remembered the angry speech of the Overseer and the hours spent cleaning the burn marks on the walls, or the peculiar smell that had engulfed the room.

The flamethrower was a simple model, different from the one the Brotherhood usually used. It was closer to the models that the US Army or Marines used in World War II.

Fawkes lifted up the manhole cover and Damian took a look inside. A rancid odor rose from the opening, a mixture of mold, rotting flesh and feces.

Damian grabbed the flashlight from his bag and lit the hole. A ladder descended about five meters down to a concrete floor, where dark water was sitting.

"Well, this is... Encouraging," Damian said.

He looked up at the Super Mutant.

"See you on the other side," he sighed.

The Super Mutant nodded. Damian strapped the flashlight on his chest and began to climb down the ladder, before grabbing the flamethrower that Fawkes was handing him.

The water was up to his ankles. Damian swept the light beam of him lamp in the sewers. He was in a fairly wide tunnel, which led directly to a fork. He put the tank of the flamethrower on his back. Damian could feel the heat coming out of the big barrel of the gun.

He approached the wall and looked for a map. He found some, eaten away by rust and dirt, rendering them unreadable. Damian sighed and turned his gaze to the tunnels. He pointed his flamethrower in front of him and began to move forward.


Fun fact, there are 2 differents translation for Deathclaw in the French version of Fallout. In FO3 and FO4, it's Ecorcheur (from the verb"écorcher" = to skin or to flay) while in FNV it's Griffemort ('Griffe" means claw and "mort" means death = Deathclaw)

Don't ask me why, I don't know.

The reason why I did not put the Temple of Union quest, is because I had no will to make it and wanted to move on with the main story.

Until next time.