BIG thanks to eaglescorch for helping me out with the main antagonist and plot behind him. If it wasn't for his help I wouldn't have made it this far. So much thanks to you man.

PS. Rated M for some torture.

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Chapter 7: Allies and Answers

Grayditch: June 9, 2279. 6:11 A.M.

The vault dwellers and Megaton's residents were put into marching formation with the Rangers and the militia providing cover. Brick, Butcher, and Donovan each had a squad of six Rangers. Brick's minigunners guarded the left flank; Donovan's engineers guarded the right, while Butcher's men watched the rear flank. Lucas and Jericho split the militia into two teams. One team was with Butcher's men on the rear, the other was put in the front. Leading the group was Eric, Harkness, Jericho, Lucas, Kodiak, Dusk, Morrill and the other defected Outcasts, as well as the four Brotherhood soldiers that were guarding Megaton. Butch had decided to stay back with Lucy and the others.

"Since when does Eric smoke?" Amata asked Butch as they were making their way past Wilhelm's Warf. She noticed that he had another lit cigarette in his mouth.

Butch was still fuming with anger. He couldn't get over the fact that the Brotherhood's main chapter was attacking one of their own, but he managed to keep his attitude in check. "He started smoking after his dad got killed. Now the only time he smokes is when he's either really stressed, or really pissed." He answered her.

Amata nodded. "So is he stressed or pissed right now?" She asked.

Butch sighed. "Both. I can't say that I don't blame him."

Amata grabbed Butch by the arm and looked him dead in the eyes. "Butch what the hell is going on? When we tried tuning in to GNR, all we got was static. We have no clue what's happening."

Since Amata didn't know a whole lot about the Brotherhood of Steel, Butch figured that he'd explain the truth to her later. "All I can tell you is that this massive army just showed up out of the blue and started kicking our asses. They've wiped out all Brotherhood bases across the region and taken control of Rivet City. I don't know what else they've done and I sure as hell don't want to know. Too many people are dead because of these bastards." Butch said, freeing his arm from her grip. His anger was starting to get the better of him.

Ahead of the group Eric was talking with Kodiak. "Run this by me again. You and Gallows came across a group scouts that were following us. They said that they had an ambush waiting for us at the Anchorage Memorial and they were gonna try and box us in from behind."

"That's right, but we managed to take them out before they could do anything." Kodiak informed.

"Did these guys say anything to you?" Eric asked.

"Before the commander died, all he said was their empire will rise." Kodiak answered.

"What makes you think the guys that I came across were part of the other ambush team?" Eric asked.

"They were probably sent in to investigate what happened to the others if they didn't report in. The Enclave did the same thing every time we took out one of their ambush teams." Kodiak said.

Colvin spoke up. "He's right Eric; these bastards are no different from them. We should be in the clear for now."

Eric knew they had a point, but the back of his mind was screaming that this wasn't the case. "Alright, but don't let your guard down. I still have bad fucking feeling."

Dusk snickered. "Ah you're just being paranoid."

Eric glared at her. Even though he was well respected in Lyons' Pride, he and Dusk never saw eye to eye and they would always butt heads with each other. "It's called listening to my gut Dusk, which has saved my ass countless times!" He snapped.

"Don't get pissy with me little boy!" Eric and Dusk were in each other's faces, but before they could come to blows Colvin and Kodiak pulled her away while Harkness and Jericho did the same with Eric.

"Take it easy kid, the bitch ain't fuckin' worth it." Jericho whispered. "Remember, we got ourselves a job ta do. If you two wanna hash things out, fine. You can do dat at the Purifier."

"He's right Eric." Harkness spoke up. "This isn't the time to start a war with each other."

Eric wanted to argue with the two, but he knew they were right. He shot one final look at the Knight Captain before continuing on.

When they made it to the bridge, Eric was edgy. "Guns up!" He ordered. Once they were across the bridge he looked to Harkness. "See anything?"

The android did a quick scan of the surrounding area and only found a few radroaches that were meandering around the abandoned super mutant camp, probably looking for food. "There's nothing here." He stated.

Eric then turned to Colvin and Dusk. "What about you guys?"

The snipers both shook their heads. "Negative, area's clear."

"Alright let's move." Eric said.

When they got closer to the steps of the memorial, Morrill stopped him. "My men and I will recon the area around the statue and see if it's safe."

Eric nodded and the Brotherhood soldiers moved up the steps quietly. Well…as quietly as they could with their power armor on. Morrill moved to the front of the statue to make sure it was clear before checking over the cliff towards Dukov's place. No sign of movement anywhere. Like Eric he also had a feeling in his gut telling him that something was really wrong. He looked back to his men. "Anything?"

One of the soldiers spoke up. "Not a damn thing sir. The area's clear."

Morrill nodded. "Let them know it's safe!" He ordered his men, before looking back towards Dukov's.

If only his men could've spotted the five power armored soldiers that were lying prone on top of the statue's base where they would be out of sight. Two of these men were armed with anti-material rifles, two were armed with miniguns, and the other was armed with a plasma rifle. The one wielding the plasma rifle was talking into his helmet radio. He shut off the external speakers so no one would hear him. "When do we strike?"

"As soon as they make it past Tepid Sewers. Take out their security personnel then focus your attention on the civilians. Remember; do NOT fire on the Wanderer! General Marshes wants him alive if possible." The soldier on the other end told him.

"Yes sir. They won't get away from us this time." The squad commander acknowledged. After they'd lost contact with Warrior's Two and Five, Warrior Three had requested reinforcements to help them with the ambush.

Eric was leading the Vault residents down by the Memorial service entrance while Jericho was leading the Megaton settlers towards the mirelurk nest. He was more than surprised to see all the mirelurks were dead. It took a while to get Lucky Harith's pack brahmin across, but they managed to get it over without injuring it.

'Maybe we are in the clear from here on.' Eric thought.

When they made it across to Dukov's, they saw something that only raiders would do to a man. Eric had to swallow down the bile that threatened to leave his stomach. Some of the vault residents and a couple Rangers however, were unable to refrain from vomiting.

Dukov was being hung from a tree just outside his place. He couldn't have been dead for more than a few hours. He was stripped naked and the word 'DRUNK' had been carved all over his body. The most gruesome part of this was the man's testicles had been cut off and they were dangling from his mouth. Dukov may have been a drunken asshole, but he didn't deserve this.

Eric unslung his battle rifle and took the bayonet off the barrel. "Kodiak." The Paladin turned to him and was handed the blade. "Cut him down!"

Kodiak walked over to the tree and was about to climb up to cut the rope when a bullet hit him in the left leg, detaching the limb from the rest of his body. Kodiak yelled out in pain and fell on his face. Dusk and Colvin whipped around to where the shot was fired and saw the five soldiers that had taken position by the Anchorage Memorial, aiming down at them.

"AMBUSH!" Eric shouted drawing his M16 and opening fire on the soldiers. The Rangers and Militia followed suit and began firing as well.

Dusk was about to fire at the sniper that shot Kodiak, but a .50 caliber round from the other sniper nailed the visor of her helmet causing her head to explode into a pile of bloody bits. Her lifeless body dropped to her knees and she fell forward. Colvin witnessed her beheading and had frozen where he stood.

Harkness's targeting sensors were locked onto the snipers and he was ready to turn them into piles of goo when a burning laser beam had hit him in the back. He turned around and saw five more soldiers coming from the abandoned Enclave outpost. Harkness raised his plasma rifle and fired six rounds at the power armored foes killing two of them and turning a third into a pile of goo. He was ready to finish off the other two but wasn't fast enough as the one who shot him in the back raised his laser rifle and fired. The searing red beam had hit him square in the face, causing him to drop his rifle and fall to the ground gripping his face as the flesh that surrounded his metal skull had melted off. Eric saw Harkness go down and tried to help him, but a torrent of bullets pelted the ground near his feet forcing him to return fire.

The minigunners that were positioned at the memorial unleashed a hail of bullets onto the civilians tearing a lot of vault residents to shreds as well as several Militiamen. Lucky Harith pulled out a grenade launcher and took aim at the minigunners but was torn in half by a minigunner that came out of the Tepid Sewers before he could fire, followed by four more soldiers armed with assault rifles. The men then turned to Harith's pack brahmin and riddled it full of holes.

Brick and her squad opened fire with their miniguns on the snipers, hoping to land some kills of their own and Donovan's men, armed with Chinese assault rifles opened fire on the men charging out of the sewers. To the engineers' credit, they managed to kill one of them, before being torn apart by the minigunner.

Eric was focused on the two that Harkness didn't get a chance to finish off. He emptied his entire magazine into one of the soldiers, but it didn't even faze him. The armor this soldier was wearing was a lot stronger than Enclave Hellfire armor. As Eric reloaded his rifle, five more soldiers came up and joined the two to strengthen their numbers. One of them lobbed a plasma grenade towards the group and Eric quickly noticed it. "GRENADE!" He shouted, picking up the explosive and tossing it away from the crowd of pinned down refugees. Another plasma grenade landed by his feet, he threw that one away as well, but it went off no less than 10 feet from them.

The force of the explosion knocked him and several others off their feet, causing him to hit his head on concrete. He slowly got back to his feet, using his rifle to steady himself. His vision was blurry from hitting his head on the hard surface and blood was trickling down his forehead. He looked around and saw two Brotherhood soldiers use their bare hands to try and fight with the squad that came out of the Tepid Sewers. The snipers fired on the two, decapitating one and fatally wounding the other with a round that went completely through him.

The surviving citizens and vault dwellers tried to scatter and make a run for the abandoned super mutant camp, but were halted in their tracks when five more soldiers deactivated the Stealth Boys they were using. They raised their weapons and started pushing them back into a group as well as the men from Tepid Sewers.

When everyone was bunched together, the soldiers had surrounded them while the men at the memorial remained in their positions. Butcher and his Medics had formed a perimeter around the wounded and the surviving militiamen had stood around the remaining vault dwellers and Megaton citizens. Butch was standing by Lucy as a human shield and Harkness was laying by his feet, still holding onto his face as his pain receptors started to wear off.

While the Militia had surrounded the survivors, Brick's minigunners had kept their weapons raised at the stealth soldiers and Eric, Morrill, Jericho, Colvin, and Sheriff Simms all had their weapons raised at the soldiers in front of them. Eric had been in a lot of bad spots before, but this was by far the worst. In front of them were seven soldiers, behind them were the five soldiers at the Anchorage Memorial, to the left were the five stealth soldiers and to the right was the four that came out of the sewers. They may have outnumbered the soldiers, but these foes outgunned them by a longshot.

The soldier that had shot Harkness walked forward. Eric immediately knew that he was the commander and he'd be the first one to kill. The man removed his helmet and spoke. "It's over Wanderer."

"I'm still standing asshole so it ain't over yet." Eric sneered.

The soldier shook his head. "Oh but it is. There's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. This is your only warning. Lay down your weapons, come with us, and we'll spare your friends."

Eric snorted. "You sound like the Enclave. Nothing but a bunch of hypocritical fucks with false promises. The only thing you guys are good at is dying."

The commander wanted to rip this man's throat out, but managed to keep things civil. "I promise if you surrender now, I will let them walk away with their lives." The man said. Eric could tell his voice was a little shaky, which made him knew he was lying.

"I will not surrender to a bunch of murderers like you." Eric stated defiantly.

The soldier glared at him. "So be it! You can die like the rest of your precious Brotherhood. On your knees begging for mercy." He spat. Eric immediately saw red.

The soldiers all readied their weapons and was about to end their lives. At the memorial, the snipers wielding the anti-material rifles were about to fire when they were hoisted into the air and thrown into the water. The weight of the soldiers' power armor had caused them to fall to the bottom of the Potomac and drown. The other three soldiers whipped around and were met with the sight of an angry looking super mutant. The squad commander was given an uppercut that snapped his neck.

The mutant then turned to the minigunners and kicked the weapons out of their hands before tearing their armor apart and beating them to death with his big meaty hands. When the stealth soldiers turned to fire at the mutant a high explosive missile slammed into ground less than a foot from them, sending them all airborne. Brick and her squad all opened up on the downed soldiers with their miniguns while Morrill and his men got into a full blown fist fight with the men from the Tepid Sewers.

The soldiers in front of the group never got a shot off when a burst of laser fire hit them from behind, burning a hole through one soldier. The commander turned to see another super mutant wielding a gatling laser. He was about to slide his helmet back on when it was ripped form his hands and slammed against his face, knocking loose a few teeth. It took a couple seconds for his brain to process that he was now in a death match with a very pissed off Lone Wanderer.

While Eric was dealing with commander, Harkness slowly crawled for his plasma rifle and went for the soldier that Morrill was wrestling with on the ground. He fired two rounds and the soldier's head had melted into a puddle of green goo. Morrill looked to the android and nodded in thanks before moving to the next soldier.

Another soldier was slamming the butt of his rifle into one of Morrill's men. The Brotherhood soldier was seeing stars as he tried fighting the enemy officer away. The hostile combatant was about to hit him again when three shotgun shells were discharged into his helmet, turning his brains into a scrambled mess. The brotherhood soldier looked up and saw a ghoul wearing combat armor offering him a helping hand, which he gratefully took.

Dogmeat jumped on one of the soldiers and wrapped his jaw around the man's neck, although it didn't do much good. The soldier used his armor's strength to throw the hound off of him, but not before Lucas Simms stepped forward and emptied an entire mag from his Chinese assault rifle into the soldiers head.

Two of Brick's minigunners ripped a stealth soldier's helmet off and stabbed him in the skull with a combat knife. Brick on the other hand tackled another one to the ground and point the barrel of her minigun a few inches away from his face and unleashed hell.

The Militia and the vault residents were fighting with the remaining three stealth soldiers. The vault residents fired recklessly at the soldiers, but it provided the perfect distraction. As their bullets bounced off the soldiers' armor, one Militiaman primed a frag grenade and jammed it in the crook of one soldier's neck, blowing his head into orbit. Butch, having took a round in the arm, aimed his marksman carbine with one hand and fired two rounds into the helmet visor of another soldier. The soldier fell to the ground and blood started to seep out of his helmet.

The last stealth soldier was wielding a ripper and was tearing a Militiaman's insides apart. The soldier turned to Jericho and twitched his fingers at him with a 'come at me' gesture. "Let's go motherfucker! I'll chop your nuts off like that drunk fuck!" He shouted, pointing a finger at Dukov's lifeless body.

Jericho just smirked and raised his rifle, emptying the magazine into the soldier's armor, although it didn't do any damage. The soldier swung the hand-held chainsaw at Jericho in retaliation, causing the ex-raider to raise his rifle to block the attack. The soldier's ripper cut through Jericho's rifle, leaving him defenseless. Jericho tried to grab the soldier by the wrist to get him to relinquish his hold on the blade, but ended up getting a strong kick to the gut that put him on the ground. The soldier was walking towards Jericho and threw the ripper at him. Jericho managed to dodge the flying chainsaw by rolling backwards. He then dove to the left to pick up the grenade launcher Harith never got a chance to use and fired at the soldier, nailing him right in the crotch. The soldier stood still for a couple moments with the look of complete shock behind his power helmet, then looked down to where his "gear" used to be. The soldier looked back at Jericho before falling flat on his face.

Jericho stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit it up. "Well ain't dat a bitch!" He spat on the dead body before moving on.

Eric was in full-blown pissed off Wanderer mode, which he hasn't been in since Raven Rock. There was no way in hell the commander was going to win this one. Eric delivered a right hook then a left hook and repeated this process several times. The dazed commander tried to fight back, but Eric grabbed him by the leg and with incredible strength, flipped him onto the ground. The commander was bleeding out of his left eye, almost all of his front teeth were missing, and his face was littered with bruises and lacerations. To finish him off, Eric reached over and picked up a chunk of concrete and smashed it against the soldiers face until his skull was caved in.

There were only two soldiers left and they were trying to take down the gatling wielding mutant. They both tried to storm the mutant, but the mutant was quicker than them. He dropped his gatling laser and pulled out a super sledge, swinging it at one soldier and hitting him in the head. The strength and force that was put into that swing was enough to decapitate the poor bastard. He immediately picked up the other soldier and threw him at least twenty feet in the air. When the soldier came back down the mutant swung his hammer at him with all his strength, sending him flying like a baseball until he hit the side of a building with a sickening thud. Almost every bone in the soldier's body was nothing more than shattered splinters.

When the smoke cleared, the devastation was unbelievable. 50 of the vault residents were dead including Pepper Gomez and Butch's mom Ellen DeLoria. Some of the residents were missing limbs, and a couple had gaping holes in them. 53 of Megaton's citizens including the Stahl family, Walter, Stockholm and half of the Militia had been ripped to pieces from the minigunners. Dusk, the 4 Brotherhood soldiers that guarded Megaton and Donovan's squad were dead.

The wounded were just as bad. Kodiak was pale white; the stump where his left leg used to be was bleeding profusely and he was slipping away fast. A Militiaman's insides were falling out of his stomach; the adrenaline was the only thing keeping him alive. Amata was gripping her left arm after a bullet had grazed her. Her father Alphonse was on the ground holding his leg, two bullets had shattered his kneecap. Freddie Gomez had taken a round in the stomach for Susie.

The ghoul that was wearing combat armor walked up to Eric and extended a hand. "Eric, it's good to see you again."

Eric shook the ghoul's hand. "Charon. Where'd you come from?" He asked.

"Tenpenny Tower." The ghoul answered him.

"Did anybody else make it?" Eric asked worriedly.

He shook his head. "Those bastards brought the whole goddamn building down. Everyone tried to run, but it was a slaughter." Charon told him sadly. He then turned towards the super mutant that took care of the group of soldiers positioned at the Anchorage Memorial. "I ran into him when I was on my way to the Purifier."

Eric looked over the tall ghoul's shoulder and smiled at the friendly super mutant that was walking towards them. Eric extended his hand. "Uncle Leo."

The super mutant shook his friend's hand, being careful to not break it from his giant palm. "Eric, I'm glad to see that you are unharmed." Eric wiped some blood off his face and frowned. "Well…at least you are alive."

Eric smiled. "Good outlook."

"It is indeed." They all whipped around to see the other super mutant. "How have you been my friend?"

"I've been better Fawkes." He replied to the mutant.

The super mutant nodded. "Yes, we all have. When we heard the shots, we figured you could use a hand."

Eric frowned. "We?" He asked.

"We." Eric turned and saw a raven haired girl in combat armor with a missile launcher on her back and a 10mm SMG at her hip.

"Sydney." He greeted the girl, giving her a hug. Amata saw this and felt a slight twinge of jealousy. When they pulled apart Eric looked to her, then to Fawkes. "Did you guys just come from Underworld?"

Sydney answered first. "Yeah, we would've gotten to the Purifier a lot sooner, but me and the big guy had to hold off a bunch of soldiers that tried to wipe everyone out."

"Did everybody make it out ok?" Eric asked with concern.

"There was a lot that didn't make it, including Willow, Cerberus, Patchwork, and Snowflake. Everyone else survived." Fawkes answered. Eric was amazed at how well Fawkes' speech had improved over the past year.

"They all left the Capital Wasteland." Sydney spoke up. She pulled out a letter and handed it to Eric. "Carol wanted me to give this to Gob."

Eric took the letter from her. "I'll give it to him." He turned to walk back to the group.

Colvin was kneeling over Dusk's lifeless body, holding her holotags tight in his hand. The two may have had it out for each other, but he still felt a tremendous amount of guilt that she had died and he didn't. He looked over to Kodiak and put two fingers on his neck to check for a pulse. It was weak and fading fast. Eric knelt down next to the dying Paladin. "We're going to get you to the Purifier."

Kodiak barely opened his eyes and he just shook his head. "No, I'm finished. You're going to have to go on without me Eric."

"Not an option soldier!" Eric stated firmly.

"Remember Eric, the wounded go before the dead." Kodiak told him with a weak smile. "It'll be alright Eric. Everything…will…be…alright." With that, Kodiak took his last breath and went to join Dusk, Vargas, and Sarah for some R&R.

Eric wanted to cry, he wanted to yell, he wanted to smash something but he couldn't. He had to remain strong for everyone else. He reached over to find the chain to his holotags and jerked them from his neck. He looked to Kodiak. "Steel be with you Kodiak." He then turned to Dusk. "And you Dusk." Eric then looked to Colvin and took Dusk's holotags from him. He pulled out a bag that contained more than 200 holotags from his fallen brothers and sisters.

"Eric!" Eric whipped around to where his name was being called and saw Butch waving him over. He got up and walked over to Butch and saw him applying pressure to Freddie's bloody wound. Behind Butch was a teary eyed Herman Gomez staring at his son and Susie Mack standing frozen over them.

"How bad is it?" He asked him.

Butch removed his hand and Freddie started bleeding badly. Butch quickly reapplied pressure. "He's lost a lot of blood. If he doesn't get help soon, he's not gonna make it."

From behind them Fawkes appeared. "I will get him to the Purifier." Herman looked up at Fawkes with wide eyes, not wanting to leave his son's life in the hands of a super mutant. He was about to protest, but Eric noticed the look of fear on his face and quickly intervened.

"Herman, I trust Fawkes with my life. He will do everything he can to get your son to safety. He's faster than everyone else here. He's your best chance at your son staying alive. You need to trust me!" Eric said looking him dead in the eyes.

Herman was hesitant for a few more seconds before nodding his head. Fawkes gently scooped Herman's son into his arms and took off in a dead sprint towards the Purifier.

Amata came up to Eric. "Eric my father needs help." Eric ran over to a now unconscious Alphonse and inspected the damage to his kneecap.

"I need a belt." Eric said. One of the militiamen walked forward and handed him a leather belt. Eric took the belt and used it as a tourniquet to slow down the bleeding. He looked over his shoulder. "Uncle Leo!" The super mutant ran up to him. "Get him to the Purifier!" Uncle Leo nodded and picked up Alphonse then dashed to the Purifier.

"He's going to be ok, right Eric?" Amata asked with tears streaming down her check.

He pulled her into a tight hug and spoke softly into her ear. "He's gonna be alright Amata. I promise you he'll be alright." Eric let her go and looked at her arm seeing the bullet wound. He pulled off his assault pack and took out a medical wrap. After wrapping up her arm Eric turned back over to Butch and looked at his shoulder. "Need me to look at that for you?" He asked his friend.

Butch shrugged. "I'll live."

"Alright. Get it looked at when we get to the Purifier!" Butch nodded.

Eric then looked to everyone group. "Alright everybody, I know you're tired and I know you're hurt, but we're almost to the Purifier. If we can get there, we'll be safe." He looked to Harith's lifeless pack brahmin. "Brick, I want you and your men to salvage what weapons you can from Harith's brahmin."

Brick nodded. "You got it kid." While Brick and her squad went to work, Morrill's men were collecting the holotags off the dead Brotherhood soldiers; the Militia was gathering weapons from their fallen comrades and the vault residents were mourning their dead. Lucy was with Butch who was closing his mother's eyes.

When it was all done, the remaining vault dwellers and citizens were put into marching formation with the surviving Brotherhood, Militiamen, and Rangers providing cover. Butcher's medics were carrying some of the wounded on stretchers. Eric, Jericho, Harkness, Colvin, Morrill, Sydney, Charon and Sheriff Simms were leading the group. Eric quickly looked back at the dead and said the same small prayer he had said for Sarah and her father and all the dead Brotherhood at the Citadel.

When they made it to the collapsed bridge, it took them some time to get over the rubble. When they did, they didn't encounter any trouble at the abandoned super mutant camp by Irradiated Metro. They were close to the Jefferson Memorial; they could all see energy barriers from the pylons that protected the Purifier. All they had to do was make it across the bridge.

When they made it to the bridge; three Brotherhood soldiers wearing T-51b Power Armor decloaked in front of the group startling them. Eric was relieved to see the friendly Brotherhood guards, but his relief turned to fear when these soldiers raised their weapons at him. 'Great, Lost Hills is using T-51b's.' Eric thought.

"Where do you think you're going Wanderer?" One of the soldiers said hostilely.

Before he could reply, three .44 magnum rounds were fired and the soldiers fell to the ground dead. Eric looked to where the shots were fired and saw a man wearing a tan trench coat and a fedora, wielding a scoped .44 magnum. The Mysterious Stranger smiled and tipped his hat at the young man before vanishing into the wind. Eric didn't want to wait for any other surprises as he started rushing people across the bridge and told them to wait for him. Eric saw that Harkness had medical wrap around the right side of his face. The other side hadn't melted off which was a good thing.

"Harkness get to Pinkerton and get patched up. I've got it from here."

Harkness nodded and walked around the tidal basin to get to the broken bow of Rivet City.

Eric turned to Jericho. "Go with him and make sure he makes it there in one piece!"

Jericho groaned. "Why da fuck do I have to be put on babysittin' duty for the damn robot?"

Harkness heard those words and turned around to glare at the ex-raider.

"Jericho quit your bitching and just do it goddammit! Eric snapped.

Jericho wanted to argue, but he reluctantly decided against it and followed after Harkness, mumbling something along the lines of "Always having to be put on bitch duty."

Eric shook his head. "Because you whine like a little bitch." He muttered to himself. He walked up to the front of the group and saw Butch yelling at Scribe Bigsley.

"BIGSLEY, LET US IN YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" He turned and saw Eric standing Eric next to him. "He's not letting us in Eric."

If looks could kill, Eric would be responsible Bigsley's heart attack. "BIGSLEY, IF YOU DON'T LET US IN RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR TO CHRIST I WILL END YOU!"

Scribe Bigsley didn't even flinch; instead, he just smiled which enraged Eric even further. "How are you going to do that when you're out there and I'm in here? I'm not letting you in here for two reasons. Number one, there simply isn't enough room. Number two, how dare you allow super mutants into the Purifier? You and everyone else can find somewhere else to go."

The vault residents were afraid that they were going to have to find another place to go, but Eric wasn't leaving. If there wasn't an energy barrier between him and the scribe, he would make good with his promise. "DAMMIT BIGSLEY WE'VE GOT PEOPLE THAT NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION."

"That's tough shit Eric. None of you are going to get in here." Bigsley said insolently. He held up the remote that deactivated the pylons and waved it at him.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Bigsley looked behind him and was met with a right hook to the face, knocking him to the ground. Paladins Jensen and Glade had shown up to get the remote from the scribe. Glade tried to grab the remote from him, but Bigsley threw the remote at the energy barrier, causing it to disintegrate.

Bigsley smiled innocently. "Oops."

Jensen just smiled coldly at Bigsley and pulled out another remote. The color had completely drained from Bigsley's face. "Always have a spare motherfucker." Bigsley tried to grab the remote, but Glade grabbed him and put him in a chokehold. Jensen pressed the remote and the energy barrier on the bridge deactivated. The only disadvantage was that the energy dome that surrounded the Jefferson Memorial would be shut off until the energy barrier was reactivated. Jensen started ushering people into the area. "COME ON EVERYONE, HURRY INSIDE. MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"

The vault residents were the first to rush inside, followed by the Megaton citizens and Militia, then the Rangers, then Eric and his companions. Eric walked over and grabbed Bigsley by the collar, lifting him up off the ground. He spoke dangerously low. "I should kill you right now, but I'm in more of a…polite mood. So I'm going to give you the same courtesy you were willing to give us." With that, Eric threw him outside of the Jefferson Memorial and Paladin Jensen reactivated the energy barrier.

Bigsley got back to his feet. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME TO DIE!" He shouted.

Eric smiled evilly. "I just did." Eric heard a whistling sound that was coming and his smile vanished. "ARTILLERY INCOMING!" Jensen immediately reactivated the energy dome. Just in time too as dozens of artillery shells crashed into the dome. A shell had landed on Bigsley, blowing him to tiny little pieces. Did Eric feel guilty for his actions? Not really. Bigsley would've done the same to him and the vault residents. After a while, the shelling stopped. Eric walked away with Glade and Jensen and went to go find Rothchild. The area outside of the building was a massive refugee camp. There was a field hospital, an armory, a food tent, and several tents for refugees to sleep in. Butch walked over to the field hospital to get his shoulder checked out with Lucy in tow. The residents went into the tents to get some sleep after being up for almost 24 hours.

A Brotherhood Knight walked over to Eric. "Scribe Rothchild wants to see you in the rotunda sir."

Eric nodded and entered the building. Inside were a couple wounded soldiers and weapon crates scattered across the area. He passed by Bigsley's (former) office and heard nothing but radio chatter from other Brotherhood soldiers that were fighting it out across the Capital Wasteland. Eric entered the Rotunda and saw Scribe Rothchild and Gallows.

Eric smiled. "Gallows, where have you been?"

Gallows removed the mask to his stealth suit. "I've been busy."

Rothchild stepped forward. "Eric, Gallows has a job for you."

Eric nodded, about to follow Gallows out, but stopped in his tracks and pulled out the bag of holotags. He tossed the bag to Rothchild, "There are at least 200 tags in there, maybe more." Rothchild nodded sadly.

Eric followed Gallows through the manhole into the underground tunnels and saw Paladin Tristan standing next to a man that was tied down to a chair. The man was stripped down to his underclothing.

"Tristan." Eric acknowledged.

"Eric."

"Who's this?"

"This is the man that will give us all the answers we need." Gallows said. "He is the second in command from the Lost Hills Army."

"So you know then?" Eric asked.

"Yes, we all do." Tristan answered, still reeling the betrayal.

Eric looked to Gallows. "Where'd you find him?"

"Fort Independence."

Eric gave him an incredulous look. "How the fuck did you manage to kidnap their second in command from a heavily armed fortress?"

"Wasn't easy." Gallows answered simply.

Eric decided to drop the subject and start the interrogation. He walked forward and grabbed the soldier by the hair, forcing him to look him in the eyes. "I want answers!" Eric demanded.

He got a wad of spit in his face. "Fuck you! I'm not telling you shit."

Eric wiped the spit from his face and punched the soldier in his face, breaking his nose. "You'll tell me what I want to know, and you're gonna tell me now!" He said threateningly.

The soldier didn't say a word. Eric looked to Tristan. "Tristan." The Paladin nodded and walked over to the tied up man.

"This is your last chance to tell us what we want to know." Tristan warned.

"Go to hell!" The man spat at Tristan with a mix of saliva and blood.

Tristan looked to Eric who nodded. Tristan raised a power armored foot and stomped as hard as he could on the soldier's foot breaking every bone in it. The soldier screamed out in pain. "FUCK YOU I'M NOT TELLING YOU A DAMN THING!" Tristan smashed the other foot and the soldier continued to cry out in pain.

"You gonna talk to us now?" Eric asked.

"FUCK YOU!"

This went against everything Eric stood for, but he needed answers and he needed them now. Eric pulled out his trench knife and aligned it with the soldier's left kneecap. In one quick move he jammed the blade through his leg and jerked it downward. The blade cut a trail down the soldier's leg. The soldier let out a blood curdling scream in response. When he still refused to talk Eric did the same thing to his right kneecap. The soldier was about to go unconscious, but Paladin Tristan slammed the butt of his plasma rifle into his face, keeping him awake. Both of his legs were draining blood like a faucet.

"Are you gonna talk now?" Eric asked, cleaning his knife off. His hands were soaked in the soldier's blood.

The soldier didn't say anything. He was using all of his strength to ignore the pain. Tears were streaming down his face.

"I promise that if you tell me what I want to know, I will kill you as quickly and as painlessly as possible. If you don't…we can do this all day."

The soldier still didn't say a word.

Eric sighed, disappointedly. "Tristan, get the ripper!" He ordered.

Tristan walked away to a supply closet and came back with a handheld chainsaw and handed it to Eric.

"This is your last chance." Eric warned. The soldier still remained silent. Eric had to give him a lot of respect. This man knew how to remain silent, but Eric knew how to break that silence. "Have it your way."

Eric activated the ripper and slowly started inching close to the man's privates. The soldier tried to back up in the chair, but Tristan stopped him from backing up any further. "Wait." Eric didn't listen to him; he continued to move the ripper closer. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, PLEASE STOP, PLEASE, PLEASE, ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT I'LL TALK I'LL TALK!" The man started crying.

Eric smirked and deactivated the ripper. "See now that wasn't so bad was it?" He asked the sobbing man. "Why are you here?"

"We received the Outcasts' distress call and the High Elder sent us here."

"What distress call?" Tristan asked.

"Protector Casdin said that he and a lot of men broke off from Lyons' Brotherhood and that Lyons' was threatening to destroy him and his men for it."

"If anyone's been threatening anybody it was the Outcasts."

"Hey I'm just following orders man." The soldier replied weakly.

Tristan slapped the soldier's face to keep him from losing consciousness. "And what are your orders?"

"Lyons Brotherhood and the Outcasts were both seen as renegades and we were to bring them back to fight against the NCR."

"Who is your commander." Eric asked.

"General Marshes."

Upon hearing this, Paladin Tristan's blood ran cold.

"How many men do you have?" Eric asked, not noticing Tristan's sudden rigid stance.

"A little over 5,000 men. The High Elder promoted him and gave him command to over half of our forces."

"…I know all about the NCR-Brotherhood War, but there's something I don't get. How the hell did you make it out of the Core Region without getting wiped out by the bulk of the NCR Army?" Eric asked him.

"The NCR is still wondering what happened to a couple hundred of their men. We had to deal with regular NCR Patrols. When they didn't report back, they dispatched 200 Rangers. Once they were dealt with we broke through the Core Region and set off for the Capital Wasteland. Even though the High Elder gave Marshes the order to bring Lyons' and Casdin's men back with us, he had his own plans. He convinced his army that they were destined to rule the wasteland as gods."

Eric nodded in understanding. "Ah, so you, he, and his men all acquired the God complex."

"Yes. When we stopped in the Midwest, the Brotherhood there gave us some vehicles and weapons to help us with our journey." Due to the amount of blood he lost, he started drifting off.

Eric smacked him in the face a couple times. "Hey stay awake! Is that where you got the tanks and weaponry?"

"Yes. When we arrived we came across an Outcast Patrol, the General met with Casdin and he said he was more than willing to help the Outcasts. He told him that we were soldiers from the Midwestern Brotherhood. On the way back to the camp that we had set up, Marshes killed six of his own men and blamed Lyons Brotherhood for it. That got everyone fired up to go war. Once Marshes is finished with Lyons Brotherhood, he'll wipe out the Outcasts."

"So he won't stop at nothing until everyone that's not a part of his army is wiped out and he's the commander of the wastes." Tristan asked.

"Yes. He plans on forming an empire that will wipe out anything that doesn't follow his rule."

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Eric asked.

"All I know is that the General has taken a liking to you. He wants you to join him in conquering the wastes." The soldier was losing consciousness quick.

Eric pulled out his Beretta and aimed it at the soldier's head. "That's it?"

The soldier nodded. "That's it."

"Thank you." Eric pulled the trigger and splattered the soldier's brains across the wall. Paladin Tristan emptied a tank of flamer fuel and the soldier's body then struck a match and lit him on fire. Eric, Tristan, and Gallows all went back up to the Memorial and looked for Scribe Rothchild. They found him talking with Jensen. "Rothchild can I speak with you alone?"

Rothchild followed Eric to a more secluded area where no one would hear them. "Does the name Marshes mean anything to you?"

Eric knew something was seriously wrong when Rothchild's eyes widened. All color had drained from his face and his blood had turned ice-cold. "Why do you ask?"

"General Marshes is the man leading this invasion." Eric informed the scribe.

Rothchild's legs suddenly felt weak. He pulled up a chair and sat down. "Eric, if Marshes is leading this army, then we are doomed."

Fort Independence Rooftop: June 9, 2279. 7:23 A.M.

General Drake Marshes a 56 years old male, pale white skin covered in dirt, 5 feet 9 inches tall, and a thick grey beard with no hair on his head. He may have been thin, but he was very muscular with scars that decorated a vast majority of his arms, legs, and torso. He was blind in his left eye, but had full vision in his right eye, both of which were pitch black with no color at all. Marshes was a decorated and charismatic commander in the California Brotherhood who has only felt truly at home on the battlefield. He has faced numerous tragedies at the hands of enemies such as the NCR and the Enclave during his long career in the Brotherhood of Steel, serving during both the Enclave War and the NCR-Brotherhood War.

He just got done looking at his after-action reports and he smiled proudly. His men now had complete control of the Capital Wasteland. Still, he felt anger as he had lost almost 1,000 of his men during the conquest. He turned and saw Paladin Commander Mullen approach him. The Paladin Commander was his most trusted man and closest friend. "Commander. I take it you are here about the status of your men?"

"Yes General."

Marshes sighed. "I'm afraid that I have nothing but bad news my friend. Warrior Squads Two, Three, and Five are all K.I.A."

Mullen's blood was boiling. "Who?"

"The Lone Wanderer and his friends."

"I'll have their heads on fucking pikes when I'm through with them." Mullen snarled ferally.

Marshes put a calming hand on his shoulder. "They will pay for what they've done. In time. Right now they are at the safety of the Purifier, there is nothing we can do right now. On a different subject where is Edgars?" He asked, wondering what happened to his second in command.

"Don't know General."

"Let me know when you see him, I would like to speak with him." Marshes told Mullen.

"Yes General." The two saluted and Mullen went back into the building while Marshes went back to looking in the direction of the Purifier.

"It's a shame that you wouldn't join me Wanderer. I'll just have to add your name to my list of kills soon." Marshes said with a growing evil smile.

Well I'm sorry that some of the ending was a bit sloppy, but I hope I did good on the rest of it. Like, review, or both. Remember I allow constructive criticism. Thanks for reading NCRMC signing off for now.