New Wars are Fought by Old Warriors

by NCRMC

When an unknown faction aids the Outcasts in destroying the Brotherhood of Steel, the Lone Wanderer and his team travel north in hopes of finding a military base rumored to be housing Pre-War soldiers. Will the Wanderer be able to get help before this enemy destroys the rest of the Capital Wasteland? This is a military Fanfiction. EDITING AND REVISING

19. Taking back DC

Reviews:

FallenAngelAlexander: Thank you brother.

Guest: No the Courier is not with Lost Hills, he will be an ally to the Lone Wanderer in the sequel.

VincentDucassou: Thank you my friend.

. I'm glad that you love the story so much and I appreciate the support. 1. I still love Fallout 3 more, though Fallout 4 is amazing. 2. I have and I enjoyed it. 3. Not at all my friend, not at all.

Silver Sabre: You'll love the battles in this.

Coastierks: Sorry for the delay my friend.

GuestDB: Thanks my friend. I appreciate it.

Exile037: Thank you friend.

White Story: Something like that:

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InflatedChimp: Thank you, about 6 chapters are left.

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Dragonbornwanderer: I'm here my friend.

WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATHS!

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Chapter 19: Taking Back D.C.

Hamilton's Hideaway: June 12, 2279. 9:08 A.M.

When Eric had received the news that the Purifier had fallen into the hands of Marshes and his forces, he had the look of complete shock written all over his face. He immediately collapsed to his knees as his mind had gone totally blank.

After several minutes of not having a conscious thought, bits of reality were beginning to sink in. "Oh God how? How could this have happened? What about the others? What could I have done to prevent it? Rothchild, Jensen, Tristan, Finely, Wilkes…were any of them still alive? The Purifier, my dad's life's work…gone. How could this have happened again?" One question kept ripping away at him. "What did they do to deserve this?"

As question after question, thought after thought, started racing in his mind over and over, struggling to maintain his sanity, he remained emotionless.

Amata was holding his face in her hands, trying to get him to look at her, but it was like he was staring completely through her, unable to comprehend. "Eric! Eric can you hear me? Eric please! Eric!" She was pleading, over and over in a tone of desperation, trying to break him out of his trance.

Butch was kneeling down beside his best friend with a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. "Eric! Come on buddy, snap out of it! We need you!"

Everyone, including Jericho, was beginning to worry about Eric. They didn't know how long it would be before Eric came back from his state of shock. Luckily for them it wouldn't be much longer.

Several more thoughts and questions plagued Eric's mind when suddenly, he heard a voice…it was his dad's voice. "Come on son! Get up! Don't give up!" Then he heard a second voice…it was Sarah's, and she was in bitch mode. "GET UP OFF YOUR ASS SOLDIER, NOW! YOU'RE STILL ALIVE AND STILL IN THIS FIGHT SO IT'S NOT OVER YET!" Eric then heard a third and all too familiar voice. It was the same man who had saved his life many times before vanishing without a trace. "Come on kid, snap out of it! People still need you and if you give up now you give up on them!"

As soon as the voices faded away, Eric's mind quickly returned to reality. He blinked a couple times and took a deep breath before staring at Amata. "I'm here Amata."

Amata let out a sigh of relief and quickly engulfed Eric in a bone crushing hug, which he immediately returned. "Please don't ever do that again." She said in his ear

"Jesus Eric. You scared the shit out of us man." Butch said with a slightly relieved tone.

"Sorry guys." Eric said as he gave Amata a quick kiss to her cheek before letting her go and getting back to his feet. He looked around and saw the Pride and Alexander's squad were thankful that he was ok, but they were just as upset that they had lost the Purifier to Marshes. Eric turned to Lieutenant Smith and his Shadow Knights and they all had looks of sympathy on their faces…all except for Melissa. The look on her face told Eric that she understood the pain he was going through.

"So, what do we do now?" Lieutenant Smith asked.

Eric turned his attention to Ryan. "Now we take the fight to Marshes and we hit him where it hurts." Eric said with nothing, but determination. His response earned him many nods of agreement from his fellow Brotherhood soldiers and some of the Shadow Knights.

Ryan on the other hand wasn't so sure. "Eric, I wanna fuck these guys up as bad as you do, especially after losing one of my own men, but without Richards, we don't know where to hit Lost Hills if we're going to deal some damage."

"I know where we can attack Lost Hills." Someone said.

All eyes turned to a man that was with Paladin Alexander and his squad, a man Eric didn't recognize. "Who are you?" Eric asked.

Marshes' former second-in-command, Tyler Mullen looked to Paladin Alexander, silently asking for his help. Jacob knew why. If Eric and the others jumped the gun about Mullen's affiliation with Lost Hills, they'd kill him for sure.

Jacob looked to Eric and stepped in between the two men to act as a human barrier. "Eric, before he says anything I need your word that you won't flip out and do anything to him." The moment those words hit Eric's ears he automatically knew he wasn't going to like what the man had to say. Jacob continued speaking. "I trust him and my men trust him, so we ask that you trust us."

Eric's eyes flicked back and forth between the Brotherhood Paladin and the unknown man. He trusted Paladin Alexander with his life, so he was willing to listen to the man.

"Alright, I'm listening." Eric said, focusing his attention on Mullen.

Jacob stepped back out of Mullen's way and gestured for him to speak. "You're up man."

Mullen nodded then looked to Eric and he had to admit, the younger man was definitely more intimidating than he had imagined. A few days ago, when he was still on Marshes side, he thought about how easy it would be able to kill the great and feared Lone Wanderer. Now that Eric was here, in person, Mullen took one good look at him and knew that wouldn't be the case. Judging by the scars on his face and how big his muscles were, Mullen knew this was the kind of soldier that wouldn't go down easily. He could only imagine what kind of damage this kid could do if he was pissed.

Mullen gulped down his fears and spoke. "My name is Tyler Mullen…and I was Marshes second-in-command."

Eric swore he would've killed Mullen right then and there had he not given Jacob his word. He wasn't the only one. Lieutenant Smith, his Shadow Knights, the Pride, and Eric's group felt like giving Mullen a good old-fashioned ass-whooping. His fists were clenched to the point that his knuckles were turning white and he was gritting his teeth. For a second, Mullen felt like retreating further into the cave, fearing that Eric was going to go berserk.

After a few more seconds of calming down a bit, Eric growled through his teeth. "I'm listening."

Mullen didn't hesitate. "A couple days ago our scouts had reported that a squad of Brotherhood soldiers had hijacked a couple of our humvees and were heading west towards Chicago. We assumed that you and a few others were going to get help from the Midwestern Brotherhood."

"That was us actually…" Paladin Glade said pointing at himself and the rest of Lyons' Pride. "And we did enlist their help." He informed the former Paladin Commander.

Mullen slowly nodded. "Ok, that's good then. As for what I was saying, Marshes believes that he'll be able to fend off any attack from the Midwest. I on the other hand wasn't as "optimistic" as him, so I gathered my squad and we packed our gear up, planning to leave the Capital Wasteland. Unfortunately, Marshes caught us trying to leave. He killed my men, knocked me out, and had me thrown in the prison camp."

Ryan had to ask. "So let me guess, you want revenge for Marshes killing your men."

"Yes and no." Mullen answered. "I won't deny it, I do want payback for my men, but right now I'm more focused on putting an end to Marshes and his regime."

"Why?" Eric asked, still giving the man a death glare.

"To stop the killing of innocent people." Mullen answered earnestly.

Eric snorted with a mixture of disbelief and contempt. "Since when do you give a fuck about innocent people?" He angrily asked while pointing a finger at the former Paladin Commander. "Ever since you guys shown up, you've done nothing but kill innocent people, so why the hell do you care now?"

Mullen sighed despondently. "Because…while I was being held in the camp, Paladin Alexander here," He said gesturing to Jacob. "told me to lose the West Coast God complex and get to know some of the people we imprisoned in the camp." Mullen's voice started to crack a bit. "I went around and got to know everyone in the camp and I learned so much about these people. I learned how many of them had to constantly fight to survive every day of their lives. How so many people had lost loved ones because of raiders, slavers, and mutants…" Tyler paused and looked down at the ground. The guilt he was feeling really starting to get to him.

Mullen choked down the lump in his throat and looked to Eric. Tears were forming in his eyes. "I looked at wastelanders as if they were nothing more than rabid dogs that needed to be put down. Now I know that they're just people looking to survive." A single tear fell down his cheek. "I can't make up for the things that I've done, but by God I'm willing to do whatever it takes to put a stop to Marshes, you have my word on that…I truly am sorry for all the pain and suffering I've caused, especially to you Lone Wanderer. If you don't believe me, I understand. If your hate for me is still that strong you can kill me right now if you want."

Eric felt his anger subside very quickly. He wanted to believe that Mullen was lying, that it was all a ruse to get him to let his guard down. However, something inside him was telling him that Mullen was telling the truth, that this former second-in-command was truly and sincerely sorry for his actions.

Eric looked to Lieutenant Smith and his fellow Shadow Knights to see if any of them doubted what the man was saying. Surprisingly, he could tell they all believed him too.

Eric looked back to Mullen. "I believe you Mullen."

Mullen felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders when he heard those words. He let out a sigh of relief he didn't even know he was holding. "Thank you."

Eric gave Mullen a respectful nod before speaking. "So, tell us what you know."

"Marshes has five key locations you need to take out. Fort Bannister, Jury Street Metro, Paradise Falls, you just took out the prison camp, so that's one down, and last, but not least, the Washington Monument." Mullen informed them.

"We took out Paradise Falls so that leaves three things." Lieutenant Smith said. "What can you tell us about these locations?"

"Fort Bannister is where we've stored most of our munitions, as well as tanks, reserve artillery, plus four flak cannons." Mullen said, giving the Lieutenant information on the first location.

"Shit, the flak cannons will cause havoc for our bombers. Those need to be taken out." Ryan said.

"So, you do have aircraft? In that case, you must know that Jury Street Metro also has a couple flak cannons and at the Washington Monument is a more modern anti-aircraft weapon system. I've never seen anything like it before." Mullen said.

Lieutenant Smith frowned. "Describe what it looks like."

Mullen scratched the back of his head trying to remember what the weapon looked like. "About the size of a nuka-cola machine, only it's a bit bigger, has back-to-back miniguns, small missile pods on the sides, and has a weird orb on the top."

Lieutenant Smith and his Shadow Knights all had pale faces when he mentioned back-to-back miniguns. Ryan gulped. "Did it say Hellfire anywhere on it?"

Mullen thought about it for a second, before his eyes widened. "Come to think of it, yeah it did."

The twin brothers and snipers of Lieutenant Smith's platoon, Mason and Grayson felt sick to their stomach. "Oh shit." They said concurrently.

Eric was confused. "What's Hellfire?" He asked.

Ryan was the first to answer. "Hellfire was a next generation anti-aircraft defense system designed by General Chase's R&D Department. It was highly classified."

"If it was classified then how do you know so much about it?" Butch asked which caused everyone, excluding the Shadow Knights, to wonder the same thing.

"Butch when you're part of a Special Forces group that your own government doesn't even know exists; you get all the perks of reading about classified and top-secret shit. Practically every Shadow Knight knew about every classified military weapon, including Liberty Prime." Ryan said with a bit of a smug smile. "Before it was announced to the public that is." He added.

"So, what exactly is Hellfire?" Paladin Alexander asked.

"It's a three-stage weapon system, the first being the missiles. Hellfire has sixteen missiles, each one the size of a flashlight, capable of taking out aircraft within ten miles of it. The second is the miniguns; they can take out aircraft within a mile. They are a real pain in the ass for fighters, because if you tried launching missiles at the Hellfire, the miniguns would take them out."

Eric's eyes widened. He was impressed and nervous by this weapon's capabilities. "Ok, so why not have several fighters just swarm the damn thing?"

"Aside from not wanting to sacrifice a lot of aircraft and pilots for one weapon, the third defense system, the orb that Mullen mentioned, is an EMP device. When a Hellfire detects too many aircraft, it sets off an EMP burst that will shut down all electronics within twenty miles. That includes tanks, humvees, and power armor." Ryan said.

"If that's the case, it would just cripple most of Mullen's power armored troops, plus his tanks." Eric stated.

"It would also cripple our power armored units at the staging area as well as our vehicles." Ryan countered. "It's not worth the risk." He looked to his radio officer and close friend. "Carter, contact General Wells and let him know of the situation!" The Lieutenant ordered.

"Got it man." Carter said as he headed outside to contact the U.S. Army staging area.

Ryan looked back to Mullen. "Where is the Hellfire positioned at?"

"On top of the monument." The former Paladin Commander replied.

"And I'm guessing it's heavily guarded?"

"Couple hundred soldiers, howitzers and flak cannons at the Capital Building and the Lincoln Memorial, and a few tanks patrolling the Mall." Mullen answered again.

Carter came back down and reported to his Lieutenant. "Guardian Angel already reported the Hellfire back to command, but we are starting the invasion in less than three hours."

Lieutenant Smith was both shocked and baffled. "Even with the Hellfire?"

"General Wells said Lieutenant Grady Walker and his Rangers are going to take it out." Carter replied catching Captain Broadhead's attention.

"Twenty-four Rangers against over two hundred soldiers?" Melissa asked incredulously. "I know Lieutenant Walker and his men are good, but there's no way they could take on that many guys."

Carter smiled. "That's why General Foster is having Receiver order most of the troops around the monument to link up with their guys on the Western Border. It'll give Lieutenant Walker and his men the chance to attack. The moment the clock hits 1200 hours, our bombers are going to carpet bomb the entire defensive line, clearing the way for the Midwestern Brotherhood."

Ryan slowly nodded and began thinking strategies on what to do next. He snapped his fingers and knew what to do. "Alright, here's what we're going to do. I'll take my men along with Eric and his team and we'll assist Lieutenant Walker in taking out the Hellfire, Glade, you take your men and head for Fort Bannister. See if you can knock out those flak cannons. Do you guys think you can handle it?"

Glade and the Pride nodded. "Damn right we can handle it."

Fawkes stepped forward. "I will aid them in taking the fort."

Colvin smiled. "The more the merrier big guy." He said giving the mutant a friendly pat on the back.

"We'll go with them too." Sydney said for her and Jason, one of Butcher's medics.

"Alright," Ryan paused looking over to Paladin Alexander. "Paladin Alexander, do you think you and your men will be able to take out Marshes' forces at Jury Street Metro?"

"Damn right we can, but if we do this, I want Uncle Leo and Mullen with us." Jacob said, surprising Mullen. "Why so surprised?"

"I figured you'd want me to stay out of the way. Even though I went rogue, I'm still classified as an enemy of the Brotherhood." Mullen answered.

In response to Mullen's answer a gauss rifle flew at him, which caused him to catch it. Tyler turned to Eric, who threw the energy rifle at him.

"Then prove you are on our side Mullen. Prove you aren't the enemy." Eric told him.

Mullen looked at the gauss rifle before looking back at Eric then the others to see if there was anyone who wasn't alright with him fighting on their side. Judging by the looks on their faces, they wanted him in this fight. After a few more seconds of contemplating, Mullen nodded. "Alright."

Eric smiled. "Alright then." He looked to Lieutenant Smith. "Let's get moving."

As everyone gathered their equipment and headed for the entrance, Ryan looked back and noticed that Captain Broadhead was pondering something. He looked to Eric and the others. "We'll catch up in a second."

"Alright." They all replied.

Ryan walked over to Melissa. "You alright?" He asked breaking her from her thoughts.

"Yeah." She said in a convincing manner, which Lieutenant Smith wasn't falling for.

"Bad feeling?" He asked.

Melissa's eyes went hard as steel and she started clenching her fists. "I haven't had this feeling since the failed Yangtze Op."

Ryan immediately knew what she was talking about. He also knew something about her that not many others knew. She had survivors guilt. "You think we shouldn't go through with this assault?"

"I don't know." She responded quickly. "But we're running out of time, and we don't have any other options left. I just haven't had a bad feeling like this since I got my-"

"Don't you fuckin' finish that sentence!" Ryan interrupted, pointing a finger at her. "What happened was not your fault!"

"They were my men!" She said in a louder tone.

"You aren't the only that's lost men Melissa. Fuck look at my platoon! I had 35 guys when I became the leader of the Alpha Dogs, now I'm down to six. Plus me, plus you before you left to lead your own platoon." Ryan put his hands on his adoptive sister's shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. "Melissa, Bradshaw got a lot of good men killed that day, not just mine and yours, but several other Shadow Knights. A lot of good men didn't have to die that day, but the incompetence of one Major cost them their lives. You were just following orders, you're not to blame for what happened that day."

"I could've disobeyed those orders. They'd still be alive if I had." She said, believing it would've been the right thing to do.

Before Ryan could reply, they heard someone clear their throat. They both turned and saw Ryan's best friend Carter standing there with his AK-47 in hand. "Guys we need to get moving."

"Alright bro." Ryan looked back to his sister. "Make no mistake Melissa, your men were lucky to have you as their leader, but there's still one thing you need to learn about being an officer. You cannot blame yourself for their deaths, especially when it was the actions and orders of another that got them killed."

With that, Ryan left with Carter to regroup with Eric and the others. Melissa stood there for a few more seconds pondering what her brother said. He was right. It was time to stop blaming herself and move on from the past and face facts. Her men died because of the incompetence of another leader. She unslung her MP5 and followed after the others, determined to help pave the way for the rest of their forces.

U.S. Army Staging Area: June 12, 2279. 9:41 A.M.

"Alright boys let's get on the trucks, we're moving out in five mikes!" Second Lieutenant Jason Thompson ordered his Rangers as they started loading onto the M35 armored trucks, getting ready to take back the Washington Monument. Lieutenant Thompson was 31 years old, 6 feet tall, solid muscle. Jason had dark, short cropped black hair and deep blue eyes that light up when he laughed. Jason also has a massive scar that ran down the right side of his face starting at his temple and ending at his shoulder just barely missing his eye. He earned that scar fighting with a squad of Crimson Dragoons outside of Anchorage.

Jason had joined the Army at 17 and served as an Infantryman for six years before being accepted into the Rangers. He passed with flying colors and continued to serve for the next eight years in the 1st Ranger Battalion, under the command of his old friend and mentor Lieutenant Grady Walker. During the war against the Chinese, he did a total of eight tours in Alaska. Jason had an overwhelming sense of duty and good heartedness that allowed him to easily bond with others. While firm with his squad, he often gave his orders with confidence and never lost his positive attitude. It was his warrior and leadership skills that earned him and his men a spot at Rebirth.

While he was waiting for the rest of his men to load onto the trucks, he pulled out a photo of his wife and his four-year-old daughter. At 23 years old, he met the love of his life and a few years later they had gotten married and they were expecting a child. Since having a child of his own he developed a soft side for children. After his daughter was born, he got a special tattoo on his right forearm that had his daughters name and birthdate along with the words 'Daddy loves you' written in cursive below it.

The thought of seeing his wife and daughter again made him smile.

"You ready to move Jason?" Jason turned and saw Lieutenant Walker sporting a silenced marksman carbine. Grady knew Jason was thinking about his family. He put a reassuring hand on the Second Lieutenant's shoulder. "They're going to be fine Jason."

"I know." Jason said as he put the photo back in his pocket and slung his marksman carbine over his shoulder. "Let's roll!"

Rivet City: June 12, 2279. 10:01 A.M.

Several Lost Hills troops began leaving in humvees en route for the Western border to reinforce their defensive lines in the event of an impending attack from the Midwest. The last orders they received were from the listening post at Agatha's house, making the soldiers think Marshes wanted more reinforcements there. Thanks to Receiver and his Shadow Knights there, they managed to make it a lot easier to retake Rivet City.

A heavy fog began to build on the waters that surrounded the destroyed aircraft carrier. The fog was starting to get thick enough to the point that people wouldn't be able to see ten feet in front of them. At Anacostia Crossing, Major Dallas and his Recon Marines were about to use the fog to their advantage. With more than 70 Recon Marines and another 20 Power Armored Marines, each armed with silenced M-16s and marksman carbines, this fight to take back the ship would be more than too easy.

"Major, our boys are in position. They're awaiting your orders sir." One Marine Lieutenant said.

"How many soldiers are on the ship?" The veteran Marine asked.

"After the groups that just left, I estimate around 150, maybe 200 at max." The lower ranking officer replied. "Sir, with the fog growing thicker and less security on the ship this is the best opportunity to strike."

"Agreed." Major Dallas turned towards the stairs that lead down to the subway. "Carmichael, you and your men ready?"

Five soldiers in salvaged Enclave armor came up the stairs with gauss rifles in hand. "Damn it's been years since I've worn power armor." Sergeant Carmichael said. He looked to the Major. "We're ready sir."

Two Lost Hills Knights stood guard outside the entrance to the Rivet City Marketplace, laser rifles slung over their shoulders. The bridge was moved back away from the steel structure across from the ship so no one could get on to the ship uninvited. The intercom went off. "Hey it's Jensen, can you guys bring the bridge over? We've got two prisoners that Marshes wants us to interrogate."

One of the Knights raised an eyebrow at that. "Why would Marshes bring people here for interrogations?" He asked the other Knight.

"Dude it's better off we don't question Marshes' methods anymore." The Knight replied activating the bridge controls and sending it back across for his friends.

For a couple minutes they waited for Jensen and the others to cross with the prisoners they were to interrogate but hadn't made it across. One of the Knights got back on the intercom. "Jensen, you there?"

The Knight didn't get a reply. He and his fellow soldier were about to move across the bridge to investigate when they were both suddenly pelted with armored piercing bullets.

Both Knights fell over dead with several bullet holes in their armor. Seconds later, Sergeant Carmichael, his squad, and several other Marines, along with Major Dallas, came storming across the bridge.

"Alright, I want two to remain here and take their place so we don't raise any alarms and dispose of the fuckers while you're at it!" Major Dallas ordered. Immediately, two Marines in power armor dragged the lifeless Knights to the side of the bridge and tossed them over the side into the water, where their armor caused them to sink to the bottom. "I want five more to go down the side and up the catwalks to the flight deck to clear all hostiles there. The rest of you, with me, we'll divide into teams and clear each deck of the ship. We're not taking any prisoners so kill them all. Let's move it Marines!"

Inside the stairwell, the Marines divided into teams of 20 and we're moving on each deck. Sergeant Carmichael and his team were down at the Muddy Ruder. As they entered the room they saw several Lost Hills soldiers, without armor or weapons, drunk out of their minds, and still drinking. Each of the Marines were surprised, expecting Lost Hills soldiers to always be vigilant and ready for combat.

"This is going to be too fucking easy." Sergeant Carmichael said what every other Marine was thinking. "Kill every last fucking one of them!" The Marines aimed their suppressed weapons and fired at full auto, mowing down every soldier that was in the room. A couple guards came running from Belle Bonny's room with their weapons ready but were quickly downed with a shot to the head each. Sergeant Carmichael moved down the stairs with his weapon raised to a wounded soldier that was crawling towards a weapon. The veteran NCO put two rounds into the back of his skull.

On the middle deck, the Marines were hugging the walls for cover as they slowly crept towards each room. They would stack up on each door in a four-man team and clear each room swiftly and silently before moving onto the next. As they continued down the hall, a squad broke off for the first entrance to the aft hanger (Science Lab), while the rest continued for the Capitol Preservation Society. Four Marines stood guard to make sure no one was coming up from behind them. Several Marines went to clear the room, which had been converted into an armory and power armor storage room. There were only three guards which were easy picking for the Marines. A group of them formed up on the second entrance to the science lab and told the other team they were ready to clear. Both teams rushed into the science lab and shot several guards throughout the room. One knight managed to shoot one Marine in the chest, but the chest plating in his armor took the brunt of the energy blast. Two Marines quickly fired several rounds into his chest and head. Overkill, yes, but hey, fuck with one Marine, and the entire Corps will bring hell. All that remained were two Lost Hills scribes who quickly surrendered. The Marines held them at gunpoint. One turned to a lieutenant and asked, "Sir what do we do with them?"

"You heard what the Major said. Kill every last one of them." The officer replied. The Marines quickly filled the scribes full of lead as they begged for mercy. The same mercy that many wastelanders had begged for but weren't given.

All Marines on the lower and middle decks regrouped and formed up at the entrance to the marketplace. Few Marines remained to guard the hallways and the stairwell to the other decks. One of the Marines got on the radio. "Major, all hostiles have been cleared on the lower decks. Awaiting orders to retake the hanger (the Marketplace)."

"Roger that, be advised we're taking out the remaining hostiles at the bridge tower and our boys outside are setting up to strike from the outside entrance. Once I give the green light we attack from all sides."

"Roger that sir."

Once the order was given, Marines from the upper, lower and flight decks were charging into the Marketplace like a swarm of angry hornets firing their weapons at full auto, easily killing several Lost Hills soldiers. Some had their weapons armed and reacted as quickly as they could. One Lost Hills Paladin, armed with a gatling laser, opened up a barrage of red beams on the Marines attacking from the lower deck, incinerating a few. He was immediately torn apart by armored piercing bullets from the Marines coming in from the flight deck. A few soldiers tried to escape the slaughter through the front and main entrance to Rivet City but were quickly gunned down by the Marines that were standing guard outside.

After a secondary sweep of the ship and a few extra rounds to the head of each Lost Hills soldier, Rivet City was in the hands of the U.S. Marine Corps. Major Dallas grabbed his radio operator and spoke into the radio. "Command this is Devil Dog, the JFK is under our control now, over."

"Roger that Devil Dog, hold positions until further instructions, over." General Wells voice replied.

"Understood."

One Mile East of D.C.: June 12, 2279. 10:55 A.M.

Lieutenant Walker and his platoon of 25 Rangers were lying prone on a cliffside, doing recon on what they were going up against.

"Alright, I've got four tanks patrolling from the monument to the Capitol Building, about 50 soldiers positioned at defensive points around the monument. Two snipers on the roof of the Museum of Technology and four more on the roof of the Museum of History." Lieutenant Walker started observing the areas that surrounded the monument. He looked to his Second Lieutenant. "What do you have Jason?"

Lieutenant Thompson looked through a set of binoculars. "I've got two flak cannons at the Capitol Building and two more at the Lincoln Memorial. If we take out the Hellfire, the Air Force should deal with those guns, no problem."

"Alright we'll..." Lieutenant Walker stopped when he heard footsteps come up from behind him, which all of his men heard as well. The Rangers all quickly rolled to their backs with their weapons raised and were met with a group of about thirteen people wearing olive green combat armor, each one armed with either a minigun, an assault rifle, or a combat shotgun. The Rangers also noted the symbol on their armor. "Reilly's Rangers."

After a good minute of silence and staring down the barrels of each other's weapons, Lieutenant Walker spoke. "Lower your weapons boys!" He ordered his men as he lowered his M16.

"Sir?" One of the Rangers asked.

"You heard me. They're not our enemy."

Reilly raised a questioning eyebrow. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because you would've killed us before we even had a chance to react. Plus, the last time I checked, Lost Hills was our enemy, not a group called Reilly's Rangers." Lieutenant Walker said examining the name.

Reilly smiled and lowered her rifle. "Lower your weapons guys." Her Rangers immediately did so. "Anyone that's an enemy to Lost Hills is a friend of ours." She said as Lieutenant Walker and his men got to their feet. She extended a hand to the Ranger Lieutenant. "Reilly, commander of Reilly's Rangers." She introduced.

Lieutenant Walker shook her hand. "Lieutenant Grady Walker, U.S. Army Rangers." Reilly cocked her head to the side a bit, curious as to what the Lieutenant just said. Her and her Rangers also noticed the Ranger tabs on each of their shoulders. "It's a long story."

"Does it involve a 20-year-old, Pip-Boy, beret, BDUs? His name is Eric." Reilly said with a half knowing smile.

Lieutenant Walker's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Yeah, how do you know him?"

Reilly smiled again. "He's a member of my team."

"Ah." Lieutenant Walker said understanding now. "So, you're soldiers?" He asked, examining how well armed and equipped they looked.

"Soldiers for hire to be honest." Reilly replied.

"Mercenaries?" Lieutenant Thompson asked coming up beside his friend. "You don't strike me as a group of greedy wannabe soldiers." He said having spoken from his past experience with other guns for hire.

"We may be mercs but we still fight for the right causes. Sometimes for money, sometimes for free." Reilly looked around at the group of Rangers. "Eric said he was going to enlist your help. Is this all of you?" She asked.

"Oh no, there's a lot more of us. We have a main invasion force that's going to launch its assault in exactly," Grady looked at his watch. "one hour. However, this invasion is going to heavily rely on aircraft and as long as that weapon," He pointed to the top of the Washington Monument. "on the monument is still operational, our fly boys won't stand a chance. Without aircraft, our ground forces will be in for a hell of a fight."

"Well Lieutenant, looks like you can use a hand. How well do you know the layout of the area? Especially now that most of the city is in ruins." Reilly asked, wanting to know how capable these Rangers were.

"My men are trained to adapt and understand their surroundings in an instant. We're also experts in guerrilla warfare."

"Lieutenant, most of the troops are leaving the area. Receiver came through for us. This is our chance." One of the Rangers said.

All of the soldiers inside and around the Museum of Technology, as well as the tanks and several other troops patrolling the area were loading up onto trucks and heading West towards the border.

Lieutenant Walker nodded and turned to Reilly. "We wouldn't mind the extra help Reilly."

Reilly grew a cocky smirk. "Yeah you may need it." She said in joking manner.

Lieutenant Walker smiled. 'Cocky bitch…I like her.'

Jury Street Metro: June 12, 2279. 11:19 A.M.

Paladin Alexander, his men, Mullen, and Uncle Leo all slowly crept up to Jury Street Metro from the radio tower. Something was wrong though. There were no guards, no patrols, no snipers, nothing. It was a trap. It had to be. It was just too easy. Alexander's squad volunteered to move forward and scout out the area. They looked around to try and locate the flak cannons, but the problem was, they were gone. They had been moved. They were about to head back to Alexander, but they heard the roar of a truck's engine heading their way. The squad immediately ran inside the diner and hid behind the counter. A Lost Hills M35 pulled up and about 15 soldiers got off the truck and started roaming the area around the market and super mutant camp. Inside the diner, Alexander's men were about to slip away when the door on the oven fell open. One of the Paladins looked inside and saw four blocks off C-4 with a timer. With only two seconds left on the clock...and counting down.

The Paladin's eyes widened and his heart stopped. "IT'S A TRAAAAAA-" The bomb exploded, cutting the Paladin off and blowing him and his squad apart with the diner.

"NO!" Alexander yelled. He was about to run to the crater where the diner used to be when two 5mm rounds pierced his chest, sending him to the ground.

"JACOB!" Mullen shouted as he handed his gauss rifle to Uncle Leo. He grabbed the wounded Paladin by the collar of his recon armor and started to drag him to safety while the friendly super mutant provided covering fire. His shot hit one Lost Hills Knight in the head, easily decapitating him. "Come on Jacob. I got you!"

Blood started pooling out of the Paladin's mouth. "Go! Get out of here Mullen! Save yourself! GOOOOOOOOOO!" He shouted with his last breath.

Mullen let go of his collar and looked up to Uncle Leo as he fired his last microfusion cell. "Leo, we have to get out of here!"

"Go my friend! I'll hold them!" He said charging at the squad of attacking troops, taking several rounds and laser bursts in the process.

"Leo no!" Mullen tried to stop the mutant, but Leo still tackled a soldier into the ground and started mercilessly beating him to death, even as bullets and lasers continued to pelt him.

Mullen knew there was nothing that could be done to save Leo. He wanted to do something, something to kill the attackers, but couldn't. He ran as the soldier finished off Leo. As he ran one thought kept tearing away at him. Where the hell did the flak cannons go and how did they know they were coming?

Agatha's House

Receiver was holding his stomach where a .44 magnum round had pierced his armor. His men were sprawled out across the floor, each one dead from being shot several times. Receiver and his guys were using the radio to broadcast to Lost Hills units that they were needed at the Western border to secure the lines from the Midwest. As they were about to radio to the soldiers at Jury Street Metro, the door was kicked in by General Marshes and a squad of Paladin's armed with assault rifles. They all quickly opened fire on the Shadow Knights before they could have a chance to stop them. Receiver was shot by Marshes when he tried to draw his sidearm. Marshes walked over to the wounded Lieutenant and kicked him out of the chair he had been sitting in. Receiver groaned in pain as he hit the floor hard.

Marshes saw that Receiver had tuned the radio in to Jury Street Metro's unit and warned them to vacate all vital equipment there, which included the flak cannons. Marshes turned his attention back to Receiver who has holding a hand to his wound to try and stop the bleeding. Marshes raised his foot up and pressed down on the wound...hard, causing the Shadow Knight to yell in pain.

"So, you're the one who has been manipulating my troops orders. You think I wouldn't have noticed several units leaving their areas? Especially when I never gave them orders to. The question is why?" He asked cocking back the hammer on his .44 and aiming it at Receiver's head.

Receiver coughed a few times; the pain was intensifying each second the power armored foot remained on his wound. "Go fuck yourself!" He growled through clenched teeth.

"Receiver come in, over." General Foster's voice came in over Receiver's personal radio.

Marshes grabbed the radio and spoke. "I'm afraid he's dying at the moment. Whoever you are, you're fucking with the wrong army and I suggest you back off now before more of your men die."

"GENERAL WE'VE BEEN COMPROMISED!" Receiver shouted before ending up with a .44 round to the head.

Marshes was met with silence for a few seconds before he got a response. This time by a new voice. "I'm going to assume that I'm speaking with General Marshes. And I know exactly what kind of army I'm fucking with. I have to say General, your army is not that impressive at all." General Well's said insulting Marshes.

Marshes himself was foaming at the mouth from the insult. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"You'll find out soon General. You and your army. Your regime is finished."

Before he could reply the radio cut off. Marshes tossed it across the room causing it to smash against the wall.

"General." One of his men said.

"What?!" He barked angrily.

"They called Echo Company away from the Museum sir. They're going after the Monument." He said examining one of the papers on the desk.

"Get every unit in the D.C. area down there and protect that monument! We can't lose the Hellfire."

Meanwhile at Fort Bannister.

Glade, Colvin, Gallows, Artemis, McGraw, Morril, Fawkes, Jason, and Sydney all remained hidden from a distance planning on how they were going to assault the heavily defended fort. Several soldiers were patrolling the base walls and the compound itself. A couple tanks were positioned inside the base itself. They all felt like this was going to be a suicide mission, no matter what they did. They didn't care at this point though. They knew how much was at stake and if taking out the flak cannons was going to help the invasion force, they were up for it.

Artemis peeked out from behind his cover to examine the outer defenses better, but he lingered a little longer than expected. One of the snipers on the tower spotted him but didn't shoot.

The sniper grabbed his radio. "We've got hostiles to the south of the main gate, unknown number. Repeat unknown number of hostiles to the south of the main gate."

A platoon of Knights all got into a marching formation and started marching out through the main gate as if they were going on patrol. Another platoon simultaneously left to flank Glade and the others from behind. Glade and the rest of the team spotted the patrol coming from the gate and saw how close they were to their position. They started backtracking the way they came and were about to slip away when the other Brotherhood platoon came up from behind and ambushed them.

"Open fire!" One of the soldiers shouted and they all fired their weapons at full auto forcing Glade and the others to find any available cover. What they found was a small ditch to duck down in.

Glade and Fawkes fired their gatling lasers at the attacking platoon, killing a few and mortally wounding another. Gallows activated his stealth suit and quickly moved out of the line of fire, hoping to get an advantage and attack the enemy from behind. Colvin dropped his sniper rifle and drew his laser pistol seeing as how a sniper was useless at close quarters. He fired a few laser bursts a one soldier's head, burning a hole through his power helmet. Sydney and Jason were acting as a tag team, one fired while one was reloading. Sydney was dropping soldiers quickly, but it took 10 to 15 rounds a soldier since she was using a 10mm SMG, burning through ammunition quicker. Jason was dropping soldiers more effectively with his assault rifle. McGraw and Morril were focusing their fire on the platoon from the main gate so they wouldn't get attacked from behind. The group was holding their own, but they were boxed in, outgunned, and outnumbered. They were just stalling an inevitable fate.

"Loading!" Jason shouted, loading his last magazine. Sydney popped up to fire on the group of soldiers. One of them aimed their plasma rifle at her and fired. The bolt of plasma hit her square in the chest, instantly turning her into a puddle of goo. Jason saw what happened to Sydney and froze for a few seconds but snapped out of it and stood up tall from his cover in anger. He aimed his rifle and fired his entire magazine into the soldier who had killed Sydney. One of the snipers at Bannister aimed down his scope and had the side of Jason's head in his crosshairs. The sniper fired and the round hit Jason in the temple, his brain exploding out the other side of his head.

The Paladin leading the attack saw that he had already lost a good 20 men in the fight. He got tired of this little last stand the enemy was doing and decided it was going to end right now. He grabbed a couple missile launcher wielding soldiers. "Kill those bastards already!" He ordered. The first soldier aimed his launcher at Fawkes who had his back turned to him. He was more focused on a squad that tried to flank them from a different position. The soldier fired and the missile soared past Glade and the others right into the super mutant's back, blowing apart the gatling pack and knocking the others off their feet. Glade regained his composure and looked to where Fawkes was last standing. There wasn't much left of the mutant except a couple limbs, charred flesh and a destroyed gatling laser. He looked back up and spotted the second soldier aim his missile launcher. The missile launched straight into the ditch.

Glade closed his eyes as he was overtaken by the blast along with Colvin and Artemis. Once the smoke cleared, the Lost Hills soldiers moved in slowly to see if anyone was still alive. They spotted a critically wounded Morril crawling out of the ditch away from them, but a couple soldiers opened fire on him until he was riddled with bullet holes. Inside the ditch were the charred power armored remains of Colvin and Glade. McGraw's left leg had been completely blown off and the entire left side of his face was covered in shrapnel, a pool of blood around his head.

The Paladin in charge smiled, glad that his foes were dead. His victory on the other hand was short lived though. Gallows had decloaked behind him and discharged a bolt of plasma into the back of his head. He aimed the energy rifle at the two missile soldiers and fired two plasma bolts at each one of them. He then turned towards a soldier with a minigun and fired, the plasma going through the soldier's helmet, liquifying his head. He aimed at the next soldier, but the snipers at Bannister quickly fired at the spec ops member of Lyons' Pride, riddling his back with holes. In a defiant last move, Gallows quickly shot at the last soldier he had in his sights, hitting the soldier in the stomach. Gallows then fell forward and succumbed to his wounds. All he thought about before he died was that these bastards would spend a long, painful eternity in hell.

The Museum of Technology: June 12, 2279. 11:27 A.M.

Lieutenant Walker and his men had received the warning that the Monument would soon be getting fortified so they quickly moved to secure the Museum of Technology.

"Ok, we gotta move now. If we're going to take out the monument, it's now or never." Lieutenant Walker said. They had a bag with a dozen blocks of C-4 which Reilly grabbed.

"We'll take out the monument, you just hold off whatever comes our way." She told them.

Lieutenant Walker and the other U.S. Rangers looked at the woman and her men as if they'd gone insane. "You can't be serious."

"There's no time to argue Lieutenant! We can handle this, just watch our backs for us."

Reilly and her Rangers took off outside the door before the Lieutenant could protest again. Lieutenant Thompson smiled. "Never argue with a lady, they're always right, no matter what argument you use."

Lieutenant Walker sighed. "Jason take half the platoon and set up defensive positions outside, I'll take the rest up to the roof and we'll provide overwatch."

"You got it Grady. Let's move it boys!" Jason said as he and a dozen men charged out the door to set up their defenses at the sandbag and makeshift barriers around the building.

Grady knew they were going to be in for a hard fight now.

National Guard Depot: June 12, 2279. 11:31 A.M.

Trying to get to the Washington Monument was going to be a lot more difficult than anticipated. There were several more patrols roaming in D.C. since Marshes discovered that Receiver was manipulating troop movements.

Eric and Lieutenant Smith were thinking of ways they could avoid the patrols to get to the monument. Before they could come up with a solution, they heard gunfire coming from the direction of the Washington monument. It was then Eric realized the Rangers had been spotted.

Lieutenant Smith couldn't wait any longer. "Fuck we have to help!"

"We'll be shot dead before we can get to them. There's too many soldiers patrolling, we can't get past them now that they've heard gunfire. They'll definitely lock down the area so no one can get to them." Captain Broadhead reasoned.

Ryan's Shadow Knights, Trident and Cowboy, aka Mills and Jensen spotted a convoy of humvees coming from the West. It was the same group of soldiers that Receiver had sent West to fortify the border. The gunner on the lead humvee spotted them and aimed the mounted .50 caliber at them.

"CONTACT!" The two Shadow Knights shouted simultaneously, alerting the rest of the group.

The gunner was about to fire when a 7.62mm round pierced his helmet from the side, scrambling his brains. A second round hit the driver making the humvee drive out of control and flip over. The drivers of the other humvees and trucks slammed on their breaks so their troops can get into the fight. To the North of the depot, about 200 yards out, Mason and Grayson were aiming down the scopes of their suppressed M-14s, taking potshots at all the soldiers they had clear shots at.

"FALL BACK!" Ryan shouted. Everyone took off to the North towards Canterbury Commons while Mills, Jensen, and Ryan's heavy weapon specialist, Corporal Dallas laid down suppressing fire for them to get away.

Corporal Dallas was unleashing a hail of armored piercing bullets with his minigun that tore apart at the armor and flesh of an entire squad of Knights that were piling out of the back of an M35. Mills was using his suppressed marksman carbine and Jensen was using his trusty scoped carbine, both making precision head shots. Dallas' minigun quickly ran out of ammo and instead of reloading, he dropped the weapon and pulled his Red Glare launcher and fired several rockets into the vehicles so they couldn't follow Eric, Ryan and the others.

Coming up from behind them was a salvaged Brotherhood tank with a light machine gun on top. The gunner fired a burst of rounds that hit Mills in the back. Mills fell to his hands and knees; the former Navy SEAL had been hit six times. Dallas hoisted him to his feet and pulled him behind the abandoned army trucks across the street from the guard depot. Jensen turned around and aimed his rifle at the gunner and fired, hitting him in the throat, and causing him to fall off the tank. The former Guardsmen then primed a frag grenade and ran to the tank. He jumped onto the tank, pulled the pin, opened up the tank commander's hatch, and dropped the grenade inside. The grenade exploded, killing the soldiers inside instantly. Jensen jumped off the tank and ran to take cover with Dallas. As he ran a round hit him in the left kneecap, causing him to fall to his face.

Dallas ran out in the open with his light machine gun and fired on an advancing group of Knights, killing a few and wounding the rest. The seven-foot-tall soldier grabbed Jensen and dragged him to where he had drug a now lifeless Mills, who was slumped forward. Dallas ran back out to grab Mills' marksman carbine, his light machine gun was low on ammo. He fired to hold off the enemy soldiers, but they had called for reinforcements and at least another 50 soldiers as well as two tanks had shown up. A gunner on one of the humvees fired the .50 caliber at the heavy weapon specialist. Jensen looked away as his friend and squad mate was reduced to nothing more than a giant pool of blood. Jensen drew his sidearm and waited for them to come towards him so he could kill at least one more before they got him. Instead he heard a soldier shout "Fire!"

One of the tanks aimed at the trucks where Jensen was taking cover and fired, blowing the trucks and Jensen into oblivion.

Once they were sure there was no one left to stop them, the Lost Hills soldiers all pursued after Eric and the others. Grayson and Mayson however, were going to delay them for as long as possible. They aimed down their scopes and fired, scoring headshot after headshot, forcing the rest into cover. The two brothers had managed to rack up 19 kills as well as the tank commander for one tank. Grayson aimed down his scope at a Paladin with a Fat Man launcher and was about to take the shot when he suddenly felt his right side start to burn with immense pain. He looked at his side and saw blood start to form and his brain finally registered that he was shot. The dirt suddenly kicked up next to him.

"ENEMY SNIPER!" He shouted to warn his brother. "ROLL ROLL ROLL!" He said as he and Mason began to roll to the side to avoid being hit by the sniper. They kept rolling until they rolled down the side of a very steep hill, hitting hard ground and sharp rocks along the way. Mason had a nasty gash on the left side of his face and his nose was broken, Grayson had broken his left knee from the fall. Mason got back to his feet as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and helped his brother up, putting an arm around his shoulder to keep him standing.

"I got you bro." He said as they moved to link up with Eric. That idea was shot down when they saw a platoon of soldiers to the North. They quickly started moving to the East as fast as they could to find some place to lay low.

Eric and the others were almost to Canterbury Commons. They knew there weren't any soldiers there, because Receiver had called them to the border before he got killed. As they ran, Jericho took a round to the back that went straight through him. The former raider fell to the dirt clutching the exit wound on his chest. Eric and Butch grabbed him by the shoulders and started dragging him to the abandoned caravan town. Ryan and the others were holed up at Porter's Café were Butch and Eric set Jericho down behind the counter. Captain Broadhead, having medical training as a firefighter, checked his wound to see how extensive the damage was. Carter was using his radio to contact the staging area. "Command this is Insurgent come in!"

"Insurgent this is Command, go ahead!" General Wells immediately replied.

"Be advised, we're under heavy enemy assault and our escape routes are cut, we're boxed in. Requesting QRF (Quick Reaction Force) ASAP at grid Alpha, Niner, Three, Three, One. I say again, grid Alpha, Niner, Three, Three, One. We need QRF fucking now!"

At the Staging Area

General Wells looked to General Brookes. "Get a ground assault force mobilized and moving now! Tell the pilots I want the Cobras running and tell every other unit to get ready because we're launching the assault in 10 minutes. Now!" The National Guard General did exactly as she was ordered. Andrew got back on the radio. "Be advised Sergeant, QRF is en route to your location, ETA is 5 mikes."

Back at Canterbury Commons

"We may not have 5 minutes General." Carter argued.

"I have to get Charon!" Eric said as he ran out of the diner to fetch his close ghoul friend.

Charon was by the water tower at the cliffside and was lobbing grenades at the assaulting force. The grenades were landing by entire squads, killing most of them in the process. As Charon lobbed the last grenade, a laser burst hit him square in the chest, followed by two plasma bolts to the abdomen. Charon groaned as he staggered to the side a bit, where he lost his footing and tripped over the side of the cliff. As he fell someone grabbed ahold of his hand. Charon looked and saw that it was Eric that had caught him before he could fall to the ground.

"I got you Charon, I'll pull you up." Eric said using his strength to pull the tall ghoul back up. As he was being hoisted up, Charon felt two more laser bursts hit him in the back, along with a round from a sniper rifle.

Charon, as tough as he was, knew he wasn't going to survive. His vision was fading fast. "Let go Eric!"

"What? No, I'm letting you go!" Eric said refusing to drop his friend. More bullets and laser bursts were flying around them and into the cliffside.

"It's too late for me Eric. Let go!" Charon pleaded.

"NO! I can't! I have to save you!" Eric protested. Tears forming in his eyes.

Charon gave a weak smile. "You already have Eric." Charon then noticed a soldier in recon armor decloak behind Eric. "Behind you!"

Eric turned and saw the soldier raise a combat knife, but as he was about to bring the blade down, Dogmeat came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground. Dogmeat latched onto the soldier's arm causing him to relinquish his hold on the knife. The soldier however was resolute in killing Eric. He slammed his fist into Dogmeat's nose a couple times, causing the hound to let go. The soldier quickly followed up with a left hook to the dog's face.

Eric looked to Charon who nodded that it was ok. "I'm sorry." With that, Eric let go and turned to see the soldier jam the combat knife in Dogmeat's back, making the dog to howl in pain. "NO!" Eric yelled putting the soldier in a chock hold. Eric violently twisted the soldier's head to the left, causing his neck to snap. Eric let the lifeless soldier fall to the ground, quickly scooped up Dogmeat, and ran back to the diner. Butch and Harkness were both holding off a group of Paladin's from trying to attack. Harkness tapped on Butch's shoulder and nodded his head towards the diner, telling him to fall back. Butch quickly left to help Eric with Dogmeat while Harkness loaded a new microfusion cell before regrouping with them. Two more Paladins tried to attack but were quickly dropped with a single bolt of plasma each, making the others retreat temporarily.

Eric ran around the counter to set his dog down and that's when he had noticed Jericho was slumped to the side with his eyes shut. Eric put two fingers on his neck to try and find a pulse, but there was nothing to be found. The former raider and friend was dead. Eric slammed his eyes shut, refusing to let the tears fall for a second time today.

"What do we do now?" Amata asked.

Lieutenant Smith checked the magazine for his rifle to make sure it still had ammo. When he loaded the magazine back into the rifle he spoke. "We hold them off, until reinforcements arrive." 'If they make it on time that is.' He thought to himself.

Carter had run across the street with his AK-47 to Uncle Roe's house, making his way to the roof to set up a vantage point. Captain Broadhead, with her MP5 had taken off into the street and ran around the back of Roe's House. She took cover behind the rubble of the destroyed building next to it so they wouldn't get flanked from behind. In the abandoned house next to the Café, Butch and Harkness had taken up positions on the second floor of the house. Ryan, Eric and Amata remained at the café where they would keep them from getting any further up the street.

Eric saw how scared Amata looked. He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "We'll be ok. I promise." Amata nodded, but was still unsure as to whether or not they were going to make it.

"Here they come!" Ryan said as he aimed down his sights and fired at the closest soldier, hitting him in the chest. Eric and Amata quickly followed suit with their weapons and fired at the Knights and Paladins that came their way.

This was it, this was where the group was going to make its last stand against Lost Hills.

Rebirth Central Command Room: June 12, 2279. 11:41 A.M.

Air Force General Frank Webb grabbed the radio. "I need accountability of all squadrons that are in the air and ready to strike."

"Screamin' Demons are locked and loaded." The 7th Fighter Squadron Leader replied.

"Gamblers are ready to rock and roll." The 21st Fighter Squadron Leader replied.

"Jiggs Squadron ready to rain hell from above." The 11th Bomb Squadron Leader replied.

"Devil's Grim Reapers are ready." The 13th Bomb Squadron Leader said.

"Vipers are ready to provide air support." Captain Isaacs, commander of the Marine's Helicopter squadron said, with a flight of 20 SuperCobra Gunships.

"Good. Once the attack commences, move in on your targets and don't hold back! Webb out."

Museum of Technology: June 12, 2279. 11:43 A.M.

"Right side, right side!" Lieutenant Thompson shouted as he fired his rifle at a new squad of Initiates that were attacking his positions. Things weren't looking good. They had gone from 25 to 15 Rangers and they were almost out of ammo.

Up on the roof, Lieutenant Walker loaded his last rounds and was taking headshots at the enemy soldiers. He managed to hit 28 out of 30 soldiers, before ejecting the empty magazine.

"Out of ammo." He shouted.

One of the Rangers tossed him a fresh magazine. "Here, my last one sir!"

"INCOMING!" A Ranger shouted as a tank fired at the building. The shell hit where the Lieutenant was standing, instantly killing him and a few other Rangers. Rubble from the building started to fall on the Rangers below, crushing one, injuring another, and forcing the rest out of cover, making them vulnerable to laser and plasma fire.

On the ground, Jason saw that they were being surrounded by at least a hundred soldiers. With no ammo left for his rifle and no way he could hold his position, he made the call. "Back inside now!" He ordered the Rangers. They fell back deep into the building and took up defensive positions wherever they could.

At the Monument, all that was left of Reilly's Rangers was Reilly, Butcher, and Brick. They had managed to push back the security forces around the Washington Monument and make it through the steel door to the elevator. However, Marshes had warned the soldiers there of an impending attack on the Monument, so they sabotaged the elevator to the Hellfire. Donovan was working on repairing the elevator so they could get it running again. Yet, a group of heavily armored Paladins with miniguns had charged forward, sending lead flying, killing most of the Rangers including Donovan, forcing Reilly to take over. Brick and her minigun, Eugene had dealt way more damage than the Paladins did and were easily torn to shreds. Butcher's assault rifle had run out of ammo, causing him to resort to his scoped .44 magnum. He shot one Paladin in the neck, causing blood to spurt out of the wound and the soldier to fall to his knees. He shot a second Paladin that was armed with a flame thrower, nailing him in the groin, but Butcher wasn't done there. He aimed again, this time at the fuel tanks on the Paladin's back. He fired and the round hit the tank, making it erupt into a massive fiery explosion.

Reilly was messing around with a few more wires and circuits when the elevator sputtered to life. "I got it! Come on guys let's move!" She shouted grabbing the explosives and moving inside the elevator. Brick told Butcher to run while she gave him covering fire. Two Paladins with gauss rifles came out from behind the sandbag barriers at the Monument entrance. They both fired, the first round hit Brick in the stomach, the second round hit her in the head, knocking it completely off her shoulders.

Butcher made it to the elevator and they saw Brick go down without her head. With nothing they could do, they pushed the elevator button and the doors closed, but not before Butcher took four 5mm rounds to the chest and abdomen. He leaned back against the wall to keep him standing, but slowly slid to the floor. Reilly quickly knelt down beside him and applied pressure to his wounds.

Butcher coughed. "Finish it Reilly!" He said handing her the detonator to the explosives. "We have to finish it."

Reilly grabbed the detonator. She closed her eyes as the door opened where three Paladins were waiting. Reilly wasn't going to give them the chance to fire. She pressed the button on the detonator, setting off the explosives and sending the monument and the Hellfire into orbit.

On the roof of the Museum of Technology, one Ranger grabbed his radio. "HELLFIRE DOWN! HELLFIRE DOWN! START THE ASSAULT!"

U.S. Army Staging Area

"Start the assault! Start the assault now!" General Wells shouted as he and General Brookes got into a humvee. Every soldier sprang into action, the tanks, humvees and trucks were already moving for their targets and were spread throughout the Northern border of the Capital Wasteland, pushing South. More than 1,200 power armored soldiers, and 50 tanks were now making their way into enemy territory, killing any scouts or patrols they came across.

A bit further South from the staging area were five howitzers. The commanders were giving their men orders to level Old Olney. "FIRE!" One howitzer fired.

"FIRE!" A second howitzer fired.

"FIRE!" A third fired.

Not too far from the town, Lieutenant Donald Mason and his Green Berets were acting as forward observers for the artillerymen, giving them the coordinates to destroy the already ruined town where many Brotherhood soldiers had fortified the area. As several more 75 and 105mm shells rained down on the town, Mason looked up and saw four SuperCobra gunships flying straight for Old Olney.

"Good hunting boys." Mason said as he grabbed his radio. "Wolverine One to Glory's Guns, cease fire, repeat, cease fire! We'll take care of the stragglers."

"Roger that Wolverine One. Good hunting Lieutenant."

Lieutenant Mason and his men were already on the move like lions hunting a gazelle. "Payback time motherfuckers."

Canterbury Commons

Eric was completely out of ammo for all of his weapons. Amata had one magazine left for her .45 submachine gun. She stood up from behind her cover at the café and fired until the magazine was empty. Her rounds missed most of the soldiers, but she managed to hit a few in the process. A Paladin with a minigun opened fire on her, forcing her back into cover as the bullets pegged the metal walls.

"Are you ok?" Eric ask concernedly.

Amata nodded. "I'm fine."

In the house next to the café, Butch was firing at soldiers armed with Fat man launchers as well as missile launchers. He and Harkness were forced to take cover as a soldier with a gatling laser opened a torrent of laser fire on them. While they were behind cover, a soldier with a missile launcher fired at the house. The missile flew through the second-floor window and slammed into the wall across from Butch and Harkness, knocking Butch off his feet and sending Harkness flying out the window. The android hit the concrete with a loud thud.

"Chief!" Butch shouted as he returned fire once again.

Melissa came running back from her defensive position and dove through the café window, surprising Eric, Ryan and Amata.

"What happened to you?" Ryan asked his sister as he examined the blood on her stomach.

"Sniper got a bead on my position. I took a lot of those fuckers down before I ran." She hissed through clenched teeth. She had been shot before, but that didn't mean the wound didn't hurt like a bitch. She drew her sidearm and quickly fired at one soldier before ducking down.

They were pinned down and unable to stick their heads out to return fire. Carter, on the roof of Uncle Roe's house, had been knocked out by the blast of a frag grenade. They were sure they were going to die at this point.

That's when the gunfire stopped and a new sound emerged. It sounded like the roar of multiple helicopters. The Lost Hills soldiers all looked to the sky and spotted four helicopters they'd never seen before. The soldiers were about to engage the airborne foes when the Super Cobras unleashed hell from their 20mm Cannons. Several of the soldiers along with their armor was torn to pieces by the hail of bullets. The Marine Pilots followed up their attack with entire rocket salvos into the humvess and tanks attacking the town. The sight of their fellow soldiers and their armor support being decimated by the choppers, forced the rest of the soldiers to retreat, but they wouldn't get far. The Cobras all circled the town and fired their 20mm cannons at the remaining and retreating Brotherhood forces. Once the last Brotherhood soldier was dead, the Cobras all turned and flew off towards the Museum of history, just as several fighters flew over them, going in the same direction.

The Screamin' Demons of the 7th Fighter Squadron all locked on their targets and fired their missiles. Several of them slammed into tanks, humvees, trucks, and the flak cannons at the Capitol Building and the Lincoln Memorial. The Screamin' Demons were far from done. They flew back around and fired their remaining missiles at the Brotherhood soldiers attacking Lieutenant Thompson and his Rangers. The fighters had blown apart entire platoons of Paladins and Knights. The surviving Brotherhood soldiers tried to retreat to the subway next to the Museum but were all cut down by several Ranger reinforcements that had arrived. Lieutenant Colonel Boston, commander of the 1st Ranger Battalion had over two hundred Rangers with him.

"Rangers! Hold your fire! Friendlies!" Colonel Boston shouted to let his fellow Rangers inside, letting them know that help had arrived.

Lieutenant Thompson and his Rangers all moved towards the entrance and saw their fellow Rangers give Lost Hills hell. "Sir, it's good to see you!"

"How bad?" The higher rank asked, wanting to know how many casualties they suffered.

"18 dead including Lieutenant Walker and two critically wounded." The Lieutenant responded.

The Lieutenant Colonel sighed. "Shit, alright, we'll take over Jason."

"Hell no sir!" Jason said with a tone of anger. "I can still fight, and I'm going to fight." He said resolutely with two of his men behind him wanting to fight as well.

The Lieutenant Colonel thought about it for a few seconds before handing his rifle to the Lieutenant along with his ammo. "Lead the way Ranger!"

"All the way sir!" Lieutenant Thompson said as he and every other Ranger charged forward to attack enemy positions head on. Boston and a few of his men remained behind to tend to their fallen brothers.

Five Miles off the East Coast.

Admiral Howard was standing on the bridge of the USS Liberty, a Spruance-Class Destroyer, where he was now overseeing all naval operations.

"Sir, Tomahawks are locked on and ready to fire." A Chief Petty Officer said.

"Batteries release on every target you got now!" The Admiral ordered.

"Roger. Batteries releasing on all targets."

The USS Liberty and the USS Boise, a Los Angeles-Class Submarine, fired several Tomahawk missiles at heavily fortified Lost Hills positions.

The missiles soared over the Capital Wasteland, the first ones impacting at the Museum of History and the Lincoln Memorial. All remaining forces and weaponry were destroyed instantly. The next wave of missiles flew into Fort Independence and Fort Bannister, annihilating all troops, as well as tanks and anti-aircraft there.

"Sir, all targets destroyed."

"Good." Admiral Howard grabbed his radio. "General Michaelson, time for the Devil Dogs to raise hell.

"OORAH to that John! Moving now!"

Over the Western Border

More than 30 B-52 Bombers were flying high above the Western Border of the Capital Wasteland. The pilot in the lead bomber spoke on the radio to the other pilots. "Alright boys and girls, it's time for Jiggs and the Reapers to give these fuckers their special delivery. Open bomb bay doors!" The bomb bay doors on each bomber opened up revealing their payload. "Bombs away!"

The bombers all started dropping their ordnance across the entire Western Border. The whole area was carpet bombed as each plane dropped up to 50,000 pounds of explosives right on top of them. Entire platoons, companies, and convoys of vehicles, tanks, and howitzers were blown apart and incinerated by the carpet bombing. Once the last bomb was dropped, the pilots all turned their aircraft back to Rebirth to refuel and rearm.

Over 1500 soldiers were guarding the Western Border along with most of their armor, artillery and anti-aircraft. All that remained was maybe 50 to 60 soldiers at most. The remaining soldiers tried to collect their bearings and figure out what the hell just happened, when the roar of several Vertibirds and Hueys were heard from the West. They turned and saw that the Midwestern Brotherhood, along with Major Clegg and his Combat Controllers had arrived to join the fight. The soldiers tried to flee but the gatling lasers on the Vertibirds didn't give them the chance to get more than 20 feet away from them. The aircraft all landed and started offloading their soldiers. Though most of the Brotherhood's main force was still far behind, there was well over three dozen very pissed Paladins and about 50 Air Force Combat Controllers. Whatever opposition tried to go against them would be dealt with easily. The Midwest and Air Force personnel all began their push to the East with the Vertibirds and Hueys providing air cover.

Over Jury Street Metro

A lone C-130 was flying over the town with 73 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne. The airborne troopers all jumped out of the plane pulling their parachutes a few seconds later, ready to assault the town from the inside. The soldiers on the ground never got a chance to attack. Fighters from the 21st Fighter Squadron fired their missiles at them as well as the market and the subway entrance. The moment the paratroopers all touched down and freed themselves from their chutes, they broke off into squads and fanned out in all directions, killing any enemy survivors in the process.

Outside the Bethesda Ruins

The second wave of U.S. Army personnel arrived with Chinooks, Hueys, and Vertibirds bringing in more troops to fight. It was a combination of regular and power armored infantry that were being dropped off. The Hueys and Vertibirds were dropping their troops in fast, but the Chinooks, as big as they were, took a lot longer for them to land, unload their soldiers, then take off. As one Chinook was about to land, a Paladin with a missile launcher fired and hit the cockpit of the chopper. The helicopter fell forward out of the sky and crashed to the earth, exploding in a massive fireball, killing an entire platoon of U.S. soldiers in the process.

The pilot in a Chinook that was taking off spotted the fallen chopper. "Command, this is Archangel 1 be advised, Archangel 7 is down, we got a Fallen Angel. The LZ is hot, landing ground forces are taking fire. We need air support."

"Roger that Archangel 1. Vipers 1, 2, and 4, redirect all your fire on enemy forces assaulting landing forces at Bethesda!" General Wells ordered.

A Huey was circling around the landing zone and the door gunner was providing cover for the disembarking soldiers on the choppers that were already on the ground. A Knight with a Tesla cannon aimed and fired at the Huey. The energy burst hit the chopper's engines and the entire aircraft exploded. The Knight loaded a new electron charge pack and fired at a Chinook that was about to take off, hitting its rear rotor, causing it to spin out of control before crashing into the ground. The helicopter rolled on its side, causing the rotor blades to break up and fly everywhere. Some of the debris and metal flew into other soldiers, injuring them in the process. Two power armored Sergeants spotted the Knight and opened fire with their M-16s, filling him full of lead. Seconds later, three Super Cobras arrived and opened fire on the Bethesda Ruins, blowing apart the remaining buildings and Brotherhood soldiers, making things a lot easier for the Chinooks and other choppers to drop off their troops.

"Viper 1 we have a column of enemy tanks closing in on the LZ." A Lieutenant on the ground radioed to the lead Viper.

"Roger that, Vipers 2 and 4 fire sidewinders." The Super Cobras all fired their sidewinder missiles into the Lost Hills tanks that were about to attack, blowing them all apart before they got the chance.

Once the last of the troops had been dropped off, they loaded all of their wounded onto two Chinooks to fly them back to the field hospital set up at the Staging Area.

The Purifier

Commander Bennett and his SEALS were still in the boats that surrounded the Potomac. They heard the familiar roaring engines of Marine Amphibious Assault Vehicles coming from Rivet City. Lost Hills troops at the Purifier and across the Potomac were setting up positions to take on the attackers. Commander Bennett smiled, his chance for him and his boys to get revenge on these bastards had come.

"Boat patrols, what the hell are you doing? Engage the enemy now!" A soldier shouted at him through his helmet radio.

"You heard him boys. Engage the enemy!" The SEAL Commander said. The boats then all scattered across the Potomac waters and the SEALS on the .50 Cals and light machine guns all opened fire on the Brotherhood troops. Since they were caught off guard by this sudden attack from their own troops, many of the Brotherhood soldiers were killed before they could react. The rest were forced to take cover as the Marine assault craft were moving to the Purifier. A few other landing craft moved to the other side of the Potomac. The back ramps of the vehicles opening up and several power armored Marines, armed with miniguns, gauss rifles, missile launchers, and gatling lasers, all disembarked and started attacking the enemy head on. Though the soldiers were outgunned, they still managed to kill a couple Marines here and there. At the Purifier, General Michaelson exited the back of one AAV with a gauss rifle in hand and fired at a gutsy Paladin, decapitating the fool. Michaelson ordered a squad of his men to remain there and guard the Purifier while the rest pressed their assault. The SEALS got off their boats and joined the Marines across the Potomac in fighting Lost Hills. The AAVs all left to gather more Marines to bring into the fight. The Marines were pushing Lost Hills back into the heart of D.C. where the Rangers, along with several arriving power armored soldiers and Shadow Knights had arrived to assist in the fighting.

Shalebridge

Several regular infantrymen were pinned down by a platoon of Paladins with miniguns and plasma rifles. Four soldiers were already dead, one was missing his leg, and another had lost an arm. The Sergeant leading the soldiers was about to call for air support when they heard the Paladins start to cry out in pain. The soldiers all peaked their heads out from behind cover and saw hundreds of giant ants, the size of three-year-old toddlers, tearing into the power armored enemy force. The infantry was stunned, one because they had never seen giant ants before and two, because they were decimating the Brotherhood platoon. A group of ants spotted the infantry and slowly approached them. The ants stared at the soldiers as if they were trying to tell whether or not they were an enemy. After a few more seconds the ants turned and joined the rest of their colony. Once the Brotherhood soldiers were all dead the ants retreated back into their underground burrows.

"Sergeant, what do we do?" One soldier asked.

The Sergeant thought about it, the ants didn't attack them so that meant they had to be friendly...right? On his radio he heard another platoon calling for support to the Southeast. "Forget about the ants, our boys need help. Let's move!"

Canterbury Commons

Captain Wilder and his power armored Guardsmen arrived in armored humvees to see if there was anything they could do to help. They had encountered heavy enemy resistance along the way which delayed them from helping Eric and the others sooner. He had lost 12 guys and a humvee in the process. The Guardsmen got out of the humvees and secured the town. The medics were tending to Harkness, Melissa and Carter who all were injured during the fighting. Carter was still knocked unconscious by the blast and was being loaded into the back of a humvee on a stretcher. Melissa protested about getting sent to the field hospital but relented when Ryan pulled the "You're the only family I got left" card. Harkness had blood covered all over his face, even though the android couldn't feel much pain, he was still in bad shape and needed to get patched up. Lastly, one of the Guardsmen loaded Dogmeat into the back of the truck, with Eric keeping the dog calm as he did.

Captain Wilder approached Ryan. "Sorry for the delay Lieutenant, but we encountered heavy enemy fire on the way." The Captain explained.

"It's alright sir, but I've got wounded that need to be evacuated and two of my snipers are missing." Ryan told the Guard Captain.

"Guardian Angel reported that his snipers found your guys. They're busted up, but they're alright." Ryan let out a sigh of relief. "We'll get your wounded back to the field hospital."

Upon hearing that Eric looked to Amata. "Go with them Amata." She was about to argue, but Eric cut her off. "No! Go, please. This is our fight and we're going to finish it. Please Amata. Go, for me."

Tears began to form in Amata's eyes and she pulled Eric in for a long kiss. She broke away and looked him dead in the eyes. "You come back to me! Ok?"

Eric smiled. "I always do."

Amata snorted at how cocky Eric was sometimes. She walked over to the humvee that Melissa and Carter were in. The driver of the humvee put it in drive and took off, going back to the staging area. Eric watched the humvee leave until it was out of sight. He looked to Ryan, Butch, and Captain Wilder. The rest of the Guardsmen had rallied together and were ready to take their fight to D.C.

"Let's finish this fight guys." Eric said determined to finally end Marshes' existence.

Inside the humvee, Melissa turned to Amata who looked worried about Eric. "He's going to be ok Amata." She assured.

Amata nodded. "I know." Suddenly, she felt very dizzy and her vision got blurry. She shook her head a couple times to see if her vision would clear. It didn't.

Melissa noticed her doing this. "Are you ok?"

Amata started to slur her words. "I-I do-don't kn-kn-know..." She lost consciousness. Melissa began to look over Amata and spotted the bullet holes in the breast plate of her combat armor. Melissa removed the plate and saw three holes in Amata's chest with a massive blood stain forming.

Melissa's eyes widened and she immediately applied pressure to Amata's wounds. "Oh fuck, hang on Amata!" She looked to the driver. "STEP ON IT! I GOT A CRITICAL CASUALTY BACK HERE!" The driver slammed on the gas and drove quicker. Melissa began to silently pray that Amata would survive.

The Purifier

A squad of four power armored Marines were standing guard around the Jefferson Memorial, waiting for the next wave of Marines to arrive. One Marine spotted a lone soldier in power armor with a .44 magnum in hand.

"Halt!" One Marine shouted. The other Marines aimed their weapons at him.

General Marshes looked at the closest Marine and growled. "It's not wise to get in my way."

The Marines all took a good look at Marshes and figured he was just a frail old man in power armor. Not seeing him as much of a threat, they decided to place him in custody until General Wells decided what to do with him. One Marine was about to apprehend Marshes, but when he got within a foot of the General, his weapon was quickly knocked out his hand along with his helmet and he was in a chock hold. Marshes then aimed his .44 at the other three Marines, shooting each one in the head before snapping the fourth Marine's neck. He looked at the dead Marines before looking back to D.C. where all the fighting was going on.

"I'll be here waiting for you Eric." He said walking inside the Purifier.

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Remember to like or review or both. Constructive criticism allowed.

NCRMC signing off for now.