Note: This chapter will be rated M for some pretty heavy themes.

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"I know who you are. You are walking death, a plague in human form. Where you step, blood flows like a river. But such iniquities can be ended by a righteous soul! " - Father Lasher

Chapter 6: Heart of Evil

Evil does not die.

Though the atomic fire meant death to the majority of the world, to a few, it meant life. For the inhabitants of Vault 87, deep within the confines of the Earth, it was a rebirth. They thought the vault was their salvation, and by the hundreds, they poured in, unknowingly participating in the last great experiment of the pre-war government. The Forced Evolutionary Virus, the greatest biological weapon ever created, and a monument to all the sins of a world long since dead. Before the experimenters knew it, their own creations turned against them, killing and mutating dozens in the process. Two centuries have passed and hundreds more were mutated into the horrific monstrosities known as super mutants. Immune to disease, radiation, and blessed with exceptional strength, now wandering the Capital Wasteland, searching for more to add to their numbers.

One such mutant raiding party returned with their human prizes, and soon within the corridors of Vault 87, a fresh batch of screams echoed through the chambers as new victims were strapped in and injected with the serum. The FEV worked by stimulating all of the subjects DNA to grow and evolve, and this included pain receptors throughout their body. All at once. The transformation and pain simply drove many insane, those that could not take it, simply died from brain trauma.

Since the virus was confined to the gene pool of Vault 87's inhabitants for the past two hundred years, it was not as mature as its west coast cousin, all the subjects either dying horribly in mid transformation, leaving half human hybrid corpses or producing sub intelligent brutes. Like its west coast cousin however, it is capable of mutating, and the continual infection of captured wastelanders slowly brought new genetic material for the virus to work with. Eventually, it would bring about changes that even the original creators never thought of...

New noises soon filled the Vault. Gunshots, grunts and more screams, now more feral and gutteral, echoed once again through the hallways. It was not until much later, when the last guns fell silent, that this new group of super mutants emerged from the lab, hands covered in the blood of their former mutant captors who now lay as green clumped corpses on the floor.

Evil does not die.

It evolves.

Protector Casdin was not in a good mood. His muscles were sore, his eyes heavy and bagged, and he hadn't had a chance to sleep in twenty four hours. All forty seven years of his life began weighing down upon him, so much had happened, so much work had to be done to prepare his Outcasts for the next fight.

They were back at Fort Independence, the Outcast Defenders finally taking the time to rest and refit their men after two days of stepped up patrols and fortifying the Fairfax ruins. Protectors Morrill, McGraw, and Fitts all watched as Henry took in the reports.

"Are these the latest reports from out west?" Casdin asked, and Protector Morrill nodded grimly.

"Yes. We tried to reach out west via the old Rockland tunnel route which we had used when we first arrived with Lyons. That is blocked now, by Enclave."

Everyone at the table was silent. One of the top priorities of the Outcasts was to re-establish contact with the Western Brotherhood of Steel. To request support and reinforcements, and to also report Lyon's treacherous behavior. Lyons himself, was equipped with the only radio equipment powerful enough to communicate with the Brotherhood Cortex out west. When the Outcasts left the fort, they were unable to take the equipment with them. They may as well be on the far side of the moon than hope to communicate with the Western Brotherhood, at least, without Lyon's help. And Henry knew Lyons wasn't just going to let him waltz in and make a report to his superiors about his treachery. Morrills idea had been to send one patrol West to re-establish contact, even if that took a year to make the trek. Now, the Enclave blocked that route.

"The Enclave must have arrived on the East Coast the same time as us. Word on the waves is that Eden didn't really establish his presence here until thirty years ago. About the same time we arrived." Rockfowl noted.

"Any casualties?" Casdin looked to Morrill.

"Just one sir. Defender Vega." The Protector hung his head at that remark, he had watched Vega bleed out on the slopes of the Dunwich area, was there when they had to strip the power armor from him and retrieve his holotag.

Casdin's knuckles tightened, turning white. We are bleeding out by the day. We must make progress soon or we will be wiped out.

"This changes everything gentlemen. What you're telling me is that we are effectively bottled in the Capital Wasteland, with Lyons in our front and the Enclave in our rear."

"We could make a try for the Pitt again." Fitts offered. "We've done it once, we could do it again."

"Too risky." Morrill countered. "We had Lyon's men back then, more than three times our current numbers. Word has it that the Pitt has gotten pretty organized now as well, even has something close to resembling a standing army of slavers like Paradise Falls."

"With the technology and robots my squad repossessed from the Robco facility. We can force it." Fitts insisted. That was true enough. In addition to Sergeant RL-3, at least half a dozen Sentry Bots and Protectrons were salvaged from the debacle.

"We can't ignore the Brotherhood though. I still say that is our best bet at re-establishing contact." Rockfowl added in.

Casdin nodded. "Rockfowl's right. The back door is shut tight now, and the way we came originally is out as well. We're stuck here. Whether we like it or not. We must not forget the Enclave either, they are our sworn enemies. I'm sure even Lyons can recognize that."

"Have we heard from the Rangers?" Protector Morrill asked.

"Yes, and no. They've given us some information on the DC area, and there are some areas that I would like our squads to check out. But I've yet to hear from them in a while."

"That doesn't matter now, since we are stuck here, we must be aggressive, grab all the tech here before Lyon's can. He abandoned the mission, we must prove that we are doing our mission, and this strengthens our hand for when our Elders do re-establish contact with us."

"At the moment, Lyons already has the upper hand, or did you not remember the three story robot? The best we have is that MISS launcher that J.J made, and even with that i'd be lucky to hit the broad side of a barn." Fitts said almost nonchalantly.

Casdin nodded. "I know our efforts have yet to turn up the results we need, but progress is being made. Morrill tells me that McGraw and Olin have contacted a Vault Dweller to help?"

Morrill rolled his eyes at the comment. " 'help' is a far stretch sir. From the last thing McGraw told me, that vault dweller must have had his brains punched out by Sibley, he's not making any sense."

"McGraw has his methods. I have complete faith in him."

"If you say so sir."

"What I'm concerned with. Is that while we're struggling with one vault sir, Lyons has enough manpower to fight the supermutants and raid every other tech building in the downtown area. It won't take long before there's nothing left to salvage." Fitts said.

"Which is why we can't afford to let Lyon's build on that advantage." Casdin said. "We'll intensify our patrols in the urban terrain. Avoid conflict with the Brotherhood if necessary, but do not hesitate to use force."

"How about Talon Company? We can't allow them to operate in our rear. Not after what happened." Rockfowl quipped in.

"Where do you think we're going next?" Casdin replied, completely serious.

"We're limited numbers as it is Protector. Are you sure about this?" Morrill was the first to ask.

"Better to attack, than sit here and die one at a time."

Fitts nodded. "No issues here chief. I'll wait for Kesler and Farsight to rejoin, then we're good to go."

"Any word from them yet?"

"Not since yesterday." Fitts replied. "I'd reckon we'll hear from them soon."

Casdin nodded. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wanted to bring up the mention of the mysterious person from Vault 101, and whether he or she can be of use to them, but he let that slide for now, since three dog probably built up the bullshit stories about the kid to sell his news. After all, in the grand scheme of things, how much difference can one person make?

Day soon turned into dusk around the Jury Street station, and Defender Kesler found that day's rest, and the stimpacks, had done the job. The Enclave sniper had hit him in the torso, between the shoulder and heart, narrowing missing his vital organs. The T45d armor too, did much to stop the bullet before it hit him. Plus there was also farsight, applying the proper power armored pressure on the wound to stop the flow of blood and allow the stimpacks to heal. After living a day on old cans of cram and dandy apples, Defender Kesler felt some of the old strength returning to him.

They had huddled in the closet, just as the raiders were setting up shop in the parking lot. 'Charlie' was long dead, the raiders using his squishy brain as a sort of hood ornament, while the raiders did not even bother checking the convenience store, piss poor decision on their part, but one that gave the Outcasts time to plan. The raiders probably had occupied this place previously, from the other gang that Farsight had wiped out, it was only a matter of time before another gang challenged them for this place.

"Are you ok to move?" Defender Farsight asked, whilst reassembling the parts of her sniper rifle after cleaning it for the night. She quickly took out a 10mm pistol and checked it as well, knowing that the bust out would probably be close quarter combat. Lucky for her that the close combat specialist was wounded.

"I'll manage." Kesler said, just as he slipped his black power armor back on. He wasn't idle, had already worked out the plan in his mind, the worst part was just waiting for something to happen outside.

Their patience was finally rewarded with some shouts from outside. A challenge from a sentry, followed by sprays of automatic fire. Some other gang had come to contest Jury Street Metro from the raiders. Kesler nodded to Farsight, who was already aiming her rifle at the doorway, anticipating someone coming in. Both soldiers listened as the rolling sound of gunfire echoed from one side of the street to the other, as though the battle was shifting more towards them. With the dying light of the sun vanishing over the mountains, they had the advantage of wearing black armor in almost perfectly dark conditions. It was now or never.

A group of raiders suddenly ran through the doorway, narrowly avoiding a burst of machine gun fire that ricocheted off the convenience store mall. They had a run in with some Talons, hunting some goody too shoes from the wastes, but there was no love lost between the two sides as they both sought this station as their camp. The last thing the raiders expected to see however, were two Outcast Power Armored soldiers hiding in the closet storeroom of the grocery store.

One of the raiders, a bulky man sporting blastmaster armor, aimed his flame thrower at the Outcasts and shouted.

"Give me one fucking reason Brotherhood scum, why I shouldn't blow your brains out."

Kesler simply pointed at the ground in front of the raider.

"You're standing on it."

The raider looked down, and saw too late, the platform he had just triggered, knocking free the bundle of hand grenades that hung above his head from the ceiling.

Soon, there was a loud thunder, some noise, then...a bright whiteness.

Two of the raiders were blown to bloody pieces on the spot, while the one carrying the flamethrower had his weapon explode from the blast, covering him in liquid flaming napalm as he ran screaming out of the store, the perfect flaming target for several Talon mercenaries who quickly cut him down with gunfire.

The Talons were too busy admiring the flaming corpse on the ground to notice two black power armored figures emerge from the store.

A hail of bullets scythed down two Talons, tearing out chunks of steel and asphalt from the cover they hid behind. Kesler took a peek towards the old diner, and saw at least five more Talons slowly make their way towards them, so confident in their numbers that they didn't even bother to find cover.

Shouldering his shotgun, Kesler took a grenade from his suit and lobbed it in the middle of the group, causing the Talons to scatter. Another blast shook Jury street, and one Talon's lifeless body was hurdled in the air by the blast.

All the while, the two Outcasts did not stop running, even as the raiders on the rooftop adjusted their aim from the Talons to the newcomers on the battlefield. Spouts of earth shot up next to the two runners as the raiders tried to pin their targets down with antique hunting rifles.

Both Outcasts stopped behind a metal sheet fence, firing and scoring two more kills from the Talons who dove behind a car, only just getting back on their feet from the blast. Farsight took the time to pick off the raiders from the rooftop, showing everyone what a professional sniper could do. Within ten seconds, both raiders were down, their heads blown off their shoulders.

Kesler's shotgun blazed, sending two raiders backwards, their bodies torn apart by the close range blast. Just as Farsight picked off another Talon that was rushing from afar, one more Raider emerged from behind Kesler, using an antique sword to try and slice through the power armor.

The Outcast lifted his arm in defense, and the ancient sword simply snapped in two, the old blade useless against riveted reinforced steel. Before the raider had time to even cuss Kesler was on him, crushing his windpipe in a power armored fist.

Suddenly the air filled with heat and pressure as both Outcasts were thrown backwards by an exploding car.

The Raider leader, carrying a pre-war rocket launcher, grinned a toothless smile as he loaded another one, intent on wiping both them out in one blast.

Farsight took her rifle, aimed it squarely at the leader, and fired, just as the raider pulled the trigger on the missile.

There was a flash, and soon the entire world went white.

It was a dark night in the Capital Wasteland, the winds howling throughout the canyons where Talon company settled in for the night.

Sergeant Clifton casually ignited his lighter, puffing his cigar as he watched his men go to work on the Outcast. They were close to Bannister, actually made enough time that they had an extra night, bunking up in an abandoned shack. This was for two reasons. He wanted to find some way to get the armor off the Outcast before presenting it to the commander. The second was because of a recent discovery.

To his surprise, and to the surprise of his men. The Outcast was not dead at all. Perhaps, heavily wounded, but the first weak groans of pain she gave out as they dragged her lifeless body across the wastes soon verified that she was still amongst the living. That was part of the second surprise too, that it was a woman soldier they captured. Almost unheard of in the Talons, since they rarely lasted a week, between them being sent on suicide missions and being unable to defend themselves from the not-so-friendly approaches of their fellow Talons. But for the Brotherhood to employ woman as soldiers was a surprise to Clifton. A pleasant surprise. The bitch took part in an assault that killed ten of his men, and now, the survivors would take it out on their prisoner. Already the Outcast was stripped out of her armor, the Talons having used sledgehammers and buzzsaws to break the pieces that they couldn't dislodge from the prisoner, with her limbs still inside the armor. The helmet was the worst part of it, considering it had to have the permission of the owner to remove it. Some sort of pre-war safety device. Some more persuasion, a few more broken bones and the assistance of some power tools, got that off soon enough to reveal a beaten and battered brunette beneath it. The effort had taken hours, and already blood had begun pooling on the floor.

Clifton grinned darkly. It was just like opening a Christmas present.

The Outcast soldier didn't move, though she was intact, she could not move, since her legs and arms were limp from the sledgehammers and tools. He could hear her breathing faintly, as though she had exhausted herself from all the screaming at the beating. Sweat glistened on her forehead, but the grim determined look never left her eyes, but even Clifton saw through the facade, knew exactly what she was thinking. "I like them strong. That makes breaking them that much more exciting."

The Talon nodded to his men, who had already proceeded to dangle their prisoner by her arms from a set of chains in the ceiling, so that she was hanging like a piece of meat at a butcher shop. The chains were unnecessary, Clifton knew, in his experience, it was always wise to crush or disable the prisoner's arms and legs first, making any chance of them escaping improbable, or even more important, any chance of them escaping and exacting vengeance on their captors, downright impossible. But there was a certain appeal of having his prisoner dangle helplessly from the ceiling, in full view of his men.

The rest of the Talon men whistled in anticipation. And the Talons watched as their leader walked to the limp prisoner. Fine missy, you want to play war and start killing my men. Then you'll have your share of war. All of it.

Clifton tossed his cigar away. "I'll tell you what's gonna happen missy. No one's going to save you, your friends don't know where you are."

The battered girl remained silent, perhaps too weak to even notice.

Clifton lifted up her chin with his hand, looking at her straight in the eye.

"Your body is forfeit. Ain't nothing but another body to me. And me and the boys? Well, we can find all unseemly manner of use for it."

Defender Torres' face hardened, she had long ago lost the ability to form words in her shattered throat, so she did the next best thing.

She spat on Clifton's face, defiant to the end.

"Lovely."

Outside the shack, the winds roared even louder, drowning out the sounds of grunts, guttural moans, and grim laughter as they were swept away helplessly through the night.

Meanwhile, miles away in the underground base of Raven Rock, a gigantic pre-war ZAX supercomputer began processing the information gathered by dozens of Enclave patrols. It analyzed the data, giving one vast picture of the entire wasteland, from Rivet City to Adams Airforce Base. All factors, from radiation to mutation, was still within acceptable parameters. The impure mutations and wastelanders were still continuing their downward spiral of self destruction.

Within the millions of files and dossiers contained in its primary drive, one word suddenly appeared that matched up with data on several new field reports. Purity. In a single millisecond, it proceeded to calculate through hundreds of thousands of possible scenarios on the best course of actions to achieve its primary objectives. Ultimately settling on one most likely to succeed.

In the next millisecond, several dozen more orders were drafted and sent out via holotape and radio to every Enclave patrol and officer in the area. It was time to move.

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Thanks for the reviews guys, and corrections have been made for Bale pointing out the power station was way outta the way from Bannister. My Capital Wasteland Geography has been kinda rusty ;) now that i have New Vegas hehe