Outside the Washington monument there lay the most massive pile of corpses I have ever seen. Dead super mutants, wasters and all were burnt flesh in the lake. My brothers, stationed at the monument were probably in that pile too. Talon Company were everywhere. They guarded every building and grazed the biggest Brahmin pack I have ever seen. Stockpiles of that Aqua Pura were kept at the Lincoln Memorial. They horded every Power weapon from every dead Enclave and Steel in the DC area. Talon Company was a military powerhouse.

The trenches were filled with people and Talon mercs sitting on the sides eating and smoking. At the capital enterance were two vertabirds and guards. People were also hauling in supplies and water.

Most of the caravan I was in disbanded and the "Boss" led me up the steps of the Capital. The West wing was cleared out of rubble and I got a makeshift cot in the rotunda. Not much but better than being out in the wastes.

"Who's this guy?" Some dude in Coat followed by three guards approached us.

"He's a new recruit, pulled him out of the rubble near Rivet City."

"His name?"

"Maxwell."

"Pulled him out of the rubble? What rubble?"

"Pentagon."

"You're telling me this guy is a Steel?"

"Yeah."

"Impressive. Might I have a word with this new recruit in private Dex?"

"Yes boss."

The man in the coat must be their leader.

"Tell me, are you afraid?"

Hell yes.

"Yeah."

"Yeah that's expected. You don't know anything about Talon Company do you? Well not to worry we are mercenaries we get paid for our work. You do a contract, you get paid. We don't do slave business here. Dex was just making sure you didn't do anything stupid. He didn't compensate you for that run earlier did he?"

"No."

"Yeah I figure he didn't. Here 250 caps for that. Now you're probably thinking can I leave? Yes. You can. Just know this wasteland has gotten worse after that little spit between the Enclave and whatever the fuck ended that war. It's different, more hostile - more brutal. You want to find out more? Stay with us, get paid and you can do whatever the fuck you want."

"Alright, I noticed you got a sweet setup here."

"You did? And oh sorry about that giant pile of corpses out front. And no, you're Brotherhood are not in there. A lot of them in the area dispersed after the conflict ended. Don't ask me where they went I have no idea."

"You didn't find any bodies?"

"No, no notes, nothing."

"Well get some rest while we prep a new contract for you. You might get it tomorrow, you might not. Depends on when the buyer shows up if he does at all. Oh and try not to spend those caps on chems and shit. Those come in real handy now a days you'll see what I mean. We at Talon Company have standards."

Many others slept in the rotunda. It was still creepy with the sounds of the building breaking around us. I swear I could hear screaming somewhere in the building.

There was no contract that day so I decided I would check out the area. The museum of history was my first go to. Inside were still the ghouls selling Aqua Cura. A lot of them seemed to be in a pissy mood. They were however happy the Brotherhood were gone and a lot were free to step outside without getting shot. There was rumored to be one super mutant there that hung out below the entrance that everyone left alone. Supposedly knew the vault dweller. I needed to see him.

"I wouldn't think about going down there smoothskin."

Some ghoul claimed to be Winthrop stopped me at the east entrance.

"Why?"

"That super-mutant down there is not the friendliest. You might want to wear something else if you go down there, he's not to kind to have Talon Company here. That vault dweller kind of screwed him over. Left him here. Hasn't been here since. Look smooth-skin if you want my advice head up North, I hear the Brotherhood went north to some abandoned prewar facility. If you get the chance that's your best bet."

"You sure, they're there? Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Now you should probably get the fuck out of here, these guys look tough but at any minute the whole damn place could be overrun again. Don't ever trust mercs especially Talon Company Mercs."

I made my way back outside.

"Ah shit here they come!"

Three vertibirds landed right in front of the Washington monument. Plasma fire bombarded the sand over the trenches as Talon Company scrambled to get out of the way. It was the Enclave. These troops were the heavy's.

"Get down!" One ghoul at the entrance grabbed my shoulder and threw me down behind the metro tunnel railing. I peaked over and the Enclave made a defensive formation around their vertibirds. At least 5 Talon were turned to ash. Gatling Lasers made short work of these people.

More Talon Company rushed to the front line but it was clear the Enclave were gaining a foothold even with 12 troops.

"What are they doing here?"

"They're trying to target the Brahmin pens."

Two of the bertibirds lifted back into the air but one was shot out of the sky with a missile launcher. The remaining bird began shooting the nearest trench with missiles. More Talon troops arrived from the Lincoln memorial, killing three Enclave troops. The remaining 9 troops squeezed at tight formation and some entered the Washington monument to reload. More vertibirds arrived.

"Now's your chance smooth skin. Wear this charmer outfit. I suggest Mall South East Metro."

I quickly discarded this clunky broken combat armor whilst trying not to expose my back to the hail of gun fire above us. It was a relief. It was lighter and the fabric did not scratch my skin. However my stuff was in the capital building so I decided to leave it there. Maybe they'd think I'd died in combat. I peaked over the right corner of the railing and the next Enclave bird to land unloaded two Combat Robots. Those menacing red eyed beasts unloaded rocket barrages on heaps of civilians. Both rolled their way to the front of the formation and I made a break for bus stop in front of the museum. The gun fire was deafening. I then ran as fast as I could to the right but was prettified by a group of Talon mercs at a medical shack. They didn't seem to notice me but yelled "Get the fuck out of the way!"

The treck to South East Metro took forever as I was exhausted and my ears were ringing. More vertibirds landed right in front of the Lincoln Memorial! Where are these guys coming from?!

When I finally got to the Metro the entrance was blocked by Talon Mercs! There he was! Talon boss with the coat was hiding on the stairs with his men taking shots at the Enclave troops. My only option at this point was to wait this thing out.

Boy was I wrong.

The Enclave continued to pour in but the Mercs gave them stern resistance. What the Enclave didn't know was that Talon Company too had their arsenal of Energy weapons. At least half of the invaders went KIA but plenty of Talon and wasters met their end too.

"What is that?"

I should not have waited here too long. Someone I could not see, a faint outline of arms blended into the gray rubble dragged my exhausted body inside of a building. Next thing I knew, I was face to face with the wasteland's biggest enemy, the Enclave.