I don't know if I would have been luckier stumbling into my former boss or these guys. Someone pulled over the hood off my head and I found myself lying on the ground with my hands bound in some energy cuffs. There were two black power armored troops, orange glowing eyes, guarding an officer who all were staring at me.

Both of them grabbed my shoulders and heaved me onto a broken chair.

"Get one of the cages ready for this one. I want to know your name. You don't seem to be from here do you?"

"No. Just visiting."

"Just visiting you say? In a time like this?"

"I came from the underworld."

"Oh the underworld he says? That supposed to be some town I've never heard of?"

"City full of ghouls. They sell water. In one of the museums."

"We got it ready sir."

"Excellent. Put him in with the others."

I was dragged outside somewhere. They kicked my feet and told me to walk. I saw a giant metal cage full of wasters. None looked like Talon Company. Were they just rounding up civilians? This place was in the backstreets of the mall but I could still hear explosions in the distance. They shoved me into the cage and I fell onto the metal grate. The gate shut closed and the cage slowly ascended into the air.

"That's it take them away."

The officer and his guards walked back inside the building and we ascended even higher. I could now see the entire mall clearly. More vertibirds ascended with more cages. Black smoke filled the skies above DC. Fires had raged in the burnt out rubble. Two more vertibirds joined our flight as escorts as we were being taken somewhere deeper East. I wanted to close my eyes but the rotar noise and visuals were too stunning. On the side of one of the rivers was an open field and the vertibird stopped and began descending our cage. More cages were on the ground and people were lined up with Enclave soldiers inspecting them. When mine hit the ground, the vertibird detached and the gate flew open. We were all hurried out and made to stand in this formation of wasters, cuffs still on. It was oddly quiet in this part of city, cold too.

In the distance were buildings that looked relatively intact. In fact, most of the deeper east looked intact. The bombs must not have hit this area. At the end of the field was a statue with a white pillared building behind it. An Enclave soldier patted me down, checking weapons etc and uncuffed my hands. It felt good to have those things off.

"What is this place?" A waster next to me whispered.

"Looks like this is their new headquarters?"

"No mate, I've heard they've made it all the way to the commonwealth now. That's where they're headed. By the way what the hell were you doing to get caught?"

"I was grabbed. At the mall."

"Fuck mate, me too. They were cloaked, stealthboy'd our asses."

"You too shut the fuck up and pay attention. Our colonel is about to give you a rundown."

Fuck. How am I supposed to get to Fort Constantine from here? How badly did that Vault Dweller fuck up the wasteland?

A dark skinned man wearing a trench coat walked his way in front of the statue followed by an eyebot that blared that damned enclave music. Every Enclave soldier froze and gawked at this "colonel".

He smiled and waved.

"I bring you all here today to as a welcome. You were all but scattered rats in a ruin of pain and misery. With the Brotherhood of Steel defeated I bid you another hope for the wasteland, a more formidable ally. The Enclave. You were chosen to help us restore this part of the wasteland. As you probably saw along the way, this area is well enough intact, in good shape and health for the restoration of the America we once knew. The water is clean and its people cleaner. However most of you will not see this until much later. The mutants have gotten worse and we need your help clearing them out from across the river west. Your training begins tomorrow and your service to America begins after. I am Colonel Tristan, your Enclave commander and leader. You will do what we say as I say it, all in good faith of course. Begin their training."