1

"What are we dealing with pilot?", the General asked.

The sergeant (having the same rank as a commander of one of the APC crews) checked his instruments. "As far as I can figure, ma'am: it's a set of vertibirds. It's not like we have a real record of what could be in the air. But the radar signatures are about as loud as ours are. They seem to be travelling towards us at the same speed we are towards them. And it looks just like when we were training on the radar back when we had only our vertibirds to point at."

The highest ranking officer of this woman's Minutemen nodded in acknowledgement. "Tune the radio to the frequency it was when the vertibird was salvaged. Let's hope that's the original Brotherhood frequency."

Under her breath, the General added, "While we're hoping, let's hope their vertibird fleet went down with the Prydwyn."

"Comms set to frequency.", the pilot called out.

The General took up the microphone. "Vertibirds invading Commonwealth airspace. Land immediately. Repeat: to all vertibirds invading Commonwealth airspace. You are committing another act of war. Land immediately or you will be shot down by superior technology.

"Even if you cannot return this message, or are hailing back on another frequency, land immediately. All other courses of action will be met with your imminent destruction."

The General tapped the pilot. "No change, General. Breaching air craft staying on intercept course, no drop in altitude."

She shook her head. "Well, I warned them. Put me back on the other squadron's frequency. And remind me to thank Colonel Brandis for continuing his project while I was conducting the investigation.

"Beta squardron: buzz them, get out of weapons range, and then return to a circling ready pattern."

Twin glimmers of light fell from the sky with contrails whirling behind them. The General searched for their targets, only known by their radar blips, but could only follow the streaks of mist. Silently, the two dots swooped out of their dive and ran parallel to the horizon. The darker dots of the incoming vertibirds jumped into notice as they struggled through the resulting turbulence and possible nigh vacuum left in the wake of the lights. Only later, much later, did the General's vertibirds even pick up the sonic booms.

"Put me back on that Brotherhood of Steel channel.", the General ordered.

"Invading vertibirds: look alive. Those were two Stingray Deluxes, fully fueled obviously but more importantly for you fully armed. ArcJet was based in the Commonwealth before the war. We have a supply of aircraft that are more than five times faster than yours due to your crafts propellers and their scramjets, allowing them to leap into weapons range before you can respond as well as escape any possible response you have.

"If you do not land immediately, you will be shot down. Last chance."

The General and her pilot waited with baited breath as they continued on an intercept course with the apparent enemy.

"Acknowledged.", a familiar voice replied. "Setting down now."

"Pilot?", the General asked.

"Radar shows a decrease in both velocity and altitude.", he replied.

The General resettled into her seat. "Alright. Slow down yourself. I'm going to order in the Railroad's APC, and our squadrons to remain circling. After I'm on the ground, if it looks like you're going to have to refuel do so in shifts and beeline back here. And start having road crews converge on the location."

2

"I thought I told you that the amount of weapons you carried with you would be commismerate with the displeasure I felt.", the General reminded.

Behind her stood a Railroad heavy, a bound and hooded prisoner, and the Minutemen of a growing number of road crews. Above her circled only Minutemen air forces. In front of her stood four knights of the Brotherhood of Steel, guarding...

"I am Sentinel Danse, of the Brotherhood of Steel of the Capital Wasteland.", the soldier stated. "Identify yourself, civilian."

"You don't even know how annoying it is for you to presume everyone who isn't a member of your raider organization to be a civilian.", she replied.

"What? No.", Danse remembered. "It couldn't be/"

"Yes. I am the General of the Minutemen, defender of the representative government of the free and surviving people of the Commonwealth. And I'm glad I'm speaking to the Sentinel of the Brotherhood of Steel: because you will be authorizing the shut down of the threat to those people you create."

"What? We're no threat.", Danse objected. "We're the solution to man's hubris use of technology."

The General scoffed. "Really? The previous invading airship Prydwyn that I had to blow out of the sky?"

"You killed how many Brotherhood and call us a threat!", Danse objected.

"When they only came to raid technology and coerce food from the families that farmed it, I certainly will. We didn't come from my home and ride in on a war machine. We didn't steal food from the mouths of your babies."

Danse's exposed head wobbled in his power armor. "Elder Maxon's methods were a bit forceful."

"Elder Maxon was dead by my hand when you fired a nuclear weapon on the Commonwealth.", the General stated.

Danse stopped talking. "Wait. What?"

The General gestured. The Railroad heavy brought their prisoner forward and took off the hood but not the gag in their mouth, revealing her to be a captured Brotherhood knight.

Once she saw that Danse recognized the agent, the General continued. "We've captured Brotherhood of Steel agent scouting the Commonwealth for strategic targets. We've received the news from private journalists and travelers from the Capital wastes itself. Let alone all the available eye witness evidence.

"The Brotherhood of Steel lost its invasion force both times it attempted to infiltrate the Commonwealth: Brandis' unit as well as the Prydwyn. Frustrated with its thwarted attempts to conquer a free people and pillage yet another area, it waited for a chance at what a fascist like you would call revenge. You perceived that chance to had come when the Commonwealth was stuck in a civil war with its remaining domestic, human adversary. Informed by your scouting agent, you decided to make your move.

"You took the opportunity provided by Edwards Air Force Base which you've claimed from the Enclave so many years ago that the Prydwyn was constructed there. So you readied the most abhorrent weapon ever unleashed upon mankind and pointed it straight at us."

"I have no idea what you're talking about.", Danse interjected. "I'm in command of the Brotherhood of Steel now that you've killed Elder Madxen. I would know."

The General continued. "Every witness spoke of a plume of smoke from the sky right before the blast that obliterated Gunner Plaza. I suppose the Commonwealth is just lucky that Gunner Plaza is that much closer to the Capital Wastes than the Castle. And unlucky for you, the civilian government was left intact enough to ensure the sovereignty of the free people of the Commonwealth before your current invasion could be launched.

"But fortunately for the both of us, I'm going to offer you the opportunity to surrender your way out of yet another Brotherhood of Steel, fascism driven, quagmire."

Danse drew in a frustrated breath. "Look, civi...General. The Brotherhood of Steel has never launched a nuclear weapon. Ever. In its entire history."

"And Liberty Prime was not armed with any? That's why that robot did not use any nuclear shells in bringing down the Prydwyn when I hacked into it?"

"That's different.", Danse objected.

The General pursed her lips. "So your programming is that faulty. Fine."

Everyone standing around her was confused. But only for a moment.

The General called out. "Synth M7-97, shut down code omega 4 0 delta gamma."

And with that Danse fell silent.

The General stepped around the deactivated machine and the power armor it was draped in. "I guess that makes you guys in charge. For a little while anyway.

"Here's my terms. The Brotherhood of Steel has shown time and again that it doesn't deserve to rule anything. So it's not going to. You are hereby surrendering the entirety of the Capital Wastes to the Commonwealth, freeing her peoples and allowing them to take part in our representative government. You will take the supplies from your vertibirds and walk your power armors, crew, and soon-to-be released agent back to whatever the Brotherhood is using as its headquarters and inform them of this surrender, allowing them to choose between disbandment or exile. And it would please me greatly if such a corrupting influence in an already ruined world chose to disband instead of inflict itself on anyone ever again. However, we will be taking the vertibirds and" she knocks on the power armor 'Danse' is encased in "this one."

"Now here are my consequences. If you really didn't want to surrender. For choosing to continue hostilities, you all will be killed. Your vertibird crews and your colleagues and everyone. The Capital Wastes will not know I am coming until my forces ravage Edwards Air Force Base and every single Brotherhood of Steel stronghold there is, killing everyone you've ever known. I have fielded superior technology you could have anticipated but had no answer for in the form of the Stingrays. I can field technology you can't imagine with the Institute itself as a participating community in the government the Minutemen defend. And I promise that the first any of the Brotherhood in the Capital Wastes hear from me will be my ordering the synths embedded in your corrupt organization to start the killing from the inside.

"So do we have a deal and you take a hike? Or do I start the massacre and take everything over your dead bodies?"

Just then, another sonic boom from and overflying scramjet broke the would be silence. By then, a lot and this author does mean a lot of Minutemen were aiming weapons at the very few Brotherhood knights.

"Ad Victorium!", one of the remaining called out.

"Belay that!", another dismissed before she could start shooting. "If we agree to this surrender, all my people get to leave alive?"

The General nodded. "You'll walk over to that building on the horizon. Your vertibirds will be stripped of what will help you on your walk back and delivered there. Then they become our vertibirds. And when we come to the Capital Wastes to take operational control, we won't find you there.

"Now get moving."

The knight gestured his squad and the agent fell in behind him on their long march home. The Minutemen could overhear the chatter coordinating the retreat. Once out of sight from the Brotherhood, the General fell to her knees in relief right in the middle of the marsh.