The tomb of the unknown soldier.

Years and years ago, long before my birth, the Brotherhood managed to take control of the site and keep the Enclave away from it in order to prevent those tyrants from desecrating the site. It's recorded in the chronicles here on the East Coast, and I am sure my father has since given a copy to the other Elders across the country and, most pertinently, on the West Coast. With all we have learnt, knowing this, too, is the last of the Enclave's strongholds, we should be approaching victory and the rest of the Elders ought to be aware of it too. The plans to expand our capacities, the plans to make it easier for us to all move back and forth across the country, are just as exciting; soon, I hope, the Prydwen will be airborne and, soon after, not the only one in the fleet of the Brotherhood across the whole of the United States. Unity is something we have lacked for so long and having that heightened capacity for travel and for convening should make that possible to achieve.

Our achievements, impending and already earnt, however, must wait. For now, before we can consider continuing work on the Prydwen, before we can consider giving the Elders in the Midwest and on the West Coast the information and plans to do the same, before we can end this war, for today we must pay our respects. Dawdling and allowing my mind to wander cannot do. These were our Brothers and Sisters, and those of whom served to save the United States before the War, and all we can do is pay them their respects though we cannot identify them. It is a tragic state. A pitiable one. So, our respects to them must be paid. Laying the wreath, Paladin Kreig pays his respects first, bowing his head and saying the prayers with us. Glum as what we are here to commemorate is, it takes all I have in me to not smile when he returns and stands beside me, taking my hand for a brief moment before, clad in his power amour as am I and most of our fellow Brothers and Sisters, he returns to his designated location for the rest of the ceremony.

There's something about you, Kreig, that's just so comforting. If I had to say what it is, though, it's the fact you treat me as you would anyone else, and not as though I am special. We've all hard earnt our positions and powers and privileges through years upon years of service to the Brotherhood. I don't know why you can do this when it seems the rest of the Brotherhood beyond the close upper ranks and, of course, the war council cannot do anything but treat me as though I'm above them or, even, should be above them. I am the second highest ranking officer in our Order here, controlling the Eastern Coast of the former United States, but I'm a human just the same as all of us. Exalting any of us above the other won't do any good and will only fracture our ranks. Seeing as that's the worst thing we could have happen other than an outright, sudden victory by the Enclave, we need unity more than ever. The fact even most of the Outcasts have turned out for the ceremony and to pay their respects to our unknown Brothers and Sisters that gave their lives in the line of duty is a painful reminder of that.

Here we stand, us in the Brotherhood and the keepers of morality, life, and all that is good against an axis of evil to fight, one we are slowly but surely closing in on defeating. Here we stand, with those in the Outcasts, those who estranged themselves from our Order out of nothing but unreasonable insubordination and dereliction of duty. We stand with them because they can redeem themselves. Many of them will, of that I am certain. As I look between us all, it's hard not to feel the painful desire for everything to refuse itself on its own. For things to return to normalcy and what they ought to be. We are in a time where we need unity, not discordancy.

Failure is not an option, and opening ourselves up to the possibility over these petty quarrels isn't worth it. It's not worth the damage it could cause.

It's not worth more than the lives of people who will be lost without our protection and eaten alive by this awful, irrational world we live in.

"Brothers, Sisters. As you know well, today is one of the most solemn days of the year, the day upon which we commemorate the sacrifices of our own still unknown in death," My father says, pausing for a few seconds to get the full attention of all of us. If it weren't inappropriate, I might even smile. He's always had a way with inspiring people, and it's something I've always strived to emulate. "This day is especially solemn this year, however, because of the significance of the date. October the 23rd, 2277. Two centuries. Now, it has officially been two centuries since the War. What I believe we've learnt most from that horrid ordeal none of us in living memory can recount is simply our gathering together is by design, by necessity, because we know more than anyone else our survival rests on the chance for harmony and a destruction of the last remains of the axis of evil which has terrorised what remains of our great country for far too long."

And that's all true. I don't know how you do it, father, but I can only hope, train, and study. If I am to become like you and succeed you one day as Elder of the East Coast Brotherhood Of Steel, then I need to prepare to play the part, and I shall. It is my duty as a Sentinel, after all.

"As your leader, as Elder and Supreme Commander of the East Coast Brotherhood Of Steel, I cannot – and will not – allow the Enclave to prevail," My father continues and I know pride for him and all of our family's accomplishments are swelling in my chest by it growing all the more difficult not to smile at his words. "We are close now, closer than ever," He proclaims. "Closer than we ever have been, and the people – these people – out here have hope because of us. I refuse to let the Enclave continue their reign of terror furthermore after two centuries of struggle against them. We are what brings the light and the slightest spark of hope for the people here, and we will not squander it."

"Sic Semper Tyrannis!"

"Ad Victoriam!"

The more father's speech blurs, the more our Brothers and Sisters reaffirm their commitments to duty, the more curious I feel. Anticipation weighting heavily on me, it is only when we're allowed to break up to slowly return to the Citadel I feel a sense of relief. Kreig. Joining him, I can't help but smile even a faint bit when he speaks, and, were it not improper, I might even loosely embrace him. But the laws of the Codex are certain, and such open and public distractions violate the importance and love of expressing those feelings alone, between two people alone. When he accepts my hand at my impulse to take his, the anxious yet excited feeling I've been drawn to from him of late is undeniable. I can't call it love; we barely know each other beyond as colleagues and it is far too early. Focusing on such frivolous things such as what to call it, too, is a waste of perfectly good time. Nevertheless, I can't help but enjoy his hand being entwined with mine as we keep walking with our Brothers and Sisters, slowly but surely, to the Citadel.

"How are you feeling? I know you've kept your calendar set for this date for several years, now."

"Both by hand and by electronics," I confess. "It's strange to think about. Two hundred years and, somehow, greed is one thing that hasn't changed."

"It rarely does," He agrees. "It's a pity. But, apart from work, how are you doing, Sarah?"

I smile and know, despite myself, a blush is rising to my already rosy cheeks. "As well as I can be, Sam."

"Happy to hear it," He cheerfully replies. "With your birthday getting nearer, do you want me to help you with any of that? Or to get you something to celebrate with?"

"I would love that," I smile. "It's been far too long since we've had a good or even halfway decent party at the Citadel to celebrate anything."

"What's this about celebrating? You won't be doing it without me, will you?"

Seeing my brother so soon after hearing his voice, I can't help but laugh with Krieg when we turn around to see him, him smiling warmly at us.

"It's been a rough day so far, but things should be looking up," Will says, though his face soon loses all humour. "I hate to ask, but I do need to speak to my sister alone. If you get back before us, Krieg, let them know."

"I will," He says, giving us both the necessary and proper recognition. "Ad Victoriam."

"Ad Victoriam."

Silence. Will uncomfortably fusses with his power armour until Kreig is gone out of sight, but, soon enough he finally says something, even if it's something he seems to want to leave unsaid.

"I take it you've heard of the tensions out West?" Will says, grabbing my arm and lowering his voice. "I went through father's emails and copied some holotapes. It's worse than I already thought."

"You what?" I hiss, wrenching my arm out of his grasp. "That breaks nearly every damn protocol!"

"I know, but they weren't telling us everything. Sarah, we need to know these things," He's sincere, as always, but it's not the time. We can't afford to be distracted by – "You of all people have to know father isn't forthcoming with information, even to the war council. I was speaking with Ingram, Bowditch, and Jameson, and what they had to tell me was troubling. By the sounds of it, they were just as caught off guard by the information as I am."

"Will –" I start, my voice almost painfully low to keep it from rising above the din of movement and idle conversation.

"Sarah, listen to me," Will pleads. "It's bad. We've known for a while things in the Midwest are questionable and unsteady, and the same can be said of the Deep South but we are close to – here, that is – gaining control of the East Coast. That's good, and an achievement all of us have good reason to be proud of having a part in. Once we defeat the Enclave, we'll be able to raise our forces even higher, potentially spread all the way up as far north as the former Massachusetts Commonwealth and as far south as the Florida Keys."

"Which," I pointedly remind him, struggling to keep my voice steady. "Is something we already well know. It's part of why we're ramping up everything from training to recruitment."

"It is but the things happening out west…we can't ignore them just because they're bad. Ingram went into the digital and physical archives in the Citadel and former airport. She was able to confirm all of the information regarding the construction and needs for the Prydwen have been sent out west," Will sighs, pulling me back again. "Both Elder Elijiah Anderson in the lower Southwest and Elder Cleric Quintus in former California and the West Coast are to receive that information, as well as what we've reverse engineered so far of the Enclave's vertibirds to construct similar vessels out there to expand our fleet across the country. But –"

"Those are all things I expected," I sigh, pausing to lightly wave and smile at Krieg as he passes by us and farther ahead amongst us marching back to the Citadel. "I don't see why you – and, from what you're implying – Ingram, Bowditch, and Jameson felt the need to break protocol. Jameson especially. She of all people –"

"Is concerned because, whether he'll say it or not, father's health is slowly beginning to decline," Will calmly says, letting me go. "But that's not why we're concerned. It's because of the secrecy. Yes, we're all well aware, myself included, that no one outside the Elder Council is required to know any of the specifics of their cooperation and joint efforts, but father and Elder Quintus are poised or, at the very least, poising to take control of the East and West Coasts respectively. That information needs to be known, especially because of the sheer amount of intelligence we share between each other."

"I'm well aware of all of that, Will –" I irritably begin.

"I know you are, but, please, let me finish," He sighs, and we both pause, letting several of our Brothers and Sisters pass us by. "For obvious reasons, that being the fact relations between the Brotherhood and NCR are far from ideal, Elder Quintus is in a much weaker position than father but, with the Outcasts here, it's closer to even between them than I think anyone wants to admit. But with Elder Elijiah…he's close to losing control of the situation in the Southwest, from most of the Mojave to as far east as over the Rockies into eastern Colorado. And that's where it's looking dangerous."

"What's your point?" I tiredly press. "Much as I'm somewhat relieved to hear all of this, seeing as it hasn't been brought up before, I can't say I'm happy about the circumstances. You, Ingram, Bowditch, and Jameson doing things like this isn't like any of you."

"It's not, but we're in dire straits. The Brotherhood is fractured across the country, and there are only three Elders left to form the Council instead of five, and we all know damn well father and Quintus are the only ones with real power," Will hesitates. "The reason Elder Elijiah is losing power isn't just because of his own lack of control of his Order, it's because he's starting to be viewed as a potential, future deserter. There's a lot of suspicion he's come to think our cause is doomed, and so, in the Southwest, it's starting to appear that Head Paladin McNamara may challenge him for leadership."

I frown. "That would be breaking custom and protocol. Challenging the authority of the Elder is always the absolute last resort. It states as much in the Codex. I can't imagine that happening unless things were to become truly desperate."

"Which is why I think they are," Will says with a shake of his head. "Sarah, listen to me. If the issues the Southwest and West Coast Brotherhood are having were solely the result of normal things, we wouldn't have had to take more drastic measures to find out what the hell is going on. Do you remember Shady Sands? Or do you remember – even a little bit – living there very briefly?"

"We paused there, if I remember what you told me correctly, when we were on our way here so father could take over the East Coast Brotherhood to prevent a complete collapse," You're making me nervous, Will, please, just – "Why? Hasn't the NCR moved their capital away from there?"

"Yeah, the NCR's capital has changed but that's not what I care about. What worries me is the fact societal and population decline in Shady Sands…it's not normal. There's something of an exodus starting. I don't know if it's just because of the bullshit that is the NCR economy or something else but…" Will glances around, only continuing when we're moving again and far enough away not to be able to be eavesdropped upon nor caught unaware. "There are rumours of Vault-Tec facilities being in the area, but all of that's been rumour after rumour for…well, for the last two hundred years."

"So what? The NCR is having troubles like they always are and Quintus is frustrated by the lack of support he's getting from the rest of the Brotherhood while the NCR continues to stifle their ability to act openly and recruit?" I eye him closely, waiting for more. "The NCR has been in an economic recession for what? The last four or five years? As for you mentioning Vault-Tec of all things, what the hell are they going to do? They've been dead in the ground for two centuries because of a War they were hoping to profit off of. What are they going to do? Nuke Shady Sands? That would be –"

"That's a crazy hypothetical, Sarah, and none of our intelligence suggests that, don't worry. But, look, the point is, the instability there and the recession being part of that are why, for Elijiah, the fact there's a good chance of power struggle for leadership of the Southwest Brotherhood is tangible," Will says, taking a few seconds to breathe. "There's disjointedness and concern amongst the Southwest Brotherhood and West Coast Brotherhood because of Elijah and Quintus' differing opinions and tactics, and because of the NCR expanding well beyond the West Coast and because of those maniacs who think it's the Roman times. But, if I had to take a gander at the future…" He finally says. "I would say, if McNamara or someone else takes over the Southwest Brotherhood and restores its stability, then the Council shouldn't have to worry too much. Some of our Brothers and Sisters in the Southwest are moving towards the West Coast to join them already, so that's likely to continue."

"And, with that, Elder Quintus' concerns should be assuaged, particularly after he and his men get the plans and information we're sharing with them regarding rebuilding a stronger and more effective air fleet, so sooner rather than later the Prydwen won't be the only one in our capacities," I warily glance at him as we continue walking. "As soon as they can get their own airship and, hopefully, vertibirds operational, too, that'll improve their positioning immensely, and Quintus should be able to finally take full control over the West Coast as father will here, as soon as is possible seeing as we're in active war with the last…sects of the Enclave."

"Which is true and all well and good but, Sarah, all of this…it has me worried," He says and it unsettles me far more than I'll ever be alright with. "If the Southwest Brotherhood goes to shit the way the Midwestern Brotherhood and Deep Southern Brotherhood have, the Elder Council will officially be only Elder Owyn Lyons and Elder Cleric Quintus, having the East Coast and the West Coast under their control respectively. That's a weaker position than we want to be in, and having the Southwest is important, even if there's a lot of infighting there. They're a buffer, and the NCR…really everyone out there is going to need them whether they like it or not to put an end to those idiots playing Roman times. The entire Brotherhood is in a precarious state, and the fact father hasn't –"

"You yourself said he's not obliged to," I wish I were able to be angrier with him but I can't. "Whatever decisions the Elder Council make, that is left to their discretion, so father, Quintus, and Elijiah should be respected for their positions and what they have done – what they continue to do – for all of us."

"I'm not denying any of that, Sarah, I'm…" Will, please, it's bad enough you're breaking every rule that's meant to hold us together. "I know you and I know how you idolise our father. You always have. Hell, on some level, I still do. But he's not a saint, Sarah. Neither was mother."

"Because we're all human, Will," Things aren't easy. They never have been and never, truly, will be. So why – "Just tell me what you've taken away from all of this. Well, what you, Ingram, Bowditch, and Jameson have come to believe, of course."

"To be clear, all of this was their idea, not mine. Specifically, it was Mischelle's after hearing father telling Quinlan and Teagan things the rest us should have been told about to regarding the situation out west. Either way…" Will pauses to set one hand to each of my shoulders. Just like when we were little. Even now, he's still my big brother. "We can't keep taking things at face value, never mind being members of the war council and key members of it. If father wants to not tell us things as his children, then so be it, but he can't keep secrets from the rest of Brotherhood leadership, ourselves included, forever. It's going to hurt us and hinder our ability to defeat the Enclave more than anything else. We can't let this keep going like this when they could just get worse and worse both here and on the West Coast."

"That's it, then?" I stare at him, frowning. "So, am I the only adult left here? Seeing as the rest of you can't seem to put your emotions away?"

"No, but you're the same stickler for the rules you've always been, which isn't a bad thing," Will says. "I know it's going to trouble you," He eventually gets out. "But this isn't the only thing I've been thinking a lot on, although it is the most consequential."

I raise an eyebrow, picking up the pace towards the Citadel once again. Much as I dislike it, we can and will reasonably claim to have lagged because of issues with the local…flora and fauna.

"What's the less consequential, then?"

"Well, it's about ghouls," He says, suddenly looking and sounding rather embarrassed. "Marcus and I were talking about it the other night. Being the one tasked with guarding and commanding most of the Citadel, he sees a lot of shit the rest of us don't and he's started to have doubts. About the way we treat ghouls. The ones, specifically, that aren't feral."

"So, what you're saying is you and Paladin Bael have been staying up far too late and discussing minutiae that have nothing to do with our mission to protect, serve, and ensure the deliverance of the civilians of the East Coast from the evil that is the Enclave?" I honestly can't believe you, Will. They're suffering terribly each day. Putting them out of their misery is the least we can do. "You been living under a rock? This is DC. We don't have the luxury of being picky and choosy about how to handle small and improbable cases."

"Shooting all ghouls on sight isn't the way, Sarah, I've been talking with some when I've come across them in the field recently, and…" Damn it, Will. How much of a bleeding heart can you be before you've given all you have to give. "It seems to come down to one thing, which is the tried and true 'they're not like you and me, which means they must be evil' mentality that got us into this mess of a world in the first place. Feral ghouls are one thing, but the regular ones? The ones that are still human in every way but their physical body? Killing all ghouls on sight is wrong, Sarah. I won't be doing it anymore, and neither will Marcus, no matter what father says."

I don't know what to say, Will. I really don't.

"What do you want me to say, then? You and I already both know what I think."

"And I will never begrudge you that. What happened to Amelia was awful, and you never should have had to lose your best friend, and certainly not in the way you did, those ghouls just ripping her apart right in front of…" He swallows hard. "Just be careful, Sarah bean. I don't want you to develop a stone heart. I'm getting worried it runs in the family. The worse things have been getting, the angrier I've been, the more difficult it has been for me to even try to calm myself down. It's not worth it. I don't think you can find happiness while you live inside hate. I really don't."

"None of this is hatred, Will," I don't understand why you've been…Will, are you sure you're alright? "It's pragmatism. We have to be a little cold, a little detached to make good and proper military decisions. Try not to forget that."

"And you try not to forget it's okay to be a human and not an icon or saint," Will says, embracing me tightly or, more accurately, as tightly as we can with us both in our power armour. "You'll always be my little sister, Sarah. I'm just trying to look out for you and keep you aware."

"I know you are," I quietly reply, blinking back tears when we begin walking once more, the Citadel growing ever closer on the horizon. "As for all of this…you, and Ingram, and Bowditch, and Jameson…whatever happens, never confess to any of what you've done, especially if you decided to keep doing this. If you confess, you're dead. That's how it's always worked."

"I know," Will says, letting out a heavy sigh. "We're careful, Sarah. I just thought there were some things we found out that you should know."

"And I appreciate the concern but…" The war is more important than us knowing everything, Will. Please don't forget that because you're frustrated with our father. "It'll just be a little longer. A few years more at most, and we'll all be finally free. Us, the civilians, everyone. That may come even sooner, if we can get things back on track and keep pushing them the way they're meant to be."

"Exactly," He says with a half smile. "The Enclave will be defeated, and the people of the East Coast of the United States will live, because of us, because of the civilians who do their part and make sacrifices the same as we in the Brotherhood do," He solemnly says, something I know we're all growing to feel more and more with each passing month. "Ad Victorium, Sentinel."

"Ad Victorium, Paladin," I concur before trying not think about it, about any of this.

Much as I hate to admit it, it's all feeling to be too much the longer I have to think about it. And, for the first time in forever, it seems even being in my power armour isn't enough to make me feel safe and like myself. Is anyone going to fight for me, as an individual and not a leader, other than myself?

I don't think I want to know the answer.