Chapter One

Ragged Old Flag

Ashville, Kentucky

A tired sigh escaped Colonel Augustus Autumn as he waited in the elevator to be taken down to the Ashville Air Force Base Command Bunker. The floor beneath him moved frustratingly slowly, and even though it was only a three-story trip, a full minute had already passed. I knew I should've taken the stairs… he silently bemoaned.

It had been a little over two-hundred years since atomic fire had burned away the Old World, and left America a desolate Wasteland. The Ashville Air Force Base, once a civilian airport, was just one of the thousands of United States Military Installations that were left in varying states of disrepair after two-hundred years of neglect. Under Colonel Autumn's command, the Enclave's talented engineers had spent the last six years getting the base up and running again, but some parts were apparently in better shape than others.

While the elevator moved very slowly downward, Autumn opened the small folder under his arm and skimmed over its contents, if only so that he had something to do. Half of the documents were some of those that had been recovered during Operation Knightfall, some six months ago. It was perhaps the Enclave's greatest victory, where they had been part of an unlikely coalition of Rogue Brotherhood of Steel Paladins, Greaser Gangsters, NCR Rangers, and common wastelanders. Their mission was to capture the Pentagon, depose a bloodthirsty Brotherhood Elder, and reinstate their former leader, Sarah Lyons.

It was a strange sort of victory, one where American Soldiers had ended up leaving the Pentagon in the hands of the very Paladins who had driven them out of the Capital Wasteland some six years earlier. While Autumn had briefly considered double-crossing Elder Lyons and attempting to recapture the Pentagon for the American Military, it was an unrealistic prospect. Such an attack, while potentially successful in the short-term, would have no doubt inspired the Enclave's old enemies to redouble their efforts against them. The Enclave, much as Autumn didn't want to admit it, didn't have the strength to win such a conflict.

But the Pentagon was a moot prize when the Enclave ended up getting everything that they wanted anyway. Thanks to Autumn's negotiations with the Lone Wanderer, the Enclave had been given copies of every Pre-War military secret in the Pentagon. Of course, the Brotherhood still had copies of their own, but there was little that Autumn could do to correct that. Weapon schematics, an entire library of software upgrades for practically every computer in existence, designs for next-generation aircraft, modern fusion reactor blueprints, improvements to energy cell efficiency, and so much more.

Killing Elder Maxson was a great boon to the Enclave as well, as not only had they stopped any more American Citizens from being killed by the madman, but the civil war that had wracked the Brotherhood left them totally unable to sustain any offensive operations. For the time being, at least, the Enclave wouldn't need to worry about another war with the Brotherhood. On paper, there was now even an official ceasefire between the Enclave and the Capital Wasteland Chapter, although Autumn wasn't so confident that it would last.

Lyons has shown that she's able to cooperate with us, and even shown some reason… but treason runs in the Brotherhood's blood, Autumn thought, before shaking his head clear. He needed to focus on the meeting that he was holding with some of his most senior officers.

Whilst the technologies recovered from the Pentagon were no doubt a great asset, the last six months had proven just how slow actually integrating these new technologies was going to be. Ashville's Industrial capabilities were sophisticated by Wasteland Standards, but small in scale, and the Enclave had a bigger issue to conquer before they could commit to a long-term re-arming and re-tooling. That issue and the solution that Autumn was going to propose made up the other half of the documents in his folder, and while Autumn was far from nervous, he was aware that some controversy was no doubt going to be inspired by this meeting.

After what must've been four minutes of gratingly slow descent, the elevator doors finally opened. The soldier on guard snapped to attention as Autumn stepped out. "Room, attention!" he called out, a formality and tradition meant to alert those in the building to the commanding officer's presence.

"At ease," Autumn replied easily, swiftly and promptly returning the salute. "And, kindly tell Engineering that the elevator needs servicing once your shift is done."

"Yes sir!" the soldier acknowledged as Autumn continued on.

The Command Bunker beneath the Ashville Air Force Base was probably the safest place in Kentucky, although Autumn still couldn't help but long for the days where he'd commanded the Enclave from Raven Rock. Compared to the conditioned quarters and hallways of the military fallout shelter, which had been furnished in steel from one end of the base to the other, Ashville's facilities were, at best, second-rate. The air was stuffy, and despite the best efforts of civilian janitors, mold still seemed to find a way to grow in every crack and corner of the concrete tunnels.

Autumn put aside his nostalgia for better days and, after submitting his Command Credentials to another soldier who was on watch outside of the Command Bunker, was permitted access to the meeting room. While it was true that as current Commander-in-Chief of the Enclave, he probably didn't need to carry out such formalities, he had learned that such routines helped to keep the troops acting professionally and their wits sharp. The doorguard obviously knew who he was by appearance alone, but when even Colonel Autumn wasn't above security checks, it made things easier to enforce at the lower levels.

The double doors closed behind him as he took his seat alongside the three other officers who were present. The old hickory-wood table that they were sitting around was stained with the burn marks from cigarettes of officers from another time, illuminated by fluorescent lights dangling from the ceiling more than a century and a half past their expiration date.

Whilst in a perfect world Autumn would have loved to be able to discuss his plans with his entire officer staff at once, the sad truth necessitated that some of them were presently needed elsewhere and that any relevant information could be pushed out by one of the other two men sitting at the table. Without a need to delay any further, Autumn took his own seat and placed his folder on the table. "My apologies for the delay gentlemen, but the elevator is apparently in dire need of maintenance."

"I see I wasn't the only one who got to take the scenic route." Lieutenant Arcade Gannon sarcastically remarked from his seat just to Autumn's right.

While his primary duties were as the lead Doctor at the Ashville Medical Clinic, Arcade was a talented man, and Autumn granted him a promotion following his gallant service during Operation Knightfall. Since then, Arcade had often done well to serve as a voice of reason in any developing conflicts, saving Autumn many headaches he would have undoubtedly suffered from. While on a day-to-day basis he spent much of his time in the Ashville Clinic, his military duties largely extended to assisting with the management of Ashville's defense contingent.

Arcade was a far more recent arrival from the American West than the rest of Autumn's men, alongside a small but extremely seasoned squad of Enclave veterans who had fought even before Navarro had fallen, at the height of the Enclave's power. Men like Judah Kreger, Orion Moreno, and Cannibal Johnson were well-respected American Heroes, so too was Arcade Gannon, the man who'd brought them all to Ashville. Nowadays, they led the 37th Rifle Company under Autumn's own 69th Infantry Regiment, although their unofficial name was far more common, "Mojave Company."

Directly across from Arcade was Captain Franklin Mosley. Mosley was a fair bit older than Arcade, being in his late fifties, but despite his graying hair he was built like an olympic athlete and carried the same sense of stern professionalism that he always had. "Can you please try to take this seriously, Lieutenant?"

Autumn mentally prepared himself for what was no doubt going to be another meeting filled with petty debating between Mosley and Gannon. It couldn't be helped; they were the political equivalents of water and fire.

Thankfully for Autumn, Arcade was very well accustomed to Mosley's attempts to provoke a reaction out of him, and so was able to bite back any bitter remarks and answer Mosley professionally. "Yes, Captain." He then turned to Autumn, the very picture of professionalism, and asked, "What do you think sir, are we ready to begin?"

"So long as the rest of you are," Autumn remarked, giving Arcade a quiet nod of gratitude for smothering the minor confrontation before it could truly start. "Lieutenant Miller?"

The last officer present, sitting directly across from Autumn, was First Lieutenant Richard Miller. Richard was in his mid-thirties, although the stresses of command had clearly worn him down. Though his hair was still brown without a hint of graying, the age and weight of war could be clearly seen in the perpetually tired look in his green eyes. A significant cause of his lack of graying hair was probably because he tended to stay away from the political debates, which Autumn honestly envied. Richard handled much of the day-to-day oversight of the Enclave's operations, mainly on the logistics side of things, an essential role in any military, amongst a few other duties.

"I've cleared my schedule for the next three hours sir. I'm ready to begin." Richard replied, to which Autumn gave a nod of affirmation.

"Good, our first order of business is the ongoing rebuilding efforts in Ashville," Autumn began, pulling the first set of papers from the pile. "I've included here a list of developments that we will need to make by the end of the year. First and foremost is the construction of our first new Fusion Power Plant; if we're going to stop turning away refugees at the gate, we need the infrastructure to support them before we start taking them in."

"Do you still believe the Mutants will actually be useful to our cause?" Mosley asked.

Autumn could practically feel Arcade narrow his eyes at the language that Mosley used, and the implications that it carried… but Mosley did have a point.

"If we are going to rebuild America, we will need a vastly greater workforce than we currently possess," Autumn curtly answered. "While I agree that the typical Wastelander is not educated enough to serve our needs, that is an issue that can be corrected with sufficient effort."

Mosley nodded, seemingly satisfied with Autumn's explanation. While Ashville had been taking in Wastelanders with sufficient talent and mental stability for years, none were permitted to serve in certain roles; most notably the military. For Autumn, it was a matter of trust more than concern about whatever scrambled genetics a Wastelander might possess.

The typical Wastelander was ignorant. They held no love for their country, nor the values that it was founded upon. Integrating the population of Wastelanders, especially those mutated by radiation, had never been a part of the Enclave's plan. For Autumn, it was just one step on the journey towards the restoration of the United States. The Enclave was simply too small, they couldn't hope to save America all on their own.

Obviously, they had to draw the line somewhere. The likes of Ghouls and Super Mutants were simply too dangerous to be included in their plans, at least until some kind of treatment for their terrible mutations could be developed. As such, none were permitted anywhere near Ashville or the Air Force Base. But the others, the less abnormal denizens of the Wasteland, could still find a purpose to serve.

With a deep breath, Autumn refocused himself and turned to Arcade. "Lieutenant Gannon, have you completed your assessment of the blueprints? While I trust the work of our Pre-War progenitors, I would rather not take any chances."

"I have, and the reactor looks like it should be safe to install. The radiation shielding is actually stronger than it needs to be, but I agree, we still shouldn't take any risks with it," Arcade answered. "Just to be certain, I ran the blueprints by Big Mountain and-"

"You what?" Mosley demanded, slamming a heavy fist against the table and rising to his feet. "Lieutenant, those are classified documents! You can't just go sharing them with those without a clearance!" he barked, spittle flying from his lips during his outburst fueled by ill-contained rage.

Oh for God's sake… Autumn fought the urge to roll his eyes as he turned to face Mosley. "Captain, that's enough!" he barked with enough authority to shut the veteran soldier down where he stood. "You should know by now that the new Administrator and her staff are on our side! While I welcome your input, you will wait until the correct time to address your concerns!"

Mosley, to his credit, nodded professionally, sat back down and raised no further complaint. "Yes sir."

Autumn turned his attention back to Arcade, whose slight hints of smugness at Mosley's scolding vanished under Autumn's stern gaze. "And what did Big Mountain's team have to say about the blueprints?"

Arcade gave a small smile as he delivered his answer. "Everything seemed to check out as far as they can tell. One of their scientists offered up some suggestions for minor improvements we can make, although some of the finer details are a bit beyond me. I'm not an engineer, let alone a nuclear physicist. I imagine we're going to need a good deal of both if we even want to build this thing, let alone implement these upgrades."

"I can handle that," Richard interjected. "We have some training material that the Brotherhood gave us along with the rest of the Pentagon files. I'll grab a few of our more experienced civilian engineers in the field and have them familiarize themselves with the design while the reactor is under construction."

"An easy solution then, unless anyone had any further concerns?" Autumn said, but nobody spoke up. "Very good, in that case, I'll amend our budget to accommodate the reactor's construction."

One point down… forty-nine to go, hopefully the rest are that easy. Autumn thought as he suppressed a sigh.

These meetings were starting to get tiresome, and while they were important, Autumn knew that these weren't meant to be the duties of the military. In the past, the Enclave's military had reported to a civilian government, rightfully elected by the American people, which had handled such duties as managing budgets and constructing infrastructure. But the Enclave as it stood didn't have such a government, as America, or at least the parts that the Enclave still controlled, had been under martial law since the destruction of Control Station Enclave.

Again, Autumn looked down at his stack of papers. He'd planned to save his proposal to remedy that issue until the end of the meeting, but perhaps it made more sense to bring it up now. After all, it was by far the most important part of this meeting, and was likely to have a substantial impact. It was going to be controversial, but Autumn planned to mitigate that with some clever framing.

"Sir?" Arcade asked, prompting him out of his thoughts. Autumn turned to see the man had a discreet look of concern on his face. Autumn gave Arcade a subtle nod, a reassurance that he was still sound in the head, as he brushed aside his notes for the time being.

"Gentlemen, there's a matter that's been bothering me for a little over a week now that I'd like to discuss before we go any further…" Autumn began. In truth, this idea had been brewing in his mind for years, but he had indeed learned some rather shocking news only a week ago that made the matter more urgent. "It has come to my attention that Elder Sarah Lyons intends to form a new civilian government in the Capital Wasteland."

Eyebrows all around the table raised, but it was Arcade who spoke up first. "Not to speak out of line sir, but I don't think that they're a threat to us."

"Not militarily, no," Autumn replied. "But what does it say about us that the Enclave, the rightful government of the United States of America, continues to exist under martial law while the Brotherhood is laying the groundwork for their own Republic? It's a disgrace, and it must be remedied."

His officers listened intently. They could probably see where he was going with this, but they had the decency and professionalism to wait until he was finished speaking.

"I believe that it is high time that we restore the Civilian Government. We will elect a new president and representatives to lead the nation, leaving the military free to pursue more pressing matters," Autumn declared. "Kentucky alone has a myriad of threats that need to be addressed; the Wanamingo epidemic, the Feral Ghouls that stray out of Louisville, to say nothing of the bandits that harass our patrols."

A swift glance around the room revealed that everyone else seemed to feel the same apprehension that Autumn did, and he didn't blame them in the slightest. The last time that the Enclave had a President, it was a ZAX Supercomputer that had very nearly gotten away with a plot to poison the water supply of the Capital Wasteland with a lethal strain of the Forced Evolutionary Virus, dooming every mutant in the region. To say nothing of President Richardson's plan to do the same with the entire Earth, which had thankfully been stopped by, of all things, a Tribal.

"But all of these issues remain. Because of our lack of a government, we're here passing laws and planning a reconstruction for a nation that we have yet to reclaim," Autumn concluded, before taking a long, deep breath. "What do you all think? Are we going to ignore the principles of democracy, liberty, and freedom upon which our nation was founded any longer? Are we truly going to let the Brotherhood of Steel, of all people, show us up?"

There were various grumblings of agreement from around the whole table. For as much as a quiet desire for peace with the Brotherhood had settled within the hearts of some, that did not make them particularly popular. They were founded by a murderous traitor, claimed American property that was not theirs to keep, and at least in Arcade's case, had hunted him and his adoptive family down like animals.

"I think that's a great idea," Arcade slowly said, a slight look of disbelief on his face. "It's going to be incredibly difficult, don't get me wrong, but I think it'll be worth the effort, sir."

"Difficult is an understatement, we'd be starting from scratch," Mosley pointed out before turning to Richard. "Lieutenant Miller, is there anybody still around who was once a representative? Hell, even one of their secretaries?"

"I'm afraid not, we did have a Senator who survived Raven Rock's destruction, but he died alongside the rest of the traitors at Adam's Air Force Base," Richard answered after a moment's thought. "That being said, it's not like we've somehow lost the structure of our own government. Organizing elections would probably be the toughest part, but it's far from out of the question."

Mosley nodded, but kept a stern expression as he calmly spoke. "And who all would be taking part in this election? Our Soldiers? Or are we going to entrust our future to the mutants in Ashville?"

A hint of annoyance crossed Autumn's mind, this was an issue that he'd foreseen. The population of "Pure" Humans in the Enclave had steadily dwindled ever since the fall of Control Station Enclave, and the amount of "Purists" who cared had dwindled even faster, especially since most of them had gone down fighting at Adam's Air Force Base. Autumn had personally come to view the genetic differences between the radiation-affected "mutants" that the Enclave had taken in and the Enclave's existing members to be a non-issue.

Conversely, there was nobody in the Enclave who could deny that Mosley loved his country. It was the kind of patriotism that Autumn appreciated, and with it came a sense of loyalty that had kept Mosley by his side for many years. Mosley might've been a stick in the mud, but he was a good friend, and an even better soldier.

Arcade answered with a sternness that rivaled Mosley's own. "Everyone. The last I checked, America ended segregation in the 1960s."

The sense of annoyance Autumn felt only grew as Arcade answered Mosley's challenge almost exactly as Autumn had predicted. Getting the two of them to work together on a good day was difficult enough, but this effort to rebuild the government was going to be a new degree of hellishly difficult.

Just as Mosley was a man so buried in the Enclave's past that he couldn't see their present, Arcade and his "Reformers" were blind idealists who didn't seem to be able to process the idea that a bunch of barely-educated Wastelanders might not be ready to decide the fate of America. That said, Autumn found it hard to criticize their desire to help their fellow Americans who so direly needed the aid. They were good people, but good people had trouble making hard decisions.

Frankly, it was a miracle that both groups hadn't started shooting at each other.

Mosley was about halfway through defending his stance when Autumn spoke over him. "While I appreciate that the nuances of our upcoming plans are going to be very important, we should start with the basics. We can no longer rely on the Electoral College, and so we should look into what other forms of vote should be held."

Autumn reached down to his notes where he'd already drafted a few ideas when, much to his irritation, his personal radio chirped from its place on his belt.

This had better be good… Autumn thought, sparing a glance at his officers who obligingly waited while he unclasped the boxy radio and held it to his ear. "This is Eagle Actual, send traffic."

"Eagle Actual, this is Mike-One Juliet," a woman's voice calmly addressed him.

Autumn's growing anger rapidly subsided as he recognized the callsign, Mike-One Juliet was one of the dispatch officers at the Enclave Control Tower. If they had news for him, it was probably worth interrupting a meeting.

She continued without skipping a beat. "We've received a distress call from Bravo-One Charlie out on patrol near Fort Knox. They're reporting contact from an estimated one-hundred plus hostile foot-mobiles, most likely bandits, over."

A scowl found its way onto Autumn's face. For a raider gang of that size to have snuck up on Fort Knox, something must've gone catastrophically wrong. The Enclave had their eyebots on patrol looking for exactly such a situation, and while their current relationships with their neighboring settlements was… lukewarm, it seemed unlikely that they would hesitate to inform the Enclave about such a gang. They had in the past requested their assistance dealing with similar matters, most notably Feral Ghoul Hordes and Wanamingo Nests, both of which the Enclave was happy to exterminate.

What was far more likely was that Bravo-One Charlie had simply misread the situation, but that didn't mean that Autumn was about to let a raider gang flagrantly attack American Soldiers. And on the off-chance that such a major security breach had occurred, a swift and harsh response was critical to ensuring the security of Ashville and the Air Force Base.

"Mike-One Juliet, this is Eagle Actual," Autumn replied. "Order all available 1st Cavalry elements to scramble and reinforce that patrol. Have one Vertibird standby on the tarmac, I'll be sending their commander to join them momentarily. I'll head up to the tower myself shortly, over."

Captain Mosley was already standing up from his chair as Mike-One Juliet sent back the confirmation that she'd received and passed along Autumn's orders. As soon as the orders were processed, Autumn turned his attention to Mosley.

Of all the damned days… Autumn thought. "Franklin, we have some unwelcome guests,

raiders out by Fort Knox, and a lot of them. Arcade, gather your combat medic team and follow along in another Vertibird, we might have wounded that need to be treated."

Much to Autumn's relief, both officers answered with a firm "Yes sir!" They departed from the Command Bunker quickly, and despite their earlier conflict, they seemed to be sparing the other no more than a dirty glare.

Perhaps a common enemy will remind them that we're all on the same side, Autumn thought, before turning to the only other officer left in the room. "Richard, can you have a look at my notes while I handle this? I'd appreciate your insight on what realistic options we have."

"Whatever you need, sir," Richard replied as they both stood up, Autumn to leave, and Richard to take his former seat. "Oh, and sir? Should I consider the Wastelanders eligible voters?"

Autumn paused. It was a bit of an on-the-spot question, but one that he'd been prepared for. For as flawed as the common Wastelander who had made it into Ashville was, they were still American Citizens born on American soil. It was their right, just as it was the Enclave's right, not to mention duty, to restore the American Government. "Yes."

With no further delay, Autumn walked out of the Command Bunker, making sure to take the stairs as he made his way up to the Enclave Control Tower.


Author's Notes:

It's about high time I got around to writing an Enclave story, isn't it? Well, no matter, it's here now and I certainly hope you all enjoy what's to come. While I've had the idea for a Knightfall Sequel bouncing around in my head for some time, it took me a while to find a good idea, and by God have I had one.

I would like to give a special thanks to my gallant editors, SardonicEffigy, CT-5555, BrownCoat, and AlphaSpartan117, without whom this story would not be possible.

I would also like to give my thanks to the youtube channel "Enclave Radio" for inspiring the patriotic spirit necessary to get the tone right, and for the excellent writing music. For anybody looking for background music for this story, I recommend their playlist.