We made our way northwest with the Legion. The troops were focused and ready, the deathclaws armored and prepared to unleash their particular kind of hell onto the Enclave. Every vertirbid in the fleet flew in a tight pattern around the Prydwen. The machine of war that was the Legion was fully in gear and in the next few minutes we would arrive at the entrance to the Enclave's headquarters. The air was filled with the anxiousness of warriors prepared to give their all in the act of defeating our enemies.

I stood on the bridge of the Prydwen beside Serena and T'Preea, watching as the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains crawled into view. The tension on the bridge was high. Our intelligence showed that the Enclave didn't have much in the way of an air force, but that didn't mean we wouldn't hit some resistance.

"Destination in sight," one of the crewmen called out. "Estimated time of arrival; three minutes."

"Scramble the vertibirds," Serena commanded. "Engage the target immediately. All munitions authorized. I want them nice and soft before the ground groups arrive."

"Aye, Ma'am!" another crewman replied before relaying the order over the radio.

Outside, the vertibirds detached from their holding pattern around the Prydwen, leaping forward in speed and diving down. The bright tracers of their weapons snapped through the air and the area before them began to crack and explode. A cloud of dust and debris rose from the bombardment as the vertibirds weaved themselves around the area, attacking from multiple angles.

Finally, after what seemed like minutes, return fire began to tap away at the Prydwen's hull. Anti-air weapons weren't something that really existed anymore since air combat was nearly non-existent… except when it came to the Legion. The pings and pangs of fire we heard were from powerful rifles whose range was strained in the attempt at even reaching the Prydwen simply because of how high above the ground level we were. Nothing to worry about so far.

A crewman check in, turning to face us, "Caesar, Legate Malpaius reports that the ground forces are closing in on the target. He requests permission to engage."

"Granted," I replied quickly, my tone authoritative and sure. "Command the Legate to have his men engage from medium rang and maintain cover until the pack has fully engaged the enemy."

"As you command, Caesar!" the crewman called back and relayed the orders.

"How much longer do you think they'll be?" T'Preea asked.

"Just a few more moments," I replied with a smirk.

Meirune and his deathclaws were moving through a tunnel I was creating beneath the ground at that very moment. The entire pack, nearly one hundred fully armored deathclaws, were charging forward. I kept the tunnel wide enough for five of them to walk abreast and opened it up about fifty feet behind the entrance to the Enclave's headquarters. I could sense the deathclaws spilling out of the sudden opening and sensed the vibrations of explosions and violence they caused as soon as they entered the Enclave's halls.

"The deathclaws have engaged the enemy," I announced. "Command the Legates to move in, but proceed with caution and report any status changes once they've encountered the enemy."

"Yes, Caesar!" a crewman called before relaying my orders down to the ground troops.

I gave a mental sigh. The Enclave had headquartered themselves in the Rocky Mountains, which meant that not only were they in a terrain I was extremely familiar with, they were also surrounded by stone that I could have easily crushed them all to death with. Would that it were so simple. Destroying the Enclave on my own wouldn't do anything for my men. A leader needed to show that their army was useful and a part of the effort.

Soldiers also needed to be seasoned. They needed combat experience so that when they went into a battle later, they would be ready for what was to come. An army that had never seen war was no army at all, and this would be the first major engagement since the Legion became one cohesive force. This battle was important for a variety of reasons, but making it a victory for the soldiers themselves was most important. I wanted them to have that confidence, to have the idea in their head that I needed them to fight these battles for me, and to give them the confidence to know that they could fight without me.

I needed to be Caesar. I needed to be the leader. They needed to be my sword. So as much as I wanted to simply crush the Enclave from existence on my own, I had to allow my army to do it for me.

"Ground forces have engaged the enemy, Caesar," the crewman reported.

Eric leaned down to whisper into my ear, "Would you like to prepare to disembark, Caesar?"

I looked back at him and nodded, "Have the Praetorian Guard prepare for the jump. We'll allow the men to fight for a few minutes before I do what I need to do."

Eric nodded and turned, "Praetorians! Prepare to jump."

Eric and the Praetorians marched out of the bridge.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" T'Preea asked. "You don't have to go down there. We outnumber them and outgun them. This will probably only take a few hours at most to flush them all out of those tunnels."

"I told Atom I would finish what he started and I intend to be a woman of my word," I replied. "I want this initial strike to be the most difficult part of the battle. Tunnel fighting is dangerous and I don't want to risk losing more men than is necessary."

"You should appreciate her decision," Serena smirked at T'Preea. "After all, a dwarf ought to know all about fighting in tunnels."

I grinned up at Serena, "At least someone here hasn't forgotten."

"Hey! I didn't forget," T'Preea protested. "I just figured we could let the soldiers do their thing without having to get involved."

"I swore I would do my part and I shall," I replied. "Besides, seeing me on the battlefield will bolster morale."

"Alright," T'Preea shrugged. "We'll wait for your order from here, I guess."

I nodded and waited for word that the Preatorian Guard were ready to jump.

"Serena, you have command," I said as I walked off the bridge. "Make sure none of them get away."

"You ferret them out and we'll finish the job," Serena replied.

I made my way down to the vertibird docking stations where the Eric and the Praetorian Guard waited for me. They were wearing the newest, most advanced version of power armor that the Ala Miraculorum had developed. The armor was sleek and far less bulky than other kinds of power armor found in the armor sported hidden guns, multiple trauma response systems, person shield generation, and the ability to fire arcs of electricity. It was designed to look both regal and intimidating.

I looked up at the Praetorians, "Are we ready to jump?"

"Are you not going with us, Caesar?" Eric asked, noticing my lack of armor or jump pack.

I laughed and stepped to the edge of the platform, "I've actually only done this a few times, but I guess you weren't here to see it. I'll be jumping too." I turned and grinned at the Praetorians, tossing them a quick salute as I let myself fall backwards off the platform, "Catch me if you can!"

The Praetorians panicked and immediately leapt after me, using their jump jets to try and catch up. To the horror of the Praetorian Guard, I was too far away for them to stop my fall. However, to their confusion, I simply slipped into the ground as if there were simply more air, melding with it before popping back up in the spot I had disappeared from. I smiled wide at them as I reappeared and they were trying to figure out what had just happened.

I cackled at the Praetorians as the checked me over for any injuries, waving them off calmly, "It's ok. It's just a little trick I can do. Focus on the mission. I need you men ready to fight any enemies off while I do my part."
It took Eric some time to settle down after my stunt to bring the Praetorians into line. I admit, the prank was pretty mean to pull on the guards who were charged with my personal safety, but sometimes you just needed to let out a little mischief. A battlefield probably wasn't the best choice to do that in hindsight.

We'd landed about two hundred feet from one of the tunnel entrances just behind the Legion's lines. As we approached the Legion support line, calls went out that Caesar had arrived. This was a bit of surprise because I hadn't announced my arrival or what I was doing here.

One of the battlefield lieutenants approached and saluted, "Caesar! How can we be of service?"

I smiled up at the man and pointed to the entrance, "I need to get to that tunnel entrance. I'd like your men to clear a path for me."

The lieutenant looked at the ground between us and the entrance to the tunnel, "It will be done, Caesar. Give us just a few minutes."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," I nodded and moved to parade rest as I waited for the path to be cleared.

The lieutenant got the attention of his men and barked out commands for his men to prepare a series of volleys that would clear the path. I watched as artillery rounds were prepped, machine guns were manned and firing lines prepared to focus their aim on the path that needed to cleared. There was heavy resistance at the tunnel entrances that the Legion was steadily clearing. However, once all of the firepower in an area had been directed at a particular point, the destructive force brought to bare was overwhelming. The next minutes was filled with the thunderous roar of explosions and heavy arms fire. The barrage never once let up, a constant cacophony of explosive violence until a shrill whistle finally broke through the weapons fire to signal a halt.

A dust cloud had covered the area ahead and took some time before it dissipated, revealing a scene of destruction. Where there had once been barricades and multiple entrenchment lines, there now simply flat ground pockmarked by explosive death. It was an impressive sight even with the dead bodies scattered around the debris field. I quietly wished we'd had these weapons for the dwarves back in Thedas for the Battle of Ostagar. Things would have gone so much easier.

I smirked in approval of the destruction and began to march forward, "Let's go."

Eric and the Praetorians marched ahead with me in perfect lock-step. The ground in this path had been pulverized into fine powder, the few stone structures that had been there were little more than dirt clods that could be pushed over at a whim. I wasn't worried too much about the Enclave soldiers recovering too quickly from something so overwhelming, especially not in the area close to us. There was no time to really admire the sheer destruction of the Legion bombardment, though. Every so often we would pass by a member of the Enclave who was still breathing, or in the process of dying after the bombardment. One of the Praetorians would stop and put the man out of his misery while the rest of us carried on. We were here to wipe them out, so there was no need to leave them to a slow, agonizing death. A bullet was far more merciful than the plans their leaders had for the rest of us.

I needed to get to a camera or a microphone to complete the Entity's work. Something told me that the Enclave had to know I was there. I had considered broadcasting from the Prydwen, but they had likely ceased receiving outside communications since they would likely have had a detrimental effect on morale. I had to assume there would be some kind of communication system near the entrances. It would only make sense for a network of tunnels and bunkers that were as expansive as these were. If something were to happen at one entrance, they would need to be able to alert the rest of the complex.

I tapped a communicator on my gauntlet's wrist, tuning to Meirune's personal channel, "Caesar to Meirune. Do you copy?"

An electronic squelch snapped back as the response came in, "I am here, Caesar. What is your command?" There were screams and sounds of ballistic and laser gunfire going off around him, as well as the roars of deathclaws who were finally being allowed to truly let loose on an enemy.

"Keep your eyes peeled for any kind of communication room," I replied. "See if your deathclaws can get someone to tell you where one is. If I can find one, I think things will go much faster."

"It will be, done, Caesar," Meirune answered over the scream of some poor human he must have gotten his claws on. "I will notify you if we get any information."

"Thank you!" I replied chipperly. Meirune had proven to be an excellent discovery, even if discovering him had cost the lives of a few dozen people, including my parents. I still felt bad about the mistake I'd made that day, and the haste with which I dove into the lab without considering that it might have countermeasures. But every time I looked at Meirune and watched his pack handle jobs that humans simply weren't cut out for, I knew it was for the best.

The momentum we had with our opening attack was considerable. Deathclaws raging through the tunnels while we attacked multiple entrances at once had to be dividing the Enclave's forces. If I could just get to a communication room, I could make things so much easier for us. One single push and we would watch the Enclave tear itself apart and I could unleash a collection of nightmares I'd been gathering since we left Far Harbor. The Enclave would never see it coming.