Chapter 26: Kill Them All

The trip to the White House Plaza was long, but not nearly as long and treacherous as it would have been if not for Marcus' truck. The fact that Donovan and the Brotherhood Scribes had improved it's suspension allowed them to drive over some of the piles of rubble, that would otherwise have forced them to take the metro tunnels. During the trip, both Marcus and Charon quickly realized that trying to have small talk with Gallows was an impossible feat. To say the Knight Commander was the strong silent type was an understatement, and after finally giving up, Charon closed the truck's rear window and turned to the Wanderer. "God, was I that bad when we met?"

Marcus thought for a moment before answering. "Not as bad, but close."

Charon seemed to be deep in thought. "Well, thank you for putting up with me."

"I'm just glad to see you're finally coming out of your shell."

Charon shrugged. "Yeah, well, a certain smart-ass Vault dweller helped me out with that."

Marcus chuckled. They drove for a few more minutes, and when Marcus glanced in the truck's side mirror, he spotted the scare on his left cheek from his battle with Colonel Autumn. He ran his fingers along it as the memory of that battle flashed into his mind. While he had no regrets about killing the man, the memory of Marcus holding the butcher's head under water until his body went limp made him shudder.

"Don't worry, you're just as ugly as you were before the battle."

Marcus put his hand down and gave his friend a sideways look. "Clover said girls like scares."

"Well...that is something she would say."

"I don't see any girls banging down your door."

"Well that's because we haven't been near any ghouls. Back in Underworld, I was a stud."

Marcus snorted and rolled his eyes. "I remember you blowing off a female the day I hired you."

Charon let out a sigh as the memory came back. "Yeah. Mary. She's a nice girl. Maybe I'll look her up when all of this is over. And what about you? Still caring a torch for a certain girl living in a Vault?"

Marcus' mood suddenly went from carefree to soar. "I don't want to talk about it."

Charon nodded. "Fair enough. But if you hadn't noticed, life tends to be pretty short out here, and you shouldn't pass up a good opportunity."

Marcus turned to his friend. "What opportunity?"

Charon chuckled. Poor kid, it was obvious to everyone who fought at the battle at Project Purity, especially after the way Sarah reacted to Reilly in the science lab. Still, he wasn't going to make easy for him. "That's for you to figure out, kid."

Marcus turned his attention back to the road. "Fuck you." he calmly said.

Charon grinned. "You're welcome."

As the name implied, the White House Plaza was outside where the residence of America's Chief Executive used to be. Now, all that remained was a two-hundred year old crater inhabited by feral ghouls. As Marcus stared through the melted bars of the iron fence that once surrounded it, his heart broke as he remembered the pictures he had seen of this place as a child. The White House was a magnificent building, worthy to be the seat of government for a great nation. Now, like the nation it once represented, it was nothing but dust.

America, was truly, gone.

As Marcus pondered this, he remembered what his old teacher, Mr. Brotch, told them when teaching American history. America, he said, was more then just a place. More then just buildings and monuments. America, was an idea. The idea that a man's life was his own, and that he served no master. The government served the people, not the other way around, and that same government's responsibility was to provide the people with the security they would need to live their lives as they saw fit. Mr. Brotch always said that as long as there was a place on earth where these ideas lived, America would live.

"You come'in, kid?" Charon asked.

Marcus snapped out of his train of thought and turned to his team. A small squad of Brotherhood Knights had been tasked with keeping the Plaza secured until the trio had arrived, and then they were ordered to rendezvous with the rest of the Brotherhood for the final assault on Adams Air Force base. The entrance to the Presidential Metro was through a manhole cover in the street, and from there a maintenance tunnel would take them to the rest of the metro. The BOS soldiers informed them they had encountered a hostile military Sentry bot just inside the Presidential metro, and though they destroyed it, the Brotherhood suffered one Knight killed, and two others wounded. Marcus cursed when he heard this; wishing he'd brought pulse grenades. Still, it didn't matter, for in thirteen hours Hercules would be over the Capitol, and the Citadel would be destroyed - taking Sarah and the Elder with it.

Marcus readied his plasma rifle, and his team entered the tunnel.

Just as Marcus suspected, the Presidential Metro, while several damaged, was in remarkably good condition considering what had happened two-hundred years ago. The fact that the lights were still on, and the air filtration system was still working, proved the engineering superiority of the old world. As they walked past the remains of the Sentry Bot destroyed by the BOS, the team came across something else neither of them ever thought they'd see: an intact train and rail.

"Wow." Charon said as they approached. "Looks like it's been untouched."

Marcus stepped inside and examined the panel. "Yeah, but there's no power. I wonder if we could get it going."

"Do you really think it could run after all these years?" the ghoul asked.

Marcus shrugged. "I don't know, but one thing I've learned out here is that the Old World built things to last. I say we take a look around."

"Fair enough." He turned to Gallows. "What do you think?"

The Knight Commander just shrugged.

"That's what I thought. Lead the way, Marcus."

They continued to explore the metro, which surprisingly, seemed quiet. Too quiet, as Charon pointed out. They came upon a corps, dressed in a business suit and holding a brief case. When Marcus examined the remains, he found a US government ID and examined it. "This is a Senator's ID."

Charon looked down at the body. "Looks like he missed his train."

Marcus placed the ID in his armor. "Could come in handy. Let's check out this hallway."

They continued exploring, until finally they went through two double doors, and found themselves in a room containing a large computer terminal and mainframe. As they approached a robotic, yet feminine voice, greeted them. "Warning. Due to a major security breach, this system is on code red alert status. Prepare for security check. Attempting to identify local user...identification failed. This access point is restricted only to authorized personnel. Failure to comply will result in the use of deadly force."

'Oh shit', Marcus thought. Remembering the Senator's ID, he quickly placed it up the computer's scanner.

"Identification accepted. Welcome, Senator. How may I assist you?"

Marcus let out the breath he was holding. He heard Charon let out a laugh to his right. "Lone Wanderer, Wasteland Saint, Emancipator, Hero of Project Purity. Now: Senator. I think you've taken a step down, kid."

Marcus shrugged. "If it gives us access, I don't care if it thinks I'm Dracula." He stared at the computer. "What is your designation?"

"I am the Metro Authority Rapid Government Transit system, or M.A. .T. My primary function is to maintain security for the Presidential Metro System and ensure the safety of all it's passengers."

"Okay...Margot, I need to get to Adams Air Force base. Is there anyway you can get the trains running again?"

"Access to the train line to Adams Air Force Base is currently impossible due to a security breach in the southeast tunnels. The security breach has also damaged the train line as well, and cannot be repaired until the security breach is dealt with."

Marcus and Charon gave each other a worried glance. "Do you think the Enclave sabotaged the trains?" Marcus asked.

"There is no record of "Enclave" in my memory banks."

"Well that's a relieve." Charon said.

Marcus turned back to Margot. "What can you tell me about the security breach."

"Sensors are detecting numerous unidentified persons in the southeast tunnels area. They have damaged metro equipment and have refused dialogue with our security units. In accordance with US security statute A567/B, the use of deadly force has been authorized."

"What can you tell us about the hostiles."

"I apologize, my sensing equipment for this purpose must be malfunctioning."

"What makes you say that?" Marcus asked.

"My equipment indicates the persons posses no internal body heat, and are emitting lethal levels of radiation."

Both Marcus and Charon let out a groan. It could only be one thing: ferals. Marcus had an idea. "Margot, if all hostiles are eliminated, can you repair the train?"

"Affirmative. When all hostiles are eliminated, my system will return to green, and I will send repair units to the train."

"Do you know the number of hostiles in the tunnels?"

"An exact count is impossible due to the fact they are currently engaged with our security units, but I estimate there are currently no less then thirty hostiles in the tunnels."

Chaorn's jaw dropped. "Thirty!"

Marcus had to resist the urge to pound his fist on the computer's console. "What is the status of your security units?"

"Currently, twenty-two percent of our security units have been depleted due to hostile action."

"Can you order your units not to shoot at us when we engage the hostiles?" Marcus asked.

"Yes. Upon properly identifying yourself, you and members of your party have been tagged as friendly, and will not be fired on by the security units."

"Well," Charon began, "at least we'll have some back-up."

Marcus nodded. He put away his plasma rifle and removed his desert eagle. No sense wasting the precious microfusion cells on ferals. "Alright, we'll head down the tunnels and clear them out. With any luck, the train will get fixed and we can ride it to Adams."

Charon replaced the tungsten rounds in his shotgun with buckshot. "Sounds like a plan." He turned to Gallows. "You ready, Master Chief?"

Gallows just stared at the ghoul through the visor of his helmet. Marcus looked at his friend in confusion. "Master Chief?"

"The main character from a popular video game series before the war. I'll tell you all about it when this is over, but trust me," he looked over at the Knight Commander, "the name fits."

Marcus just looked at both men and shrugged. The Overseer of the Vault had banned video games, calling them a waste of time and "mind numbing". The name seemed appropriate to Charon, given that Gallows hardly ever said a word, and was almost never seen without his armor. In fact, despite fighting together, neither he nor Marcus knew what Gallows looked like under his helmet.

The trio made their way towards the southeast tunnels, and soon they could hear the sounds of battle, and the tell-tale growls of feral ghouls. When they entered the tunnels, the battle raging was both chaotic and brutal. Eleven security bots of all types, Sentry bots, Mr. Gutsy's and Robobrains, were locked in battle with over thirty ghouls. Marcus could see that many of the ferals were glowing ones, and he was grateful that he was now immune to radiation. The battle looked like every scifi-geeks dream: robots verses zombies.

"So what's the plan?" Charon asked.

Marcus tightened the grip on his desert eagle. "Get out there and start shoot'in."

Charon shrugged. "Simple enough."

The trio emerged from cover and charged forward. Thanks to MARGoT, the robots completely ignored them and concentrated on the ferals, making it that much easier to pick them off. The ferals were relentless, and wave after wave fell to Marcus, his team, and the robot's fire. For a moment Marcus thought the battle, while intense, was more like target practice, as the feral ghoul's bodies began piling up. That was until he saw a rather odd looking feral, that seemed to have green fumes emanating from it. The ghoul charged at a Mr. Gutsy, and Marcus expected to see it gunned down like all the other. Instead, the feral spit what looked like a blob of acid, similar to a Centaur's, at the robot, hitting it's optic sensor. The acid destroyed it in seconds, blinding the robot. What happened next shocked everyone. The feral descended on the robot, and using it's claws, ripped the robot's chassis open.

Marcus looked over at Charon, who had a look of horror on his face. "REAVER!"

Before Marcus could ask what that was, the deadly feral ghoul now focused his attention on them, and charged. Marcus and Charon both opened fire, scoring several hits, but the Reaver kept coming at a tremendous speed. Before they knew it, the feral was on them, and Charon tried to hit it with the butt of his shotgun, only to be knocked against the wall like a rag doll. Marcus aimed his pistol at the Reaver's head, but the feral knocked the weapon out of his hand with one swipe. The Reaver struck again, and Marcus raised his arms just in time to block the blow. The creature's acid covered claws left gouges in his armor, and Marcus knew it wouldn't last long under a sustained assault. The creature swiped again, leaving gouges on the other arm, and knocking Marcus to the ground. Just as the Reaver was about to descend on him, laser fire from Gallows' rifle peppered the creature, causing him to stumble back. Focusing on the new threat, the Reaver leaped over Marcus and charged at Gallows, who stood perfectly still. At the last moment, Marcus watched as Gallows disappeared, and the Reaver slammed into the wall at full speed.

While the creature remained stunned, Gallows turned off his cloaking device, and Marcus drew his sawed-off shotgun. "Gallows!" He tossed the weapon, and the Knight Commander caught it. The Reaver turned around, and Gallows fired both barrels at point-blank range, blowing the creature's head off.

With the rest of the ghoul's eliminated, Gallows approached Marcus and helped him up. After returning his shotgun, they checked on Charon, who had just regained consciousness.

"Are you alright?" Marcus asked as he helped his friend up.

"Yeah. Hurt my pride more then anything." They walked over to the body of the Reaver.

"You called it a Reaver." Marcus said.

"Yes. The most dangerous type of feral out there. Hu. I haven't seen one in a long time. I'd hoped they'd gone extinct."

Marcus stared at the gouges on his armor, and they were still smoking from the acid. He was grateful these ferals were rare. "Alright. Let's go report to Margot that she can repair the train." He checked the time on his PIPBOY. "Let's hope it doesn't take too long.

Ten miles outside of downtown D.C., in the small town of Camp Springs, Maryland, one-hundred and fifty members of the Brotherhood of Steel, gathered in a small burned-out suburb not far from Adams Air Force base. Leading them was Paladin Tristen, Star Paladin Cross, and the rest of the Lyon's Pride. Joining this massive force, was the Meta Human Fawkes, and while the rest of the BOS soldiers were weary of him, they were not hostile. Fawkes was disapointed that he could not join his friends as they snuck into the Enclave base, but he knew it was for practical reasons that Marcus didn't choose him. Marcus' mission required stealth, and that was something the Meta Human was not very good at. As Marcus told him "you're much better at breaking down the front door then sneaking in the back", and that is exactly what Fawkes planned to do. If he couldn't be by his friend's side, he would do what he could to aid the main assault force when they stormed the base.

Fawkes wasn't the only one disappointed in their assignment. Star Paladin Cross had insisted on staying with the Elder at the Citadel, since she was responsible for his safety. The Elder had refused, saying that dying with him would serve no purpose. "If you wish to help me and Sarah," he'd told her, "assist Marcus in the final battle against the Enclave." Cross could not argue with the logic, but it still pained her to not be by her leader's side. As she sat in the remains of a burned out house, sharpening the blade of her super sledge, she vowed that if the Elder died, not one Enclave soldier would live.

Unfortunately, the repairs to the train system took longer then Marcus thought, and by the time they arrived at Adams, they had just over an hour left before Hercules would be in firing position above the Capital. After quickly dispatching the two un-suspecting Enclave soldiers guarding the station, they emerged from the metro, and they could hear the sound of Vertibirds landing and taking off. They had made it to the airbase.

"Stealth boys now!" Gallows whispered as he disappeared. Marcus and Charon quickly activated the camouflage devises, and they both stared at their now invisible arms and hands. Gallows explained that while the miracle devise that would cloak them, they were not completly invisible. If one got too close to an enemy, or if the lighting suddenly changed around them, it was possible for the enemy to detect them. Plus, the stealth boy only lasted ten minutes, requiring the user to hide, then activate another devise to maintain camouflage.

"Okay," Marcus began, "you have the C-4?"

Charon tapped the bag. "Yeah. Master Chief and I will take care of their Vertibirds."

"Wait until I find the up link, then we'll set off the explosives."

"Okay. Watch yourself out there."

"You too."

Charon and Gallows headed towards the airfield, while Marcus headed for the control tower, hoping to find the satellite up link inside. Lucky for them, night had fallen on the Wasteland, and it made sneaking around that much easier. Charon counted no less then twenty-five Vertibirds on the tarmac, and another ten stored in hangers. He and Gallows began the painstaking task of placing C-4 underneath the aircraft. In addition to having to keep on eye on his stealth boy's time, he and Gallows had to avoid the numerous Enclave soldiers patrolling the runway. Charon was sweating as he placed his fifth C-4 underneath a Vertibird. He looked at his watch: fifty-five minutes left before Hercules was fired.

Marcus was sneaking behind a large hanger containing what looked like some kind of research lab, when he was forced to hide behind a stack of crates. A moment later his stealth boy ran out, and he quickly activated another one. 'I hope these things don't cause brain damage', he thought. He was about to move out when he heard voices on the other side of the crates.

"In forty-five minutes we're going to fire the satellite, and finally end those Brotherhood bastards!"

"Finally. We should've done this weeks ago. When the troops move out, will the up link crawler be heading out as well?"

"No, it's safer to keep it here from now. We probably won't need the satellite after this, but you never know."

Marcus listened as the two scientist walked away. The satellite controls were in some kind of mobile command center. Taking a quick look around, he decided to break radio silence. "Charon. Can you hear me?"

"Yeah. What is it?"

"The up link is in some kind of mobile command center."

"Let me guess, it's a large earth-mover on tank treads, with large antennas and satellite dishes on top of it, right?"

Marcus paused for a moment. "That...sounds about right. How did you know?"

Charon was crouched by a Vertibird, staring at the massive crawler. "Lucky guess."

Marcus finally caught on and rolled his eyes. "Where is it?"

"On the east side of the runway." He looked at the time. "You'd better hurry, we're almost done."

Marcus looked around again. "Okay." He moved out, and quickly exited the labs. As he made his way towards the east side of the base, he spotted the massive crawler and picked up the pace. He was making his way around a hanger when he nearly ran smack into an Enclave soldier. Both men stopped, and Marcus stood perfectly still, hoping the camouflage would fool him. For a moment it seemed like it did, but then the soldier leaned in for a closer look. "What the hell!"

Marcus had to act fast. He raised his plasma rifle and fired a single shot, striking him in the face. The soldier screamed, and as he fell down dead, his M5 carbine went off. Alarms blared, search lights began to turn on, and Enclave soldiers began running around and yelling. Marcus quickly ducked inside the hanger and hid in the corner. He knew it would only be a matter of time before they were caught, and time was up. "Charon! Blow it!"

Charon was still crouched beside a Vertibird when he heard foot steps behind him. He quickly turned - just as Gallows appeared. "We have to move!"

Charon followed the Knight Commander to a pile of sandbags on the opposite side of the runway. "Marcus! We haven't finished placing the..."

"It's too late! Blow the fucking thing!"

Charon removed the detonator, and looked over at Gallows. "You ready, Master Chief?"

The Knight Commander gave a silent nod. Charon closed his eyes and pushed the button.

The Pride was cleaning their weapons for the third time when the sky lite up. All of the BOS soldiers stood up, and watched the explosions taking place just over the horizon. Paladin Tristen quickly jumped up on a boulder and addressed the attack force. "This is it everyone! Remember what's at stake. We either win, or we die!" He raised his rifle in the air. "For the Brotherhood!"

"FOR THE BROTHERHOOD!"

The attack force surged froward.

One by one, the parked Vertibirds were engulfed in flames and turned to burning hulks of scrap metal. Several Enclave soldiers and pilots were also caught in the devastation and blown to pieces. Inside the crawler, Colonel Steven McGuiness, the highest ranking member left in Enclave, watched the devastation unfold, and immediately began shouting commands. "Get what ever aircraft we have left in the air right now! I want this crawler locked down; no one gets in or out!" He turned to his second in command, a young Major who was a Lieutenant just a couple of weeks ago. "We're heading up to the control room. In thirty minutes we are going to fire Hercules and bury the Brotherhood once and for all!"

Taking advantage of their distraction, and his stealth boy, Marcus quickly made his way to the base of crawler. He cautiously walked up the long gangway, when he noticed the crawler's massive door begin to close. Marcus threw caution to the wind, and took off in a full sprint. The door was more then halfway closed when he leaped through it, and he landed hard on the metal floor. He quickly got up and looked around. Luckily, no one saw him enter. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he tried to raise Charon through his ear piece. "Charon, can you hear me?"

"..."

"Charon? Can you hear me? Gallows?"

"..."

"Shit!" He checked the time on his PIPBOY. Twenty-four minutes until Hercules was in firing position. Marcus shook his head as his breathing returned to normal. "Twenty-four minutes to save the world." he sighed. Activating his second to last stealth boy, he headed deeper into the crawler.

Two rockets slamming into the guard towers of the front gate announced the arrival of the Brotherhood. The remaining Enclave guards were quickly cut down as the one-hundred fifty strong assault force charged the main gate. Leading the charge was Fawkes, who gleefully unleashed hell with his Gatling laser. The Meta Human ripped the chain off the gate, and pushed it open with his massive hands. Fawkes let out a battle roar as he charged onto the airbase; the armor-clad army following his lead.

Charon could see the attack force engaging the Enclave forces on the tarmac. He tried in vain to get in touch with Marcus, but something was blocking the signal. He wanted to head for the crawler and try to find him, but Enclave soldiers began firing on their position. He and Gallows returned fire, but they were both pinned down.

The BOS soldiers were slowly, but steadily pushing further into the base. Two surviving Enclave Vertibirds managed to lift off and headed towards the battle. Tristen turned to the Pride. "Alright Glade, let's show them our new teeth."

Glade slung the awkward Tesla cannon on his shoulder, and Paladin Kodiak loaded an electron charge pack into it.

"Fire in the hole!" Glade yelled. He pulled the trigger, and a bright flash of light sailed through the air and slammed into one of the Vertibirds, obliterating it. Kodiak loaded another round, tapped Glade on the top of his head, and the Paladin Glade fired, taking down the other aircraft. He stared at the weapon in amazement. "I've gotta get me one of these!"

The Brotherhood pushed forward, and the Enclave troops were falling back. Charon and Gallows were still pinned down, when the Knight Commander tapped Charon on the shoulder. "Don't wonder off."

He activated his cloak, and Charon did a double take. "What the...damn it!" He reloaded is shotgun and returned fire on the four troopers that had him pinned down. They're attention was so focused on the ghoul that they failed to notice the plasma grenade tossed at their feet from behind. The explosion blew the legs off of two of them, and turned the others to goo. A minute later, Gallows reappeared next to Charon - who nearly jumped out of his skin. "Jesus! Did you do that?"

Gallows nodded. "Just like Master Chief, hu?"

Before Charon could respond, Fawkes came running up to them, his smoking Gatling laser in hand. "Where is Marcus?"

"We're not sure. We think he might be in the crawler."

Fawkes looked over at the massive vehicle. Even when they finally reached it, getting inside would take time. And time, was something they did not have.

With the crawler locked down, all of the Enclave soldiers inside were rushing to their stations. Corporal Jackson was in the shower when the attack began, and was the last person inside his berthing area, trying to get into his armor. He had just gotten the bottom half locked in place, when an invisible hand was placed over his mouth, followed by a knife being plunged into throat. After a few sickening gurgles the Corporal died, and Marcus dragged the body into the shower and closed the curtain. He looked down at the bottom half of the troopers armor, and a plan began to form in his mind.

Colonel McGuiness and his XO made their way into the crawler's control room. They were joined by several Enclave soldiers, and the two officers immediately walked up to the satellite up link console, and began entering the launch codes.

"How much time, XO?" McGuiness asked.

"Nine minutes until Hercules is over the Capital, sir."

The officers each placed a key inside the console, and on the count of three, turned them simultaneously. "It is done." McGuiness said. "In less then nine minutes, we will destroy the Citadel. And once this facility is far enough away from here, we will launch a final strike on the Brotherhood here at Adams."

The soldiers raised their guns and cheered. One soldier, however, raised his plasma rifle and blasted the two soldiers flanking him. The rogue soldier tossed a plasma grenade in the corner to his left, turned to his right, and activated his VATS. He took out two more soldiers, each with a plasma round to the face, at the same time the grenade went off, killing three more. The two officers each fired their plasma pistols, hitting the rogue soldier in the left side of his torso and shoulder. The soldier grunted in pain, but managed to turn around and returned fire. McGuiness was turned to a pile of goo, and the XO turned to run, but met the same fate as he was shot in the back.

Marcus held onto his side and staggered over to the control panel. He placed his rifle on the ground and took off the suffocating Enclave helmet. For the life of him he couldn't figure out how people could breath in those things. While the hit to his shoulder was a glancing blow, the plasma round to his side was dead on, and penetrated the armor. The burn cortarized the wound, but it felt like some of his ribs were broken. Fighting the pain, Marcus opened the now unlocked controls and gave the Hercules new orders: send the non-nuclear payload right on top of the crawler. Once the new targeting package was locked in, he opened up all communication channels. "All Enclave personnel. This is the Lone Wanderer." He drew a labored breath. "That's right, bitches! I'm here, and in about six minutes, a million tons of ordnance is going to be coming down on your heads. If you don't believe me...I'm showing the live tracking feed on all monitors on the base. If you value your lives, I suggest you hall ass out of here."

Marcus watch the closed circuit TV inside the control room, and within seconds of his announcement, the Enclave soldiers began running for their lives. Outside, what was left of the garrison was in full retreat. Paladin Tristen ordered the Brotherhood to fall back, but Charon, Fawkes, Cross, and the entire Pride, double timed it to the crawler. Charon tried to raise Marcus on the radio. "Marcus, come in!"

Marcus, still holding his side, staggered through the crawler, which was now being evacuated by the Enclave. No one bothered to stop him; they were too busy trying to save their own skin. He could see the open doors ahead, and as he stepped through them, he nearly collapse onto the gangway. Two sets of hands grabbed his sides and helped him up. His friends, people who would never leave him, half dragged, and half carried him down the gangway and onto the runway.

"You should've...left me." Marcus struggled to say. "We'll never...reach safety..."

There was a sudden gust of wind, and the group stopped as a Vertibird landed a few yards in front of them. Marcus could see a lone figure wearing power armor exit the vehicle, and walked towards them. When the person came into view, everyone's jaws dropped.

The blonde haired woman presented a smug grin. "Surprised to see me?"

Marcus stared at Sarah's face, and he would've chuckled if his ribs didn't hurt. "No. Your father said you would pull through."

Sarah's grin widened. "You've done a hell of a job here, soldier. All of you have. We'll now it's my turn. It's my pleasure to order your ass onto this Vertibird before this whole place is blown to hell."

Marcus gave a weak salute, and everyone boarded the aircraft. It was a tight fit, especially with Fawkes inside, but they managed to take off. Three minutes later, they watched as Hercules missiles slammed into the crawler, obliterating it and Adams Air Force base.

The Enclave was defeated. The war was won.

The victorious Brotherhood returned to the Citadel just before dawn. Once word of the victory at Adams reached Elder Lyons, he and the rest of Brotherhood returned to their home before the assault force arrived. Celebration broke out in the courtyard, and a lone Vertibird landed in the middle of it. One by one, the occupants filed out, and were met by cheers from their fellow Knights. The last to exit was the Lone Wanderer (who, thanks to some radiated water, had already healed from his wounds), and he was met by the loudest cheers. Soon every BOS Knight, Paladin and Scribe were chanting "MARCUS! MARCUS! MARCUS!"

The Wanderer was at a lose for words. The Elder made his way through the crowd, and approached him. The cheering died down, and everyone listened as Lyons spoke.

"When I first met you some time ago, I was leery of your motivations and even more concerned with your methods. At the battle for Project Purity, you proved yourself... and any doubt that I had about you dissipated on that day. Now, with the Enclave in ruins and with you to thank for it, I'm almost at a complete loss for words. I feel proud to call you one of our own, and I promise that what you've done here today will be recorded by our scribes as a historic moment. On behalf of the Brotherhood of Steel and on behalf of the free people of this Wasteland, I thank you. From this day forward, you will be known as Knight Commander Marcus Lincoln, Savior of the Citadel!"

Everyone in the courtyard began to cheer once again. The Elder shook his hand, and headed back inside. As the celebrations continued, Marcus turned to Sarah. He had a million things to say to her, but before he could say anything, Glade and Colvin grabbed Marcus rather forcefully. "Congratulations, Knight Commander!" Glade said. "Now that you're officially one of us, there's a little initiation we have to do."

As the Pride escorted him towards the lab, Marcus had a bad feeling about this...

That night, the Capital Wasteland saw something it had not seen in over two-hundred years: celebration. After Three Dog announced the Brotherhood's victory over the Enclave, he began playing every song with victory as it's theme, from Queen's "We are the Champions" to an Irish folk song titled "March of Cambreadth". Every settlement in the Wasteland participated. At Rivet City, the residents partied on the flight deck, and Flak and Shrapnel launched fire works, lighting up the sky.

In Megaton, the town's people were on their way to drinking both Jenny Stahl and Moriarty's dry; much to the owners' delight. A few of Vault 101's residents had joined in the festivities, and they too, launched fire works from the towns walls.

In Vault 101, most of the residents had gathered in the atrium, where they danced to music and drank. Amata, though she smiled and tried to join in on the festivities, longed for Marcus, the love of her life, to be with her.

At the Lincoln Memorial, Clover and the ex-slaves danced the night away, as they not only celebrated the Enclave's defeat, but they had finally finished restoring the Lincoln statue.

In Underworld, the ghouls toasted both Marcus and Charon, and Marcus was declared the first smoothskin citizen of the town. Some of the ghouls took the chance to make their way over to the Washington Monument to thank the BOS soldiers guarding it. At first the Knights were leery of the ghouls, but when they arrived with plates of fresh food, the two groups began talking and joking with each other. It seemed Marcus' openness to working with ghouls, and even a Super Mutant, was having an effect.

At the Ranger's compound, the four Mercs each held up a beer. "To Marcus." Reilly said.

"TO MARCUS!" They clinked their beers together and chugged them down.

In the settlement of Little Lamplight, the children sang and danced to the songs playing on the radio. Many of them began playing "kill the Enclave mungos", and they would often fight about who would be Marcus.

By far the wildest celebration was in the Citadel. Sarah watched her fellow Knights drinking, laughing, dancing...even getting into a few fights. A few Knights (who clearly had too much to drink), challenged Fawkes to an arm wrestling contest. Those matches usually ended with the Knight holding his arm and crying. Normally behavior like this would be frowned upon, but her father had quietly acknowledged that they needed to quote: "blow off some steam." After a while, the Sentinel noticed someone was missing. "Where's Marcus?" she asked Charon.

Charon, who was clearly three sheets to the wind, said something incoherent before falling on his ass.

Not having much luck, Sarah began to search the A wing of the Citadel. She opened one door and stepped inside - only to see Knight Commanders Dusk and Colvin sitting on a cot, there arms around each other, and their lips pressed together. A devilish grin appeared on Sarah's face, and she cleared her throat.

The two snipers jumped off the cot, and quickly tried to compose themselves. "Sentinel!" Dusk began. "We were just...um..."

"We ah," Colvin stammered, "she had...something in her eye and...well being she's my teammate I..."

Sarah raised her hand to silence them. She figured they'd suffered enough. "Have any of you seen Knight Commander Lincoln?"

They both shook there heads.

Sarah grinned. "Alright. Carry on." She closed the door - and that's exactly what the two snipers did.

Marcus sat on the wall of the Citadel, with his feet dangling off the edge, watching the celebrations taking place all across the Wasteland. As he nursed the beer he was holding, he stared up at the stars in the sky. "Oh Dad, I wish you could be here to see this." He said. He continued to watch the fireworks, and listen to the sounds of celebration, when he heard foot steps to his right.

"Be careful," Sarah said, "I'd hate for you to fall off this wall after everything you've been through."

Marcus chuckled and Sarah sat down next to him. "You're missing a hell of a party." She said as she took a sip from her bottle.

Marcus shrugged. "I'm okay."

"How's the arm?"

Marcus looked down at the freshly tattooed Brotherhood emblem on his left arm. After dragging him into the lab, the Pride hoisted him on a table, and before he knew it, Dusk was standing over him with a tattoo ink gun, and saying "Don't move; this is going to hurt like hell!" "Still stings, but...I like it."

Sarah watched the fireworks over the Potomac. "I never thought I would see anything like this here. You know when I first met you I thought you were just another filthy wastelander."

Marcus gave her a smug look. "You don't say?"

"Okay, you don't have to be an ass. Seriously, I was very wrong about you. My father thinks the world of you, and I'm glad your part of our team."

Marcus smiled at her. He took a drink from his bottle, and mustered his courage to ask the question that had been on his mind for days. "Sarah...um...about what happened at the Purifier..."

"It's okay. You would've done the same for me."

"That's not what I meant. Before...we almost..."

Sarah looked away and took a long drink from her bottle. She had hoped he'd forgotten about that. She still couldn't believe that it almost happened. It was so unprofessional for a person in her position to act, especially during a battle. She looked into his eyes - and the same urge began to stir in her again. She wanted to kiss him, but he was a subordinate...it would never work. Could it? "Um...that was just - tension. You know...from the battle."

Marcus felt his heart sink. 'Of course it was, idiot! No way a woman like her could be interested'. "Oh. Well...that's what I thought."

They sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes. Finally, Sarah changed the subject. "So, what's next for you?"

Marcus thought for a moment. "Well, I thought I'd stick around for awhile. There's still plenty of Raiders, Mercs and Super Mutants that need to be dealt with. But for now," he stared at his bottle, "I'm going to finish this beer and enjoy the view."

As Sarah stared into his brown eyes, she wonder, for just a second, if the view he spoke of was limited only to the Potomac. 'Sarah, you're the Sentinel. Grow up!' She flashed him a smile and raised her bottle. "That sounds like a great plan."

The two friends clinked their bottles together, and spent the rest of the time silently enjoying the view, the beer, but most of all, the company.