Heroine for Hire

FALLOUT 3 – Heroine for Hire
By The Great Shaggy

Chapter Characters:

Female
Anastasia – Former Vault 101 Dweller; also known as Anya
Jessica – Former Vault Dweller and slave; also known as Jessi
Kelsey – Mercenary
Athena – NYC Resident
Rebecca Yearling –Order of the Scrolls Scribe, Brotherhood of Steel
Sarah Lyons – Commander of Lyons’ Pride, Brotherhood of Steel

Male
Charon - Ghoul
Jeffery Stepien – Paladin, Brotherhood of Steel
Augustus Autumn - Enclave Commander


WARNING: Contains the following offensive material - Anguish/Torment, Death, Hurt/Comfort, Hand job or fingering, Heterosexual sexual relationship, Language, Oral, Unresolved sexual tension, and Violence.

Readers Discretion is Advised.


Chapter Seven: The End is the Beginning

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. - Revelations 21:6


As consciousness return to her, Athena's eyes suddenly snapped open only to find herself restraint in a chair by various cables and cords. The first she realized that she was in still in Room B23-D that held Sarah Lyons in a state of suspended animation, but when she looked the blonde hair woman was no longer floating in the statis cylinder. Instead she saw Sarah laying motionless on the nearby examination table, her body covered with a insulated blanket. The green hair woman caught her breath for a brief second until she noticed the rise and fall of the woman's chest indicating that she was still in fact alive and slumbering peacefully. Releasing her held breath she looked around the room and saw her pink hair daughter hunched over a computer terminal, her attention focused on the monitor's screen.

Trying to be silent, Athena took a deep breath and then flexed her muscles against the wires hoping with that when an exact motion of force was applied they would break, freeing her to subdue the renegade pink hair teenager. But the bonds that held her didn't break, in fact all they did was dig deeper into her skin almost cutting off circulation to her extremities. With the pain too much to bear, she relaxed her body and glanced around to see if there was anything available nearby to try and cut herself free with.

"Don't bother looking for anything to free yourself," Jessi suddenly announced.

Glancing back at the pink hair teenager, Athena saw her attention was still riveted to the screen. "You could've killed her," she said.

"It wasn't too hard to figure out, all you had to do was read the directions," Jessi replied sarcastically. "Enjoy your nap?"

"Immensely. Guess you picked up a few new tricks in your wandering days in the Wastelands." She glanced at Sarah again and asked, "Do you think by removing her from suspended animation you'll be helping her?"

"Like I said before your nap she's not an experiment for your Enclave Gods to play the Alpha and Omega with," answered Jessi.

Athena couldn't help but shake her head at the young girl's naive nature. "Child, you just don't see do you?"

"No, I do see and don't call me 'child' anymore," retorted Jessi.

"And what are you planning to do with this new found foresight?"

"Find my friends, free them, and put an end to this god forsaken place. And you're going to help me!"

She was ready to laugh at the reply she was going to receive, but she wasn't expecting to hear the determination in her voice with such clarity. "And why do you think I'm going to help you?"

"To save her life," she said, pointing to the slumbering from of Sarah.

Now Athena let out a loud laugh. "And why would I do that? Like I said she's better off here than in the Wastelands. Soon, like all the others, she'll be one of us."

Jessi broke her gaze from the monitor and stared at the green hair woman with deep contempt. "You really are a brainwashed., simply-minded creature, aren't you? Believing any and everything they tell you."

The tone of her comment made the smile disappear from Athena's face. "The Leaders have never lied to us before or ever!"

"I don't have to lie to you," replied Jessi. "Hear it for yourself if you want."

Keying the terminal, a voice came over the chamber's loudspeakers.

"Specimen GCM-47652.01-CFL20S has met with average results from Phase One Genetic Cellular Manipulation Process. According to the latest tissue samples, the specimen's body has been resisting the cellular genetic mutation which we suspect has been the leading cause to the marginal results of Phase One within her. Specimen's immune system is beyond the normal tolerance of a human female, leading cause can only be speculative to possible radiation exposure beyond lethal limits. As to how she is still alive or hasn't mutated is beyond my expertise. Therefore Specimen GCM-47652.01-CFL20S has been moved to Genetic Testing Cylinder B23-D and is to be held in suspended animation pending a full hearing to the Review for Specimen Dissection Board for study of her phenomenal immune system."

As the recording ended, Jessi glanced at the shock green hair woman. "Dissection, Athena. They want to cut up Sarah into little pieces just to see why her immune system is so 'phenomenal'. Judging from that look on your face they didn't bother to tell you that, huh?"

"No," Athena said quietly. "You had to manipulate other reports and spliced them together to make that."

Jessi rolled her eyes. "Yeah like I had time to go through every report, piece together every word spoken by the same scientist, splice it all together for it to sound genuine just for you all the while I was also getting Sarah out of her statis tank, looking up schematics of the base's interior, and attempting to locate my friends all in two hours, eighteen minutes, and thirty-three seconds from the time you started your nap until the time you woke up. Oh and don't forget about recovering from the pounding you gave me. Yeah, I did all that in that space of time."

Slowly, the green hair woman shook her head. "I don't understand."

"They lied to you, Athena, plain and simple. They've been lying to your people since day one," answered Jessi. "You said it was a great honor to be chosen, but you were nothing more than an experiment that produce results, namely me." The teenage girl stopped there and took a deep breath. "On the other hand if you hadn't survived their twisted experiments on you than I would've never been born."

Turning away from the console, the pink hair teenager locked her eyes on the bound green hair woman before her.

"You are my mother, I don't dispute that, but I know that mothers care for their children and if there is any shred of motherly intuition you'll know what I'm saying is the truth. The Enclave used your people, experimented on them for their own gains, and now they want to repeat what they did to me and you on our friends. I saw that look on your face when I started to drain Sarah's tank, you feel deeply for her?"

Athena didn't reply. All she did was close her eyes and shook her head in agreement.

"If you want to help her then help me," Jessi finished.

Even with her eyes shut tightly it was not enough for a tear to slip through the closed skin and rundown her cheek. Was everything she ever told a lie? Was the leaders just using her people as her daughter said for nothing more than Brahmin for the slaughter? Opening her eyes she looked over at the slumbering form of Sarah, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath and remembered the firmness of her ripe melons in her hands, the shuddering of her body as she teased her harden nipples with the taste buds of her tongue, and the wetness of her mound as it eagerly sucked her fingers into the moist folds of inner most womanly sanctuary. That one night had cast doubts on her whole mission and reason why she was there at the Brotherhood's Outpost in Manhattan.

If it wasn't for Sarah mentioning Anya and telling her all about her she probably wouldn't have followed her new set of directives when she reported in the following day: to give the Lyons' Pride the location of the sub-campus of the New York Institute of Technology so they could locate the main campus and thus be led into a trap. She was even glad when she learned that Sarah had been captured along with a fourth of the contingent and was ecstatic when she learned that the blonde hair woman was chosen by the Leaders for the program. When she inquired to be one of her trainers to ease her through the transition they'd agreed as long as she carried out one final mission. All she had to do was to lead Sarah's friend to the Institute as well and Sarah and she would be together again as sisters. Now she was having those doubts again. If the report that her daughter had played for her was to be true than Sarah's life was forfeit. She owed Jessi's companions no loyalty, but Sarah was different. She could've ordered the patrol to continue mission and leave her there to die, but she didn't and that act saved her life. If she did side with her daughter and her friends she knew that there was no turning back, that whatever happened she would have to leave her people forever.

Finally, she spoke in a cracking voice. "If I help you, you have to promise to take me with you."

Jessi nodded her head. "Agreed."
********


As she walked through the corridors of the Enclave's underground complex, Athena couldn't help to feel a bit nervous as she had to make a conscious effort to steady her shaking hands. Leaving Jessi behind to tend to Sarah, she made her way throughout the labyrinth of corridors that ran underneath the entire Institute to conduct a reconnaissance of the areas that she suspected to be housing Jessi's companions. Having searched three areas with nothing to show for it, Athena decided it might be best to check the main security operations center to inquire on their whereabouts but that was taking a big risk. Nobody but the Leaders' Personal Troops were allowed in there and if she went in without an escort it would surely raise their suspicions.

Then she thought of an idea that caused her stomach to tighten up into knots of how she could infiltrate the security center without raising their suspicions to her true intent. She didn't want too but she couldn't find an alternative course of action besides wandering aimlessly throughout the labyrinth of corridors to a vain attempt of locating Jessi's companions. As she neared her destination she felt her legs trembling slightly and no matter how hard she concentrated she couldn't stop them. It must've been the thought of knowing if she failed now she was not only dooming herself to possible death, but also Sarah and her daughter.

Gathering what courage she had, she keyed the panel on the door frame and allowed the steel door to slid open like a gaping maw, allowing her to step into the security operations center. The room was filled with monitors, security screens, desks, and even a weapons rake. Seated by a bank of monitors was an unarmored troop wearing a tan and black uniform, his attention completely riveted to the monitors before him that he didn't paid her any attention until the door slammed shut behind her.

"Didn't think it was the end of my shift, yet. But..."

His words trailed off as he finally glanced away from the monitors and noticed that it was a green hair woman standing in the room instead of his relief.

"This area is restricted," he said as he came to his feet.

"I know," she answered, feeling butterflies rising in her stomach.

The soldier gave her a suspicious look but Athena noticed that his eyes hesitated a few seconds longer on the open and pulled back portion of her uniform top that gave a viewer a good look at the top of her melons.

"Identify yourself," he said.

"Athena, Number GCM-00112.AC-CFE30S," was her reply as she walked towards him with a slight grin.

The soldier didn't move as she neared him, but she did notice his hand lowering towards his sidearm. "This area is still restricted to you. Leave now or I'll be force to detain you."

"Make sure my hands are bound above my head," she said as she stopped in front of him. "Allows for a more," she glanced down to the area between her legs and back up, "easier access."

That last remark seemed to have crack the soldier's invisible armor for he shuffled his feet and cleared his throat before speaking but the commanding edge was now gone. "I'll say it again, leave now or I'll-"

She silenced his command with a finger to his lips and smiled. "How about you command me to do something else to you instead? Something," she slide one of her hands across his crotch area causing him to shudder, "more enjoyable?"

For a second he didn't move or speak causing Athena to worry that her plan wasn't going to work out after all.

"Make it quick," he said.

Still smiling, she dropped to her knees and slowly unbuckled the soldier's belt to his lower garments before pulling his trousers down unto his ankles. Free from its constraints, his erect penis stood up at attention before her. Glancing up, she gave the soldier a quick wink as she cupped his balls in her right hand, fondling the warm organ in her smooth palm as she grasped his erect, hardened member with her other hand. Slowly, Athena licked the head of the soldier's cock, her tongue swirling around the sensitive end of the man's organ. He started to groan softly as she glanced up again and flashed him a smile once more before she wrapped her warm lips around his appendage. He gasped as she slid his pole deeper into her mouth, sliding her tongue along the bottom of the organ. It wasn't that big, so this gave her no problems as she sucked greedily on his cock, moving her head up and down over the entire length of the soldier's shaft.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to calm his body but the sensation on his sensitive rod was too much to bear. Grabbing her head, he moaned loud as she pushed his penis deeper into her mouth, allowing himself to explode. Athena gagged, pushing him away to free her head from his grasp to allow herself to breath but not before the tip of his rod coated the her entire moist orifice with his hot, sticky semen.

"Swallow it!" he commanded.

Athena, not knowing what else to do, swallowed the soldier's substance and had to fight the nauseas feeling that nearly overwhelmed her.

Sighing, he nodded his head back to the door. "Now leave," he said as he reached down to pull up his trousers.

Athena stood and faced him, noticing his still hardened rod. "I think it still wants me?" she said.

“Who wants you?” he asked.

“Your cock,” Athena answered, smiling coquettishly. “How would you like to shove your piece of meat into my moist cunt?”

There was a long silence and neither moved. “You should probably go,” he finally said. "Getting blown by one of you is one thing, but fucking you and risk getting you pregnant than I'll be up on a pole upstairs if the brass founds out."

“No you won't,” Athena replied, walking slowly and seductively away from the soldier as she toyed with the front fasteners on her uniform blouse, allowing it to slide down her shoulders to show her bare back to him. “I want to stay...I want you to fuck me!”

She looked back over her shoulder at the soldier, giving the sexiest look she could. “You're a Predominant, I can't take that chance,” he replied.

"Just because I'm a Predominant?" Athena asked. "It doesn't matter, you're a man, I'm a woman and I need it, I need you to give me a good, hard fucking."

To emphasize her remark she allowed her blouse to fall away from her body and slide her trousers off, revealing her naked body. The soldier stood silent, watching as she collapsed onto the floor, laying there seductively.

“And you’ve gotten me so hot,” she continued, hoping that this would change his mind. She smiled at him, “I've already given you what you want, so you can't just leave me hanging!”

Clearly she could see he was having second thoughts as he gave a cautious glance to the monitors. “You can take care of yourself elsewhere,” he replied.

She answered by spreading her creamy thighs ever so much to give him a better view of her dripping cunt. “I want you in here.” Her hand ran down her body and to her slight patch of
green bush. “It's you I'm thinking about when I’m touching myself.”

Her body shuddered as she let her finger slide over her delicate crease.

“I’m thinking about you right now,” she said and flashed her sexiest smile.

That seemed to be all he could take, for he was on top of her in a flash, kissing her cream color lips passionately. She eagerly returned the kiss, pressing her firm round breasts up against him as she felt his warm hands roam over her.

“Eat me,” she pleaded. “Please eat me!”

She felt his tongue pull from her mouth and lick a trail down her neck to her bountiful breasts, teasing her erect nipples and lapping at her sweet skin as she screamed for more before running down her body, finally stopping between her smooth thighs. He ran his tongue over her hard clit, tasting her innermost places as she exploded with a massive orgasm almost instantly, bursting out at once as she screamed and bucked her hips, driving her slit into the soldier's face.

She arched her back and every muscle in her petite body tensed as she finally experienced her long overdue orgasm, her plentiful juices squirting out onto the man's face as he continued to gently lick her driving her to greater and greater heights of passion. She came and came for what seemed like forever before she finally fell back against the floor, her orgasm finally over.

The soldier slipped from between her smooth thighs, his face slick with her juices, and looked down at her. Her entire body was covered with a thin sheen of sweat as her chest rose and fell as she caught her breath.

“Oh by the gods,” she said after a moment. “That was unbelievable!” She looked up and
noticed the large bulge in his pants. “Now fuck me, I want to feel you inside me,” she continued as she spread her legs wide open.

With caution to the wind, the soldier undid his trousers yet again and allowed his cock to spring free. She felt the tip of his member brush over her slick pink folds, teasing her softly and she moaned with lust, thrusting her hips to meet him. He pushed into her with one swift thrust, spreading her sex farther than it had ever been before.

“Yes,” she yelled, her hands grabbing hold of his hips. “Oh fuck me!”

She moaned slightly as her walls struggled to accommodate the soldier's pulsating member. He thrust into her again, even harder this time. It hurt unbelievably and she bit her lip hard as he pulled back slightly and gave the most powerful thrust yet, driving his cock through her love canal and filling the depths of her sex that she never even knew she had. Ruptured arties and veins spilled blood into her and she screamed with pain, feeling the soldier's powerful member bottom out against her sensitive cervix as his balls hit her thighs. She was stretched to her absolute limit and she cherish it, the pain that she felt was soon replaced by unbelievable pleasure the likes of which she’d never imagined, barely a minute had passed before she felt her body quiver with an orgasm for the second time and her screams turned to calls of delight.

The soldier smiled as he felt her velvet walls convulse around his cock and continued his thrusts, watching his thick member glide into his young lovers tight, wet pussy. He grabbed her rounded hips for leverage and continued his thrusts, cheered on by her moans and screams.
She lost track of time as they fucked wildly, until she could hardly tell where one orgasm ended and the next began anymore. Finally, she felt the soldier grunt and plunge his member into her without pulling it back out. Somehow she knew he was ready to cum.

“Wait!” She called through gasps of breath. “Not inside me. I can’t get pregnant!”

It was too late for that, her sentence was punctuated by the first hot blast of the soldier's cum shooting into her depths. That was followed by another and then another until she felt her stomach to be full with hot, sticky cum. The sensation was not at all unpleasant and another small orgasm rocked her petite body before he collapsed exhausted on top of her. She was too shock by just want happen to hear the shoot of the soldier's laser pistol that she'd freed from his trousers or when his body was flung violently off of her.

The energy sidearm fell from her hand as she rose shaking to a seated position. With a trembling hand she lowered it to her mound and pressed the tip of her fingers against her love canal's lips. Feeling a warm substance, she pulled her hand away and stared at the white, creamy semen on her fingers. Slowly shaking her head, she rose to her knees and flexed her pussy, squeezing the lining of her cunt walls. She was reward with the sound of liquid-like plopping sound between her legs and she gritted her teeth, forcing more of the now deceased soldier's cum from within her. When no more came, she dressed and then dragged the corpse to a nearby storage locker. She allowed the tears to follow freely from her eyes, not for the now dead soldier but what had happened. She didn't plan for him to cum inside of her nor did she plan on allowing it to go on as long as it did, but the pleasure she felt had overloaded her thinking and she'd given in to the primal lust that her body was craving. Wiping the tears from her face, she hurried over to the security monitors and started to bring up the information she needed.
********

Jessi could see that something had happened when Athena returned to Statis Room B23-D. She didn't say a word as she tossed a small pile of print outs of the interior schematics of the complex onto a table along with a duffle bag before walking over to the still slumbering form of Sarah Lyons. Picking up the paper, she watched as Athena brushed a lock of hair away from Sarah's face and let out an audible sigh before she turned and sat in a nearby chair.

"That's everything you need," Athena finally said as Jessi glanced at the print outs. "Not many were selected to be...experimented on as you said."

Glancing at the list, Jessi couldn't help but hold her breath until her eyes fell across Kelsey's name. Letting it out, she scanned the list and noticed that everyone that had been captured from her group was still alive and being held in the detention center on sub-level three. She again caught her breath when she noticed that only Sarah and Anya had started to undergo the force genetic manipulation process.

"Where is Room SP 1-AC?" asked Jessi.

Athena glanced over to the teenage girl and the worried expression on her face. "Sub-Level One, why?"

"Anya is undergoing her treatment. I got to get to her," she announced as she turned for the door.

The green hair Predominant was on her feet in a flash. "Jessi, wait, you can't go. That floor is heavily guarded, it'll be suicide for you to go."

Jessi stopped at the door and turned back to Athena. "What choice do I have?"

"The choice you have is not to throw your life away on a fool's errand, Jessi. Yes, Anya needs help but it's going to take more than just you to save her."

"And who else can help us? Everyone else is locked up and if we spring them first than this whole complex is going to come down on top of us quickly which might prevent us from getting to her in time. We've came so far and so close, we can't lose her now."

"Lose who?"

The voice was slow and weak, but full of deliberate resolve as Jessi and Athena's heads turned to see Sarah slowly raising from the table. Athena was by her side in a second, helping her off the table and into a chair. Accepting a glass of water from Jessi, the Brotherhood Sentinel drain the refreshing liquid in one gulp.

She fixed both women standing before her with a quizzed expression. "First off, who are we going to lose, where are my men, and where the hell am I?"

"You were taken prisoner by the Enclave and forced into their Project Predominant Program," Jessi explained. "Myself, Athena, Anya, and others were dispatched by the Citadel to New York City to locate you when you failed to report in but we were captured as well."

Jessi glanced over to see Athena muttering a silent thank you towards her as Sarah shook her head in bewilderment as she accepted another glass of water.

"How long have I've been imprisoned by them?"

"Almost a month."

"A month?" stated Sarah. "And I've been experimented on? What is this Project Predominant?"

"It's a long story," Athena said. "What's important is that we have to free the rest of the team and the Pride if we have any chance of escaping this place."

"And we also have to find Anya," added Jessi.

That seemed to get Sarah's attention for her head snapped up. "What about Anya? What has happen to her?"

"She's undergoing the same experiment as you've been exposed to," replied Athena. "But we can't just go gallivanting around without a plan."

Jessi nodded her head as she retrieved the plans. "Which I've been working on while you were out getting this information."

Setting the interior schematics print outs down on the table next to Sarah, she laid out her plan to the two women. One of them would proceed down to the detention level on sub-level five and free the surviving members of the Pride and the rescue team. Once that was accomplished and using the access codes obtained by Athena, they would secure armament from the armory on sub-level six before proceeding back down the tunnel they had infiltrated the compound by and proceed to the ground level. From there they would wait for extraction that would be called in from the communications section on the ground level headquarters building. While the Pride is proceeding down the tunnel, two individuals would proceed down to sub-level nine to the complex's reactor and sabotage the primary heat exchangers to the fission reactor that would cause a meltdown thus destroying the complex.

Meanwhile another group would proceed to sub-level one and free Anya before proceeding to the complex's communications section on the ground level to call in for the extraction. Elder Lyons had established an nearby outpost in New Jersey that had ten Veritbirds on standby for this purposes. Estimated time for transmission to the birds getting here was approximately forty-five minutes. An airstrike would be used first to clear the interior courtyards of the compound of any hostiles and the landing zone would be clear and held by the Pride as long as it took to evacuate everyone or they had to depart to achieve the minimal point of safety from the destruction of the fission reactor.

Hearing the teenager's plan, Sarah couldn't help but be impressed by her tactical foresight. "Sounds good," she said. "Jessi, you free the Pride and your companions. Me and Athena will find and rescue Anya and hit the communications section."

"No, I'll go find Anya and-"

"Jessi," Athena said, reaching out and grabbing her daughter's hand, "she's right. Please let us do this."

She wanted to say no, but the look that the green hair woman gave her only caused her to point a finger towards her. "You better find her."

Athena nodded and said, "We will."
********


Dressed in the same uniform as Athena had been wearing, Jessi walked casually down the corridor, acting like she belonged there as she fought to keep her nerves steady as she passed by other Predominants and Enclave scientist, personnel, and soldiers. Having departed the safe room a half hour beforehand, she proceeded deeper into the complex, taking her time as to not to draw anyone's attention to her. She got some strange looks from the other multicolor hair Predominants as she passed by, but none of them seem to paid her any attention.

On Sub-Level Five, using her memories of the print out schematics of the interior that she'd studied, she proceeded through the corridors to the detention center. Pausing at the entrance, she gave the corridor a quick glance in either direction before keying the access code into the terminal mounted on the wall next to the door. The device beeped once and the door whisked opened. One of the guards on the other side was surprised to hear the hatch open and even more so when a clutched fist slammed into his face, crumbling him to the ground. The other guard moved fast, bringing his weapon up, but using her momentum from her entrance into the room, Jessi was faster than the guard's draw. Grabbing the muzzle of the rifle, she jerked it up, slamming it into his forehead. The guard released his hold on the weapon as his hands went to his bleeding forehead. A quick swing of the weapon’s stock dispatched him as well.

Relieving the guard of his sidearm, Jessi hurried across the room to a bank of terminals. Her hands flew over the keyboards as she brought up the detention center's prisoner list. Scanning the list, she keyed the override command that would unlock all the cells in the prison. She smiled as she heard the sounds of various hatches whisking open to startled cries from the prisoners.

Turning she ran down the corridor, passing the startled looks on the various surviving Pride soldiers until she reached the cell she was looking for. She nearly collided with Kelsey in the door and both reunited friends embraced.

"I thought you were dead," Kelsey said as she broke their embrace.

Jessi couldn't stop a tear from forming in the corner of her eye. "I could say the same to you. Come on, we're getting out of here." She raised her voice so all could hear her. "All of you, follow me and be quick about it. We don't have much time."

"Hey, where's the Boss?' asked Charon as he ran up to Jessi.

"Sarah and Athena are getting her as we speak," replied the teenage girl.

"Sentinel Lyons is alive?" asked Stepien

Jessi nodded. "Yes, but there is no time for questions, I'll explain as we head for the armory but we have to go now. There isn't much time."

Kelsey fell in beside her and asked, "So we got a plan to get the fuck out this nightmare?"

"Yeah."

"Which is?"

"Create a critical chain reaction in this complex's fission reactor by sabotaging the primary heat exchangers which will cause a meltdown of the core which should destroy this place once and for all."

That caused Kelsey to raise an eyebrow. "Oh, well I do hope you got a plan to get us out of here before that happens?"

"Of course we do," replied Jessi before she turned to Charon. "I'm going to need your help with the reactor."

Charon nodded but said nothing.

"Rebecca, once we're done at the armory I need you to take the others down the tunnels that we came and standby on the ground floor of the building that we first came into. Don't go outside until after the airstrike from the Vertibirds then secure a landing zone for extraction."

"Wait, you're going to destroy this place? And the Sentinel is allowing it?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know what the Enclave does here."
********


Peering around a corner, Athena made sure that the passageway was cleared before motioning with her hand. Slowly, the renegade duo slipped out of the elevator and made their way down the deserted corridor that would lead them to Room SP 1-AC of the Sub-Level One of the Enclave's Complex. Both of them were armed with weapons that they were comfortable with; two heavy frame cylinder revolvers in thigh holsters and a XM-586 Universal Assault Rifle XM-586 Universal Assault Rifle with an attached 15mm semtex grenade launcher with advanced targeting and range finding HUD optic device for Athena, and a EP-8 Plasma Rifle and AEP7 Laser Pistol with a slung bandolier for spare charges and grenades for Sarah.

Having departed the safe room at the same time as Jessi, they made their way back to the security control room without incident. There they managed to override the emergency alert system before proceeding to the elevator that would take them up to Sub-Level One. But they both knew they were now playing against the clock. Once the security troops failed to call in their checks, two teams would be dispatch to locate the missing security team while cordoning off the area just in case if something was a foul. Athena figured they had fifteen, maybe twenty minutes before that happened.

Coming to another intersection, Sarah checked the map and pointed to the corridor on their right. “Hundred meters down, ninth door on the left should be our target,” she announced quietly.

Athena nodded, slinging her assault rifle over her shoulders as Sarah paused to withdrew a anti-personal distraction device from her bandolier and passed it to the green hair woman. Both of them pressed up against the side of the wall before Sarah peered around the corner. Counting four guards, all spread out throughout a security foray off to the right of the corridor, she motion with her hands where they were at to Athena before moving off to the side.

Setting the timer for immediate detonation upon contact with any hard surface, she tossed the device around the corner into the security foray beyond. There was a startled cried before a brilliant flash, followed by a dull thud, echoed down the corridor. The duo paused for a brief second before rushing in, weapons up as they dispatched the four guards who were now withering on the floor in temporary blind and deafness.

Hurrying down the hell, they sent two scientists into the black oblivion as they came out into the hallway to see what the commotion was all about. Nearing their intended designation, Sarah's hand slammed the hatch's access panel and the heavy metal door whisked open. She nearly halted in her tracks upon seeing Anya floating lifeless in the vat in front of her but her training kicked in and within a matter of seconds the five Enclave scientist inside the room were either twitching corpses or a pile of glowing, radioactive goo.

"How do you get her out of there?" asked Sarah as she gazed at her friend through the thick Plexiglas.

Pulling up the main command options on the room's terminal, Athena gave it a quick scan before motioning to Sarah. “Fuck, someone keyed the security comm terminal down the hall. Go deal with it, I'll take care of Anya.”

The Brotherhood Sentinel nodded her blonde head before running out of the room and allowed her ears to leads her to the source of the quizzing voice. Coming to the security station, she let out a curse as she realized that one of the guards had to have been making a security report when the distraction device had gone off. Talia hoped that time would be on their side for just a few more minutes.

Clearing her voice, she keyed the open mike as she eyed the name disk on the terminal. “Security Station Zulu Romeo One ,” she answered.

"Zulu Romeo One, this is control. What were those sounds down there, they sounded like weapon discharges. What is your status?"

"Situational normal," she quickly answered back. "Nothing to report."

There was a brief paused before a commanding voice came back over the intercom. “Zulu Romeo One, authenticate identification.”

“Oh shit,” muttered Talia. Come on, think of an excuse, a good one. “Control, Zulu Romeo One. Unable to authenticate identification. I forgot it in my other uniform and the OIC is currently indispose of.”

“Zulu Romeo One, authenticate identification now.”

Figuring she made an ass of herself enough already, she withdrew a step backwards and aimed at the mike with her plasma rifle, firing a beam of condense green plasma energy into the console. “Authenticate this, you fucking bastards. Athena, we’re going to have company if you don’t get her out of there now!”

Athena appeared a few moments later with a unconscious Anya cradled in her arms. Seeing the blasted console, she pointed to the console panel and asked, "What the hell happened?"

“What? I didn’t know what else to do," she said. Seeing Anya motionlessly, she asked, "Will she be okay?"

"I don't know. I didn't have time to properly bring her out of suspended animation," she answered. "But we better get the hell out of here. Hell is probably about to rain down on us soon."

The Brotherhood Sentinel nodded her head in agreement as she took point down the corridor towards the elevator as Talia brought up the rear. Turning the corner, Sarah halted, cursed loudly as she raised her plasma rifle and blasted the two Enclave Security Troopers that were coming down the corridor in the opposite direction.

“Keep moving,” cried Athena. “Those shots will bring the entire detachment of security for this sector of the complex to this location in a matter of minutes.”

“I just hope Jessi is having better luck than us,” said Sarah as she ran.
********


Making her through the lower corridors Sub-Level Nine with Charon directly behind her, Jessie felt sweat sliding down her forehead as she slowed to peer around another corner, making sure it was deserted, before waving her Ghoul companion forward. Having freed Kelsey, Charon, and the Pride, she had led them down to the armory, which was secured but unguarded, and using the access codes secured by Athena were able to gain entry were she and Charon both donned a set of matte black combat vest and loaded them down with spare magazines, various grenades, and explosive charges. Selecting their primary and secondary weapons, she gave Kelsey one last hug and made sure they understood the rest of the plan before leaving to commence with the second portion of her mission.

She felt the sudden urge to rush as fast as she could the closer they drew nearer to the reactor control room, but she calmed himself. There were too many security patrols that they encountered already by far, which they easily dispatched, and she was sure they hadn't been able to get off any radio communications before leaving this world to see their maker in hell but there was still that small probability they did so and the next corner they came too could be an ambush wanting to be sprung on them. However, she did allow himself to increase her strides a bit.
Pausing at a sealed hatch, Charon covered the rear while she entered the access code into the terminal. A sudden chimed followed by the release of hydraulic pressure marked the code being accepted as the hatch whisked opened. Stepping into the chamber beyond, Jessi let out a whistle as she stared at the massive reactor in front of her. Now where the hell are the primary heat exchangers located, she wondered as the door slide close behind her.

"Who's there?" a voice called out.

Without a word both of them pressed themselves up into darken corners on either side of the door and waited for the source of the voice to appear. A clean cut technician in coveralls appeared from around a bank of machinery and paused to stare at the close and apparently sealed hatch. As he drew closure, Jessi found herself holding her breath as Charon silently withdrew his knife from its scabbard. He waited until the technician was totally engrossed on the door before moving out from his darken hiding spot. The technician let out a gurgled surprise as Charon's hand clapped tightly over his neck and slide the sharp edge of the blade across the man's throat. He kept a firm grasp on the technician through his death spasms and released his limp body to fall the ground when it ceased.

Nodding as he replaced his knife, he slung off his back and started to withdraw the explosive charges. "Come on, we got work to do."
********


Athena gritted her teeth as she whirled around the corner, bringing her XM-586 assault rifle up and fired a few more shots at a group of troops who rushed forward from their cover to get closer. Sarah let out a curse as she brought up her plasma rifle and joined the fray. A trooper went down, his severed head rolling uselessly away from its collapsed corpse. The last two guards ducked behind massive support pillars that flanked either side of the intersection and began to rain a deadly storm of coherent beams of light at the members of the Brotherhood of Steel.

Picking up the unconscious Anya from the floor, Athena tossed her over her shoulder as she ran across the corridor, firing wildly at the guards as Sarah used her plasma rifle to cover them as she followed directly behind them. They ducked into an alcove and took up firing positions, interlocking their sectors of fire to try and draw the two Enclave security troops out from the safety of their covered position. The trooper on the right suddenly bolted from his position, firing wildly as it tried to move across the corridor to a new position. A blast from Sarah's plasma rifle ended the Enclave's attempt.

That left one trooper left to deal with.

Something struck close to Sarah's head, causing her to instinctively duck back behind cover. Then another coherent beam of light struck the area where her head had just vacated from the opposite direction. Her eyes widen as she saw about a dozen reinforcements bearing down on them through the passageway that they had just came from. It seemed that someone had finally stumbled upon the remains of the other security soldiers.

Ejecting a spent power microfusion cell, she pulled a fresh one from her gun belt and slapped it in. “Heads up, Athena, we got more company,” she cried out to her companion.

The green hair Predominant woman nodded in acknowledgment as she leaned out and fired at the approaching wave of security forces, sending two twitching to the ground sporting new, billowing holes in their chest cavities. The rest quickly dispersed themselves into archways of chambers and behind support pillars, returning fire at the Brotherhood’s position. Multicolored beams of coherent light and plasma filled the corridor and corresponding passageway. A thin layer of smoke being to fill the area as the smell of burnt carbon, metal, and flesh replaced the once, fresh recycled air.

“Athena, I need another power cell,” yelled Sarah as she ejected, yet, another spent cell from her weapon.

She paused long enough to yank a spare cell from her hip pouch and toss it to her friend. Slamming it in, Sarah brought the weapon up to bare and sent a shot into the face of a trooper who tried to charge their position. The corpse made a sickening sound as it landed on the once shinning floor tiles, his dark red blood spilling out from the gaping wound to begin forming a slimy puddle around his shattered cranium. Another trooper went down, crying out in agony, only to be replaced by another one. No matter how many they took down, more seemed to appear to take their places.

Sarah took a brief moment of reprieve to check on the unconscious form of the Lone Wanderer. Anya laid on the floor almost in a peaceful like slumber that could've been considered ironic from the chaos of battle that filled the corridors around her. She had just turned her attention back to the firefight when something landed close to the ground near her, causing her to glance down at it; her eyes widen as she saw a plasma grenade laying not more than a few inches from her. Cursing, she scooped up the explosive device and tossed it back down the passageway. Someone cried out in alarm, but was overpowered by the tremendous explosion that rocked the area as the grenade went off.

The blonde hair Brotherhood of Steel Sentinel grinned as she snapped off a few quick shots at the guards who stumbled out from their positions, dispatching two of them easily before the rest regained their senses and ducked back behind cover. Her grinned vanished as she spotted a Enclave soldier in power armor moving out from around the corner, pointing a grenade launcher at the alcove. She fired off a shot at the soldier, succeeding in hitting him in his arm. The force of the impact caused the Enclave soldier to spin around, but not before his gloved finger tightened on the firing stud to the weapon.

There was a puff of white smoke and Sarah dove back into the alcove.

“Incoming,” she screamed.

There was a tremendous explosion at the corner of the alcove, showering the group in debris from the near miss. Unsure if it was the shockwave or the noise of the explosion, but Anya's eyes suddenly shot open as she let out a soft groan. Coming up to a seated position with her ears ringing, Anya saw a blonde and green hair women rising back to their feet, quickly recovering from some sort of attack and responded with their own. Seeing the green hair Athena her first impulse was to tackle the woman and strangle her with her own hands, but then she saw Sarah and realized that both of them were fighting side by side. Then she remembered the last memory she had was of Autumn turning his back on her and walking away. Seeing the two women fighting together she suddenly found herself in a state of confusion; was everything that Autumn told her a lie?

Unsure but knowing that at least one of the women she knew to be her friend needed her help, she rose to her knees and shouted to be heard over the drowning sounds of battle. "You two got a weapon to spare?"

Hearing Anya's voice, Sarah took a quick moment to glance behind her and smile towards her dearest friend. "About time you decided to get off your lazy ass and lend us a hand," she said.

Taking a glance out of the alcove and seeing the opposition arrayed against them, Anya shouted, "Maybe I should've stayed asleep and let you carry me some more and we can't stay here any longer by the way."

Through the chaotic sounds of battle, Athena yelled back to her. “Well then maybe we should ask them very politely if they could stop shooting at us for a bit so we could cross the corridor to that elevator.”

Ignoring the sarcastic comment, Anya snagged the AEP7 Laser Pistol from the Sarah's thigh holster. She cried out in alarm as she looked at her for an explanation, only to see her taking aim at a control panel mounted on the wall across the hall. A beam of light emitted from the muzzle of the weapon and it flew across the corridor, connecting against the intended target. As the panel became nothing more than molten slag and superheated sparks, the overhead illumination panels flickered once before completely dying, plunging a portion of the passageway into total darkness.

Holstering the weapon back on the startled woman's thigh, Anya jumped to feet and motion with her hand to the woman. “See you on the other side,” she announced before running full tilt out of the alcove.

The Brotherhood Sentinel and Predominant watched in disbelieve and awe as the Lone Wanderer of the Capital Wasteland rushed through the gauntlet of blistering fire to the other side of the corridor with barely a scratch to show for her effort. Athena looked at her companion and shrugged her shoulders before, she too, jumped up and broke from the cover of the alcove.

“I swear all teenagers are crazy,” Sarah muttered to herself before darting out into the opening.

Beams of light and plasma from all over the color spectrum danced wildly all around her as she ran full tilt across the open corridor towards her waiting companions. Athena fired her universal assault rifle repeatedly, giving her friend some covering fire. Another weapon joined the fray and as she neared, she saw Anya holding another one of the XM-586 Universal Assault Rifles with attached grenade launcher that the Enclave soldier had dropped during his ill-fated dash across the opening early in the fight. With one last surge of strength, Sarah pushed her aching legs faster then she’d ever had before, making the final few meters to the end of the corridor.

Slamming up against the wall next to Anya, she pointed a finger at her as she fought to catch his breath. “Don’t you ever do that sort of thing again.”

“Someone has do the thinking here,” she snapped. “Down that corridor, Beautiful.”

Without waiting for a reply, she detached herself from the wall and bolted down the corridor. Sarah looked up at her companion as she fixated her with a confused stare. “Wonderful teenager. You know, I’m either going to kill her myself,” she announced and then grinned, “or I’m beginning to like that in her!”

Athena nodded her head in agreement before turning and followed the fleeing teenage girl down the passageway with Sarah bringing up the rear.
********


Standing impassively silent in the main security center listening to the various reports that were flooding in regarding the progress that Anya and her companions were making was Colonel Augustus Autumn. When he first learned of the security breach in Sub-Level One he figured that some of Anya's friends had somehow overpowered their assigned guards and were now attempting to free her, but he didn't expect to hear that one of the Lone Wanderer's would be rescuers was one of the Enclave's Predominants. He’d deployed his security forces accordingly to recapture the former Vault 101 dweller and her companions with the minimal amount of damage or harm, but of course that originally had been his sole intention but he was now second guessing that decision. More reports of heavy fighting had occurred in the lower detention center as well as the adjacent sector leading to the main gate to the Institute was coming in and he knew that the surviving members of the Brotherhood of the Steel were now on the loose. A full platoon of crack troops were now reinforcing the contingent of tribal forces guarding the main gate now but from the reports he’d been getting it didn’t seem it would be enough.

His communications ear piece buzzed in his left ear. He touched the side of the device and answered, “Yes.”

“The Primary Target and her companions are entering the main communications section of HQ, sir,” the officer in charge of the pursuing security units reported. “I have three more fire teams moving in behind them to cut off their avenue of retreat.”

“Copy that. Stand by for instructions.” One long stride put Autumn next to the Institute's Security Officer. “Have you located the rest of the Brotherhood yet?”

The officer nodded and pointed to a schematic of the Institute's compound where a bright blip slid slowly through an adjacent loading tunnel that lead to a building nearest the main gate to the complex.

“Order all power armor-equipped security units to that location.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Order the tribal units to converge as well. We will take no chances.”

As the security officer turned to his screens, Autumn’s ear piece buzzed for his attention. “Colonel Autumn ,” he said as he again touched his ear piece.

“Sir, Captain Stark of main engineering. We have a new problem, sir. We've detected numerous detonations of possible explosive origins in the fission reactor."

Autumn’s stomach suddenly did a flip-flop. “How bad is it?”

“Extensive damage has been reported by my advance repair teams who also reported that all reactor personnel and security were found dead. Preliminary reports have found that all heat exchanger conduits have been rendered inoperable and emergency venting of the reactor is having no effect on the reactor's rising temperature.” There was a short pause before he reported, “Meltdown of the reactor is unavoidable now, Colonel.”

He didn't bother to respond as he realized the full magnitude of the situation he was now facing. The Brotherhood didn't want to just escape the Institute, they wanted to destroy it as well as all Enclave forces and Project Predominant.

“Begin mandatory evacuation of all high priority personnel first. Begin mainframe computer memory dump immediately for as much possible research data.”

“Sir, we can't possibly get all the data transfer in time to allow the aircraft to reach the minimal safe distance.”

“Then get as much as you can to give them that time. You have your orders, Captain.”

“Yes, sir. Engineering out.”

Keying his ear piece silent, Autumn let out a silent curse as he thought on how the Brotherhood was planning to escape the complex in time to avoid being reduced to radioactive skeletons when the reactor erupted. They couldn't make it on foot, it would be impossible, and the few ground vehicles that the Enclave employed would now be loading all primary personnel in for evacuation as well as the Vertibirds. The only possible way that he could see for extraction was by air assets, but they had none.

"Sir, we've picked up an encrypted communications transmission coming from the communications center. The frequency that it's being transmitted on matches those of the Brotherhood of Steel," reported the Security Officer.

Which apparently he had underestimated. Reaching down, he gripped the panel in front of him as anger built up within him. Thirty years of research, testing, and experimentation was about to go up in a radioactive cloud all because of that teenage girl from Vault 101. It was a mistake to bring her here, he now knew that, in fact she undermined the Enclave's efforts where ever she went and that he could no longer tolerate.

Keying his ear piece, he spoke clearly and calmly as he strolled to the hatchway. "To all security forces, original order regarding Primary Target and companions have been receded . Eliminate all hostiles with extreme prejudice."

It was time for him to do what he should've done in the first place when he first saw her so long ago.
********


Beams of energy and plasma fire rain down the hallway, striking the small support pillar in which Anya was hiding behind. To the left of her, Sarah fired behind the opposite support pillar as Athena let out a string of curse words from behind cover slightly behind and to the right of the blonde hair Brotherhood Sentinel. Anya brought her weapon and put an accurate shot into the chest of yet another Enclave soldier.

She glanced at the Brotherhood of Steel Sentinel across the hall. “We got to move or we’re going to get pinned down here.”

Sarah didn’t bother to look at her. “We’re moving as fast as we can, sweetie. These guys aren’t making it easy for us, you know.”

A plasma bolt struck the support pillar just above her head, causing her to duck back behind cover. She then took a moment to glance around the hallway in which they’re pinned. There were no visible exits in sight, minus the junction at the end of the corridor. Which meant that, if the commanders of the security forces were paying attention to the building’s schematics, they could get another team to deploy behind them and get ‘em in a deadly crossfire.

With no visible exits and with them unable to move down the hallway, it occurred to Anya that their only avenues of escape were either through the ceiling or floor. Then she got an idea. Checking the breech on the launcher of her weapon, she grinned as she noticed that it was loaded. Slamming it close, she aimed for the floor just a little ways behind Athena and fired.
A dull sound followed by an explosion caused Sarah to tear her attention away from advancing soldiers and towards the neatly formed hole in the floor. Athena shouted at the Lone Wanderer and Sarah shot her a menacing look.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Someone has to save our skins again,” she called out before moving out behind cover and towards the hole. She fired off a few, wild shots before motioning to them,. “If you want to stay here, be my guest, if not see yea below.”

“She’s crazy,” Athena commented and Sarah nodded in approval. “But okay.”

The duo laid down a barrage of covering fire as Anya disappeared through gaping opening.

“You’re next,” cried Athena.

The Brotherhood Sentinel didn’t need to be told twice. As her friend disappeared, Athena broke contact with her support pillar and began moving towards the gaping opening in the floor. With a few, final shots, she turned and dove through the hole and landed hard on her back on the floor below and was picked up by Sarah. Nodding her head, she glanced around the room in which they were now standing in, her hopes suddenly dying away.

She turned towards Anya and shook her head. “Well, thank you very much. You lead us into a room with no exit."

The teenage Lone Wanderer shrugged her shoulders. “Well how would I know that this would lead into a storage closet with a locked door?”

Sounds from above caused the group to glance upwards towards the ceiling above them. “You know it's not going to take them long to figure out where we’re at,” Sarah announced. She glanced at Athena. “Any ideas?”

The green hair woman glanced at her companion and shrugged her shoulders. Sarah face soften and she smiled back at her friend. She then glanced at the Anya to see frowning at her rifle's now empty launcher before switching out her mag with a fresh one. Anya took a moment glance into Sarah’s bleak features and smiled softly at the Sentinel, almost as if she was saying ‘Thank you for the valiant effort and I’m sorry that I got you all into this’.

Athena called out to them, causing Sarah to tear her attention away from the teenage Lone Wanderer and back to her companion as a shadow crept over the rim of the hole above them. “It's been an honor fighting alongside both of you,” she said as he brought up her plasma rifle for their last stand.

It was then that the door to the room exploded, causing the three women to drop to their knees. Athena was the first to recover, bringing up her rifle towards the newly formed exit and blinked her eyes in confusion. Standing in the corridor beyond the freshly made opening stood her pink hair teenage daughter Jessi and Anya's Ghoul companion Charon who stood behind her.

Athena's mouth dropped open and shook her head in disbelief. “I thought I told you to rendezvous with the others once you sabotage the reactor?”

Jessi shook her head and pointed to Charon behind her. “This wasn't my idea, it was his.”

“And a good thing it was,” replied the Ghoul. "I'm always having to save her ass."

But before Anya could reply, Sarah cried out a warning and fired with her plasma rifle into the hole above. Someone screamed above and almost on cue, a group of security soldiers appeared in the corridor that Jessi was standing in.

“This doesn’t seem to be the best time to talk now,” commented Jessi. “Shall we depart this place?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” commented Sarah.

As the trio entered the hallway, they raised their own weapons to join the fray, helping Jessi and Charon dispatch the last remainders of the security forces before following the duo back the way they came towards the ground level courtyard. Steeping out into the hellish scene, they hustled down and away from the building as three green hull VB-02 Vertibirds sporting the insignia of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel flashed overhead, white streams of vapor clouds marking the paths of the air-to-surface missiles that ended in raising clouds of superheated gases and debris or clumps of brownish soul mixed with bodies. On the far side of the Institute they could see a few others touching down, their rear hatches extending open to allow the surviving members of the Lyons' Pride to board as flashes of coherent beams of energy and plasma flew in all directions.

"Here's our ticket out of here," chimed Sarah as another green hull Vertibird set down not too far from their location.

Anya nodded and slapped her hand against the blonde hair woman's shoulder. "You first," she said.
********


Stepping outside, Autumn watched as the a group from Brotherhood of Steel broke from cover and started to run across the burning courtyard to a waiting Vertibird. Raising his rifle to his shoulder, he spotted the auburn hair Lone Wanderer towards the rear of the formation through his rifle's optic scope. Lining up the cross hairs to the base of the teenager's neck, he slowly depressed the trigger.
********


Reaching the ramp of the Vertibird, Sarah turned and gesture with her hand towards the group to board the aircraft when she noticed an Enclave soldier armed with a high powered rifle standing just outside the building they had just vacated. Quickly guessing that he was aiming towards the last person of the group which so happened to be Anya, she broke away from the Vertibird and pushed her friend away just as a round pierced her upper chest, causing her to spin around and fall to the ground. Staring at the limp form of her friend, Anya let out a high pitch scream as she raced to her side followed by Athena, who picked up the blonde hair Sentinel and rushed her into the Vertibird screaming for a medical kit. Turning, she locked eyes on a black uniform clad man with salt and pepper hair lowering a rifle from his shoulders.

As flashbacks from Paradise Falls came to her mind, Anya screamed out as she broke into a dead sprint back across the courtyard. "Autumn, you mother fucking son of a bitch."

"Anya," Jessi screamed, "come back. It's too late."

But even if she did hear Jessi's cries or just choose to ignore them Anya kept running and took the stairs two at a time as she reentered the building, rifle raised. Catching a glimpse of Autumn disappearing around the corner, Anya followed, so consume in her blind rage that she didn't even bother check the corner. He caught her with a stiff arm that sprawled her to the ground, her rifle skidding across the tiles. The Enclave Commander draw his sidearm and fired a quick shot but only hit an empty floor as Anya rolled to her right and into an open door.

Autumn mockingly called out, "If you think that I'm going to follow you in there you might as well forget it."

"I didn't plan on it," answered Anya as she came charging out the door, holding a table top in front of her.

He fired off two rounds from his plasma pistol that struck the wooden top but failed to penetrate before it slammed into him, propelling him back into the wall. Grabbing his weapon hand, Anya tore the pistol from his grasp but a sudden lunge on the opposite side of the table caused her to lose her grasp on the weapon. Both weaponless, Autumn came at Anya, striking her across her face with his clinch fist. The auburn hair teenager staggered away from the blow, her vision a blur as the Enclave commander came towards her again.

"Not so tough without a weapon in your hand now are you?" he said as he connected another blow to her face.

She wheeled as he landed blow after blow. Tasting blood in her mouth and with darkness tugging at her vision she had no chance but to retreat, forcing her shaking legs to run away from her antagonist. She ignored his mocking calls she hustle up a flight of stairs and kept going until she reached a door which she kicked opened. Stepping out onto the roof, she was thrown to the ground from a sudden tremble that rocked the whole building. Scurrying to her legs, she hid behind a bunch of communications dishes as Autumn appeared on the roof holding her assault rifle in hand.

With the weapon at the ready, Autumn cautiously surveyed the roof as he called out to Anya. "You know, at least I give your old man credit. At least he stood there and faced me before he died. But not you, you got to hid like a mole rat, cowering in fear." He shook his head and snorted. "And here I thought you had more courage than your old man."

With her vision clearing, Anya slowly eased her way around from the dish she was hiding from and pulled herself up onto the stairwell's cover. Laying prone, she patiently waited until Autumn was between the structure and a communications dish before she jumped down, landing on top of him. Pulling out her knife, she buried it deeply into his shoulder, causing him to cry out in agony as she jumped up to her feet, giving him a swift kick as hard as she could with her boot to his face.

"That's for my family," she shouted.

Rolling the dazed Enclave commander over, she hauled him onto his feet and punched him with all her might.

"That's for Lucy!"

She punched him again which caused Autumn to fall back to the floor.

"And that's for Sarah!"

When she didn't pick him up again or landed a blow, Autumn shook his head to clear the haze that covered his vision and rose to his feet. Shaking his head, he took a step and ceased his movement when he saw the Lone Wanderer standing a slight ways from him, assault rifle leveled at towards him without even an emotion displayed on her face.

Staring at the teenager, he shook his head. "You think by destroying this place and killing me will be the end of the Enclave? If you think that you're greatly mistaken, my dear. The Enclave might be scattered again, but we're not defeated nor will ever be."

"You might be right, Autumn, but at least you won't be there to lead them or cause anymore pain and suffering to the innocent masses," she replied.

Nodding, Colonel Augustus Autumn then stood erect and stared coldly back at the Lone Wanderer of the Capital Wasteland. "Then let us end this feud between us once and for all."

The shoot was not as deafening nor was the spray of blood and brain matter blossoming from the back of the Enclave Commander's cranium satisfying to the Lone Wanderer. Staring down at the motionless corpse of Autumn, Anya didn't feel any sense of gratification nor a sense of accomplishment, only a dull subsiding anger and regret. Hearing a noise, she saw a Vertibird swing overhead and come to a hover by the side of the building's roof, its hatch opening wide to reveal Jessi crying out to her and motioning for her towards the transport. Anya took one last look at Autumn before she hustled to the edge and jumped through the gaping maw of the aircraft.

Her feet had barely touched the metal deck plating of the hull when she was thrown towards it as the aircraft veered volatility to the side as the ramp slammed shut and its engines whined in agony as the pilot opened up the throttle to increase speed. Taking a deep breath, she looked down to see Sarah cradled in Athena's arms, an oxygen mask over her mouth, her shoulder area wrapped in white bandages stained in a crimson hue. Athena looked up towards Anya, smiled and nodded her head. Feeling a weight lifting off of her shoulders, she leaned her head back against the fuselage of the Vertibird and drifted off to a deep slumber.