To him, that fact that a squad of Enclave troops had appeared to save him was nothing less than a miracle. He took the hand of the woman and got up. His armor identification system said that she was a lieutenant-colonel. "Thank you ma'am! We were observing the BOS when we came across a deathclaw lair." Suddenly Greg was sent flying and landed right next to him. Henry tried to run over but was overcome by a sharp pain and he looked down to find his briastplate had been shredded up and there was blood oozing out. It probably wasn't too serious but he felt that he needed some medical attention before he could get moving again. then Greg was grabbed by the deathclaw and was taken away. He couldn't see what was happening but some of the other troops ran after him and he heard some lasers discharging.

He hoped that they were able to save Greg, looking over at Demetri it looked like the Hellfire trooper was holding his ground even against the deathclaws. However there were at least 10 deathclaws left. Grabbing a spare stimpack from his belt he injected it himself and told the lieutenant-colonel who had helped him up "Ma'am we're under Captain Carter's command, she was conducting a mission to divert Brotherhood forces away from the base. We need to help her after we get out of this mess!" He then moved slowly up the plain as the battle raged around him and saw what was happening to Greg. He looked unconscious and it was unknown whether the Brotherhood had seen him but the deathclaw attracted a few knights and initiates who were investigating the disturbance. The deathclaw had abandoned Greg and charged the knights. Henry continued to move towards Greg's body and hoped he would get there before the knights came or the deathclaw came back.

Viktoriya Ivanov

As soon as she heard the words Captain Carter she grinned, Carter was a name she remembered well. Her and Sara had been friends from the start, they both loved making sure their enemies squirmed and died. They went together on a few missions and Sara was the best interrogator known, Viktoriya was good at it herself. Shaking her head from the thoughts she watched as things unfolded, when things went to hell she pulled out her pistol.

It was a nice pistol, nobody knew what it really was; all they knew was that it could take out a man in Power Armor with one shot easily. Smiling she ran off after the soldier and towards the now fallen soldier, hoping that things wouldn't screw up.

Captain Desafio

As he heard a cry ring out about Deathclaws he scowled, "Okay! Six of you go out and take them out, the rest of you; with me. Hide!? Quickly, you lead the way, we're right behind you." He quickly moved after the girl's figure, not even noticing that she'd been gone for a good amount of time in the Dormitories. He heard the clanking of Power Armor and Combat Armor behind him; making him feel good that things were going to turn out well.

They continued moving for less than half a minute when he noticed a man running in front of him had his head explode. With a few blinks the Captain pressed a button on the side of his helmet, when suddenly another man fell down dead. This time he heard it, the sound of a rifle shot; made to make as little noise as possible and no trace of where it came from.

With a roar he yelled out, "MOVE EAST!"

Sara led the men down the path and in the direction of Outpost Foxtrot. She had no worries of the base being discovered, due to the fact that it was extremely well hidden. Not to mention the dozen or so snipers that were positioned in the area. Sara wasn't the least bit concerned for her men, which had apparently stirred up the deathclaws. It was a bit of an oversight on her part, not mentioning it to them. But then Sara didn't think they would actually be stupid enough to go near the cave. Apparently, she was wrong.

They had only walked for about a half a minute when Sara noticed one of the Brotherhood soldiers drop to the ground without his head. She made like she didn't actually notice it at first, her attention turned in another direction. Then another soldier dropped and the Captain yelled out, "move east". Sara continued to play her part, and let out a scream when she saw the second soldier fall. She looked about nervously and started to cry when she saw the other, headless soldier, laying on the ground.

The soldiers had started to run to the east and were falling rapidly. Sara did not follow. Instead, she hid behind the nearest rock and watched as two more soldiers fell. One of them landed within reach of Sara, and she grabbed the laser pistol off his belt. Another soldier started running towards her, yelling at her to get moving. He started to yell something else, but was cut short by the bullet which hit him in the chest. She stayed against the rock and poked her head out to get a better view. A bullet hit the rock and a shard flew up and cut her cheek as it whizzed by her face. She immediately ducked back down and cursed quietly at not being able to watch the carnage. She didn't blame the soldier for shooting at her. After all, she didn't mention that she would be with the BOS, there just wasn't enough time. Still, it didn't change the fact that Sara wanted to find out who had shot at her and then gut him. All she could do now was wait. She hoped that when it was over, there would at least be one left alive to interrogate.

Captain Desafio

Death, death was all that was left of his Squad, bodies littered the ground and none were left standing. With a grunt the man crawled slowly through the remains of his men, he realised that less than a minute had passed and nothing was left. Growling lightly he realised what had happened, crawling he moved ever so slowly towards a rock; to rest and get ready. He moved slowly, as slowly as he could with half of his leg taken off by a sniper shot.

Soon enough he came into the behind of it, out of view of the snipers; but right into the view of the little girl. She had a laser pistol with her and she seemed to be looking in another direction, with almost glee. Following her eyes he looked right onto the most massacred shot man he'd seen for a while, with different parts of his body strewn in all directions. Scowling again he forced himself to his feet, despite the pain in his whole body he limped over to the girl.

"So, Hide, it seems you got us right into a trap, a cunning one at that; who are you really a part of little girl?" With a glare he looked at her, then realised that he still had his helmet on. He was going to take it off but left it, continuing to look at her, seriously wondering what was happening.

Lieutenant-Colonel Viktoriya Ivanov

All seemed quite well now, she'd successfully taken out the Deathclaws that were running towards the base and the small bunch of soldiers. Holstering her pistol she wondered what Sara would do with the remaining soldiers. Working around Sara's head was impossible for anyone else... But for Viktoriya it was as easy as could be. Moving towards the South-West she came into view of a pile of Brotherhood bodies.

Blood was strewn across the battlefield and not much was left. Scowling she pressed a button on the side of her helmet and quickly said, "Foxtrot, hold your fire on all further targets, I'm going in to survey what's left." She didn't get a reply of course, nobody ever did from that bloody Outpost. Resisting the urge to sigh she moved forward and looked among the corpses, none were Sara's of course. Moving to the left a little she saw a huge rock blocking off view from the South-West.

As she went around behind it she saw Sara laying against the rock with bandages and rough clothes on. As well as that she saw a man in Power Armor standing above her, holding a laser rifle she thought at first. With a closer examination a split second later she realised it was a Tri-Beam. With a small smile creeping across her face she pulled out the pistol and aimed lazily.

Yawning, she pulled the trigger.

Henry managed to get to Greg while the brotherhood was being sniped and inspected his condition. He was unconscious but his damaged armor helped protect him. "All right lets see if I can't get you up," he took out his last stimpak and injected Greg with it then he pulled him up and carried him back to the vantage point where Demetri and the others were. Tired out from his trek he sat down and took some time to recover. He took out his canteen and took some sips from it while organizing his supplies. He had found his laser rifle but the amplifier crystals had been damaged and the intensity of the laser was reduced. His laser pistol was completely inoperable as the energy cell had melted within the gun and it would take some time to repair it. His armor took a beating with the chest plate shredded up and there was a long cut on his right arm. He would need to find a replacement chest plate as well as a new fission battery, his had been damaged and it was losing energy quickly.

Walking back out into the field he was able to pick up a new laser rifle from a dead Knight as well as a fission battery which he would need to install given some time. Henry looked over at the dead Brotherhood soldiers and saw Sara along with the Lieutenant-Colonel. He returned to the vantage point and asked Demetri, who had managed to get through without any serious injury and asked "Sir, permission to clear the outpost and search for supplies before moving out."

Sara was able to peer out form behind the rock again. She was enjoying the sight of the Brotherhood, screaming and dying. It was as if a choir of angels were singing in her ear. Things were going extremely well and the last of the soldiers had fallen. Sara was just about to move out and check for survivors when she heard a voice behind her.

"So, Hide, it seems you got us right into a trap, a cunning one at that; who are you really a part of little girl?" Sara truned quickly to see the Captain standing over her. His rifle was in his hands, but looked as though he was straining to stay standing. Even though she couldn't see his face, the wound on his leg must have surely been causing him exquisite pain. Sara started to wonder if she could fire before he did.

She never got to put it to the test as a flash of green slammed into his midsection and threw him backwards, his rifle falling to the ground. Sara turned to look at her svior and was greeted by the bored look of her oldest and dearest friend(her only firend for that matter). Sara started grinning ear to ear and pushed herself to her feet.

It had been some time since Sara had seen Viktoriya. There was no denying that Sara had missed her dearly and at this moment was happier than she had been for a long time. Viktoriya had always been a true friend to Sara, and in some ways, a student. They had often played together and Sara had taught her how to keep victims alive longer. Viktoriya was the one person in the Enclave that Sara trusted. Although they had had numerous opportunities to betray each other, neither of them had ever attempted to do so. Instead they helped each other, going so far as to kill to help each other rise through the ranks. Sara wlaked over to her, and in a complete disregard for protcool gave her a hug.

"It's so good to see you Viki." It's what Sara always called her when out of earshot of the other soldiers, as they were now. "It's a good thing you showed up when you did. I really don't know that I could have fired before he did, At least not in my current condition.' Sara pulled back and smiled at her friend. Sara was extremely happy to see her, especially since Sara now had someone to talk to about what was happening at Blood Gulch. Sara continued to look at her friend and her voice became a little more serious.

"You know that you are like a sister to me. That's why I need to tell you about the new game I've been playing. And some disturbing events at Blood Gulch." Sara began to relate the tale of disease, the Colonel and Gregory, leaving out no detail. While she wasn't supposed to divulge anything about these events, she felt comfortable telling Viki, and knew that she would want to play as well.

As Viktoriya listened to Sara she felt a smile creep across her face, she'd certainly been busy since last they'd talked. Thinking about what to do she clicked her fingers and devised a quick plan. With the tendrils of darkness creeping through her mind she went for the idea and smiled again at Sara. "Well, it's nice to hear that Blood Gulch has turned into a Soap Opera, it's also weird to hear that the Colonel's off the radar. I was offered a transfer to Blood Gulch just the other day, I'm going to take it."

Continuing to smile Viktoriya winked at Sara and turned around, starting to walk off in a direction. Thinking quickly she came up with a better idea, pressing the button on the side of her helmet she said, "Foxtrot, we could use some air-power over here; current destination is Alpha-Charlie." Getting a confirmation she nodded to herself and looked around. Noticing the cave mouth she nodded again, breathing a sigh of relief that her mind hadn't wandered out yet.

After a few minutes and more words from Sara a Vertibird flew over the top of them, descending Viktoriya ushered Sara into the cabin. As they took off she gave instructions to the Pilot to listen to Sara, she would know where the rest of her men were and probably where Viktoriya's Squad were as well.

((Sorry I haven't posted recently, been busy this weekend))

Demetri was sitting on the ground, the arrival of the other soldiers was a little short of a mircale, if they hadn't turned up they would of all been tinned food for the deathclaws. When Henry had come up to ask permission to search for supplies. Demetri nodded and waved him off, and was soon greeted by the new arrival's medic, "Sir, let me look at you," the soldier said, Demetri shook his head, "I'm fine, just a bit of brusing, now go away." The medic didn't know what to say and left, "Get back to the Sergeant!" Demetri shouted down at him. The medic jogged off and went around a large boulder out of veiw.

Demetri looked up hearing the sound of a vertibird, he coiuldn't see it at this time, hopefully it was back to base soon for them. Demetri believed he had enough of being out side of the base, this was the first time he had been in the filed for almost two months, and it had not been the best experiance. Demetri picked himself up and made his way to the squad which had arrived, most of them had taken their helmets off and were sharing rations which each, seem most were pleased with their experiance, none dead, and only one wounded.

As soon as Henry stepped outside of the base after resupplying he saw the vertibird which had just arrived. He hurried and rejoined Demetri who was with the new squad that had arrived. The mission almost proved disastrous if they hadn't show up and offered them all his gratitude by offering to buy them a drink when they got back to base. He also looked at the deathclaws and said "Man, I think we should take a photo by that big one, a little souvenir to show those sissies back at base what real soldiers can do! They'll never believe the size of this one," It was a joyous celebration for they had taken on both a large Brotherhood detachment and taken out a lair filled with deathclaws with no one dead on their side.

"Take us to Outpost Zeta." Sara spoke to the pilot and then reached over and grabbed for the radio. She leaned over and fiddled with the dials and switched to a secure channel. One she was certain the BOS would have no chance of listening in on.

"Base, please send a salvage team to Outpost Zeta." Sara's voice was wavering slightly as the vertibird flew towards it's destination. Even though it was only a short distance, it still didn't change the fact that Sara didn't like to fly. It scared her intensely. The thought of falling out of the sky really shook her up. She reached over and grabbed Viki's hand, holding it tightly. As the vertibird descended into the outpost, Sara loosened her grip on Viki's hand. Once they were on the ground, she immediately picked up the radio, and tuned it again. This time to the frequency that Sara's and Viki's squads would hear.

"Captain Carter to all units in the vicinity of Outpost Zeta, report there immediately for airlift back to base, That is all." Sara returned the handset and looked at Viki, a cunning smile on her face.

"Wait until you meet them hon. I think you are really going to like these ones."

Demetri looked up at one of the soldiers as he said, "Alright men, you heard her, move out." Demetri worked over quickly, "What was that order?" Demetri asked, "My helmet has been damaged in the conflict with the deathclaw." The soldier turned to him, "Sir, we are are to go to Outpost zeta for airlift," the man replied. Demetri nodded and picked up his weapon and watched as two men used a stretcher to carry gregory. Atleast one man in a squad were usually give it, it was made with a sheet of cloth with two light metal poles which were easily collaspeable for easily carry.

Demetri followed, the sun was starting to set, it had been a very long day for them, getting back to base and seeing the barracks was very appealing at this time. When they got out of the rock area, Demetri could see the base, iit looked almost peaceful, the brotherhood had seemed to of repaired it, most likely to use it as a staging point or a checkpoint.

Henry received the order to return to outpost Zeta, it was fairly close by and when he got there he saw the other troops who had been out there regroup and reorganize. Pretty soon the vertibirds started landing an they were returned to base. while they were lined up to return to base he looked around at the wasteland outside and wondered how he would've been able to survive out there by himself like any wastelander. But as long as the Enclave still stood he would fight to return this barren wasteland back to the American dream. When the vertibird finally arrived he boarded and dozed off on the ride back, relieved to have survived a shocking encounter with the wastes.

As the Chopper landed, envious eyes regarded it and wondered who exactly was in there. As the figures stepped out all became clear quite quickly, a man was sent back to report to the Captain. Blinking a few times the lone figure yawned and looked away from the screen, taking a few bites of some un-radiated brahmin steak. Resisting the urge to sigh he leant back in his chair and let his eyes droop, drifting off into a world of sleep.

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General Winter

Sighing the older man sat at his desk and waited, he had sent out a message to get to Viktoriya; knowing that she was in the Base was inkling enough to use her abilities. Leaning back into the chair, he waited, within a few more minutes he heard a knocking on his door. Pressing a button on the side of his desk he saw the doors open up and in walked in Lieutenant-Colonel Ivanov.

With a brief smile he motioned to the chair in front of his desk, moving quickly she sat down and looked at the General. Letting his smile fade slowly he remembered that the soldier's only real friend in the Enclave was Sara Carter... Interesting. Rapping his knuckles on the desk he looked into the Woman's eyes,

"Well, Lieutenant-Colonel, it seems that the Brotherhood will be knocking on our front door in a matter of days... I'm ready to give you an honour, I'm going to give you the full command of Enclave troops before and leading up to the battle. I quite realise you are the best strategist amongst the Enclave and as such, this is an easy choice to make... Do you accept?"

A few moments passed and then a great smile dawned over the Woman's face, she replied;

"Of course sir."

Sara exited the vertibird and called for a couple of soldiers. As they approached, she removed the case from her pocket and injected Gregory with a painkiller. When the soldiers had arrived she pointed at the stretcher.

"Please move the private to the infirmary. Make sure that his wounds are tended to. I have other matters to attend to." Sara removed her coat and pistols from the aircraft and headed back to her quarters. Once there she locked the door and removed her shirt. The wound wasn't as bad as it could have been, thanks to the medic form the Brotherhood. She took about an hour tending to the wound. Using various drugs, she treated the injury and replaced the bandage. The pain was gone and Sara found that she could move her arm once again, though it would still take a day or two to fully heal. Once she had finished, Sara put on her uniform and coat and made her way to see General Winter.

Sara knocked on the door and entered, not waiting for the reply. She approached the desk and smiled at the General. It was a smile that the General had seen before, and suggested that she wanted something.

"Sir, it would appear that the mission was a success," Sara began. "The Brotherhood have been routed to Lamplight, which will buy us three to four days. I would also like to make two requests of you sir. First I would ask that Gunnery Sergeant Green be promoted for his actions in the field. He acted in the best interests of the men and the Enclave and it is my opinion that he would make an excellent officer, despite his chequered past. I would also like to ask that since Doctor Sorein is currently in a coma, that I be put in charge of the Enclave science division until he recovers." There was no denying that Sara was the right choice for the job. It would also make it a lot easier for her to get the equipment she needed to find a cure for this thing infecting her.

Sara was continuing to walk a fine line, and she knew it. She had to play this perfectly, though she was feeling a lot more confident now that Viki was coming to Blood Gulch. Viki was the only person in the world that Sara put above herself. And together, there wasn't anything they couldn't do.

Looking up at her, the General smiled and listened to what she had to say. Nodding at one or two of her words he tapped his fingers on the side of his Terminal, looking off into space for a few seconds. Opening his mouth slowly he quickly said, "Well, I guess I'm going to say yes to both of your requests. They're reasonable and I understand your wishes for both... Very well, you have all the necessary files to promote Green, your a Captain now, also; Sorein doesn't seem to look like he'll last much longer so you were going to be promoted anyway.

Good luck Captain Carter... You'll need it in this base these days." With that, Sara turned around and moved out of his office.

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Pain, pain coursed through my body and almost spilled out onto the ground. With an inhuman roar I moaned and groaned with pain as I felt I couldn't even cry anymore. It coursed through my veins and almost brought me back to the land of the sleeping, but I refused to go back there and relive those deams of pain. Gritting my teeth I moved forwards and looked at the men standing in front of me... As a matter of fact, they were more down than in front.

The body that was now mine... I could hardly believe it. I felt even better than I had for years, with energy surging through my veins... Most of the time though that energy was completely overcome by the exruciating pain. They said it would be worse if they weren't helping, scowling I just ended up gritting my teeth and baring it. Sighing I got ready for the hourly test.

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Leaning back into the plush chair Viktoriya looked off into the distance for a few seconds, after those few moments she booted up the Terminal in front of her. Quickly typing up a message she re-read it over quickly, realising how blunt it was:

Sara,

I'd love it if we could talk... I think I may have something to tell you, if you want, could you come to the old President's office in the Admin Building? General Winter has given it to me for the time being, their's a nice dining room, perhaps we could have something to eat as well? Either way, could you please come here.

-Viki

Nodding to herself with satisfaction she sent the message.

Sara returned to her quarters and truend on the computer terminal. Logging in, she saw that there was a new message for her. She first opened another directory and quickly filled out the forms for Demetri's promotion. Demetri had done his job well and Sara knew that keeping her word would serve to inspire loyalty form him. Once she had finished filling out the forms, she sent them to administration and then read the message. It was from Viki and appeared to be a dinner invitation. Sara was tired and still had a lot of research to do, but her feelings for Viki took precedence. Sara missed her friend dearly and could put off her research for a time if it meant being able to spend time with her friend. Sara didn't reply to the message. She didn't have to. Viki would know that she would be on her way. She grabbed a bottle of wine from her cupboard and headed back to the desk. She powered off the terminal and exiting her lab, headed for the administration building.

Once Sara was there, she made her way to the room that now served as Viki's office. She arrived at the door and entered. Sara was feeling quite fatigued but still managed to smile at her friend. She closed the door behind her and plopped herself down on a couch that was in the room.

"You seem to have settled in nicely," Sara continued to smile. She was genuinely happy with all the success that Viki had achieved. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Smiling at Sara for a few seconds Viki let it fade really slowly, turning it into a deep frown. Thinking lightly she resisted the urge to sigh and stood up, moving forward she sat next to Sara on the couch and leant back slightly. Letting go of the resistance she sighed and thought of the right way to say what she should've said Months ago. Scratching her chin she cleared her throat and looked at Sara quietly.

Opening her mouth slowly she said, "Sara... Their's much more to what's been going on here than you could ever being to realise. I'm sorry, after I tell you this you may want to just leave and forget I was ever your friend... You see... Here in Blood Gulch their's someone else within the Enclave, they're much more powerful and are running it from the inside out. They also plan on taking over the Enclave entirely and eliminating the Brotherhood.

The only problem is, that, this group of people have been running tests on certain soldiers... Adding diseases into their systems and changing them, of course you'd know that you are one of those subjects. Luckily though, to my relief, you are different to the others... As all of them are different in their own unique ways. For a start, you won't turn into what the Colonel is changing into, as well as that; you are actually changing right now.

How do I know this, you may ask? Well... To tell you the truth Sara... I am the leader of that group of people, who are slowly moving their way through the Enclave and killing it. We plan on moving throughout our own Faction, then moving onto the Brotherhood of Steel and then onto the Wastes themselves... I tell you this, to beg of you to join our cause and become my side, my partner in leading these people; we need someone like you.

Someone who's not afraid to do what's good for humanity, someone who understands all the things that Humans have done wrong... But most of all... I need you as my friend Sara, I'm sorry to tell you after so long, but I had no choice; all the others pushed me into doing things like this. So I ask you now: Will you forgive me for my subterfuge and join at my side, as my equal match and greatest of friends?"

Taking a quick breath Viki leant back and looked at Sara, waiting for her answer; at that moment she actually thought about the Colonel. Reading the most recent report on her portable messaging device she'd seen that he was advancing at a rapid rate and would soon be who he was meant to be. He would be the hand, the one who would either be their saviour or their destroyer; she hoped to the Lords that it wouldn't be the latter.

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Pain, more pain was coursing through my blood and into all the different parts of my body. Grimacing I moved forward as the men demanded of me, I didn't see much point in it anymore. I'd already anolysed what they were doing and realised that escaping would be beyond easy. Perhaps... Perhaps that is what they wanted me to do.

Thinking slightly I stopped moving, instead preferring to stand still, staring coldy at the man who was directing me. He began to yell and become a little agressive, biggest mistake he could make at this exact point. Stepping forward I raised my already much larger bulk and roared back at him, rocking the walls of the room. He stepped back with a startled look, suddenly it turned to complete fear and he took another step back.

Laughter issued from the depths of the room and I turned towards it, my heightened senses allowed me to see a man dressed in dark armor smiling at me. Relaxing the slightest he moved forwards towards me and gave a slight bow, "My name is Roland," he said to me calmly, "I am to be your trainer. Why you will need me you may ask? Well, I'd have to reply because any gun's you use will not be of use to you, and the few guns that would be of use would be pointless.

As such, I am going to teach you how to use a sword, your hands and of course; your feet. Don't worry about hurting me either, I'm ready for it and it's what I'm being ordered to do... I was to wait until you got, shall we say, angry? Well... You ready, Paul?"

Sara listened intently to everything Viki had to tell her. At the end she started to laugh and looked into her friends eyes.

"Honestly hon, I'm a little tired for jokes. Now really?" Sara trailed off as she continued to look in her friend's eyes. She could tell this wasn't a joke. The smile disappeared from Sara's face and she looked down at the floor. A feeling was washing over Sara. It was feeling she wasn't used to. It was sadness. Sara continued to stare at the floor and felt the tears start to roll down her cheeks. Never in her life had she felt this betrayed. She got up from the couch and walked over to the wall. Staring at the wall, she continued to cry, making no move to look at Viki. After a few moments, the sadness started to leave her, and became replaced by a feeling she knew too well. Hatred. But try as she might, Sara found herself unable to focus any of that hatred towards Viki. Instead it was all directed inwards. Sara hated herself for allowing herself to care about and trust someone the way she had trusted Viki. Still staring at the wall, and gritting her teeth, she began to speak.

"Viki, I?" This was so hard for Sara. Viki was the one person she had trusted and cared for. Sara had always thought of her as a sister. If it was anybody else, they would already have one of her knives in them. But this was Viki. No matter what, Sara would not be able to bring herself to kill her. Sara now turned to face Viki, a look of sorrow on her face.

"Why?.how could you do this to me?" Sara was trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears. "Everything we've been through. Everything I've done for you." The look on Sara's face changed to one of anger, though her voice was soft, almost soothing. "And you show how much you care by infecting me with an agent that is rewriting my DNA." Sara paused for a moment. A part of her was unsure how to proceed with this.

"So what, you thought you would observe the effects of this on me? I don't want to change! I like me the way I am! You are the one person I care about in this world, and you decided to use me as a lab rat?" Sara walked up to the couch and glared at Viki. In some ways she had to respect her friend. Sara had taught her the games she liked to play. And she couldn't help but notice the true irony of this situation. It was as if she had now become a toy for Viki's amusemant. Sara had never seen it coming and had to admit that the execution was flawless.

"So what now? I'm just supposed to trust you after telling me that you are trying to overthrow the Enclave and you have had me infected?" Sara's expression changed to one of sadness again and she turned her back to Viki.

"I always knew it would be someone in the Enclave who would eventually betray me. I just never expected it to be you" Sara felt the sadness overtake her at this thought, and she crumpled to the floor, weeping.

Looking at Sara, Viki felt a sadness well up inside her, the one and only true friend within the Enclave felt anger for her. Moving towards her Viki put her hand upon Sara's shoulder, looking straight into her eyes she quietly said, "They gave me no choice... I'm so sorry Sara. They said that it was either we do it, or they would just kill you. They wanted a way to control you and they said they'd kill me as well if I didn't do anything against you with them... But I will fix that right now."

Pulling out a syringe from a deep pocket she flicked off the cap, nodding at Sara's arm she extended it; she quickly plunged it into a vein. Forcing the contents into her bloodstream she could almost hear a whimper from Sara, drawing out the syringe she nodded at Sara's arm. "That should purge the disease from your system, it's already done something to you I'm sure; but it won't be permanent. There were no bad effects meant to come from it anyway, but yet... I'm so sorry Sara."

Tears of her own were streaking down Viki's face, smiling lightly at Sara she whispered, "Please Sara, I don't want to lose you through this. I just want to live a life where everything isn't fighting against my own system. We can't live our lives the way we want to in the Enclave Sara and you know it, we need to get rid of them and the Brotherhood... Please Sara, please stay with me."

Henry was getting some rest and had just finished showering from an exhausting mission. By his bed there was a picture of the entire squad standing by the most massive deathclaw he had ever seen. To the left of it was the picture from the day he had won the war games. Henry was thinking of collecting a photo album when he heard from some other soldiers that Demetri was being promoted. Hmm, if Demetri's being promoted, who's going to take his place? Chances were however, that he was still going to be in charge of the same guys as before. Deciding to check out what the status of the ranks were he went out to the administration building, there were a lot more troop activity then ever, the defenses outside the base had grown to be massive, there was barbed wire, MG positions, and a layer of earthworks all over the entire perimeter, not to mention the even larger blankets of mines.He walked in to find that there was a new name on the door. The colonel had been replaced by colonel Ivanov.

He wondered whether the colonel had finally succumbed to his illness and died. Not wanting to linger he kept going as there seemed to be some people inside talking. When he finally got to the troop listings he found Demetri was now a captain. Satisfied with his answer he walked back out and couldn't help but think that there was something going on behind the scenes and that he never got to play any part in it. Someday, I'll get things to work my way. Resolved to get a promotion Henry went back to his barracks and worked very hard to get all his things in order and make sure to call Demetri sir every time he saw him.

Sara flinched as the needle went into her arm. As it did, she stopped crying and listened to her friend. It seemed that Viki's plans truly were the same as her own. And in Sara's mind, Viki was a much better candidate to lead the Enclave. Viki apologized and Sara could hear her crying. Sara slowly got to her feet and looked into the face of her friend. She brought up her hand and wiped away Viki's tears.

"You know I will always stick by you," A slight smile accompanied the words. "And I can even understand that you felt you had no choice. I just can't help feeling upset that you wouldn't come to me with this. Especially when it involved a disease." Sara leaned in and hugged her friend. She felt better and wanted to make someone pay for this. Something there would definitely be time for later. Sara walked over to the desk in the room and sat down on it.

"Listen hon. I always said I would be with you til the end. But from now on, no more secrets. Please." Sara paused for a moment to focus her thoughts.

"Now would you be so kind as to tell me exactly what this thing has done to me, who manipulated you into doing this, and when we can make him discover the chewy flavour of his own intestines." Sara wanted to inflict an unknown kind of pain on someone. She needed to compose a new symphony of anguish and suffering. And she wanted Viki to collaborate on it.

"Well, Sara, so far all I believe the disesase has done to your body is increased your agression... That's all." Thinking quietly to herself she realised that lying was one of her best abilities in this day and age. Sitting on the couch she smiled again at Sara and quietly said, "So, Sara, tell me more about Blood Gulch would you? I find it interesting to hear about the game you've been toying around with, it's always fun to hear your stories." The time will come...

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What a little bastard!

He was fast, I'd give him that, he ran from place to place with an efficiency I realised it would take me a bit to master. He was much smaller than what I was now, and thus; ten times faster than I could go at the moment. Scowling I leapt at him and tried to hit his small frame, he was certainly stronger and more durable than any other human; he must've been changed by something. As my fist connected with his jaw he went flying back ten metres, then landed on his feet and ran at me.

Getting in about four hits into my abdomen and groin he leapt back and smiled at me. "Your making progress, and your starting to let go of pain and realise that it's your friend; live with it and endure it. Come on, two more hours and then we can rest." This man's training ideas were certainly working, I felt myself getting stronger and more durable by the minute. Whether that would work with a human would be a very good question.

Sara continued to smile. However the smile did not reflect the uneasy feeling in her gut. There was something wrong here. It wasn't that she suspected her friend of some sort of intentional wrongdoing. It was because of the questions that Viki left unanswered and the way she had changed the subject. Sara had already told her everything about her current game, yet Viki still wanted to know more. And although Sara wanted to have a nice session of girl talk(or what passed for it for Sara), she was intrigued by this cure that Viki had injected her with. Sara kept smiling, wondering who might be listening in. It was the only explanation for Viki's behaviour. Someone had to be listening in.

Sara relayed the events of the past few days in Blood Gulch again. Realizing that she hadn't told Viki about Bob, she spent a good thirty minutes relaying the events leading up to his death; all the while, thinking about this cure that Viki had. This also didn't make a lot of sense to Sara. Form the information she had already garnered, she found it hard to believe that a concoction of drugs would halt the disease. Once she had finished telling Viki about Bob, Sara paused and yawned. She was getting tired, and there still was a lot of work to do.

"Listen hon. I need some rest after the events of today. I hope you don't mind, but I think I will take a rain check on the dinner." Sara got up from the desk and walked over to where Viki was sitting on the couch.

"Before I go to my quarters and get some much needed rest, I was wondering if you could give me a sample of the cure you injected me with." Sara had a look of giddy anticipation on her face. "It's something I would really love to see under a microscope. This disease fascinates me, and I would like to know everything I can about it."

Smiling, Viki looked into Sara's eyes and found something she'd hoped not to find; distrust. It wasn't aimed at her though she figured out, she was suspecting something else here. Thinking quickly for a few seconds she figured out a small plan, but quickly scrapped it; figuring out something better. Although, she forget about Sara's inquisitive nature at the exact wrong time. Smiling at Sara she quietly said,

"I'm sorry darl, that was the only injection that we have made at the moment... I'm sorry, I'll see what I can do to get you something in the next few days though okay? You have a good night, I have some reports to do anyway so... I'll see you later darl." Smiling again at Sara she felt a bit of force going through to make it look genuine, she hoped Sara would miss all this though.

Sara couldn't help but notice that Viki's smile seemed forced. The poor dear, whoever was controlling her was making things very difficult for her. Sara hugged her friend and headed immediately back to her lab. Once there she locked the door behind her and went to the lab table. Taking a blood and DNA sample. She went through the process she used before to detect the disease. She made a slide with the blood and placed it under the microscope. She was smiling as she started to look at the slide. But the smile was quickly replaced by a look of fear. Her eyes had to be deceiving her. Sara quickly removed the slide and took a fresh sample of blood, along with a DNA sample swabbed from the inside of her cheek. She made two fresh slides and examined them both. Sara couldn't believe her eyes. Not only was she still infected with the disease, but it appeared to have been accelerated. Worse yet, it no longer appeared to be changing her DNA, it was breaking it down.

This was impossible. Viki had told her she had been injected with a cure. Whoever was controlling Viki must have lied to her about what was in the syringe. Sara had to come up with a way to cure the disease on her own. Sara felt a small tinge of panic as she realized that instead of months, she now only had days left. Or at least that's what she surmised, watching the way the disease tore through the DNA on the slides.

Sara's eyes were starting to feel heavy. She desperately needed to get some sleep. But right now, there was a more pressing matter. Walking over to a cupboard on the wall, she removed a small vial labelled "stimulant", along with an empty syringe. She rolled up her sleeve and filled the needle. Taking some surgical tubing form the lab table, she tied it around her arm and tapped for a vein. Once she had one, she inserted the syringe and pushed the plunger.

Sara dropped to the floor in total agony. It felt like her entire body was on fire and her head was going to explode. The laser blast to the shoulder was a walk in the park compared to what she was feeling now. She lay on the floor, choking back the scream that was trying to escape her lips. After a few minutes, the pain started to subside and Sara crawled over to her desk. Pulling herself into the chair, she turned on the terminal and began to read Sorein's research. The pain was gone and the stimulant had kicked in, making her fully alert. Sara spent about three hours going through everything in the files and smiled when she came to the end. She thought that she may have a way to reverse the disease. The only problem was, it could be fatal. Sara needed a guinea pig, and with Demetri's promotion, and Gregory's current condition, there was only one other candidate. Sara turned on the microphone and her voice reverberated throughout the base.

"This is Captain Carter. Private Henry Jones please report to my lab immediately. That is all." Sar smiled and focused her attention to the computer once again. She went inot the directory labelled "Promotions" and clicked on it. The form for promotion came up and Sara immediately started to fill it out, promoting Henry to Corporal. It didn't take her long to do it, but she didn't send the form. Instead she left it on the screen and waited for Henry to arrive.