This was it, this was as close as to judgement day as the Wastes would ever get. Scowling I stood up slowly in my new armor, stretching a little and looking out over the soldiers milling about around me. Scowling I moved off to the elevator, taking it up to the top floor and stood out into the top level of the underground. Taking a few breaths I slipped the helmet on and secured it in place with a hiss.

Continuing to move forward, I realised just how close it was until the attack was going to hit. Resisting the urge to sigh I went topside, not a single soldier was out in the open, a good percentage would be in preferable spots in the buildings. Pushing a button on the inside of my armor I watched the giant blade propel itself out of a socket in my arm. It was humongous and would hopefully do what it was made to do.

Letting my hand draw back off the button the blade flew back into it's socket and out of view. Shrugging my shoulders and rolling them back I counted down mentally in my head:

Three... Two... One...

Boom!

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"The Southern wall has been breached sir! We've got Brotherhood forces pouring in from our flank!"
"Well go and [censored] secure it then! We don't have time for this!" I replied, swinging my arm and taking out another soldier. Time was running thin and the battle was already extremely bloody and almost one-sided. The Brotherhood had numbers and Liberty Prime, all the Enclave had was experience. The Restistance would be coming out given soon enough time as well...

Scowling I swung again, taking out yet another soldier. Standing twelve foot tall certainly helped in most battle situations, I'd give them that. Scowling I looked around and noticed Demetri, Gregory and Henry, all holding their own against a few Brotherhood squads. Rushing over I yelled a war-cry and cut up as many I could, shots ringing off my armor. Nodding at the three soldiers I quickly said, "Retreat, now, we need you guys alive. I don't care where you retreat to, as long as there are no Brotherhood Soldiers there."

A crackling started up in my ear and I brought my hand up, "Repeat that, I didn't hear you."

"Colonel! Viki has started her attack from behind and has blown up more of the shields for the Brotherhood! She's in the Command Po-" I heard Sara say, I quickly cut her off.

"Meet me there, now, something gives me a feeling that this is going to be dangerous."

Taking my hand from my ear I rushed past our forces and towards the Command Post, hoping that the others would know to stay alive.

Henry had come in whilst Demetri was finishing up looking at the infomation he was given and told him that they needed to band together, get to the source of the problem. Before Demetri had given it some thought, a long message had come up from Captian Carter. She wanted Demetri to stay low and not trust Gregory, "May as well not trust anyone," Demetri muttered, he wasn't to agree with Henry, not to trust Gregory, though there was a reason for that it seemed, and he had not trust Sara from the begining.

Demetri shook his head, "Best not, never know what could happen, best be quiet for now," Demetri told Henry and was about to leave before the base Alarm went off, "[censored]," Demetri said, "What are you waiting for? Go!" Demetri ordered Henry. Demetri moved swiftly out of the Command Post and made is way to the barracks to collect is arms and armour. Demetri suited up as fast as he could, his incinerator in had. Demetri left the building to see a large explosion as one of the pylons were knocked out and allowed the brotherhood to come streaming in.

Demetri fired into the crowd, the fireballs from his weapon arcing and raining down upon the brotherhood. Some did not hit but did certianly startle the knights around it, one had been hit dead on, the fire finding the gaps in the armour and sweeping through, the man rolled around in the sand, fruitlessly trying to put the flames out as he screamed at the top of his lungs. Demetri fired another burst but it was less effective then the last one, at this range it made it difficult to get any well aimmed shots off.

As the brotherhood found cover within the base, firefights broke out all over the compound. Demetri took two laser shots to the chest, his hellfire armour easily shrugging it off. "You!" Demetri shouted, "Get what men you can a full back towards the command post, this area is lost." Demetri could tell, numbers were not on their side and Demetri had already seem half two squads wiped out in this short space of time.

Demetri had fallen back with him and had come close to Henry and Gregory, Demetri still using the incinerator, and mangaing to supress some of the brotherhood behind some cover. Soon they were relived by the Colonel cutting down a number of the enemy knights, "Yes sir," Demetri said and looked around, the Enclave were losing a large amount of ground, only two places were avalible to retreat to, the command post, and the entrance to the underground, "Well you heard the man, follow!" Demetri ordered and sprinted towards the underground as shots filled the air around him.

Demetri's response was not what he had hoped for. Henry respected his wishes, and left the room. He thought he saw Gregory walk out of the infirmary, but he wasn't sure. He spent the next 30 minutes calling up the people he needed to fight back. He entered the meeting room and saw all the loyalists. The crowd was decent sized, about 50 people were there, he recognized the Lieutenant-Colonel's aide as well as the armorer among them. "Good, I see you have all come because we are the only ones willing to fight back in order to preserve the Enclave," The rest of the people were soldiers and clerks, it would have to be enough.

He told the administrators to monitor rebel activities and they drew out a plan to prevent an attack from wiping key officials out. The armorer would make sure that they had all the weapons needed as to not get outgunned, the Aide would keep them informed of any suspicious activities and his troops would follow him into the fight. The plan was to have the administrators in the command center arm themselves secretly in order to defend that area. He and his troops would storm the underground facility after the Brotherhood was repelled in order to seize sensitive Intel while arresting the lieutenant Colonel.

If all went well they would have a flexible force capable of putting up some resistance. He was about to dismiss everyone when Henry heard several loud footsteps down the corridor. Knowing that those could only be people in powered armor he hit the floor as a hail of bullets ripped through the conference room's walls and killed anyone who was standing up. After the roaring volley on bullets he saw that half of his people were hit and about half of those people were dead. He grabbed his pistol and called the rest of his forces to go outside but when he did so the assailants had escaped. He spent the next hour trying to get the dead and wounded out when the alarm came that the Brotherhood was here.

"Damn!" His loyalist forces were in disarray and he could only hope that it would be enough to throw off the resistance. He ran to the armory and suited up when he ran into Demetri who yelled at him to hurry up and move. He ran outside and had the squad fan out and suppress the advancing brotherhood forces when he saw that the southern wall was breached. He saw many of them go down under the heavy incinerator but they were starting to dig in and return fire. He shouted "Squad! Get the miniguns to good firing positions! The rest of you keep their heads down!"

It was then that he saw a Giant approach him and cut apart the Brotherhood. It took him to realize that the Monster was actually Colonel Palvic, "My God! So that's what they did to you!" His trance was broken when he was ordered to pull back to the command post. He was rather scared that he might get ambushed there but he hoped that the rebels would strike after the BOS was beaten. He ran along the courtyard with bullets and lasers tearing up the area all around him. The outer defenses should've stopped them but he wondered how they Brotherhood knew to strike at their weakest point. It would have to wait as he took cover right outside the command post and dug in there along with his squad. The biggest question he had was where Sara was and whether she would be cut off in the Science Labs. For the moment, he was glad to be alive, his brush with death had been too close back in the conference room.

Sara finished the surgery on Gregory. It had not taken as long as she first estimated, and everything went extremely well. The cybernetic implants had not been rejected, and for all intents and purposes, Gregory had new legs. When she had finished, she removed her mask and smiled at the unconscious Gregory. It was a shame that he would have to die as he was some of Sara's finest work. She removed her gloves and tossed them to the floor.

"He should wake up shortly," Sara spoke to one of the nurses in the room. "When he does, have go to the armoury and get outfitted for the battle. I don't think we have a lot of time left."

Sara left the operating room and returned to her quarters. Right now she wanted to sleep, but there were still two other things she had to do first. Sara removed a tube of nanites from the container and loaded an injection gun. Entering the bedroom, she lay on the bed and injected the nanites into her neck. Sara wasn't really prepared for the pain she now felt. She had thought the laser blast to the shoulder was bad, but it didn't compare to this. Her entire body screamed in agony as the tiny robots worked through her system. She wanted to pass out from the pain, but instead, bit down on a pillow and forced herself to endure it.

Once the pain had subsided, Sara got up form the bed, now more tired than ever. She moved to the lab table in the other room and removed a drawer, a bio sensor chip, a sensor module and a pair of wire cutters. It was taking all of Sara's will to keep from falling over with exhaustion. Examining the syringes on the table, she picked one up and injected herself with a stimulant. She did need to sleep, but right now was not the time. She spent a few moments tinkering with the bio chip and the sensor module. It only took a few moments to tune them to the same frequency. Once she had accomplished this, she put the chip in the injection gun and injected it into her chest. The pain almost knocked her over, but her resolve was stronger than that. She knew what had to be done, and because she didn't know how things were going to play out, she needed a little insurance.

Walking back to the bedroom with the sensor module and wire cutters, Sara proceeded to pry up on of the floor panels, revealing a a mass of wires and duct work. She lowered herself into the opening and began to sift through the wires. After a few moments, she had found the one she wanted. Taking the wire cutters she carefully spliced in the sensor module and then turned it on. The device was working perfectly, and her final solution was in place. The chip she had injected herself with would monitor her heart rate. If her heart should stop, it would send a signal to the sensor module, causing the base's self destruct system to go off.

Sara replaced the floor panel and changed back into her uniform and coat. She loaded both her pistols and strapped them to her legs. She checked to make sure all her knives were in place, and then walked to her desk, sat in the chair, and turned on the computer.

Sara immediately opened all of the base's camera feeds, and not a moment too soon it appeared. It was at that moment the alarm in the science building went off and the Brotherhood began their attack. Sara started to switch through all the camera views and turned on her radio. She monitored the battle both on the radio and on the screen. After a moment she found who she was looking for. Her friend Viki. Sra watched her move through the command post and speak to a soldier who immediately ran off towards the battle. Sara opened another camera window and watched as the soldier entered the courtyard and spoke to some of the other soldiers. Sara could hear voices on the radio saying something about the south wall.

Sara continued to watch the soldier who had now joined up with a small platoon, which immediately began to fire on other Enclave soldiers. She watched Viki move into the conference room and sit at the table. Sara picked up the radio, and using the computer, isolated the Colonel's radio frequency and spoke into the radio, The battle was raging outside and the Colonel had asked her to repeat what she had said.

"Colonel! Viki has started her attack from behind and has blown up more of the shields for the Brotherhood! She's in the Command Po-" The Colonel then cut back in.

"Meet me there, now, something gives me a feeling that this is going to be dangerous." The Colonel's voice was steady and Sara thought she could hear a tone of concern directed at her.

"Roger that Colonel. I'm going to take a trip down the rabbit hole. Meet me on the other side." Sara didn't wait for a response and exited her lab. She rushed down the hallway towards the basemant stairs. She could see scientists and nurses running about trying to find somewhere to hide.

"All of you, get to shelter immediately!" Some of the scientists looked surprised that Sara seemed to care about them. She didn't really, but figured that since they were still in the building, they couldn't be a part of the resistance as Viki would have already gotten her people out.

Sara reached the stairs and mad her way down to the basemant. She was moving quickly and almost walked right past the panel which led to the escape tunnel. She opened the hatch and entered, closing it again behind her. Sara raced at top speed through the tunnel which went on for about one hundred metres before coming to an end. She looked up and pushed against the panel above her head which gave way. Sara had to jump a couple of times before she could grab hold of something to pull herself up. When she did, Sara was in the a storage room in the basemant of the building. She thought about going to the first level of the building and meeting the Colonel there. There were no cameras in this room, so she decided to wait here. After all, the Colonel would know exactly where she was, and she doubted she could make it to the conference room by herself.

When Henry went inside the command post he saw the people inside open fire on him, he barely got out of the way before a laser burned him. Crawling on the ground he radioed for his insiders to begin his attack, soon he heard shouting from the inside as well as gunfire. He risked another look inside and was met with a grisly sight. In the close quarters of the command center a shootout like the one that had just happened was lethal, none of his own people were still alive in there. However, they had managed to bring down a good amount of the enemy. The target, however, was still alive.

He radioed to Sara telling her of what had happened. "The attack failed! Should I go in and try to kill her or should I stay out her and hold out?" Just then a laser shot hit him in the shoulder but it bounced off. "Squad! Keep up the suppressing fire!" He shouted while taking cover and waiting for a response from Sara. Viki was insane to try to undermine them now, but she was probably pretty crazy anyway. It was regrettable that he would have to eventually try to kill her even though she saved his life but that was how it was sometimes. He fired a shot from his rifle and scored a lucky hit on a Brotherhood Knight. He could make out the faint silhouette of Liberty Prime in the distance, he hoped that they had something to kill it this time around.

As I rushed into the Command Post all I could do was stop and stare for a few seconds, then shake my head. Enclave corpses littered the ground, looked like an ambush, the idiot had gone along with his plan when told not to. Scanning the room I took another step and suddenly a group of Enclave jumped out of hiding spots and aimed at me. I recognised them as a part of Henry's Squad, they must've gotten the Brotherhood to back off. Looking at each of them I quickly asked, "Where's Henry?"

Nodding back they continued to watch me, jogging past them I found Henry, taking cover behind a metal desk. Shots started ringing out again as an assault was hit upon our position, scowling I looked at Henry, "I caught your broadcast. Jesus kid, don't you think that someone would be listening in to what you were saying? I wasn't even on your station and I picked it up! Keep holding this position, don't move further into the building either; their's forces milling about."

Nodding at him I moved past and down a hallway, swinging a left I came to some stairs; sprinting down them I came into a small basemant area. Scanning the room I noticed a bit of a lab coat coming out from behind a bit of raised concrete, resisting the urge to sigh I moved in. Clearing my throat I quickly said, "Sara, it's time to move on, Viki's here and I'm sure she's watching us; it's now or never." Looking up at the ceiling I sighed, dust fell down on my armor as an explosion hit over-head.

Looking back down to our level I saw Sara standing, smiling underneath my helmet I quickly said, "So, do you think we'll make it through to her? I may be taller, stronger and in general much more powerful than before... But something gives me a feeling their's more to this than meets the eye. Where did you last pick her up? Her office or the conference room?" Thinking quickly I thought these would be the only two places she would hide out, her Office had all her equipment in it.

But the Conference Room was an easily-defendable position, except for one thing...

Sara listened to the sounds of battle above her. She heard the radio broadcast and decided to remain silent. If Henry had decided not to follow orders, he was on his own. For the moment, Viki didn't know she was in the building. And Sara intended to keep it that way.

Sara waited for the Colonel to arrive in the storage room. He was ready to go, but wanted to know the last known location of Viki.

"The last I saw her, she was in the conference room." Sara paused and looked at the Colonel. For the first time in her life she was actually feeling sorry for someone. Although Sara didn't know exactly what the Colonel had turned into under the armour, she knew that he had become a monster.

"Colonel?Paul," It was the first time in her life that Sara had ever called him by his first name. It wasn't out of disrespect. God knows, she respected him more now than ever. It was out of a growing sense of kinship that she was starting to feel.

"I don't believe we can make it through the centre undetected. Viki will obviously be watching the security feeds. But perhaps I can level the playing field a little." Sara smiled and walked over to a wall panel. Using one of her knives she pried it off, exposing the wiring inside. Stepping back a little, she drew one of her pistols and fired into the panel. Sparks showered the floor and all the lights in the building went off.

"That should buy us a little stealth, at least until she figures out a workaround. Lead the way." Sara drew her second pistol and waited for Paul to move.

Looking at Sara with a stunned look on my face I realised that really was the first time she'd called me Paul. A smile crept across my face slowly, she really was changing from who she used to be now, reality had pounded in in it's own way. Shrugging my shoulders I thought for a few seconds and nodded at Sara, "Okay, if she's in the Conference room that means we have to go up one level and across to the other side of the whole building. Big enough walk, but with what you did I think we should make it in time."

Walking over to the stairs I heard Sara following me, moving up the stairs as quickly as I could I checked the hallway for any signs of movement. Receiving none I continued down the hallway to another set of stairs, quickly moving up them. We were now on the right level, it was just getting to the Conference Room that would now be extremely hard. Taking a few breaths I continued moving forward, checking my peripheral vision all the time in case of ambushes.

It was to quiet, and every few seconds I walked past a mutilated body; something went wrong here. As we were about ten metres from the Conference Room I heard a shuffle eminate from behind us, turning as swiftly as possible my eyes widened at my stupidity. There was a group of at least ten soldiers in pure black armor, all holding what looked to be turbo-plasma rifles or pulse rifles. Taking a small breath I quietly said to Sara, "So... Do we make a run for the Conference Room or do you want me to go up against these guys?"

Suddenly, a giant blast of blue energy slammed through the wall and hit between us and the soldiers. It knocked Sara back but I quickly stopped her from falling, all the soldiers fell back and were cursing loudly, trying to get up. The anarchy from outside was hitting my ears and eyes as I watched most of our men get slaughtered by the Brotherhood's sheer numbers. Scowling I quickly said yet again to Sara, "Run for it or fight?"

Sara flew backwards from the blast which opened a hole in the floor. Paul had caught her and was speaking. Sara couldn't hear him properly due to the ringing in her ears. She glanced about trying to determine a course of action. It was then she heard Paul asking what to do next. Sara had to admit she was a little surprised by this. She was no tactician and wasn't too sure what to do. Sara crouched into a doorway when she decided to tell Paul the idea which had just popped into her head. She also needed to tell him about her final solution.

"Paul, you need to know that if I die, the base dies with me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I really didn't think we would run into this kind of resistance." Sara's face was serious as she drew one of her knives. She had an idea, but had more confidence in her aim with the knife than with a pistol.

Sara looked up at the Colonel and winked. She would only get one shot at this.

"Cover me!" As soon as she spoke the words, Sara stood up and threw the knife in the direction of the soldiers. To her it didn't matter so much who it hit, she wasn't actually aiming at a person. Instead she was aiming at the ammo on a rifle. It was a difficult throw and she could miss. Sara hit the ground and watched the knife sail towards it's target.

As I watched Sara jump out into the soldiers line of fire I moved after her, as she threw her knife I watched as it flew through the air. I realised what her plan was and I watched the knife as it moved ever so slowly towards the soldiers. The one she aimed at jumped out of the way, but unfortunately for the man behind him... He didn't.

An explosion the sounds of none I'd ever heard rung out through my ears, I made a mental note: Never destroy a microfusion cell as it causes great explosion and distraction. Looking at Sara I saw her cringing on the floor in pain at the sound, it was terrible on even me and the armor dulled out anything too loud anyway. Picking her up slowly I looked at her and waited for her pain to subside enough for her to hear me. Coughing lightly I looked at her and grinned to myself.

"Brave plan, stupid, but brave and it looks like it payed off, c'mon; we have a score to settle." Turning with her I moved towards the Conference Room door, smashing it in I looked in on the group of people gathered in the room. Brotherhood Soldiers were gathered on the left of the room, while Viki and her most trusted of men were gathered on the right. I saw both Viki and another man on the Brotherhood side hit the deck with shots ringing out between the two sides.

After both sides fell to the ground I saw only two rise up, and that was Viki and another man. Blinking a few times I looked at Sara and said, "So... Now what?"

Sara couldn't hear Paul speaking to her. She was aware of Viki's presence in the room, but her attention was focused on the other man in the room. He was wearing T51-B power armour. Sara had read the files and she knew who he was. No matter what hatred she felt for Viki in this moment, it didn't compare to that which she felt for the man standing in front of her now. He was the destroyer. The scourge of the Enclave. The man who had single handed, destroyed Raven Rock and brought the Enclave to it's knees. The Lone Wanderer.

Sara giggled a little at the sight of him. Though her hatred was intense, her mind was preoccupied of thoughts of the horrible things she could do to him. Sara shook her head and chased the thoughts away. This wasn't the right time. This was an extremely dangerous situation and Sara had to keep her wits about her. Sara turned her attention to Viki and the smile faded from view. Sara's mind was reeling. For the first time in her life, she knew a sense of hatred for the only friend she ever had. But no matter what she was feeling, Sara still needed to know one thing.

"Why Viki?" Sara holstered her pistols but kept her hands near her knives. Sara started to walk towards her friend. "After all we have been through and done together, why betray me? I love you like a sister and would do anything you asked me to. Instead, you try to kill me? Tell me why. I deserve that much." Sara glared at Viki and waited for the answer.

Henry was shouted at by the colonel because of something he had done. However, at that moment his ears were ringing from a grenade going off nearby and he barely caught any of what the colonel said. It didn't seem to matter much to him as he was certain the colonel had said to send reinforcements in after him. Or was it not to go in? So he asked Demetri, shouting across the field to him. "SIR! Do we have clearance to move into the outpost and clear it! I have a squad in reserve over here!" He looked around, Demetri's Hellfire troopers were doing a good job holding off the Brotherhood and it seemed that the breach had been contained and the defences outside the base were holding nicely.

He shouted again at Demetri and Greg "Sir! If I have permission I'd like for us to go in while I put corporal Carcosa in charge to hold the line here." The threat of a nearby squad of Knights who were about to set some explosives on the science labs, however, made him postpone the entry of the command center. They were lugging what seemed to be a massive bomb, he looked closely and realized that it was an extra large mininuke. Not quite a nuke like at megaton, nor was it as small as a mininuke, it would surely be enough to leave half the base smoking.

"Everybody! Concentrate your fire on those knights!" He ordered the squad to pin them down while he moved up with two of his men. The knights were forming a human shield around the bomb carriers and were firing off many bullets from their miniguns. They slowed down under the withering suppressive fire and soon Henry had crawled within ten feet of them. He told the other two soldiers to throw their grenades on his mark. "Alright, plasma grenades ready, three, two , one Go!" He chucked his grenade right into the middle of them and he closed his eyes as the bright explosion covered the knights with plasma. He could hear their screams as it melted through their armor and reduced them into goo. He got up and ran over towards the bomb. Surprisingly it was still intact and armed. A plan began to formulate in his mind. "Hey guys I think I have a plan to take out Liberty Prime!"

Looking between Viki, Sara and the Lone Wanderer I just shrugged and leaned up against the wall, the figure in the power armor seemed quite relaxed so I did as well. This moment was between Viki and Sara, watching both I saw Sara tense with anticipation to hear why she'd been betrayed. Watching Viki carefully I saw her release a breath and think for a few moments, maybe she was thinking or a lie; or maybe how to word the truth properly. Either way, it would make no difference.

Suddenly the two Women were interrupted, "Uhh, Lone Wanderer here? Do you two need a moment alone or something?" I chuckled at that, for being our greatest enemy he certainly had a way with words. Looking him up and down I replied with, "They could probably use a moment alone, but if you left them alone then so would I and where would that leave us? Fighting? No, I don't think I want to fight you yet." Smiling underneath my armor I could almost see the smile under his.

Where I seemed to be cruel and sadistic this man seemed to be my almost exact opposite, that was what made it hard to think of how powerful he really was. Rolling my shoulders I brought my attention to the Women again, Viki cleared her throat and quietly said, "Well, Sara... In truth, you aren't what's right for the revolution, you deserved to be wiped off the face of the Earth. We don't need people that can't control themselves and always need to torture someone to get their own kicks.

It's nothing personal, just good business." Scratching my own helmet with a far away mind I thought that sounded familiar, shrugging my shoulders I yawned. Looking between the two Woman and the man again I let a smile creep onto my face again, "So, Sara, anything to say to Viki or shall it just be dead silence? Oh and who's got dibs on killing who here?" Grinning underneath the helmet it widened even more as the LW said, "Well, I'll take on you big guy if you want, I wouldn't mind a challenge for once."

Rolling my shoulders again I waited for any words from either Viki or Sara, they would decide how this turned out ultimately.

"Is that really what you see when you look at me Viki." Sara's expression had changed to one of amusemant.

"I actually thought you understood me. Yes, I do enjoy my work, but to say I have no control. Come on Viki, you know me better than that. And let's not forget, you also get a kick out of my work. I've seen the look in your eyes when you helped me torture people. You enjoyed it as much as I did." Sara paused and moved closer to Viki.

"My whole life has been about control, and not just controlling situations, but myself as well. On more than one occasion I have resisted the urge to kill many of my associates. And we also shouldn't forget that I exercised a great deal of control and patience in helping you rise through the ranks." Sara's face changed again and became serious.

"And for you to say that this is good business. You know this is nothing of the sort. Good business would have been allowing me to serve you fully and faithfully. Something which I would have done graciously. You were the only person on this godforsaken planet that I would have laid down my own life for. I'm the one person you could have trusted more than any other." Sara looked down at the floor and shook her head.

"No Viki, this is not about good business. This is about your own ambition. You always wanted people to remember you. To make your little mark on society." Sara was starting to finally see the truth. Viki had changed.

Is she insane? Will she now run for her life in the battle that ends this day?

The thought entered Sara's head and she looked up back into her friends eyes.

"Viki, I have always loved and cared for you. It doesn't have to end this way." Sara's face was earnest. She was still hoping that something of her friend remained. Though logic told her otherwise.

"There is still something that I would like to know. Despite everything you have accomplished, I know that you couldn't do all this yourself. And as I know that General Winter is far to distant and quite frankly useless to be a part of this. I would like to know, who are you working with. There must be someone else behind this." Sara had no idea who would have the power to set all of this up. Her mind was reeling as she worked her way through all the personnel files she had read. And if Paul wasn't at the bottom of this, it left a burning question. Who was?

Sara was also working out how she could take out Viki right now. Viki and Sara were alike in many ways. But it was their differences which had always complimented each other. What Sara was to science, Viki was to tactics. What Sara was to stealth and speed, Viki was to fighting and strength. They knew each other well. Each knew the strengths and weaknesses of the other. They did have one major thing in common however, they both liked to talk. Manipulation was a skill they had both mastered, and it was only the opening move of the game. A game in which only one of them would truly be victorious.

Time was a factor right now, Brotherhood and Enclave Resistance Forces would be fighting each other right now as well as the normal Enclave. Resisting the urge to sigh I moved around the stand-off between the two Women and moved towards the Lone Wanderer, he had his weapon holstered and watched me carefully. After I got within two metres of him I nodded and said, "I'm Colonel Pavlic, second in command of Blood Gulch, I know who you are but I don't know your name."

Nodding at me he said in a quiet voice, "It's Ross, nice to meet you Paul, too bad we're sworn enemies and all."
"Agreed, it would've been nice to know about the man who pretty much took out my entire organisation single-handedly, right?"
"I had enough help throughout it all, you were never prepared for our attacks; but this time you were."

Looking off through the Conference Room door I continued hearing the sounds of battle, screams and gunfire. Liberty Prime was the loudest over them all, splurting out Anti-Communist lines with his giant lasers spewing death and destruction across the Base. Bits of concrete fell on top of my head and armor as an explosion racked the whole building, I heard a small laugh eminating from behind me. Turning and moving to the right I looked at the two Women.

Viki was LAUGHING.

She stood there laughing and laughing, it almost seemed like she was going into tears, "Ahh Sara," she said firmly, "you don't realise this whole thing yet do you? No matter, you may realise it in all the time you have in death." Viki took a step back and pulled out her pistol, followed by me pressing the button on my hand, Sara pulling out a pistol and a knife and of course Ross taking his rifle off his back. Moving to the right a bit more and Sara moving towards me we ended up in a triangle formation.

Looking between our two enemies I smirked inside my helmet, "So, Viki, I assume you never told Sara?" Viki just stared blankly at me and I laughed harshly, "Oh don't give me that look. You know exactly what I'm talking about, maybe you should tell her what she's deserved to hear for a while. Even you got a point where you couldn't tell your best friend your darkest secrets could you?" Ross just gave a small chuckle and Viki's eyes went black; I wondered what Sara would say when Ross jumped in.

"Is it me or does this seem oddly like an Enclave Soap Opera? Really, what the [censored] is this? Should we have just waited for you all to kill yourselves with all this bickering and talking?" A hearty laugh eminated from his armor and I joined in, grinning. This man was pushing some lines but he said it in such a way that I felt he was right, shaking my head slightly I got rid of the thoughts in my head. Looking between the two Women again I wondered how this would really turn out.

Demetri listened to the radio on his helmet, asking what their orders were, "Not entirerly sure," Demetri replied, "Communications are poor." Demetri hated to say that, one of the worse things to happen in a combat situation was to have a communication breakdown. Demetri bunkered down behind some cover as shots whizzed about him and thought for a moment, out on the field there didn't seem to be many officers remanining it seems, him and a few others.

"Hey guys I think I have a plan to take out Liberty Prime!" Demetri heard over his radio, Demetri looked towards him and saw he had captured an explosive, "I know what you're thinking, I do not believe you are trained to handle explosives," Demetri said, "I'll inform on of the demo teams abou..." An explosion went off near Demetri breaking his train of thought, Demetri looked over the cover he was behind and let of a volley from his Incinerator again supressing the brotherhood. "I'll inform a demo team, maybe we should get to the command post."

Demetri ordered most of his squad to bunker down, bringing only two with him, "Sergeant Conti, I need you to rendevous with Gunnery Sergeant Jones, bring your team," Demetri ordered, Demetri waited for a few seconds and recived a cackle from his radio with "Yes sir." Demetri made his way closer to the bomb, bunkering down next to Henry, "So how do we do it then?"

Greg's eyes flickered open, staring up at the ceiling. He raised his head, and found Sara gone with a nurse on the other side of the room. It was hard to remember what had happened right before he had slipped into an unconscious state, but he remembered something about cybernetics and the Colonel wanting to kill him. Wasn't a surprise really, but where had the Colonel gone before? He had been off the radar for a while, thought he might have lost it due to the disease. Well, it didn't matter now; his only concern was the alarms going off.

Amazingly, he hopped right out of the bed and landed firmly on his feet, he could walk again. Sara had done a good job, pain was nonexistent and he felt better than he had been in a while. The nurse walked over to him and said he was to report to the armory, as Brotherhood and Ex- Enclave soldiers were reading their attack. Greg had no knowing of the Ex soldiers, or who they really were. He jogged out of the room, running past squads of Enclave soldiers and reached the armory. He quickly pulled on his Power Armor, and grabbed a Plasma rifle and ammo. He was about to run out and join the fight when he remembered something. He rushed back in and took a couple of special drugs to boost his ability. Rushing back out, he found a group of privates and rallied them together to assist in the battle.

Present Time:

They rushed out of the main doors and fell into cover next to Henry and Demetri, along with a beast of some sort. Squads of Brotherhood poured in from the outposts they had taken, along with Liberty Prime. He noticed that some Brotherhood troops had actually broken past their line and shooting at them from behind. "Squad, fall back to the Vertibird Hanger! This position is lost!"

Laser beams and Plasma blast whizzed by them as they ran for the hanger. "Get inside, now!" Pilots where running around, refueling and resupplying Vertibirds. Greg ran over to two of them and asked if there was an unused Vertibird, one of them nodding ad telling Greg to follow him.

Their metal boots clanged against the flooring of the Vertibird, finding a seat as the pilots readied for takeoff. He heard a lot of commotion about the Command Center, and decided that they should head there." Alright everybody, we are going to land on top of the Command Center and enter from the roof. Kill any non Enclave and watch your back, everyone ready?" Soldiers nodded in acknowledgment and readied their guns. The Vertibird took off.

Sara was definitely on edge. She had drawn her pistol and one of her knives. She had moved closer to Paul and listened to the comical, if not a little insulting words of the Ross. Sara gave a girlish giggle as it was something she had been curious about herself. Though Sara was no tactician, she knew that Viki's strategy had one major flaw.

"You know Viki, it is actually very unfortunate that the piece of vermin," Sara turned and looked at Ross. "No offence." Turning back to Viki, she continued, "has more brains than you do. It really would have made a lot more sense to take out the Brotherhood first. Instead, we get to have a standoff while the battle rages outside. A battle which I am quite sure has turned into total anarchy at this point." Sara smiled at Viki.

"I'm actually surprised that you would formulate such a flawed strategy to deal with this situation. In fact, I am willing to bet that you actually had nothing to do with it. So how about you do as the Colonel suggested and reveal your darkest secrets to me. Sara put away her weapons and turned to look at the Colonel.

"The enemy of my enemy." The words came quickly and loud enough for only the Colonel to hear. Sara turned her attention back to Viki.

"Really what do you have to lose at this point. Please. Enlighten me." Sara continued to smile.

Watching Ross carefully I digested Sara's words, she knew that I had better hearing than anyone else in this room. Resisting the urge to sigh I watched all the others, even Sara, things could go terribly wrong here; Ross moved back a step and rolled his shoulders. Hearing a short intake of breath I looked over at Viki, she had a thinking look in her eyes and smile. Waiting I truly wondered if she would do what I thought she may do, she looked down at her feet and sighed.

She looked back up again and scowled, "Fine Sara, I'll do what Paul's suggested and tell you something I should have long ago. I'm not really Viktoriya Ivanov, I'm Viktoriya Pavlic." A sharp intake of breath was heard from Sara and Ross just gave out a small chuckle, things must've been extremely weird for him. "I changed my last name a long time ago, but we never really got divorced as such. Surprised Sara?" Looking across at Sara all I saw was nothing in her eyes, an emptiness.

"Paul was a different person once, but he was changed by war, so I left him and strove to become better than him; I believe I've succeeded." With harsh laugher I watched her lift her lips into a cruel smile. Scowling I quietly and dangerously said, "And you of course know Viki that if I had a choice of anyone to kill in this room it would be you, your a betrayer and deserve death." My eyes narrowed and a look came upon my face, I was glad for my face to be covered at that moment.

Grinding my teeth I wondered how Sara would react to this, or if she would react at all. Viki continued smiling, then continued, "I have to thank you as well Sara, you taught me how to do some things with science I would never have known about. If it wasn't for you, Paul wouldn't be like this, in such a position where he can't attack me due to the fact that I can kill him if he tries. By now you've probably realised your going to die soon from your disease as well, such a shame."

Stifling a yawn Ross leant up against a wall, "Is this over yet or can we commence killing? I'm getting tired of listening to you guys yap on, seriously."

Sara turned to look at the Colonel, the look on her face was almost snide, but had a touch humour mixed in. This was one hell of a revelation. Sara turned around and looked at the Colonel. She had worked on part of the armour, and examined the chest plating. She couldn't help but notice something different about it. The Enclave insignia was not quite as it should be. It appeared to have been installed on the armour after she had worked on it. A smile crept across her lips.

"Well, I honestly thought you had better taste. "Turning away from Paul, she put her hands behind her head and started walking towards Ross.

"You know Ross. May I cll you Ross?" Sara's voice was calm and she moved slowly closer to him. "As much as I truly hate you and think you deserve to be flayed alive for what you have done. I can't help respect you just a bit because I know that you have a sense of honour and loyalty. Something that seems to be lost on others in this room." Sara glanced over at Viki who was keeping her pistol trained on her. Sara also noticed out of the corner of her eye that Paul had turned and was watching her closely. Sara continued moving towards Ross and looked up as she could hear the sound of a vertibird outside.

"Now it seems to me from the radio pvssyr in my ear, that both our sides are losing ground. And you have to admit, that things are a little uneven in this room due to what we have just heard." Sara continued to walk forward. Her pace was slow and she was still smiling.

"But you see Ross. I love to play games. And there may be a way to level the playing field." Sara was right in front of Ross. She was standing right in front of his rifle. Looking up at him she winked and then dropped to the floor. As she drooped, she brought her hands out from behind her head. One hand she used to stop herself from hitting the floor hard. The other, drew one of the knives that was inside the back of her collar and threw it at Paul. She had to move away from Paul. She was too close before for this to work. The knife sailed though the air and implanted in the Colonel's armour, right in the middle of the Enclave insignia. Sara could see the sparks fly out, and she rolled behind a chair for more cover.

"I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU MAN AND WIFE!!" Sara screeched the words and laughed maniacally.

As the knife implanted itself into the chest of my armor I grinned evilly, Sara had learnt much and she realised something quite well. She realised that if for once in my life I was given free reins, I would make sure that I used that advantage to it's fullest extent. Roaring with an in-human rage I leapt at Viki and pressed the button on the inside of my palm. The giant blade flew out of it's hiding place and whistled sweetly through the air. With strength unbeknownst even to him, Paul brought the blade through Viki's gun arm.

As it flew off at a high speed Paul continued roaring and cutting into her limbs and body, being careful to make her stay alive for as long as possible and endure as much pain. Blood sprayed in all directions as I got to work, cutting off each of her fingers, then her toes, followed by her feet and remaining hand. Tears were streaking down her face from the pain, mixing with the blood in a beautiful glistening way. Laughing in a maniacal way I decided to cut out her kneecaps for good measure.

After I was done with that I thought for a few moments and wondered what to do next, I didn't want to kill her just yet. An idea wormed itself into my head and I grinned inside my helmet, taking my finger off the button I placed one of my hands onto her face. Taking a grip on it I got my other hand onto her left ear. As she realised what I was going to do she started screaming but it wouldn't stop me, exerting all my force into those two places I ripped her ear off.

Viki's blood was streaming onto the ground in mutliple puddles, all of them joining together to make one. She was going to die very soon, panting and taking a few breaths I stood back and looked down at her, "So Viki, this is your reward for [censored] with me. Literally and theoretically, sometimes I wonder how you will be received when you get sent to Hell." Raising my arm up I put my finger on the button again, the whistling of the blade was heard throughout the room.

Raising the blade above my head I prepared myself for the final strike.

Sara was grinning ear to ear as she watched the Carnage that Paul was creating. She continued watching as she walked over to the wall and took the fire axe that was hanging there. The sounds of Viki's screams were the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. A glorious and melodic symphony of pain and anguish. It was perfect.

Sara walked over to Paul and was smiling at the scene before her. She also couldn't help giggling a little at the thought of what the look on Ross' face must be in this moment. Sara kept the axe behind her back and out of view of the bare alive Viki. Paul brought up his blade to finish of Viki, but Sara brought up her hand to stop him. Paul looked down at Sara, who had a very gentle look on her face. Paul nodded his head and Sara mad her way past him and kneeled beside her friend. She brought up a hand and wiped away some of the blood and tears which covered Viki's face.

"It really didn't have to end this way you know," Sara's voice was soothing. "But you went, and you told a lie." Sara was shaking her head and started to rise to her feet.

"Now you will never tell another lie." Sara giggled girlishly as she said the words. Once she was on her feet she turned her head to Ross.

"The little [censored] she went and she told a lie." Sara looked back down at Viki who was still crying and seemed to be mouthing the word "sorry". The grin on Sara's face widened and the evil showed in her eyes. She brought the axe out from behind her back and watched Viki's eyes go wide with terror. She raised the axe above her head and leered at Viki. Sara's eyes turned to rage.

"NEVER [censored] LIE TO ME!!!" Sara screamed the words and brought the axe down into Viki's head. The blood sprayed up and showered Sara's face. Sara breathed heavily for a few moments and when she calmed down, she let go of the axe and turned to look at Paul and Ross.

"So what now?" Sara was smiling again.

With my smile reaching from ear to ear I turned to Ross and coughed lightly, "So, Ross, I'm quite sure that Sara's offer was genuine when she gave it to you. The Resistance are much more dangerous than maybe even both of us put together, I suggest a cease-fire on each other until the much more dangerous threat of the Resistance is dealt with. What do you think?" He scratched his chin lightly and lifted his head, staring at the roof for a few seconds.

Nodding to himself he brought his hand up to his ear, "All Brotherhood troops, cease-fire, cease-fire," I nodded at him and quickly brought my hand up to my own ear and said, "All Enclave troops, cease-fire, cease-fire." The sound of gunfire ceased, all of it, the Resistance Members so far had been pushed back, but I knew what their plan was. They were waiting for one team to prevail over the other and then pick up off the remains. Coughing lightly I nodded at Ross.

"Thank you, we'll settle this afterwards shall we?" bringing my hand up to my ear I quickly said, "All Enclave troops! Head to the Underground and show the Brotherhood too, there will be a cease-fire upon them until stated otherwise. You are to ferret out the Resistance with the Brotherhood, God Bless America and Godspeed." Ross said something similar to his own men and then I turned my attention to Sara, smiling to myself in my helmet.

"Jesus, what a cluster[censored]," I muttered, getting a laugh from Ross, "so are we all on good terms now? I truly hope so, oh and Sara?" She looked at me, "Thanks for helping me through this, I would've been a dead man without you, and you know it. I owe you one, and now... Let's get the [censored] out of here and go help our men!" Raising my arm Ross yelled in agreement, looking at Sara I grinned, "So, since you killed the Resistance Leader you are the most powerful person here. Lead on!"

Small arms fire from the ground slammed into the hull of the Vertibird. "Sir, Command is in sight and we are preparing landing." Greg stood up, alright men; I want all of you inside the building and to clear it out as fast as possible." Yes sirs came from the squad of troops and the Vertibird came to a stop on top of the building. Greg readied his Plasma rifle and loaded a fresh Microfusion cell as the ramp lowered. This was not going to be easy.

"Move move!" The door exploded forward, the squad pouring in. "Area clear, Move up" Brotherhood soldiers moved into view. Many of them where centered on this floor, standing guard. "Open Fire men; let me hear your battle cry!" The soldiers yelled "For the Enclave" and charged forward. Shots rang out from everywhere ripping through the air towards the Brotherhood. Greg had no sympathy for the bastards, what they had sent him to do. He let loose with his rifle, having searing Plasma race toward the enemy.

Laser fire simply bounced off his armor, flying off in another direction. Something had changed, and he liked the power. His squad of Enclave soldiers was winning the fight, having training over numbers. "Keep fighting, do not give up! I wan-"A large explosion caused him to fall forward. Shouts came from all directions as he tried to pick himself back up. He felt the floor moan underneath him, it had taken enough. It gave out, causing him and a couple other troops to fall down to the other floor.

They landed in a pile on the floor, rolling themselves off each other. Greg removed his helmet and coughed, "Is everybody alright?" Nods in his direction showed they were fine, but not for long. The floor started to creak again, showing it was about to break again. Before Greg could react he fell again. "Dammit!"

Greg fell hard on his back, landing next to a soldier donned in T-51B Power armor. Brotherhood he thought, but he didn't have the strength to fight him. Instead he clumsily stood up, and leaned against the wall. "Hey there, I don't blow us up with this grenade right now, and you don't shoot me now, alright?" Greg laughed at what he said. "Just give me a head start, okay?"

Greg looked back at the troops on the other floor. They were regrouping and headed towards another battle. Whatever, it's not like he cared. He did notice some warm liquid splash onto his cheek, red in color. He looked at where it had come from, and saw Sara and the beast from before standing over the-. Greg looked away. The body had nearly all of its parts missing. He felt like he was going to puke, but there was nothing in him to do so. He looked back up to Sara, "What the hell?"

Sara knelt down once again and picked up Viki's pistol. She checked the safety and put it into her pocket. She smiled at Paul's words. Sara liked the idea of being in charge, it was after all, what she wanted With her at this moment were two of the most powerful fighters in the whole of the wasteland, but she wasn't a solider. Still, she had learned a thing or two from her times with Viki and Paul, and she was certain she could devise a strategy.

Sara had a plan and was about to put it into motion when the ceiling caved in and Gregory fell through and landed at the feet of Ross. Sara was stunned and really couldn't make out what Greg said as he got to his feet. He looked at Sara and seemed surprised as he spoke the words, "What the hell?" to Sara

"Just call it a messy divorce," Sara smiled and winked at the Colonel. Turning her attention back to Gregory, she continued speaking.

"Private, you will stand down. Perhaps you didn't hear the Colonel ordering a ceasefire with the Brotherhood." Sara was still smiling and moved over to Gregory's side.

"We need to focus our attention on the resistance my love." Sara spoke the words quietly and looked at Gregory with loving eyes. Sara next looked up at the soldiers who were viewing the scene form the hole in the ceiling.

"All of you, head back to the roof and prep the vertibird for takeoff. We will join you shortly." Sara had a stern look on her face and decided now was the time to put her plan into action.

She quickly ran to a wall panel and pried it off with her knife. It only took her a minute to find the wires she was looking for and even less time to splice them together, restoring power to the command center. Quickly moving to the terminal in the room, she logged in and brought up the camera feeds. The BOS and Enclave troops were trying to get to the underground, but were being cut to shreds by the turrets which were firing on anything that moved. She took a moment to try and find a way to cut power to the turrets, something she found she was unable to do as they didn't appear to be connected to the base's main power. Sara opened a COM link to the Enclave and Brotherhood troops.

"This is Captain Sara Carter. All troops take cover and focus your fire on the turrets. All Hellfire Troopers in the area, focus your fire on the entrance of the underground. I don't want anything getting out." Sara got up from the desk and looked at Paul and Ross.

"I really don't think that a direct assault on the underground will work. After all, there is a tunnel to Alpha Outpost. But I do have an idea." Sara smiled at them and continued to speak into the COM.

"Brotherhood troops, have Liberty Prime provide cover fire for the men with the bomb. Gunnery Sergeant Jones, you and your men will move the bomb into the middle of the courtyard. And Mister Jones, that's an order." Sara felt the need to address him personally. It seemed that the new Gunnery Sergeant wasn't one for doing what he was told; and Sara could not afford any mistakes right now.

"Lieutenant Green. Bring your squad to the command center and rendezvous with the vertibird on the roof." Sara turned to Paul, Gregory and Ross, smiling.

"Gentlemen, if you will accompany me to the roof." Sara got up form the terminal and headed through the door to the hallway and started to make her way to the roof access.