Andrew arrived back at the newly transformed fortress with Taylor at his side, the both of them went inside of the camp. Once they made it back, Taylor simply stood straight still as Andrew went back to John's side, removing his helmet to reveal the long wavy blackish-grey that the nearly 60 year old had. There was a silence, but Andrew hopefully wished that having the Lone Wanderer on the side of Nova Roma alone would be worth it. She alone, and of a specific former NCR ranger in Nevada were both considered to be major military assets each. Taylor faced towards John, looking at the leader. Hopefully, looking presentable enough to be in his presence.
John simply glanced at Taylor before grinning, "Good to see you're a sensible one!" He said, extending a hand, "After this is all said and done, I think you'ld like to meet my Praetorius, he's very similar to you skill wise in many ways and I'm sure he'ld love to have someone of your abilities at his side to help. In the meantime, it is time to show you how Nova Roma has come to dominate three quarters of America." John turned and produced a megaphone from his pack, "ARTELLERY MEN!" He yelled through the megaphone, his voice carrying easily throughout the Fort, "MARK YOUR TARGETS AND FIRE!"
Andrew watched as the artillery moved into life as they aimed directly towards the direction of DC before arching upwards as if they were pointing towards the sky. With a loud boom followed by a shockwave, Andrew had a slight smile on his face as he looked through a pair of binoculars as he simply watched small four people scattered around important areas simply shatter like glass with a single shell. He looked to the south, east and the west, as nearly all of the small brotherhood outposts were taken down. Within half an hour, all that remained on the path to DC were to poorly kept Brotherhood bases. Taylor, despite that she was a Paladin in the Brotherhood, found that humanity could actually be led down a better path than the Brotherhood ever tried to accomplish. She was not sure how the perspective of women were seen in Nova Roma, but it would have been obvious that John would have not missed an opportunity to use her, and he would use as a human being, unlike what the Brotherhood did to her as merely being a powerful tool. With her falling out of favor in the Brotherhood, the only reason Taylor was still with the Brotherhood was because of Sarah. But...since she was killed when she mad e her last stand against the endless horde of Super Mutants, the only tie she had with the Brotherhood was the emblem on her clothing.
John chuckled at the sheer effectiveness of his artillery as the guns fell silent once more, "I see the Capitol Wasteland isn't used to sheer awesome firepower." He said to Andrew and Taylor, "And give this thought, my Nova Roma recently conquered Detroit, there we found blueprints and manufacturing lines for heavily armored, mobile versions of those artillery peices, they're called tanks. Let's just say that for the first time in 250 years, brand new vechiles are being produced from our expanding manufacturing industry." He said confidently, "All encouraged by the road system that stretches across my empire, and soon, Via Capitolium will connect the Capital Wasteland to Nova Roma, and the Wasteland will be forever transformed, for the better of course. Lots of rebuilding, putting down raiders, the like." He said, strolling towards an observation point and picking up a pair of binoculars, "The Brotherhood has no idea of the true size of the force here, they think there's only a few dozen. They should be gathering to counter attack at this very moment, and when they do, they will be put down."
"Moving artillery?" Andrew remarked in reply, in a slight form of disbelief. He understood that the Enclave never thought of the idea of constructing tanks, knowing it was not possible by them. He never knew what a tank actually was until just previously. "I know what a tank is, I just believed that reconstructing them was impossible." Taylor replied. "And I must congratulate you on your expanding manufacturing industry. Clearly a feat that you should be proud of." Just as the Brotherhood was shaken from the sudden attack, the towns registered under their protection remained neutral to the cause while GNR and other of their outposts were being placed under high alert. But only one location under total Brotherhood control remained in firm hands, The Citadel. In the horizon, fifty soldiers with the addition of what remained of Lyon's Pride were sighted moving towards the area, very heavily armed. They misunderstood exactly what they were dealing with, and they never knew that it would be the death of them.
John watched through his binoculars as the Brotherhood formed up to attack Fort Constantine, he then raised the megaphone back up and faced back into the town, "HOLD YOUR FIRE UNTIL YOU ARE CERTAIN OF DIRECT HIT!" He ordered, "HOLD FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE GLEAM OF THEIR VISOR!" He then slipped his anti-material rifle off his back and propped it up on the sandbags, unaware that the extremely powerful .50 caliber rifle had never been seen before on the Capitol Wasteland, all he knew was that it could punch straight through power armor, especially if it was armor-piercing. He then began doing what he did best; taking off heads from more than a mile away.
The artillery roared into life after a brief silence after John announced his orders, the pre-war technology able to hit a target with such force and accuracy blew the Brotherhood away. Once they realized that they were under attack, John's anti-material rifle went straight through the head of a Paladin. They began searching for cover wherever they could to begin cover fire, finding nothing but burnt-out trees and a large rock. The Brotherhood fell faster than any of them could have anticipated, losing ten every thirty seconds. They desperately tried to advance towards the base, but experienced catastrophic losses because of it. All that remained was a handful of Brotherhood, mostly Lyon's Pride. And they never reached Machine Gun range yet. Andrew stood proudly, quite awe-inspired at the display of power he was witnessing. Taylor looked at the emblem on her shoulder, finally deciding that the Brotherhood was dead to her. She tore off the piece of cloth on her right shoulder and gently dropped it to the ground. Looking at it before looking back at the battle, if she could even call it a battle, towards her.
John stopped to reload his anti-material rifle before peering back down the scope just in time to see the remains of the Brotherhood attack, which was now trying to retreat, being blown sky-high by four hidden Legionaires armed with grenade launchers. Just like that, the offensive capability of the Brotherhood of Steel was entirely wiped out. John quickly sent out orders that sent 4,500 of his men out into the Wasteland to end all resistance and take the Purifier, The Citadel, and Fort Independence in particular. With that, he returned to Andrew and Taylor, "Once resistance has been put down, I'll call in a second Legio and within a year, we should have the entire Capitol Wasteland rebuilt, infrastructure and all."
"That's amazing" Andrew replied. "The Brotherhood took down the Enclave with relative ease, mostly due to the women next to me and their robot of theirs. But you just wiped out their offensives within less than a minute. It took seven months to do what we tried to do to them, despite the organizations objectives." Taylor just looked at the patch of cloth, containing the logo of the Brotherhood before picking it up and throwing it onto a bonfire. She then returned to John and Andrew and had a slight smile.
John thought of something before Taylor returned, "I have a question for you two; how would you like to assist in taking one of the major locations? Maybe the Purifier or the Citadel?" He asked, "My men would need a bit to properly form up to attack, and we could easily arrive before the attack."
"Alright, we can both perform that." Andrew replied before looking at Taylor. "I wish to have the responsibility to taking the Purifier, it seems to be an easier target than the Citadel with the majority of the guards being forced to the Citadel. Not to mention it's importance and distance to the Citadel, it's quite symbolic to the Brotherhood." Taylor then looked at John. "I wish to take the Citadel. I know the entire complex like the back of my hand, I lived there for about a year or so. I can provide an easy access point, and it would help draw attention away from the Purifier. I also know a secret entrance, originally constructed as an escape route, that I could lead to lead to the lower sub-levels of the Citadel. The only thing about that is, almost the entirety of the Brotherhood knows that they are under attack, and have all went back to the Citadel to make their last stand." Taylor then her pair of binoculars out and looked at the Citadel, increasing the zoom sight by 125%. "They are preparing, placing sandbags on the path leading to the main gate. About two sentry bots...thirty Knights and Paladins outside, heavily armed...and...two snipers on the roof. The rest of the force is likely in the courtyard, about five hundred in total of soldiers whom are mostly inexperienced ,setting up defenses in that area."
John nodded, "Then I put you two in charge of the assault forces, if you do a good job, you'll have an automatic centurion position." He said with a small smile, "I'll have to stay behind and direct forces across the wasteland. I may act like it, but I'm not as young I used to be, can only occasionally lead from the from now..." He said sadly before walking off, leaving Taylor and Andrew to head off to their respective targets.
Seven hours later The sun was just about to set on the Capital Wasteland, the rays of sunshine beaming across the water to create a beautiful reflection. Andrew had taken fifty soldiers from Nova Roma to help secure the Purifier, and to help take Rivet City in hopefully diplomatic means afterwards. Taylor however, was in command of nearly a thousand troops as they advanced towards the Citadel. Once the cover of night blanketed the sky, Taylor led many of the Elite Centurions and Veteran Legionaries with her to this escape route while she ordered the remainder to distract the Brotherhood under the command of Centurion Galius. At around 8:37pm, the Brotherhood received a nasty surprise when an explosion from a grenade launcher decimated the two guards patrolling the entrance, killing them instantly while also destroying the door to the facility. Two minutes later, Andrew and his soldiers took complete control of Project Purity, many of the Brotherhood unable to fight and surrendering. Not long after the Purifier was taken, Centurion Galius began his distraction of the Brotherhood as Nova Roma began to charge towards the entrance. The Brotherhood, believing that they were dealing with only a dozen soldiers ended up fighting against several hundred. While this sent the Citadel into high alert, Taylor and the Centurions and Veterans under her command went underground through a tunnel network. With the battle of the Citadel underway, the tunnel network ended at the bottom sublevel of the Citadel before heading upwards to the courtyard. Once inside, the much more experienced Centurions and Veterans poured outwards into the corridors of the Citadel, killing any who resisted and capturing the rest. Many of the inexperienced Brotherhood were killed, believing they could challenge the best of Nova Roma. Elder Lyons, now advanced in his old age, was in the courtyard frantically giving orders to the hundred surviving soldiers in the courtyard. From what he knew, the Legionaries attacking from the main gate were extremely close to breaching the entrance. However, he never knew about the ones in the sub-level. Just as he regretfully turned his head to the right, he seen the Centurions and Veterans burst out of the doors of the A-Ring and B-Ring, quickly overwhelming the soldiers. To make matters worse, the Legion opened the door to the courtyard. Elder Lyons looked around in panic before he was beaten down to his knees and dragged to the centre of the courtyard, seeing the last of the Brotherhood killed before his eyes. Once he was placed in the center, Taylor walked into his point of view with a 44 magnum in her hand. Elder Lyons then realized how well he had been played.
John listened and commanded his troops through a quickly assembled radio system, using a map provided by the Commander to mark troop movements, battles, and newly controlled areas. He already could mark the Purifier as under firm control, putting a dot to reconize "battle in progress" on the Citadel, several arrows throughout the DC ruins to mark how they were clearing out the hell hole, and several more arrows pointed to several towns, some marked as surrendered without a fight, and others marked as forcibly taken. One strange one was Little Lamplight, which was apparently a town of kids that put up a surprising resistance, well, until their "mayor" had apparently taken an accidental bullet to the hand. Vault 87 was subsuquently marked as taken after a bloody battle with Super Mutants. Paradise Falls had quickly collapsed in the face of attack, and Megaton surrendered with only a shot, to the head of Lucas Simms. The Capitol Wasteland was quickly proving to be no different than elsewhere, nothing but weak and scattered resistance; aside from the Brotherhood of Steel. John smiled as he looked at the map, after the taking of Point Lookout, this was a cakewalk. He sighed in content and looked at the Commander who was gawking at the map, "This is the most exprienced military force in North America, perhaps the world, of course it's easy for us!" Which resulted in simply a small nod of amazement, and the pair then waited for word from Taylor to where they could mark the Citadel as taken so they could send a cohort off to take out Fort Independence, which was currently under seige by a century, who was requesting backup.
Taylor walked towards Elder Lyons, seemingly hiding his emotions inside of him. Two Legionaries forced the Elder onto his shoulders to prevent movement, the Elder knew what was going to happen next. And he knew that deep down, Sarah would be watching from above. Once Taylor made it to the Elder, she just stopped and placed the pistol on his forehead without a word. Nothing was needed to be said between them. Owen Lyons looked at Taylor's eyes one last time, a face of disappointment etched on his face. The suddenly, the revolved kicked into life as the sound blasted across the courtyard as Elder Lyon's brains were blown out of his head in a violent display, causing the surviving Brotherhood captives to break down in tears. Once the deed was done, the two Legionaries let go of his shoulders as his body dropped to the ground. Taylor then held up two of her fingers to an earpiece she had equipped for radio contact. "Citadel Secure..."
"Copy that." John replied as Taylor's voice crackled to life on the radio, saying that the Citadel was secure, "You are to release a cohort to assist the attack on Fort Independence and the Outcasts and due the remaining cohort under your command to lockdown the Citadel and secure the surrounding area, as well as making sure the path to the Purifier is clear, any resistance...well, you should know what to do. Following, you are to attack to GNR with a century and ensure Three Dog doesn't escape, capture if possible, he'll just be a martyr for resistance if killed. Then you are to lead the attack on the Mall to fully secure it. Afterwards, you may do as you see fit. Thank you for the help." John over and out." And with that he opened a radio communication with Andrew, "Citadel secure, relief forces should be on their way. Upon their arrival, you are to continue on to Rivet City as planned and hopefully secure their peaceful assimilation. If they refuse, attack and crucify any who resisted that you capture. Afterwards, you may do as you see fit. Thank you for the help."
(Could you please start? I've been pressed for time this morning, so I wont be able to make a proper post.)
the next day John looked into the mic set before him, with it, it would broadcast his voice on all frequencies from the large number of radio antennas across the Capitol Wasteland. Clearing his voice, he pressed the broadcast but run and leaned forward, "Ave Capitol Wasteland. I am Imperator Augustus Jonathen Caesar. I am the leader the great nation of Nova Roma. You have likely come into contact with my troops, hopefully on peaceful terms. We wish you no harm, but stability must come to this shattered land, and only Nova Roma can bring that stability. It is our sad burden. If you have convinced yourself that the troops currently in the Capitol Wasteland is all we have to spare, you would be sadly mistaken. As we speak, 5,000 extra troops are on their way, they should be here by the end of the week. Their objective is simple, to rebuild this shattered land so that you may live in peace. However, we are not afraid to meet violence with violence. Resistance will be put down swiftly and brutally, and the survivors shall be crucified for all to see. If you surrender now, no harm will come to you, this I promise." His voice would have been heard over every active radio in the Wasteland, "If you need further proof of our power, we have already done what the Brotherhood of Steel has been attempting to do for the past 30 years; we have all but cleared out the Super Mutants from the DC and the surrounding Wasteland area. There is only one more pocket of Super Mutant resistance left; the Mall, which will fall today. That's right; we are ending the Super Mutant threat as I speak. The Brotherhood of Steel is no more, crushed like a radroach. Fort Bannister and the Talon Company; dead. The Outcasts; sitting out their final hours under seige, not knowing when the final attack will come. I assure them; it will be soon. If you value your lives, I'ld suggest opening your doors for Nova Roma. And a message to the Raiders and remaining slavers out there; don't bother. We will find you, and we will kill you for the sins and crimes against humanity you have committed out of selfish desire. By the time Nova Roma is through, the Capitol Wasteland will join Nova Roma as a prosperous province. Not a colony or a conquest, but an equal part of something great and wonderful. Wouldn't you love to have running water again? Clean water, that is? We shall provide. Rebuilt roads for easier travel? We shall provide. Do you wish to explore the land without fear of slavers, raiders, deathclaws, Super Mutants, and other creatures that wish nothing more than to kill you? We shall provide. All these things we have already provided to a great portion of the land formerly known as America. All we ask is your cooperation, and your lives will be so much more than surviving; it will be thriving. thank you for listening, and I beg you to listen to my plea for peace; there is no more need for unnessacary blood shed. Oh! And one final thing; remember that what we offer is so great, even your great Lone Wanderer supports us. Think on that."
