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From An Interview With George Washington Gridley, Former Captain, Enclave Armed Forces.

It began with an insult,  Yeah, plenty of wars begin that way.  But this war had already started, and THIS insult ....

Things had gone well for the Enclave, or so President Eden told us.  The Brotherhood of Steel was bottled up in The Citadel and a couple of other places, Walker and her Ghosts were stuck in the Springvale-Megaton "box", the other Wasteland settlements were about to fall into line, and our own position around the Jefferson was well-nigh impregnable.

Or that was what we were told.

We at Fort Patriot were, according to orders,  " .... containing the personnel of TecVault, prior to the annexation of said facility".  Which meant, as far as we could tell, that we had to keep the TecVaulters down in their hole.  Whilst being steadily bombarded with news from a very healthy GNR, visits from assorted fauna, and other visits from people using stealth and long-range marksmanship to make their point.

Yep, the Enclave was doing well, but those of us at Fort Patriot were yet to see any benefits.  The only upside was that we were well-supplied, via regular drops from Verti-Birds.  Rumours were plentiful.  Walker was actually in Chicago.  Or Anchorage.  Or dead.  Or secretly negotiating with the President.  Or had never really existed.  The other side had a manned space station that saw everything.  The war was really over, but we were now part of some bizarre experiment.  The Jefferson facility was being used to create an army of Supermutants loyal to our side.  Just as well, because the BoS was doing the same thing in their Citadel.  And so on.

Sergeant Cooper, our QM and senior surviving NCO, had a secret betting pool going on all these.

Then President Eden, in one of his talks, referred to " ... the wretched alliance of degenerates, mutants and criminal scum befouling the shores of our nation's most sacred river, the Potomac ... ".  From what I heard later, that started something, with a surge of scrambled transmissions between Megaton and Rivet City and TecVault, with input from GNR and the Citadel.  Then a bunch of LITTLE places, places that we never knew had scramblers, or even radios, began joining in - Underworld, Arefu, Bigtown, Vulture's Rest, Moresti, Georgetown.  Our Intel boys were upset, so I heard.

First inkling we had about what happened came a few days later, when GNR's Three Dog announced the founding of 'the Potomac Alliance', a union of DC settlements supported by the BoS, the Ghosts and GNR.  That must have really lit a fire under our high command, because Fort Patriot got a high-priority signal within the hour, tellimg us to stand-by for the imminent arrival of (a) unspecified reinforcements, and (b) our commander, General Garfield Jackson.

Nine Verti-Birds showed up just before midday.  Eight orbited the area while one, a Command 'Bird by the aerials and the gold star, landed on our main pad.

First out the door was General Garfield Jackson, movie-star looks as always, in his classic regalia - immaculate Hellfire Armor, with three gold stars added to each shoulder; helmet tucked under one arm; two customized Plasma Pistols stowed in leather holsters.

We'd commed a warning about the risk of enemy snipers, but the Verti-Birds still up seemed to rule against that.  I exchanged salutes with the General, and introduced myself.  He frowned at me, obviously displeased by something.

"Captain Gridley?"  A look at my Divisional badge,  "Support Division??????  Where are your COMBAT officers?"

I was startled by that.  " ... Uh, sir.  Captain Brent, the XO, died in the raid five weeks ago.  Major Quinn, our original CO, was killed by a sniper four weeks ago.  Captain Simms took over then, but he went missing two weeks ago.  Taken by a deathclaw, we suspect.  That left Lieutenant Phillips and I, but he was shipped out sick last week.  We have reported all this.  No replacements for any personnel losses have arrived as yet, sir."

A deep, much-put-upon sigh from the General.  "I see.  DAMN that Autumn ....  Well, never mind, son.  You've probably done your best.  WE are here to change things."  He turned to the aide following him.  "Call them in, Wade.  Standard deployment."

It was quite a display, one this particular unit obviously had a lot of practice with.  Four Verti-Birds moved down and smoothly dropped their troops, while the other four provided cover, then they swapped positions.  The entire company was down in less than a minute, already forming a defensive perimeter and ready for anything as the 'Birds buzzed overhead and headed elsewhere.

Sergeant Cooper behind me, who had based his career on never being impressed, said "Geez!"

I recognized the unit markings - the 207th Assault Team, General Jackson's elite 'personal' unit.  It was where he started his career, and he'd kept an eye out for it ever since, or so I heard.

General Jackson was grinning at our reaction.  "That's right, gentlemen.  My boys were about to settle accounts in Chicago, but we thought to come here first.  'Potomac Alliance', my @$$!"

******

Fort Patriot's 'Command Post' was never much to start with, a tent draped over convenient ruins housing our basic C3 gear.  With the addition of General Jackson, his several aides and his own gear, it was downright crowded.  He even had one of those fancy holomap tables - a bitch to fit inside.  We then had to run extra power from the Verti-Bird for the thing, because our remaining generator wasn't up to the extra load.

What worried me most was the General's plan, formulated before arrival.  See, when the Talons attacked TecVault the year before, they dug a tunnel in from Bethesda's subway system.  A plan we'd come up with at Fort Patriot was to dig a new tunnel, try for the big hangar near the centre of the TecVault instead.  Easier to locate, harder to defend.  All we needed was heavy equipment and time.

But General Jackson was in a hurry, he seemed to take this Alliance thing as some kind of personal affront that had to be dealt with ASAP.  So, he'd decided that the Talons' old tunnel was the better option.

Our own recon indicated that this tunnel SEEMED intact, but the demolition charges rigged at its entrance discouraged closer looks.  The General had already thought about that, so the 207th would send in its two Infiltration Squads.  Once the tunnel was cleared, the rest of the 207th would go in fast and hard, and the TecVault would fall under Enclave control.  We at Fort Patriot would continue to guard TecVault's front door, monitor communications, and act as a reserve force.  Just in case.

Simple plan.  Direct.  Easy.  All we needed for success was a lack of surprises from the enemy.

One of my squads guided the 207th over to Bethesda.  Raider activity there was minimal.  Not so surprising, since both sides transited the area often enough.  Weren't even that many Ghouls left in the Underworks.  The 207th's people found the tunnel, disarmed the charges at the entrance, then slowly worked their way inside.

For the next few hours, we waited as they cut wires, set up a string of mini-jammers to prevent any remote-control shenanigans, and delved deeper.  General Jackson was in constant contact all the way in.  I wondered how 207th CO Major Brooks, a definite squared-away by-the-book type, really felt about that.

In any case, while the General rode his people; I watched mine, the squad left at the tunnel mouth to guard the comm repeater station placed there.  Corporal Reno was a steady type, and things seemed in order - until a chance remark of his to Sergeant Cooper grabbed my attention.

I leaned to the comm.  "Say again, Charlie One!"

Reno was slightly non-plussed.  "Uh, er .... yessir.  Was joking that the TecVaulties started using that tunnel as a garbage dump.  Sludge all over the floor, and it's full of junk ... "

"What sort of junk?"

"All sorts.  Empty tincans, machine parts, old batteries.  The 207th's guys looked it over ... "

"Stand by, Charlie One."  I straightened, then turned and elbowed my way through the General's aides.  "Excuse me, General?"

He was hunched over his maptable, listening in on something with his headset, and looking irritated at my intrusion.  "What IS it, Captain?  My men are about to make their move ... "

I tried to explain about the junk, but he just got more impatient.  "Dammit, Gridley!  My men are placing breaching charges at the last barrier right now, and you're bleating about TRASH?  My men checked that out, it's only junk.  Nothing in it or underneath it.  Damn Wasters got lazy .... "

"Sir, our last close recon there was three weeks ago.  The tunnel, or what we could see of it from the entrance, was clear then.  Almost pristine.  So why is it-?"

Another minute , and I MIGHT have gotten someplace.  Maybe.  I didn't know what it all meant, but I had a feeling it wasn't at all good.  But there was a beeping on the General's commset right then, and one of his aides announced, "Unauthorized signal, sir!"

"Let's hear it."

A short wait. Static.  Then a very clear voice.  " .... This is TecVault Manager Sam Mitchell, calling the CO of Fort Patriot .... "

The General looked, well, pleased.  Very pleased.  Gleeful, even.  "This is General Garfield Jackson, commanding ALL Enclave forces.  Do you wish to negptiate surrender terms, Mitchell?"

Pause.  "Correct, General.  If-"

"Surrender yourselves and your facility intact and immediately, and I promise fair treatment ... "

"Ah, you misunderstand, General Jackson.  I want to discuss YOUR surrender."

The room got so quiet I wondered for a second if my hearing had gone.  General Jackson turned deep red, his eyes bulged, his teeth ground, and his fingertips looked about to drill right through the top of his maptable.  "WHAT did you say?"

Mitchell sounded like he might actually be enjoying himself a little.  "General, our eyes in Bethesda saw your troops going in, and our tremor sensors show exactly where they are right now.  We can wipe them out and, frankly, a lot of my people want to.  After what your Talons did to us, we won't shed any tears over you.  But some friends here suggested offering a chance .... "

I wondered if General Jackson would have a stroke or something.  For a few seconds, he was speechless.  His aides silently gave him extra room, while avoiding his eye.

Finally, he regained some control.  "I want to talk to Leanne Walker."

Surprise from the other end.  "What?!?"

"I KNOW that filthy thieving Waster is hiding in there with you traitors.  Put her on.  Let's have the ringmaster instead of the monkey ... "

Mitchell could have gotten angry at that.  Instead, he sounded ... odd.  "Um, stand by."

Sergeant Cooper pitched his voice just for my ear. "Sir?  I reckon the General is mistaken, and Walker isn't in there ... "

I nodded a fraction, and muttered back, "Warn Reno, something BAD is coming.  Quickly ... "  Cooper sort of eased into the background.

Mitchell's voice returned.  " .... Sorry, General.  She's busy, and has no interest in talking to you.  This monkey's offer stands.  Save lives by having your men surrender, or they die.  Your only chance ... "

General Jackson achieved full control, and smoothly flicked a switch on his commset.  "Major Brooks, are your men ready?"

The Major's voice, from down in the tunnel.  "All ready, General!"

The General gazed around the Command Post at the rest of us, smiling like a tiger.  "Expect full resistance, Major.  Rules Of Engagement Bravo Two.  Commence attack!  I repeat, commence attack!"  Then, to us "The Jackson Luck.  We have them now."

We heard the Major relay the orders, and get passed on, then -

A loud burst of static.  A sudden unidentifiable roar.  Not an explosion as such, but something that built and built, amid a gabble of voices from the men in the tunnel, and -

Nothing.  The 207th's entire comnet was off the air.  A second or so later, there was a strong tremor in the ground that sent items a-rattling on the maptable.  An aide grabbed the General's personal coffee mug to save it.

Then the tremor ceased, and from our other commset came lots of yelling, mostly exclamations of disbelief and fervent invocation of deities from Corporal Reno's squad.  When Cooper calmed him down , " ... Ohmigawd!  The tunnel is gone!  There was an explosion and a fireball, and the whole thing's gone! .... Geez, nobody could survive that! ... "

Reno and most of his people survived by the skin of their teeth, running for it as a sizable chunk of the Bethesda Underworks also started collapsing.  The entire 207th, all forty-eight of them, was lost in the tunnel, to what we assumed was a hidden boobytrap of TecVault's.

Much later, I learned that this alleged boobytrap was the so-called "garbage".  The sludge on the floor was some compound not inflammable unless it got REALLY hot.  In the junk was large pieces of magnesium and concealed explosives, a kind of "powder trail" running the full length of the tunnel.  All it needed was a match, provided in the end by the breaching charges intended to break into TecVault.

TecVault took a shaking, but this was minor compared with what it was designed to withstand.  The compartment adjacent to the blast needed patching afterwards, and that was about it for them.

General Jackson sat through our search of the wreckage without a single word.  I felt sorry for him, he was clearly in shock over what had happened.  When evening closed in, he finally signalled to his aides to follow, marched out to his Verti-Bird, and simply left.  Didn't even wait for his maptable to be stowed, just left it behind.

That was the 'Second Battle Of Bethesda', and a lot changed after that.

*************

Largely inspired by the 'exploding Fission Battery' mod done recently.

A couple of Custer references, just because.  ;)

Also thought it was time for the ANTI-Enclave group(s) to get a name of their own.  Following an honoured tradition, they do so by adopting a name that their enemies intended as an insult
(eg.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rats_of_Tobruk  ).