[u][b]Simon Barnaky - SAC HQ Bunker[/b][/u]

“I’m told the Brotherhood salutes their members with the phrase ‘Ad Victoriam’ in the Legion’s own tongue.", Aurelius said, "A fitting phrase I think, and more than rightfully used here. In The Legion, our rallying cry is ‘Legio Invicta’, meaning ‘Unconquered Legion’. A reminder that despite all it has gone through, the Legions of Caesar still stand. However, I will gladly offer a salute in The Brotherhood’s own manner.”

The Legate clasped his fist to his chest in a smart salute,

“Ad Victoriam, Lord Barnaky.”

Barnaky snapped to attention and returned the salute smartly.

"Legio Invicta, Legatus Aurelius."

"The fate of all Mankind rests on the outcome of this war", Barnaky continued, "Together, we will prevail!"

[u][b]
Fort Knox, Kentucky[/b][/u]

"Die, you fucking fascist bigots!", screamed the ghoul over a ancient loudspeaker, "You will fall before the wrath of the Golden Throne of His Most Illustrious Majesty, Herman the Undying!"

Items began to lazily arc over the ramshackle, but stout walls, of the settlement. As they began to land, Paladin Stroud could see they were pieces of rotting meat....crudely severed pieces of animals, even body parts of a few humans. Also bladders full of some liquid that sprayed everywhere when they landed. To an untrained eye, it would seem they were showing disrespect, or perhaps trying to spread disease. While they would not be wrong....the true purpose was to mark the target for their deadliest weapon. Stroud was not surprised, even if they had not been warned by the local humans, it was exactly the sort of tactic he expected from the zombies.  

"Here they come", Stroud said across the all units channel, "Hold your fire until they deploy."

Abruptly, the gates opened inward, and vomited forth a gibbering nightmare....hundreds of feral ghouls. This ghoul settlement had used salvaged Pre-War weapons and the terrifying threat such a horde of ferals embodied to cow the humans in the surrounding area and extort tribute from them for "protection". With the situation to their liking, they hadn't given much thought to the future, assuming things would always go on as it had. 

That was a fatal mistake. 

"Eradication robots, Snipers, Fire at Will", Stroud ordered. "All squads, cover the Eradicators. Battery A, stand by" Immediately, four Eradication robots, modified Pacification robots, with their stun weapons replaced by heavy automatic lasers, and a beefed up powerplant to enable sustained fire long enough for any normal engagement, dropped their stealth fields and brought the horde of ferals under a deadly crossfire, the laser beams inflicting terrible carnage on the unarmored ferals, while the infantry, with aimed, deliberate shots, picked off any ferals that made it through the flurry of lasers well before they could reach the robots. Meanwhile, snipers engaged and eliminated any zombie foolish enough to reveal themselves on the walls of the settlement or building tops that cleared the wall. Realizing that the battle was going wrong, the ghoul commander began to panic. From inside the settlement, the "thump" of mortars firing were heard. 

"Incoming!", shouted Stroud as he, followed by the other troopers, sought cover or flung themselves to the ground. Within seconds, five mortar shells hit the ground. Reasonably well aimed, the shells impacted in the area the infantry was deployed. Immediately, the troopers got up and advanced away from where the shells had landed....with the snipers suppressing the enemy's forward observers, they were unlikely to be able to adjust. But the enemy mortar-men were about to have a bigger problem....

"Command, Battery A", came the message to Stroud. "Executing Charlie Bravo fire mission in five."

"Acknowledged", Stroud replied, "proceed"

From  the direction of Godman Field, two miles behind them, the rumble of artillery could be heard, and the shriek of shells over their heads was followed by large and satisfactory explosions inside the walls of the settlement, followed seconds later by another barrage, and then another. The enemy mortars managed to get off two more volleys...both of which landed harmlessly where the infantry had been...before they were all silenced. 

"Score one for counter-battery radar", Stroud said to the Knight-Sergeant beside him, "Once the ferals have been mopped up we can finish this." He then switched to the frequency for the artillery unit, and directed the Battery's Forward Observer to target the walls in the spots they had decided to enter the settlement. The barrage quickly shifted to the walls, the 105mm shells breaching them with ease. Soon, the feral attack had been cut to pieces and the time had come. 

"Forward, Brothers and Sisters!", Stroud howled with fanatic fervor across the radio as he hefted his Super Sledge and charged the nearest breach in the walls, "Scourge the unclean! For Barnaky! For The Brotherhood and Mankind! Attack!"

With a mighty shout, the Infantry rose to it's feet and followed their commander, storming the walls in half a dozen places and fighting their way into the settlement. Thrown into disarray by the artillery barrage, the defenders were completely unprepared to put up a organized defense and were quickly routed by the Brotherhood Knights. The few ghouls who survived the assault attempted to flee, only to be cut down by the Eradicators roaming the perimeter outside the walls.

Unable to escape, the ghouls were remorselessly forced inward, making their final stand in the enormous two story building in the center of their settlement. A fortress-like structure made of solid stone blocks and concrete, it was clearly of Pre-War construction. Above the massive twin steel doors was, deeply engraved in the stone lintel, "United States Bullion Depository". their mission was to secure it, and recover it's contents, if any remained. The massive doors were shut and locked, but as they were about to learn, any sense of security the defenders derived from that was and illusion. Finding a dataport next to the wall, Stroud plugged his suit computer into it and linked to the facilities's internal network, loading a program that they had found in the Calculator's Archive, provided by the Federal Government long ago for just this purpose...the contents of the facility were expected to be of use to the new America rising out of Vault 0, after all...that gave him Admin level control of the internal security system. Flipping through the remaining internal cameras, he noted the location of the remaining ghoul defenders, then sealed and locked all internal doors, and turned on the internal defenses. Once the lobby was clear, he unlocked the front doors and his troops rushed inside, and the slaughter began. 

[u][b]The next day[/b][/u]

"Why did the Old World people build a fortress to hold this stuff?", Henry Miller, Mayor of nearby Elizabethtown asked, sweeping his arm to take in the stacks of gold bars, waiting to be loaded onto trucks and hauled back to the airport.  "Aside from looking pretty, it doesn't have much practical use."

"They used it for money", Stroud replied, "Like folk use bottlecaps now. It's also good for making certain technological items."

"Hmpf", said Miller, "I thought they used outhouse paper for money"   

"They did", Stroud said with a chuckle, "Idiots printed so much of it that it wasn't good for much else [i]besides[/i] outhouse paper." 

Miller laughed, first time in years he had really felt like it. The ghouls here had made their lives miserable, and now they were gone. Miller wondered what would become of them, if they hadn't been able to rid themselves against "Herman the Undying" and his mob they wouldn't have a chance against the Brotherhood, who had stomped them into a pulp like they were nothing. 

"From what I've seen at Godman, you're a fixing to stay?", Miller asked tentatively. 

"Yes", Stroud replied, "We need the airfield, and we also have no intention of leaving your people to twist in the wind now that we've created a power vacuum. That's why I called you here...."