Silence. That was all that filled the air in the small room. The room contained a table that rested at its center, a door at one end of the room that was guarded by two officers with their plasma pistols resting by their sides, a flag resting at the wall of the other end of the room and a man sitting at one end of the table infront of it.

The man looked to be in his 60s and was wearing a black suit and blue tie. He had short gray hair, green eyes, a long beard and pale skin. In his right hand was a flask that had the American flag on it, filled with the finest whiskey that they still had. The man gulps down the whiskey before letting out a deep sigh.

That man was Benjamin Roosevelt, the current President of the remaining Enclave forces in Chicago.

"...Why? Why can't everything be in our favor for once in our life?" The man said not only out of frustration, but out of fear as well. "Why does our mission always result in failure? Is it a curse? Some sort of punishment from God, for the sins we were trying to commit? Or are we just meant to fail?" The man then clenched his left fist and slammed it against the table. "Damn it! For once, I just want everything to work well on our end!"

Silence filled the air once again as the man went to calm himself down to keep his composure. As he did, he heard the door open and looked to see the one he was waiting for. A woman in her 50s, donned in her officer uniform. She had long blonde hair, green eyes and rosy skin.

That woman was Abigail Autumn.

"You wanted to see me, President Roosevelt?" Abigail said to Benjamin after making her way inside the room, closing the door behind her as she eyed the man.

"...Ah, Mrs. Autumn. Yes, I did." President Roosevelt nodded at the woman, putting the canteen away in his shirt pocket. He then gestured to the chair at the other end of the table. "Take a seat. We have much to discuss." He said to her. Autumn nodded and sat down at the chair. "Now then. I'm sure you're already aware of our current... situation." He carefully said to her.

"Yes, Mr. President." Abigail confirmed his words. "At the rate they're going in, and so long nothing drastic interferes with them... it'll only be a matter of time until the Brotherhood of Steel locates our base."

"And with it, us." Benjamin added as he lets out a sigh. "Now, with all that in mind, you're probably wondering why i even brought you here in the first place."

"That has crossed my mind, yes."

"Well, there are two main reasons for that." Benjamin said, straightening himself up. "The first reason I brought you here is... I'm officially promoting you to the rank of Colonel."

Abigail was greatly taken aback from the revelation. "Wait... you're actually promoting to Colonel? But, im just a major. I'm not even a Lieutenant colonel!"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that fact."

"Then why the sudden promotion?"

"That, I will get to in a moment." Benjamin answered Abigail. "Now, the second reason I've brought you here is because... I'm putting you in charge of a very important mission."

"...What kind of mission?" Abigail asked, curiosity filling her tone.

Benjamin then reached down for the briefcase that sat next to him and sets it at the table, opening it before he pulls out a map and sets it at the center of the table. "I'm putting you in charge of a small team to establish a foothold in the capital of Jefferson City." He tells Abigail as he points to the highlighted area of the map, where Jefferson City was set.

"Jefferson City? But, that's all the way in Missouri." Abigail said in shock as she eyed the map. She then looked back up at Benjamin. "B-But, why me? Why not Colonel Smith? Surely, he's more qualified to lead the missi-"

"Colonel Smith is dead." Benjamin cuts her out. Abigail went silent for a moment as her mind processed what had just been said.

"...W-What?" She muttered out of shock.

"Im afraid he passed away due to his cancer." Benjamin tells Abigail, having a sorrowful look on his face. "He fought hard. But at the end, it wasn't enough."

"...He will be dearly missed." Abigail said after a moment of silence, mourning the loss of her fellow soldier.

"Indeed." Benjamin nodded, mourning as well. "So right now, you're the best soldier we have who's capable of leading a mission with success. And don't bother arguing otherwise, I've read through your records. I'm well aware of your success rate." A soft chuckle escapes his lips. "If I didn't know any better, I would've assumed you were just a female version of your brother." He humorously said to her.

A frown formed on Abigails lips at the mention of her brother and glanced away. "Yeah... a lot of people like to say that. But it doesn't mean they're right." She said to him.

Deciding it was best to move on, Benjamin cleared his throat. "Anyways, with all that set and done, there's one more thing I want to point out." He said to her. "While its important to establish a hold on the capital, we lack the supplies and resources that are important for us to stay there long term. Fortunately; thanks to our time at the capital wasteland, we've discovered a place that should, theoretically, contain said resources." He explained to her.

"Oh? And what place is that?" Abigail asked.

"Vault 71." Benjamin answered and points to another highlighted area of the map. "If the information the Vault Tech headquarters provided is correct, it should contain a G.E.C.K that you can use to establish a permanent base."

"But... what makes you so sure that they'll still have it around? Wouldn't they have used it by now?" Abigail questioned Benjamin.

"Most likely. If that does turn out to be the case, then you'll have to take any of the resources they already have." Benjamin said to her. "But, if they haven't used it yet, for whatever reason, then I need you to take it from them."

"And if they refuse to comply?"

There was a moment of silence between the two as Benjamin seemed to be slightly hesitant to respond. "...Then I need you to kill them. Leave none standing. Not even the children."

Abigail was greatly shocked from the words he spoke, particularly the last part. Sure, she's killed people in the past but... children!?

"B-But, Mr. President, we can't just kill every single o-"

"May I remind you that the ones responsible for our current state originated from those accursed vaults!" Benjamin suddenly bursts out in anger, standing up from his seat. Abigail went silent. Realizing what he had done, Benjamin calmed himself down and sat back down on his seat. "I'm sorry. But we can't take any risks." He said to her. "To ensure that the mission becomes a success, we cannot let any of them interfere. We've already made that mistake twice with The Chosen One and The Lone Wanderer. Do you understand?"

"...I understand."

"Good." Benjamin nods, pleased with her understanding. "Now, before we end this meeting, do you have any questions?" He asked her.

"...I do have one, Mr. President." Abigail said to him. "Why send in a small team? Why not just abandon the base and leave with everyone?"

Benjamin lets out a sigh. "If things were more in our favor, believe me, I would do that." He said to her. "But if we all leave at once, we increase the chances of us being caught by the Brotherhood. And I don't want us to go out like a bunch of fools."

"... I see."

"Now, if thats all the questions you have, you're dismissed." Benjamin said to her. "And I expect your team to be ready to move within two hours."

"Of course, President Roosevelt." Abigail nodded and stood up from her seat, about to take her leave.

"Oh, and one more thing Mrs. Autumn." Benjamin said just as Abigail opened the door.

"Hm?" Abigail looked back at Benjamin.

"In case the Brotherhood finds our base before you can complete your mission, I need you to do one thing for me. For all of us."

"And whats that?"

Silence filled the air for a moment.

"...Survive."