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The night Navarro fell to the NCR, the Californian soldiers set fire to the surrounding forest in an attempt to smoke Enclave officials out of their barracks and into shackles. They had brought a squadron at least three hundred strong, all in the toughest armor they could find, ready for a counterattack from fascists ready to go out in a blaze of glory. What they hadn’t counted on is soldiers and civilians alike anticipating the attack and leaving hours beforehand—or, more recklessly, fleeing through the flames. The only reason the Remnants were among the latter camp was because of Orion Moreno, who was just as willing to die with America in 2249 as in ‘81, despite the five most important people in his life begging him to fold his cards and run with them. He was dragged away from that military base kicking and screaming, and sustained very physical burns from close calls with the five hundred degree fires.The only reason he was pulled away at all was because the young Gannon boy, with his bespectacled green eyes, watched as he fought and was willing to die. The young Gannon boy, who lost his father before he was even born, and whose mother was quickly decaying from grief and some undiagnosable illness. Only he was able to pull Moreno from the flames. The boy had lost enough, Moreno reasoned in a rare moment of clarity-through-hatred, and he'd soon lose more. He didn’t need to watch a family friend die in a firefight. He didn’t need to watch everyone else die because they waited too long for him.But the boy was not spared of harm entirely that night despite Moreno’s momentary mercy. His senses, young and malleable, drank in every detail. His eyes watched the blinding red fires and the pillars of smoke as they mixed with the inky black sky, blocking out the stars he so loved. His nose picked up the acrid, stinging smell of charcoal, diesel fuel, and burnt flesh. And his ears, through the cracking and explosions of dying trees, assault rifles, and missiles, heard the last words of a kind heart.“Kiss America goodbye, boys.”