"Alright, we're ready. This'll be tough, there's a bunch of ex-Minutemen in this place, make no mistake and don't get cocky... But the payout is gonna be worth it, trust me." Colonel Cypress' pre-mission briefing was short and to the point as usual, and the small group of mercenaries around him nodded in response, giving each other brief glances as they began to prepare their array of weapons. Most were crouched behind the cover of a hill while they began to load bullets and clips, but one was already stood, stock-still, with her head poked out from behind cover. Maria stared down the scope of her rifle, finger resting well away from the trigger for the time being as she surveyed the base they were near to.

The settlement was hardly anything special itself, and Maria could spot a number of simple farmers and settlers that didn't seem too much of a threat. What was notable, however, was that the settlement had been made on a street, providing a lot of cover for guards and defences within the walls of buildings, and the odd guard tower above a rooftop. She frowned as she went over the game plan in her head. It certainly wasn't ideal, but it should get the job done with minimal Gunner casualties, according to Cypress. She couldn't help but shift her scope back to the farmers and civilians, however, a queasy feeling rising up in her stomach.

"So… why are we going after this place?" she asked, and suddenly felt the stony faces and glaring eyes boring into the back of her skull. Maria turned her head from the scope, brushing a few ginger hairs out of her face as she looked back at the Gunners, breaking into a little grin at the stupidity of their reactions. She really shouldn't be smiling at such a situation, but… someone almost a lifetime ago had told her to never lose that smile of hers. It was what had kept her going through incredibly difficult times before.

"...Because we're getting paid to, Maria," Cypress finally said after a few seconds of rather awkward silence. Even though his face was unreadable and his eyes were hidden behind thick, black sunglasses, she could tell just how irritated he was by her question.

"Yes, I know, sir, it's just…" Maria responded, trailing off before she could finish her protest. She had gone back to looking down her scope, setting the crosshairs towards one of the guards stood on the outpost. "I just want to know what the client wants out of this," she admitted, eliciting a number of groans from the other mercenaries, who had finished preparing their weapons in the time her insolent little outburst had taken.

"Oh, who gives two shits, McKinnon?!" came the call from another of the Gunners, Trident. His obnoxious mohawk almost stuck out of cover by itself, and Maria could tell just by the tone of his voice that he was smirking as he spoke. "We're getting caps for this, that's all that matters." There was a murmur of agreement from the group, prompting Maria to internally sigh. What absolute scum did she work with, anyway?

"It's not our job to ask why, now take the goddamn shot so we can get this started," Cypress ordered, his tone taking a sharper edge has his temper wore dangerously thin. "You're one good operation away from getting your blood-type tattoo, Maria. Now kill the watchman or I'm gonna find an alternate way of testing your blood type," he threatened. Maria couldn't help but chuckle at the way her superior had put that, resting her sights finally onto her target. Atop the guard tower, a lone man sat with a rifle of his own in a deck chair, staring out to the horizon while in the shade of a parasol. He looked peaceful.

"... Aye sir," the Gunner muttered, and she pulled the trigger.

One second the guard was resting merrily, the next there was a little red cloud and a chunk of flesh spattering outwards, with only the quietest little popping sound of the silenced bullet audible before a pitter-patter of flesh hitting the deck floor of the watchtower. From a distance, it looked as though the man had barely moved, and indeed he was still slouched in the deck chair, now a different kind of peaceful.

"Hit. Let's roll," Maria declared, prompting the group to begin moving out. She received a clap on the back from one of her squadmates in congratulations, and with that, she was following at the rear of the team. Clad with laser and plasma weaponry, the Gunners swept along the side of the street, using the shadow of one of the buildings for cover. In front, Cypress had crept behind one of the armed settlers on the streets, taking them by the neck and choking them as he brought them to the ground. The group moved into one of the buildings, where they began to group up. Maria, meanwhile, lagged behind slightly, taking in the sight of this settlement while she moved through it. It all felt so… off. The guards were using makeshift and pipe rifles, the only non-guards seen were just picking crops down on the other end of the town or simply wandering the streets. There was nothing threatening about this place. Her thoughts were cut off, however, as she was dragged forcefully into the building with the others by Trident.

"The easy bit's over," Cypress declared in a hushed tone. "Now split up like we discussed. Maria, the rooftop. Trident, you and your six use the back alleyway to pincer them when we start the assault." Without hesitation at their leader's word, the Gunners began to move out.

"Try not to fuck this up, McKinnon," Trident sneered as he began to move towards the back of the building. Maria simply let out a hollow giggle, waving the man off as she began to make her own way towards the staircases. Once alone, she let her smile drop. The silence was awful, leaving her to listen only to her own thoughts as she made her way towards the rooftops.

These weren't the usual gangs or Raiders she was hunting today. Her group usually just settled disputes between two rotten groups by killing one off and getting paid by the other, but this settlement had none of the skulls, none of the equipment of a usual Raider group. It looked positively… normal. Of course, there were a number of traitorous Minutemen amongst them, clearly ones who hadn't even bothered to show up at Quincy all those years ago, so Maria could feel a certain degree of distaste for them, but it still just didn't feel right. Who would want a settlement like this raided?

Once she reached the rooftop door, Maria prepared her sniper rifle again. She was useless in any kind of close-quarter combat, and her assault rifle wasn't silenced, so her sniper was the only usable tool in the situation if somebody was on the rooftop waiting for her. She reached out a hand tentatively, only using the tips of her fingers to quietly press the door open. Sure enough, there was a gun-toting man stood nearby, looking perplexedly at her as she poked her head out of the doorway. The silence just got a lot more heavy.

"...Hi~" she whispered in a sing-song voice, giving the man a little smile in greetings. It completely threw him off for a second, just staring dumbfoundedly at this strange woman who had just come onto his rooftop. Then, he looked down, and seemed to suddenly remember that he was meant to be a guard. By the time he had raised his rifle, before he could call anything out, his lung suddenly ruptured under immense force, and he crashed into the floor, gasping for breath as blood began to pool across his chest. His struggles lasted for a few more seconds, before he was naught but a body for Maria to step over as she approached the ledge of the building.

The sniper looked downwards, spying Cypress' group crouched behind cover down on the street below. She glanced along the streets too, and could just spot the head of Trident poking around the corner on the other side of the farmers, awaiting a signal. But… why was nothing happening? Cypress said he was going for a full assault, right? So why wasn't it happening? Maria took a brief look around, and let out an 'ooooh' of realisation. There were three rooftop guards on the other side of the street, currently playing cards around a table. Their signature militia hats immediately gave them away as the Minutemen type. Maria took a deep breath in, and slowly exhaled as she rested her sniper, peering down the scope. She had to do this right.

Pop…

thunk.

One of the men crashed his head into the table and crumpled like a sack of rocks.

Pop…

thunk.

Before the other two could really process what was going on, another bolt was chambered and another bullet went straight through one of their chest. They crashed backwards in their chair immediately.

Pop…

whizz.

The third one had got his wits about him, and just as Maria was prepared to shoot him, he dived into cover and let out a roaring, bellowing cry. Damn it. Maria reloaded her clip on instinct, and down on the streets, the assault was forced to begin. The settlement suddenly erupted with green light as plasma bolts were pelted into the groups on the street from both directions. Some managed to find cover and draw their own weapons, while most weren't so lucky. The air was suddenly filled with an immense amount of noise, from screams to gunshots, as the firefight began. Maria focused her attention on the final rooftop guard, who still posed a threat to the Gunners down below. She peered down her scope with one eye, while surveying the rooftop with the other, ready to whip her gun to point at wherever the man would raise his head.

And then, he finally did, but he was peering down a scope of his own. The bullet only just struck the cover Maria was behind, narrowly missing her head, which she immediately lowered in response. She crawled along the rooftop behind the makeshift wooden cover that had been built, and experimentally stuck her hand up for a split second and back down again to test her opponent's reactions. Almost instantly, a bullet whizzed just where her hand had been. Had it been her head, she wouldn't have been able to duck in time. Inwardly cursing herself for clearly leaving the best foe alive, Maria looked at her surroundings, trying to come up with some sort of plan of action or escape... And her eyes finally rested on something that led to the stupidest plan she had made in a while. It would take a short amount of time to prepare, though…

Something finally peeked up, and the ex-minuteman on reflex adjusted his scope, and fired a thunderous round into it, striking it instantly with a straight headshot. It crumpled out of sight, and the sniper looked up from his scope, turning his attention immediately towards the Gunners in the battle down below. That was the last thing his mind was on before there was another little pop, and his life ended.

Staring down her smoking barrel, Maria couldn't help but let out a little grin. She stared down at the body next to her, the one she had shot when she had come up onto the rooftop in the first place, except his head was now practically gone, torn off by the force of a bullet. A simple enough decoy, but now her allies were safe from enemy sniper fire. Maria chambered another bullet and looked down to the street, but immediately looked up from her scope. It wasn't a battle, more of a surviving settlers were simply holding out, while others made their way into the nearest building, running from the onslaught that both sides of Gunners were bringing. Two had fallen on their side, but the death toll was miniscule when compared to that of the settlers. They were retreating - no, fleeing into the building on the same side of the road as Maria's spot. She could no longer bear to just sit there, let alone fire on the weakened foe. She removed the clip of the rifle and stowed it onto her back, swiftly making her way across the rooftops via some rather precarious wooden boards that joined them together. All the while, the amount of pipe gunshots was falling as more and more settlers were shot down without mercy. Maria quickly reached the rooftop door of the building they were fleeing into, and she swung it open without second thought. What was she doing…? She wasn't quite sure of that herself. It was something along the lines of stopping this conflict, they were clearly beaten and the Gunners showed no signs of hesitation to just keep shooting away.

Maria raced down the stairs, hearing panicked and sobbing voices growing louder and louder as she descended towards the ground floor.

"Why would they do this?! They're not just Raiders," one voice wailed. "We need to get to the roof!"

"No!" came another call, "they'll have a sniper and traps in such obvious places," we need to go through the windo- shh!"

Maria, in her confusion and panic, had been far from stealthy as she descended the staircase. She peered down the last flight of steps, and saw a large group of the settlers simply crouched behind the cover of the shop, many were staring straight back up at her, some with weapons raised.

"What the hell… what the hell is this?" she managed to ask, looking at the ridiculously sorry sight of such a decrepit and pathetic group practically cowering for their lives. They weren't a threat in the slightest. If anything, it had only been that Minuteman that seemed to be a threat out of everyone in the settlement. This was a butchering, and she could tell by the pale faces and wide eyes that most weren't used to combat like this. For the first time in a very, very long time, Maria couldn't even summon a smile in that situation. She stepped down the staircase without reservations, despite the fact that there were guns pointed at her. Her guns were on her back, she was basically no threat to them, and they seemed to at least realise that she wasn't trying to kill them.

"Why…?" came the feeble response of a completely different question. "Why did you people do this?!" Maria had no answer, and she was as wide-eyed as any of the settlers in that room. This wasn't right, this wasn't like any of the jobs she had done before. These were honest, fearful human beings, nothing like the savages and Raiders she was meant to be killing. She finally reached the bottom of the staircase, meeting the eyes of those who were staring at her. Suddenly, one of the more youngish settlers sprang forwards, pointing his pistol to her stomach.

"She's our captive," he declared, "maybe they'll… make a deal…" it was a desperate, almost childish thought, but the settlers seemed to get some sort of hope from it, and for that reason, Maria didn't resist at all, simply standing there while a pipe pistol was pressed to her abdomen. If it meant innocent people could be saved, she would do whatever they wanted to do in order to survive. They all reminder her too much of… home. The whole room seemed to grow chillier, however, as the plasma shots stopped outside of the building, and the stoic, robotic voice of Cypress called out so that all could hear him.

"Grenades ready," he called, to the menacing laugh of his cronies, sending a shiver down Maria's spine. They had no grenades with them - she knew because Cypress himself had said they wouldn't be needed for the operation. It was simply to fuck with those left inside, and it certainly worked.

"W-Wait! We have one of yours, you'll kill her too!" the boy holding Maria said, trying to sound confident despite his voice wavering and shaking heavily. The laughter of the Gunners only persisted.

"Don't try and lie, we kno-" Cypress was cut off before he could finish speaking by that same youngish voice.

"Ginger woman, two rifles, came from the rooftop," the boy said, prompting a very audible grumble from the group. There was only one ginger woman in their group, and it was true that she wasn't with them at the moment.

"...Heh, very well. Hold for a second, let's talk to them. Don't shoot, or it's back to plan A," Cypress drawled. Without warning, Trident kicked the shop door open, surveying the scenario with a very large smirk. He felt in absolutely no danger, and it was clear to see by the way he just waltzed in, even with a few of the settlers' guns pointed at him. He was followed by a few more Gunners, including Cypress, who simply sighed and held the bridge of his nose with thumb and finger once he saw Maria, looking up to the ceiling exasperatedly.

"Ha! Even I'm impressed, how the hell did you manage to wind up like this?!" Trident sneered, walking straight up to Maria and flicking her on the nose. Unlike usual, though, she didn't just brush it off or smile in response. She stayed staring at the floor.

"Look, kid. I don't care about shooting this gal and you both," Cypress threatened the boy, waving his plasma pistol around airily as he spoke. His voice was low and seemingly uncaring, but the grit of his voice was easily intimidating to most in the room. "Drop the gun, walk to the wall, and we won't blow this place to shit."

Maria simply stayed still, staring downwards. She felt the end of the pistol slowly began to retract from its place on her abdomen as her 'captor' thought it over. Eventually, she was released, and the gun clattered to the floor. The group of settlers seemed to wilt away as their one hope went to sulk in the corner.

"That goes for all of ya, I want to see guns on the ground and I'll let you live." With his 'grenades' as leverage, Cypress watched with a satisfied smirk as the settlers gave themselves up, dropping their weapons one after another. "Good, now group up with the boy. We'll figure a way to deal with you all, might let you walk away if I'm feeling nice," he continued. The group quietly obeyes, moving into a small huddle in the corner of the store. Maria simply stayed where she was, eyes not averting from the floor. That was until she heard Trident speak once again.

"So, what, we gonna kill them?" he asked, looking to Cypress, cocking his rifle in his hands. Maria also looked up to the Colonel, her fists suddenly clenching. This was… just like… what had happened to her. She saw the boy stood broken in the corner, and in him, she saw her old self. Having given up, having lost it all. Something finally snapped in her as Cypress simply nodded.

The huddle recoiled in terror, now surrounded by four Gunners raising their plasma rifles, and their leader stood just behind them having given the order. Trident let out a sadistic laugh as he raised the barrel, wrapping his finger around the barrel with his mind only on his kill count. Surely there would be more caps for him at the end of all this.

There was a flash of light… Not of plasma green, but of laser red. Maria's eyes were venomous and furious, and she felt absolutely nothing but pleasure as she saw a number of burns scorch into Trident's back. He collapsed to the floor, just as pandemonium broke out.

Maria had drawn her laser rifle, and fired a quick volley of shots at the Gunner next-closest to her, one bolt striking him in the head and sending him crashing to the ground. Some of the crowd began to charge, a couple at the front taking hits of plasma, but the numbers quickly overwhelmed the Gunner who had fired, and brought him down with a storm of kicks, punches and bites. Maria dived to the side as Cypress wheeled around, firing a shot from his pistol narrowly behind her. He saw the scene before him, and immediately dashed out of the building to the safety of his men. The final Gunner in the shop was shot down by those who had retrieved their guns, and suddenly the fight seemed back on.

"To the roof!" one of the group called out, and everyone seemed to follow suit. The interior of the building was shelled by plasma shots from the Gunners outside, striking a number as the settlers ran towards and up the stairway. Maria fired a number of shots back out the window, striking one, as indicated by their cry of pain. She was one of the first who reached the steps, and was the first to dash out of the rooftop door. She switched her laser rifle for her sniper with deft, nimble hands and reloaded the clip into the gun, sped up by the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She looked down from the roof through her scope, instantly shooting straight through the head of one of the Gunners before her cover was shelled by plasma bolts, and she ducked into a different position. The other settlers were now beginning to fire downwards. With a huge height disadvantage, Maria was unsurprised that the mercenaries had begun to make a retreat. She lined up another shot, aiming for the back of Cypress' head, but her hand swayed at the last second, and the bullet went astray. No, she wasn't going to let him live. Not after what he had done, what he had ordered his men to do. The Gunners' numbers were suddenly thinning, thanks to the Settlers doing their part in the combat effort. Maria chambered another round and peered down the scope, unable to get a proper shot off due to the chaotic shooting that was going on around her. Nevertheless, she fired.

Pop…

Thunk.

Suddenly Cypress fell forwards, and for a split second, Maria thought she had struck a deadly blow. However, he rolled onto his back, bringing his plasma pistol up and returning fire. The bolt moved all too quickly, and Maria could not avoid it. It struck her chest armour, but still seared into her skin quite heavily in the abdominal region, and she fell to her knees, dropping her rifle and clutching at the wound. Her vision began to go blurry and faded, and strength began to leave her, no matter how much she wanted to fight on. The last sight she saw was of Cypress, that bastard, being carried away by what few men he had left.

And everything went black.

"L… Lady? You awake?"

She stirred. For a moment, she wasn't too sure who 'she' was, or what she was doing. It was as though she was awakening from purely nothingness.

Then, the memories struck with the force of a train. Her family, her struggles, the settlers… Cypress. Maria bolted up in bed, but was immediately met with a screaming pain in her stomach, and fell back to the bed with a yelp. She looked up to see the concerned face of a certain boy who had taken her hostage not too long ago looking down on her. She responded to his facial expression with a smile, a genuine smile of relief and mild amusement. He was alive, and so was she, and that was worth celebrating, even if almost nothing else was.

"Hey there," she greeted, her voice uncharacteristically weak, but still with that same cheery tone in it. "You beat down those Gunners then, huh? You were really brave, y'know," she complimented, but it was waved away dismissively by the boy.

"It's nothin'," he replied with a shaked head. "You were the one that saved us." Maria shifted uncomfortably in her bed at this. She may have shot her old comrades in the back for them, but she had still killed a number of the settlers for no good reason other than 'following orders.

"The group's been a bit divided. Some want you to stay, but some think you're just another Gunner," the boy continued. To this, Maria drew in a long, heavy breath.

"I'm a traitor," she explained, "and the Gunners go all-out to make examples of a traitor. If I stay here… they'll come back with three times the troops. I need to go as quickly as possible." To this the boy showed hesitance at first, but after thinking over her words, nodded understandingly. "But, uh, I'm really grateful that you guys took care of me," she added on.

She planned to stir up some minor commotion with the Gunners for herself, just to make them realise that she's out in the Commonwealth rather than in the settlement that had taken her in. Hopefully, if they did what they usually do, they'd divert their efforts mainly to hunting her down instead of assaulting the settlement to blindly try and find her whereabouts.

Then, she would have to live more or less as a fugitive for a few years, hidden from any eyes that would recognise her. Perhaps she could join one of the factions around the Commonwealth, and hide out with some new armour and a nice new haircut.

That was the future, though. For now, she needed to rest.