The wind blew unrelenting, beating the wooden doors of the Castle back and forth. The chilly air crept in, but Marcus didn't mind. He sat still in the steaming water of his bath, relaxing and taking the time to clean himself for the first time in a week or so. The only thing that moved was his left arm, like a hinge it took his cigar in and out from under his old Ranger hat.
Things had been generally quiet throughout the territory, and municipalities. The Brotherhood had been keeping to themselves, the Gunners were cautiously rebuilding their strength in Quincy, and the super mutants and raiders were backing off faster than the Minutemen could build COP's.
A sudden barrage of footsteps on the wooden planks could be heard outside of his doors, over the wind. His sequoia, which sat on a stool, was wrapped up by his free hand, instinctively aiming it at the door. When the footsteps stopped, he spoke.
"Yes?"
"Sir, I have a report for you."
It was the radio operator, a young man, Private First Class Pope.
"Damn it Pope... Come in."
Marcus put his pistol down, simultaneously Pope stepped in. The young man coughed, choking from the cigar smoke that had been packed into wash room.
"Sir, it's urgent."
Pope held out the crumbled paper, with scribbles all over. Marcus took it, eyeing Pope from under the full brim hat.
"This is Murkwater," the paper read, "under heavy attack, many dead, burning."
"Jesus Pope, why did you waste the time to write this?!" Marcus shot out of his bath, drying as fast as possible. The now terrified PFC Pope, snapped to attention.
"Sir, for documentation and record keepings in accordance with the new laws."
The Minutemen had been experimenting with becoming a government of sorts for the Commonwealth. Marcus, experiencing this already in the West, was not enthralled. He knew bureaucrats would have their hands all over it, and more 'records management' initiatives would come down among other things. Hopefully, the Colonel would mitigate most of it, his words carrying heavy weight in all meetings.
"To hell with the records management, wake Augustus, and call QRF in Somerville, now! GO SON!"
Pope rushed out of the room, carrying out Lieutenant André's orders. Marcus dressed quickly, disregarding any camouflage. There was no need to be covert, as a matter of fact, he wanted to be overt. He wanted whoever this enemy was to know that the Minutemen came in all colors, shapes, and sizes; not just the camouflage utilities.
XXXXXXXX
The morning sun broke over the horizon as Marcus, Augustus, and six Minutemen locally garrisoned at Somerville, approached Murkwater. They took their time. There was no gun fire, sounds of battle, yelling, crying, or active cracking fires. Only an overcast of smoke from fires that had burned all night. Marcus couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of melancholy, and think that the lack of noise was sometimes the worst sound in war.
"Scared of getting your feet wet, sir?" One of the Minutemen NCO's asked jokingly.
"No..just know when not to get them wet Corporal." They were all a little nervous, and humor eased them a little.
"Smell an ambush sir?" Another asked.
Marcus looked to Augustus, who glanced at him quickly while readjusting his rifle butt into the pocket of his shoulder. Marcus looked back.
"No..just seared flesh." It was a sickening sweet smell.
In the streets of the small settlement, laser burned bodies and smoldering piles of ash that were former homes, littered the landscape. The crops were burned, the supplies were destroyed, and the weapons all broken in a pile.
All of the men were silent. Even Marcus, who was completely still in the middle of the street while the other men investigated, had nothing to say. He stared at two bodies inside one of the homes. He could not determine gender, only that one was an adult and one a child. Their bodies fused together from the intense flames that had engulfed their home. His stomach turned, and just before he thought he was going to vomit, Augustus spoke from behind him.
"Sir..."
He shut his eyes, and upon reopening them he could not look at this grisly sight again.
"Sir?"
"Yes?" Marcus turned to him.
"You think the Brotherhood did this? They're the only ones with this much laser power that I know of."
"I don't know..I don't know." His voice trailed off at the last moment.
A sudden snap jumped through the silent creeping smoke, faint footsteps followed. Marcus drew his pistol, turning back around and facing south. Augustus raised his rifle, as well as taking a more advantageous position to the right of Marcus.
A voice broke through. "WOOOOAH, no trouble here." A series of bodies came into view; three, no..four emerged from the smoke as Marcus still aimed true. "Just saw the smoke, thought we would make sure everything's alright."
The figure had his arms raised out to the sides.
"Who are you?" Marcus asked sternly, a rage burning inside him, wanting to punish whoever was responsible for Murkwater.
"Name's Sidney, we're bounty hunters here on work."
As they came closer, Marcus could see them clearer. His eyes burned from the smoke, subsequently watering.
Their rifles, AR platforms, were all slung on their backs. Two of them carried sizable ruck sacks.
Marcus lowered his sequoia, holstering it, his SCAR was slung as well. Sidney's arms dropped.
"What business does a bounty hunter have in the Commonwealth?" Marcus asked.
"Finally made it huh? We've never been this far north." The man replied.
Marcus remained silent, waiting for an answer to his question.
Sidney smiled through his sandy blonde beard.
"We were hired by an old man, Eulogy Jones, to track down a girl up here."
Marcus turned to Augustus again, and back.
"Well that's a creepy concept..an old man looking for a young woman."
Sidney laughed a little, before looking around and his smile fading.
"Well Mr., he's paying good money."
"Did this girl break some sort of law where you come from?"
"You could say that, yeah."
"Where are you from again?"
"The Capital." A short pause ensued as Marcus thought the statement over.
"Well..you're in Minutemen territory, if she's a citizen here she's protected under our laws. I suggest you stop at any nearby settlement, they should have a draft of laws."
"Laws? Minutemen? Heh...we've heard of you guys. A lot of tales about y'all down south."
"Mmm..well, I suggest whatever the business is, don't make it the Minutemen's business."
Sidney looked around again, "This is Minutemen business?"
Marcus shot a quick glance. Sidney put his hands back up, and nodded.
"Alright, we'll be moving on gentlemen. You all have a good day."
The four men set on their way North. Marcus and the group started collecting bodies and digging graves.
XXXXXXXX
After spending the day burying the bodies of the Murkwater victims, Marcus had plenty of time to think over the situation. More questions arose than answers.
Who did this? Why? Where did they come from? There were no tracks suggesting that a heavy attack was launched there. Why did the message take so long to get to Marcus? Why wasn't Somerville alerted first? They all bothered Marcus to his core, and the more he thought about it, the more disturbed he became.
Now, they were in Somerville. Marcus had compiled his report, and would transmit to HQ from there before bedding down for the night.
The radio operator on the other end of the transmission seemed to take the news well. Which also bothered Marcus. Maybe he had gotten similar reports? He hoped that was not the case.
Marcus debriefed the Somerville Officer in charge to ensure patrolling efforts were picked up in case of similar attacks, and then made his way to where he would be sleeping. Augustus was there, telling a story to Minutemen garrisoned there. Marcus paused outside the door to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"Probably the most glorious victory we had against the NCR..yeah, I'd say so."
Marcus became instantly furious, opening the door as calmly as he could. Augustus looked at him, before becoming silent.
"Go on Staff Sergeant, tell us about your glorious victory." Marcus sat down on the bunk, facing the door, with his back to Augustus.
"Yes well, Nelson.."
Marcus cut him off by laughing.
"You call Nelson a victory?"
Augustus didn't ponder over it at all.
"Yes sir, a glorious one."
The Minutemen in there presence seemed a little uneasy. Subtly picking up on the aggression in the air.
"Go on then." Marcus said.
"Yes well, after Dead Sea took the eastern side, my men flooded the northern hills, over running the town." Augustus spoke, and Marcus truly listened.
"We had fought only a few hours with firearms, and all at once they just stopped shooting, so we ran in with our swords and spears and drove any who were able to walk out, taking some prisoner..you should have seen them run. The greatest standing army in the West, the oasis of California, driven out by swords and spears." Augustus looked at the Minutemen, who seemed interested in the tale.
Marcus took a deep breath in.
"I was in Nelson that day."
Augustus's faint smile disappeared.
"We retreated because we were out of ammunition." He said, staring through the wall.
XXXXXXXX
Around nine'o'clock in the morning, Marcus and Augustus had been walking for close to an hour. Until now, somber silence dominated them. Each one could feel the palpable tension in the air, and knew the other could as well. Both seemed to be paying attention to their surroundings. Marcus broke the silence.
"You still revel in the old times?" Marcus asked.
"That's a rhetorical question, I'm sure, sir." He said in a low voice.
"Yeah, I know the answer."
"You do the same, don't you?" Augustus asked.
Marcus never turned around, but the question did boggle his mind. Yes, he did relive his 'glory' days, and given the opportunity he would tell of his victories in battle as well. He wasn't sure why though. Not only why men, in general, gloated about atrocious acts of violence; but why he was so angry at Augustus for doing the same thing he would do.
The war between the NCR and the Legion was long over, barely a memory in the back of most troopers minds that were around. For those troopers that weren't around, it was just a history lesson.
He did though, he loved the idea of telling young Minutemen his stories of combat. Was it to teach them something? No, they got all they needed to know for their battles through first hand experience. Was it because they really cared? Again, no, they had their own war to fight. They didn't care about some old mans escapades. Maybe he felt he had something to prove. Metacognition was never Marcus's strong suit, and thus started to avoid the ideas all together. Letting his mind go elsewhere.
'Who razed Murkwater?' He thought to himself. The Brotherhood had the most powerful case built against them. Laser weaponry, no survivors, and the logistical elements destroyed. It's what he would do if he had all the intel he needed for a war of attrition. But if that's the case, why did they stop there? Why wasn't something of more strategic value hit, like the guns at the castle? Unless, the attack wasn't meant for strategic value alone but was intended as a message. A message of fear to undermine the Minutemen, and let the people of the Commonwealth know that they aren't as protected as it seemed.
It was time for Marcus to do devote more assets and research to the Institute.