"Say that again..." Captain Wes's tone of voice was cold as ice.
The pain in the lieutenant's stump was near blinding as he formed his words.
"A guy in a mask and a woman done up in war paint took out the sentries, Sgt. Jenkins, and damn ear killed me before they went inside. I heard all hell break loose inside. I had only made it about a block before I heard someone approaching and dragged myself behind a dumpster as they passed." He sucked in his breath in pain and continued. "As they passed by, I heard three people talking... a male and two females... one with a thick accent."
"What were they talking about. pray tell?"
"They were talking about how stupid raiders were... and how easy they were to kill."
"That's it?"
"Yes sir."
"You did well, lieutenant. Get over to the infirmary and get that taken care of... Tell the doc I said to give you extra meds for the pain..."
"Yes sir. Thank you sir."
Captain Wes watched the maimed man roll his way out of the broadcasting studio in the wheelchair.
"He dragged himself here all the way from the Combat Zone?" He asked his 1st Sgt.
"Almost, sir. He was picked up about a half a mile away by a patrol. He said he avoided our outposts in the city due to a heavy super mutant presence in the area."
"Kid's got heart... Keep an eye on his progress. Get him a desk job in S-2."
"Roger that sir."
"1st Sgt..."
"Yes, sir?"
"Who is this mother fucker? In one night he shreds through more men than we lost in damn near a year... We didn't lose that many men in fucking Quincy..."
"I wish I knew sir... I hate to say it.. but he is really fucking good.."
"No shit. Get on the radio and send three squads to check out the Combat Zone. Interrogate that freak who owns the place to find out what he knows. If they walked out with his girl, he knows something..." Wes shuffled through some papers on his desk. "1st Sgt.."
"Yes, sir?"
"It's this Moguai, isn't it?"
"I believe so sir. All evidence supports that."
"Fuck... When did 27 soldiers and a kid with a blown off foot become "evidence." We need to 1) Find out why he targeted the Combat Zone, and 2) find out who the fuck he is."
""Yes, sir. I will update you as soon as I hear back from the squads."
Two hours later, the 1st Sgt. returned with his report.
"Sir, I have an answer to your first question, but you are not going to like it..."
"1st Sgt, no matter the reason, I am not going to "like" it... Proceed."
"Before they opened fire, the male apparently yelled out "Come get you five thousand caps, you fuckers." The female opened up with a minigun and the male used a variety of weapons. They didn't even pause until the only people alive were the ghoul and his girl."
"What did the ghoul tell you about them?" Wes raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing sir. It sounds like he died not saying any more than I just told you. He got especially belligerent when asked about the girl with the accent... his fighter.."
"Last words?"
"It is reported that the las thing he said before they finished him was, "Fuck you... My little bird is free, and you fuckers can't do shit about it.""
"What the fuck to you think he meant by that?"
"No clue, sir."
"Thank you 1st Sgt. I need some time to think on this... Dismissed."
As the 1st Sgt did a quick about face to leave, Captain Wes stopped him.
"1st Sgt."
"Sir?"
"Up that fucking bounty to 25k caps."
"Consider it done, sir."
Wes sat at his desk, staring at himself in a fragmented mirror that hung on the wall above it. Their focus was going to need to shift from annexing more of the Commonwealth to hunting this man... Man... Mogwai... He rose from his desk and walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out a singed Chinese to English Dictionary. He flipped through it until he found the phonetic section... Reading down the words until he came to it.
"Yeah... It fucking figures." was all he said before he snapped the book closed and hurled it against the remnants of the mirror. "Fuck."