The Children of the Tribes

"I want to head my own initiative," Julia told the Goddess. It hadn't been quite a month since the attack on Ouroboros. Scipio Venator's assault had been mostly resolved. The Legionaries following Venator were sent far away from the valley by a fake trail, and the dead were buried. Even the Legion dead were buried, although without the rites given to Hounds and Daughters. The Legion was once again blind to the machinations of the Goddess and life had returned to normal.

"Your own initiative?" the Goddess asked. They sat on plush cushions in the Goddess' private quarters, wreathed in fragrant smoke and smoking bufo from a hookah. They shared a single mouthpiece, a privilege given to no other Daughter and a quiet symbol of their oft-unspoken bond, "What sort of initiative?"

"Information gathering. Compiling the history of the Legion," when Julia returned from Vault 29 and the ruins of the Twin Mothers village she still felt imbued with an incredible sense of purpose. She felt compelled to take on more responsibility. She was no longer content to merely act on the will of the Goddess.

The idea came to her in a flash. She explained it in full to Atia.

"All of these men, these Legionaries, they all come from tribes, right? Local tribes?" she gesticulated wildly with her empty coffee mug. They were in the archives, near the back where the oldest records were stored. Atia sat on a dusty armchair, hands wrapped around her knees and shoes off. Julia was pacing the area.

"Yes," Atia answered.

"And all of these women, all of the Daughters, they come from tribes, too," Julia continued, "Well, most of them. Avata's from the Wild-Thorne family farm, and Bella's from some hick town, but those are basically tribes, and their brothers joined the Legion," she rambled, wide-eyed. Atia nodded her head, not really listening. She was thinking about whether or not she'd get a drink before collecting her young son, Julius, from class, "But the Daughters come from the same tribes. It's all from the same tribes, basically. We keep records on everybody, and the Legion keeps records, right?"

"Yes. Well, there was," Atia was pulled from her daydreaming. She admitted she couldn't vouch for the current Legion, but when she was slave and before she was awarded to Aurelius of Phoenix she was intimately familiar with Caesar's record-keeping.

"If the Legion keeps records of tribes they've conquered and slaves they've taken..."

"They do," Atia confirmed.

"We can find out what happened to... to everyone's family. We can find out what tribes everyone is from, and if the Legion keeps records of troop movements..."

"They do," Atia confirmed again.

"Then we can find out where they are now!" Julia was so excited her hands shook, "We can tell everyone where their brothers are, where their sisters are, where their friends are in the Legion. What happened to them, if they're dead," Julia swallowed a lump in her throat, "Where does the Legion keep their records?"

Atia frowned, "Well, the most recent records usually travel with Caesar himself. I think," she picked at her eyelash and chewed her lip, "Sorry, it's been awhile."

"It's alright. Any information you can give me is useful," Julia smiled sympathetically.

"Okay, well, most of the records probably travel with Caesar. Some Centurions might keep their own, but Caesar keeps most of them. If they aren't with him, they're in Flagstaff. In the War Room Headquarters in the center of the city."

"It's not like they're the best records or anything," Atia continued. She had been most impressed with the Legion's written history when she could only compare them to her tribe's oral traditions, but the fastidious and detailed record-keeping of the Daughters put the Legion to shame, "But it ought to be enough to reunite at least some people."

Julia was certain The Goddess wouldn't allow her Daughters to reunite with their missing family, nor did Julia want that, but she could at least let them know how their family was doing.

"I want to collect data on the family your Daughters have in the Legion. I think it will help morale, to see where their relatives are and what happened to them after they were separated. It will help us paint a clearer picture of the Legion, not only their movements and tactics but their very soul. Corroborating information from our Daughters and their records so we can know them entirely," Julia had rehearsed her pitch again and again but there was little she could do to dress it up. Either the Goddess would approve or she wouldn't, it didn't matter how Julia presented her idea.

After Julia finished the Goddess was quiet. She looked for signs in the smoke that danced lazily around them. More than anything she wanted information, for information was more powerful than any force in the wasteland, but she was hesitant to know too much about her most hated enemy. What affect would it have if her Daughters started seeing the Legion not as a faceless antagonist, but as real people, men with names and faces that were once dear to them? The Goddess disagreed that it would help morale, but then a vision came to her. Out of the smoke came a face, with a wide brow and large round eyes. It was the face of a young man, and she was so overwhelmed by him she was driven to tears. She felt the longing in her heart to know this young man, and she realized that her Daughters already knew their families were part of the Legion. Letting them know the exact details of their brothers, sons, sisters, and daughters still enslaved would help quiet their troubled hearts, even if it invited new problems.

"My most trusted daughter Julia, you may do your work with my blessing. Find our brothers in the Legion, let us know of them. Let us weep for our fallen, and worry for our brothers who still fight Caesar's war. Let us dream of rescuing our sisters still in bondage, and weep for their plight. Let us hope our Daughters are inspired to hate the Legion even more, knowing greater the injustices Caesar foists upon their blood," she lovingly stroked Julia's face, and kissed her on the forehead to seal her approval. Julia now had the authority to lead Operation Remus. Little did she know her vanity project would soon change the face of the southwest wasteland forever.