There was a table in the middle of the room with a map of the Commonwealth on it. Around the table was Allen Marks, Preston Garvey, three Minutemen Lieutenants, and one guest who had yet to introduce herself.
"First things first." Allen Marks began, "Introductions, you all know who I am."
"Sam Smith, I know it sounds like a fake name but fuck you, I command the Northeast garrison." The first lieutenant said, sitting down and putting his feet up on the war table.
"Nancy Hart, I command the southwest Garrison, Sir" Nancy was standing at attention. If Allen didn't know better, he would swear she had military training.
"Richard Montgomery, Central Garrison." Richard was older than Nancy or Sam, but not as old as Ronnie Shaw (who had opted out of this meeting, saying "I shoot, someone else tells me when").
"Preston Garvey, y'all know who I am."
"I should fucking well hope so," Sam joked, "I followed you here."
"You're speaking to a superior officer," Nancy scolded.
"So that just leaves the question," Allen interrupted. "Who," Allen pointed at the guest, "are you?"
"Lauren Mcnamara. I'm a Regulator from the Capital Wasteland." Lauren was garbed in an old brown duster. She had blonde hair, green eyes, and an AK-47 strapped to her back.
"You're a what from where?" Allen asked
"Lawman from D.C" Montgomery clarified.
"Preston? Why is she here?" Nancy requested.
"Cause everybody loves eye candy" Sam said, winking at the new girl.
"She made contact with me on a patrol," Preston answered, electing to ignore Sam. "She was sent here to investigate the Brotherhood."
"That was fast," Allen commented.
"I was tracking them more than I was investigating." Lauren explained. "When I explained why I was here to Mr. Garvey he offered to let me sit in on a Minuteman meeting discussing the Brotherhood.
"Can we trust you?" Nancy asked, "How do we know you're not a plant?"
"We can trust her, I've been to the Capital Wasteland," Montgomery said, deadpanned "I know the Regulators. I know she's one; she's trustworthy."
"General?" Nancy looked to Allen for guidance.
"She stays." Allen relented, "Now, backtracking a little bit, as to why I've gathered you all here today. We need to discuss the Minutemen's response to the Brotherhood presence."
"What is that going to be, General?" Preston Asked.
"I'm opening the table up for suggestions." Allen said, waving his hand at the war table. There was silence for a bit, nobody wanted to be the first to speak. Nancy was the first one to work up the courage.
"The Brotherhood poses a clear and imminent danger. I say this means war." she said solemnly.
"I don't know if that's the best idea," Montgomery deadpanned. "The Brotherhood has a massive technological advantage."
"We're not exactly helpless, we have a united Commonwealth and artillery."
"The Commonwealth is far from united." Sam piped up "My garrison still gets flack."
Nancy snapped, "A mostly united Commonwealth, you get my point."
"We've got a lot of enemies," Montgomery said, "Gunners, Raiders, Super Mutants. We might not be able to handle the Brotherhood, too."
"To be fair we'd have to kill all of those," Sam pointed out, "With the Brotherhood all we'd have to do is disrupt the chain of command enough." Everybody turned and stared at Sam, a little surprised. "There's a reason I'm in command, fuckos," Sam said indignantly.
"They did seem very dependent on their 'Elder Maxon,'" Allen mused.
"They're a military organization," Montgomery observed. "The chain of command goes from the top to the bottom, and a disorganized Brotherhood might be even more dangerous than an organized one."
"I don't like them," Preston chimed in, "They're not concerned with collateral damage, they hardly care about their own people. These aren't the kind of people we want in control."
"They might take some of the heat off us though," Sam commented.
"How so?" Nancy demanded.
"Dick here had a point," Sam recalled, ignoring Montgomery's grumbled, "It's Richard."
"We have a lot of enemies, but now, so does the Brotherhood. If we focus on the defensive, keeping our settlements safe rather than patrolling the Commonwealth, then the Brotherhood will find themselves going toe-to-toe with every nasty in the Commonwealth."
"But what about the travelers of the Commonwealth?" Preston asked, "They rely on our patrols for safe passage."
"We can't do everything," Montgomery replied, backing Sam, "People are going to die whether we go to war or not; this way we don't lose much of our own."
"If we let the Brotherhood go unchecked then they are going to become a bigger threat than we can handle." Nancy argued.
The debate continued for a couple of hours. Sam was fiercely against declaring war, Montgomery wanted to "proceed with caution", Preston just wanted to deal with the problem, Nancy wanted to declare open war, Lauren didn't say a word, and Allen was conflicted.
"We don't have to decide tonight," Allen said, attempting to bring the debate to a close. "Everyone, go rest up," Allen ordered. Before she could exit, he called to the visiting Regulator, "Lauren, may I talk to you?"
"Sure, why not?" Lauren said. They were the first words she'd said since her introduction.
Lauren and Allen were pacing the ramparts of the castle.
"So got a girlfriend?" Lauren asked.
"That's not why I brought you up here." Allen answered, sternly.
"How about Sam? Is he single?"
"Lauren!" Allen snapped.
Lauren laughed and teased, "I'm just trying to have some fun."
"That's not why either of us are here, and just to get it out of the way, I'm not interested."
"So why am I here?"
"Tell me about the Capital Wasteland." Allen demanded.
"What do you want to know?"
"Tell me about the Brotherhood presence where."
"I don't know much, I also don't know what caused the schism. But for a while the brotherhood was a lot like power armored Minutemen, they were waging their own little war against the Super Mutants in the ruins of downtown D.C."
"And the outskirts?"
"They didn't have the numbers to cover that wide of an area. Which is why the Regulators cropped up." Lauren explained.
"If I request aid will either organization send it?"
"No." Lauren said confidently.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Neither of us have the resources. There are maybe," Lauren stressed, "a hundred regulators, and the Brotherhood has only a fourth of what they started with. Leaving the Wasteland would be a bad idea."
"Why are you here then? If they don't plan on doing something?" Allen asked. He had to hop over a small gap in the ramparts.
"I'm here as a favor to a friend of mine."
"Who's this friend?"
"His name is Liam Wilson, he's a local legend, he a Brotherhood Knight and a Regulator, among other things."
"Why did he send you?"
"He couldn't afford to leave, but he wants to know if he should follow Maxon's faction north to 'take care' of them." Lauren explained.
"Can he do that?" Allen asked, willing to entertain the idea.
"He has a habit of doing the impossible."
"I get the feeling that's an understatement."
"It is. On a related note," Lauren continued, "What should I tell him?" Allen stood pensively, staring out over the sea.
"Tell him we'll take care of it." Allen finally said.
"Will do." Lauren said, clapping her hands together, "Now, where's Sam's room?"
"Barracks are that way," Allen said and pointed.
"I'll leave tomorrow around dawn," Lauren said, walking away.
The next morning, a little after dawn, the general and his lieutenants gathered in the war room.
"I've made my decision." Allen announced. "I understand that we all had our hopes for this, but I will not waver on this. If you don't like it, then I'm sorry."
"We're behind you general." Nancy reassured.
"Not me," Sam joked, "I prefer the view from behind Nancy."
"I will slap the perv out of you, Sam, I swear to the wall."
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think you'd do what's best." Montgomery commented, cutting off the brewing argument.
"For the most part, we're going to continue normal operations." Allen ordered, "The Brotherhood still thinks of me as an ally. As long as we have that, then the opportunity for co-operation exists. I'm not going to burn any bridges."
"I still feel like we should do something." Montgomery commented.
"That's why I said 'for the most part'" Allen reminded "I want you all to work on fortifying Minutemen settlements, recruit the willing, and I want artillery at every damn settlement. If the Brotherhood starts threatening the safety of the people, then I want a very quick, very decisive war."
The lieutenants' response was a positive one all around.
"Bitchin'," Sam exclaimed
"Yes, General." Nancy proclaimed, saluting.
"It will be done." Montgomery said with a nod.
"Preston." Allen turned to the man.
"Yes, General?"
"Go get Piper and Nick. We need to talk." Allen rubbed the back of his neck, "Everyone else, you have your orders."
"Yes, General," came the resounding response.
"Miss us?" Nick asked as he walked into the war room with his usual swagger.
Piper, on the other hand, was pouting. "Nice of you to finally include us."
"Tactics and maps, boring stuff, really." Allen justified.
Trying to stay on topic, Preston asked, "What did you need us for?"
"It's time to talk about the Deathclaw in the room - the Institute."
"I was waiting for you to bring them up," the Minuteman said.
"The Minutemen are getting stronger, but we're not strong enough to take down both the Brotherhood and the Institute in open warfare."
"So what do we do?" Preston asked.
"Worst Case scenario, I use the Brotherhood to take down the Institute and hope they didn't get too strong to threaten the Minutemen."
"That's a lot riding on a hope." Nick pointed out.
"Like I said, worst case." Allen said. He started to pace around the table, his hands clasped behind him. "But, whatever's going to happen next, I'm going to need a lead on the Institute."
Piper heaved a heavy sigh. "I know where this is going."
"I'm going to the Glowing Sea," Allen declared, "It's time that I find Virgil."
"Are you sure?" Preston asked, "Things are heating up here, and that's not a short journey you plan on taking."
"I'm sure, and I'm also sure about this – I'm going alone."
They did not respond well to that.
"Like hell!"
"General, you can't…"
"Blue, we've talked about this."
"Shut up!" Allen shouted putting his hands up. "I need to move fast and quiet. No offense, but the three of you are all either loud or slow."
"Some taken." Nick snapped, lighting up a cigarette.
"Blue," Piper begged, "You're not invincible, and the Glowing Sea is dangerous."
"I need to move fast, Piper."
"Is that risk really worth a day, maybe, off of your commute?"
"Come on, General, you're smarter than this." Preston weighed in.
"It's been a month, guys, a month!" Allen stressed, "Do you know how much it's been fucking killing me? Sitting on this lead and still not knowing where the hell my son is? Doing nothing? Focusing on everything except the one thing that matters most to me? I've waited long enough," Allen declared. "And now, I have a reason other than Shaun. I'm going, I'm going today, and I'm going alone. If you don't like it, feel free to try to keep up."
The room went quiet at that. Nobody, not even Piper, was going to argue with him now.
"I ever tell you that you're the reason I drink, General?"
"Once."
"At least promise me you'll be careful." Piper requested.
"I'm always careful." Allen said, indignantly. Nick only coughed a quick and not terribly discreet, "Kellogg."
"I'm not always doing the smart thing, but I do stupid things carefully."
"I don't think that's how that works." Nick replied, sounding dubious.
"Tough," Allen said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well, before anyone can convince me not to, see ya!" And with that, he was out the door before anyone could say "bye" back to him.
"He's the reason I drink, you know." Preston commented staring at the closed door.
"That's three" Nick counted.