1
Paladin Brandis was exactly where she had expected him to be. Or at least the recent tracks in and out of Recon Bunker Theta bolstered her hope that was the case.
"Remain here.", the General ordered the Minutemen she brought with her. "If I come out of here faster than a strong walk...maybe you should follow."
After a chorus of "Yes, ma'am."s and "Aye, General."s, she entered the bunker.
"Brandis?", she called out. "I need to talk with you. Can I talk?"
She heard a click to her right. She drew KELLOG'S PISTOL out of reflex, heavily modded though it may be, and started locking in targets. Weapon arm. Head. Backup weapon arm. Center of mass. Center of mass.
When she realized she was staring down the barrel of the laser pistol of the person she came to see, her actions immediately shifted. The woman holstered her gun under coat and raised her hands. "Sorry. You startled me."
"I thought I told you to leave me alone.", Brandis threatened.
"And I thought that was the best course of action to take.", the General agreed. "But then I found out more about the Brotherhood of Steel. And its...policies."
Brandis hadn't moved.
"Under High Elder Jeremy Maxson the fourth."
She had never seen a man harrumph so heavily. Perhaps this would work out after all.
"You were one of the people he derided weren't you. The charitable ones.", she continued.
The woman was not prepared for the rant that spilled forth. "That wet behind the ears, power mad, command grabber. His predecessor at least understood that technology could be as much use as it could be a threat. Sure, we should keep it out of the wrong hands. And just because you researched something doesn't mean you should necessarily build, let alone use, it. But there was a time where we were going to bring clean water to everyone. Not just take tech for ourselves.
"And even if you wanted to be a dictator enough to do that, it's a stupid idea. Less water means no water for someone. And if it's not going to be you, then you've made an enemy from scratch. And water means food, you goin' to go without that too? And as soon as I raised that, I knew what was going to happen. He issued the order to intimidate a farm full of civilians the same week. And when I objected...well you see what my career led to. How was I not going to end up leading a doomed scouting mission."
Brandis lowered his weapon and gestured at a crate. The General sat down slowly as he lowered himself into his chair. "So how'd you find out about Maxson anyway."
She considered her options on what to say. "A Minuteman helps. Brotherhood were pinned down by ferals and I got involved.
"Then I got was informed of how they intended to take everything from the Commonwealth that was invented after the Renassiance. And saw how he was ordering armored troops to exploit simple farmers and scaveng...scavvers. You see how the Minutemen had to protect the people trying to survive in the world that remains."
"Ha!", the old man guffawed. "Best of luck to you with that. Even when I was interested, there weren't many Minutemen left. Not after Quincy. Frankly, I'm surprised there's any of you left."
"Acturally, we're protecting about a score or so of settlements, reclaimed from the Commonwealth.", the General offered. "Including the Castle."
The old man scoffed. Then he leaned forward and looked her dead in the eye. "Your outfit took back the Castle. After Quincy. Is that what you're telling me?"
She nodded. "Look, I don't expect you to believe me...at least right away. But yes, the Minutemen have recovered since the Massacre. Our flags are flying all over the Commonwealth.
"And I've forced the surrender of the Institute."
And here's where her fingers twitched. Straight to the gun of the man that took her child.
"And repelled the Brotherhood."
Brandis kept staring. She didn't want to blink. This was it. The make or break moment. Here was where she either got another colonel for her forces, and a badly needed one at that. Or she had to put and old man to rest.
"Bull/", he cried out, throwing his hands into the air.
"I am telling you that it's all true.", she stated.
"The Minutemen weren't more than a rag tag bunch of soon-to-be raiders rumbling among themselves.", he countered.
"And Wire's group has been very forcibly disbanded.", she assured.
"You were down to what? 40, 30?"
"Preston. Preston Garvey.", she claimed.
"One man?" Brandis was aghast. "Well, he must make a hell of a general."
"He's a hell of a man.", the woman agreed. "But he conceded the position. I mean, his desire to maintain the ideal of the Minutemen, to help everyone live in the Commonwealth...no question. He's got more than just determination or bravery...faith, maybe. A dream of before the Great War. But he gave up the position as soon as he told me that there was one."
"Wait a minute. So that means..." the man mused.
"Yep. Me.", the General informed.
"Heh. Heh. Heh, hehe...AHAHA!", Brandis laughed. "I knew you must have been one tough cookie when you brought my men back to me, in spirit at least. But reforming the Minutemen? Into something that isn't just the name on a sign? I haven't even heard of a girl that hard since the locals were tellin' me tall tales of ole Ronnie Shaw."
The woman shrugged uncomfortably. "Shaw's one of my colonels now."
Brandis slapped his knee and started laughing again. "I don't believe it. No. I do not believe it."
"What if I can prove it to you?", she asked.
He gave her one of those deep stares again. "Come again?"
"What if I can prove it to you?", she repeated.
"That the big, bad, scary, Institute answers to a reconstituted Minutemen that kicked the fascist Maxson off their turf?", he clarified.
The woman had her eyes hidden by WRAPAROUND GOGGLES and still looked awkward. "I would like to think of it as living up to the Minutemen's ideal of helping wherever we're needed at a moments notice."
"You already took everything you wanted that I have here.", Brandis reminded.
She shook her head. "Not everything. Come."
2
"Alright, so she's got some Minutemen.", Brandis conceded. The man transferred his gaze from one soldier to the next. Mentally, he was criticizing the bunch putting the rag back in ragtag militia. He was waiting for this so-called General to come back after she wandered off.
And she must have known wandering off was dangerous. She brought her crew along. He even heard what sounded like a thunderclap after a moment of her being out of sight.
But then she came back around the corner. And following her was an armed and armored Synth.
The Minutemen aimed their cobbled together laser muskets at the robot walking under foam molding of a manaquin. Maybe they made up in hustle what they lacked in supplies. Brandis had seen it before. For its part, the Synth revealed a bull pup and pristinely manufactured laser rifle. But it seemed something wouldn't let it make the the decision to level it at any of the people who were more than intending to shoot it.
"Stand down!", the General shouted. "Everyone, and that includes you" -she pointed at the Synth-"holster your weapons and at least act like you aren't going to kill each other."
"Why certainly." the Synth stated in an obviously artificial and generated voice. The Minutemen kept aiming their weapons at it as it blankly lowered its rifle. The General turned to her Minutemen and while no one seemed to be happy about lowering their rifle, no one looked like they wanted to disappoint her with disobedience.
"Sorry.", she apologized to Brandis. "The surrender is...let's say 'new'. 'Unexpected' might work as well.
"Now, Synth. Who do you perform tasks for?"
"This unit is under direct control of policies set forth by the Institute. Any human Institute member or courser designated Synth can instruct this unit with new instructions to be taken rather than standing orders.", it spit out emotionlessly.
"And what runs the Institute?", she continued.
The Synth scanned the Minutemen and on obvious Brotherhood of Steel member. "Ma'am?", it asked, unable to state the internal workings of the Institute in front of outsiders without explicit clarification.
"This is taking to long.", the General huffed.
"Who is General of the Minutemen?", she asked.
"You are, ma'am.", the Synth replied. "But you ought to remember that. Have you injured your head recently and require medic/"
"Quiet. Reply to my next question truthfully.", the woman continued. "Who does the Institute work for?"
The Synth still showed no emotion. If it could on its carved face. "You decide Institute policy."
"Thank you. Please shoot yourself to the point of non-functionality. Safely for the humans standing near you."
"Yes, ma'am.", it stated. Then it turned its laser to its neck and incinerated its head without flinching.
Brandis' jaw dropped along with the Minutemen. He turned to the nearest one. "So...the Castle?"
"The General reclaimed it nearly single handedly."
Brandis turned to another. "And so the Minutemen respond out of there?"
The soldier shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. I mean, we have headquarters there. But I haven't really gotten that far east. My squad usually helps on the roads between a few settlements west of here. With everybody we got now, we're all over the place, you know?"
Brandis nodded. "And the Brotherhood of Steel?"
The Minutemen started to snicker and then thought it would be impolite.
Brandis shrugged so hard his hands slapped his thighs. "Alright. What do you want?"
"You.", the General replied.
"Right now, Minutemen are responding to word of mouth and the occasional call from Radio Freedom. And that takes time. In that time, people are kidnapped longer by raiders and super mutants. Feral ghouls amass. People suffer.
"But you know technology. It's recovery from the Wasteland. How to repair it, restore it.
"So sure, I know of techies. Really brilliant ones at that. But they haven't taken on multiple ongoing projects before. On top of that, they don't understand command & units & organizational structure. I need a Colonel of Motor Pool that understands what I need out of reclaiming the APCs that litter the landscape. I need a colonel who can get people to be able to maintain the civilian broadcast radios I've been seeing everywhere. "
Brandis nodded. "Because the roads are damn near impassible. And you're pre-war aren't you? You're accostumed to the wires strewn about to actually carry messages instantly across the country side. So if I use my technical expertise to get a whirlybird up and running/"
"Focus on the APCs for now.", the General said. "Sure, flying would be a huge tactical advantage. But I need results and I need them now. Besides, there's maybe a handful of whirlybird wreckages strewn across I couldn't say how many square miles. Hit any random road and it feels like you'd trip over one of the APCs. Same with any building of significance and a CB.
"So I'm offering you a command and rank. It'll be some time before I can get you a facility, let alone one of the type we truly need. But I can offer you this: the Minutemen aren't in the business of bullying. We're here to help. And there are a lot of people out here that need helping. So far, any individual Minuteman has stepped up to help where they can. I'm trying to turn people into an organization that can be effective enough for individuals not to need help."
Brandis nodded. "And how do you expect to do that?"
"I'm from before the bombs, remember?", she reminded. "I served in the military sure. But I was also a lawyer."
"That was...", Brandis tried to remember. "Something like a regulations expert, right?"
The General nodded. "I think I can figure out how to build a working world. I just need the right people in the right job. And a veteran Brotherhood of Steel paladin, one from the days where people were helped rather than robbed, fits this bill very well. I'm forced to ask.
"And if your problem was with how Elder Maxson inflicted himself upon the people, then I think you're forced to accept." The General extended her hand to be shaken.
Brandis didn't accept it.
He saluted. "Yes, General. Where do you want me to start?"
