"Now that that's done, I want the Forged in the ground.", the General told her colonels.

The four were seated at the now single table in her office at the Castle. She alone was on her feet, pacing impatiently.

"It's not exactly that simple, General.", both Preston and Brandis said at the same time. The two men looked at each other. "What do you mean by that?"

"Alright.", the General interrupted. "Stop the stereo. Preston?"

"We still have to accomplish readiness that you've already ordered, or at least intended.", Colonel Garvey reminded. "Attache Anderson hasn't even assessed the true health of the men who served during the siege, let alone assessed the state of the entire Minutemen. We have yet to clear anyone past Overseer McNamara, Acting/"

"Soon to be.", the General snapped.

The man threw up his hands. "Fine - Soon to be Mayor Geneva, Mayor Kessler or anyone else for that matter. We need to get our ducks in row to begin with. We can't just act like they are, or even act like they somehow were and we're just straightening up after the siege."

The General's head shook as if she was physically bouncing the idea around in her head.

Brandis kept pressing. "And those super mutants: they didn't come out of thin air. We were caught with our pants down. And we have no way of pulling them up, either. We took no news to be good news while they were mobilizing. We don't know anything outside our settlements and what the communities are volunteering. If a feral herd of ghouls happened to be on the way to the Castle right now, we wouldn't know until an APC crossed its path.

"I can't see taking on the Forged one eye blind, one ear deaf and a head full of misremembered musings."

The General frowned. She sat at the head of the table.

"You're right.", she began. "I just hate setbacks. We were on such a roll with getting your corp off the ground and the government in place and Zoa's work. I wasn't looking at the siege as the Minutemen protecting the Commonwealth, like that's our job. I was looking at it as something dumped on my plate, keeping me...us from success. I need to start seeing it for the victory the men made it and learn from what went wrong."

"Alright, new orders.

"Preston - the issues you raised. Grab an APC and put Doc Anderson on it. I want her report in front of you, Shaw and me as quick as she can make while being medically accurate. And tell her that I'm on to the but-I-want-to-serve-despite racket. We haven't exactly turned down a Minutemen for any medical condition yet, so it shouldn't be a problem to just tell us instead of covering for some hard luck patriot.

"As for yourself, solve the office problem. Get people into Home Plate, the office, the warehouse and the monument as quick as can be. If the Atom Cats want someone, make it happen.

"Brandis - repair. Don't stop what you're doing because it's working. But I know we had to have taken more damage than just what I remember putting that much equipment in front of an enemy. I'm trusting you to fix it so I don't have to hear it. Let me know when you're done with repairs and back to collecting. I shouldn't want to face the Forged before that's done, right?

"Ronnie: I need another count. We've had an actual action. Compare what was used to what we're producing in settlements as well. If we're not in the black on that/"

"In the black, General?", Shaw asked.

"It's...or at least, it was an accounting term. If you had losses that ran under what you took in, then you marked that in red ink. If your resources intake was more than what you expended you wrote with, and were in, black. I want to make sure that the amount the settlements produced during the siege was enough to make up for what was used up during it. If not, we're going to have to reassess civilian positions earlier than I had wanted.

"Aye, General."

"Admiral. How many boats do we have in the water and ready to serve?"

The ghoul spoke more softly than usual. "Only two, General."

"And the excuse?"

"None."

The General blew through pursed lips. "Then the explanation, Zao. Remember, thanks to you we've got two more than we had before."

"Oh.", Zao realized. "I assumed you had not meant my Yangtze, so the number is only one more than last reported. The men that Colonel Garvey transferred were all tasked to the taking of the Shamrock. Using the ship yards, I believe we will be able to...christen? ships at a faster rate due to the ability to repair in dry dock.

"My attache is already in command at the Shamrock. She assures me of launching another vessel tomorrow. I believe that the men currently training on board my submarine may be ready to train on the new one by then as well."

"Thank you.", the General exaggeratedly nodded. "Add into your schedule time to draw up potential support for an attack on the Forged. The foundry is about 15 feet from the water after all. But note the terrain, the fact that Gunners are across the river - everything. And if the answer is that there isn't naval support available, I want to know that as well."

"I'm going to solve our intelligence problem."