"Colonel Brandis.", the General greeted.

She stepped down from the APC that had brought her to Finch Farm. She shook his hand as he greeted.

"Can I speak to you for a moment? Privately.", he asked. When she turned her head, "The crews at the Slog won't be ready to move out for another hour."

The General nodded. "Alright."

The two made there way to the top of a metal shanty building behind the Finch home. Resting under the highway and shadowing the mechanical water purifiers, it was about as obscured as anything was a Finch Farm. Like most of the erected structures to house new settlers, it had roof access. Unlike others, someone had found what she once considered tacky lawn furniture and placed an odd number of chairs beneath a soon to be torn umbrella.

Sitting in one of those chairs, the General preempted Brandis. "You of all people should suspect that I don't like too much of the command gathering in so open a space. Not only does it threaten the Minutemen as a whole but it puts civilians between us and those who would view it as a target. But if you're not coordinating crews from the hangar while I'm leading the charge..."

"...then what I have to say shouldn't be spoken over radio frequencies.", the Colonel finished.

"Yeah, I got to thinking about this op. Well, not the op itself. The Forged are too dangerous to remain. We have more than adequate forces to take them out. And you're completely right in that the Foundry itself is going to be a great asset. And I yes, I do mean in keeping some of the interested communities in line like the Atom Cats and Vault 81.

"But I've seen how you operate up close for a bit now. You're always trying to think three steps ahead. And you make damn sure that people only see what you want them to see."

The General objected. "I can't walk people into the Institute. Not yet."

"I'm not talking about the Institute. Or at least in particular. Add in that you've defeated the Mechanist and forbidden the Minutemen from claiming the victory. That no one knows who the synths are that passed that test that got the Institute to even abide your whole citizenship for machines posture.

"And no one has a reason to question any of it. A citizen has the right to their own business, and whether they're a synth or not certainly qualifies. The announcement that the Rust Devils have been destroyed was more than enough and shows that saving up the announcement of the Mechanist is going to prove useful. Hell, I'm itching to start cranking new parts out of Saugus Ironworks myself.

"But it does mean that you don't forget to think about things."

The General shifted in her seat and recrossed her legs. "What do you think I'm thinking of and not revealing?"

Brandis took in a breath. "We've been considering what response we're going to get from the Gunners during this battle to destroy the Forged. But you haven't said anything about a permanent plan for the Gunners. By the end of today, you should have eliminated the threat of the Institute, the Rust Devils, the Railroad and the Forged to Minutemen operations. You're obviously making a list and checking it twice. There's no way the Gunners aren't on that list."

The General's WRAPAROUND GOGGLES reflected Brandis' concerned expression. "Thank you for not raising this over the radio. There's no need for the Gunners to hear such thoughts. And we can nearly guarantee the mercenaries have the capability to listen in to our non-encrypted broadcasts.

"How many of the other colonels have consulted you about such thoughts?"

The old man shrugged. "No one yet. I think they're all so enamored with you that they don't really think past what you've put in front of them."

"Are you going to keep it that way?", the woman asked.

"Oh don't you dare do that.", Brandis warned. "As soon as you ensure a person is going to shut up, you don't let them in on anything that you're thinking and end the conversation. If I'm going to be getting your armor ready for when you actually do go after the Gunners then I need to know things."

The woman nodded and slumped in her chair. "And you'll get that when I figure it out.

"In all honesty, I'm probably procrastinating. I have ideas. Contingency plans. Even offensives laid out.

"But make no mistake. The Gunners have defeated the Minutemen before, at Quincy. The Gunners have an organized force that's embedded deeply into Commonwealth territory. Numbers, experience, command...all of these things are going to make them a nightmare to deal with. We need to have all of the ducks in a row before biting into that bad apple. And not just ours.

The General continued in a softer voice. "Even today against the Forged. I've faced Gunners in the field by myself, sometimes with someone else to watch my back. But never as a commander of forces. I don't want them gaining that type of information. I would like them to not know anything of our operation against the Forged - no APCs, no Mark IIs, no upgraded laser muskets, nothing.

"But their vantage point across the river makes that impossible. I even considered hitting it at the same time. But even if there wasn't just a straight escape or radio signal fired off that said we had taken the Auto Wreckers, the mere coincidence of not being there since the same day as the Forged would allow the Gunners to put one and one together. Right now, they are a trouble that the unscrupulous are hiring. But changing their motivation from money to survival will put us in open warfare across the entire Commonwealth."

Brandis chuckled. "I noticed you didn't say 'would' but said 'will'."

The General sighed. "Let's just clean up the Forged today, Colonel."