"Quit all that bangin', Sturges.", Mama Murphy said from her special chair inside the house that had Sanctuary's workshop attached. "The General's comin' on the radio."
Sturges sighed. The man set down his hammer in the workbench and walked inside.
"Listen, Murphy.", he began. "I haven't received any word and I'm the Sherrif of Sanctuary. You don't talk to the provisioners. You don't even talk to Carla when she comes to town. How in the world do you think you know that the General's going to be on the radio?"
The old lady turned to him and with all seriousness stated, "Because she cooled off the hot ones."
Sturges threw up his hands.
The colonial tune that was playing came to an end. And then a voice started speaking.
"This is Radio Freedom. We go off our regular schedule to bring you a special message from the General. Please stand by."
Sturges threw up his hands again. But this time he sat down and just shook his head while Mama Murphy smiled.
The General's voice poured out of the radio. "Citizens of the Commonwealth. It is the interest of the Minutemen to ensure the safeguard of that Commonwealth; and all the people within.
"To safeguard your rights, I've ensured that your local leaders have seen to a common government. No community, not Diamond City nor the Institute, has any more influence over other communities than they see themselves. Every community, no matter how small, has over sight and also protection of the Minutemen in full.
"To safegaurd your persons, we have already announced the destruction of the Rust Devils. Their robot augmented raids are a terror no more. And the cost of their presence will drain no one ever again.
"And if someone doubts our commitment to the Commonwealth, they can walk outside the Great Wall of Diamond City and ask the encircling siege of super mutants their opinion.
"The Minutemen perform these duties, not because they are easy nor because they are hard but because they are needed. Every time I look in the eyes of one of the children being brought up in the Commonwealth, I'm reminded of how precious my own son was to me. Not just because he was my family. But because of the hope for the future he represented. The idea of continuing on and making the world into some place worth living and all the other dreams we entrust to the next generation.
"The times ahead will, for quite some time, be just as difficult -if not more so- than the times we have already been through. Each challenge we overcome does not make the next any less daunting. Nor does it ensure that there will never be tough, lean, or mean times ahead. But they are challenges to meet and obstacles to overcome.
"But when there is good news, I will be the first to congratulate the Minutemen who accomplished it. And today, the [static] of [static], the Commonwealth has an opportunity to do so. This special broadcast is to announce the anhilation of the criminal cult know as the Forged. No longer will they hunt your sons and daughters for sacrifice. No longer will they continue to coerce others into a life of a parasite, stealing all the value their loved ones worked a lifetime to build only to fuel the next evil.
"Now the Foundry can be a source of good rather than an outpouring of evil. The Foundry is being placed under the chain of command of Colonel Brandis as untrained civilians of Minutemen settlements may endanger themselves with the yet to be inspected technology there. However, we do have a list of projects from several communities and will be seeing to these work orders as time, safety and resources allow.
"I'm certain there are a lot of citizens out there happy to hear of some of the replacement parts being planned for.
"But I ask everyone in the Commonwealth to be stingy with their optimism and abundant in their discipline despite our continuing victories. I am sure that there will be other crises that we will face. And they will require a strong citizen. One that can endure hardships of labor and scarcity. One that supports the dream of a Minutemen protected Commonwealth filled with free thinkers and free citizens.
"Because the Minutemen are not in the business of allowing dangers to flourish. The Minutemen are not here to allow criminals to run rampant. Where there is harm to the Commonwealth, there is harm to me. And I do not believe I have left the impression that anyone wants to test me or my drive to put the world back together to make it a better place."
