The two groups sat on couches across the room from each other, trying their best to mimic Dharma and kung-fu stare a whole in the wall right through the other side.
Maybe it was because the Minutemen had posted guards at the door to the backroom of the Third Rail, and across the room from the door to the backroom and had repeatedly offered 'supplementary security' to Ham, the doorman, no matter how unwanted. Maybe it was because the Watchmen in the room, shadowing Mayor Hancock didn't look any more hospitable. Maybe it was because the Triggermen, pardon of course - the representatives of the esteemed Vault 114, seemed unapologetic and unabashed in their gangster apparel and assorted automatic fire arms they brought to a surrender, pardon of course - reconciliation of an unsigned community of the Commonwealth. Maybe it was because the formal COLONIAL DUSTERS of the assembled Colonels didn't allow for anything else.
"Hey, Shroud Fans. This is Kent Connolly.", the ghoul cut through the silence. "Today's programming is being interrupted for a historic broadcast. The negotiations to incorporate the nefarious Triggerman's hideout of Vault 114 as a contributing member community of the Commonwealth."
The silence immediately returned. Colonel Garvey glared at 'Representative' Trish. 'Advocate' Malone stared at Colonel Shaw. And it seemed to Piper as if the General and Mayor Marowski were having a psychic battle.
"Don't everyone go at once.", Mayor Hancock observed.
"You know what? I'll start.", the General offered. "After all, I believe I have two important stories to tell.
"About my experience with gangsters.
"As many of you know, I'm from the time before the bombs fell. I actually saw the glow of one of them as I was descending into my vault: you couldn't actually directly at one, the light alone would melt your eyes.
"What some of you may not know is that I was a lawyer. And what that meant is that every day, I ended up dealing with sleazy low lifes that put their own drivers of sin (greed, lusts, wrath, sloth) before not just the authority of the state, but the safety of their fellow man. And they'd love to tell me about how they had respect for the family, or centuries of tradition, or old ways that gave rules. Right before they'd brag about how they were going to get away with yet another corrupting crime or how I'd never find the bodies of the innocents they had buried in shallow graves. Some times, they'd just try to threaten or bribe me or hold something, someone hostage. All to get out of what justice had in store for people as evil as they.
"The second story takes place a bit more recently.
"When I came upon this world, it was (from my perspective) just after witnessing the kidnapping of my son and the murder of my husband. I was so filled with desperation and rage that I barely noticed how destroyed the world was.
"And if it wasn't for someone I met early on, I'd have gladly burned what was left of it to the ground in my mother's quest. I'd like to say that person was Preston Garvey. Now Preston is one of the most honorable and noble men I have ever met in my life. The kind they used to write about in romantic fantasy books, whose handsome yet rugged looks could make a woman like me swoon while having a character that left a respect that fairy tale true love could be built on in comfort and safety. But it wasn't.
"That honor goes to Mackenzie Bridgeman.
"When I first arrived at what is now the Nuka World trading post, it was a raider infested cesspool. One gang was the Operators, who claimed to love money more than terror. There were the Disciples who did not. And then the Pack that tried their best to be animals instead of people. Even the entrance was one long gauntlet of death traps and cannibals leading up to a duel with a power armor clad psychopath. But I'm told I have very good marksmanship. After defeating this guantlet and the three separate raider gangs' ruler, I was offered the position. And I was in the state of mind where I wanted nothing more than an army to shove down the throats of whoever took my family away from me.
"But before I could unleash them, I saw that they were slavers. They had put explosive collars on whoever they ran across that they thought could be useful to them. And this woman made me realize again a truth I had always known. No matter how much structure the criminal element presents, whether it's Dons or Overbosses, families or gangs - they are still criminals that victimize the innocent. Mackenzie Bridgeman was a doctor that agreed to surrender herself and her skills in exchange for nothing, just the promise of criminal not to terrorize her settlement anymore. That settlement no longer exists.
"So I used my 10 MILLIMETER PISTOL to explain to these gangsters that there behavior had consequences. All I had to do was cut through three separate gangs of raiders and the independents that oversaw them until every single gang boss was dead to free those traders. Those traders were free before I even knew whether or not my son was still alive."
The General paused a moment.
"I just want to communicate at the start of all this my...the amount of tolerance I have for gangsters. And their hypocritical, dishonest propaganda that's brought out trying to justify their existence when their inherent evil shows that they ought to be killed to the last. Even if I have to do it myself by pulling a trigger three hundred and forty two separate times in the same day, not counting reloading resets of a magazine after I reloaded."
Now that she had a thorough command of the room's attention, the General favored a Triggerman with her focus. "Excuse me. That story made me a little nostalgic. Could you please see if Charlie has a NUKA-GRAPE in stock?
