Moira Brown poked her button nose out of the gates of Megaton. She saw the Sheriff and his deputies lined up against a wall by robots that had started to get that midday dusting of sand that the wasteland would put on things that did not move. Some marines looked her over and nodded her way out of the city. More marines were maintaining pre-war robots, oiling up power armor frames, and receiving condescending looks from Mark II synths when offering the same treatment to the Institute built machines. Tanks and APCs and even a vertibird or three were parked here
Three foot lockers seem to be set in a triangle in the middle of all this. Moira made her way there. "Howdy there. I was just elected mayor of Megaton. I don't know much about mayor-ing, but I do know everyone in town and their business from my shop.
"Thank you for meeting with us, Your Honor.", the General replied. "Please, sit. Water? NUKA-COLA? VIM?"
"Oh, golly. You don't have to call me by any fancy title. Moira will do just fine.", the woman informed while sitting down. "And VIM is that sodapop from up north in Far Harbor. Ooh boy, I've been wanting to try some but with the trade licensing and all."
The General handed over a bottle. "Well, please - feel free. Now, Moira. For the moment I am going to have to insist on you referring to me as 'General' just as it would be best if you would refer to my Colonel of Marines by her rank as well. That's because at it stands right now, your one single town is a threat to my country of towns and settlements across our many territories. And as you can see, that is something we take very seriously. It's my duty as General to take care of our people. It's Bridget's to take care of threats.
"I hope you don't mind dealing with me."
Moira looked up from her bottle. "Threat. Our little Megaton?"
The General nodded. "It seems your law enforcement has been infiltrated by the mercenary group known as 'the Regulators', assassins for hire. And if I noticed correctly, there seems to be a Chinese nuclear war shell leaking in the middle of the crater. Besides all of that, we have very good intelligence that the most wanted, independent criminal in the Commonwealth has a home in your town."
Moira took another swig. "I suppose all that's true. It's just a wonder how that pushed us past the cannibal town of Andale."
"I'm sorry.", Bridget interrupted. "Did you say town full of cannibals like they're the law and just sit around eating people in the open all day? Or does this set of monsters have some special deal for only dead flesh like the vampires managed to carve out?"
The woman shook her head. "Oh, no. They are died in the wool, eat everyone that passes by, cannibals."
Bridget slapped her hands on her thighs while the General signed. "Could you do us the favor of pointing out where exactly this cannibal town is, Moira?"
The woman swished more VIM around her mouth but tapped the General's PIP-BOY at the map location. The General showed it to Bridget. The Colonel got up. "Alright boys! There's more killing to do."
The General turned back to Moira. "There's more that I'm going to be doing in a bit, so I will be leaving shortly. However, I do take the time to have conversations with towns in the Capitol Wastes. And those talks start off a lot differently than how the one between you and I started. So I would like you to allow me to explain how this normally goes, why it went so far off the rails this time, and what I would like to replace the regular process with. Is that alright with you?"
"You're the one with the artillery.", Moira pointed out.
"And I do apologize for that.", the General said. "This all started with the Brotherhood of Steel invading the Commonwealth for the third time and also reneging on their surrender...again. Part of that surrender was us care taking the territory they held. Lo and behold, it turns out that the Brotherhood of Steel never actually governed anything they just had terf that they took from - food, technology, and not in that order. Once we started realizing that, I took it upon myself to introduce the Commonwealth to the towns. I would point out not only what we could provide in food and water production or safety or trading partners but that inclusion in the Commonwealth also meant the ability to actively partake in its rulership. Introducing our country like that and beginning negotiations with what the town in question needed, whether it was Ark & Dove's need for trading partners or the Pitt's requirement for consumables or even the Nucleus requirement to have a say in our government, the integration of the town was often smooth. Not to say we did not have our share of reluctants like Big Town or rattle shakers like Lincoln Memorial. But we've managed to invite most towns to our union and the vast majority have voluntarily agreed.
"For Megaton, there's two core issues that make our conversation a bit different.
"The easier is that if I can find that you aren't a security risk and we can do something to reinstate trading and travel, I don't think you have too much need for us. You have a water refinery. You seem to have a collection of salable skills that keeps your economy up and running. There's not a lot of farmable land inside your walls, the little I saw of it. Even that bomb you have sitting in the middle of the road: something tells me you'd miss it if I offered to have it removed, even if it was healthier for everyone involved.
"The second is that your town really does come across as a security risk. Like I've pointed out already, the terrorists and mercenaries that make your town theirs."
"Oh, I don't think we have any terrorists.", Moira objected. "I'm certain that if you just talk to her, you'd realize she isn't so bad. She even helped me write my book."
"Book?", the General paused. "Wait - are you Moira Brown? You wrote the Wasteland Survivor Guide?"
"The one and the same.", Moira admitted.
The General sat up straight. "Well, isn't that something. I've tried to collect your entire work and put it on loan in my home settlement of Sanctuary Hills. When I first woke up in this new time, it had invaluable advice for surviving long enough to decide what to do with it."
"'in this new time'", Moira quoted. "You mean that the reports in Publick Occurences about you being frozen from the Great War are true."
"Yes, they are."
"No fibbing?"
"No, ma'am. No fibbing."
"Golly." Moira surmised.
"You've read Ms. Wright's work?", the General continued.
The woman nodded. "Of course. I read everything that comes through here, unless it's someone's private not and they don't want to share it even for a few caps.
"But to think. I'm sitting here with a women from all those centuries ago. When the world was...you know, the world!"
The General smiled. "I'm trying to make this world more like the one I left. And I'd like Megaton to be part of it.
"But because of how we got off on the wrong foot, how about I propose something a bit different. You name a representative - who can be yourself if you want - and I have my people fly you around the Commonwealth. You see our towns in our territory. You see how I'm much more what Piper Wright has to say than Three Dog. After that tour, you sit down with your people and decide what you want from the Commonwealth to be part of the Commonwealth and then I see what we can get you to make it happen."
"In exchange for...?", Moira hesitated.
The General sighed. "In exchange for four people and their things.
"I need Mr. Simms. As a member of the Regulators I can't currently allow him out of custody, nor can I allow either of his apprentices."
The newly elected mayor seemed confused. "Lucas isn't any mercenary."
The General reached out and the marine carrying the folded coat came up. "This is what they use as colors. er, How they tell each other they are Regulators."
"Oh my.", Moira realized. "That's serious, isn't it. I mean, they're heroes that defend people from the worst the wasteland has to offer."
"They kill people without a trial and take their fingers for money.", the General objected.
"Like I said.", Moira tried to agree.
The General rubbed her forehead. "The other of the four is her. I am using my force here to take everything in her house. If I find reason to, I'm taking the house. And with you being mayor, I understand if you have some objections to that."
"I think you're making a big mistake with that.", Moira warned.
"I understand your position.", the General stated. "I understand if my overriding your sovereignty before we've even pretended an arrangement squashes any chance of making a deal. I get that our future relationship may be of my quarantining your town and you staying within the walls for the rest of your lives and we keep outside of your walls forever. But this is going to happen, within a very clear military certainty."
"I know that.", Moira objected. "I'm not stupid. I'm just saying that she's no where as evil as you're making her out to be."
The General glared at Moira. "It took a lot of restraint that I no longer have the political capital for to keep her from being charged with mercenary activity the day I met her. Since then she's alleged to have done everything from interfering with the government's foreign policy to creating propaganda moves to accuse me of nuking my own territory to continuing to consort with the very terrorists that drove us down here to exteriminate. And some of that alleging is by me because I've seen her do it. Her latest stunt of attacking a diplomat who just also happened to be a child due to the circumstances of Little Lamplight is just icing on the cake when it should be the meat of the thing."
"People accuse you of things to.", Moira replied. "Like strong arming people into your Commonwealth."
The General frowned. "I'm ceratinly capable of it most of the time. But that's why I'd like to tour your representative. I can get him or her access to every government facility and I'm certain most towns would gladly take the person on a tour. Except for the Institute and Vault 81, I'm sure I can get them inside anything from Vault 114 to a nuclear submarine. Show them that the promise of the Commonwealth is for real first. Then start negotiating where the other communities were when they met us."
"A nuclear submarine.", Moira's eyes lit up. "oh, wow."
"You don't have to decide on who today.", the General stated. "I'm going to have Mr. Simms introduce me to a few of his friends. How much you see of Mr. Simms afterwards may be directly proportional to how that goes. I'll send someone for you later."