Chapter 34: 3 Marshalls Walk into a Bar

I approached the table cautiously, observing the three sitting at it, as they observed me. Leah was wearing the same amused expression she’d had last time we met, but her look had once again completely changed. She was no longer wearing the tattoos and gear jewelry of the Horde, and was instead in a simple black shirt and jeans with a long brown duster and a simple wide brimmed hat. A blue kerchief was around her neck, covering most of her scar.

At the table with her were two others. One man and one woman. The man was tall, only slightly shorter than me, but twice as broad. His face was covered by something that looked to be a combination of gas-mask and helmet. He was wearing a dark gray shawl that covered the rest of him, but I got the impression that he was wearing some kind of armor beneath it. His hands were gloved and on his back there was a massive hammer. It had some kind of circuitry wired into it, but I couldn’t tell what any of it did just by looking.

The other woman seemed young. She had blonde hair and a brown eye. Where the other should’ve been was instead an eyepatch. She was wearing a red shirt and a baggy cargo jacket along with a baseball cap. She was smiling too, but unlike Leah, hers reached the corner of her eyes. There was a heavy smell of gunpowder wafting off of her, as if she had recently handled some directly. I made a mental note not to light any matches near her. All three of them were openly wearing their marshall badges.

“Welcome Donovan. Wasn’t sure you’d make it.”

“I may not have, but the system didn’t give me a choice.”

The woman in red gave a sympathetic nod. “You too huh? Even when I want to take some jobs, the system still threatens me.”

Leah gestured for me to sit across from her and I did. She then pointed to the woman who’d spoken. “This is Mercy, and that’s Graves. They’re the other Marshalls you’ll be working with.”

Mercy held out her hand, and I shook it. Graves and I exchanged a simple nod.

“So, does the system always force jobs that have anything to do with bunkers or has that just been me?” I asked.

They all exchanged a glance. “Not always just bunkers,” said Leah. “Once or twice it’s been to make a specific arrest. Though I suppose this time it’s a little of both.”

“What are the details? You were vague back in Fette.”

Leah nodded. “You haven’t met him, but the target is V. He’s a Marshall, like the rest of us.”

“You’ve worked with him before?” I asked.

“We all have,” said Mercy.

Graves nodded.

“And what exactly is he doing that warrants all of us going after him?”

“He found a bunker. One a lot like those you’ve encountered before.”

“What’s in this one?”

Leah scratched absently at the scar under her kerchief. “You were a postman before you became a Marshall, right?”

I nodded. I hadn’t told her that before, but I did have my postman class set as the visible one at the moment, so if she had a scanning ability like I did, it was an easy thing to deduce.

“Did you ever wonder where that cart of yours came from?”

“Sure. It just appeared one day. Started following me and helping me carry packages. No clue where it arrived from.”

She nodded. “That’s the idea. The bunkers you’ve encountered have been mostly prototype or experimental ones, but there’s another kind. Production facilities.”

As she spoke I raised a hand to my teeth and started to pick at them.

“There aren’t a lot of them, and they can be set to produce a variety of things. Usually they do so automatically.”

“So, V found one of them?”

“He not only found it. He’s found a way to make it work for him.”

“And what is he using it to produce?”

“Small things so far. Laser rifles, and autoturrets mostly. Though I have confirmed he’s created at least one drone.”

“Drone?”

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“It’s an automated weapons platform. Have you not seen one before?” asked Mercy.

“No, but it sounds like trouble.”

Leah nodded. “It is. Luckily he hasn’t gotten production up to its full capacity yet, and he’s been relying on mercs as bodies.”

“And his plan is to conquer the wastes? Rule them himself? Even with a facility like that, the wastes are a big place.”

Leah nodded. “True, but far as I can tell, that’s what he’s intending. He’s already taken control of three of the closest settlements to the facility. STAR is mounting an attack to take them back, but they’re moving slowly. I want us to cut this off at the head before it can spiral out of control.”

I nodded and started inputting all the details into my investigation window. The system quickly approved it. This was going to be a hard job, I could already tell. I was in unfamiliar territory already, and while I was relatively sure that the other marshalls could hold their own, I wasn’t certain of exactly what the threat was, or how dangerous this V would be.

“What’s the first step?” I asked.

“Getting to his facility. It’s northwest of here, on the border of STAR territory and the Cut.”

“The Cut?” I asked.

She nodded.

The Cut was a massive tear that cut the eastern and western parts of the former US off from one another. It was heavily irradiated, full of horrors, and no one had crossed it in either direction since the bombs fell. That put the facility relatively close to Pott’s field. I doubted V would turn his attention in that direction since it was all one big deadzone, but it was still too close for comfort.

“Okay. After we get there, then what?”

“Scouting, reconnaissance, setting up a small base of operations.”

Graves held up a hand as if he had a question and Leah nodded at him. He spoke in a gravelly voice that sounded like it was filtered through static. “What does he bring to the table?” He asked, gesturing to me.

I considered being offended by the question, but I’d had the same once since I’d sat down. I didn’t know what anyone elses abilities were, or how we’d all work together.

I went to answer, but before I could Leah spoke up. “He’s what you’d call an ‘all rounder’. He’s got a lot of wasteland experience, can fight both up front and in the dark, and has a way with people. First deadman Marshall as far as I know, and the first Marshall to be given authority by the Khan. Not to mention his natural gifts.”

I nodded. It was a fair assessment, but it was a little weird to have it laid out like that, and I was damned curious how she knew what she was saying was accurate. I gestured to Graves and Mercy. “Same question for them. Need to know what they bring to the table.”

Mercy smiled. “Demolitions mainly.”

“How’s that work with being a Marshall?” I asked.

“Well, my previous Job was miner. Learned a lot about dynamite. If anyone in republic territory doesn’t toe the line, they explode.”

The Republic, I’d barely even heard of them. I knew they were a small enclave that existed in the midst of STAR territory, but I knew nothing beyond that.

I looked over at Graves and his hammer. “I’m guessing he’s a front liner type?”

Leah nodded. “You guessed right. Graves once subdued a group of fifty bandits. Walked straight through their front gate. He’s not with any specific group, just puts his hammer to work wherever he sees nails.”

I was impressed. Fifty bandits certainly beat my own record, and if he’d done it without skulduggery then that was doubly impressive. I already had an inkling of what Leah could do. She had the same ridiculously long rifle I’d first seen on her back leaning heavily against the table. Long range was her game, that and infiltration. Not a combination to take lightly. I was feeling a bit more steady about the job. These people were competent at least. That didn’t mean I could trust them, but it was a start.

I still wanted to grill Leah about the system demands and her link to them, as well as how she had all the information she appeared to command, but it seemed like it would be a better idea to do so when I caught her alone. Graves and Mercy looked to have some loyalty to her, and I was the new person on the scene. It was best to wait until I had more control over the situation.

“So. Are we finishing this card game?” asked Mercy with an eager smile. “I really feel like we should at least play this hand.”

Graves placed his cards face down on the table.

Leah followed suit. “We fold.”

Mercy sighed. “Shouldn’t have been so eager about it.”

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