I slept amazingly that night. No amount of words could convey just how deeply restful an experience it was, to the point I felt it worth writing about in my journal. The old leather thing had gone untouched for too long with so much going on, so most of my morning was spent furiously jotting down as much as I could remember while it was still relatively fresh. I was surprised that only a brief six hours had passed since I fell asleep but I was grateful for the extra time it gave me to write shit down. When I finally finished, I was honestly amazed to see seven pages filled front and back when the last hundred something years had been at most a half-page long making the large tome spread a lot farther. There was more change in the last two-ish weeks than there had been in my life in a very, very long time...but for once, I wasn't finding myself hating change like I normally did. Change was hard...especially after the Great War... Once you are robbed of everything you ever knew...you find yourself longing for stability again. The ability to look at the ground you have built up around yourself and feel secure in where you stand is a comfort that is easy to dismiss and overlook when times are good. But...in an ever changing Wasteland where every interaction could be life or death, stability is difficult to come by.

And yet, these changes that were drastically altering the course of my life were not something I feared as I had expected. Gold and Melody had unearthed something inside me I wasn't entirely sure I knew the name for. Of course it was maternal in nature but there was something more to it than that... There was a gut feeling that came with it, something with such power to calm me and anchor me that I slept so soundly that I was beyond the grasp of my nightmares. I wasn't a fool...Terra Firma was a planet imbued with magic to its very core with machinations that were far beyond my ability to understand. There had to be something in the works that had given me this boon. As much as it is easy to blame Fate and Destiny for our actions and the events that happen to us, there is no denying it has some part to play in our lives.

"Mom...?"

In an instant I shut my journal closed around my pen and returned to my cot where Melody lay staring bleary eyed in the gloom of the Atrium. Her pink and black mane was all in a messy tangle but bedhead definitely wasn't a bad look on her. If anything, it was arguably more adorable. Goddesses I could only guess how bad my mane looked...

"Morning darling!" I beamed brightly, trying not to wake a snoring Gold nearby. "How'd you sleep?"

"Mmmff..." She groaned in relief, stretching out and popping some joints in her body. "Fuckin' amazing...how 'bout you, mom?"

"Heh, about the same. Haven't slept that good in too long a time..."

She beamed with a sleepy grin and nuzzled into my hoof as I patted her head replying, "Well yay, I'm glad I made such a difference! I didn't dream at all which...is honestly a really good thing to be honest. Was the best sleep I've ever had probably."

"Well now it's my turn to say I'm glad I made such a difference for you." I chuckled, giving her a peck on the cheek before offering my hoof and inviting her to join me for a well-earned morning bath.

She gladly accepted although insisted I carry her on my back up the stairs and into the bathroom as she was 'too lazy to walk'. She hardly weighed more than my armor so hauling her such a short distance, even for a lazy morning, wasn't much of a sacrifice. Soon the air was warm and alive with steam bubbling from the rapidly filling tub and we found ourselves neck-deep in blissfully hot water. Continuing the trend, we didn't say much as we lay there cuddling lazily in the tub. It was such a relaxing experience feeling her heart beating so close to mine with her light weight lightly clinging to me. I felt...important. Not in the way I was used to experiencing as a Hitmare at the top of her game but...something different, something far more personal and touching. I felt empowered even. It was just such a bizarre experience that I had to consciously take stock of myself more than once just to make sure I wasn't still asleep and merely dreaming...

"Uhh...mom? Hello?"

I hadn't even noticed my eyes slide shut, I was so relaxed. Melody eyed me with a hint of concern but brightened when she saw me waking up. We were still in the tub but moving just a bit let me know immediately that the water had not been hot in quite some time. It was high time we got out or it was going to turn into a cold bath which I dreaded more than I cared to admit. Cold water tended to subconsciously remind me of the cold depths of the ocean which was the last place I ever wanted to be. Even a lukewarm bath can trigger that fear in me which made bathing an inconsistent indulgence as few places had the surviving infrastructure to pump hot water from a heater. With Cogs having finished building this wonderful bathroom, I had a guaranteed hot bath waiting for me anytime I was in the area.

"Damn...didn't even notice I passed out." I replied, slowly lifting her from off of my chest using magic and setting her down near the towels after letting some of the excess water in her coat drip off. "Sorry about that hun, didn't mean to. Just got too damn relaxed I guess!"

"Oh I did too so I'm just as bad as you." She giggled, draping herself in multiple towels and sighing in relief. "It was starting to get really cold in there..."

"Woo boy...you're telling me..." I whined as I slowly got to my hooves on shaky knees, cold water cascading down my back and dripping off my belly fur.

I climbed out after her but barely made it a step in the air-conditioned air before freezing in place and shivering up a storm. I was suffering the consequences of my actions sooner than I wanted and Melody had taken all but two of the towels leaving me with still a considerable amount of wet fur left to mop up. While she tried to offer up some of hers, they were all so damp themselves that it would have been almost counterproductive to try and use them. The only option I could think of was...admittedly a stupid one. But the moment the idea popped into my head, the headache from my teeth chattering was enough of an override command over reason to give it a go. I needed to warm up quick and this sure as hell was an easy method regardless of its questionable nature.

"D-darling...?" I shivered, trying to point to the door leading to the Atrium with a shaking hoof that might as well have had icicles growing from them. "M-m-mind g-getting me t-the I-Infern-no R-Ring...? I-t's o-o-on...m-my pile o-of a-a-armor...s-somewhere."

She nodded and took off out of the bathroom, towels flopping off of her as she went leaving an easy trail to follow that made me laugh even through the icy pain. A few eternities later, she came back with my Chain of Remembrance dancing gracefully in her violet-red magic; the Inferno Ring dangling obviously near the bottom with its brilliantly glowing red-orange Gem. It was a welcome sight for sure and just seeing it was enough to help stele my resolve for just a bit longer.

"Took me a bit, sorry! I didn't wanna fuck with trying to take it off this chain since there's all this other stuff on it so I just brought the whole thing."

I gave a quivering nod in response, grateful that she took the initiative and levitated the Ring onto my horn for me; the chain jangling as the rest of my trophies dropped onto my shoulder and the weight jerking my head slightly. The moment it sat firmly on my enamel, the cold enveloping my head was washed away in a wave of warmth making it much easier to think. Taking my anger and fear of cold water as fuel, I focused that angry energy into channeling the thought of conjuring up a small blaze around my hooves; just enough to heat myself up while using the nullifying effects of the Gem which shielded the wielder from their own fire. Of course, what I intended and what actually happened were never a guaranteed match and I would be the first to admit I wasn't a trained Pyromancer.

"What the fuck?!" Melody gasped, stumbling over herself and her towel dress as the room flashed black and white for a moment leaving me stunned and blinded like a flashbang had just assaulted my eyes.

"I was about to ask the same thing..." I replied, blinking my eyes a bit trying to make sense of what had just happened. "Did you see what happened? I was kinda blinded and I'm not sure if I saw anything."

"I...I don't know. I was staring at you wondering what kind of cool fire spell you were gonna do but...it's like the world was robbed of color for a second. All I saw was black and white fire...like watching an old movie or something."

"I...thought so too..." I admitted, looking at my hooves in disbelief and only then realizing I was completely dry head to tail without a drop of water left on me. "Well...whatever the fuck that was, it seems to have worked at least and nothing melted or exploded so...I think we can call this a confused win?."

"Yeah but...what was it, exactly? You know a lot about this stuff, have you ever seen anything like that before?"

"Heh, you give me way too much credit, Mel. Everything I know is a patchwork mess of deep and intimate, shallow and acknowledged and a whole lot of big ass question marks. Never had much talent for magic back in the day, or really even now, and they didn't even consider me for much more than basic Ring training and a brief introduction to the fundamentals of Gems. Past that, everything else has been little bits learned here and there, mostly from the occasional master in the Dark Market who would impart scraps of knowledge after some bribes and constant pestering."

"Still more than anyone else I know, including me."

"Well definitely but that in no way means I have even a solid clue as to what I'm doing or talking about. I know enough to recognize some things and how to explain their basic mechanics but past that my knowledge is pretty fragmentary."

"Well...do you think you can do it again? Maybe you can show it to one of those teachers and pester them for another answer?"

"I dunno...I'll give it a whirl though. There's a few other things I would like answered from some of those Sages...might as well add another question to the list to make the most of my next trip down there. Alright...stand back a bit, I'm not really sure how the hell I did...well, whatever that was so I'm not sure how to replicate it."

I closed my eyes to concentrate better and tried again to conjure up fire around my hooves, standing right next to the tub in case my inexperience with Pyromancies led to something bigger and less controllable than I wanted. After a few moments I could feel the warm heat radiating off my hooves below me but to our disappointment it was regular orange and yellow fire. A few more attempts brought about the same result leaving us to wonder if we had really witnessed what we did. The white linoleum was warped and blackened from my attempts and I had to force an end to the experiment for the sake of Cogs' hard work on the bathroom. Further experimentation would have to wait however as my stomach gave a hungry roar that echoed slightly in the white tiled room making both of us laugh uncontrollably.

Back in the Atrium, Gold was just beginning to wake up. He yawned and rolled out of his bag in a lazy heap giving a mumbled 'good morning' in our direction as we exited the Stable via the postern gate and made our way out to the workshop. Cogsworth was nowhere to be seen and Chocolate was out cold on his cot in the corner completely dead to the world cuddling an empty bottle of rum. A brief look around found a written note for us pinned to the doorway out to the storefront indicating that he had left early to consult with construction jockeys and negotiate concrete pricing and shipping. He wasn't one to be hustled out of a good price, even with the financial resources available to him, and so I had to content myself with the fact that our first return trip was going to take some time to even get underway. Much as I was rearing to go and get started on all the hard work that needed to be done, I actually welcomed the short respite we were being offered. It had been so chaotic moving from place to place in so short a time with so little down time to enjoy the better sides of civilization, particularly when it was the most intact city left in Equestria with its bustling economy.

"Well...what do we do now?" Melody asked after looking up from the note at me. "I don't wanna leave without him."

"Neither do I." I replied, tossing the note to the side and looking around a bit. "Well...guess we can go get some breakfast in The Pile. There's a couple good places that should be open already that make some mean Radpheasant egg omelets and even serve 'em with the bird meat too if you ask. Not every place here is open to the whole meat thing yet."

She blanched slightly and bit her lip with a nervous laugh. "I dunno if I am myself but hey, you do you."

After going back to put on our armor and check on Gold who had fallen right back asleep, we made our way out into The Pile which was still just starting to pick up steam as the 10am rush was still a couple hours off. Although the danger of another Hitmare taking umbrage with my presence here was well and on my mind, I didn't have any misgivings so far. The Pile was holy ground far as affairs outside the Stirrup were concerned and even Green knew better than to freely fuck with the lifeblood of New Pegasus trade. After Black Velvet got her ass handed to her, it would be outright criminal for the Syndicate to allow one of their own to tamper with holy ground. Velvet was a wild card and she had paid for her trespass as it were. No...this was almost the safest place to be in New Pegasus. With so many hooves invested in this place, the amount of retribution waiting in the wings was enough clout to cow just about anyone be they drug lord, Hitmare or just common dumbass.

After navigating down the relatively empty main walk of the market, we made it to the exclusive VIP grand staircase at the back of the building guarded by its 24-hr quartet of smartly dressed bouncers. Sitting in the center of the base of the stairs was a purpose-built guard booth with similar structural defenses as the Runners' kiosk; the stallion sitting inside cocking an eyebrow as we approached the partly open window. Two more stood shoulder to shoulder on the stairs themselves glaring out unblinkingly from under their black sunglasses while the fourth stood at the top making use of his height advantage to scout for any incoming problems. The Second Floor was a strange thing indeed.

"Just the two of us, headed up to get a bite to eat." I mumbled into the mic, nodding up the stairs.

"Yep, yep." He grunted, pounding the back wall of his booth signaling two of his cronies to move aside so we could ascend. "Enjoy your stay, have fun, all that shit."

The bouncer at the top gave a nod of approval but didn't say anything as I led her around the second floor banister which took up the back half of the building plus a bit of the sides. Plain doors that had once led to endless offices and filing rooms were now elaborate works of wood and metal which led to the highest-end dining experiences in Freeside, a couple exclusive bars, a cheese shop, a damned good Griffin butcher and a small hotel meant for exclusive guests. Of course, all of these were behind a paywall of both currency and respect as nothing comes free in the Wasteland, not the least of which being high class living. I never gained a taste for that kind of entitled lifestyle but I did enjoy the finer quality that came with the extra price of admission. And to be completely honest...if the Gun Runners hadn't managed to repurpose that maintenance room the way they had, they would most assuredly have ended up as a Second Floor exclusive.

It was always a neat experience to look over the vast sea of merchant stalls on the first floor and see the booming local economy in motion from a vantage point. Brahman caravans came in from the large Western doors to be loaded and unloaded along the length of the central artery of the market while all other smaller paths branched off from there. The Las Pegasus Gaming Commission had been absolutely enormous in its prime, more than equal the size of a League hoofball stadium and worth even more. The hustle and bustle of the trading floor was always a sight to see even after all these years and only seemed to improve and strengthen with time as money started getting into more and more ponies' pockets. There was plenty of poverty still to go around in Freeside and beyond but you wouldn't find a stronger market anywhere West of Canterlot. Even the NER with their large swaths of land to the North couldn't claim to have the same amount of free trade happening within their borders although that could be due to their heavy import taxes. The money woes of the Republic never ended nor did their many ways of trying to obtain more capital.

"Wow...it's hard to believe there's this much life in the Wasteland..." Melody commented after a few moments of companionable silence.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhm...I mean, before you came along...I've only been to Dusky Dunes and Old Appleloosa. Was born in Dusky Dunes but...they sold me off when I was about twelve and that shithole was the only place I knew after that. It's just...weird seeing this many ponies out and about just...living life. I like it, don't get me wrong...but it's just weird. Kinda mind blowing how big the world is once you actually get a chance to see it ya know?"

"Ahh...yeah, I can understand that perspective a bit. It was a shock for me too when I first arrived here in New Pegasus about...oh, fifty-something years ago. I had heard NP had a damned good marketplace and was a hive of trade but to actually see it myself...well, it brought back memories of how shit used to be. Kinda...The Pile is a lot different than a grocery store or even flea market but it has a similar energy to them. If anything, the energy here is a lot more enjoyable than those ever could be since there aren't really any laws barring what can and can't be traded anymore. There's still a good number of things that can't be sold here but that's what the Dark Market is for."

She shook her head in disbelief and sighed, "Just...wow...I always thought the world was mostly empty. Just...always assumed Balefire Bombs had wiped out just about everyone and all that were left were Slavers, slaves and buyers. Sure...you heard about other places like Tenpony Tower, New Pegasus or New Appleloosa but...well, when you never get to leave town, they might as well not exist."

I nodded and gave her an encouraging hug, deciding to lighten the mood a bit before a major downward shift happened and nodded towards the door of a nice little joint called The Silver Platter. The interior of the restaurant and lounge was reminiscent of a diner right out of the 2050s mixed with the refined trappings of a cocktail lounge; this meant a healthy mix of neon lighting, red leather booths, wood and chrome fixtures and chipped tile floors. The red-and-white striped uniforms of the workers contrasted nicely with the décor and we were immediately seated in a private booth of our own far in the back of the restaurant where we hoped not to be disturbed. I was by no means a regular at the Silver Platter but mine was a hard face to forget. I was treated with the same level of respect and courtesy as anyone else allowed past the bouncers.

"This place is coooooool!" Melody gasped to herself as she gaped at everything she could get her eyes on. "Can we get lights like those in my new room??"

I chuckled, prepared to tell her no before I caught myself and genuinely wondered why she couldn't. There really was no reason...and some custom neon bulbs wouldn't add much to my final bill, not when compared to the cost of the defensive walls.

"You know what? Fuck it! Have all the neon lighting you want, little lady."

"W-wait, r-really...?"

"Well why the fuck would I stop you? I love neon lighting myself and this is your very own bedroom! Do whatever the fuck you want to, Mel! Well...keep it within reason maybe?"

"I promise!" She squeaked with glee, nodding so furiously the salt and pepper shakers rattled on the table.

"Heh heh, good! It'll be awhile till the place is going to be set up but you'll have plenty of time to come up with what you want to do with your own space. I've already got a few ideas for my own and I'm loving the extra space already."

"Oh yeah? Lemme guess, more space for armor and guns?"

"Heh...yeah, I guess I am a pretty easy mare to read aren't I? You hit it right on the head. I wanna expand my collection more and actually have a full wall dedicated for smithing. Got a bunch of tools and schematics I've never had room for just sitting around in boxes and folders waiting to be loved on like they deserve..."

"Well don't worry, I'm sure you'll get your wish too! You are the richest mare I've ever seen..."

"Heh...compared to someone like House? I'm just a promising up and comer. But...thanks, heh. I mean...even with all the caps I've got, I'm probably gonna need to seek out extra income in order to ensure we can afford everything. Labor is cheap but skilled labor like the kind we need is far from it. Not to mention the concrete, steel, glass and all the other building materials that have to be salvaged and repurposed which costs extra for all the work that goes into making them usable. Then there's the furniture question and setting up defenses...this is going to be the single biggest purchase of my entire fucking life. Bar none whatsoever."

"You think you've got enough for it all...?" She asked, looking at me hesitantly.

"Not sure to be honest...I've got way more money than I need but I've never done anything anywhere close to as large scale and multifaceted as this before. Hell...the more I think about it, the more I'm beginning to wonder the same thing. Can I afford all that shit?"

"Then it would appear that you indeed require our services. How fortunate."

I turned with an annoyed expression cocked and loaded on my face only for it to vanish in a flash the moment I recognized the faceless black mask of a Shadow Broker. They all wore the same uniform, a nondescript black hooded robe reminiscent of a friar with a domed mask that reminded me of the helmets worn by Zebra stealth operatives minus the bright orange visor. Every Broker was nameless and never gave warning when they would appear to offer you a Contract but it was a high honor amongst the Syndicate to be personally met by one. Bounties could be taken from any bar in the region with a Board on the wall. Contracts were only offered to those the Brokers deemed worthy of their illusive inner circle of clients and extra freedoms. While my name was amongst the list of those condemned to death, it was not impossible for them to extend a special Contract even while being a wanted mare. Long as I still breathed, I was available for hire. End of story.

"Um...what brings the Syndicate to my breakfast?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could, scooting closer to Melody just in case shots went off for some reason. Better my Celestium bulwark than her steel reinforced Kevyarn.

"Me, bitch. If ya got a problem with that then I don't really care to fuckin' hear it."

I looked behind the Broker who proceeded to sit down silently across from us and saw the crazed lavender eyes of Killer Queen, a pink Tenpony psycho who fancied herself as some sort of Post-War nobility of her own design. Something was definitely off about her...even more than usual for the Cannibal of the West. Her dress was muddied, torn off at the left shoulder leaving only a scrap of the sleeve strapped down under her bracer while the pauldron was entirely missing. Massive bruising around the shoulder joint as well as bruised impressions of armor straps...must have been blown the fuck off by something big. Of course, the most telling factor was the massive stained bandage wrapped around her head and a...where the fuck did her horn go??

"Um...Kay-Q...the fuck are you doing here?" I asked, looking between the still and silent Broker and the twitching psycho bitch standing to my left.

She opened her mouth to speak but suddenly she clutched her head with a loud grunt of pain, a shower of furious golden-yellow sparks erupting from her bandaged horn stump and fizzling on the floor with a loud, angry hiss. I had heard horror stories of what breaking your horn could do to a Unicorn but this was my first time actually seeing it in person. The stronger a magician you are, the more arcane energy is produced by the body but without a horn to channel or contain it, the results can be highly destructive. Add on ambient Rads from the Great War and you had the recipe for a Psycher, a Feral Ghoul in mind but with command over wickedly strong and unpredictable magical attacks. She was already considered to be off the deep end by just about anyone who knew her so...I could only guess what she would become in a few weeks or months. The episode lasted a few seconds but when she stood back up the look in her eyes had grown even more wild.

"You wanna know why I'm fuckin' here, do ya?" She asked, her eye twitching as the Broker bid her to take a seat beside him in his nearly monotone voice. "Oh I'll fuckin' tell ya! I'm sure you've noticed my huge fucking problem already?"

"Uh...well, yes but..."

"That fucking GODDAMN FUCKING BIRD TORE MY HO-"

"Silence!"

The Broker was now staring directly at her with a firm hoof on her shoulder and an icy tone in his voice. Somehow, she found it in herself to shut the fuck up and let an actual adult explain just what in the hell was going on here. All the while, Melody cowered into my side trying to be as invisible as possible to the situation. And really, who could blame her? It was a hell of a crash course on the upper echelons of the Westcoast's killing game that just so happened to involve Killer Queen.

"What's going on here...?" I asked the faceless stallion candidly, completely averting my eyes from Queen who sat there twitching like a frenzied junkie. "No bullshit, just plain facts."

"It is simple, Miss Crete." He replied, keeping a hoof on her shoulder while turning to look at me with his quasi-monotone once more in use. "We are aware of the Contract requested by one Mr. Green Peace for your immediate termination, however, we also are well aware of your value to our organization and the significant loss it would be to our...vested interests. Ordinarily we would not interfere with a Contract, even upon one of our own, but circumstances are such that the Collective has been forced to deliberate on the matter regarding you. Despite prior approval, it was felt it would be in everyone's best interest if we were to seek out the potential of...another avenue of thought suitable to the collective need that is at stake."

I looked between them still lost as to what was going on. Brokers always had a way with beating around the bush...

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning that we are here to offer you a simple and beneficial exchange. Miss Queen has been so gracious as to offer up her status of Hitmare as collateral for your Contract in exchange for taking up one of her own that she has been unsuccessful in obtaining. Money will be paid, at least one party satisfied with a debt of blood and you remain a respected member of this organization. Mr. Green will naturally take much umbrage with this course of action, however...when collective stock of the relative value of our assets, your continued survival is of higher importance than the ire of one such as he. As such, upon the completion of your portion of this deal you will have be granted full amnesty and be free to return back to your normal operations within our organization."

"Wait...what now...?"

"Didn't you hear the fucker?!" Queen snapped, earning a punch to the jaw from the Broker that sent her flopping out of the booth and onto the floor with a meaty slap.

"Speak again out of turn and I will not be so forgiving, Miss Queen... To reiterate, the Syndicate is willing to absolve you of Mr. Green's Contract for your head in exchange for Miss Queen's retirement and subsequent payment of the Contract out of her own pocket. However, in exchange for this brevity she has stipulated that you must be the one to finish a Contract of her own which she had been recently pursuing but has encountered some...complications. Complications that has lead to her becoming the collateral for this deal we are now offering you. She has already forfeited the payment for completion and it would seem that you are in need of it. In addition, you will be absolved of any of the attempts on your life as a result of this...unfortunate lapse in the Collective's judgement. This is not a deal we will be offering again so I encourage you to make your decision with the appropriate contemplation."

"Do I at least get to know who the Contract is out for?"

"Nope! Take it or leave it, Crete!"

The Broker visibly bristled and rose to approach her still on the floor but I raised a hoof and replied, "Alright, alright...brought enough attention to ourselves as it is. I hereby accept your terms. Probably a dumb idea but fuck it...made plenty of those in the last few weeks anyway so why not one more?"

He gave a short nod in my direction before leaving the booth, standing by the crumpled heap of a mare that was Queen and stomping his left foreleg on the ground which glowed with an ominous dark violet aura. Around them an ethereal disc of black formed with burning purple runes lining its circumference and within a moment they had vanished like fog in the morning sun leaving by no evidence they had even been there. If it weren't for the shaking filly beside me and the haunting laughter of Queen still echoing in my head...it would have been easy to chalk up the whole experience as a wild fucking fever dream. Still was tempting despite it all.

"A-are they gone...?" She squeaked fearfully, peeking from around my leg at the empty table before relaxing somewhat.

"Mhm...I'm sorry they scared you, sweetie. Trust me...I wasn't expecting to see either one of them today..."

"It's...it's ok. Just...holy shit was she scary..."

"Who, Kay-Q? Yeah...Red Velvet is a side show compared to her...thankfully she wasn't here to try and carve a chunk of our asses off for a fresh roast. She'd fuckin do it too if you stand around her for too long...found that out first time we had the misfortune of meeting..."

"W-what sort of Contract was she leaving you with...?"

I looked back at the table where the Broker had been sitting and watched as an envelope sealed in red wax with the Vigilant Eye of the Syndicate appear from the same Dark teleportation spell he had used earlier. I hesitated as I picked it up and examined it. Even though I had verbally agreed to the terms, I would not be bound to them until I officially broke the Seal. The moment I did my name would take hers on the Boards attached to whoever the fuck it was she had been hunting and I had to wonder...who had she gone after that had torn off her horn and scared her so much she was willing to relinquish her title and the Contract alike. Losing her horn was sound enough reason to retire given she relied exclusively on it and couldn't hit the broadside of a barn without it but...something was missing. We were not close by any stretch of the imagination...if anything we had only met perhaps a half-dozen times before and none of those occasions were long or pleasant. Despite her many issues, she was damned good at her job and had earned her title as Hitmare legitimately by being able to punch well above her weight class and bag some of toughest bitches out there. The only logical explanation was she had come against someone who was more than her match sending her scampering back for help. My help...which I had agreed to lend. Well...still, it was a deal that was far too good to pass up. To officially have my name cleared from the Boards would mean I could walk about with much more freedom once again, something that would be handy when it came time to transport shit through town and up North.

With a deep sigh to stele myself against the intimidating mystery box, I pressed a hoof deliberately into the wax seal and muttered, "Blood by the ton, thy will be done." causing it to pop open in my hooves of its own accord. The Syndicate sure loved its aesthetics.

"So...who's she wanting you to kill?" Melody asked again, peering over my shoulder at the dossier for my target which was amongst the largest I had ever held; over twenty pages scrawled to the max with information to sort through.

"Well..." I replied, shuffling between the sheets of thick parchment-like paper and sighing. "Looks like I'm off on a glorified bird hunt."

Cogsworth had been relentlessly busy while I had been asleep and away. By the time we had finished a delicious breakfast which had wiped away most of the anxiety and returned to Cogs store, the first band of Mr. Helpers were already being assembled. I had sent Melody on ahead to make a quick detour back to the Gun Runners to pick up my large burlap sack full of freshly stamped .308 en-bloc clips. Running back to her, I caught up just as she was crossing the skywalk all by herself and we entered together. Numbers 31 through 63 were readying large carts and stretchers with tools, pyramids of bags of concrete, lodgepole length rods of rebar and countless other building supplies. There was no sight of any construction jockeys but it wasn't a huge concern just yet. The place needed to be cleaned out and with all the corpses and Raider shit, it was a job much better suited to non-squeamish robots than a bunch of guys trying to make an honest cap. Cogs himself was found in his workshop having a lengthy discussion with Chocolate who sat back against a stool nodding periodically.

"Now do keep in remembrance that a Mr. Holes will be arriving within the next seventy-two hours to receive his order, as with all previous orders you may encounter merely ask-."

"Mhmmm." Chocolate purred back with a blown kiss. "Don't you worry honey, I know what to do. Ask one of ya chrome boys what to do and let them handle it from there. I'll be fine!"

"Damn, trusting her to hold down the fort already, Cogs?"

He turned to face me with a look of relief and replied, "Ahhh, Athena. Miss Chocolate seems to be willing to act as a temporary caretaker for mine shop whilst I am away setting the bots to work. Now, there are some things I would like to discuss with you prior to my departure North."

"That makes two of us, Cogs." I sighed, nodding towards a more private corner of the workspace leaving Melody to chat with Chocolate which was more than likely what had happened with Killer Queen. "Look...there's been a...strange change of plans. Of sorts."

"Proceed?"

"Well...me and Mel went to the Silver Platter to get some grub before we started anything major and...well, a Shadow Broker approached us. Well, me specifically."

His eyebrow twitched in curiosity.

"He came to me with a deal, one being leveraged by Killer Queen if you remember her at all. Anywho, the point is...she offered to annul the price on my head from Green in exchange for her retirement and some other shit but the problem is...in exchange, she demanded I take up a Contract she had been pursuing but has apparently failed to execute."

"This is...fortunate if rather bizarre..." He responded after a minute of silent contemplation. "To what end is this Contract?"

"Well, I haven't had a ton of time to look over the dossier they gave me but it's a job from the Order of the Steel Rangers themselves of all ponies."

"That is unusual in and of itself..."

"That's what I was thinking too. From the bit I was able to read before breakfast, it looks like they want one of their own brought in. Something about high treason or whatever, regardless I'm going to be headed South hunting a Griffin. Supposed to be this big, mean bastard in Power Armor so Celestia only knows where he found one of those big enough to fit in."

"Well, with the anti-armor capacity you posses I do not doubt he will be easy prey thanks in no small part to the tungsten penetrating darts I have supplied you with."

"Heh, totally would be a cakewalk but that's the problem...they need him alive and untouched as possible. Why? Hell if I know, probably so they can beat the shit outta him or whatever the fuck they wanna do with him. Doesn't really matter, point is...I gotta do a Bag-n-Tag and that means this is going to be dangerous; too dangerous for Melody and Gold to accompany me. If my only task was to blow him to bits from two-miles down then I'd totally take them with me since it would be a safe job but since I have to get really up close and personal with this guy...well..."

"I understand wholly, Athena. Fret not, I shall watch over thy adopted ones and will personally ensure their safety. Is it permissible to allow them to accompany me to the building which you have indicated?"

"I don't see why not. Want the extra hooves?"

"Indeed so. As well as additional assistance in coordinating so many Mr. Helper units. If the mess is as you described then we have an uphill climb against us and I will be needing to be in many places at once."

"You still sure you wanna do this?"

He glanced over at the two girls busily chatting up a storm down the way and nodded enthusiastically.

"Absolutely! It has been too long since I was last permitted the chance to embark on a construction project of anything near this scale and it is a task I take much enjoyment out of! The last true challenge I faced was several years hence when the Gun Runners requested the construction of their fortified kiosk and elevator system. Truly one of my finest works..."

"You are a total fucking nerd, you know that right?"

"But of course!" He grinned, stroking his goatee with pride. "What is life bereft of passion? Tis truly would be a wasted existence were it so."

"Hey, more power to you." I replied, patting him on the shoulder and returning with him back to Melody's side.

"Heya, Melody? Forgot to tell ya but I got you and Gold a present last night! Why don't you go find him and meet me in the Stable so we can have a nice memory together before we have to split up for a bit."

Her smile dampened somewhat at being reminded about my departure but she kept up a brave face and nodded excitedly all the same, scampering off to find Gold. It didn't take long to dig out the ammunition, suppressor, speedloaders and clips and before Cogs had a chance to disappear again I made sure to give him an advance payment of roughly 600,000. The price being offered for the Contract was almost half that alone which, despite the unsavory reputation of the client, was too good an offer to pass up. Even with all the discounts Cogs was willing to pass in my favor, he still needed to make a profit at the end of the day and I wasn't going to haggle with him. Three-hundred thousand for a rouge Griffin Ranger? That was going to make me feel a lot more comfortable with paying all this shit off.

Once I was satisfied Cogs was up-to-date with all the shit going on and accepted the large up-front payment, I went back to the Stable with my gifts floating behind my back as hidden as I could make them. Melody and Gold were excitedly waiting, sitting on his cot and exploding with smiles and excitement as I approached. It was nice to see Gold actually finally woke up and hadn't become a vegetable as I was starting to suspect.

"What'd you get us??" Melody squeaked excitedly, bouncing softly in place.

"Y-yes, please! Tell us!"

"Heh, it's nothing big or fancy you dorks." I laughed, giving them both a kiss on the head. "But they should help you guys with your weapons which is pretty nifty I'd say. Trust me, the big and expensive present is that giant fucking apartment I'm paying to remodel."

With nothing left to say, I pulled their gifts from behind my back and deposited them in each of their laps. Gold immediately went quasi-berserk over the sight of loaded speedloaders and scrambled for his revolver to immediately begin practicing. Melody on the other hoof looked over the large dimpled steel cylinder with confusion and took a second to realize what she was holding.

"Is this...one of those silencer thingies?"

"Suppressor..." I sighed in response but smiled and nodded to her rifle leaning up against the wall near her cot. "Lemme show ya how it works."

Rifle in hoof, I happily showed her how to affix it over the flash hider of her M1 rifle and seal it over the barrel using the Runner's handy universal locking mechanism. All the while, I explained the basics of how a firearm worked and how a suppressor could dampen the noise of ballistic detonation in as simple terms as I could without coming off as patronizing. She listened intently and seemed delighted with the simple puzzle of loading up her new en-bloc clips and admiring the way the .308 rounds stacked atop each other. Of course...all this was overshadowed when I showed her the infamous M1 'ping'. As she had only fired three rounds so far in her time with the rifle, she had yet to experience the auditory-orgasm that came from an empty en-bloc proudly announcing you were empty and needed to stuff another one into the gun. Within a few minutes she was proudly showing off her new toy to Gold who likewise showed off his attempts at quickly reloading his revolver. Before I knew it the floor around them was littered with scattered and rolling live rounds but I wasn't about to stop them. They had both taken to my gun safety lessons on the road very seriously and even with their youthful enthusiasm, neither of them put a hoof anywhere near the trigger and kept their barrels pointed in safe directions. It was magical to watch them get along so naturally and even more so when their mutual interest crossed paths heavily with my own.

One of my greatest fears about motherhood had always been that I would have nothing in common with my kid or, even worse, our values and personalities clashed. It was hard enough already for me to get along with anyone under the age of twenty thanks to the ungodly ego and bravado anyone younger than that usually had which made them unbearable to be around. Full of themselves and thinking that just because they can plink SparkleCola bottles with their daddy's rifle and drive off minor predators from their homes that all of a sudden they are ready for a life as a drifter or 'explorer'. As a Hitmare, you came to expect to be hounded by wannabe Mercs and Bounty Hunters looking for the inside scoop on how to rise in the ranks with no idea of the work that went into it. In some ways...I was glad for the apocalypse as the concept of survival of the fittest was a daily fact of life which weeded out the stupid, the arrogant and the weak in general. Of course, it also rewarded the strong who tended to be less than peaceful in their intentions towards others. It didn't take much for strength to overcome adversity to become the strength to dominate others and enrich yourself at their expense by virtue of your power over them. It's how Raiders, Slavers, and even the Syndicate itself came about to begin with. The will to dominate others down to their very lives was a vice granted great freedom in an age where the rule of law only went as far as the amount of people willing and able to enforce one.

"Looks like you two love your gifts so that makes me feel infinitely better!" I laughed, giving each of them a big hug before turning serious. "Alright, so...I'm sure that Melody has already told ya but I have to leave you guys for a bit."

"But...w-why?" Gold asked in a fearful tone. "Did we do something...?"

"No! No, no, no...I got an offer I couldn't refuse from the Syndicate which should help clear my name and ensure a fat purse of caps to help pay for the remodeling. I know you'll ask where I'm going so I'll just tell ya. I'm headed South looking for some giant Griffin named Garand. If the job was just to blow a hole in him and bring back a trophy for payment I wouldn't have any issue taking you guys with me but the client asked me to bring him in alive which is just too dangerous for the two of you to be there for it. Ain't something I want you guys getting anywhere close to so I'll be leaving you two with Cogs for a bit. He said he'd be happy to take you guys along with him back to the apartment to help out with the cleaning and such so please don't be a burden on him. If you're confused about what he's asking you to do, just ask him. Better bogged down with honest questions than spending time fixing mistakes. Don't worry...I shouldn't be more than a week, two at absolute most if he's gone way South and I have to look for him for awhile. Can't be any worse than anything else I've ever done."

They clung to me and only let go with great reluctance when I had to push them off as lovingly as I could. It hurt to leave them with so much left undone but...I had little choice. The chance ahead of me would be beneficial to every last one of us and I would be an absolute idiot to not take the opportunity while I had it.

"Be safe you two...watch out for each other like you guys have been and you'll be just fine. With Cogs and all those bots on hoof, you couldn't be in safer hooves."

"We promise!" Melody beamed with her best brave face as I left them at the front doors of the workshop, the memory of her wonderful face searing itself into my mind for later.

The Pile gave way to Freeside which gave way to the desert plains of the San-Palomino without much notice. This was a morning stroll far as my body was concerned and my mind was too distracted with visualizing the new accommodations to pay much attention to where my hooves were going, lead on by autopilot. By the time I reached The Crater, I finally came back to reality and decided to edge around the massive bowl in the ground thanks to the red ticks on my E.F.S. To pass the time, I decided to put on the audio transcript of the dossier which I had scanned into my PipBuck to save me one time spent sitting and reading. The semi-robotic voice reading everything back to me was akin to scraping hooves on a chalkboard and the cadence was off-putting but it saved time nonetheless at the cost of mild-to-intense annoyance.

'Target Name: Garand Klaus Enfield.

Age: Unknown.

Sex: Male.

Height: Approximately 7ft

Distinguishing Features: Wears patchworked Steel Ranger Powered Armor, majority of distinguishing markings of the Order removed or missing. Helmet sports a white decal and the subject prefers to wear a Kevyarn traveling cloak over his armor. Possesses a FillyArms Dragoon but is known to be well accustomed with heavy ordinance. Not known to fly, possible wing injury and reports indicate a gifted close-quarters combatant. Client requests target be acquired with as little physical harm done as possible and will only pay half the stated price in the event of target termination upon proof of kill.'

The voice continued to go on and on, reading every word in a monotone that was even worse than the Shadow Broker. The twenty or so pages that had been in the dossier was rather skimpy on any personal details like why the SR marked him a traitor and wanted him so badly. Instead, they listed an extensive list of sightings going back as far as three-months. Needless to say...I was amazed at how much ground the guy was able to cover with sightings near Maretropolis and one at the Gap only spaced four days apart; a journey of that length would have taken me eight days easy. The most recent reports were naturally of particular interest. A week and a half ago first spotted entering Freeside from the East only to quickly leave the morning after arriving. Five days ago seen in The Pile purchasing ordinance from the Gun Runners...five days ago...that was my fight with Black Velvet! The bastard had been so fucking close and I didn't even know it...

'July 19th, 2279: Target spotted traveling in the company of operative Firefly in an unknown capacity. Informants indicated the two made contact with the Military Police at the Westside Gate into the New Equestrian Republic Embassy and delivered an NER Bounty. No record of such a Bounty exists within our records. Conclusion: Externally sourced via the NER directly. No indication of foul play or detrimental collusion with operative Firefly. Deemed non-hostile.'

Firefly huh? What was a Gung-ho Gun doing with an Tin Head on the run from the Order? He had complimented my shooting once during the last Freeside Hot-Shot event held annually as a way for Syndicate members, Merc Companies and aspiring sharpshooters to compete in target shooting. Didn't know a whole lot about him aside from two very obvious things. One, he was former NER 1st Recon who had earned Deadeye status and two, he was the only living Changeling I had ever met in my life. It had been odd to meet a bug pony, even after all the species I had run into at one point or another, but what really set him apart was the fact he was not only a Ghoul but one of the rare Glowing Ones who had absorbed so much arcane radiation that they glowed from within with all the raw energy flowing through their veins. Still...I had to wonder what had gotten him and this Griffin together. That...as well as whether or not he should be considered a secondary target worthy of concern.

'July 20th, 2279: Contact made with target by operative Killer Queen in the abandoned mining town of Glittering Caves, known living area of operative Firefly. Attempt to fulfill Contract was repelled and operative returned to New Pegasus in order to transfer Contract ownership to the possession of operative Crete. Target believed to be continuing South/Southeast for an unknown destination and should be considered heavily armed and dangerous. End of Log.'

Glittering Caves...well fuck, that little speck of crumbling buildings was barely an hour's trot Southeast. With what was left of Camp Macintosh behind me, it was a straight path across the rolling sandy dirt hills towards the cluster of large hills that marked the location of the mining town. It had rained only a few days ago...I could tell from the massive erosion patterns carved into the hills and by the caking mud forming endless cracked flakes like a massive case of terrestrial dandruff. There were only one set of visible prints in the dried mud coming from the direction I was headed in and I could only assume they belonged to a bitter and defeated Killer Queen.

Within an hour I had arrived on the outskirts of the desert ghost town. Nothing but a couple dozen crumbling wooden buildings assembled along a main road which led through town and up to the hills where the mine was located. Had never been a huge tourist spot during the War and not much had changed on that front in over two-hundred years. E.F.S was clear of anything living no matter which way I turned but I still checked each building diligently just in case. Everywhere you looked were the scattered remnants of the town's history; minecarts scattered about off their rails and rusting, old ore chute towers tittering on the brink of collapse and countless other examples of the heavy industry that used to take place here. I found it rather lonely...

Delving into the mineshaft itself, I turned on my infrared vision in order to navigate the perfect darkness that would have probably been easy to navigate for a Changeling if anything I had heard about their species was to be believed. While there were many branching paths to choose from and get lost in, the amount of hoof traffic on the main tunnel led me straight into the heart of the mine. It was a large, spacious cave littered with stalactites and stalagmites galore which were lightly touched with crystal growth and refracted a bright light light that pulsed softly from the opposite end of the cavern. The light was so bright in fact that I found that I could switch off all optics and see well enough normally in the blue-white ambiance of the rather cozy cave.

Rounding the central columns of stone which turned the cave into a sort of donut shape, I was amazed to see it. Before me, towering over six feet tall and jagged with random growth patterns, was a Nexus Crystal; easily the largest I had ever seen in person. The light radiating from it pulsed internally in a slow and calming way, almost reminiscent of a beating heart as the pure, raw arcane energy within it constantly fought with itself for equilibrium. At nearly three-feet thick, the column was beyond any sort of purchasing power possible by mortal beings in this day and age. Granted, only the Steel Rangers had the technology and proficiency needed to harness this bad boy but the amount of Crystalline Fusion Cores, SparkBatteries and SparkPacks that could be refueled and refurbished from the material available was enough to supply a small army. Well...small by Pre-War standards but gigantic by today's standard. And yet...I hadn't even heard a scrap of gossip or rumor about the existence of a Nexus Crystal of any sort, large or small. These things didn't grow on trees to begin with and one could only wonder how it had withstood the test of time. Of course...being a Glowing One, having such a lightning rod of unparalleled arcane energy would have probably ensued a hell of a boost to Firefly's physical and magical prowess acting like a supercharged battery plugged right into his body.

It took more effort than I would have liked to pull myself away from the enchanting swirling patterns of light coming from within the Crystal to look around at the rest of the cave for clues. If Firefly turned out to be a problem then I had no issue taking him out of the picture and telling Cogsworth about the Crystal so he could come and snatch it up before anypony else could. To the right of the crystal were the remains of a campfire and the simple personal effects of the Ghoul, namely a simple cot within a tent shoved into a crevice in the stone wall, a cabinet of weapons, a trash bin full of empty things of Cram and SparkleCola and a few storage boxes full of more Cram, Cola and an ungodly amount of whiskey. A quick search of his belongings lent me no easy clues and I spent a good half hour scouring the cave for any sign of where to go next. South/Southeast was a start but with over a half dozen settlements and a lot of open terrain in that direction...it really wasn't all that helpful in the end. Might as well just point in that direction and say, 'They went thata-way!'

A break finally came when I came back around to the base of the Nexus Crystal as part of my close inspection. On the ground, facing away from the rest of the cave, a rough pictogram map had been carved into the dirt by what could only have been a talon. It took a few minutes of viewing it from a multitude of angles before it finally clicked that it was an overhead view of the Badlands indicative by the hourglass shaped valley in the middle of the Ember Mountains which separated the long-defunct Kingdom of Shifting Sands from Equestria. With a point of reference to work with, I scrolled over my map of the region on my PipBuck until I was roughly in the same area as had been drawn out before I started trying to piece together what was going on. There was little to work with being a rough map with no clear instructions on how it should be interpreted but it was my best lead so I had to bite my tongue and work with what I had.

It didn't take long to notice there were a lot of marks on the Eastern side of the Ember Mountains roughly fifty miles East-Southeast of Old Appleloosa. Amidst the towering peaks of that portion of the mountain range was a massive X marking...something. To its left near the mouth of the valley that formed the Badlands lay what remained of the Southern Front Encampment. It was veritable suicide to try and pilfer anything from the Encampment with the Badland Ghouls so close and anything further South was firmly in their horrifyingly mutated hooves. I wracked my brain for even the faintest memory of the existence of anything military related being in those mountains but came away with nothing. The only thing I could think of was one of the old mining complexes that had been mined dry of illusive Inferno Gems long before the Southern Front became what it was known for. But...as to what in the hell they wanted with another old mine was anypony's guess. I mean...Firefly already lived in a fucking mine so maybe after Killer Queen showed up he decided to move house just to evade more unwelcome houseguests.

As for the rest of the map, a lot of emphasis was placed on the Gap of Canterlot, the old gap between the Canterlot and Ember Mountains which had stood as the hard border between the East and the West. It had been in NER hooves for decades and stood as a bulwark against Steel Ranger ambitions for expansion. Firefly's contributions to the detail of this particular area were clear to see as the locations of every major and minor NER fortification and outpost were where they were on the modern day map of the area. If they were fleeing East, it would make sense for these locations to be marked in order to plan a route between them to slip between patrols but...they weren't headed East it seemed. All arrows pointed towards this one inexplicable X-marks-the-spot in the Ember Mountains with the only outliers coming from the East, marked only with a circle with a vertical line through it headed straight for the lowest section of the Gap. Was this representing some sort of caravan or something? No...the amount of lines and how angrily they had been carved into the dirt indicated otherwise...there were strong feelings when these marks were made. With how much the SR wanted him, it would make sense for his anger to be directed towards them...so did this mean that there was a sizable Ranger hitsquad sent out to find him themselves? It was far from a solid theory but it made more sense than anything else I could think of. The only other thing I could extrapolate from the whole mess was the sense that all arrows were headed for the same place: the mystery mark in the mountains.

After a couple more rounds of searching the cave, taking care not to disturb too much of Firefly's belongings, I felt it was time to take off before the trail got any colder. There were the side caves I had passed earlier but exploring them would only waste valuable time and even if I found something, there was no guarantee that it would be valuable intel rather than more food or weapons caches. Despite Firefly being seen accompanying my target, that did not automatically make him a target as well so I felt it best to leave an honest Bounty Hunter's shit alone. The report mentioned the joint delivery of an NER bounty which clearly indicated they were working together and the clawed out map in his cave implied that they had at least some level of trust between them in order to coordinate something together. There were a lot of questions I wish I had answers to...

The town outside was as abandoned as before without a single Soul in sight. The afternoon sun was starting to lag towards evening prompting me to start again on my way towards the custom map marker I had punched into my PipBuck. On the way back down the main street, I happened upon the signs of a scuffle that I had missed during my checks of the houses rather than of the street itself. I paused for a few minutes just to check it out and found a few spent .338 Luna Magnus shells half buried in the dried mud surrounding the marred earth lightly stained a reddish orange from what might have been blood from Queen's broken horn. A quick look in the immediate vicinity found a spent .50 Big Mac in one nondescript alley while on the opposite side of the street I found the left pauldron of an M-CAP Model-4 with straps torn at the rivets and deep, ugly gash burrowed right along the side of the shoulder. It painted a rather vivid picture of what must have happened when she went hoof-to-talon against this Garand character. The fact she survived at all was surprising...this Griffin wanted her to act as a message for anyone else looking for the price on his head. He had spirit, I had to give him that.

There was a bastard of a similar name wayyyyy back in the day but...common, the Great War wiped the world clean of everyone I knew and I knew better than to get any sort of expectations up. It never lead anyway before now, it sure as fuck wasn't going to this time and it was a waste of time to even consider it. For all I knew it was some Post-War Griffin fucker who saw the name in a weapon catalogue for the M1 battle rifle and thought it was a hip nickname. I mean I'd come across names like, 'Cloudsdale Typewriter', 'Mah-Duce' and 'Filly Six-Shooter' before so Mercs and shit naming themselves after popular weapons was just part of the gig out here. Who knows, maybe he was just using it as a pseudonym to try and throw off some of the heat on his ass. Although...the long ass dossier tracking his movements said otherwise...

"Jeez...no wonder your shoulder looked like hell, Q..." I mumbled to myself as I whistled at how close she had come to losing her entire leg as well as her horn. "Note to self, Firefly owns a .50...wonderful."

My curiosity satiated, I finally began actually making my way towards the Southeast, following behind the faint but noticeable prints of a heavy ass Griffin in Power Armor. I had to thank him for making himself easy to track just by walking around once I caught up to the two of them. If anything, a great side bonus was giving my eyes something to focus on mile after mile as the Southern San-Palomino was not much to look at. All around was more of the same. Sand dunes, dirt mounds, sage brush and cacti. Occasionally there would be the odd Yucca tree or wild horsenettle patch to break up the monotony but until the Ember Mountains actually appeared through the hot haze, there was little visual stimulation for me to give my ADD something to do. Without much prompting, I set my helmet to sound an alert if it detected any red on the horizon and slipped into deep thought to pass the time.

I could see it now...all tall and cleaned up, looking and feeling the part of a proper home. The bedrooms up there seemed to be rather big compared to the lower floors which was a welcome relief as I had always wanted a master bedroom-sized room to myself. It would never surpass the beauty of mom's old bedroom but at least I had a chance to try and have something like that for myself. I wanted a bed, a real bed, for once. As comfy and efficient as my old army cot was, I felt I was entitled to something better and definitely bigger. Mom had the right idea getting a king-size to herself...would definitely make cuddling Melody a lot easier and Gold would also have room too. On the thought of Gold, I was curious what he might have planned for his space. Despite feeling rather close to him, he was still kind of an enigma to me with the only concrete things I knew about him being his obsession with the Desert Rangers, his talent for picking locks and how much at home he seemed to feel around me. Without much to go on, I could only guess there was going to be a lot of DR shit on his walls and I would be having some long talks trying to get to know them better.

Back to me, I would probably have some DR shit of my own. With some of the nick-knacks taken from the Colonel's office, I had some decent memorabilia to put on display like some of his award ribbons and medals, a couple old flags and his old dress uniform that was just begging for its own glass display box. Of course...there were also all the schematics and smithing gear that needed to have a spot too. It was a large bedroom but it definitely wasn't gigantic...keep it simple just like you told Melody, right? Oh dear...what was she gonna do with her own space...? I didn't even think she knew what the hell she wanted to do yet. Poor girl was going through a million ideas an hour it seemed like...

The path kept going on and on in an unbroken line straight towards Paletree...more or less a straight line towards that enigmatic marker in the Ember Mountains. Even with daylight starting to die, it was going to be an easy time tracking these two long as another rainstorm didn't hit the desert. There would be plenty of time to imagine away about the possibilities that we could pursue with the new apartment. There was a lot we could do with it and I could almost imagine it as a full, fortified compound in the same vein as Camp Macintosh. Oh to be amongst other Rangers in full gear again...but wait, who said I couldn't enjoy that experience again? I was still in my prime, chalk full of knowledge and with the ability to train others just as well as any Pre-War drill sergeant without being anywhere as big an asshole. Recruiting people would be slow but...I had a reputation that was worth its' weight in tungsten and I could work my magic to find talented fighters who might be willing to take a change of pace. The Desert Rangers deserved something more than the forgotten past we had gotten and the NER had no right to steal from our proud history.

Not that the NER Rangers were terrible. Hell, with their Mrk. IIs they even kinda looked the part and their training earned them a fair reputation. But, at the end of the day, they were like any other faction that adopted things from the past...imposters late to the game thinking that they had all the answers. I was the last will and testament of the Corps and our legend deserved better than to be a tool of a bloated, Post-War bureaucracy. What we needed to be was like the good old days, the ones we had caught a glimpse of in the safe of Colonel Horn's office. Rangers who roamed the deserts of the West with no allegiances to anyone but themselves and the goal to keep them safe. What did 'safe' mean exactly in this day and age...? Who was I to decide what that meant? Well...I guess that was something else I'd have time to ponder over during my long trek South. At the end of the day, the only law in the Wasteland was that which could be enforced and by fuck, I could enforce some goddamn law and order out here...

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Six: Back on the Front Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 14 Minutes