Shephard stood on the top floor of the shattered old building and looked out over the snowy wasteland. The reshuffled plans had been put into motion overnight, now it was time to wait and see how it would all play out. The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted the Overmaster’s musings.

“The special traps have been set, yep,” Zap said without preamble.

“Good. And our forces are all in position?” Shephard asked, ignoring the Mutant inventor’s verbal tic.

“Absolutely, yep,” Zap replied. “All ready, yep, all brought back from the downtown ruins, yep.”

Shephard grinned. “Excellent. Our Talon Company puppets are delivering our message and Wilbur’s heart as we speak, so we should expect our guests to arrive relatively soon. Let’s go and make sure that we’re ready for them.”

The river that Rivet City sat in was surprisingly beautiful. The water was an incredibly deep blue, and every now and again the iridescent shell of a mirelurk would break the surface, adding a flash of color to it. Luna didn’t know whether it was because of the purifier at work, or Equestrian magic leaking out of the ship. She had spent well over an hour standing at the city’s entrance, leaning on the railings and staring down into the water. Thankfully, the guards posted there hadn’t complained about Luna’s presence, and the bridge hadn’t needed to be extended for visitors, so she had been able to mope in peace.

Sonata was still in the hands of the Super Mutants. Unfortunately, although the Enclave and the Brotherhood both suspected they knew where she had been taken, they weren’t certain, and the place itself was reportedly a veritable fortress. The Brotherhood had sent the recently returned Adam and Fawkes out on a reconnaissance mission, but it would likely be hours before they reported back.

The sound of the door opening behind her made Luna look around. Chief Harkness greeted his guards, who gave him a quick and fairly empty report, then he turned to Luna and offered her a smile. “Good afternoon. How are you feeling?”

Luna sighed and looked back down at the water. “I hate this world,” she admitted.

“The Rainbooms say that regularly. Honestly, I think most of the locals feel the same way.” Harkness leaned against the railings next to her. “There’s no-one better to have on a job like this than the Lone Wanderer and Fawkes. The two of them are badasses on par with the Rainbooms.”

“I’m inclined to believe you, but that’s not going to stop me from feeling terrible for sitting around doing nothing while someone that I’m responsible for is in danger,” Luna told him, sounding a little more bitter than she had intended.

“The last time I checked, getting yourself combat trained is a little more than ‘nothing’,” Harkness retorted. “How are you getting on with the armor?”

Luna rolled her shoulders to settle said armor a little better. She had been given a set from Rivet City’s stores, on the condition that she wear it whenever she went outside, even the flight deck. “I was expecting it to be heavy, but not this heavy. I’m impressed that Twilight is able to hike across the wasteland wearing something like this. She was never the most athletically gifted at school.”

Harkness chuckled softly. “To be fair to her, she has improved a lot since she started training with the Brotherhood of Steel.”

“I suppose I had better get in shape, then. I’d have to abandon my pride as a teacher if we all got back home and I get thrashed in the fun run by Twilight Sparkle of all people.”

“What’s a fun ru-” Harkness’ question was interrupted as the nearby intercom crackled into life. “Hey, guys, I need you to send a message up to the Chief real quick. We’ve got some people on the No Entry list who want to talk to him and Elder Lyons.”

Harkness’ expression immediately became more professional and stoic as he stepped over to the intercom. “This is Chief Harkness. Who have you got there?”

“Talon Company,” came the simple response.

Luna straightened up and looked over at the embarking station on the riverbank. “Aren’t they the mercenaries working with the Super Mutants?” She asked in an even tone.

“Allegedly,” Harkness replied before pressing the intercom button again. “Remind Talon Company, again, that they are not permitted in Rivet City under any circumstances.”

“We did, sir, but they say that they have important information to deliver to the Brotherhood of Steel,” the guard on the other end replied.

Harkness rolled his eyes. “If they think we’re going to let a team in on the off chance that they have intel for one of our guests, a noted enemy of theirs, then they can think again.”

There was silence for several seconds, then the intercom crackled again, “They say they know where the Super Mutants are keeping Sonata Dusk.”

Luna and Harkness shared a shocked look. The local radio station had been told that someone resembling the Rainbooms had been taken by Super Mutants, but they hadn’t given out the name, to prevent people from causing problems with fake tips. The only way that Talon Company could know Sonata’s name was if they had gotten it directly from the Super Mutants.

“I’ll meet one of them, on the bridge, and they’re to leave their weapons behind,” Harkness said brusquely. He told the guards to extend the bridge, then waited patiently as it slowly swung around towards the embark station.

Luna squared her shoulders and stood next to him. “I’m coming with you.”

For a moment, Harkness looked as if he was going to refuse her, but he evidently thought better of it as he watched the bridge extend. “Be careful. Armed or not, Talon Company are cold-blooded killers, well-trained and well-armed. They will not hesitate.” Luna nodded grimly.

Just as the bridge finished extending, three people appeared on top of the station. The first two were members of the security team, but the third was very clearly not. His armor was darker and bulkier than Rivet City’s security armor, and he lacked the distinctive helmet that all of the city’s security officers except Harkness himself wore when on duty. Aside from that, the only thing the man carried was a small sack that dangled from his fist. A thick tar-like substance dripped from it with every slight motion. A second later a maintenance worker stepped onto the platform, wearing a set of power armor purchased from the Enclave. It was clear that security wasn't taking any chances when it came to Talon Company.

“Remember, keep your wits about you,” Harkness said in an undertone before striding out across the bridge. Luna felt a little annoyed that he felt the need to remind her, but let it slide as she followed him.

The two groups met in the middle of the bridge. Up close, Luna saw that the Talon Company mercenary had an eagle’s talon stenciled over his breast in white paint. “I assume you’re Chief Harkness and Vice-Principal Luna?”

“Yes, we are,” Harkness cut in before Luna could say anything. “And you are?”

“Lieutenant Ackerman. I was sent by Commander Jabsco, Talon Company’s military leader,” the mercenary replied.

“Someone with authority, then,” Harkness noted. “Unless you’re lying.” He held up a hand as Ackerman opened his mouth to retort. “Save it. We already know that Talon Company is working with the Super Mutants, so this ‘Commander Jabsco’ better have given a damn good reason for why we should trust you.”

Ackerman shrugged. “Working with the Super Mutants is just business, and they pay very well.”

“If they pay so well, then why are you willing to tell us where they’re keeping Miss Dusk?” Harkness shot.

“Because caps aren’t worth shit if you’re dead,” Ackerman replied flatly. “Our spies discovered that they’re planning on experimenting on Dusk and using her clean DNA to create stronger and more dangerous Super Mutants. If it works, the Super Mutants will overrun the whole Capital Wasteland. And in case you don’t believe me, here.” He threw the sack down on the bridge between the two groups. “We managed to steal this from their secret lab. Don’t let the black shit touch your skin, it’s toxic as all hell.”

Harkness crouched next to the sack and used a combat knife to carefully open it. Luna suppressed a gasp as the sack fell open to reveal a black human-sized heart. Through some perverse twist of dark science or magic, it was still beating, expelling tar-like liquid with every pulse.

“We ripped that from a Super Mutant infected with a new variant of FEV. That’s one of the things the Super Mutants have created through mixing FEV and magic so far,” Ackerman explained. “Ordinary Super Mutants are tougher than they have any fucking right to be, imagine how tough the fuckers with hearts like that are going to be.”

“Alright, you’ve made your point.” Harkness straightened up and crossed his arms. “What does Talon Company want out of this? I can’t imagine that you’re helping us out of the goodness of your hearts.”

Ackerman snorted loudly. “We just want some other fuckers to deal with this shit. Those Super Mutants getting bigger, stronger, and have a shitload of magic. Talon Company doesn’t have the firepower for a fight like that. This is something for the pricks with power armor and magic friends to deal with, since they’re so focused on saving the wasteland and all that bullshit.”

“You can mock it, but you’re the ones coming here for help,” Luna shot before she could stop herself.

“You need help shutting your mouth, bitch?” Ackerman spat.

Harkness held a hand up to forestall Luna’s retort. “Insult my guest again, and I’ll snap your jaw before you can even raise your fists. I’ll pass your message onto the Brotherhood of Steel, and they can decide what they’ll do with it. Now, where are the Super Mutants keeping Miss Dusk?”

Sunset leaned on a fence as she idly watched the Regulators’ brahmin wander through their snowy paddock. The rest of the Rainbooms were with her, eating breakfast or watching the brahmin, save for Applejack who was inside talking to Cruz.

“I don’t really like these Brotherhood rations,” Fluttershy said with a conflicted look at her mess tin.

“They’re not that bad,” Rainbow replied, having already wolfed hers down. “Food is food, y’know.”

“This one tastes like roast chicken,” Fluttershy grumbled.

Pinkie glanced over at her curiously. “What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s mac and cheese,” Fluttershy replied flatly.

The other girls stared at the poor girl’s food with concern, but the HQ door opened before any of them could comment. No-one was really surprised to see Applejack step outside wearing a new Regulator duster under her combat armor.

“You made your decision then,” Rarity noted.

Applejack nodded. “Yeah. Ah mean, we’re all gonna be wanderin’ around the wastes anyway, tryin’ to find one of them SD-whatever’s, so Ah don’t really see a problem with helpin’ folk out along the way. As long as that ain’t a problem for the Brotherhood, anyway.”

“If the Elder does have a problem with it then she can discuss it with me,” Sunset assured her. “What about Ashleigh? Is she okay?”

Applejack grimaced and shook her head. “The doc demanded that she get plenty of peace and rest, so Ah didn’t get a chance to have a proper talk with her. Ah did have a good sit down with Mac and Michelle, though, so that was nice. Ah’ll just have to make my way back up here at some point so Ah can get time with all of ‘em.” She glanced at Rainbow curiously. “Ah’m surprised that you weren’t inside though, swappin’ stories with Dash.”

The others tried to suppress a round of giggles. “She was, until the other Dash hurt herself and the doctor kicked Rainbow out,” Pinkie explained with a grin.

Rainbow blushed and averted her gaze, prompting the others to laugh and Applejack to roll her eyes. “You’re your own worst enemy sometimes, huh, Dash?” She chuckled and turned back to Sunset. “Where to now? Back to Rivet City?”

“Not yet. There’s a few Vaults in this area, so I figured we should at least investigate them while we’re out here,” Sunset replied. “First up, Vault 108.”

“Gary,” Pinkie put in randomly.

“If you’re ready to head out, then we can talk about what Sonora said about the Brotherhood’s request for help as we walk,” Sunset continued without pause.

“Sounds good to me.” Applejack rolled her shoulders to settle her new overcoat a little better. “Lead the way.”

Just as the girls were about to leave, Sunset’s Pip-Boy radio crackled into life, “Paladin Shimmer, this is Murderbird One. President Shoichet and Elder Lyons have ordered us to pick you up for a top priority mission.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 171 - Cut Off The Head... Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 37 Minutes