[color=00aeef][b]Lancer-Sergeant Robert Kyle, Markle Police Station[/b][/color] [i] "With pleasure...I'm Knight-Captain Murphy, by the way...but you can call me Alex if you like."[/i] Robert accepted the weapon with hesitation, happy to finally have the cold steel of a laser rifle back in his hands, but still unsure of what to make of the assaultron speaking with the voice of a human man. And why was it calling itself a Knight-Captain? "Good to meet you...uhh sir," He replied, as he inspected the weapon before turning back to him, "I'm glad you came when you did. I was beginning to think these savages were going to get the better of me. I don't exactly know the full story of what's going on here, but I know there's wasteland savages to be killed and people to protect. That's enough for me for now. Lead on." Robert followed closely behind the robot as it...or rather, Knight-Captain Murphy, led him through the winding streets of the town. Off in the distance, he could hear the sounds of an intense firefight coming from the center of the raider held area, and he guessed that this might be where Brotherhood forces were making an assault. "If you do might a question or two," Robert asked the robot as he hopped over a broken piece of masonry that had fallen into the street, "What exactly is The Brotherhood doing here? Your objectives I mean? Is there some sort of technology that you're here to collect?" [i]"Our Mission?", Murphy said, "To reduce the crossing points for vehicles...and logistics...across the Wabash river to one. The strategic goal is to pin as many of them as we can to this spot, until we are in position to annihilate them."[/i] "Reduce crossing points? This is a defensive operation then?" Robert turned as the sounds of several more explosions echoed around the town, "Doesn't exactly seem that way...what about you then, are you robotic or a brainbot of some type? We've had robots serve alongside Brotherhood Knights and Paladins back East, but I can't say I've seen one quite like you before. You seem...quite intelligent." When an answer from the robot wasn't forthcoming, Robert stowed his curiosity for the time being and focused on the surroundings. He guessed that the Knight-Captain...or whatever it was, wasn't here to play a game of twenty questions with him. It had a specific mission to do. More explosions from the town rung out, and Robert stopped briefly to turn to see a small fireball in the distance. Whatever was happening over there....it was obviously too much for the raiders. [u][b] Highway 3 Bridge, North end [/b][/u] As they approached the bridge, Robert saw a Midwestern Knight standing guard by the bridge and awaiting their arrival. [i]"Welcome, Brother", Harkness said to Kyle as he switched his laser rifle to his left hand and offered his right to the man, "I am Knight-Sergeant Harkness...I command the force at this position." He gestured at the bridge behind him then continued. "We hold the bridge, so you're safe from this point. Please lead your charges across quickly...we have this bridge wired for demolition and we'll be dropping it into the river once you, and Delta squad behind you, are across."[/i] "Thank you Knight," Robert replied, and returned the soldiers handshake, "Glad to meet you. I can't say I know where we're going, so I'll leave it to uhh..the Knight-Captain here," He gestured towards the Assaultron, "To keep leading the way. I'll be glad to get across the river and leave this wretched town quickly." The sudden sounds of cawing caused Robert to turn his gaze upwards to see a murder of crows circling overhead in an odd pattern. He frowned, had those damn birds followed them all the way from the Police Station? He shook his head in disbelief. [color=00aeef][b]SRB Situation Room, The Institute[/b][/color] "Alright people, what have we got?" The stern voice of Dr. Alana Secord was directed at the small team of SRB agents manning the terminals and monitors in front of her. Images of the town of Markle as well as several live feeds of the city flashed across the screens. One of them tracked the Brotherhood group that was now crossing the bridge out of town. "Watchers have been deployed across the town and we're monitoring the on-going military operations there...Brotherhood forces appear to be marshaling for a potential assault south of the Wabash river," One of the agents reported. "And the Synth?" "Successfully made contact with a Midwestern Brotherhood contingent a little over twenty minutes ago. It appears they're bringing it south along with a group of civilians." "Good news, have we managed to get any data yet?" "The feed is a little choppy...the connection isn't as strong as we would like, given the distance involved, but we're collecting all we can. The Synth is sending back some confused analysis on the robot it encountered. Its treating the construct like a human, but isn't convinced that's what it is." "An AI System?" "Maybe..." The agent replied, "But it seems far more advanced than anything The Brotherhood has built....or tolerated...before." "Could be a brainbot," Another agent replied, "Or a cyborg of some type." "Keep monitoring the data and lets see if we can figure it out for certain. I want to know exactly what we're dealing with here...the entire point of this operation is to gather as much information about the Midwestern Chapter as we can. If The Brotherhood has advanced AI...I want to know everything about it." "Yes Ma'm."