[color=ed1c24][u][b]Indiana Border[/b][/u][/color]

A solemn figure clutched at his disheveled cloak as he pressed his hands against a pitifully low burning fire, one he’d attempted to keep burning since the early morning. The wastelander sat atop one of the bluffs overlooking old Highway 36. The sorry excuse for a meal he’d tried to prepare with the meagre amount of wood and kindling he’d been able to gather this morning was little more than a radroach, and it was not nearly fully cooked. It was disgusting, but it was protein and energy. He would need both if he expected to make his way to Tuscola. His flight from the Cult’s ever growing reach had been a hard one, and he was desperately hoping to take refuge in Brotherhood lands. It was his only choice. 

As the wastelander sat there, cursing his poor fortune and the empty stomach that he’d suffered with all last night, he became keenly aware of some sort of commotion coming down the Highway. While he’d camped on the bluffs, he’s campsite was well out of sight of the road, and so he quickly sat up and crept his way through the underbrush and over to the edge, deciding it best to keep a low profile while tried to ascertain the source of the strange sounds. 

His eyes widened with astonishment. Thousands of men marched below him with armor unlike any he’d seen before. The column stretched on for miles, engulfing the road in a tide of crimson. He backed away immediately….he knew he had to leave. If there was an army this large marching through, then they’d almost certainly…..

“Hold there wastel…”

….have scouts. 

He turned to find three soldiers coming up behind him from the treeline, each wore the same strange armor as the army that marched below. A snarling dog was held tightly by one of them. Two held rifles, while one held a sharpened spear at the ready. They conversed with one another in a language he couldn’t hope to understand. The one with the spear approached him. 

“I’m not a sp...” He tried to say before the butt of the spear crashed against his head, and his vision went dark. 

[color=00aeef][u][b]Dunwich Borers LLC Quarry[/b][/u][/color]

“No wait! Please!” A raider scrambled desperately backwards on the floor, hand outstretched in a plea for mercy: something he himself would never have extended to his many victims.  X6 continued approaching the man coldly with pistol raised. Without the word the Courser shot the man through the head with a single blue tinged laser blast and simply stepped over his body. 

X6 looked up and out the open window of the overlooking structure towards the Quarry below. All along the rim and basin of the carved rock face, blue tinged laser fire burnt flesh, leather, and armor as a force of Coursers eradicated the raiders that had taken up residence here. The rag-tag group of wasteland junkies stood little chance against the deadly efficiency of the Institute’s attack dogs. The surprise attack was over in mere moments, leaving only a few remaining wounded to mop up. X6 turned to acknowledge one of his Coursers approaching up the gantry to give his report,

“All of the surface dwellers have been killed sir. The rest have fled deeper into the Quarry.”

“We’ll follow them in shortly,” X6 said as he popped the spent energy cell out of his pistol and replaced it with a fresh one, “Now that they’re aware of our attack. They’re bound to be more prepared now. I will signal the scavenger teams and inform them that the surface is clear to begin their investigation.”

[color=00aeef][u][b]The Institute - Advanced Systems Laboratory[/b][/u][/color]

“The power requirements alone will be staggering Director. I’m not entirely sure we can even guarantee enough with the reactor fully online and the entire Eastern Massachusetts power grid at our disposal. And what about our...associate in this matter?” Dr. Madison Li stood inside her office glaring at Thomas, her perpetually sour faced expression had not changed one iota in the past fifteen minutes. As always, Li tried to be the voice of reason, or in the opinion of some of the Advanced Systems team: a spoil sport. 

“He’s more than capable of figuring it out,” Thomas replied, “ And with Hoover Dam operational, he should have what we needs on his end as well. Need I remind you this is a trial run Dr. Li, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet......I assume that’s still an expression people use now?”

Madison sighed, “It is...and very well. I’ll make sure my team is ready for the power transfer. I’ll do my best to prepare them. We’d better notify SRB as well...this energy spike could be huge.”

“Everyone who needs to know, already does,” Thomas said with a smirk, “You can be sure of that, Dr. Li.”