Fallout 4: AR

49. Courser Hunting

"I think we may have a foolproof plan to get you within striking range of a Courser." Deacon surprised us as we grabbed a quick bite at Power Noodles the next day. A night in a warm, safe room did wonders for our mental and physical equilibrium, but were perishing for good, cooked food.

I jumped in reaction, not having noticed the Railroad spy approach. The only reason I was able to recognize him as being Deacon was when he spoke. He was wearing a brown wig and dressed in an identical baseball uniform to the guards in Diamond City, down to the wire-wrapped bat.

"Oh?" I commented mildly, pretending I didn't just halfway jump out of my skin. "Do tell."

"Can we talk about this somewhere more private?" Deacon murmured, acting as if he was only making small talk. "Like maybe you can give me a tour of your regular room in the Dugout Inn?"

"At least let us finish our meal, huh Deacon?" MacCready grumbled, motioning to his nearly full second bowl. "We don't get the chance to eat real food very often when we're covering every inch of the Commonwealth on foot."

"Awww, and here I thought you were going to offer me lunch," Deacon bantered back, laughing a little as MacCready half-playfully growled like a starving dog, wrapping his arm around the second portion. "Gotcha. When you're finished here, go back to your room and I'll be along shortly."

Back in our room, Deacon elaborated further. "We have an issue that came up, forcing our hand. Normally, we sneak escaped Synths out of the Commonwealth one at a time, but with our forces so reduced, it's been taking too long, even with the Minutemen's help. More Synths escape the Institute before we can safely transport the ones we have on hand. Right now, we have a group of six we need to move, pronto."

"I'm with you so far. Where do we come in?"

"This is what I'm thinking. We leak information about a mass exodus heading out of Bunker Hill. Once the Institute finds out that's where the Synths are, they're bound to send a Courser with a whole bunch of Gen 1s as backup to retrieve their property. You alert the Brotherhood of Steel to the presence of Institute Synths and they'll be there like a shot." He clapped his hands together dramatically. "Boom! Brotherhood and Institute tear each other up while you and your sniper buddy there focus on taking out the Courser, whom you can track thanks to Tinker Tom. In the meantime, the Railroad sneaks our Synth friends out the back way under cover of all the confusion, sending them to the nearest Minutemen settlements for safekeeping."

I sat there, a little stunned. "That's a lot of moving parts, Deacon." Turning to MacCready, I asked, "Your thoughts?"

"I think it's our best chance at a Courser," he said seriously. "After all, we've been playing whack-a-mole-rat for months just trying to get close, and they disappear as soon as we close in. And there aren't all that many leads for us to follow in the first place."

I nodded. "All right, Deacon. Let's put this plan into action."

-0-

It took several days of encrypted communications between the leaders of the various factions, using the plan Deacon had presented, coordinated through me, to set up our trap. Paladin Danse was eager to take the fight to the Institute, though he was reluctant to commit troops unless we had solid information. I leaned heavily on my good reputation, earned in battle alongside other Brotherhood Knights in the Commonwealth, as well as the knowledge that I had more local resources for intel than Danse did. He was almost desperate to uncover my source, but reluctantly backed down when I gave him my word as a Soldier that my information was trustworthy.

General Garvey sent a platoon of Minutemen volunteers to the nearest settlement to Bunker Hill with orders to cooperate with the Railroad and set up safe escape routes leading away from the conflict. Privately, he wished me good luck in my personal mission, cautioning me to be careful. Desdemona sent one of her regular Railroad agents to meet with the Minutemen and mark the trail; not only for the escaped Synths, but also for any traders caught in the crossfire. Once the area was cleared of Institute presence, the traders could return if they so wished.