And so, this time, the Reaver walks into the bar and says . . .

If I said I was growing weary of these ongoing Reaver attacks, no one would be the least surprised. It would be like me saying "I need more coffee" at any time between waking up and going to bed. Just a normal part of the day. Like General looking for an excuse to blow something up, Lily wanting candy, or Mister Smithers complaining about the dust. Again. It was just how it was.

After these last couple of attacks, I would have to talk to the Town Elders about what we planned to do. It had reached the point where they weren't complaining about the few Loyalists out in the desert or the occasional Raiders. All I was hearing about was the Reavers and how people were getting more angry than scared.

Something was drawing them here. Whether it was Lily, or Aurora, or the survivors from Blackburne, or even a grudge with us for blowing up their nest, I couldn't say for sure. It might well have been a combination of all those things. But the fact was there were getting more violent, frequent, and aggressive at an alarming rate.

Would we see the same sort of massive raid that had destroyed the Downport on Blackburne? It seemed unlikely. Last anyone had heard, the Reavers on Blackburne had spent a few days there after torching the Downport and eating anyone they could find, before attacking any nearby wasteland settlements, and then climbing back onto their boats and burning back to where ever the hell it was they'd come from.

Still, it was something I'd have to deal with. Along with everything else on the plate, including tracking down the Raider base, and getting time to talk to Admiral Leitner on the Independent flagship, Elindor.

A Mayor's work is never done. Was that the saying? At least there were people willing to cremate the Reaver corpses, and a visiting Shepherd was even willing to give them last rights. I know a few people who'd argue they didn't deserve it, but I didn't hold to that. Reavers may be horribly violent Berserkers, who perpetrated atrocities on innocent people, but they hadn't started life like that. I may not hold to the Shepherd's faith myself, but I can't grudge saying a prayer for the Ghost of whoever they were before the madness took them.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.