Dead End

Infiltration

**Dead End** is the seventh and final quest from Marshal Cooper to the cancelled mod series; *Potomac Breaks*.

It is based on the vanilla holotape Dead end.

## Detailed Walkthrough

After taking care of the cannibals, Marshal Cooper now has one last investigation for you, and warns you to be ready.

You're going after an individual who Cooper has been hunting for years and has finally received a lead that will get the Regulators closer to the man. The man; Marko, has evaded the Regulators for over a decade and is estimated to be responsible for at least 100 murders, which mainly consist of families. His habit of killing is to leave one family member alive whilst he tortures and brutalises the remaining victims in front of them. While an obvious animal under the lowest of society, he is not stupid, he knows how to outsmart the Regulators being that he has made it where he is now for years. To worsen the matter, recently the primary investigator behind Marko; Marshal Bridwell, just went missing along with his entire family.

Cooper tells you that lately there has been some kind of "power vacuum" going on in the wasteland. Due to the fall of the Enclave, the destruction of Fort Bannister, Paradise Falls and Evergreen Mills, some new criminals have come in to take advantage of the opportunity to create themselves power. This is important due to the fact that Marko was originally a small-time raider with a reputation for nastiness, but has now emerged as leader and is rallying all of the local raider clans to unite as a powerful force. The raiders are scared at this point, and they have finally realised that they need leadership, Marko, with his esteemed strength and cunning nature, is the perfect candidate. It is unknown what the raiders are afraid of, but it is rumoured that some type of raider nomads are sweeping down from Appalachia. Cooper himself doesn't believe these rumours however, finding them to be exaggerations when they heard the same shit about the Bloody Reavers who came out of New England. However, migratory raiders aren't unusual, and legends based on brutality is a typical strategy on their part, so the local clans are behaving unusually because of this. Cooper asks you to try and uncover more information regarding this new threat as it may become important later.

Back on topic, the lead came from a Talon Company deserter who informed the Regulators about a detachment of officers and NCO's residing in a bunker near the Temple of the Union. The Talon Company is in a dire situation at this rate and reached out to Marko's gang in order to secure an alliance. While raiders and Talon Company don't get along, the two do have qualities that benefit the other, the Talon Company get arms and munitions, whereas the raiders obtain intel and clout. There is no doubt that one of the officers will have information on Marko's location, so you will have to go to the bunker and get said information to hunt the man down. Fortunately before Marshal Bridwell went missing, he managed to secure the key to the Talon bunker, so it is now being given to you in order to breach the place.

Head north from the Temple of the Union and as you'll notice the bunker's entrance by a pillar sticking out of the ground. If you've killed Carolina Red in your playthrough, as you close in on the bunker, you'll encounter a man named Indiana Red who is after you for killing his daughter. He's easy to drop, so just shoot the guy dead. Move on into the Talon Company bunker.

Once inside, kill all of the hostile Talon Company mercs, all wearing the unique combat armor that cut from the game. There is Lance Corporal Gumuzio in the back who does literally nothing, if you try to interact with him, he'll respond with "Lance Corporal doesn't give a fuck." so killing him isn't necessary and he doesn't even have any valuable loot. The merc Bill "Razor" Montagne has a unique combat knife named The Jagged Alliance. Search Colonel Lee's body for a key to Marko's hideout, and a holodisk about their partnership, detailing where his camp is at. Staff Sergeant McGee and Lieutenant Hambrick don't have any valuable loot either.

Head up to Raven Rock and go north east, if you've killed Leroy Walker in your playthrough, you will encounter several slavers alongside Larry Walker; his brother. Larry says you've been a huge thorn in the slaver business and turns hostile. Kill him and his goons and continue on to Marko's hideout.

Head on down the place killing any raider that gets in your path. You'll encounter some slaves on your way such as Shank and Doctor Shaw, they are no threat so leave them be. Once you get to the tunnel that'll lead you closer to Marko, you'll find the door locked, on the other side are some hostile raiders, after killing them you can find the key on a non-hostile raider known as Steroid Kowalski, take him down or pickpocket him, and proceed. Upon reaching the very tunnel that leads to Marko's office, you'll find it decorated with the bodies of Marshal Bridwell and his wife Debra Bridwell, the doorway itself is guarded by a sword wielder named Toranaga. Declaring himself a "ronin", he is committed to his "master" and will fight to protect him, so no matter the response, he'll turn hostile, kill the guy in anyway you see fit, he doesn't do much damage with his "sushi slicer". Take the key from his corpse and be ready to face the man himself.

Marko is considerably pleased to finally meet you, impressed with the efforts you went to in order to find him. He will reveal that he buried the infant Bridwell, and the daughter died of her injuries after he had raped her, he'll exclaim that he placed the Marshal and his wife outside as a banner to attract more raiders to his cause. Marko explains he got the position he has now thanks to you killing so many pillars in the wasteland, that due to him having a much higher body count than you, the raiders chose him to be the leader when being in the right place at the right time, in response to this, if you have high intelligence and/or strength, you can impress him with a quote or intimidate him, both responses will please him. Asking about his past, Marko reveals that like you, he grew up in a vault, received actual education, and was taught the values of liberty, equality and fraternity. One unfortunate day however, a tribe of raiders known as the "Vandals" breached his vault and proceeded to force a young Marko to watch as his family was killed slowy. His baby brother's skull was bashed in to begin, his father had his eyelids slit off and was forced to watch as the Vandals raped Marko's mother and sister, who were all then disembowelled and left to die. Marko was spared however, they chose to keep him as a captive due to the good fortune of his age and gender, which he was old enough to walk, but not past puberty. This life changing trauma taught Marko the very lesson against the world, that "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity" is just a grotesque falsehood now, that living in a post-apocalyptic world, you now have to live under different circumstances. Because of this, Marko grew to resent the wastelanders who still had faith and tried to rebuild the civilisation that everyone had before the great war, telling himself that "Anarchism stands for the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property; liberation from the restraint of government". In response to this, you'll responses depending on if you have high intelligence, strength or luck. No matter what he'll turn hostile.

* The Intelligence check consists of an Edmund Burke quote; "But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue?", to which he'll respond with one as well; "It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.", having recognised his quotes before, finding you predictable to know about a sycophant. Growing tired of the exchange, Marko decides to enact victory and turns hostile.
* The Strength check will tell Marko that you're going to smash out his brains in the spirit of primitivism, he'll respect your challenge and will relish the opportunity to answer it, turning hostile.
* The Luck check will tell him "Fortes fortuna adiuvat" which translates to "Fortune favors the brave", Marko responds by saying that shallow men believe in luck and circumstances, whilst real men believe in cause and effect, he'll turn hostile.

Upon hostility, take down Marko's warrior slaves first, their Baby Killer sledgehammers get in the way, try and keep some distance from Marko, his sword The Executioner has a chance at stunning you and you'll be fucked. On Marko's corpse, don't expect to take his sword though, it'll make you wayy too OP. But you'll find two interesting holodisks, The Vandals and The Organization and You. One reveals that Marko is still out to kill the Vandals, likely for what they did to his family, he had Colonel Lee use a satellite imagery to track them, and has found out that they are still a threat today and are terrorising civilian refugees and displaced raider tribes in the west, whom he is confident will flock to his campaign. The other disk shows that Marko was contacted by a man named Fisk, who gave him an offer to join The Organization, the same organisation that Littlehorn was a part of, they recognised his leadership and offered a chance to get on board and obtain more information and power. It is unknown if Marko obliged or not.

Head back to Rivet City and give Cooper the news, he'll admit that you've exceeded his expectations and that you've done a great service to Regulators, lives will no doubt be saved and the wasteland is safer for everyone. No matter how many villains come after you to hunt you down for what you did, you're the "stuff of legend". Cooper now decides to finally retire with peace in mind and is now promoting you to senior Marshal of the Regulators. He'll warn you to stay vigilant as evil will always arise no matter what. He tells you that it's been a honor working with you, and wishes you luck on your endeavours.