The Sole Survivor took a little longer than usual to roll out of his bed this morning. An ocean wind wafted in through the window into his Spectacle Island home as he wandered into the kitchen area. Piper was already at the table eating breakfast. He sat down across from her, buttoning up the collar of his white shirt.
"Here, I grilled up some of that Radroach meat from the freezer." She shoveled some of the stringy meat onto his plate. "Tastes just like Brahmin, if you douse it in pepper." The Survivor took a forkful and chewed it down trying not to wince at the aftertaste.
"Looks like a storm is coming in off the water." He waved his fork towards the kitchen window and the black storm clouds rolling across the distance. With another bite he spoke with his mouth half full, "Better leave early for the Castle to avoid it." Piper waited to finish chewing before she spoke,
"But the Commonwealth looks so pretty slogging through 3 feet of mud." Her smirky smile accompanied the line. The Survivor rolled his eyes in response and stood up from the table. Grabbing a satchel from a nearby dresser, he started to pack supplies for the trip, noting on his Pip-Boy what he was storing.
"Ah, good morning Mr. Victor." Codsworth had invited himself into the house.
"That's still an odd name, Blue." Piper quipped from the kitchen. She was ignored as the Survivor, Victor, addressed Codsworth.
"G' morning. How's the town looking, buddy?"
"Quite well, sir. I have made my morning round and everyone seems to be healthy and productive. I even saw some traders in the market, apparently they came in late last night." The robotic butler issued his report.
"Good, good. Here, help me with this," Victor handed him part of his combat armor chest piece, "Now, Piper and I are taking our weekly trip up to the fort. So, I want you to keep an eye on the place." Codsworth whirled around with excitement,
"Of course, sir. I shall make you proud." His thrusters blasted him back out to the island proper, eager to help the settlers.
"It must've been nice, having a private butler to do all your housework." Piper had snuck up on Victor and helped him straighten the collar of his General's coat.
"You can borrow him. The Publick office could use a robot's touch." His wit put a smile on Piper's face that let him knew he was being a smartass. She playfully stuffed his fine black fedora on his head and sauntered towards the door,
"We better get leaving… Blue." Victor followed behind, pulling a pair of aviators from his coat pocket.
The once distance storm clouds, now loomed over the Castle as black ink spots, but the rain hadn't yet started. Fort Independence was a buzz with activity. Minutemen preparing for patrols, doing their morning exercise, and improving the aging defenses. Victor walked across the courtyard, the soldiers saluting him, which he humbly returned.
"Those new recruits are shaping up well, Ronnie." The old Minutewoman was assigning push-ups to the greenhorns. Once inside the makeshift War Room, the Survivor was greeted to the sight of fellow friends; Garvey, MacCready, Cait, Hancock, and Curie. They were all standing around the table with a map of the Commonwealth tacked down on it. "Nick didn't make it today?"
"Last I saw, he was working some case for a lonely widow." MacCready looked up at the two new entrees. Victor found a chair to lean back in,
"So, anything interesting boiling up in the Commonwealth?" this question was answered by Preston,
"We have reports of a few settlements needing our help." He pointed towards a few farms on the map.
"Any of it sound like it'd make a good news story?" Piper piped up.
"Sure you could sensationalize anything." Cait muttered. The remark went unanswered as Hancock took his turn to speak at the meeting,
"I still have the Brotherhood poking around Goodneighbor. Going on about how I'm some abomination unfit for life. It's enough to make a guy feel unwanted." Victor leaned up and rubbed the back of his neck,
"First the Institute, now these guys." He whispered to himself, then he spoke aloud, "I'm trying to get Danse & his crew to lighten up on that point." MacCready shook as head hung over the table,
"You know they aren't exactly into listening to opinions that aren't their own."
"If we must, the Minutemen will fight the Brotherhood if they continue this obvious aggression." Preston leaned up from the map, "We didn't free the Commonwealth from the Institute just to have another tyrannical organization take over." The Minuteman had a point, but before the meeting could delve any deeper, a settler entered the room with a winded breath.
"Hey, one of our patrols returned. Say they need to speak to you, General." Victor waved to have them sent in to the War Room. The patrol shuffled into the room with an eager expression on their face. The squad commander began to detail his report,
"Sir, our unit was out patrolling the western front, out around the old Natick ruins." Victor nodded, knowing the location well, "and well, we came across something not on the maps." This caused a collective eyebrow raise, "Found a Vault. Never been open. Number on the door said 131." Now everyone had both eyebrows raised,
"I didn't know there was even a Vault 130." Cait said with a confused sass. MacCready titled his head sideways,
"Heck, I've never seen a Vault go over 114." The squad leader just shrugged his shoulders. He knew what they saw,
"We figured we'd let you crack open that tin can personally." The Minuteman conceded his spoils to the General. The Survivor looked to the room of adventurers,
"Want to put this meeting on hold and go explore?" There was a shared silent agreeance. Victor turned back to the Minuteman, "Thanks for the info. Go ahead and mark the location on my map." With the location of this new, mysterious Vault locked in the 7 of them headed out into the Wasteland.