p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"Chapter 1/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"The smoke of the .50 cal. Turret streamed into the sky as the last shot was fired. The gunner sat in the Humvee watching intently for any other signs of survivors. The man on the ground next to the gunner lowered his rifle and called out to the team, "Good job everyone, it looks like we're in the clear. Sarah, check for any damage to the truck, Manny, reload the machine gun, Stan, check for any radio alerts, Mark, join me and we'll loot these raider assholes." The squad quickly dove into their orders, oping to get away from the sanitarium as fast as they could./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Hey Jim, I found some meds here, where you want them?" Mark called out out his commander. "Just put them in the first aid kit in the trunk of the car. Keep looking for more, people back at base could use it." Jim replied. "All locked and loaded sir!" Manny called out from his swivel mount. "Alright, come down here and help me move these bodies to the side of the road." Jim called back. Manny got down from the turret and exited the vehicle. He started to heave the corpses into the bushes near the road so future passers by wouldn't have to see them. "Truck's ready to go, just some minor shrapnel damage to the passenger side doors, nothing some scrap metal and welder couldn't fix." Sarah called out as she put away her tools. "Great, get ready to drive us out of here." Jim called back as he and Manny tossed the last raider to the bushes. "Mark, what's the loot looking like?" Jim said. "Looks pretty good, mostly meds and ammo, some other odds and ends too." "Alright, Stan, is there any new radio signals?" Jim asked as he got into the passenger seat. Stan sat behind him and he was listening intently into the radio, he held up a finger to Jim as he listened./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"As Mark closed the trunk and got in next to Stan, Stan put down the radio's receiver and he had a grim look on his face. "There's a distress broadcast coming from Quincy. Apparently Colonel Hollis and some of his troops are under siege from some Gunners. The broadcast is a couple days old though, so I don't know what the current situation is there." Stan told Jim. "Alright, Sarah, how fast can we get to Quincy?" "I don't know Jim, I don't want to push the truck too much because the fastest way down there is pretty rough. And we also need to stop and search for fuel at some point too. But my best guess would be a day or so if we don't absolutely book it and damage the truck." Sarah said. Jim thought for a moment and he finally announced to the squad that they would take the cautious route and that they should keep an eye out for any potential fuel sources while on the road. After this they started off Southwards./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After a day of riding along the ruined streets of the Commonwealth the crew finally reached the outskirts of Quincy, having stopped by a derelict Red Rocket gas station to scavenge for fuel on the way. The squad got out of the truck and Jim gathered them into a circle. He brought out a map of the area he had in his collection and he started to explain what they would be doing./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Okay, so I think it would be best to do a night attack, right now it's 1730 hours and night will be coming in about two hours. So, Mark, I want you to go and scout the city, take the anti-material rifle and the high-powered scope with you, don't engage if you don't have to. Also take one of Stan's walkie-talkies and tell us what you see. I'll act as ground support and I'll come in from here," as he pointed to the western side of the town, "Sarah, Manny, and Stan, you theree will stay with the truck and I'll call you in if we are going to attack. Mark, if the gunners have already taken the town, report back here, I don't think we should go in if that's the case." Jim said. The rest of the crew nodded and Mark went out with the rifle and Jim went out and took position to the West of the town./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After a tense half-hour Stan's radio started to crackle and Mark's voice started to come through, "Okay, I'm up on the highway near the town, I see a shitload of Gunners here, maybe twenty or so. Some of them have what looks to be power armor, most are just in fatigues. Hold on..." "Mark, what's going on?" Jim called through his radio. "They're bringing someone out into the town square, I don't know who it is, but they have a Minuteman uniform, a Colonel's!" Mark called back. After a few moments of tense silence Mark started to speak again, "I can confirm that is Colonel Hollis, one of the Gunners in power armor has him on his knees with a piston aimed at him." after a few moments a shot was heard faintly in Quincy and Mark radioed again, "Colonel Hollis is dead. Heading back now."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Dear God" Jim said, he stood in his position for a few moments before he started heading back to the truck. When he got there the others were all gathered around the radio and were listening intently. "What's going on?" Jim asked as he approached the group. "It's a radio broadcast from those cocksuckers in Quincy. It just ended. Basically what they were saying is that the Minutemen are over and that Hollis is dead. And the group of survivors that made it out may have escaped them for now, but that they would be hunted without mercy." Sarah said quickly. Stan quickly shut off the radio and packed up the equipment, almost seeming to tear up as he did. A sense of sadness came over the group as they got back into the truck and they all sat in there in silence as Jim though of what to do next./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After a while Jim finally spoke up, "Does anyone have any idea where the survivors may have gone?" "Well, my best guess is that they would've gone to Jamica Plain. It's easily defensible and easy to flee from too." Sarah said as she started up the truck. The squad drove to Jamica, hoping to find any signs of survivors. But when they got there all they found was the scene of a fierce battle. Several Gunners and a few Minutemen bodies were scattered around and the squad started searching the any sign of the survivors./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After fifteen minuets of searching Stan found a note stuck to the church doors with a knife. He gave the note to Jim and it read:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"emTo any Minuteman that finds this. /em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"emWe have bested the Gunner search party and we are heading out to Lexington. If any Minuteman finds this, please help us./em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"em- Preston Garvey/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Alright, everyone mount up, we're going to Lexington." Jim called out to his crew. They all took their positions and they started out towards Lexington./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"After a week of hard traveling, the squad finally came up on the town of Lexington. Along the way they dealt with various raiders and mutants and they were worn out and ready for rest. The truck was rolling along the broken highway, Sarah taking it slowly along as to not damage the underside from potholes and missing sections of the road./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Hold up here." Jim said as they reached the outskirts of the town. "I think that Corvega Factory has bandits in it, if I remember the profile on this town right. That probably means that there are bandit patrols all around the town. Mark, I and you are going to go in there and see if we can't find Preston and his crew. The rest of you hide the truck and wait for us to return." Jim ordered, the rest of the team nodded and Jim and Mark took SMGs and some ammo and went of towards the town./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"As they were nearing the factory Mark pulled out a pair of binoculars and he looked u to the roof of the factory. "Hold up, I see three, four hostiles up there. It's getting dark soon so I think we should just wait until dark and sneak around." he said. Jim nodded and they hid in the ruins of an old house./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""So what do you think happened to Preston?" Mark said as they both sat down near a broken down wall. "I don't know to be honest. If they fled from here then they will probably go towards Concord and from there I don't know. I just hope we reach them before they do anything drastic. Because with Colonel Hollis dead, it's us and whoever Preston has left making up the Minutemen." Jim said sternly. "Huh, guess that's the truth. So let's say we actually do find them, what do we do from there? You think we can recover?" Mark asked. "Maybe, we'll need a new General, I won't do it because I'm not interested in that job and Preston isn't the type of guy to go for that job. But if we do end up finding a new General, then I guess we would probably have to rebuild the old way, helping individual settlements until they start contributing. One thing I think we should do though is recruit a standing army, and not have a volunteer force. That was our downfall this time." Jim said. They both sat in silence until the sun set and then they headed out./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"The pair sneaked their way around the factory and they entered the town. They crept past as many patrols as they could before they reached what they were looking for, an old Minutemen hideout located in an apartment building in a restored apartment on the top floor. The two en sneaked up the stairs in the building and they reached the top floor, where a long hallway rand across the length of the building. In the middle of it was the hideout and opposite of it was an apartment that had the back and front walls blown out. There was a team of five raiders trying unsuccessfully to break the lock off the door. But they had so far been unsuccessful./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"When the two Minutemen saw the raiders they quickly went prone and they aimed their weapons down the hallway. Jim nodded and they opened fire. Three of the raiders went down in the initial hail of bullets and one was injured. The last one had managed to take cover in the apartment across from the hideout. Mark stood up and ran down the hallway, Jim got up and followed him while reloading his gun. The injured raider cried out to his comrade for help, but Jim quickly shot him down. The two men rounded the corner into the apartment across form the hideout and they saw the last raider trying to break his way into a side room inside the apartment. Mark ran up to the man and tackled him to the ground. After a brief struggle the raider was subdued and Mark had him pinned. Jim came up to the raider and stood him up, the raider at this point was scared beyond his mind and he stuck his hands up./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"Jim aimed his weapon at the raider and with one hand he took the raider's shoulder and backed him up to the edge of the blown out wall. "Alright," Jim said, "you're going to tell me what's going on at the factory." "The boss is set up there, his name is Jared, he mostly pushes chems." the raider blurted out quickly. "Alright, well what's Jared got to pick with this particular apartment then? Some secret jet lab in there?" Jim asked, shaking the man slightly. "Man I don't know, they don't tell me shit!" the raider said frantically. Jim shook the raider over the edge, but not quite letting him fall and he yelled, "Bullshit, you know something and your dumb ass isn't telling me. And either you tell me, or you go over the side of this building. So what's it going to be?" "Alright, fine! We heard that there mighta been some supplies in there we could use to make drugs with. There, ya happy man?" the raider said, practically having a meltdown at this point. "No" Jim said as he pushed the man off the building. The man flew down to the ground, screaming loudly as he did. When he landed a sickening crack was heard, followed shortly by a faint groan./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Damn, that guy's resilient, what's that drop? Six stories?" Mark said as he peered over the edge. "I guess so, there ain't much chance he'll live to morning though." Jim said grimly as he walked over to the door to the hideout. "Looks like a tough lock, can you handle this?" Jim asked Mark, who was walking towards him. "Yeah, I'm a pro at this man." Mark replied as he took out a bobby pin and set to work on the lock. After a few minutes and several bobby pins, Mark finally unlocked the door and he stood up and opened it./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"The apartment was dingy and full of different sorts of trash left behind from both pre and post war residents. In the back of the main room there was a dead Minuteman who looked to have been dead for a couple days to a week. Jim went up to the corpse while Mark searched the rest of the apartment. "I found another note on this guy." Jim called out. "I haven't found anything of value left." Mark called out./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"Jim picked up the note and read it./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"emTo anyone who can help,/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"emWe've been trying to survive here for about a week. Hasn't gone well due to the raider population here. One of my men scouted the next town over, Concord, and he's found a place we can go. If anyone in the Minutemen is reading this, meet me at the Museum of Freedom in Concord./em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"em-Preston Garvey/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"Jim handed the note to Mark and they decided to head back. At this point it was almost light out and when they reached the truck it was morning. Jim passed around the note and the crew mounted up in the truck. They continued around Lexington and got onto the main road to Concord. While they were driving there Jim told the rest of the squad what he thought would happen once they met up with Preston that he'd talked to Mark about./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"The other three agreed with Jim's plans and they continued on in silence. They eventually came upon the small town of Concord and they were met with a bloodbath. There were dead raiders strewn across the main street leading up to the museum and a deathclaw corpse was in the middle of the road. The crew got out except for Manny who stayed vigilant on his turret. Jim, Mark, and Sarah went through the buildings along the main street looking for anything related to the battle that had recently took place here. Stan meanwhile searched the museum and found the remnants of a Minutemen camp in the curator's office. He didn't find much except a note saying that Preston's group had gone a little further north to a place called Sanctuary. Stan relayed what he found to Jim and the squad mounted up and went off towards Sanctuary./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"They eventually came up on the small group of houses, the truck was unable to cross the bridge that bridged the stream to the settlement. Sarah locked the truck and the five went across the bridge. At the end of the bridge they saw a big tower about ten feet high with a sniper's nest on top, but it was currently unmanned. The group crossed the bridge and they went along the road cautiously. They then saw a group of survivors gathered by a yellow house eating lunch but it wasn't long before one of them spotted the squad and the survivors all stood up in surprise./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"The squad aimed at them, watching for any sudden movements and Jim called out, "Are you guys with Preston Garvey?" "Yeah, they're with me." Preston said as he walked out of the yellow house. The squad lowered their weapons in relief and the group of survivors relaxed as well. "Is that you Jim?" Preston called out. "Yeah, it's me. We followed the paper trail you left from Jamica." Jim called out as the squad walked towards the group. "Well then, it's good to see I ain't the only one left then!" Preston said as he shook Jim's hand. The squad sat down and they were given some food by the survivors. "You must've had a tough trip up here." Preston said as he sat down with the squad. "Damn right we did." Sarah said as she raised a spoonful of soup to her mouth. "Yeah, as you know the roads aren't ideal in this region, and the people are always less than courteous." Mark said playfully. "Yeah, I guess not. So I presume you got the distress broadcast then from Colonel Hollis?" "We were at the sanitarium when I got it. But by that time it was a few days old from my guess." Stan said. "Huh, well how were things there? Is Hollis alive?" Preston asked earnestly. "No, he was executed just as we got there. The pricks even did a radio broadcast announcing it to the immediate area. I think the Gunners still think you're in the area still." Jim said./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Alright then. Well, I guess it's my turn. After Quincy came under siege I and about twenty others managed to sneak through the Gunner's lines and Colonel Hollis stayed behind with a few other men to cover us. He bought us enough time to get to Jamica and set up a small defense. But the Gunners caught up to us and we had to flee to Lexington. I think we managed to lose them after they had to retreat and regroup at Jamica. But when we reached the hideout in Lexington we quickly started to get harassed by the bandit group there ad we were forced to move. Then we came to Concord, there we sat for a few days and we were reduced to five while another group of raiders pinned us at the museum. But then the oddest thing happened. A Vault-Dweller from a vault near here came along and killed most of the raiders harassing us and they even managed to get that suit of power armor to work." Preston said, pointing to the power armor on a rack in the house's garage./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Interesting, where are they now?" Mark asked. "Well, I sent them off to a settlement nearby to see if anyone there needed help. I don't know when they'll be back. But from what I can tell, she's looking for her son. Apparently they were frozen inside the Vault before the War and she was recently unfrozen. She claims that a man kidnapped her son at some point. So she was asking everyone here about it. Pretty strange is you ask me." Preston said as he took a sip of water. "So you're saying this chick is over two hundred years old?" Sarah asked. "Yeah, I guess so. I sent Sturges down into the Vault she came from and he said that there were several cryogenic pods there with dead bodies in them, there was only one open one tough. So I'd say that it's pretty likely she's telling the truth, at least about the pre-War thing." Preston said confidently./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Alright, anyways, I'd like to talk to this Vault-Dweller if I can, but in the meantime I think we should all take a load off for a day or two. Sarah and Manny, I want you two to figure out a way to get the truck to this side of the stream so we can safely repair it. Stan I want you to scan the area for any potential radio signals, and Mark, I want you to come with me and scout the surrounding area. But guys, for the rest of the day just chill, you've earned it." Jim ordered. "Yes sir!" the squad replied as they went off into Sanctuary./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"The smoke of the .50 cal. Turret streamed into the sky as the last shot was fired. The gunner sat in the Humvee watching intently for any other signs of survivors. The man on the ground next to the gunner lowered his rifle and called out to the team, "Good job everyone, it looks like we're in the clear. Sarah, check for any damage to the truck, Manny, reload the machine gun, Stan, check for any radio alerts, Mark, join me and we'll loot these raider assholes." The squad quickly dove into their orders, oping to get away from the sanitarium as fast as they could./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Hey Jim, I found some meds here, where you want them?" Mark called out out his commander. "Just put them in the first aid kit in the trunk of the car. Keep looking for more, people back at base could use it." Jim replied. "All locked and loaded sir!" Manny called out from his swivel mount. "Alright, come down here and help me move these bodies to the side of the road." Jim called back. Manny got down from the turret and exited the vehicle. He started to heave the corpses into the bushes near the road so future passers by wouldn't have to see them. "Truck's ready to go, just some minor shrapnel damage to the passenger side doors, nothing some scrap metal and welder couldn't fix." Sarah called out as she put away her tools. "Great, get ready to drive us out of here." Jim called back as he and Manny tossed the last raider to the bushes. "Mark, what's the loot looking like?" Jim said. "Looks pretty good, mostly meds and ammo, some other odds and ends too." "Alright, Stan, is there any new radio signals?" Jim asked as he got into the passenger seat. Stan sat behind him and he was listening intently into the radio, he held up a finger to Jim as he listened./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"As Mark closed the trunk and got in next to Stan, Stan put down the radio's receiver and he had a grim look on his face. "There's a distress broadcast coming from Quincy. Apparently Colonel Hollis and some of his troops are under siege from some Gunners. The broadcast is a couple days old though, so I don't know what the current situation is there." Stan told Jim. "Alright, Sarah, how fast can we get to Quincy?" "I don't know Jim, I don't want to push the truck too much because the fastest way down there is pretty rough. And we also need to stop and search for fuel at some point too. But my best guess would be a day or so if we don't absolutely book it and damage the truck." Sarah said. Jim thought for a moment and he finally announced to the squad that they would take the cautious route and that they should keep an eye out for any potential fuel sources while on the road. After this they started off Southwards./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After a day of riding along the ruined streets of the Commonwealth the crew finally reached the outskirts of Quincy, having stopped by a derelict Red Rocket gas station to scavenge for fuel on the way. The squad got out of the truck and Jim gathered them into a circle. He brought out a map of the area he had in his collection and he started to explain what they would be doing./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Okay, so I think it would be best to do a night attack, right now it's 1730 hours and night will be coming in about two hours. So, Mark, I want you to go and scout the city, take the anti-material rifle and the high-powered scope with you, don't engage if you don't have to. Also take one of Stan's walkie-talkies and tell us what you see. I'll act as ground support and I'll come in from here," as he pointed to the western side of the town, "Sarah, Manny, and Stan, you theree will stay with the truck and I'll call you in if we are going to attack. Mark, if the gunners have already taken the town, report back here, I don't think we should go in if that's the case." Jim said. The rest of the crew nodded and Mark went out with the rifle and Jim went out and took position to the West of the town./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After a tense half-hour Stan's radio started to crackle and Mark's voice started to come through, "Okay, I'm up on the highway near the town, I see a shitload of Gunners here, maybe twenty or so. Some of them have what looks to be power armor, most are just in fatigues. Hold on..." "Mark, what's going on?" Jim called through his radio. "They're bringing someone out into the town square, I don't know who it is, but they have a Minuteman uniform, a Colonel's!" Mark called back. After a few moments of tense silence Mark started to speak again, "I can confirm that is Colonel Hollis, one of the Gunners in power armor has him on his knees with a piston aimed at him." after a few moments a shot was heard faintly in Quincy and Mark radioed again, "Colonel Hollis is dead. Heading back now."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Dear God" Jim said, he stood in his position for a few moments before he started heading back to the truck. When he got there the others were all gathered around the radio and were listening intently. "What's going on?" Jim asked as he approached the group. "It's a radio broadcast from those cocksuckers in Quincy. It just ended. Basically what they were saying is that the Minutemen are over and that Hollis is dead. And the group of survivors that made it out may have escaped them for now, but that they would be hunted without mercy." Sarah said quickly. Stan quickly shut off the radio and packed up the equipment, almost seeming to tear up as he did. A sense of sadness came over the group as they got back into the truck and they all sat in there in silence as Jim though of what to do next./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After a while Jim finally spoke up, "Does anyone have any idea where the survivors may have gone?" "Well, my best guess is that they would've gone to Jamica Plain. It's easily defensible and easy to flee from too." Sarah said as she started up the truck. The squad drove to Jamica, hoping to find any signs of survivors. But when they got there all they found was the scene of a fierce battle. Several Gunners and a few Minutemen bodies were scattered around and the squad started searching the any sign of the survivors./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After fifteen minuets of searching Stan found a note stuck to the church doors with a knife. He gave the note to Jim and it read:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"emTo any Minuteman that finds this. /em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"emWe have bested the Gunner search party and we are heading out to Lexington. If any Minuteman finds this, please help us./em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"em- Preston Garvey/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Alright, everyone mount up, we're going to Lexington." Jim called out to his crew. They all took their positions and they started out towards Lexington./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"After a week of hard traveling, the squad finally came up on the town of Lexington. Along the way they dealt with various raiders and mutants and they were worn out and ready for rest. The truck was rolling along the broken highway, Sarah taking it slowly along as to not damage the underside from potholes and missing sections of the road./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Hold up here." Jim said as they reached the outskirts of the town. "I think that Corvega Factory has bandits in it, if I remember the profile on this town right. That probably means that there are bandit patrols all around the town. Mark, I and you are going to go in there and see if we can't find Preston and his crew. The rest of you hide the truck and wait for us to return." Jim ordered, the rest of the team nodded and Jim and Mark took SMGs and some ammo and went of towards the town./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"As they were nearing the factory Mark pulled out a pair of binoculars and he looked u to the roof of the factory. "Hold up, I see three, four hostiles up there. It's getting dark soon so I think we should just wait until dark and sneak around." he said. Jim nodded and they hid in the ruins of an old house./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""So what do you think happened to Preston?" Mark said as they both sat down near a broken down wall. "I don't know to be honest. If they fled from here then they will probably go towards Concord and from there I don't know. I just hope we reach them before they do anything drastic. Because with Colonel Hollis dead, it's us and whoever Preston has left making up the Minutemen." Jim said sternly. "Huh, guess that's the truth. So let's say we actually do find them, what do we do from there? You think we can recover?" Mark asked. "Maybe, we'll need a new General, I won't do it because I'm not interested in that job and Preston isn't the type of guy to go for that job. But if we do end up finding a new General, then I guess we would probably have to rebuild the old way, helping individual settlements until they start contributing. One thing I think we should do though is recruit a standing army, and not have a volunteer force. That was our downfall this time." Jim said. They both sat in silence until the sun set and then they headed out./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"The pair sneaked their way around the factory and they entered the town. They crept past as many patrols as they could before they reached what they were looking for, an old Minutemen hideout located in an apartment building in a restored apartment on the top floor. The two en sneaked up the stairs in the building and they reached the top floor, where a long hallway rand across the length of the building. In the middle of it was the hideout and opposite of it was an apartment that had the back and front walls blown out. There was a team of five raiders trying unsuccessfully to break the lock off the door. But they had so far been unsuccessful./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"When the two Minutemen saw the raiders they quickly went prone and they aimed their weapons down the hallway. Jim nodded and they opened fire. Three of the raiders went down in the initial hail of bullets and one was injured. The last one had managed to take cover in the apartment across from the hideout. Mark stood up and ran down the hallway, Jim got up and followed him while reloading his gun. The injured raider cried out to his comrade for help, but Jim quickly shot him down. The two men rounded the corner into the apartment across form the hideout and they saw the last raider trying to break his way into a side room inside the apartment. Mark ran up to the man and tackled him to the ground. After a brief struggle the raider was subdued and Mark had him pinned. Jim came up to the raider and stood him up, the raider at this point was scared beyond his mind and he stuck his hands up./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"Jim aimed his weapon at the raider and with one hand he took the raider's shoulder and backed him up to the edge of the blown out wall. "Alright," Jim said, "you're going to tell me what's going on at the factory." "The boss is set up there, his name is Jared, he mostly pushes chems." the raider blurted out quickly. "Alright, well what's Jared got to pick with this particular apartment then? Some secret jet lab in there?" Jim asked, shaking the man slightly. "Man I don't know, they don't tell me shit!" the raider said frantically. Jim shook the raider over the edge, but not quite letting him fall and he yelled, "Bullshit, you know something and your dumb ass isn't telling me. And either you tell me, or you go over the side of this building. So what's it going to be?" "Alright, fine! We heard that there mighta been some supplies in there we could use to make drugs with. There, ya happy man?" the raider said, practically having a meltdown at this point. "No" Jim said as he pushed the man off the building. The man flew down to the ground, screaming loudly as he did. When he landed a sickening crack was heard, followed shortly by a faint groan./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Damn, that guy's resilient, what's that drop? Six stories?" Mark said as he peered over the edge. "I guess so, there ain't much chance he'll live to morning though." Jim said grimly as he walked over to the door to the hideout. "Looks like a tough lock, can you handle this?" Jim asked Mark, who was walking towards him. "Yeah, I'm a pro at this man." Mark replied as he took out a bobby pin and set to work on the lock. After a few minutes and several bobby pins, Mark finally unlocked the door and he stood up and opened it./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"The apartment was dingy and full of different sorts of trash left behind from both pre and post war residents. In the back of the main room there was a dead Minuteman who looked to have been dead for a couple days to a week. Jim went up to the corpse while Mark searched the rest of the apartment. "I found another note on this guy." Jim called out. "I haven't found anything of value left." Mark called out./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"Jim picked up the note and read it./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"emTo anyone who can help,/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"emWe've been trying to survive here for about a week. Hasn't gone well due to the raider population here. One of my men scouted the next town over, Concord, and he's found a place we can go. If anyone in the Minutemen is reading this, meet me at the Museum of Freedom in Concord./em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"em-Preston Garvey/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"Jim handed the note to Mark and they decided to head back. At this point it was almost light out and when they reached the truck it was morning. Jim passed around the note and the crew mounted up in the truck. They continued around Lexington and got onto the main road to Concord. While they were driving there Jim told the rest of the squad what he thought would happen once they met up with Preston that he'd talked to Mark about./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"The other three agreed with Jim's plans and they continued on in silence. They eventually came upon the small town of Concord and they were met with a bloodbath. There were dead raiders strewn across the main street leading up to the museum and a deathclaw corpse was in the middle of the road. The crew got out except for Manny who stayed vigilant on his turret. Jim, Mark, and Sarah went through the buildings along the main street looking for anything related to the battle that had recently took place here. Stan meanwhile searched the museum and found the remnants of a Minutemen camp in the curator's office. He didn't find much except a note saying that Preston's group had gone a little further north to a place called Sanctuary. Stan relayed what he found to Jim and the squad mounted up and went off towards Sanctuary./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"They eventually came up on the small group of houses, the truck was unable to cross the bridge that bridged the stream to the settlement. Sarah locked the truck and the five went across the bridge. At the end of the bridge they saw a big tower about ten feet high with a sniper's nest on top, but it was currently unmanned. The group crossed the bridge and they went along the road cautiously. They then saw a group of survivors gathered by a yellow house eating lunch but it wasn't long before one of them spotted the squad and the survivors all stood up in surprise./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;"The squad aimed at them, watching for any sudden movements and Jim called out, "Are you guys with Preston Garvey?" "Yeah, they're with me." Preston said as he walked out of the yellow house. The squad lowered their weapons in relief and the group of survivors relaxed as well. "Is that you Jim?" Preston called out. "Yeah, it's me. We followed the paper trail you left from Jamica." Jim called out as the squad walked towards the group. "Well then, it's good to see I ain't the only one left then!" Preston said as he shook Jim's hand. The squad sat down and they were given some food by the survivors. "You must've had a tough trip up here." Preston said as he sat down with the squad. "Damn right we did." Sarah said as she raised a spoonful of soup to her mouth. "Yeah, as you know the roads aren't ideal in this region, and the people are always less than courteous." Mark said playfully. "Yeah, I guess not. So I presume you got the distress broadcast then from Colonel Hollis?" "We were at the sanitarium when I got it. But by that time it was a few days old from my guess." Stan said. "Huh, well how were things there? Is Hollis alive?" Preston asked earnestly. "No, he was executed just as we got there. The pricks even did a radio broadcast announcing it to the immediate area. I think the Gunners still think you're in the area still." Jim said./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Alright then. Well, I guess it's my turn. After Quincy came under siege I and about twenty others managed to sneak through the Gunner's lines and Colonel Hollis stayed behind with a few other men to cover us. He bought us enough time to get to Jamica and set up a small defense. But the Gunners caught up to us and we had to flee to Lexington. I think we managed to lose them after they had to retreat and regroup at Jamica. But when we reached the hideout in Lexington we quickly started to get harassed by the bandit group there ad we were forced to move. Then we came to Concord, there we sat for a few days and we were reduced to five while another group of raiders pinned us at the museum. But then the oddest thing happened. A Vault-Dweller from a vault near here came along and killed most of the raiders harassing us and they even managed to get that suit of power armor to work." Preston said, pointing to the power armor on a rack in the house's garage./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Interesting, where are they now?" Mark asked. "Well, I sent them off to a settlement nearby to see if anyone there needed help. I don't know when they'll be back. But from what I can tell, she's looking for her son. Apparently they were frozen inside the Vault before the War and she was recently unfrozen. She claims that a man kidnapped her son at some point. So she was asking everyone here about it. Pretty strange is you ask me." Preston said as he took a sip of water. "So you're saying this chick is over two hundred years old?" Sarah asked. "Yeah, I guess so. I sent Sturges down into the Vault she came from and he said that there were several cryogenic pods there with dead bodies in them, there was only one open one tough. So I'd say that it's pretty likely she's telling the truth, at least about the pre-War thing." Preston said confidently./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%;""Alright, anyways, I'd like to talk to this Vault-Dweller if I can, but in the meantime I think we should all take a load off for a day or two. Sarah and Manny, I want you two to figure out a way to get the truck to this side of the stream so we can safely repair it. Stan I want you to scan the area for any potential radio signals, and Mark, I want you to come with me and scout the surrounding area. But guys, for the rest of the day just chill, you've earned it." Jim ordered. "Yes sir!" the squad replied as they went off into Sanctuary./p