This is a one-shot with criticism accepted.

Diamond City was called the green jewel for a reason, seeing as how much money traveled through there. Even though the money was no longer green, more caps came to be spent here than anywhere in the Commonwealth, and a business the caps run through is called Publick Occurrences, the local newspaper.

The Minuteman General, known to a few as Nate, passed through here often between journeys to other settlements. As of late, the Publick had received a boost in sales, but it leveled out to that sale level eventually. The paper was still popular, and it was known for speaking the truth, unlike many sources this day of age.

However, when Nate walked through the door into the city, he was greeted with a line a mile long. The Publick had found a breaking news story, it seems. As he struggled to get through, he was approached by the Diamond City Security force. "Sir, we've been asked to escort you through. Ms. Wright would like to speak with you."

It seemed unusual that Piper would pay for an escort, seeing as she was quite the penny-pincher. But, he went along and got the fast way through the line. When he got inside, he was met with an unusual group of people. Piper, Nick Valentine, Elder Maxson, Deacon, and Geneva were all waiting for him, looking up from the newspaper of the day.

"Hey, Blue!" Piper exclaimed. "Glad you made it through the line! I'm rollin' in the caps, right now! But seriously, we got a problem, and it's why I have so much business. If this story was meat, it would be known as "Bloody Mess." That was a bit unsettling, seeing as Bloody Mess could have two meanings.

"It's about the raider gangs," Nick began, "and they aren't being trouble, it's just they want protection. Someone's been killing the leaders of all the gangs, and, well, you might wanna see what happens. I'll tell ya now though, it ain't a pretty picture in an art gallery."

As Nate walked out the back entrance, apparently there was a back entrance now, he was led outside the Wall, and escorted to the local raider hangout. But there were no raiders inside, just the feeling of fear and hurried departure. "It's upstairs," Nick spoke suddenly. As he went upstairs, he was met with a chilly sight, pun intended. There, with Pipe Rifle in hand, was the gang leader, but made completely out of ice.

"What even IS that thing?! It looks like a Sci-Fi movie from the eighties!" Nate exclaimed in a nauseated state of being. The former leader looked panicked, as if woken only moments before. There was a definite look of the unknown on his face, and screaming in pain, almost.

"We had a Doc examine him, and he has a puncture wound on his back, where it severed his spinal cord, and apparently whatever did it was a sharp point. I've seen the Cryolator, and that freezes something, but then it thaws once it dies. This guy hasn't changed a bit in three days. There was also a note left on a holotape." Said Nick whilst handing him the tape. "We haven't listened to it, so there's no time like the present."

As Nate pops the tape into his Pip-Boy 3000, silence first reigns supreme. Then, a voice begins to speak. "Il fut un temps où un homme serait chevaleresque envers l'humanité . Il semble maintenant que la chevalerie , et de la Terre , est mort par l'humanité . Ces attaques cesseront quand les pillards ont arrêté leur pillage ." The tape ends there.

The room becomes quiet and still, almost as if they were the ones turned to ice. "Anyone know French?" Deacon asks as he breaks the silence. A moment of laughter echoes through the ruin. Then, as if on its own, the Pip-Boy 3000 started playing Diamond City Radio, where a distress call sounded. "We're being held hostage! I repeat! We're being held hostage! Once more, we're being held hosta-" The signal cuts out.

"I should have put some knights on patrol!" Screams Maxson. "We have to get back there! NOW!" As the group sprints back through the back door, Nate can't help as though he's heard a distress call on Diamond City Radio before…

Meanwhile, in the space between worlds…

Back in the Fallout universe…

"HAND IN THE AIR AND CAPS IN A PILE! OR I SWEAR, I'LL SHOOT YOU SO HARD YOUR REMAINS'LL BE SHOT BACK IN TIME!" The attacker shouted, whilst holding a spinning mini-gun barrel at the line of people waiting for a copy of the Publick. He was high something fierce. Nate guessed Jet and Psycho.

He pulled out a sniper rifle as quietly and discreetly as he could. As he took aim however, he noticed something. As the sniper dot was aimed by the attacker, (he had a different feeling about scope dots as well.) the dot, instead of being highlighted on a distant wall, it was much closer. As a silent cloud of smoke appeared, a man in red came into view.

"HEY! YOU, SNIPER! TOSS THE RIFLE AND YOUR CAPS!" Screamed the attacker while aiming the barrel at him. As he did so with the rifle, and before the caps, the red man raised a…plastic icicle (?), and plunged it into the man's back. When the knife made contact, however, the attacker screamed as he was turned into a solid ice statue, his scream of agony cut short.

And then Nate knew who the attacker was. The icicle somehow could turn people into ice. The previously alive attacker fell forward with a clunk and the man disappeared once more. However, a holotape was on the ground. He popped it in, and it clearly said, "As much as I hate raiders, I hate terrorists even more. But don't expect to hear from the Gunners anytime soon."

Silence was thick once more. "Who wants to get drunk and forget about this?" Asked Geneva. Slowly every hand in Diamond City was raised. "VADIM! Moonshine, pronto. Put it on my tab!"

Check my profile for the Wingdings translator.