Prologue: The Minutemen. Once, a force to be reckoned with. Then, the desperation. Under the lead of Preston Garvey, the Minutemen spent four years on a chaotic downward slope. That was, until the arrival of Andrew Nation, a citizen from the ghoulish settlement of Goodneighbor. Andrew quickly rose through the ranks, recruiting soldiers, winning battles, and even getting a promotion to Captain, beforel finally meeting Preston himself.
"General Garvey," The young prodigy saluted.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Is it true you're resigning?"
"Off the record? Yes. Captain Shaw will be your new General."
"Ronnie? But she never leaves the Castle, not even for supplies," Andrew said, a tad bit jealous of Ronnie Shaw.
"I know, Captain. That's why you'll be leading a small army to Sanctuary Hills, a settlement north of Concord. When I first became General, I set up base there. Our team got overran, and we had to retreat back to the Castle. If we plan on doing any good in the Commonwealth, we'll need more bases of operations, and Sanctuary could very well be the best one out there."
"And you want me to command it?" Andrew asked.
"Yes," Garvey replied, "I'll join you there shortly after you take it, but the glory will be yours, as well as command over all base operations. You leave immediately."
That's exactly what Andrew did. He took a small army to Sanctuary, cleared out all hostile life, and set up a small settlement. General Garvey, however, never joined them. Years passed, and Andrew, now in his late 20's, led a thriving Sanctuary. The now city was full of shantytown huts climbing the roofs of the old houses, with bars, infirmeries, hospitals, and barracks lining the streets. The only untapped part of land was the vault, Vault 111. One day, Andrew thought to change that.
"Keller. I want you to gather a research and response team. It's time to open the vault," Andrew ordered one day to his second in command, Dustin Keller.
"Aye aye Captain. Meet here or there?" Keller asked.
"There," Andrew responded, grabbing his coat and revolver. Andrew strode through the bustling city of Sanctuary. He waved hi to the Abernathy's, who owned a farm across the river, but the daughter lived and worked in a shop in town. He watched as Trudy served her usual customers at lunch, and briefly wondered what would have happened if he hadn't ran across her diner on his way to conquer Sanctuary. He strode up the hill to the vault where Keller was waiting with the R/R team.
"So, Keller, how's this for your last mission before reassignment to the Castle?" Andrew asked with a grin.
Keller chuckled, "Just makes me wonder if I'll end up like Ronnie and miss out on all this fun you have."
Andrew laughed and turned to the leader of the R/R team, Lieutenant Hardin, "Can you get the door open?"
"Yes sir. It's already been unsealed, just say the word and we're on our way down."
Andrew nodded at the woman working the vault controls, and the team was lowered into the depths of Vault 111. "Hardin. Any signs of life?" Andrew asked.
"Yes sir, there's quite a few faint heat signatures down the main hallway," Hardin responded.
"Well then, lead the way." The team ran into a door that didn't want to budge, but after a little manpower, they got it up. They strode into a room full of chambers. Everyone glanced inside to get a glimpse of what was inside, but no one could tell.
"Hardin? This is where they are right?" Andrew asked.
"Yes sir. I'd be careful. Vault-Tec is unpredictable to say the least," Hardin responded.
Andrew stopped in front of a chamber and could've swore he saw a face. He glanced at a red switch next to the cell, and pulled it. Cryogenic stasis: Disabled
"Captain?" Keller asked, "What did you do?" The chambers began to open up slightly, and everyone palmed their weapons, in case of the worst. The door in front of Andrew busted open, and a woman fell into his arms, crying.
"Nathan! Nathan! Where's Nathan!" She yelled.
"Zoe?" A voice came from behind Andrew, "Zoe, baby I'm right here."
"Shaun?" The woman asked. The wailing of a baby could be heard, and this seemed to calm the woman's nerves. Keller went to talk to the man, Nathan, so Andrew decided to see if he could get some answers out of this, Zoe.
"Ma'am? Hi, my name is Andrew," He introduced.
"Andrew, what happened? The doctor told us we were going to be decontaminated after the bombs dropped, but then it got cold."
After the bombs dropped? "The bombs?" Andrew asked, confused.
"Yes, the bombs. They dropped like, five minutes ago, do you live under a rock?" Zoe replied.
"Zoe, can I call you Zoe?" He asked, receiving a nod in return, "The bombs dropped a little over 210 years ago."