Chapter 1

What was with that civilian? Always so full of snark, he thought.

And now, he was given orders by his comrade, his friend, to search for an unexplained radio frequency near Salem. With Piper Wright. Sigh.

"I need you and Piper to check out this radio frequency. It won't take long, it's just near Starlight Drive-in."

And now we were walking all over, searching for the frequency.
"Think you can make more noise, soldier boy?"
"I am sorry, I do not mean to make this much noise, civilian."

Mole rats came up.
Pulling out my laser rifle, I took aim and shot as many as I could. Piper shot a few, but barely got their legs. Afterwards, I took their meat. Taking out my knife, I gutted them, pulling off small chunks of meat to put into a tin I kept.
"Are you ok, Piper?"

"Yeah, I'm good, just got bitten when we were fighting.."
"I would like to use a stimpak on you."
"Ok…?"

And so I put one stimpak needle into her arm. Did the trick.
"So, fight any of these before, Danse?", she asked.

"Yes, I have fought many in the Capital Wasteland before. We even found a tame one in an area referred to as the Jury Street Metro Station."

"Woah, that sounds strange. I've heard of tame mole rats everywhere, but never seen one before."
"It was quite… adorable. We were allowed to keep it at the Citadel, to be able to raise it and attempt to breed more domesticated mole rats."

"Oh, Danse, by the way… this Capitol Wasteland you come from, what is it like?"
"In all honesty, it used to be horrible. Inhospitable to anyone living there. A barren and incinerated desert. If you were not made into a decoration by drug-ridden raiders, you would have been torn apart by the wildlife or broken down by a super mutant. It was a horrible place… but after a certain prestigious wastelander came along, things got better. The threats went away slowly, settlements began to thrive, and many were happy."

"Wow. That's nice. Glad to hear those problems are getting solved."

"As am I.

Distracted by our conversation, we didn't even notice the footsteps until it was too late and the raiders began shooting. I easily shot down the ones on my flank, but Piper was getting shot at and hurt… and now she's reloading. Without any thinking, I made a mad dash towards the raiders, knocking them over like pre-war bowling pins.
This allowed Piper to reload without getting too hurt. She then proceeded to put the raiders out of their misery. Putting her pistol against their heads, she pulled the trigger on the three of them, one at a time.

"Wow, soldier boy, didn't think you had it in you…"

"Had it in me to do what?"

"Come rushing to my aid, like a knight in shining armor."

"Just doing my job, civilian."

"You seem a bit roughed up around the face. Here, have something sweet to take your mind off the pain".

[Nuka Cola added to inventory]

"Thank you, Piper. I will treasure it always."

"Hah, no, you don't have to do that, just drink it!"

"Thank you, Piper.

As I chugged down the nuka cola, I realized I felt so… elated. I could not see why.

"Are you ok, Danse? Your face is turning red. You're not sick, are you?"

"Erm, no, of course not. Never better."

"Ok…? Anywho, it's awhile away from here, but I'd like to take you to my office in Diamond City. I want to have an interview with you. There's a lot I have realized during this one fight, and I realized this: I do not know you very well, but I would like to interview a Brotherhood member who came from the Capital Wasteland. So, what do ya say?"

"I thank you for the offer, and I accept this interview. I will do my best to give the Brotherhood a good name."