War. War never changes.
The end of the world occurred much as many had known it would. In the 21st century, the world was quickly spiraling out of control. Resources scarcities the world over encouraged wars between old governments. They fought with machines and spilt each others blood, and each new advancement in technology and every victory offered their countries renewed hope. Thought it was all for naught, as the spoils of war just funded the next, and the next, until the world could spiral around no longer.
In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, this world reached its peak and could sustain itself no longer. In two short hours, much of the planet was reduced to glowing embers, and the Earth was nearly cleansed of human life. A great fire, lit by an atomic spark struck by human hands, quickly raged out of control. Spears of nuclear rage rained from the heavens themselves. Entire continents were engulfed in the fires brighter than a thousand suns, and the oceans themselves roiled in the death throes of a burning planet.
A unquiet darkness blanketed the planet, lasting many years.
But humanity is stubborn, clinging to existence with all the strength it had left in it. So against the highest odds, despite what everyone thought, mankind would live on. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue for the next gruesome chapter in humanity's long and bloody history. For while man had succeeded in destroying the old world, the traditions held true to this next, and the killing would continue.
In these early days, thousands were spared from the fresh new horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground fallout shelters, known as vaults. When the doors opened, if they did at all, their inhabitants had only the cold hell of the wasteland to welcome them back to the surface. Then, with staunch resolve and determination, they set across the country to reclaim what once was lost. Many became savages and drug addicts, using the wasteland and its inhabitants for their own gain. The rest formed tribes, then towns and communities, realizing that there was power in numbers. Then as it once was, it shall be again, as these newly formed nations rose from old world ashes with vast armies to set out across the land and reap its resources.
And as the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion still squabbled in the west over another prize taken from them, a new nation was forming to the east. But unlike the others, this new phoenix rose not from the ashes of a long dead world, but from the spark of this new. Heralded in by one man of worlds and generations past, he can and will shape it how it was always meant to be. He is not some old world politician, or a scientist, or a zealot, but a humble soldier of a bygone era. Leading a faction that he returned from the brink of extinction, their sole purpose is to what all the others fail to do, protect the people. Not covet technology or progress scientific process without morals, or even spread civilization like others purport to do.
But if there's one thing that everyone in the former Commonwealth of Massachusetts know, it's that a dawn of a new era is upon them. They are about to witness the beginning of yet another chapter in history, some whether they like it or not, and it is guaranteed to change the face of this new world as they know it.
And War. War never changes.
-===(o|o)===-
Chapter 1: Rebirth
One press. One press of a button, and the world shook once more. Everything the Institute had stood for, the fear, the paranoia of your friends and family turning on you, all gone in one big cloud of radiation and ashes. Nobody into their wildest dreams could have imagined such a fantastic gift. Not a year before now, entire settlements cowered in fear at the mention of their name, and the lack of hope in the future, and in themselves was astounding. Now though, even with the debris thrown from the blast obscuring their vision, they could finally see clearly.
And everyone knew none of this was possible without the work of one man, the man who had possibly lost more than anyone out on this God-forsaken husk of a planet. Nate, he was the General of the Minutemen, a former Sentinel of the Brotherhood of Steel, and the Father of the man whom he had just killed by his own hand. By pressing that button, he had just killed his own son, and all that his flesh and blood had strived to create. He looked as beaten as one man could be. Staring at the freshly smoldering crater with guilt, and possibly something akin to acceptance.
Sure, his son probably would have only survived another week, two at the most, but that didn't make it any easier on the General to incinerate him in the resulting explosion. His only consolation was that his child felt no pain, and was put out of any misery he was in at the time. It was as quick and clean as the first time the atomic fire had graced these lands.
His reprieve was interrupted by a breathy exclamation from Preston Garvey, "Holy Shit, that was one hell of a bang, wasn't it?" Nate just stared at him in response, eyes still glazed over, seeing him but not at the same time. Slightly unnerved, Preston continued "So that's it. The Institute is destroyed. It's finally over." Nate just nodded once slowly in response, as if asking it was real, then nodded twice again as he was finally spurred from his thoughts. "General..." Continued Preston, "You did issue the evacuation order right? I didn't notice in all the chaos."
Finally back to the real world, Nate shot a glare at Preston, looking personally affronted that someone would ever insinuate he would leave men, women, and children down there to perish. He finally spoke for the first time after the relay, "Of course Preston, everyone who wanted to or found a way to leave got out when they could. I'm sure some were still in there though, panicked in a corner or something. We saved those we could." The General finished resolutely, eyes still shining in the night.
Preston, looking abashed that his General had almost called him out on his tone, stated "Oh, of course. Good, I had thought so, just... Looking at that explosion... I hope enough people got away." Kicking the ground once in frustration he continued, "I hate that we had to do that, but they left us no choice. It was war." Preston turned to the General with reverence, "But now the war against the Institute is over, thanks to you."
Nate glanced back at the smoldering center once more. "Your right Preston, it was war. We might not have wished to do that, but our motto had prevented inaction. 'Protect the people at a moment's notice' remember? We couldn't just sit idly by as the Institute caused the downfall of the rest of the Commonwealth. They almost kicked off a civil war due to it." Nate paused for a moment to look at the other two Minutemen, and then cast his steely gaze toward the rest of the wastes. "Plus now, for the first time in history, the Commonwealth has the chance to build something great. They may finally unite, and the Minutemen must be there to make sure it all runs smoothly. We will promote cooperation, for the promise of a better tomorrow, even if I have to personally drag the rest of Commonwealth from out of the ruins of the 21st century by their ears to do so."
Preston grinned widely, and even the Minutemen had a few chuckles. "I couldn't have said it better myself. And you may have to do just that, General, Diamond City and Bunker Hill are sure to give you loads of headaches." Nate just looked at him and groaned exaggeratedly. "Kessler and Ann Codman are going to drive me crazy and back if I have to talk to, or even look at them, for too long" He then proceeded to pull out a pair of brass knuckles out of one of his many pockets before cracking his fingers as he looked at them thoughtfully. "At least I can always resort to my excellent people skills in time of such need" he said before slipping them back in his pack at his hip. He even patted the pocket they were in almost fondly, as if remembering some of the better times he had with them.
Noticing such an action had a sobering effect on Preston, even if it was not the purpose of the byplay they were sharing. "Not everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows from here on out either. Sure it will be much better, not slighting on what we have accomplished today, but there are still many other problems. One such problem is the Gunners holed up in the Quincy ruins" Preston spat out that last part with distaste, "and the hordes of Ghouls and Supermutants that constantly threaten our settlements. They must be dealt with to have a truly united Commonwealth."
"Naturally" The General said, " but we must also wait a while. We may not have had many losses, but we did lose people. Wait for the word to get out of our deeds here, and have Radio Freedom broadcasting our story every other chance we get. We must spin this story in our favor as much as we can, it will be a massive boon if we do this correctly." The General paused for a moment, absently rubbing his stubble in thought. "We also should reach out to my good friend Travis. He has a much larger fan base now he's actually decent at his job, and that radio of his can reach every corner of the 'Wealth. Can't forget about Publik Occurrences either, Piper would have my head if I don't give her an exclusive interview to write on." He smiled fondly, knowing she'd be bouncing up and down in anticipation for the biggest scoop of her career. (Preston just smirked knowingly at the General) "After we get them to report on the biggest news for the last 200 years, we should be flooded with new recruits and opportunities. Then we can begin planning any major campaign or projects and such." The General clapped once in finality and smiled wirily "For now though, how's about we get off this roof? I think I've seen enough of nuclear craters to last the rest of my years."
"Of course General." Preston smiled good-naturedly, "Sadly, it appears we might just have to take the normal way down. The Institute may have been evil megalomaniacs, but they sure knew how to make life easier for themselves. The teleporter would have been a very useful tool. Plus, now we have to explain ourselves to the Brotherhood lackeys still down there in the Mass Fusion building."
"Hmm... You just let me handle the Brotherhood. I am still a paladin you know, if not an official one. Just don't let them know too much about what has occurred today, until we find out just how we're going to play this trump card of ours..." The General trailed off in his musing, before he snapped to attention. Barking out a quick, "Fall in Step men, let's show these power armored brutes what a real battle hardened fighting force looks like." The General strode his way to the door, chin held high and confident. If there was one thing they taught you in the military, Nate thought wirily, it was how to walk like your important.
Scrambling behind him, nthe other two Minutemen fumbled with their guns, caught of guard by the order. Preston just slid over to his right hand side, used to this type of quick change in behavior, and better matching his walk then the other two. They filed into the extra large elevator two by two, and rode for a bit in relative silence.
"I do have to make a short pit stop, so don't wait up for me. Walk out the door and head straight to the Castle, I'll catch up. Also, don't get stopped by any of those Brotherhood for an extended period of time, they don't hesitate to detain you if you even look to have valuable Intel, and I don't want us explaining ourselves to them"
Finally reaching the bottom, the Brotherhood guard tensed up, before recognizing the Minutemen outfits and the General. They still kept a firm grip on their weapons, though they did lower them. The General broke off to the right, disappearing into the depths of the building, and a soft *ding* of an elevator was heard. The other three continued towards the exit. One of the Knights currently out of his armor took a step forward half-threateningly and opened his mouth to say something, but the small troop of three Minutemen just brushed by him, not even breaking their stride or glancing at him. The small troop, minus the General, continued onto the road and held up for another minute there to get their bearings, before setting off on a south-easternly course.
The General had finally caught up to them another minute after that, grinning like a loon. The Minutemen slowed a bit, to afford him a chance to explain himself, and give a slight respite from the pace they had set. He walked up, looking at all the men around him, still wearing that stupid grin, before he exploded into laughter. The others just looked at each other incredulously, wondering if all the pressure finally broke their beloved General. He wiped the tears from his eyes after another fit of giggles, and looked at each of them before asking "What did you do to those poor Brotherhood members back there?"
The men just looked at each other and shrugged.
"Well I'll have you know, from the few faces I saw there, you really made an impression. One of the knights I passed looked like he just bit into a rotten tato, and the others along the walls all had the best fish impressions I had ever seen. They just looked at each other back and forth, with their mouths hanging open wide enough to catch a bloatfly, easily!" Nate lost it in another fit of booming laughter this time, for another long minute. Before finally he gained control of himself again. Looking at the three other men completely straight-faced, he reached into one of his many pockets and withdrew a handful of bottlecaps, before dealing out twenty to each of them. He then enthusiastically shook each of their hands, repeating "thank you" over and over again as he went down the small line. He finally straightened up one last time, before smiling once more as he shook his head. "priceless" he said, still shaking his head in mirth, before he just continued down the path, whistling merrily as he went.
The Minutemen and Preston just stood there still, twenty shining caps in each of their left hands, and their rights still outstretched. They just all glanced at each other, before all turning as one to look at their retreating figure of the General, still whistling merrily along as he passed down the other side of a rubble heap. Pocketing the caps, they shared one last incredulous look with one another, before Preston finally put to voice what they were all thinking. "Our General is a VERY, very strange man" he said with finality. The other just nodded with smiles on their faces, before a massive mushroom cloud rose with a loud boom and bright flash on the other side of the hill their General just disappeared over not a second ago. Preston could have SWORN that he heard a whoop of laughter coming from that direction too, but fearing another firefight he dismissed it as more strange noises from the buildings surrounding them, and took off with the other two Minutemen hot on his heels. After all, they had to be ready to defend anyone at a moment's notice.
Hey, you made it to the end of the chapter, good on you! I hope you enjoyed this first installment of 'The Rebirth', and hope you'll come back to see the next chapter too. I am planning to make them longer, about 2,500 words each is the goal. Hoping to post the next chapter sometime soon, but who knows? Life has a habit of getting in the way of all your plans like that. Fallout is just plain distracting, what can I say. Thanks for reading!
And for the sake of keeping everything nice that I own, here's the disclaimer. I do not own anything, or make money off of anything Bethesda. They own the Fallout franchise, and my soul. This applies to the entire story, so it won't be repeated each chapter. Thanks!
