Boston, Massachusetts

11/7/2287

"Shit, shit sh-"

The wind howls past as Roxanna flails, tossing and tumbling through the air struggling to right herself. The alarms in her helmet blare and the heads up display flickers with red warning lights, above her the Prydwen sat motionless.

She manages to right herself just in time for the ground to rush towards her and everything goes dark with a loud thud, a cloud of sand settling around her.

Roxanna wakes slowly to the warbling alarm of a rapidly depleting fusion core. She winces when she feels the medical pump in her chest plate jab her with a fresh dose from her supply of Stimpaks. Focusing on the faceplate, all she could see was black.

"Shit." She mutters, painfully.

Her armor shudders suddenly. She looks around her heads up display in confusion as it shudders again, the blank faceplate begins to fall away to light as dirt spills off of her.

"Wh—whoa!" Her eyes focus just in time to watch the legs of a Super Mutant flex as he lifts her off of the ground.

Scrambling for the .44 Magnum magnetically clipped to her thigh plate, she brushes the grip before the Mutant bellows and throws her several feet. She lands in the sand with a thud, spinning and skidding to a stop on her stomach.

Her helmet warbles another alarm, the now depleted core ejects with a pop and the armor goes dark. Sliding her hand free of her glove, she triggers the release as the armor hisses and opens.

The Mutant growls at her, swinging its hammer in a devastating downward angle. Rolling free of her armor, she snatches the .44 from her thigh as the hammer bashes the inside of the armor's chest plate.

Rolling onto one knee, Roxanna snaps back the hammer and levels the revolver. The round ejects with a crack of thunder, striking the Mutant in the neck, it howls as it swings blindly in her direction.

Ducking the swing, she rolls between its legs to her feet, leaping onto its back she wraps one arm around its neck and one of her legs around the inside of its thigh, kicking out one of its powerful knees with the other.

Roxanna gasps as the massive Super Mutant falls on top of her in the sand, forcing the air from her lungs. The Mutant flails for her arm, locked tightly around its throat, growling and spitting.

She jams the barrel of the revolver in its mouth and pulls the trigger.

The bullet explodes out of the top of the Mutant's head, narrowly missing her own face, spraying her with brain and blood. It goes limp on top of her and she lays there for a moment, panting.

Grunting, Roxanna slowly worms her way through the sand out from under the hulking dead weight of the Super Mutant, getting to her feet and brushing the sand from her jumpsuit.

Brushing the dark, blood soaked hair from her cheeks, she looks up at the Prydwen hanging motionless above her. The waves lap against the shore as she stares down at the holotags in her hand.

Paladin Roxanna Cole

Serial Number: 11-77-X

Blood Type: O-Negative

She runs her fingers over the etched symbols. The Wings, the Cogs, and the Sword. She looks from the tags to the Prydwen, she grunts ripping the chain from her neck. Turning to the sea, she tosses the tags into the air watching them arc out of sight and splash into the sea.

She kneels and picks up her .44, popping the drum she counts the spent rounds, gives it a spin and slap it back into place with a flick of her wrist.

Roxanna turns her back to the massive airship and starts walking down the beach.