DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE FALLOUT GAMES
From the Imaginative Mind of Pinoy Gamer
In collaboration with [Enter Text Here] Productions
Presents...
The Commonwealth's Rebrith
SUMMARY: The one holding Shaun wasn't killed by Kellog when the Institute raided Vault 111 but was rather knocked out by him. Now, after getting out of the damn cryogenic pods, Nate and Nora Adams swore vengeance to whoever kidnapped their son...problem is, they have to create a home base first, recruit people to join a militia they suddenly became leaders too, fight mutated creatures and all manifestations of men's evil, and survive the harsh Commonwealth Wasteland all the while looking for Shaun. Well...it was better than being stuck in a pod.
Chapter 2: First Steps
[October 23, 2287]
Nate and Nora Adams just stared at the radstag (a two-headed mutated deer in the Commonwealth Wasteland) stew in front of them before looking back at Codsworth. "Are…are you sure this is edible?" Nora asked suspiciously, poking the stew with a fork.
The Adams couple were inside the garage of what Codsworth called the 'Central House' (in reality, it was Sanctuary's model house that salespeople would show to potential buyers) along with everyone else. Prior to their release from the pods, Sanctuary was apparently converted into a settlement by a group of travelers lead by a Mr. Arthur. Codsworth allowed these people to settle inside Sanctuary just for the sake of having company, a good move in the long run because these settlers built power generators, a large water purifier, and some downed turrets that the Adams and company were making use of.
"Of course, mum!" Codsworth proudly stated. "Mrs. Donald taught me every fine detail to cooking the 'wasteland meals' and with my programming, I can assure you these meals are made to the perfection!"
Roger Warwick, who was sitting at the garage's end, mockingly asked "What, never tasted radstag before?"
Nate gave him a glare. "Yes." Nate retorted back, surprising everyone save Preston. "For your information, my wife and I were forced to join a Vault-Tec experiment regarding what happens to people when they were frozen for a long period of time. So forgive us for not knowing the ways of the wasteland."
Everyone just stared at them (though the couple were still eyeing the bowl suspiciously) when Duke asked "Vault-Tec? You mean those guys who built underground fallout shelters for pre-war people?"
When Nora nodded, Zeke whistled. "Damn…so the rumors are true."
This got Nate's attention, along with everyone else. "What rumors?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.
Zeke shrugged. "Well, according to some traders coming from the Capital Wasteland, Vault-Tec created two sets of vaults: one set were fallout shelters for people to survive in while another set were for experiments, ranging from scientific to cultural." Zeke revealed, garnering a gasp from Nora.
"Are…are you telling me some vaults…were created for experiments?" Nora asked, shocked by the information along with everyone else.
Zeke grimly nodded. "Yeah, and according to the traders, one of these vaults resulted in creating the Capital Super Mutants." the Atom Cats leader recalled, getting a gasp from everyone (save the couple, who didn't know what a Super Mutant was).
"Super Mutants are…huge hulking beast with little to no intelligence and have a tongue for human meat," Preston informed the Adams, adding "much like that pre-War super hero they called…Hulk, I think?"
Getting a picture, the two shuddered while June Warwick, Roger's wife, asked "So these Vaults were created for experiments?"
Zeke nodded before adding "According to the trader, that is. Though I did met a dude who claimed he was from the Capital. Said this 'Lone Wanderer' – some girl who came from a vault and accidentally became its savior – discovered the real reason Super Mutants capture humans. Turns out, Super Mutants were once humans only to be infected by virus."
Everyone shuddered at the implication. "Are you saying…that there's probably a Vault out here that's creating super mutant?" Roger asked fearfully.
"Dunno man, I just hope those Suppies die out already!" Zeke exclaimed. "They're some tough sons of bitches, mind you!"
"Hold up," Nora cut angrily, raising her hands. "Can we go back to the topic at hand: are these things edible or not?"
Sturges, who was now in starting his second bowl, just grinned at her. "Of course, we're eating it!" he exclaimed happily.
Nora just face palmed. "I mean, will we get any radiation poisoning from eating it?"
Rowdy, another Atom Cats member, shook her head. "Nope." she stated, munching on the meat. "Well…probably but it's small enough for your body to resist."
This, however, freaked the two out. "We'll get radiation poisoning from this?" Nate exclaimed fearfully, now staring at the bowl in a scared manner.
Sturges just laughed as he set his bowl down. "Pal, everything you eat out here is filled with very tiny amount of rads. It won't kill you but it is there."
The two still stared at the bowl as if it was a bomb until Preston produced two bottles of Nuka Cola. "Here," he offered, giving it to them. "If you're afraid of the taste, these will remove it."
Slowly – but surely – Nate took a small bite from it, expecting the meat to taste like rubber. Instead, he got nothing and it felt like he was just chewing something without taste. "What's the taste supposed to be, anyway?" he asked tentatively.
"Uh…radstag meat, I guess?" Bluejay, another Atom Cats member, offered.
Nate swallowed, still not tasting anything before drinking some Nuka Cola, waiting for its cherry taste to hit his throat. Instead, he got nothing but liquid running down his throat. "It's official, I can't taste anything."
Nora then tried it, tasting nothing as well. "You sure you added seasoning to this Codsworth?" she asked, turning to her Mr. Handy.
"Of course mum!" he exclaimed proudly. "I even added some seasoning I harvested myself."
"You guys are probably experiencing some side effects from being frozen for 210 years." Roger guessed, getting weird looks from the others. "What? Never tried putting ice on your tongue and then eating afterwards?"
Sturges understood what he was trying to say. "That's probably what you guys are experiencing," the Minutemen's engineer added. "Being frozen for a long time could probably do just that."
With that, Nora and Nate groaned – and much to everyone's amusement – finished their bowl quickly.
"Got to admit," Nate began as he pushed his away. "Never thought I'll eat a radiated deer for dinner."
Nora just glared at him. "Don't remind me Nate!" she begged as she swallowed her last. "I'm imagining I'm eating that stew back in Anchorage and not mutated creatures!"
Suddenly, the two found their bowl being refilled by Codsworth. The two just stared at him in horror as Codsworth happily hummed all the way while refilling their bowls. "Codsworth…" Nate asked slowly, staring in shock at the robot. "Why?"
"Because a bowl of radstag stew is not enough to compensate for 229,950 missed meals." Codsworth said with finality. "Three of these should be enough to get you two back to shape!"
Everyone burst with laughter as they saw the looks on the couple's faces. "Ya know," Zeke quipped loudly, getting everyone's attention. "I have a good feeling about this group and its new settlement."
Nate raised his cola. "Amen to that, brother!" he shouted, everyone following afterwards (even a still-disgusted Nora raised her glass just for the sake of it) before the two began – reluctantly – digging into their bowls of stews.
"If I may say," Codsworth announced, once Nate and Nora finished their third – and final (much to the two's relief) - bowl. "The former settlers built a few beds inside the house along with sleeping bags, although they can only allow 15 people to sleep on."
"I'll take the first watch then," Preston offered, standing up. "I'm still good for the next few hours."
"You sure? You could use some rest, Preston." Nora asked skeptically. When Preston reassured her, she sighed. "Alright…but take Codsworth with you. He can show you the places that need to be patched up."
"Proud to serve mum!" the Mr. Handy said proudly, saluting.
Turning to the Minutemen Engineer, she asked "Sturges, are the turrets up?"
The engineer nodded. "I already inputted some coding to the turrets to distinguish friend and foe, thanks to a computer near them."
"I'll take the second watch." Bluejay offered before pointing at Duke. "He'll take third."
As Duke stood up to argue (since he didn't want to take watch), the rest entered the cul-de-sac for a much needed rest. The previous settlers had decided to remove the walls inside to create more space, effectively creating a make-shift dorm while repairing the outside ones to give privacy. "Now that the powers up and running, I think its best we build something more habitable." Nora suggested as the two took the bed near the window.
Looking around, Nate agreed to her suggestion. "Let's get some sleep first," Nate ordered before plopping down on the bed. "Damn…it ain't comfy though."
Nora just chuckled as she curled up beside her husband. "Tough first day, huh?"
"You bet," Nate answered before staring at the ceiling, lost with his thoughts. "Nora…what do you think—"
"Don't you dare finish that!" Nora whispered angrily at him. "No use imagining what we would have happened. Remember what Benji told us in our wedding?"
"'Focus on the present, because through that, we can change the future.'" he quoted before turning to Nora. "Thanks honey."
"Now, get some sleep." she ordered as she snuggled close to her husband. "We have a big day tomorrow."
# # # # # # # # # #
"So…" Sturges drawled out, grinning at the two Vault 111 sole survivors of as they ate their breakfast. "You two still not tasting anything?"
The sun was steadily rising in the east, signaling it was morning as the early birds (Nate, Nora, Sturges, and Zeke) were eating breakfast prepared by Codsworth (Grilled Radroach Meat). "If you want the texture, I can tell you." Nate muttered sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Zeke.
"So, what's the order of business today, General?" Sturges jokingly asked Nora, who gave him a look.
"I haven't agreed to the 'General', Sturges," informed Nora. "But if we're going to improve this settlement, we got to have some farming land ready."
"That's wonderful!" Codsworth exclaimed happily, adding another of the fried meat on Zeke's plate. "Mr. Donald built a fenced area near the roundabout to serve as a farm for this settlement, although they weren't able to plant the seeds."
"Well, once everyone's awake, we can start doing just that." Zeke chimed in, stabbing his food with a fork. "The Warwicks will probably want to show you guys how to do it, having been farmers and all."
Nate nodded. "Well, Nora and I could probably learn a thing or two from them." he conceded before pointing to the unfinished walls of Sanctuary. "Afterwards, we build some walls to cover the opened spots."
"We could but we may not have any materials." Nora said, disagreeing with him. "We could cop down some trees but it'll take too long to make wooden planks to use."
"That may not be a problem, mum." Codsworth argued just as Roger and Preston entered the makeshift dining room. "In one of the root cellars here, most of the materials brought by Mr. Arthur's group can be found there."
"Thanks for the info, Codsworth." Nora replied before turning to the newly arrived. "Morning, had a nice sleep?"
"Nothing like the old Warwick Homestead…but it'll do." Roger grunted before taking a seat besides Zeke. "Grilled Radroach?"
Zeke nodded before giving him a plate. "Good enough to make your wife's cooking a run of her money."
Roger just cocked an eyebrow before taking a bit. "Well, I'll be damned…" the farmer piped, eyes wide open. "You are right!"
"Right about what?" June asked as she walked out of the house's doors. "Morning you all!"
The couple raised their hands to her while Sturges gave her a curt nod. "Looks like this Mr. Handy is gonna beat you in cooking!" her husband quipped, slowly munching the meal.
Eyebrows raised, June grab and fork and took a bite before gapping. "Damn…you are right!" June exclaimed, much to everyone's amusement.
"Damn…now I wish I could taste this." Nora muttered, now staring at her meal gloomily.
Nate just patted her in the back. "Don't worry, we'll get our taste buds back." he said, comforting her.
"Anyway," Preston addressed, getting everyone's attention. "What do we have lined up today?"
"Plant some crops and get some materials to build some walls." Nate announced, finishing his meal. "Afterwards, we can set up who gets the guard post duties for tonight."
"Good idea," Zeke told them, giving his plate back to Codsworth, who had taken the role as the cleaner and cook of the newly made settlement. "Duke told me he wants nothing to do with nightshift duty, something about wanting to sleep at night and guard during the day time."
"Duly noted!" Nora replied before sheepishly asking June and Roger "So…uh, how do people farm nowadays?"
"Same as they did back then: just find a small area to plant on, build a fence around it, and then plant the seeds." June responded, taking a bite from her meal. "Find me a farming area and I'll teach you guys how to do it. Just let me finish my breakfast first."
"Sure, we got all day anyway." Nate replied jokingly, earning a light slap from his wife. "What, you know it's true!"
After a few minutes (with everyone finally up and eating), June finished her breakfast and brought the Adams couple near a makeshift barn (one of the houses) to get materials. The Warwick cow (a Brahmin, according to Preston when Nate asked last night) had wander in the house and decided to sleep in it, a makeshift door placed by Roger to prevent it from wandering off.
"This here is ole Daisy – and no, she doesn't produce milk anymore." June introduced, patting the cow on the head before opening one of its the bags. "The only reason I'm showing you her is because she holding what we'll be planting for the farm."
Getting what she wanted, June showed then a fruit that suspiciously looked like a deformed grape with yellow leaves. "This here is a mutfruit. It's sweet and all but it gives you rad." she explained casually, giving them one to hold. "Mostly grows in vines and kinda looks like those old pre-war fruits called berry, I think."
Nora gave it back to her before being handed with a carrot. "Surprisingly," June stated as she placed the mutfruit back in the bag. "These pre-war vegetable is still alive and kicking – along with corns and melons, that is."
"Now, don't confuse this with a tomato, 'cause it ain't." June warned when she gave them a tomato-like plant. "It's a tato. On the outside, it looks like a tomato but if you open them, you get the texture of a potato. Also, potatoes aren't really extinct cause from what I heard, they still sell some potatoes in the west coast – wherever that is."
June then brought out a small bag from the cow's load. "Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you how to plant these babies."
As they walked towards Sanctuary's farm, Nora asked "So, are these the only ones we can eat in the wasteland?"
June shook her head. "There are a lot more out there, honey." she lectured, waggling her finger. "For example, we have the tarberries that only grow on top of water, like those lilies in a pre-war book. Very they're hard to find, mind you. The only place you can find them is in the Slog, a Ghoul settlement down south."
"Ghouls?" Nate asked, confusing them with the zombies. "What are ghouls?"
June just laughed. "I forgot you guys just woke up yesterday!" she answered with a smile. "Let me put it this way: imagine a person whose entire body is wrinkled and can live up for forever – that, my dear friends, is a ghoul. They were exposed to the rads during the early days of the fallout and slowly mutated, becoming what they are today."
"Wait, ghouls are irradiated people?" Nora exclaimed in horror.
June nodded solemnly. "Poor people too," she mused as they passed the Central House. "Most humans – especially in Diamond City – call them freaks of nature and have been segregated by most us."
"They're segregated?" Nate repeated, eyes furrowing in confusion.
"You can't help it, really." she said, shrugging. "You see, there are two kinds of Ghouls: feral and civilized. Feral Ghouls are mindless ones who just do what they need to do: eat, sleep, repeat. On the other hand, Civilized Ghouls are basically like us humans – only difference is their physical appearance, genetic make-up, and immortality. Most of them – if not all – were born prior to the Great War, making them almost 300 years old. Majority, however, believe that Ghouls will eventually become feral any moment and cast them off."
Nate and Nora stopped and stared at her. "Wait, Ghouls are immortal?" Nora asked.
June nodded. "Yup, most of them will be people from your time only disfigured. You'll know one when you see one, trust me." she replied as the reached their destination. "Now, let me show you how to farm here in the wasteland."
As lunch time came (along with lots of dirt on their clothes), Nate and Nora finally knew the basics of Wasteland farming. Apparently, cultivated plants will not give rads when eaten but only wild versions will. Also, they learned about a few more creatures in the wasteland: Yao guai, a very large bear-like animal; mirelurk, an irradiated and enlarged crab creature that lives in bodies of waters; radscorpion, another irradiated bug the size of a car; bloatfly, another mutated insect similar to a radroach; mole rat, a creature they encountered in the Red Rocket station; mongrel, a mutated dog that looked like it was starving; bloodbug, a mutated mosquito half the size of a person and (according to June) "one damn bug high on sugar bombs"; and stingwing, a mutated dragonfly-like creature with "a shooting tail".
"What's that smell?" Nate asked as they neared the central house, sniffing the air. "Is…is that grilled meat?"
June howled with laughter. "Yup, kiddo, that's grilled alright!" she replied as they near the house, they saw Zeke, Duke, Sturges, Preston, and Roger sitting around a newly constructed long table with chairs they got from other houses. "Who made the dining table?"
Duke and Sturges both raised their hands. "We did!" both said in unison before the Minutemen's engineer added "We found it annoying to sit on the floor. Don't worry, we only used about three wooden planks to make these."
"And the chairs were from the houses," Duke continued. "Thought it was collecting dusk in them if nobody actually sat on them."
Nate sat on one of the couches offered along with Nora. "You know," Nora began as she snuggled close to Nate while waiting for the food to arrive. "It's actually nice. Thanks you two!"
"No problemo, General." Sturges replied jokingly with a mock salute, getting an eye role from Nora and a laugh from Nate.
"'General Nora Adams of the Commonwealth Minutemen'…" Nate then said out loud, getting looks from everyone around them. "Sound catchy, Nora. I like it!"
Nora just groaned before lightly slapping her husband on the chest. "Nate! We haven't talked about it yet! Besides, does 'General Nate' sounds nice?"
"I get why you're having second thoughts for it, Nora." Nate said, trying to calm her. "But how hard could it be!"
"This isn't like commanding a squad, Nate!" she persisted. "Look at what happened to General Chase after the war! You and I were there when it happened."
Instead of answering her, Nate turned to Preston and asked "What are the duties of a Minutemen General, Preston?"
Although quite taken aback by the question, Preston quickly answered "The General is to command all the Minutemen, issue out patrols, check upon the defenses of its allied settlements, and ensure the moral of the army is up."
"No bureaucratic red tape bullshit, right?" Nate inquired, getting a confused look from everyone. "I mean, no need to sign papers, talk to the press, write reports, and all those boring office works?" he quickly amended.
Preston shook his head. "No need for that. The Minutemen General may do those but it's up to them if they want it. Personally, a Minutemen General is the one always fighting with their troops."
Nate nodded understandingly. "See? A Minutemen General is the warrior kind, the ones always near the front lines and fighting with the soldiers!" he pointed out happily. "You did just that when we met up with Preston, remember that?"
Nora bit her lips before it slowly became a sly smile. "Oh no, I know that smile!" Nate shouted, now feeling afraid. Nora only gave those sly smiles whenever she was thinking of doing something very mischievous. "Under no—"
"I hereby promote you, Nate Adams, to the rank of Colonel." Nora said in her best imitation of General Chase's voice. "You are now the second highest ranking commander of the Minutemen Army."
Nate just groaned and face palmed. Everyone, on the other hand, just stared dumbly at the couple, still not comprehending what happened. "What," Nora smugly asked to them. "Never seen a promotion before?"
"But…but to promote someone, you have to hold rank first." Sturges exclaimed, arms raised up.
"Well…" Nate drawled, staring at him. Seriously, how could not anyone see Nora just basically accepted Preston's request. "She is a general, is she not?"
Preston finally understood what was happening. "So…are…are you accepting…the rank?" he slowly asked, afraid this was just all a dream.
Nora just gave him a deadpanned look. "No, I just promoted my husband to colonel because I felt it was cool." she sarcastically remarked. "Yes Preston, I am accepting the rank of General for the Commonwealth Minutemen…unless you don't want me to?"
"NO! I mean yes! I mean-argh!" Preston exclaimed loudly, getting a laugh from everyone and breaking the tension present. "What I mean is…yes, I want you to be the new General of the Minutemen."
"Wait, what about the other Minutemen?" Duke then asked. "Won't they object?"
To everyone's surprised, Preston just laughed. "The only good thing about being the last Minutemen is nobody can object about my decision to make a new her General of the Minutemen."
"Well then, I do believe this calls for a celebration?" Zeke began as he brought out a bottle of whiskey, grinning. "Anyone up for one?"
Nate and Nora both declined (after having some bad blood about alcohols) while Preston just grabbed bottle, opened it, and drank it. "Damn…" Nate muttered as the Minuteman finished the bottle under ten seconds.
"I needed that," he said groggily as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, earning a laugh from everyone. "Today is now classified as one of my best days ever."
"What was the first then?" Zeke asked, getting the bottle back with a smile on his face.
"My birthday." he replied, smirking just as Codsworth brought two plates full of grilled meat.
"Lunch is served!" Codsworth proudly stated as he gently set the plate full of food in the table's center. "Would any of you care for some purified water?"
# # # # # # # # # #
"That…that was a fulfilling lunch." Nora stated as they finished eating. "I can even already taste some the meat."
"What was the taste then?" Roger asked as everyone was finishing theirs.
"Tasted like burnt barbeque." Nate bluntly stated as he drank some purified water, "better than nothing, I guess."
"What's a 'barbeque'?" Jun Long asked. He was one of the survivors of the Quincy Massacre and was rescue by Preston's group along with his wife, Marcy. The man had thanked them before the Adams went for their farming lessons, telling the two he was grateful for their timely arrive.
"It's like a squirrel on a stick," answered Codsworth as he picked up the plates. "Only made with any other meat out here."
"'Squirrel on a stick'?" Nora asked incredulously. "Squirrels are still alive and not mutated?"
Everyone just shrugged. "Yeah, though no one has seen one alive and running. We just find chunks of it lying about or if we're lucky, a one dead on a stick already." Sturges noted as he handed his plate to Codsworth. "It's the sea creatures we're not sure off. Nobody wants to dive in the water because of the rads in it."
Nate whistled, understanding the predicate. "Well, who wouldn't?"
"True that," Sturges said, nodding in agreement before looking outside. "Anyway, I was thinking we should build more walls if we're going to stay here permanently. Sanctuary's borders could use some more of them."
Nora looked outside and saw it was cloudy, a perfect time to build. "Alright, I'll help out with the construction. My dad taught me a lot of carpentry so I can help with that. Anything else?"
"We could mod our weapons." Rowdy suggested, gesturing to another workbench in the Central House garage. "Weapons nowadays can be modified to your taste. For example, a pipe pistol – when added a stock, longer barrel, and a scope – can become a sniper rifle."
Nate grinned as he pumped his fist. "Alright!" he happily exclaimed. "That's something I wanna do."
"I'll be bringing up the required materials after I wash the dishes, mum, sir." Codsworth offered, cleaning them while they were talking. "Would anyone care to help me?"
"I'll do that." Johnny D. offered as he stood up, stretching. "I'll help with the construction as well."
"Well, me and Zeke here will go about and check that Red Rocket down the road." Duke said. "We might need to scavenge some materials to build and mod."
"Go to Concord and see if the bodies are still there. If they are, scavenge them will you?" Preston ordered, as he placed on his coat before turning to Jun. "I'll take Jun with me for the first watch, along with Bluejay. I made a promise to teach Jun here how to fire some weapons."
"Scavenging the people you killed is one of the rules here in the Wasteland, Mrs. Nora." Roxy explained as Nora was about to protest. "It's the survival of the strongest out here, ma'am."
"So…if I ever kill anyone out in the waste, I have to take their belongings?" Nate asked, feeling queasy about stealing from the dead.
"Only if they things of value," Roxy pointed out. "For example, if the guy has .308 rounds, 5 caps, and a compensated pipe rifle with a bayonet, you take it."
"But if the guy you killed has only a silver spoon, a teddy bear, an empty whisky bottle, and a bottle of jet, you leave it for others…unless you need the bottle and when you're a jet addict." Rowdy continued.
The couple nodded, slightly understanding the circumstance. "Alright, but that doesn't I like it." Nora mumbled.
Mama Murphy, who was silent throughout lunch, laughed. "Of course dear," she said in a sage-like manner. "Sometimes, your opinions won't matter to all but at the right moment, it will.
Nora smiled as she stood up. "Thanks Mama Murphy." She replied before looking at Codsworth. "Alright Codsworth, show us the construction supplies."
Everyone started standing up and went to work. Marcy went with the Warwicks to help farm while Rowdy, Roxy and Nate went to what Rowdy called 'Weapons Bench'. "Alright Vaulty, here's the rundown of what weapons you can mod with what materials." Rowdy exclaimed as she patted the work bench.
Nate stared at the Atom Cat member. "'Vaulty'?"
Rowdy just shrugged while Roxy giggled. "Why not?" Rowdy asked nonchalantly as she sorted the materials. "You come from a vault, remember?"
Nate was about to retort but decided against it. "Just show me how to modify the weapons." he said, sighing.
"Well then, here's lesson one for you." Rowdy said, motioning to the pipe rifle she placed on the work bench. "If you're going to mod something, you got to know what part you wanna mod."
Picking up the rifle, she pointed to the stock. "For example, you wanna replace this standard stock with a full stock version for better accuracy, recoil, and melee." Rowdy told him before pointing to the barrel. "Or maybe you want to improve the barrel for to lessen the weight."
She then place the weapon down and retrieved a basket full of parts: wonderglues, screws, bits of steel, etc. "Next thing you need to note is the materials needed to construct the mod." Rowdy told him as she sorted out the baskets. "Right now, we only have enough to create a short light barrel and a short scope. However, if you scrap scavenged materials like metal trays, toy cars, or a damaged board you get from random areas of dead bodies, you can create more."
Nate nodded understandingly. "First, I have to know what part to modify and then check if I have the materials needed to use." he summarized before looking at the Atom Cat. "What's the third step?
Rowdy smiled. "Looks like we got a quick learner here Roxy," she told her fellow Atom Cat, getting a giggle. "The third and final step involves making it. Roxy here will show you how to do it. Oh, and one more thing: these stuff are called mods, nothing else – got it?"
Nate nodded before watching Roxy explain to him how to make the mod. He took the information in as quick as a sponge, having been familiar with the stuff she was doing – he didn't graduate college with a degree in Mechanical Engineering for nothing. When Roxy asked him to do it, Nate did as she instructed, not missing any detail and making it quick without any mistake. "Damn…" Roxy said, whistling as she examined out the modded pipe rifle. "And here I was thinking you'll have three tries before you get one right."
"Yeah well…I graduated with an engineering degree before the bombs fell, so this is just a review." Nate honestly replied, trying to downplay the bragging.
Rowdy picked it up and checked the gun. "Well, you wanna try it out?"
Nate nodded, hiding his excitement, and the three headed out to an open area to check it out. Nora, who was having a conversation with Johnny and Sturges, saw the three leave the Central House. Johnny, who saw them leave as well, smirked at Nora's look and said "No need getting jealous, ma'am. Roxy and Rowdy both root for the other team."
"I—what?" Nora asked, clearly confused at what Johnny was talking about.
"Rowdy and Roxy are in a relationship, so need to fret about either of the two trying to steal your husband." Johnny clarified nonchalantly as he hammered a nail on the wall he was building.
"Those two…those two are in a relationship?" Nora slowly asked, not comprehending what he was talking about. "Wait, you mean their lesbians?"
"Lesbians?" Sturges repeated, looking at Nora. "Well, if that's what you pre-war people call two women in a relationship, then yes, they're lesbians."
"And…nobody's complaining?" Nora asked, frowning as she looked at Johnny.
"Nope," the Atom Cat replied quickly. "Well…unless you call Duke's anger now he can't shag Roxy a complain, then no."
"Oh…" Nora trailed off, unsure how to react to the information. "It's just…before the bombs fell, majority of society was divided on the matter. One side called it a sin or a disgrace…while the other side said society must respect who they love. Nate and I…since both of us had a friend in a same sex relationship, we supported the other side."
"Really?" Johnny asked incredulously. "Damn…well, at least nobody cares nowadays."
"True," Sturges agreed as he began placing the wall on the border. "Anyway, back to our original conversation, you said you were a lawyer?"
Nora nodded as she continued to saw the wood for the wall. "Yup. Lawyers are people who defend your rights when you're being tried for a crime here." She happily explained, wiping sweat from her brow. "I was about to begin my practice when the Sino-American war broke out. Army conscripted me to join and commissioned me as a captain for the 101st Airborne Division."
Nora just chuckled. "Getting commission as a captain was the least of my worries. Did you know I was forced to make an after action report every time my squad comes back after a fight." she complained half-angrily as she sat on the ground. "I have to write every detail of what happened during any fight with the Chinese!"
Her two companions just laughed at her. "Don't worry, General." Sturges reassured, smiling at the newly minted Minutemen General. "No need to do such stuff. I bet no one wants to do those either after all."
"True!" Johnny agreed as he stood up. "Hell, most papers we have are useless nowadays. Most of those are just found in Vault 81 or Diamond City."
"Vault 81?" Nora asked suddenly, interest peaking at the mention of a vault. "There's another Vault out there?"
Sturges nodded just as Johnny began to place his wall over its designated section. "Yeah, near the Chestnut Hillock Reservoir." he pointed out before he saw Nora alarmed expression. "Don't worry, the Vault ain't an experiment. The people there may be isolationist but they have a good heart and trade purified water for goods."
Nora sighed in relief. "Good to know," she said. "Are there any other Vault here?"
Both Johnny and Sturges shook their heads. "None that we know of. From what I know, people only know about Vault 81." Johnny said, finally finishing his wall. "Anything else to build?"
Nate had finished testing the weapon (getting good results out of it) when he saw Nora with Sturges and Johnny. "Don't worry about Johnny snagging Nora," Roxy reassured the Colonel of the Minutemen she saw him looking over to them. "We Atom Cats have an honor code we live by, so don't worry about it."
Nate was about to protest but Rowdy shushed him. "We know that look, Nate." she said before giving her girlfriend a quick kiss. "Both of us give that look whenever we see each other with someone's company."
Nate, who had discovered about Roxy and Rowdy's relationship earlier on, gagged at their public display of affection. "Don't do that in front of me, will you." he jokingly muttered. "It's disgusting."
The two just laughed. "You flirt with your wife all the time!" Roxy countered at him, smirking. "I bet you guys would kiss if you don't have restraint with you."
"Ha, ha, ha." Nate said in a deadpanned voice. "Come on, let's go see if we could help with the others."
Meanwhile, nobody noticed Mama Murphy contently sitting on one of the chairs she took from the Central House, happily humming to herself as she watched as everyone minded their business, going about to improve Sanctuary to be more habitable for everyone from the cliffs overlooking the settlement. The winds of change have arrived at the Commonwealth…and the Sole Survivors of Vault 111 are its deliverers. Mama Murphy thought to herself as she saw Nate and Nora playfully annoying each other. Though for the better or for the worse…it remains to be seen.
# # # # # # # # # #
As the days went by, everyone living in Sanctuary pitched in to help improve its facilities. Sturges, being the more knowledgeable engineer between him and Nate on the techs of the wasteland, directed most of the work. Nate helped him out when it came to building machineries for the settlement, ranging from generators, turrets, purifiers, a radio (to recruit more settlers and Minutemen), and a terminal (to improve the accuracy of the turrets). Nora, the unofficial leader of the settlement, managed the construction of most buildings (with the Longs and Mama Murphy helping scavenge and sort the materials from the destroyed houses of the original Sanctuary).
"You do realize," Nora began, arms on her hips as she started at the newly constructed storage house of the settlement. It was placed in front of the Central House to allow everyone easy access to it, since it was an armory for weapons, a cellar for food, and a room to keep materials. "It's been a month since we woke up Nate."
Said person was standing in front of her looked stunned. "Oh really?" he replied in surprised. "Damn…it felt like it has been days only, honey!"
Nora just laughed as Preston went to them. "General, Colonel," the newest Major of the reorganized Minutemen greeted to them. A week ago, Nora had asked about the rank structure of the Minutemen but upon Preston reply, she groaned in despair. Apparently, the only people with ranks in the Minutemen were the individual Minutemen squad leaders and the General himself, leaving the majority of the Minutemen to have no ranks at all.
With her new rank, however, Nora made it clear how things will be run under her. First off, with Nate's help, she organized the Minutemen rankings according to the US Army rank structure: Privates, Corporals, Sergeants, Captains, Lieutenants, Majors, a Colonel, and a General.
The lowest, of course, were the Privates and Corporals as they will be the main back bone of the Minutemen (or as Nate called them, grunts). Next were the Sergeants and Captains, who will command the three-man and five-man Minutemen patrols respectively. These two ranks' main duty is to lead the Minutemen squads on daily patrols to ensure that the people know the Minutemen were always ready to help.
Four Lieutenants, two Majors, a Colonel, and a General will then make up for the High Command of the Minutemen. Nate had suggested that they divide the Commonwealth into four sectors (numbering from one to four) that will be handled by a Lieutenant. Then, two Majors will then handle the Northern and Southern Command of the Minutemen. Sectors One and Three will belong to the Northern Command (based in Sanctuary) while Sectors Two and Four reports to Southern Command (based in The Castle). Finally, the Colonel and the General will then be the overall leaders of the Minutemen Army.
This way, there won't be a power vacuum when the Minutemen General dies or lose a headquarters immediately – a problem the old Minutemen faced when General Arthur McGann, Nora's predecessor, died at the loss of the Castle, the only Headquarters of the Minutemen. The new Minutemen Army, under Nora, will now be based in its Northern Command Center, Sanctuary (also the designated boot camp for future Minutemen), until a Southern Command could be established from The Castle (once it had been recapture on a prior date).
However, it was easier said than done. Right now, the only base the Minutemen had was in Sanctuary and it only had five Minutemen (Jun being their latest recruit) that can respond to the calls for help. Then again, the Minutemen could be given some slack – after all, they were still rebuilding and recuperating from all the defeats they've suffered in the past.
"What is it, Major?" Nora asked, smiling as Preston stopped before them. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Preston frowned before saluting quite sloppily. "Sorry General," he apologized, still saluting. "I need to get used to the changes."
"At ease Major Garvey," Nate ordered before explaining to the flustered Major how to execute a proper salute, grinning as he did.
"I'll remember that, Colonel." he promised before turning to Nora. "Private Jun reports that a group of potential settlers are making their way here, General. Apparently, their old settlement in Gorski Cabin was attacked by Raiders." Preston reported as he fidgeted his shouldered deactivated Laser Musket. "After hearing about Sanctuary, they decided to make their way here for a much safer place to stay."
Nora nodded and was about to ask about Jun's training (God knows the man needed a lot of help to come out of his shell) when bells started ringing. "That's near the watch tower." she said, frowning. Without a word, all three of them immediately ran for the bridge, the only place with a bell.
"Give me a sitrep, Bluejay." Nate asked upon the trio's arrival to the bridge. A week after their arrival, Sturges had directed more focus in building turrets and traps for the only bridge leading to Sanctuary. One week later, the bridge was now defended by two Heavy Machine-gun turrets place on an elevated platform with a Guard Tower in between them – the one Bluejay was currently manning.
"Flare went up over the ridge." Bluejay curtly replied, pointing his compensated Laser Rifle towards its direction. "Looks like Duke and Zeke met some opposition."
"Alright…Nate, come with me. We'll check it out." Nora announced. "Preston, you and the others keep watch."
Since it had been decided earlier that everyone should keep their weapons on them all the time, Nate just heft his compensated pipe rifle as both he and his wife immediately ran towards the flare's last position – which happened to be near the Red Rocket Station. Nora, who was carrying a scoped silenced pipe rifle, looked through it and cursed. "Five raiders in a pincher movement." Nora said quietly as the two took cover near some destroyed vehicles. "Two in front of them with three behind."
"Take out the two and I'll go in and give suppressing fire." Nate said, looking at the group attacked by the raiders. From the looks of it, Duke and Zeke met up with the potential settlers and decided to help them reach Sanctuary. "That'll give them a break from all the fighting."
Nora nodded and lined up her shot. Thanks to her modded pipe rifle, she can now snipe her enemies from a far. Lining her scope to the head of the raider, she fired and blew up the unsuspecting raider's head, bursting in a firework-like explosion. The one beside him never got a chance to turn as Nora fired again, killing him as well.
Duke, who was firing at the ones Nora killed with his assault rifle, was stunned until he saw Nate running towards them, compensated pipe rifle blazing at the enemies, forcing the last three raiders to duck. Upon reaching them, Nate ducked behind the wrecked car Zeke was using for cover. "Took you guys long enough." Zeke grunted through T-60 speakers, taking a peek from it.
Nate just chuckled as began firing at the Raiders, forcing them to duck again. "Yeah well…we took the scenic route to get here." he joked just as the two of them saw one of the raiders head blow up. "Come on, let's kill these bastards."
Zeke smirked as Nate immediately jumped out of cover and started raining fire on the last two raiders. Thanks to some scavenged metal armor from the Concord Raiders, Nate was now wearing metal chest piece armor with metal arm guards, making close up encounters much safer for him. One raider, however, had a combat shotgun (quite dangerous for anyone doing close quarter combat) with him and was preparing to fire at the Colonel.
Nora, seeing the shotgun, immediately lined up her scope and fired, knocking the gun out of his hands. Before the raider could react, Zeke took aim and fired, spraying the raider's chest with .45 rounds with his unmodded assault rifle. The last raider (female from the looks of it) became enraged that she injected something into her to become crazier than usual, firing at anything moving. Unluckily, Nate got nicked on the legs by stray bullets as he dove for cover along with everyone else.
Nora, who was having a hard lining up the shot, managed to get a lucky opening when the raider stopped to reload. Quick as lightning, she aimed and fire, blowing up the raider's head just as she was about to continue her crazed actions. Replacing her magazine, she quickly walked up to the small group just as Nate limped back to them. "What the hell was that?" she asked, tossing a stimpack wrapped in bandages to Nate.
"Either Psycho or Overdrive." Duke said as he reloaded his assault rifle. "Kinda like an adrenaline booster, makes you feel invincible and all."
Nora said nothing as she assessed the group they rescued. There were four adults (two females and two males) with two children (two girls around 12 years old). Two adults (a male Ghoul and female human) were wearing drifter outfits, the Ghoul holding a combat shotgun with a backpack and the woman carrying a huge backpack about half her size. The other woman, on the other hand, was wearing brown armored robes and a small sack on her back, looking around with suspicion, keeping that weird-looking contraption on her hand close to her chest and poised to attack at the slightest provocation.
The last man, wearing hooded green shirt, patched leather pants with pouches on his belt, approached them. "I thank you for rescuing us…" he trailed off, looking at Nora and Nate.
"Colonel Nate Adams of the Commonwealth Minutemen." Nate introduced himself, offering his hand. "And this is my wife, General Nora Adams."
The man shook it with gratitude. "Thank you then, Colonel, General. I am Victor Reznov, leader of this group of travelers." he said as introducing himself, a grateful smile on his face. "I believe you four come from Sanctuary?"
"Hell yeah, man!" Zeke exclaimed happily, his helmet off. "You guys got the message, I guess?"
Victor nodded. "Yes…although, I would like to ask if any of you have anything against a Ghoul?" he asked suspiciously.
"If we have, then we would have stated in our radio broadcast the 'No Ghouls Allowed' line." Nora pointed out, smirking. "Besides, our duty as Minutemen is to protect the Commonwealth's people at the minute's notice – keyword being Commonwealth's people."
Victor felt relieved. "Very well then, let me introduced to you my fellow travelers." he said, motioning to the others to come near.
Pointing to the Ghoul, Victor said "This here is Old Man Logan. He's our protection detail and resident cook." Said Ghoul just gave them a once over before tilting his head in greeting. "Beside him is Trader Natalie. She sells mostly food, clothes, some stimpacks and ammo, and an occasional chem."
Natalie waved at them merrily as two children peeked behind her. "These two are Jessie and Mia, orphaned twins Natalie and I take care off." Victor said, crouching down and ruffling one of the twin's hairs. "And this is Veronica."
"Veronica Santangelo." the said woman briskly expanded, eyeing the four saviors with suspicion. "I am hail from the west coast, near New Vegas."
"New Vegas…as in Las Vegas?" Nate asked incredulously, getting a surprised nod from Veronica. "Damn…will you look at that, Nora! The Gambling Capital of America survived without a scratch!"
Nora just laughed. "No Nate, we are not going on a cross country trip just for you to gamble." she jokingly replied, giving him a smirk.
"Anyway, how in the world did Vegas survive?" Nate then asked Veronica. "I know for once the Nellis Air Force Base was there along with Hoover Dam, giving whoever launched the nukes first a good military target."
Everyone – including Veronica – seemed confused about what Nate was asking. "How…how did you know about Nellies and Hoover Dam?" she asked, clearly surprised by Nate's knowledge of pre-War Vegas.
Nora immediately changed the subject, knowing it will take a while for them to explain how. "Can we please go now?" Nora asked, looking about as if they were about to be ambushed. "Nate and I will answer your question privately once we're back in Sanctuary."
Grudgingly, Veronica accepted and, with the rest of the group, began to move towards Sanctuary. "What's her problem?" Nora asked Victor, who had decided to walk near her while Nate took point once again.
"I myself do not know." he confessed, sighing. "She just stumbled into our camp, badly wounded and delirious from being dehydrated for God knows how long. When we were patching her up, she kept mumbling the words 'pock-lips', 'flowers', and 'Mojave'. Upon waking up, didn't seem to know where she was and kept asking where her companions were."
Nora looked at Veronica, who really seemed distant with everyone around her. "Did she tell you anything about her?" she asked.
Victor nodded as they neared the Red Rocket Gas Station. "After she had calmed down, that is. She told us her name and said she was part of a group called 'Followers of the Apocalypse'." he said. "They're a group of people dedicated to helping the people of the wasteland, something like the 'Red Cross' or the like before the bombs. I call it bullshit."
"Why?" Nora asked, frowning. "It's a noble idea like the Minutemen."
"Yeah, but the problem is, nobody helps anyone without getting something in return." Victor countered as their group caught sight of the Minutemen Statue (Preston had named it as such seeing that Sanctuary was now officially the Minutemen HQ, the statue near its border should be called that). "I think that group's going to ask for food and money in return for helping them."
"Hey," Nora protested. "Before the bombs fell, the Red Cross was a worldwide organization whose main duties were to care for everyone in need. If this 'Followers' are something of the same, then they're good in my book."
"I still doubt them." Victor stated with finality. "However, one thing's for sure: what ever happened to her group, she was the only survivor."
"I agree." Nora said just as the stopped in front of the bridge leading to Sanctuary.
Nate spread his arms wide open in a gesturing manner, turning towards the group like some game show host. "Welcome to Sanctuary!" he exclaimed happily, a grin on his face. "The official Minutemen Headquarters and Settlement where you can safely live in!"
The group eventually made their way across the Sanctuary Bridge; avoiding the broken parts on it ("We have to patch this bridge later on, Nora." Nate stated to his wife as they passed it) and were greeted by Preston, Sturges, and Mama Murphy.
"General, Colonel." Preston greeted, correctly saluting this time.
"At ease, Major." Nora ordered after saluting back.
Preston relaxed and looked at the group. "These from Gorski?" he asked, getting a nod from Nate. "Good, they've arrived safe and sound."
"Anything else to report, Major?" Nora asked.
The major nodded. "We just got a report from a settlement in Tenpines Bluff." he said as the three of them walked towards Sanctuary Storage House. "They're having some trouble from raiders."
"Did they tell you where?" Nate asked, entering the armory section of the house.
Preston shook his head. "They asked if they could speak first with the Minutemen that'll be helping."
Although large, the Sanctuary Armory had a few weapons stored in them: namely pipe rifles, pipe pistols, a few melee weapons, five assault rifles, three 10mm pistols and two laser musket. It was quite understandable for it to have only a few weapons since the settlement only had a few people in them. Thanks to Nate's brilliance in modding weapons, however, all the weapons in it was good enough to deal more damage than necessary. Grabbing one of the deactivated Scoped Laser Musket, Nate threw it to Nora before grabbing some ammo for the two of them.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Nate said with a grin. "Let's show them that the Commonwealth Minutemen ain't dead yet!"
Biography:
Nate Adams
-Rank: Sergeant (Alaskan Reclamation, 108th Infrantry Division); Colonel (Commonwealth Wasteland, Commonwealth Minutemen)
-Biography (Pre-Great War)
Born on April 11, 2040, Nate Adams was a strong and hardheaded boy. Having lived in a rough nieghborhood, he learned how to be tough and brave. After a stint as a Mechanical Engineer for Red Rocket for 3 years, he was unfortunately drafted by the army when the Sino-American War broke out. After boot camp, he was sent to Alaska along with the 108th Infranty Regiment to help in its reclamation, experiecing 10 years of hell and being one of the first pilots of the T-45d Power Armor. During the war, he married Nora Hasley, a Captain in the 101st Airborne Division and had a son named Shaun.
-Equipment and Abilities
Nate was your typical army grunt and can pilot Power Armors (having been one of its first). Likewise, he was very good in handling heavy weaponry and assult rifles (especially AER9). He was also good in hand-to-hand combat and can set traps, repair items and modify weaponry (evident with his Mech. Eng. degree). He was an able bodied man and was considered VERY lucky by his friends and family.
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Nora Adams
-Rank: Captain (Alaskan Reclamation, 101st Airborne Division); General (Commonwealth Wasteland, Commonwealth Minutemen)
-Biography (Pre-Great War)
Nora Adams nee Hasley was born on January 11, 2041 to Jacob and Catherine Hasley. As a child, she grew up surrounded by a teacher and carpenter who ensured she was given the best education they had around them, resulting her becoming really smart. Living in a well-off neighborhood, she was very polite, kind, and helpful. She took Political Science in college and later got a degree in Law. As she began her practice, she was unfortunately commissioned as a captain in the 101st Airborne Division when the Sino-American War broke out. She served there with her squad (nicknamed Silent Hunters) for eight years before getting married to Nate Adams (a 108th T-45d pilot) and pregnant with Shaun, forcing her to get a medical discharge from the army.
-Equipment and Abilities
Because she was exposed to education at an early age, Nora was smart. She was also perceptive and had good eyesight since her father taught her carpentry as she grew up - a skill that would later help her in her time as a sniper for the 101st. Coupled that with having good charisma, Nora was well loved by all her friends, family, and the soldiers under her command who would always look up to her for leadership. She also had a knack for handling sniper rifles and pistols: the two most important weapon of any sniper. Many considered her one lucky girl because she always got out of any encounter either unhurt or victorious.
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Awesome Notes & Notifications:
Hi there everyone, Pinoy Gamer is back in action!
So, I've once again updated this story. Now, some of you readers might notice how I played the Settlement Construction. I made the whole thing look more realistic since it would probably take a month or so just to build some more fortification. Also, as you guys read last time, people had already tried to colonize Sanctuary thus explaining why there were already existing structures when Nate and Nora came out of Vault 111.
Now, regarding the Minutemen rank structure: as I explained via Nora, it was kind of stupid that the Minutemen in the game lacked something the Brotherhood of Steel had: an organized structure. Therefore, I added more depth by adding ranks, divisions, and HQs for the Minutemen here in this story. Besides, the Minutemen in Fallout 4 is awesome! They're the only Main Faction that doesn't need to kill another faction to progress down the game (Killing the Brotherhood is only an option, mind you). They have so much potential to be of use for everyone!
(Once I buy the game - only need 1500 pesos more - I am so going follow the Minutemen Quests and I might even start videoing it once I start playing the game!)
On other matters: yes, I added Veronica Santangelo of New Vegas fame here for a reason I will reveal later. However, yes, the Followers of the Apocalypse did travel to the East Coast to continue their 'Red Cross'-like mission. (If you understood my reference to the 'Flowers of Pock-Lips', then you guys are awesome!).
Review Replies:
Xypher1: Thanks for the review, my friend. Don't worry about CZ53 and CZ57, I've edited them already. As for your second point, lawyers are commissioned as Captains if they ever plan to join the army (along with doctors, nurses, or anyone with a medical degree). As for the SPECIAL, you start of with only 21 points - which is the reason why the SPECIALs in chapter one are set as such.
Second Guest who posted on 12/10/15: Yes, Nora was a Lawyer. This chapter explains everything how she became a captain.
MattTheMarauder: Thank you for that wonderful review. I did what you suggested and reread the other chapter and saw my mistakes. Don't worry, I edited it already.
UnknownHero: Wow, really? Damn...I knew the 'Two Survivors instead of One' story was such a good idea but nobody seemed to want to do it. In reality, I was suppose to focus on 'The Terran Variable' story for the time being but I just couldn't let go if this idea. So here I am, writing about the adventures of Nate and Nora Adams as they cleanse the Commonwealth while trying to find Shaun.
Up Next:
Chapter 3: Taking Point