This ones a little bit wordy in some parts, but I think the chapter itself turned out all right. Apologies ahead of time for any errors, the system doesn't like transferring from my phone, to email, and then to Fanfiction.
When Nate finally got back to his room in the Northeast wing, closest to the sea, he unceremoniously and limply flopped into his clean padded chair behind his desk. He groaned loudly, before sagging forward to rest his head on his polished old wood desk. Not wanting to think of all the work piled ahead of him, he started thinking of interesting little things he's collected over the years, like the very desk he's resting on.
Pulled from an old executive suite when Nate found it out exploring, he was shocked to find just how pristine it was after so long. Made from woods such as ebony, walnut, and cherry, the colors were dark and rich, matching the other style of wood he covered the floors of the castle stone with. It also was elegantly carved, in a way which the quality of craftsmanship would probably never be seen again. Though with most plant life on earth dead, there was really no point anyway. Bemusedly he also realized that, yes, it looked quite like the old U.S Presidents desk, not that anyone other than a pre-war ghoul would realize that. But hey, if anyone deserved some niceties in this world it was him.
Sitting up, he pressed the power button on his RobCo Terminal, the green startup sequence beginning as he looked around some more.
There was a bookshelf nearby, with a strange and unique gun on each shelf. It was one of the weirdest things he found about the post-war weaponry. Even they seemed to have mutated, because they now produced different effects. Some gave a radiation or flame charge to bullets fed though the gun, even when the type of bullet was never changed. Others did particularly more damage to Ghouls, and others still were highly explosive. You had to be careful when you got a new gun, if you removed it off an enemy that was ten time harder to kill then normal. Most had an effect on them, and if you weren't careful bad things could happen, like losing a leg.
His particular favorite, and the one resting on the side of the desk, was one he received from the store in Vault 81. A .45 round, fully modded Combat Rifle with a reflex scope. They called it Overseers Guardian, but he much preferred to just call it Guardian. It's unique ability was it shot two bullets at a time, but for the price of one. He conserved double the ammo, and it made sure everything he wanted dead, became that way.
There was only one other he wouldn't leave without, and that was his trusty .308 sniper rifle, Whisper. There was no strange effect on this one, though he did have Reba 2, which did more damage against Mirelurks, and an Explosive Rifle in storage, for those situations that only an Anti-Material rifle could solve. He kept this one from his time in the military, when he pulled a short stint as a sniper tasked with hunting down Chinese Officers. They had let him keep it after he returned home, because they were ecstatic with the results of his mission. Evidence of success could still be seen on his stock, where for every kill he made another.
Seeing as he had no true use for it in his military retirement, it was buried several feet down in his backyard at Sanctuary, in a leaded box under an oak tree's roots. After he left the vault, it was one of the very first things he retrieved, even if he only had less than 50 rounds of ammo at the time. Over 200 years old, and it still worked like a dream to this day.
Of course, parts of the gun had still been exposed to elements, so much of the original gun was scrapped as he upgraded it to better damage and longer range. With a name like Whisper, you could almost certainly expect the weapon was silenced, and keeping properly maintained kept it quiet. It was useful to clear the majority of enemies from a local, before he mopped up with a silenced Guardian. To tell the truth, the majority of his weapons were silenced. Why would one want to make it harder for themselves by letting the enemies know they were there?
The terminal finally finished the startup sequence, and after entering his four word passcode "In A Moments Notice", the 'main' screen had opened up. This opening page contained all his 'plans' for the future of the Commonwealth. In reality though, it was utter bullshit. This screen could access everything on the main server, and only a foolish and careless man would leave his plans on an easily downloadable server.
The General was anything but a foolish and careless man.
He actually had a secret server hidden away, in a secure location only he knew of. If your accessed one of the pages, and typed a second code "Prepared for the Future", his backup server, and his true plans, booted up.
Some would say that this extra security was just paranoia, but hey, he lived in a time when Communist spies were everywhere. Occupying a position anywhere above Private required you to submit daily reports, with as much added protection as you could.
In truth, he still wasn't satisfied with the protection in place. If he could, he would make seven other failsafes, with each level of plans alternating. Some becoming more and more absurd sounding, and intermittently he would throw in a perfectly feasible one, until one finally reached the end. Then at the very end, he would make it the craziest of them all, detailing every little insane thing he would do. Then, when the hackers have 10 separate plans to choose from, they have no idea which is just a ruse, and which is actually the truth.
Maybe one day, he thought, when enough people are educated to pose a threat, and the Minutemen have long since formed the greatest nation in the world. Then he could finally satisfy his desires. Knowing Deacon, he'd try, and probably already tried, to access his secure network. Assuming that he, or the Railroad, had known that I wouldn't be so careless with valuable intel.
He shook his head quickly, chasing away his daydreaming. There was much work to be done, and very little time to do it in. He quickly pulled up two things, one was the press release he had prepared in advance for Diamond City and Radio Freedom stations, while the other was his memo for the Board Meeting he was about to call. He copied them to individual holotapes, and closed and shut down the computer.
On his way out, he quickly holstered Kellogg's Pistol, now nicknamed "The Redeemer" and closed the doors behind him. The Castle had plenty enough security to let him relax a bit. He wanted to show the men and women he trusted them with his well being, but this was still the Commonwealth, and you would be a fool to go without a weapon. There was also the tiny fact that the Castle currently boasted just under a quarter of the Minutemen Army, who just returned from blowing up on of the largest factions in the Commonwealth. Add that to the permanent Garrison force of 20 Full time Minutemen and 30 trainees at any given time, plus the array of mortars and missile turrets lining the walls. Nothing less than another nuclear bomb was ever going to defeat this Castle, the General was confident in that. Certainly not another measly Mirelurk Queen that a squad of 6 had taken down with less trouble any of them had expected.
He passed by his heavily armed door guards, who both nodded to him with a respectful "General". He nodded back, and continued on the corridor to the right, passing by the 'Medical Supply and Aid' trading station, and the 'General Store' trader. The few people in line respectfully parted as he walked past, and he bid them all a good afternoon.
He moved on to the courtyard, following the cobble path to the Radio tower, stopping every so often to talk to some visitors, or a passing Minuteman patrol on its way to keep the route to the Castle clear. Eventually, he made it inside the base of the tower, quickly shutting the door behind him with a bit more force than was necessary. Johnathan just grinned from his reclining rolling chair, amused that the General could do so well with crowds, yet still become exasperated that quickly by having to deal with others. Socializing was overrated, according to the General, but he understood the necessary reasons.
Johnathan had offered his second chair, a matching seat to his own, to the General, but he declined it. "Sorry John, today is just not the day for one of our chats. Ain't no rest for the wicked, or the good, or anyone planning to put together a stable government for that matter."
"Say no more my friend" The Newscaster assured him, "I would say I understand completely, but to be honest your the only one in this wasteland with that knowledge. But anyway, I had just finished up the recording of your speech. Quality stuff, and sure to get people listening. I was going to air it just before you walked in, so I'm anxious to see which would go better as an opening broadcast."
The Generals answer was to hand him the holotape containing the stats of the battle, and just to ask for permission to use the intercom system.
Johnathan had already known this was coming from the briefing he had before the battle, and was quite interested to hear what the after-action report was. As to the intercom, he just gestured for Nate to go ahead, already loading the files on his computer nearby. Nate smiled amusedly, and proceeded to call a meeting of all his present companions and higher ranking staff members in the Southeast bastion. He then took one last look at the radio manager, so deeply engrossed in the information he didn't even look up, and left the building shaking his head all the while.
-THE MEETING ROOM-
"Welcome everyone! Thank you all for coming", began the General, standing up as he began his opening, "Considering I already have given one inspirational speech today, let's get right into the thick of things. Currently, the main topic on the table is 'Let's all guess why Piper and Cait have black eyes and won't stop glaring at each other!' I know what my money's on!" The aforementioned Women began to look suitably chastised, and they took a quick glance around to see that, indeed, the meeting had started. Cait still held her chin high though, she may have been admonished, but her pride was at stake here. The General just sighed, knowing that was the best he'd ever get from her, and continued "The main issue today is the reconstruction of the Post-Institute War Commonwealth. Specifically surrounding the Minutemen and their place as the largest, if not the most powerful, faction in the Greater Boston area. Preston, you have the floor".
"Thank you General", Preston began, as he handed out papers to each person, "This is a status report of all the settlements currently under our protection, totaling 84 different sites, with 37 being under direct ownership. Other places, such as Far Harbor, Nuka-World, Goodneighbor, Dimond City, Atom-Cats Garage, and the growing towns of Salem and University Point all have a type of government of their own, even though we do control those indirectly." Preston paused as people perused the documents.
"You'll also find that there wasn't the widespread raider attacks that we had feared, General. Considering some of our forces had been away, and the modest chaos that had ensued after the blast, we got pretty lucky. It mostly stayed pretty quiet, but there was a small dust-up out at the Slog. A group of the Forged, under their new leader 'Cinder' had sent out a scouting party, but didn't really come any closer than half way down the road. Our new turret emplacements kept them at a distance, and the laser musketeers were watching for any sudden moves." Preston sat back down, finished with his report.
"Hmm... That last part is troubling to hear. They were probably scouting at the defenses, and may think of sending some of their rejects down that way to 'prove' themselves. For now, add another weapons squad to the patrols in that area, and put them on alert. It may be time for the Forged to be eliminated permanently. I certainly wouldn't mind those Ironworks either, if we want to get some more resources to build walls around our settlements, and the infrastructure of this new government up..." the General trailed off, lost in his musing.
"Sir, I know you have this big goal all worked out for the Commonwealth..." Isabel Cruz began, "But what exactly are you going to to about a government? I mean, most people out here don't even know what a Government is."
"Well, I'll answer that more completely eventually, but to hold you over until such a time, I'll explain a bit of it. Has anyone heard of the CPG? Or Commonwealth provisional government?"
A few murmurs of assent answered him, mostly from Nick, Piper, and Ronnie Shaw.
"Well, I'll tell you the basics. All the settlements across the Wasteland with even a bit of power, sent representatives to hash out an agreement, to propose a new form of government. Create order, a economy and infrastructure. The problem is, the Institute sent one of their own." He paused for a second, considering what to say.
"Now the stories differ, between the synth being the last survivor, or the cause of the slaughter, but the end result was the same, all talks ceased. Now, with the Institute gone, the Minutemen providing a bastion of power, and more settlements popping up then ever before, we have a hope. A hope that a plan for government will actually work, and even begin to be implemented in the near future. That's what I'm preparing for. That's why I've been setting up those new, experimental leadership settlements. Barney Rook, in Salem, is a great example."
"So everything you've been doing from the start, was to set up a new government?" Preston asked, curiously.
"Well, not from the start. Originally it was just to find my son. The fact that I had already figured out Settlers in Sanctuary and Red Rocket would be beneficial to my efforts was purely coincidental. It happened to line up so well with the Minutemen ideal, then you explained to me about lack of stable power, and offered me the Generalship. That's when I began to wonder if it would be possible."
"But anyway, back on topic. Politics can wait a few more weeks. I want some battle plans drafted, and see if you can find some way to counteract those flamers. Asbestos would be a great start, so see if you could put together enough asbestos for a Company of 80 men. That should be enough manpower to subdue them. Make sure the soldiers remove the asbestos lining from their combat armor after though, it was being investigated pre-war for causing cancer. I recall my wife telling me about it when she was cursing the big, corrupt businesses. I'd rather not have THE incurable disease to worry about. Until we get the Vault 81 labs running again, we have no solution to a thing like that."
The General shuffled some papers around, crossing things off of his lists.
"Next order of business, the state of the troops. Quartermaster Shaw, how are things looking?"
"These youngsters are shaping up pretty good General. Their almost as good as in my day, and I'll grudgingly admit, possibly better. Preston and that Danse feller you got teaching em are sure whipping them boys inta a real fighting force. Course, you couldn't do it without me supplying such good weapons an such." Ronnie finished, quite smug with herself.
"Yes, Danse's knowledge of Brotherhood training is quite valuable, and I've taught Preston everything I know personally, from my time in the Army. Unfortunately, Danse is away on business currently." Nate paused, "Speaking of what you just said, how are the stocks of gear looking?"
"Well. . ." Ronnie thought for a second, "We seem to be running low on Combat Rifles and .45 ammo. We have a surplus of .38 and Pipe Weapons. Many of the Minutemen coming and going are switching out their weapons with better gear, to be more effective. Combat armor pieces are also at an all time low, considering we had to equip for the Institute."
"Okay, send the surplus Ammo and Weapons to the Starlight Manufacturing Plant. Have them scrap it and change them into more Combat Rifles to compensate. I'll designate an extra convoy to your sector. I'll also inform them to start production of more armor, so by time the convoy arrives, a shipment of pieces should be ready to come back. Additionally, designate 6 more guards. I don't want some raiders getting an influx of weapons and armor."
Ronnie nodded, before standing up and leaving the room to go see to it. Her part in the conversation was over, and she had other, more pressing priorities.
"Some new business I have to bring up, is new branches of the military. These include Robots, A Navy and Mechanized Infantry, and an Air Force."
"Now, we have "The Mechanists Lair", which after adding more nuclear generators, and cleaning the assembly lines, we can crank up production in. After long consideration, I figured basic Assaultrons would be the best robot of choice. Agile, able to sprint and run for long distances, and can traverse all terrain quickly. Deadly with their spinning, jabbing hands and ultimate head laser. Smart, able to hold conversation, and take orders. Taking into account most Minutemen squads are patrolling, a miniature Liberty Prime that's quick, small, and relentless sounds perfect. Sentry boys are best at holding a checkpoint, so we'll take the schematics from the Robotic Disposal Grounds and use that as a base. Isabel Cruz, your perhaps the best here with Robots, so that's your new Division. Congratulations on your promotion."
She nodded in thanks, understanding the faith he was placing in her, and the chance at redemption. Others around the table clapped respectfully, happy for this oft-subdued girl.
"I have a plan with the navy, but for now, just start salvaging seaworthy ships. They don't have to be ready for battle anytime soon, but I'll need them to start transporting troops and supplies, so get some men and have them learn how to drive a boat."
"The Infantry though, I want those APC's running. Their Armored Personnel Carriers, Tanks, and crowd control all in one. Swivel ball turrets on front, big ass cannon on top. Perfect for our Army. Those Tanks too, I've seen at least 8 in my travels. Big bore, twin, turbo charged cannons would be best for our health if they were used on our enemies instead of ourselves. That means clearing out Fort Hagen Armory of any more riff-riff that have moved in since last time. Shouldn't be too difficult though."
Nate sighed, taking a sip of his purified water before continuing.
"Air Force is, in some ways easier, and most ways much harder. The Brotherhood know how to create Vertibirds, but we don't have access to that knowledge. I know someone that does, whom is also sympathetic to our cause. But we risk her position in the Brotherhood, and our mutual understanding with them as a faction. Reverse-engineering one sounds better, so I'll send the locations of those I've found to Sturges, and he can see which are easiest to recover. I'll need a few people to try and oversee that."
Macready, who was actually making paper airplanes out of some of the documents, raised his hand. He thought it sounded interesting, but the caps the General was sure to throw that way sounded much better.
"There's also a few planes around, called Stingrays. They were pre-war multi purpose bombers and fighters, and I would love to have them available in our Air Force. I'll send those locations over too, but fortunately they all seemed intact, and the Arcjet Building would have the schematics to build them already. Let's hope it's not been picked over by Brotherhood scribes yet." Nate nodded to Macready, silently asking if he understood all that. Macready nodded back, sitting up straighter.
"And that concludes the business of the Army as a Whole. Almost done people, then we can go party!" The General said with a smile, to a few other laughs.
"The last order of business is on the subject of the Brotherhood of Steel. Strangely, they haven't tried to send a Vertibird over and question us, something I fully expected them to do. For now, train some artillery on them at all times, and keep me updated constantly if the situation changes. Their not stupid enough to try anything, yet, so we don't have to worry overmuch." Nate paused to emphasize his next point. "There is much valuable Intel we can get from them, and there are quite a few soldiers there sympathetic to our cause. I would love to be a good neighboring nation to them, so that requires cooperation. Their ideals leave much to be desired, but those could be swayed, and they have the right overall goal. Just don't engage them, or do anything to piss them off overmuch, and we should be golden." Nate browsed his documents one last time, before standing up.
"And that wraps it up! Meeting is adjourned. You all know what you need to do, so let's get started. Remember, there's a party later, so I want you all to relax and have fun. We may not get another chance like this to just relax for quite some time."
Well, that's it for this chapter. 3,800 words is a pretty nice goal for me, but I cant guarantee anything solid. I just go with the flow, yet most of the time the river turns out to be dry. Oops.
As always, leave a comment so I can fix my issues! Lord knows I have too many. Following and Favoriting are certainly nice too, so if you like where this is heading, be sure to do that! Thanks all, and goodbye.