"Hey, you. Yeah, you. Wake up."

His eyes fluttered open, his vision blurry. He closed his eyes tightly and then opened them fully, looking around. He was in a dimly lit room, the only light coming from a small window at the far end of the room. A metal door stood between him and freedom, but why that freedom had been stolen from him was a mystery to him. Any recollection of why he was in this room was gone. Handcuffs prevented him from tugging at the likely locked door in hopes it would open. He sighed, resigning himself to whatever awaited him outside. His gaze turned back to the voice who woke him up in the first place. A woman sat across from him, a concerned look in her eyes. She had seen better days for sure, with bruises all over her arms and a black eye being the most prominent feature on her face. Behind her, a poster depicting a soldier in power armor pointing at the viewer with the words "Only you can prevent terrorism! Report any and all suspicious activity to Knights of the Brotherhood" hung over, providing a shred of context to why they were in this cell.

The woman spoke, pushing her brown hair away from her face, "Did they get you last night too?"

The man sat in silence, and then said, "I… I don't know. Where am I?"

"Shit, they must have got you good. Look," she sighed, looking towards the door and then leaning forward, "We're in the old police West Precinct. Brotherhood got this place going as some kind of jail right now. What's your name?"

The man looked at the ground, trying to remember his own name. After a few moments in silence, he said, "Simon… I'm Simon. And you?"

"I'm Thao, nice to meet ya. Now that you've remembered your name, you think you can remember why you're in here?" the woman asked, sitting back against the cold cement wall.

Simon slowly shook his head, "I don't know. I can't remember damn near anything right now." He sighed in defeat. "Fuck, what the hell is going on?" he thought to himself. An itch came up in his eye and as he went to scratch it, he realized he had a collar around his neck. "Jesus Christ!" he jumped, "Is this.." he began to ask.

Thao laughed, "An explosive collar? No, the Brotherhood aren't that sadistic. It's a tracking collar, so in case we somehow escape they can find us." She stopped laughing and then raised an eyebrow, "You new to Seattle?"

Simon said, "I… I guess so? I don't really know."

Thao brought a leg up on the stone bench she was sitting on, "Alright, basically all you need to know is that this is the Brotherhood's turf. They fucking hate anything that isn't Brotherhood, but the only reason they don't wipe us out is because they need recruits for their fucking wars up north. I'm here because I got caught spraypainting some FCH crap on one of their outposts. Bastards cornered me with dogs and power armor! Would you believe that? Dogs and walking tanks just for me!" She looked at the door and yelled, "You hear that you fucking assholes?! Sicking dogs on a small woman like meat?!"

"Is that where you got that?" Simon motioned towards his eyes.

Thao huffed, "Yeah. Sickos interrogated me until… God I don't even know when, all night maybe? Asked me what FCH is planning, who I work for, all that shit."

"FCH?" asked Simon, looking at the small rays of light coming through the window.

"Free Capitol Hill," Thao replied, "One of the few areas of the city that's both relatively safe and not under the Brotherhood's thumb. And it's not that they haven't tried. Believe me, they have. But they basically have it surrounded. Since they couldn't take it proper, they just put checkpoints around all the gates so they can control what comes in and out."

Suddenly, the lock on the door turned, and the handle creaked as it turned. Both Thao and Simon sat back as the door opened, revealing a woman clad in black with her hair in a ponytail. She looked at each of them, and then said, "Stand up." She turned to her side, and two soldiers in T-60 power armor walked in, laser pistols on their hips. They stood on either side of the door, an immense obstacle to any escape attempt.

Simon gulped, and rose to his feet, "Look, there has to be some sort of misunderstanding, I don't know why I'm here."

The woman glared at him and gave a sly grin, "Of course you don't. They never do." One of her accomplices chuckled. She walked up to Simon, and undid the tracking collar.

"Ma'am, I'm being completely honest with you. I woke up here and that's it, really," Simon said.

"He's telling the truth, guys been seeing stars ever since he woke up," Thao spoke up.

The woman, now on her way over to undo Thao's tracker, paused and looked at the soldiers, puzzled. "Hm, if there is a mixup, I'll see to it that it's corrected. But for now, you folks have somewhere to be." She yawned, setting both of the trackers on the bench. "Paladin Spradlin, you wouldn't happen to have the roster on you, would you? I left mine back in the barracks," she looked at the soldier on the right side.

"Got it right here, Captain Martinez," the Paladin replied, handing over a clipboard that was attached to his other hip. Captain Martinez exited the room, flipping through the pages on the clipboard. "Get a move on," the Paladin turned towards the prisoners, who began shuffling behind Martinez, followed by the Paladins.

The hallway was well lit, and laughter from the dorm rooms could be heard as the group continued. Simon looked to his right, and saw through a window a small gym, populated by a small group of soldiers. "Eyes front," Paladin Spraldin said, giving Simon a slight push.

A soldier in grey casualwear passed by the group and exclaimed, "Another batch of innies, Captain?"

"Every day," Martinez replied, pushing open the door ahead of her leading to a stairwell. "Down this way," she led the way downstairs.

Simon glanced over to Thao; she remained resolute in her demeanor, walking confidently. He looked down at his hands and noticed he was slightly shaking.

"What're you shaking for?" the other Paladin joked.

The group went down two floors, and emerged into a hallway with a small line of other prisoners waiting outside a door. Two soldiers in regular combat armor stood watch. The door led to a large room with some tables in it, as evident by the large window in the wall. Captain Martinez motioned for Thao and Simon to get in line as she continued scrolling through the names on the clipboard.

Simon wondered what awaited them in the next room. It looked somewhat like a mess hall, but there was a guy sitting at a desk just inside the room at a terminal. More posters lined the wall, varying from the one in his cell to basic recruitment posters. A few old ones were spaced out here and there, like one advertising Robco computers for just $150,000 in Old World money.

"You. Name?" Martinez tapped Simon's shoulder.

"Simon," he replied curtly.

"Last name?"

"I… I'm not sure," he replied slowly.

"Hm," Martinez huffed, "Not that it matters. There's no Simon on the list. Matter of fact, there's not even someone with your description on the list. You two, keep watch on this one. I'll be back shortly." She strode into the room, closing the door behind her. Simon could see her exchanging words with the man at the desk.

"Must be your lucky day," Paladin Spradlin muttered, crossing his arms.

"You can say that again," Simon quickly replied, before receiving a small slap on the back of the head and a 'shut up' from the Paladin. Captain Martinez nodded, and then emerged from the room.

"Looks like you won the lottery, kid. You're running free this time," she said, raising her eyebrows. The other prisoners looked at each other, whispering amongst each other. The guards began yelling at them to quiet down, threatening them with batons and tasers.

Simon closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. He looked to Thao, who said, "Lucky you. As for the rest of us, looks like we're about to eat more of that crap the Brotherhood considers food." Paladin Spradlin barked at her again to keep quiet.

A green light above the door came on, and the door came open. The guards motioned for everyone to enter and sit down. Thao gave Simon a small smile and mouthed the words good luck to him as she went inside. "If you'll follow me," Captain Martinez waved her hand for Simon to follow. As the group approached the stairs, a squad of Brotherhood Knights armed with laser rifles rumbled down. Simon's eyes went wide as the leader in Mark II power armor passed him. He turned to face the passing soldiers, and watched as they drew their weapons as they entered the room. Panicking, Simon turned to Paladin Spradlin, "What the fuck is going on in there?!"

Spradlin shook his head, "Justice." A hint of disappointment hung in his tone. Then, the faint sound of lasers being fired and screams of the dying, though muffled by the concrete walls, buried themselves deep into Simon's mind. He thought of Thao, who he'd met just half an hour before, and how suddenly her life had been snatched from her. He trekked on up the stairs, though, reminding himself of the freedom that awaited him.

"Captain, permission to go to the mess hall? I didn't eat breakfast," Spradlin asked.

"Ditto," the other Paladin said.

"Granted, get outta here you two," Martinez said over her shoulder.

The two Paladins turned off at a fork in the hallway, complaining about how stuffy it was being in their armor.

Martinez led Simon through a set of doors and into a waiting room. Various people sat at chairs, anxiously waiting to hear from friends and relatives detained by the Brotherhood. Martinez motioned for Simon to sit at a chair positioned at a desk protected by a metal grate accessed by a powered door. He sat down, glancing at a tattered flag with the insignia of the Brotherhood on it. The three gears covered by a dagger, the bottom of which surrounded by wings, on a green background. Martinez appeared on the other side, carrying a duffel bag.

"Alright, well, here's what we got you with. You probably want to change out of those prisoner clothes, so I'll get you your clothes first," she rummaged through the bag before pulling out the instantly recognizable blue jumpsuit of a Vault Dweller. She flipped it over, and read out, "Vault 89. Haven't seen one of these in a long time." She pushed it under the wiring and pointed to a door next to a poster of a Brotherhood soldier holding a flag next to the Space Needle. A Steel Dawn Awaits! The words bored into Simon's head. By killing people? That's your dawn? He stood up and went through the door to a bathroom, quickly changing into the jumpsuit and returning to the desk. As he passed the people in the waiting room, he thought of the massacre he had just witnessed. Were these people waiting for those in that room? Waiting to see their loved ones again, only to be met with their scorched corpses?

"It fits," Martinez remarked on the outfit as she set down the remaining items. "One 10mm pistol with some ammo, what looks like a modded M14 rifle, and some assorted medical supplies. Looks like you came prepared." She finished off with pulling out a large collapsed backpack. "We're gonna keep the duffel bag obviously, but we'll give this back to you," she concluded, putting everything into the backpack.

"I have a question," Simon said, finally mustering the courage to speak.

Martinez raised an eyebrow, "Go ahead." Her voice had changed to that of a more serious tone.

"Why me? Why did you kill all of those people?" he asked, leaning in closely to the grate so the others couldn't hear.

Martinez looked dead into his eyes, and pressed her hands together, "Because they were terrorists. You were not. It's simple."

"How does spraypainting a building make you a terrorist?!" Simon said through gritted teeth.

Martinez shifted in her chair, "I don't make the rules, I execute my orders."

"And people, too, apparently," Simon snapped back.

She leaned forward, nearly touching the metal with her face, "You think I like doing this? We're in deep shit here, Vaulty. We don't have enough food to go around here right now. We used to be able to just hold prisoners for their sentence, but now we've got to do what we must sometimes to preserve order."

"There's also this, no idea what it is specifically. Looks like some kinda of holotape. Something personal?" she asked, sliding it into the backpack. She looked past Simon and watched a man get up and move to exit the building, leaving his briefcase behind.

Simon turned to where she was looking, and saw the man tip his hat to them as he opened the door. A black evergreen tree was sewed into the back of his jacket.

"Sir! Your brief-"

Immediately Simon knew what was going on, and dove for cover behind a corner. The briefcase exploded, blowing out the already ruined windows of the police station. The people sitting close to the bomb were torn apart, covering the walls and floors with blood. The already unstable wall at the face of the building began to crumble, leaving a gaping hole to the outside. Simon could only watch as shrapnel tore into the civilians previously waiting for their friends and family. A bench flew through the air and slammed against a wall, shattering into many different pieces. Martinez was thrown back by the force of the explosion, slamming against the backside of the room she was in. The air was immediately polluted with dust, and he began coughing and struggled to alarm started to sound, and suddenly the room was being filled by yelling soldiers and medical staff.

Simon rose to his feet, and after a quick examination for wounds, picked up his backpack. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and holstered the pistol, before looking over to the room where Martinez was. She was awake, being attended to by a medic with an ice pack. She looked up at Simon and nodded. Simon turned to exit, and gagged at the sight of a dead man who was sat right by where the bomb had gone off, blown in half by the explosion.

Composing himself, Simon slowly made his way through the devastation and to the hole in the wall, the light of the sun blinding him. He stood there for a moment, holding his hand out to block the sun. The morning sun was rising over a collapsed skyscraper directly ahead of him, and he stepped out. A small crowd had gathered outside, talking amongst themselves about what had happened. Simon coughed into his arm, clearing his lungs of the soot and ash from the explosion. Walking down the steps from the police station, he brushed dust off of his arm and went out onto Virginia Street. Abandoned skyscrapers lined up on either side for what seemed like eternity.

Simon looked through his backpack and gasped. Holy shit. A Pip Boy. He pulled the portable computer out of his backpack and put it on his arm, turning it on. His vitals came online. Well alright, that's helpful. He rose to his feet, and noticed a sign on the opposite side of the street, facing the station.

A large piece of wood, with one sentence spraypainted on it:

CASCADIA RISES, BREAK THE STEEL CHAINS