And here's chapter 6 where Jackson officially joins the Minutemen. Enjoy
Also I am replaying the game and going through it while I write it. In the Corvega Assembly Plant I heard 2 raiders talking about Ack-Ack, the raider boss of USAF Station Olivia and how her crew got wiped out. I was going to include it here but Codsworth attracted their attention before I could get it all so... yeah. No mention of Ack-Ack's crew in here I'm afraid
Mandalore the Survivor - First off no apologies necessary, I wasn't trying to be mean, just funny since I'm kinda flying by the seat of my pants here and have no plot written down anywhere. Also I plan on giving Cindy some friends of her own in this story. And about the caps thing, it also helped that Jacksons safe was one that couldn't be picked by bobby pins lol. As for the people at Abernathy's Farm... you've seen the extent of their 'roles' in the story in this chapter. The USAF I didn't think about giving it to the Minutemen but that has given me another idea instead. Thanks for that and for giving me an idea involving something later on that will involve Red Tourette. I admit I kinda forgot about her but now she'll play an important(ish) role coming up later along with Sully Mathis (Thicket Excavations). They'll be present when Jackson needs to see a man and woman about a horse (hint hint).
As for the raiders I've got something planned for them after the events of Corvega Assembly Plant and after Jackson recruits his companions which in order will be: Preston, New Companion(it's going to be a surprise and one you all probably won't see coming), Strong, Cait, MacCready, Hancock, Deacon, Ada and then Curie before hitting Diamond City to get Piper and Nick Valentine. The raiders are going to be very pissed and vengeance will be... well no spoilers(except for one, the sex starts after that). In addendum to what I said in chapter 3 I might include X6-88 in that group depending on how far I get into the main storyline. For the women in his life, he's going to put a ring on one of them, but his penis into several before... and after marriage.
zachjziege - Thanks. I plan on it.
Also, this isn't a response to the reviews but just something to point out, there's a question at the end of the chapter. Feel free to answer it.
'Thinking'
"Talking"
The First Step
October 25th 2287
Waking up the next morning Jackson headed out of his (apparently) shared bedroom and saw Sturges and Preston along with two other people. Curious he headed over there as Sturges and the other two walked away. Preston saw him and walked over to him. "Can you believe it?"
"Believe what?" Jackson asked him.
"Oh right," Preston said realizing something, "you weren't around last night. Anyway Sturges managed to get a recruitment radio beacon set up last night and we just got our first new settlers this morning."
"That's great," Jackson replied genuinely happy that the Minutemen were on the road to being rebuilt.
"It gets better. Your robot worked through the night to set up some scavenging stations. The two that just got here are familiar with scavenging so they'll be working with Sturges on that front," Preston continued, "But before that he said he was going to upgrade the recruitment radio beacon to work like your Pip-boys do?" Preston finished not entirely sure what Sturges meant by that.
"He's setting up a lines of communicating between myself, Cindy and now apparently our settlement so if anyone needs to contact me while I'm out and about, or Cindy if she's doing the same, they can," Jackson explained.
"Wow. That's pretty impressive," Preston said before thinking, "You know, if we got the radio at The Castle back up and running we could extend that signal to what it was and then some," Preston continued, "But first we need more settlements allied with us before that can happen."
"Fair enough," Jackson said, "By the way has Lucy left for her home yet?"
"Not yet and that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Now that we both have more people in our settlement the Abernathy's Farm won't be able to supply us all. We need another location that can supply us food," Preston said.
"Hopefully that location that needs the Minutemen will help," Jackson said, "But anyway back to my original line of thought I was thinking that Sturges, Cindy and Codsworth should accompany her so they can build some automated turrets to defend themselves. Perhaps they can also build a recruitment radio beacon there too?"
"Great idea," Preston said, "and that will let them have more workers to grow more crops too. But that's a mighty big if, though and that's if anyone heads over there. We should have another settlement supplying food, just to be safe."
"No argument here," Jackson said, "I'll head on over to the settlement. See what's what." With that Jackson crossed the bridge and headed east towards Tenpines Bluff by himself. After passing USAF Station Olivia without incident Jackson soon found himself in an area with many picked apart trucks and various other items of a metal nature. Jackson was so distracted he failed to notice that there were four wild dogs surrounding him until one broke a stick on the ground as it lunged at him. Jackson turned his head and managed to dodge, just barely, and responding with a shot to the head with his .44 pistol using up one of the six bullets that he had for that ammo. Fortunately the death of one of the dogs bought him enough time to bring out the double barreled shotgun he picked up a couple days ago and when a second dog decided to be brave enough to charge at him he aimed and blew the dogs head off. The other two decided this wasn't worth dying for and ran off chasing a mutated deer in the process. Holstering his weapon on his back Jackson continued east and five minutes later made it to a settlement that, according to his map was Tenpines Bluff.
Seeing someone using a water pump he headed over to them and when they saw Jackson they drew their pipe pistol on him. 'Here we go again,' Jackson thought to himself as the settler spoke to him, "What do you want?" the woman asked him, "We don't need anymore trouble around here."
Jackson couldn't help but point out the obvious, "Didn't you ask the Minutemen for help?"
The woman lowered her weapon and spoke again, "You're with the Minutemen? I didn't really think you fellas still existed. We sent word with one of the passing traders, but honestly I never expected anything to come of it. Most people don't put much stock in the Minutemen these days, after Quincy. Bad business, that."
Making a mental note to ask Preston about that at a later time Jackson spoke again, "We're rebuilding the Minutemen from the ground up. We're the good guys again."
The settler wore a slight smile on her face as she spoke, "Glad to hear it. No question that things have been worse since the Minutemen fell to pieces. There's a raider gang that's been giving us trouble for weeks. Stealing food and supplies, threatening to kill us all if we don't pony up," the settler looked towards the south, "We know where they're coming from, but we can't go up against a gang like that."
"Would you be willing to join the Minutemen once I've dealt with those raiders?" Jackson asked her before noticing the semi-large food growing area, "We could use a supply of food since ours is growing low and the only other settlement that has joined up is slightly strained on that front. We can help you out the same way as them. Purified water, supplies."
"Tell you what," the woman said, "take out those raiders and we'll consider it. People have gotten used to not being able to count on you folks. That won't exactly change overnight." The woman then pointed out the location of the raiders on his Pip-boy map and Jackson headed off in that direction. After heading across a wooden bridge and quickly marking the location of a crashed airplane off in the distance, he got a call from Sanctuary on his Pip-boy. Tuning it to the radio section of his Pip-boy he answered.
To no one's surprise it was Cindy on the other end, "Hey Jackson."
"Hey Cindy, what's up? Why'd you call?"
"We're done at the Abernathy's Farm, got a couple of turrets set up and a recruitment beacon. They also had something to give you for getting our help," she replied.
Jackson was surprised to say the least but this presented him with an opportunity to bring in some more help on his mission, "Can you do me a favor?" he asked and continued without waiting for a response, "Can you ask Preston if he knows a place called 'Corvega Assembly Plant?' It's near Lexington."
He heard some shuffling on Cindy's end and a muffled conversation before Cindy was back on the line, "He says he knows it. His group passed near it on their way to Lexington in fact."
"Can you get him to meet me there? Oh and bring Dogmeat and this gift too. The job for the settlement seems a little big for me to handle alone," he explained.
Another muffled conversation on Cindy's end later and Jackson heard her again, "Yeah they'll meet you there."
"Great, thanks Cindy," Jackson said, "Anything new happen?"
"Well," Cindy started, "That Lucy girl and I seemed to hit it off."
"Oh?" Jackson asked, "Is this the start of an honest to goodness true friendship for you?" he said in a playfully mocking tone.
"Ass!" Cindy replied equally playfully before cutting the line. Jackson chuckled to himself. It seemed the end of the world was in fact helping Cindy rather than hurting her and for that Jackson was thankful, in a twisted sort of way since everyone they knew from that life is now gone. As Jackson travelled he noted two more locations that may be of interest to the salvagers in Sanctuary. A rotten landfill and, based on Jackson's knowledge of the area, Bedford station. Passing past both he could see the place he was heading towards, Corvega Assembly Plant. Well, the top of it anyway. Heading west around Lexington and the nearby Super-Duper Mart now he hoped he could link up with Preston and Dogmeat before the bullets started flying. After finding his way to a collapsed overpass it wasn't long before Preston and Dogmeat showed up.
"Preston," Jackson said waving him down, "Over here."
"So this is where the raiders were coming from?"
"The ones pestering Tenpines Bluff, yes," Jackson responded.
"Oh before I forget, here," Preston said, "From the Abernathy's." He handed Jackson a pipe rifle that was different from the one that he had picked up before. The back had a more comfortable fit on his shoulder where the butt of the gun was, the part connecting it had a spring around the metal, the magazine was a drum holding what Jackson guessed was probably near fifty rounds and on the end of the barrel was what Jackson had to guess was a silencer on it.
"Well," Jackson said, "This'll make things easier." He turned around to face the plant checking it out quickly before turning back to Preston, "So here's what I'm thinking, we do the same thing as with the raiders and Deathclaw in Concord. You up high and providing me cover. But this time don't shoot at them until they shoot at me," Preston nodded in response so he continued, "Once the outside people are dealt with we head inside through the front door. I'll signal you when it's clear."
"Understood," Preston said, "Good luck." He headed up the destroyed overpass as Jackson headed to the side of the plant. Once in position Preston waved his hand and Jackson took that as his cue to start. Stepping out he saw a raider leaning against a pole on a square catwalk and a turret underneath. Aiming at the raider Jackson scored a headshot on them which alerted the turret, but it ended up not seeing him. However a raider that had stepped into view just as the bullet hit the other raiders skull did see the aftermath and moved to investigate. Jackson aimed at the new raider and fired hitting them in the unprotected chest. The turret itself moved towards the disturbance and Jackson was able to see the weak point on it's back. Aiming once again luck was on his side and he nailed it in the sweet spot destroying it instantly.
However the resulting explosion was enough to cause the other raiders to notice so Jackson hid against the wall he started out from. After barely hearing one of the raiders say 'Probably nothing' he stepped out and continued forward. As Jackson approached the front door area he heard a door open and he saw a raider step out onto the second level. The new raider saw his friends body but before he could call out Jackson silenced him as well. Moving past the destroyed turret and another raider body Jackson found another raider on an upper level. Just as the raider heard something and raised his gun Jackson delivered a headshot on him. Turning the corner Jackson saw two more raiders up the incline and quickly used VATS to determine which one he could hit at a higher percentage. One good thing about VATS was it slowed down his perception of time. Noting that not only was one raider not wearing any protective gear on his chest but VATS had a eighty-nine percent chance of hitting it while his friend was hidden mostly behind a car. Jackson aimed at the one behind the car and nailed him in the head before activating VATS quickly and managing to score a kill shot with it on the other.
Heading up the incline Jackson heard some voices coming from a trailer. Opening it up quietly he saw two more raiders in there that hadn't noticed him. Logically the two inside didn't pose a threat to him right now they might later while he's going forward and would have a clear shot at his back. Sighing to himself he atomized a fragmentation grenade and threw it at them landing under the seat of the only one in Jackson's sights while Jackson shut the door. The grenade blew up and Jackson was thankful the trailer was soundproof as he only heard a small boom from in front of the door. Heading up a nearby staircase to the left of the trailer Jackson entered a covered walkway between the two sections of the plant. Hearing another raider walking around Jackson took cover near a corner and peeked out. Luckily the raider had his back turned to him and was walking away as Jackson fired at him hitting him in his neck and killing him after a few seconds. On his person Jackson found an automatic assault rifle and stored it away in his Pip-boy due to it only having four rounds in it.
Continuing across the walkway he came to the roof of the entranceway down below. Travelling up the staircase near the wall he stopped just before he got to the top to scope it out. There seemed to be only four raiders left so Jackson stealthily made his way up the staircase directly in front of him and continued up, miraculously unseen, to the very top of the plant that he could climb. Heading left he managed to sneak up on a raider that had just recently leaned up against the railing looking away from Jackson's position. After dispatching him with a headshot Jackson saw another bobblehead near his dead body and picked it up. Looking out quickly at the view towards Boston he sighed as he knew it would take a long time for him to find Shaun. That didn't mean he was going to quit though, god no. Turning around he made his way around to the area he came up and headed straight. Finding two more raiders on two different levels he shot the one on the lower level first then the upper one so he wouldn't alert the one below when her friends blood and guts and/or brains hit them. Heading down to ground level he dispatched the final raider.
Just as he did he felt something hit his arm and cried out in pain stumbling a bit. A bullet struck his left arm and as a result he now couldn't aim properly. Across the walkway he had crossed over earlier on the topmost part of the structure's catwalk was a raider that Jackson had missed. Just as the raider was about to shoot him again a laser blast hit him in his head and as a result he was reduced to ashes. Jackson silently thanked Preston in his head before looking at his arm. Thankfully it was a through-and-through so the bullet wasn't lodged in there or anything but it still hurt like hell. Atomizing a stimpack he jabbed the device in his arm it began to work and Jackson could feel the pain fading. As it did Jackson headed back down to the front door to meet up with Preston. By the time Jackson reached him the stimpack had completely healed his arm and he could now aim properly. "Thanks for the save Preston," Jackson said to him.
"Of course," he replied, "You alright?"
"Bullet only took flesh," Jackson replied, "Nothing a stimpack can't patch up."
"That statement covers a wide range and you know it," Preston deadpanned while Jackson smirked. Before the two headed into the plant Jackson quickly grabbed some 5.56 ammo from the turret. Unfortunately there were only five rounds left in the machine. As the two entered the building a raider came out of the bathroom area to the right side and Jackson quickly shot him in the head before he could react and due to his subpar headgear it was an instant kill. As Jackson was about to make his way around the left side of the desk from the front door Preston grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. As Jackson was about to complain/ask him what he was doing Preston pointed and spoke, "Look. A boobytrap." Sure enough a makeshift bomb was attached to a wall and a tripwire below it. Jackson looked at Preston and nodded before approaching the bomb. It looked similar to the ones his father showed him how to disarm and thankfully it was similar enough that Jackson disarmed it. Heading through the double door Dogmeat and Jackson took care of two raiders that emerged from a door on the left quietly. They headed right seeing the one on the left was a dead end and through a section of a destroyed wall Jackson was able to kill a third raider.
Heading into and quickly out of that room they headed down a hallway to a door and upon opening it were greeted with two paths to choose from. Choosing left they were once again greeted with a choice, straight or right and up a set of stairs. Choosing to go straight they pushed open the double doors and were greeted with three raiders in various places. Dogmeat was the first to react charging a raider on the staircase in front of the group of three while the other raiders started shooting forcing Preston and Jackson into cover. Fortunately for them though it seemed that they were so preoccupied with Jackson and Preston the raiders forgot about Dogmeat and he was able to take out another one on the upper level close to the first one he killed. Jackson and Preston each returned fire and while Preston hit his target and didn't kill him Jackson missed entirely. Thankfully Preston's second shot was enough to finish the final raider, but Dogmeat was still under attack from a, from Preston and Jackson's position, unseen turret and couldn't move. Jackson was able to lob a fragmentation grenade through the window the turret was and when the grenade exploded the firing stopped. Dogmeat rejoined his master who spoke up when the dog trotted over to him, "We need to get you some armor or something buddy."
Heading into the area where the turret was they came across a locked door with numerous items inside. Unfortunately a key was needed to get inside. "Here, I've got this," Preston said holding up a key.
"Where did you get that?"
"On the man who lead the attack on our group in Concord," Preston replied, "I'll check this out. Wait here."
Jackson looked around the area and spotted a computer nearby and assumed it was owned by the man who attacked Preston's group. His suspicion was confirmed when the only thing on there was a message about a caravan that described Mama Murphy and Preston calling them a 'fortune teller' and 'some joker in a cowboy hat'. Jackson resisted the urge to snicker up until the last sentence. That made him laugh a little. When Preston asked what was so funny he told him that the man known as Gristle really wanted his hat. Preston looked dumbstruck as he shook his head. As Jackson left the computer Preston finished up in the locked area storing what he found into Jackson's Pip-boy for convenience. The two of them figured that the leader of these men, a man named Jared according to Gristle's computer, would be closer to the top of this plant so as to lord over his subordinates. Heading back through the double doors they made their way up the stairs and found the main area of the production facility. A terminal was attached to a beam in front of them and as Jackson made his way to it out of the corner of his eye he could see a man sitting on a rail all dressed to the nines. Fortunately for Jackson but not so much the raider his head had no protection whatsoever so Jackson formed a plan if that terminal in front of him was what he thought it was and could provide a useful distraction. Powering up the terminal he managed to hack into it and activate the protectron unit.
As he predicted the raiders and two turrets began attacking the protectron and Jackson was able to line up a kill shot on Jared taking him out. Thankfully the raiders were too busy with the protectron to notice this and Jackson was able to take out the remaining raiders with a single headshot each save for two killed by the protectron. The two turrets took a couple more shots and Preston and the protectron had to help him out. After there was no more left to kill the group of three headed further into the assembly area. Jackson elected to head up the stairs to see what he could find while Preston and Dogmeat stayed down there with the protectron. Hitting the button to extend the platform, Jackson guessed it was to try and prevent the protectron from walking over to them, he crossed it and found Jared's body just as Preston found something himself.
"Found a safe down here. Needs a key though," he said. Patting down Jared's body Jackson found the key and tossed it down to Preston. Taking the combat rifle that Jared had on his person and storing it in his Pip-Boy he checked out the room near Jared's body and found a Grognak comic in addition to what looked like a piece of metal armor designed for the left arm. Pocketing both in his Pip-Boy he activated the computer in the room and found it was Jared's computer. He seemed to know Mama Murphy from the past and it seemed like her prediction about him came true after all. Now Jackson was a little less skeptical about Mama Murphy's powers but it seemed to be that, as she said back in Concord, chems were needed to activate it and from what he gathered from the entries in the computer it was another word for drugs. Now he was conflicted. Mama Murphy's gift could be useful in helping to find Shaun, but at what cost? If she'd been on drugs for this long the chances of her overdosing were high. Jackson sighed and for the moment he couldn't decide between one life or another. Leaving the computer he took cover when he heard two voices from down below and neither one was Preston. Looking down he saw that Dogmeat had snuck up on one's back and so he aimed his silenced weapon and fired at the one Dogmeat wasn't behind. Hitting the neck the body fell as the other one backed up in surprise only to meet Dogmeats teeth around his own neck. Once dead Jackson joined Preston and Dogmeat, the former of which added some grenades, mines, ammunition, bottlecaps and other crafting items to his Pip-boy from the safe.
After finding the door to exit the plant the group stepped through and unchained the door before heading back to Tenpines Bluff to give them the good news. Half an hour later, though it was probably closer to thirty five minutes, they made it back to Tenpines Bluff without incident. Finding the same settler from before, which wasn't hard since there were only two of them, she spoke to Jackson, "Find those raiders?"
"They're history. Now what do you say about joining the Minutemen, helping others when they need it," Jackson responded to her.
"You helped us, so it'd be pretty ungrateful of us to turn our backs on other folks. If we want things to get better, we've got to start helping each other," she said, "So... we're in. You can count on us if you need help down the line. We've already got some food harvested and packed up for you," she continued as the other settler handed some food to Preston "Thanks again friend."
Preston and Jackson headed back towards Sanctuary with the food. Along the way Jackson spoke to him, "I guess we should let Sturges, Cindy and Codsworth know about their next job, huh?"
"Yeah..." Preston said somewhat unenthusiastically, "Hey listen, can I talk to you about something?"
"Go for it."
"I guess you know I'm one of the last of the Minutemen, but I never really told you what happened to us," he said somberly.
Jackson shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."
"Have you heard of the Quincy Massacre?" Preston asked him.
"Can't say I have, no," Jackson replied.
"I thought everyone in the Commonwealth knew about that by now. Where the Minutemen betrayed each other, and the people they were supposed to protect," Preston said bitterly before becoming more somber, "I was with Colonel Hollis's group. A mercenary group called the Gunners was attacking Quincy; the people there called for the Minutemen to help," he continued before the bitterness returned slightly, "We were the only ones that came. The other groups... they just turned their backs. On us, and the folks in Quincy," he sighed and continued, the somber tone returning, "Only a few of us got out alive. Colonel Hollis was dead. So I ended up in charge of the survivors. We never found a safe place to settle. One disaster after another... you saw how it ended, in Concord."
Jackson couldn't help but feel sorry for Preston. He devoted his life to the Minutemen and when push came to shove the other Minutemen faltered. He decided to try and cheer him up, "As long as you don't give up, the Minutemen will survive."
That seemed to do the trick as Preston's mood seemed to shift to one of confidence, but what he said was not what Jackson was expecting. "I'm not about to give up. But I can't protect the Commonwealth all by myself. Hell, I could barely protect these people. That's why I'm talking to you. I can't rebuild the Minutemen... but I think you can."
"Wait, me?!" Jackson asked astonished, "I don't know what makes you think that."
"That dead Deathclaw begs to differ," Preston said, "You saved us in Concord. There wasn't anything in it for you. You had your own problems to deal with. But you did it anyway. That kind of selflessness has been in mighty short supply around here for quite a while," he continued, "We need someone who can bring the whole Commonwealth together in a common cause. And I think you've got it in you to be that leader."
Jackson thought about it for a minute. Shaun was still his number one priority, but having the resources of the Minutemen would be a huge advantage in this search. The only downside was the responsibilities that would come with this may interfere with said search a bit, but insofar as Jackson was concerned the pros outweighed the cons. "Okay. I'll do it."
Preston was a bit relieved at this as he spoke, "Good. Good! Welcome aboard. I feel like this is a whole new start for the Minutemen, and the Commonwealth, too. Don't worry, I'll be right beside you all the way... General."
"Wow, first day in the Minutemen and I've been promoted to General. My dad would be proud of me," Jackson responded with a little bit of sarcasm.
"The leader of the Minutemen has always held the rank of General. Our last leader was General Becker. After he died back in '82, nobody could agree on who should take his place," Preston said before his tone shifted to a more amused one, "The one good thing about being the last Minuteman is there's no one to argue with me when I say you're the new General. Now it's your job to make it more than an empty title," he continued before giving Jackson something, "By the way, you should have one of these flare guns. You can use it to signal for help from any nearby Minutemen. It'll get more and more useful as we get more allied settlements. Eventually, you'll have help where ever you need it."
"So I fire this up in the air and get some assistance, seems simple enough," Jackson said. The two of them passed the monument to the original Minutemen and Jackson spoke up, "You know the old Minutemen wouldn't have given up on Quincy."
"What?" Preston asked him.
"The original Minutemen," Jackson replied pointing to the statue, "Back in the year seventeen seventy-six. They were the first ones ready if a fight was coming and they defended what they believed in until the last man."
Preston was thoughtful about this for a second or two, "That's what the Minutemen should strive to be now."
"And between the two of us I think we'll do pretty well on that front," Jackson continued. The three of them entered the settlement and after Jackson dropped off what they found headed their separate ways to their respective homes. After getting some lunch in him and taking a significant amount of caps out of his stash, just in case, Jackson decided now would be as good a time as any to head to Diamond City so asking Preston to come along with him the two headed out towards Diamond City.
And they never arrived...
And that's that for now. I think I'll leave it here.
So onto my question I mentioned at the top of this chapter, the question is this: Would those who read this like to see a Fallout 3 story similar to this one? If I do though the sex will start in the first chapter instead of this one, but it will be mostly plot driven. (i.e. comforting someone turned steamy make out turned full-on sex) Also this story will take precedence over the Fallout 3 one so don't expect fast(ish) updates on it.
So there it is. Let me know what you think. And of course my calling card; The Zoid
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