Disclaimer: This story is written using the setting and the characters of Bethesada's Fallout franchise, and as such, they all belong to Bethesada. Original characters, fictional locations, and such are all entirely made up and any resemblance to other people/places is purely coincidental. If you find a reason to sue me, proceed. Just be warned, I'm virtually penniless and have a cute little puppy that relies on me for food and a warm place to sleep. A puppy, people. Don't be cruel.

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Chapter 1 - So It Begins

"The beginning is the most important part of the work."
- Plato, Athenian Philosopher

"First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality.
The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination."
- Napoleon Hill, American Author

"The journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step."
- Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher

War. War never changes.

More and more these days, the Sole Survivor found himself remembering those words, recalling the speech he had been slated to give at the Veterans' Hall in Concord. He sighed then, staring at the horizon where the sun was just beginning to peer out. There wasn't that much activity right now, not at the crack of dawn. Most of his men were sleeping, he knew.

And the ones that weren't, they were looking forward to it. It was just him that didn't. Somehow, even in this shell of a broken down world, somehow his nightmares were still worse.

When sleep only brought you your dead wife and a son you never really knew and a whole world that had burned while you were frozen… Well, you'd start convincing yourself that less is better. And after a while, you'd start believing it. Just like the Sole Survivor. Besides, it had been two hundred years in that damn Vault. Give or take a decade, of course. That was more than enough sleep for the Sole Survivor, as far as he was concerned.

"Goddamn it…" The Sole Survivor turned his back to the creeping dawn and finished what was left of the black coffee in his chipped mug. He had really come a long way since the day he stumbled out of the icy confines of that icy tomb.

It was more of a monument, really. A monument frozen in time. A monument to a world that no longer existed. A world that strangely enough seemed brighter and more hopeful now compared to this wasteland.

But he wasn't going to let that put him off his task.

Shaun might have been a stranger but he was still his son. And in the little time they had together, he felt as if his son had more or less passed on his dream to him. A dream for not only humanity's survival but its betterment. But where the son had believed the Synth to be the key to redefining mankind, the father believed otherwise. Just as the Brotherhood had claimed, all the synth could do was render man obsolete.

No, he had to do it differently. Shaun had said it before, hadn't he? He had encouraged them to forge their own path rather than follow in the son's footsteps. And the Sole Survivor knew just how to do that. The problem was… Would the people go along with it? War wasn't the only thing that never changed.

Human nature, by far, was even harder to change. And the Sole Survivor knew the truth. That the real source of evil, all evil, was man's irrationality against his fellow men. And he saw evidence of that irrationality everywhere. Not just in the years up to 2077 but also all over the wasteland. Raiders. Slavers. Gunners. Triggermen. Forged. The Children of Atom.

And the byproducts of man's irrationality, the true children born of science gone wrong and greed left unchecked, the beneficiaries of nuclear annihilation. The abominations that stalked the wasteland, preying on all those who eked out lives of their own. The Mirelurk. The Radscorpion. The Yao Guai. The Feral Ghoul. The Super Mutant. And the one creature that stood atop the food chain, the fearsome Deathclaw.

No, if there was any hope of redefining mankind, it had to begin with changing opinions and attitudes. And by all accounts, that would be a task far more difficult to accomplish than freeing the Commonwealth from the tyranny of fear and ignorance.

But it wasn't impossible anymore.

Not when the Minutemen had already won over their hearts and minds. The day he had stumbled into Concord and saved Preston Garvey and the Quincy survivors, no one would have believed that the Minutemen could come back, especially not in such a big way. But here they were, eight years later, the most dominant force in the Commonwealth.

He looked around then, gazing over the battlements of the star fort. In his time, it had been Fort Independence. Now, it was simply the Castle. It had been Preston's idea to salvage the Castle, bring it back into Minuteman control. And it hadn't been easy, putting down all the Mirelurks and their monstrous Queen. And with the Castle back in their control and Radio Freedom back on the air, it didn't take long for what was left of the old guard to return. Ronnie Shaw and the veterans had all been a godsend back then, giving the Minutemen something priceless, something they sorely needed... Experience.

And now, the Castle was looking far better than she ever had, except on the day she had been first built. The broken walls, they managed to fix with brick and steel and mortar. The lower tunnels, they had shored up and fortified. There was even a 'castle town' of sorts outside her walls, filled with personnel and their families. Beyond that, trenches had been dug, sandbag barricades set up, steel hedgehogs established. Even the swamp right outside the Castle had been staked and the only entrance into the Castle heavily protected.

It had taken both post-apocalyptic ingenuity and pre-war knowledge to ensure that the Castle would never fall again. Though Nate knew that it was impossible to expect something to be invincible forever. The Castle would fall, no doubt about it. The whole point had been to make the enemy pay a high price in taking it.

The Castle wasn't the only place to undergo such changes, though. The Sole Survivor walked along her high ramparts and halted atop the repaired wall, staring west toward South Boston. He could see caravans coming through, likely from Jamaica Plain. And just down the highway from there, Quincy restored and rebuilt. As entrenched as the Gunners had been, they hadn't stood much of a chance once the Sole Survivor, Preston, and the Minutemen put their plan of attack into motion. Under the cover of night, snipers had made their way across the old highway and neutralized the Gunners' lookouts. And as soon as day came, the Sole Survivor led a frontal assault while Preston and his men had struck from the rear, dividing the Gunners into two fronts, making them easy prey for the snipers from above. Two of their bosses had died in the attack, stubborn to the end. But Clint, that bastard, made good his escape with a few of the Gunners he had won over.

And in the aftermath of the operation, it didn't take long for settlers to move in and reclaim the town, especially with the Longs and Sturges returning. It was just a shame that Mama Murphy didn't live long enough to see all this, though the Sole Survivor could only hope her final days had been as peaceful and comfortable as possible with Codsworth looking after her. As strange as she had been, he couldn't help but like the old woman. And yet... Somehow it seemed appropriate that she would always be in Sanctuary Hills.

"Sir?" A Minuteman spoke up as he walked along the battlements, already accustomed to seeing the his commander up this early in the morning. The Sole Survivor turned to look at his Minuteman, a Private judging from the rank on his dark blue uniform. "You wanted to be notified once everyone arrived." He gestured toward the courtyard then. "They're all here now."

The Sole Survivor gave him a nod. "Thanks for letting me know. It's been a long trip for some of them so we'll let them rest up some first. Have everyone meet me in the conference room at 0900 sharp." The Minuteman saluted and turned to carry out his newest orders. He gave it some consideration before calling after the Minuteman. "And have mess hall cook up some breakfast for us too!"

Once the Minuteman had confirmed the order, the Sole Survivor smiled and returned his attention back west. Getting everyone together was the easy bit. Getting them to go along with his proposal, that would be the hard part. But he'd pull it off. Yeah, his son might have gone about it the wrong way, but he'd fulfill his mission. He'd build a better world, a brighter tomorrow, for the Commonwealth. For the people.

And for Nora and Shaun.

Author's Note: Updated as of 6/14/2021