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 3 - Drawing Up Plans

"We don't even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome."
- Isabel Allende, Chilean Writer

Nate slammed his hand on the table, shutting up everyone. Everyone except Director Monroe, who had seen this coming, and Commandant Ward anyway, who hadn't even bothered to open his mouth. The man might not understand why his General was doing this, Nate knew, but that wouldn't have stopped Ward from following him straight into the jaws of hell itself.

"Listen here!" He shouted them down, determined to get his proposal in before they could get any momentum going, even if it meant he had to cram it down their throats. "The Commonwealth is at peace here but the Commonwealth isn't the world! There's plenty outside her borders, plenty that could come swinging in and shatter everything we've built together! Least of all the Gunners!"

The General picked up the folder he had gotten from Director Monroe and opened it, pulling out one of the papers included inside it. He handed it over to Preston then. "We sent these bastards running, yeah. But they were never really defeated. No... They've been hiding out there, rebuilding their strength, just waiting for the chance to come back and take what's theirs! Captain Wes was their leader here in the Commonwealth, but even he answers to someone higher up the chain." As the paper got passed around the table, Nate went on. "And soon or later, this guy is gonna be gunning for us.

Ronnie Shaw sighed as she handed the report over to Teagan. "And this is all verified?"

Nate nodded. "Director Monroe's best agents confirmed it." He stood up and pulled up another map, this one showing the entire state of Massachusetts. "We lost track of Clint after retaking Quincy." The General looked at Preston then. "He's turned up in Brockton here, commanding what's left of the Commonwealth's Gunners. Brockton's twenty five miles to the southwest, about. And seventeen miles south of Brockton is Taunton, where a large force of Gunners has been massing under the command of Colonel Cypress. And beyond that…"

Everyone was listening intently now, aware of the danger the Gunners posed. After all, it was they who had brought down the Minutemen all those years ago. And no doubt they were looking forward to repeating that accomplishment.

"... General Quentin Braddock has been building up his forces and preparing for a campaign to retake the Commonwealth. He's operating out of his headquarters at Battleship Cove in Fall River, another twenty miles to the south. And he is a lot more disciplined and organized than any of the Gunners we've gone up against before."

Preston sighed. It wasn't really what he saw the Minutemen doing but he knew it had to be done. Otherwise, they'd all regret it. "So… What are we going to do about this? Shore up our defenses and start laying traps, get ready for them?"

Ronnie grunted. "They would overwhelm us in that case."

Nate agreed. "Yeah. We'd be sitting ducks, basically. If we play defense, that means our positions are going to be fixed, and the Gunners will have a good idea where to hit us in order to hurt us. Speed is crucial in a war, Preston, and we gotta be faster."

Captain Hollis cleared his throat then. "Sir, does that mean you want to take the fight to them?"

The General nodded. "That's right, Eamon. What I'm proposing is this, we send an expedition down south to put an end to the Gunners."

Teagan rubbed his chin, considering the proposal. An expedition means outfitting and supplying soldiers. "How many men are you planning on taking?"

Nate gave him a look then. "I'm thinking six hundred. Plus volunteers and mercenaries."

Preston furrowed his eyebrows at this, confused. "Mercenaries? You're not talking about the Free Militia, are you?"

The General chuckled then. "Yes, I am. Already talked with MacCready about all this before, told him it was possible we'd be going after the Gunners. He's already promised at least a hundred of his best. His men will make good scouts and skirmishers, I'm thinking."

And Bristol leaned forward, concern evident in his voice. "Seven hundred, maybe eight hundred. Will that be enough against the Gunners?"

Nate shook his head. "No. Which is why I'm going to meet with Strong at Natick Banks, see if some of his people want to take a shot at the Gunners." He grinned then, at the surprised looks on some of their faces. There might not be any more Super Mutants being produced by the Institute, but there were still plenty that had surrendered to the Minutemen and their Commonwealth allies, plenty of Super Mutants who didn't see any point in fighting a losing war on all sides. And after their surrender, the Minutemen carved out a sizable territory for the survivors, plenty of lands around Lake Cochituate but centered in Natick Banks.

And it didn't take long for Strong and his quest for 'milk of human kindness' to produce an effect on the rest of them.

Granted, it helped having the people at the WRVR station broadcasting their plays and stories. Rex Goodman was all too happy to jump at the offer to help civilize the Super Mutants, even after his first attempt had gone pretty badly. It had been three years since then, and as far as Nate was concerned, they were behaving pretty well and they had even managed to be helpful, hunting and stalking some of the most dangerous creatures in the area, including Deathclaws. Strong and his people had even made trips into the Glowing Sea, though Nate couldn't see any point in it. But if it kept them busy and they were happy, why complain about it?

"Furthermore," Nate went on, "With the Outcasts development just now, I'm hoping Protector Ingram will see the value in sending some of her people with us. We get Brotherhood firepower. They get to salvage technology."

Teagan chuckled at this. "I think she's going to have a hard time turning that down, sir."

Nate grinned. "I agree. But yeah, all together, I'm hoping to get together about a thousand men and women. The majority of them will be our Minutemen, but with everyone else pitching in, it'll look more like a Commonwealth expedition than anything else. I'm also requisitioning military assets as well. We're gonna need to haul plenty of supplies." And then he added, "That is, if everyone agrees that this is necessary, of course."

Captain Hollis smiled and cleared his throat. "Your proposal has been heard. Everyone?"

Everyone raised their hand in a show of support, some quick to do so and others slowly. Preston Garvey was the last to do so, and he did it with a heavy sigh.

And Jonah, whose agents had discovered the threat and gathered as much intel as possible, finally cracked a smile and slapped on the table. "Motion carried and passed. General, congratulations. You have your war."

Nate chuckled. That had been easier than he had expected. Either that or they had far more trust in him than he deserved. And if they failed there? Well, the consequences would be horrific. It'd be the end of everything he's built, everything the Commonwealth built together. That was the danger here, but he couldn't ignore the threat from the Gunners. Either way… "Good. However, it's not going to be that simple. It's a straightforward route from Boston to Fall River, but…"

Commodore Barrett nodded. From the look of the map and the route Nate had pointed out, he could see that it would be impossible to resupply the expedition by sea. But there was something else, however. "Fall River itself, correct?"

Nate looked up at him. "Yeah, she's going to be problematic. There's a naval museum there, as I recall. There are going to be plenty of ships. They may not even be operational at all but… Even with just one ship afloat... Even if we broke through their defenses and laid siege to Fall River, they could still resupply by sea."

Barrett raised his eyebrow. "Not if we set up a blockade with our own ships. A few gunboats will do the job. But you won't be able to take artillery with you on this expedition, though…" He smiled then. And so did the General. "... But we could set up artillery batteries from our ships, bombard them from the seaside, while you hit them from land."

"I like it." Nate grinned.

Cruz raised her hand then. "We also got some vertibirds in working condition. You could take them with you."

Nate acknowledged the Major with a nod. "I plan on it. Taking the Gunners down once and for all is gonna take everything we got. That includes air power. We have a couple of tanks in the arsenal too, don't we? I remember recovering some from the Rust Devils bastards west of Fort Hagen. Get those babies purring too."

She nodded, scribbling it down on her clipboard. "There's also a few buses my techies have been working on. They pulled all the seats out, welded on bars to all the windows, and reinforced the body with armor. We even got a plow on one of them!" She grinned. "We could turn one of them into a…" Isabel trailed off, shrugging as she did so.

And Nate finished her line of thought. "Mobile command center. That's a fantastic idea. Have your people cut in some gunports and figure out a way we can refuel the bus from the inside. And if we're going to use that as a command center, let's get it outfitted with a communication array too, because I'd like to stay in touch with all of my men." The General looked over at Madison, who nodded. "And Major Cruz, make sure that the command center's got some serious armor on it. It needs to be able to take a beating and keep rolling."

"Yes sir." The Major continued scribbling down everything.

"Everything else, we'll transport with trucks. Get as many of them together as we can. I want pickup trucks. Delivery trucks. Flatbed trucks. Whatever works. As for the troops, we got humvees, armored personnel carriers, and army trucks." Nate sat down, crossing his arms. "I want additional firepower as well. RPGs. Flamers. Brownings. Bring plenty of our plasma weapons too."

Madison looked at Nate then. "What about the mini-nukes? We've stockpiled a great number of them."

Nate was silent for a moment. Then he shook his head. "No. Nuclear weapons were what burned this world to ashes once. I don't want to see that nightmare a second time. There's been enough destruction. If there was one thing the Brotherhood was right about… It's that man can't be trusted with powers beyond his control. And there's no such thing as control when it comes to nuclear power. We may have got fanatics who worship Atom..." He looked around at everyone in the room, all of them focused on him alone. "... But you know what? Atom's power can only destroy, not create. Destroying shit isn't what the Minutemen do. It's not who we are. We're in the business of protecting life. We defend the defenseless. We help the helpless. We rebuild what's been destroyed. "

Then he looked back at Doctor Li, who looked away, properly chastised. "Yes, General." There was nothing else that needed to be said.

"Every life matters. Be it man, mutant, or machine." Nate concluded. "And while the Gunners may be the enemy, even they don't deserve to be vaporized into atomic dust. Even though they're probably gonna try and use nukes on us." He sighed before pushing it aside, forcing a smile on. "But we're not going to give them that opportunity." He turned to Director Monroe. "Gunners aside, how about the natives in those parts?"

His face resuming its blank stare, Monroe looked over his papers. "As is to be expected, there are a great number of settlements between the Commonwealth and Fall River. The Gunners have established themselves as the dominant power in the region and are exacting tributes from the people. They are hated. But more than that, they are feared. And save for a small resistance, the majority of the people are too fearful to rise up against them. From our preliminary surveys, I estimate the overall population to be roughly similar to ours." The General whistled then. Roughly twenty thousand people. "There is a great deal of resentment, however. I believe that if an opportunity presented itself, if the Gunners were sufficiently weakened…"

And Nate grinned. "They'll stand up and overthrow the Gunners." He looked around at everyone then. "So that's our way in. We'll move against Clint, use the element of surprise and take him out of the equation first. Cypress will send people to find out what happened. He may even come himself. One well-laid ambush will break any army. We'll mop up before moving on to Fall River. And as we move, word will spread. People will be rushing to help bring down the Gunners. Just like they did here in the Commonwealth. All they need is hope."

Preston nodded. "And we're going to give them that hope." He sat forward, a smile on his lips. "Who's going to be leading this expedition?"

The General looked at Preston. "I am."

"Sir!" Preston shook his head then. "That's a bad idea! We need you here!"

And Nate sighed. "No, you don't. The Commonwealth needs to believe that it can survive on its own. The Minutemen have to believe that they can handle anything even without me around. What happens once I'm gone? I don't want to see everything we've built collapse."

His Colonel could only stare at him, before sighing as well. He knew the General was right, even if he didn't want to outright admit it.

"You're going to command the Minutemen in my absence, Colonel Garvey. Commandant Ward here will be your second in command. And after him, Director Monroe will be third in the chain of command." Nate looked up at young Eamon Hollis then. "I'll be taking Captain Hollis with me. While I'm directing this campaign, he'll be commanding our troops."

Captain Hollis looked surprised at first, but then he composed himself and saluted. "Yes sir!"

Preston rubbed his temples. He was not liking where all this was going now. He didn't want to be in charge of everything. He really didn't. It just didn't feel right. But Nate clapped his back and smiled. "No one's saying you can't be an active leader. If you want to get out there in the field, Preston… Who's gonna stop you?" And Preston gave him a weak chuckle. He had a point there.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

The General looked around again. "Alright, that concludes things for now. Everyone, you have your orders. As for me, I'll hopefully be meeting with Ingram soon. Then I'm going to get in touch with Mayor Sullivan and Hancock, get everyone to meet and pitch them this expedition. Hopefully they'll see the need for it and ask for volunteers to join us. Hollis, pass your duties over to a subordinate and get to Lexington, we'll use her as a staging area for our forces. I want this expedition ready to go in two months, understood?"

Captain Hollis acknowledged his orders. "Understood, sir." He turned to leave.

Nate gestured for everyone else to leave as well. "Dismissed." As they all got out of their seats and began gathering up their papers and reports, conversing quietly among themselves, Nate went around the room and touched Doctor Li on the arm, drawing her attention. "I'd like to speak to you privately." As soon as the scientist agreed, Nate left the room.

On the battlements of the Castle, the Sole Survivor sighed as he stared out at the endless ocean ahead of him. Madison soon appeared behind him, climbing up the metal stairs. "Nathaniel?"

Nate turned to face her. "Madison." He smiled, gesturing for her to join him.

"What is it?" Dr. Li spoke softly, wondering if this was about her suggestion to use nuclear weapons. It wasn't.

"This campaign is going to be dangerous, even with all the assets we're putting into the field." He spoke, looking back out at the horizon, where one of Commodore Barrett's ships was patrolling the waters. "I want to bring one more thing with us."

And Madison realized just what he wanted. She hadn't really expected this, especially not after everything that had happened. Even with the Institute destroyed, there was still a great deal of technology and assets recovered from the Institute. And though many of the surviving synths had left, seeking a new purpose or searching for a new life. The Railroad had their hands busy back then with that, though more than a fair number of them had apparently gone northeast, all the way to Maine. There were still some synths in storage. Synths considered too dangerous to be let loose. "Which one?"

He looked at her then, entirely serious. "X6-88."

"Nathaniel… There's a reason we shut down all the Coursers." The Director began.

Nate looked at her again, acknowledging just what she was trying to say. "I know, Madison. I know. If the circumstances were different, I wouldn't do this. But we need an ace in the hole."

She raised her eyebrow at that. "A what?"

The General chuckled. "Poker terminology. Means something advantageous you want to keep hidden until you need it."

And that, Madison understood. "Ah! A trump card, you mean."

"Something like that, yeah." Nate smiled. "Think about it. The Gunners are going to be expecting MInutemen. They'll be expecting people. Flesh and blood. Not circuits and components. Even if we have Super Mutants and Brotherhood with us, it's not enough of an edge. They both bring advantages of their own, yes, but…"

Madison smiled. She knew just what he meant. "They're more or less straightforward. And you need something more discreet."

The General chuckled then. "Exactly! Let's put it this way… Those Super Mutants? They're like a sledgehammer, smashing everything flat against the anvil."

"And your Minutemen are the anvil." Madison guessed then.

"That's right. And the Brotherhood? A scalpel that operates with surgical precision." Nate looked away, thinking once more about the atrocities the Institute had perpetuated with the Coursers. Had Shaun known? Or was that just another bit of dirty business kept away from Father's attention? Maybe. Somehow Nate felt as if he would never know. But the Coursers could still be useful, that much he knew. He looked at Madison again. "I need more alternatives than just straightforward ones." Nate smiled then. "I need something discreet."

Madison was quiet for a time. Then she returned his gaze. "You know, you remind me so much of another man I used to know, back in the Capital Wasteland."

Nate tilted his head, confused at the sudden change of subjects. "Yeah? Who was he?"

The scientist sighed, a rueful smile on her lips. "He was… Oh, just a lone stranger, wandering a vast world." She had often wondered what had become of that young man. In all the time since the day she had last seen him, Madison often wondered whenever he was still alive. His father had been a brilliant scientist himself, a genius really. But the son was something else entirely.

Just like Nathaniel Howard... Ainsley Rovere had been someone who could work miracles and accomplish the impossible.

The Lone Wanderer had been more than just a mere man. He had been a legend. Larger than life. And Madison knew that if he was still alive, if he knew what Maxson had done to the Brotherhood of Steel, what he had done to the Capital Wasteland, what he had done to the Commonwealth… He would have brought Maxson down himself. But he had never been the same since the day Sarah Lyons died. He had just wandered into the wasteland one day, never to be seen again. The General squeezed her shoulder before turning and walking away.

"Reactivate X6-88. I want to talk to him myself."

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