James sat fingers crossed opposite Butch in the metal interrogation room. A single yellow lamp hung and dangled over them. Butch twiddled with his thumbs and nervously sat in silence. James glared at Butch and looked down at the report that Arcade had delivered based on scout reports of the Capital Wasteland. Multiple manila folders labeled as various ongoing operations lined the length of the table. James's watch shifted as he leaned back in his chair to read the first document.
"What are you doing here, Butch?" James asked suddenly. Butch was surprised and seemed to have been shocked into silence.
"Well, uh, I was planning on expanding my business up this way, figured I'd check it out and scope out the competition." Butch explained. James nodded as he flipped the page of the report.
"And what about this Charon Zero Risk Security force I hear about?" James asked.
"Well, Jericho and I came up with the idea of having a merc force that all held contracts like Charon's. Figured some people would pay some pretty caps for a fighter half as good as Charon." Butch said excitedly, but was disappointed by James's skepticism.
"Charon's contract? You started that again?" James asked, making it clear he was disgusted.
"Hey, we took in nobodies and homeless people. We couldn't pay them and they couldn't pay us for what we were offering. So they voluntarily accepted the contract for room and board. They earn their own caps to spend on whatever they want. We just take small administrative fee to cover company costs." Butch responded defensively.
"Where did you get the caps to pay for this?" James asked. Butch twitched at the question.
"Please don't be mad, man." Butch began delicately. "But I may have borrowed a bit from your slush fund to set this up." James made no response and showed no emotion at Butch's claim. He only sighed and threw down the folder.
"How much?" James asked. Butch scratched his head as he thought.
"I think a million?" he replied.
"A million caps?! What the Hell were you paying for?!" James roared at Butch, which caused the lesser man to shrink in his seat.
"Well, we had to get new uniforms, weapons, armor, logos, and a small marketing campaign!" Butch whimpered in reply. "I swear I paid it all back!"
"How will I know?!"
"I sent word through the Enclave Space Station guys I saw in the Rivet City bar before we took off."
"Hmm. I better not be missing a single cap, Butch." James replied, softening his tone but trying to stay stern. Hiding how he really felt was always an issue with James. Butch suddenly regained his composure and slicked his hair back. "What are you doing here?"
"We came here to find you." Butch replied. "I mean, it was surprising to see all the security the Commonwealth has so we stuck with the underground and tried to find you that way, but all we heard about was some Sole Survivor?"
"Hmm. Well you found me, now what?" James replied.
"Well it's time go home, man!" Butch laughed. "Listen, Amata's gone crazy, like I always knew she would. She created this whole empire on top of the ruins of everything you fixed about the Capital, we gotta show her who's boss!"
"First, Butch, I don't run a gang, nor am I gang leader. Second, I have obligations to the people here. Promises I need to keep." James replied, clearly disappointing Butch who slumped back into his chair.
"Yeah, I heard something about that. Ever since the Enclave changed and was now the good guys, I knew something was different." Butch sighed. "But I've changed too, I want to pledge Charon Security to the services of the Enclave. Faster we finish with the Commonwealth, the faster we get to go home." James crossed his arms. This wasn't the Butch he remembered. Thought Butch was wearing his old Tunnel Snakes Jacket and Vault suit combo, he seemed different. The same overly confident man was still here, but the smug looks and the attitude were gone. Just like Harden, something had happened in the war that changed Butch just as dynamically as it did Harden.
"It's not that simple now, Butch." James warned. "I don't know how long it will take to finish up here." Butch sighed and nodded.
"I knew you'd say that, that's why I ordered Rivet City to dock near the old airport tomorrow morning. Figured we'd make ourselves known and start settling. The people don't exactly want to spend all their lives out at sea." Butch relented a sad smile. "I just wish it didn't have to go that way."
"Me too, Butch. I'll send word along the right channels and keep Enclave outposts in the Capital. Hopefully, I might be able to pay our old home a visit one of these days."
"Just promise me that when you do, I get to go too." Butch requested. James smiled.
"Deal."
"Well that went well." Nate said as James stepped out of the interrogation room.
"You don't know the half of it, that guy used to be my high school bully!" James laughed. A few of the other officers nearby laughed as well. James grabbed a steaming cup of coffee and began to walk down the hall of the Mobile Crawler.
"So a moving country, a floating country, now you're get a flying country?" Nate asked as the two walked down the hall and out onto the air stip.
"What are you talking about?" James asked as he sipped his coffee. He opened the pressure down and into the open air. Suddenly the wind blew his cap off his head as the Prydwyn II activated her engines. Rivet City in the background of the Boston Airport tooted its horn and fired a burst from its cannons to mimic a military salute. "You forgot about my spaceship too."
"Yeah, who could forget about that one?" Nate asked as he held his arm up to the sky to block the sun. Nate's tie flicked and waved in the air as the Prydwyn II began its flight around the Airport.
"Whoever doesn't like us is about to get two more reasons to hate us!" Nate laughed as the airship successfully docked in its old BRotherhood station. James smiled and nodded in approval as he looked out at the airport and found a huge rebuilt concrete paradise. Well, paradise if you have thing for military bases that is.
Danse's Brotherhood established a whole beachhead with its resources and the lack of living space after the Prydwyn went down. They used the wreckage to form a gargantuan base slash city that was not unlike the Citadel. James took another sip of his coffee as he noticed vertibirds and P-80s flying around in circles for practice. On the ground were Brotherhood and Enclave soldiers running the track, performing drills, target practice, etc. Like Nate said, the Enclave really had built a country.
But James frowned. It's a country based on war. He thought to himself as he drank more of his coffee. Arcade joined the two spectators and handed James an earpiece.
"Courtesy of Eden." Arcade said as James put the earpiece on. "Based on experimental Pre-War tech we finally got a portable radio working for you and our operators."
"I thought I wouldn't need to do much else while Emily is grafted into my body!" James joked.
"I'm not grafted, I'm networking with your neural makeup!" Emily chimed in.
"We need to talk about certain projects."
"Why, do they funding or something?'
"Not at all." Arcade responded, waving the comment aside as if it were absurd. "We just figured you ought to start knowing about certain upgrades we feel are necessary for the organization."
"Which are?" James asked, eyeing Arcade carefully.
"Don't worry, we have been working with the Brotherhood to ensure that passes their ethical guidelines." Arcade said as if that would comfort James. "We have successfully built the world's first new aircraft since the Pre-War era. I would like to introduce to you the P-91!" Arcade said, waving his hands in the air as three planes shot past James's head at lightning speed.
"I couldn't even see them!" James replied, realizing that it was only Emily's visual processing that allowed him to see the planes with some degree of detail. "And while this is cool, I do not appreciate being turned into a cyborg without my permission!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Arcade laughed as he continued his presentation on planes. A blueprint of the plan materialized in front of James.
"Scan complete." Emily said in James's head. James eyed the plane carefully, realizing that it was much sleeker than the Pre War P-80 model. The plane also appeared not to run on propeller power as the previous model did."
"How does it move without propellers?" James asked. Arcade smiled.
"Institute Propulsion technology. We reverse engineered their reactor and managed to create a energy not unlike that from a pulse grenade. Using that idea, we essentially created an engine that uses that concept and technology, mounted it onto a much more aerodynamically air frame and then let the baby fly!" Arcade said as the P-91 planes circled around once more.
"I'll give them this, they're fast!" Nate applauded.
"If they're so fast, what are their weapons like?" James wondered aloud. The blueprint focused on the weapons to reveal a stockpile of missiles but more importantly, a gauss cannon.
"We have some anti-Power Armor missiles on board, but more importantly is the twin-barrel gauss cannon on board." Arcade said casually. "After realizing how much faster lasers could travel using Institute's refinements on the old design, we had their top scientists do the same with a gauss rifle and the results were spectacular. Mounting the cannons on the P-91 mean a single strafe will be enough to wipe out an entire detachment of soldiers! It's quite fascinating isn't it?"
"And here I thought you used to be pacifist." James joked.
"Used to be, is the important part of the phrase." Arcade returned. "Anyways, the P-91 fleet is due for delivery within the next two days which the Prydwyn II has been designed specifically to support and stock. In addition to your air power, a new model of the vertibirds have been improved upon once again from the Addams '79 model variant. In what we now call the Addams '90, three variants are available."
James noticed that the vertibirds were all visibly different now as well. And true to his words, there were three distinct designs. One resembled the older model but was now colored black and sturdier looking. One featured no open doors, colored completely in gen-metal and featured huge and varying guns on the aircraft's sides and on the wings. This variant was by far the slowest moving, but featured six rotors. The last was a four rotored vertibird that appeared to move at a speed between the other two variants but seemed to only carry heavy equipment.
"All three are the most advanced models to date?" James asked as a heavy vertibird flew over him.
"Yup. our air force is also probably the most advanced in the world, not including our assets in space." Arcade boasted, he seemed to be proud with his work.
"Huh, and what about ground vehicles?" James asked. Arcade waved his arm to a car.
"Straight out of Colorado Springs, is the imported Plains Passer, the 2094 model that we currently have exclusive rights to." Arcade said beaming with pride and joy.
"Hey don't tell me-"
"That we designed it? Well, yes, yes we did." Arcade finished. "Hale's companies assemble it, but one of our subsidiaries designs it and mails it over for production and with orders."
"Wow, we're really importing a lot from Hale these days." James commented as he finished his cup of coffee.
"And he imports a lot from us these days too." Arcade continued. "Well, that's the bulk of the materials I wanted to show you. There's not much you can improve on guns. You like the old-fashioned type, so the best I can do is tell you that we have recovered the plans to manufacture the M1911 pistol you cherish so much."
"Really?!" James asked. "Great. Make it standard issue then." James smiled as he placed his hand over his father's last gift to him. Now everyone is going to get it too.
"There's not really much I can tell about the Capital Wasteland, however." Arcade suddenly said, souring James's mood. "We have maintained a foothold, but the resistance is very heavy set, we abandoned the old Megaton listening post just to make sure that the Mall remains under our control but after being surrounded by superior numbers that is fortifying positions all around the Mall, well, the troops are getting restless."
"And Project Purity?" James asked. "What about the Jefferson Memorial site?"
"The Enclave has a strong presence there. We have constructed special helipads just for easy access for support Vertibirds, thanks to heavy recruitment efforts in the settlements around the Commonwealth and even our small holdings in New York, we have more than enough volunteers to man the Jefferson Memorial and Addams Air Force Base."
"Good, make sure to ready a vertibird for me. Once I find Katherine, I will make a special trip to the Capital. The troops are going to need it."
"Are you sure you don't want to focus your efforts on the Commonwealth, sir?" Nate asked cautiously.
"There's not much more I can do for the Commonwealth, Nate. Besides get the Enclave act as a formal faction in the eyes of their government, I don't think I can really do anything to change the political situation. I mean look at it, Hancock, Deacon, Danse, and Preston all used to follow Katherine and I on all our adventures through the Commonwealth back in the day. Now? They're too busy to even watch the Prydwyn II take flight. I don't blame them, of course, but can't you see that things have changed for the better?"
"Are you sure that's what really happening?" Nate asked. "Or is it just what you want to happen?"
James walked down the steps to Butch's quarters. He opened the door to find Butch playing with his daughter before noticing James.
"Oh, hey James." Butch said. James nodded but said nothing. "I'll be back, sweetheart, ok?" Butch said in a playful tone before walking out of the room.
"I heard there's a gang running around as the Tunnel Snakes, I didn't want to ask before because you were being recorded but is that you?" James asked quietly. Butch shook his head.
"Sorry, pal." Butch admitted. "That life has been over for me since we lost Ashlee on the way up thanks to my arrogance and charming attitude." he chuckled but looked longingly at the door. "Kate's all I have left, man."
"It's fine, Butch. Take whatever you need, I already had Emily give you the clearance. Stay here if you want, or move into one of my places in a settlement. I don't mind. But first, while you were staying at Track City, you ever hear of a woman named Katherine?"
"Katherine? You know her?" Butch asked, judging from his expression, Butch did know her.
"Yeah, where is she?"
"Well, I can't be sure now, but we last met at Track City. Mentioned something about heading home." Butch replied simply. James smiled as he realized what he should have a long time ago.
"Alright, Emily. Get a vertibird ready. It's time to go home."
Katherine sighed as she made her last step over the hill. Dogmeat panted besides her, excited to start a new day as the sun rose in the distance. The view was that of the hill overlooking Sanctuary Hills. Katherine had just exited the old Vault. She rubbed Dogmeat's ears as she listened to the commotion of vendors getting ready for the day and she smiled.
"Let's go pal." she said.