A/N: I don't Fallout or any of the characters in this story. Also I wanted to apologize to the readers that I have not posted in a while, that was something that I did not intend to let happen.
Piper Wright picked up her pace as she neared the Minuteman's Castle. She had started her way there when she heard the massive artillery bombardment. While artillery being used had become relatively normal to hear, the shear amount of artillery that was fired worried her that the Castle had come under attack. She had felt compelled to go as soon as she heard the artillery bombardment. for two reasons, to make sure that the Minuteman had or at least were going to win the battle, and to make sure that John was okay. Her pace quickened again when he came to her thoughts, and a pang of concern came with it. 'It's okay Piper' she told herself 'John fought in the war, if half of the stories you've heard from him are true then he should be fine.' She finally came out of the city and got a good look at the Castle.
The Castle has seen better days, smoke came from the walls and the turrets lining them and the building that sat around the Castle itself had been leveled. Craters also filled the land around it. Institute Synth and Minuteman remains littered the battle ground, and to her surprise so did Brotherhood soldiers lay dead. Despite the damage to the Castle, it was still standing and under the control of the Minutemen. As she got closer to the walls Piper could make out scorch marks from the battle.
"STOP AND IDENTIFY YOUR SELF!" she stopped immediately and turned her head to look at the Minuteman, one she did not recognize, who yelled.
"I am" She was cut off by another Minuteman, this one she recognized and recalled that his name was Met.
"That's that the reporter from Diamond City, the one that's always hanging around the General" Met stated, looked at her and said "Let her inside, the General's in a meeting" Hearing
She nodded at him and said thanks, and went through the entry way. And came upon a sight that she had not been prepared for. Many Minuteman had been laid in a make shift hospital in the far corner of the Castle interior, doctors went through trying to help them. Another corner looked to have been where they placed the Minuteman who did not survive the battle. A thought came to Piper's head and she grabbed her note book to write it down. In the next issue of the Publik, put the names of the fallen at the end to make sure that they are remembered. While she knew that odds of being able to actually identify some of the bodies would be an arduous task, it would be worth it.
Piper wondered how many Minuteman had fallen in the battle, and if this was larger than just the Castle, how many people had died in the past day? She shuddered at the thought, and figured that she didn't want to know anyway. Piper knew she should probably go and see John, make sure how he was holding up after all of this. She began to walk to his office on the inside of the walls.
Piper went in around a makeshift surgery area. She heard one of the medics yelling "Were going to need to cut his leg off if he's going to live." That worried her, how would a one-legged man make it out there in the wasteland? After all this was over, she would have to ask John how he was going to deal with that.
She finally came to the door that led into John's office/bedroom, she gingerly knocked on the door and heard a gruff and tired sounding "Come in."
She opened up the door and slipped in and closed in. John sat there studying a map, with a cigar in his right hand. He looked up at her and looked surprised asking "Piper? When did you get here?"
She smiled and said "I just got here ten minutes ago. The guards said you were in a meeting." John sighed and took a drag from the cigar.
She got serious and asked "What are you going to do John?" she asked, his face didn't give anything away and then added on "The Institute attacking one the key organizations in the Commonwealth isn't good.
Taking another drag from the cigar he answered "No its not, and its even worse than you think." That confirmed her fears that this wasn't an isolated attack. "The Institute attacked the northern settlements and the Brotherhood at the airport and Cambridge." The mention of the Brotherhood put a bade taste in Piper's mouth.
"That explains the Brotherhood soldiers I saw galivanting outside." John looked at her disapprovingly.
"The Brotherhood came here and gave us support as the Institute launched its final assault, I'm not sure we could have held on without them." He took final drag of cigar and put it out. "And besides, the Brotherhood is now an ally in this fight, and we need all of the allies we can get to win this thing."
Piper nearly laughed at him. The Brotherhood didn't just do things to help the community, there was always an underlying motive with them. "And what do you think that the Maxson's going to want out of you for this?" she demanded.
John rolled held up his hands and said "The Brotherhood hates the Institute as much as the rest of the Commonwealth." That wasn't the answer Piper wanted and she opened her mouth to tell him that, but she was cut off. "Look Piper, we need the Brotherhood, and the Brotherhood needs our help to stop the Institute, we both took heavy casualties in the Institute's offensive."
While that did kind of satisfy her, she still thought they wrong and muttered under her breath, "You're trading in one devil for a slightly less evil devil."
John either didn't hear it or just didn't respond, which Piper took as a victory. He stood from the desk and said "Piper for the time being, I want everything I have just told you to be off the record okay?" he ordered in a way that made it seem like she had a choice in the matter. Realizing what he did he added on, "After all of this is over, we can sit down and have a proper interview about what's happened.
Piper smiled and said "I would like that very much."
John looked about ready to say something else when a Preston Garvey and Danse came barging into the office. "General" Preston started "Maxson just radioed that he is ready to commence with the attack."
She looked over at John who asked "Are we ready?"
Danse answered "Yes sir." John nodded and had them leave to get the Minutemen ready.
"Good bye, Piper, I'll see you again after all of this." and went to leave the room.
As he did, she said "Come back, I want that interview."
Piper followed them outside a few seconds later to see a singe Vertibird take off with John, Preston, and Danse." Come what may, she knew that the Commonwealth would never be the same after today.