Knight Sergeant Bryan Wilks had had a very odd day. First he and his squad, another Knight, two combat armored Initiates and a couple scribes, had been dropped just south of Lexington, where they were tasked with cleansing the roads of any threats, while also scouring any ruins for any technology that the Brotherhood would be interested in. It had been an easy enough job for the squad, as they had dealt with a raider tribe that must have been troubling the settlements in the area, and had gained some laser rifles from the fighting.

Wilks had just ordered the squad to set up camp for the night, when the roar of machine gun fire, distant from the sounds of and to the east, was heard. They all had heard it "What settlement around here has machine guns, one the Initiates, a young woman, Misty, asked to the other initiate.

The other initiate, David Scott answered quietly "If I remember, I think it's one of the Minutemen's settlements"

"You would be right, Initiate" Wilks said, speaking through his helmet's speaker. He pondered what to do. The higher ups in the Brotherhood had designated the Minutemen as a native group, and they weren't to be bothered, as at least on paper, they shared some goals. Wilks sighed, and turned to look at the lone field scribe that had joined the team "Scribe Mathon, radio to the Prydwen and ask for permission to scout out Starlight and see what's going on"

Mathon answered with an "Yes, sir" and then pulled the backpack, and pulled out a small transceiver and began to speak into it.

Knight Avery Greyson, a newly promoted Knight asked him "What's the plan sir?" She had only been made a Knight in the previous week, and was new to it.

"Wait for orders from the Prydwen and then follow whatever they tell us to do" he answered. Wilks had been with the Brotherhood long enough that the imagined he knew what the answer would be, but it was standard procedure to ask for permission before engaging with any native forces.

The scribe laid the receiver down and looked with, an anxious expression coloring his face "There's no response"

That was odd, Wilks turned and looked at the Scribe directly "What do you mean theres no response?"

"I mean I just spent the last few minutes trying every frequency I can think of and there's no response"

Wilks cursed under his breath, and responded "Well, there must be something blocking communications" he waited and thought about what needed to be done, he knew procedure and orders said for him to remain in position and wait for communication to be reestablished, but if civilians were in danger at the Minutemen settlement, then he like he was required to go and help them.

"We're going to go to the Minutemen settlement, if they're under attack, we'll help the settlement, clearly identify your targets, we don't want civilian casualties, understand?"

There was a chorus of understoods, and then they were on the way. He took the lead, with the scribe and the two initiates behind him and Knight Greyson bringing up the rear.

Something about this reminded him of a time ten years earlier, when he had run up to a man in Brotherhood combat armor crying for help against monsters. Since that day, he had tried to emulate the man that had dropped everything he was doing to help him.

It only took them a few minutes to get to the small town that had been built up around the old drive through theater. Blue laser's flung up into the air as machine guns fired from the make shift walls.

"Synths" Knight Grayson hissed out as she pointed towards the area of fighting, where Minutemen forces were returning fire.

"Move up and flank the synths!" he primed his AER9 and charged into battle. He fired as he did so. The Brotherhood soldiers moved up quickly, and combined with their laser fire, in conjunction with the Minutemen who were firing from the rusted car wall, they were making quick work of the synths.

"Brotherhood soldiers in the firing zone" one of the Minutemen from the walls yelled when they began their attack. More synths were relayed in as the battle became bogged down. Knight Grayson pushed up, armed with her minigun, firing into the synths as the two combat armored initiates had laid down prone, taking cover from the blue laser fire from the synths, while also returning fire.

Synths began to fall from the north, and others began to change their attention to the east. With this distraction, the fighting came to a close relatively quickly, with Wilks and his soldiers having pushed so far forward that they were now at the main gate of the settlement.

Synths lined the ground as a group of Minutemen, wearing combat armor with blue army fatigues, stood opposite of them. One of them, what looked to be a leader, came forward. Wilks also moved forward and met the minuteman half way.

"I'm Sergeant William Boeker, Minutemen regulars out of Sanctuary"

Wilks had heard reports that the Minutemen had begun creating full time units, as a way to supplement their militia forces "I'm Knight Sergeant Byran Wilks, Recon Squad Artemis"

"This is a hell of a mess we're in" Boeker said as he looked around "The Institute hit Sanctuary as well, and by the time we had fought them off there, Starlight and Sunshine radioed in and said that they were under attack as well"

"I didn't realize that the Minutemen and the Institute were enemies," Wilks said. It hadn't been mentioned on any reports that Wilks had access to.

Boeker shook his head "Until they began teleporting in and shooting at us, I didn't know we were"

If the Minutemen were coming under attack, then he would bet caps on the Brotherhood being attacked. "That would explain why we lost contact with the Prydwen" Scribe Mathon mused, apparently he had come to the same conclusion that Wilks had.

Knight Grayson spoke up "You said that you were a part of the Sanctuary garrison, how did you know that this settlement was under attack?"

"One of our people back in Sanctuary was able to cut through the Institute jamming" he held up one of his hands in a hold motion "Don't ask me how though"

Wilks had to think, if the Institute was attacking settlements, then odds were that this was a general attack on the whole of the wasteland. If that was the case, he should probably turn his squad south and try to get back to the Airport and aid in defending the airport. That was if the airport was even under attack.

Boeker sighed and wiped his brow "Let's head into the settlement, me and the boys here" he gestured to the other combat and leather armored minutemen behind him "Ran from Sanctuary and we need to sit down" he turned and yelled up at the militia on the walls "Open up!" The wooden gate swung open and several militia filed out, very obviously keeping their eyes on the Brotherhood squad. They continued watching the squad as they entered the settlement.

Starlight, as it was known, had become one of the largest settlements in the Commonwealth, with it becoming a bustling trade hub and residential location for the northern Commonwealth. Wilks made sure to keep his rifle low and pointed towards the ground as Sergeant Boeker led them past the old diner that had been converted into a bar, and into a medium, single story, scrap steel building. The inside of the building was obviously designed for only a few people to maintain permanent residence, a stove and cooking area sat in the left corner, with a table sitting just off to the side. Four beds lined the far wall, with a large desk and a terminal and radio on top of it. It looked lived in, but not messy as Wilks had been suspecting.

The Minutemen collapsed into the chairs and couches that made up the interior. While Boeker took a seat closer to the Brotherhood squad, who remained awkwardly standing in the building.

"What were you doing up here?" Boeker asked after having gotten a drink of water.

"Recon and retrieve" Wilks answered. It may not have been the most fun job in the world, but it was an important one. The Brotherhood used squads like Ontalon to find abominations like super mutants, feral ghoul hordes, and more broadly raiders, and if they found one that their squad couldn't handle, then they called in the vanguard squads.

"I see" Boeker answered, he took another drink "How did you know Starlight was under attack?

"We were dropped off near Concord, and were trekking south towards Lexington, when we heard fire from Starlights direction, we decided to see what was going on, and when we saw that the Institute was attacking, we intervened"

One of the radio operators shuffled into the building, eyes the Brotherhood soldiers and went to the desk with the radio and terminal on it.

"Try to make contact with the Castle, we need an update on what's going on" Boeker ordered.

Wilks wondered if they would be able to get through, and based on the apprehensive look on Boeker's face as they waited for the radio operator to get a response, he wasn't very sure of himself either. The radio operator tried for a few minutes before leaning back in the chair, and turned around "No response sir"

Boeker's face darkened "Then we need t assume that the Castle is under attack" he looked around the room "We should prepare to march south to try to reinforce"

Wilks agreed with him, it was time for Ontalon to get moving and reinforce the airport "My squad also needs to return to the airport, I'm assuming that the Prydwen is also under attack"

The Minuteman sergeant nodded his head and stood up "We thank you for coming to the defense of Starlight"

"Its our duty" Wilks replied. They had come to the Commonwealth to do the same thing that the Brotherhood had accomplished in the Capital, make it a stable and secure land for the people to benefit from.

"Knight Sergeant" Initiate Scott came forward, with a panicked looking Minutemen, who had sweat through his clothes and eyes had bulged.

"Sir" the minuteman let out a raspy, tired, and dry voice "The Institute has occupied Sunshine"

Wilks tried to remember where Sunshine was, he knew it was to the west, still north of Lexington. It was one of the larger settlements that the Minutemen had built as well. "Damn it" Boeker said

One of Boeker's squad spoke up "Sir, they have art-"

Boeker cut the woman off angrily "I know, I know" he looked at Wilks "We have a problem, Sunshine is one of our settlements with artillery, if the Institute has control of it"

"Then they can use it to hit settlements or us" Wilks finished for him. This was why the Brotherhood tried to control technology, even those with good intentions couldn't always be counted on to handle it or keep it secure.

"Exactly" he paused, probably hoping to figure out what he was going to do "We need Sunshine back" he looked over to the woman who had spoken early "give the order to mobilize the militia, have them ready to leave within the hour" She nodded quickly and left, all without a salute, it wasn't Brotherhood discipline, but he hadn't expected it from the Minutemen.

Bryan knew what was coming next, he would either have to give the order to return to the airport, or commit to helping the Minutemen retake Sunshine. One on hand the Brotherhood might need soldiers at the airport or their inevitable counter attack, but on the other hand, a lot of people were going to die here if the Boeker failed to retake Sunshine.

"Were coming with you" he decided, his superiors might give him hell for this, or they would promote him, he didn't know, but he had to help the people here, where they could make a difference now, rather than hoping to make a difference "You'll need all the help you can get, especially if the Institute has had time to dig in"

Boeker nodded his head "Yeah, we'll most certainly take it"

The Minutemen Council, plus Elder Maxson and Paladin Brandis, had gathered in the General's quarters. Danse, who remained in the corner in the front of the room with his gas mask on, listened intently as they went over the damage to the Castle's infrastructure. Their electric grid had taken a beating, and only a few lights remained on.

"And on top of the eclectic problems" Garvey continued on, a hand holding hastily written on piece of paper "Most of our machine guns are out of ammo, and the ones that aren't are busted all to hell"

General John Pershing sat with a cigar held between two fingers. He had a contemplative look on his face as digested the information that Garvey had just given him. It had been a long night, and odds were, none of them were going to be getting sleep anytime soon. "Have our engineers focus on getting the lights back on, then focus on the machine guns"

Elder Maxson also spoke up "My scribes can assist in getting the machine gun ready" he paused as he brought his hands together "How many men have you lost"

Danse didn't think that they had had a number yet, but it had been a brutal fight, and it was one that the Minutemen were not yet used to fighting.

"Heavy but survivable" Colonel Ronnie Shaw answered. She had been with the Minutemen for the longest of anyone in the room, but she had left when the factionalism of the old Minutemen had become to bad to deal with.

A silence fell over the council, one that Danse was not used too. They all usually had a lot to say, but now they were quiet. His eyes fell on Elder Maxson, who sat in the uncomfortable silence but didn't seem to notice it. Even now, a month after Danse's exile, he was still confused on his feelings for the Brotherhood. He continued to believe in the Brotherhood and their ideals, but the way he had been discarded continued to bother him.

Finally, General Pershing turned and looked at the Elder "You mentioned that your forces have been attacked as well?"

Maxson nodded his head "They attacked the airport, and Cambridge, before I left we still hadn't heard back" It would hurt the Brotherhood to lose Cambridge, and Danse couldn't help himself but be worried for Haylen and Rhys, they had gone through a lot together. It would be a waste for them to fall now. "If Cambridge is still operational, then I'm going to hit the Institute with everything the Brotherhood can muster." That didn't surprise Danse, Maxson had always been impatient and bold, a side effect of mentoring under the Sentinel.

Pershing didn't skip a beat "We should combine our forces, the Minutemen and the Brotherhood both have taken heavy loses, and we both want the same thing now." Then it was decided, the Minutemen Council had been arguing about whether or not to work towards the destruction of the Institute since the General had been banned from returning. Now it had been decided for them.

Maxson regarded the General, and looked around the room, his gaze falling upon Danse for a half second longer. Maxson knew, despite the gas mask, that Danse was in the room and was still fighting for the people of the Commonwealth.

He looked back at General Pershing "That would be satisfactory, the Brotherhood will use Liberty Prime to launch our attack, and cut through to the Institute"

"One of our people, radioed in and said that he had discovered a back way to the Institute, the Minutemen could assault from that way and meet somewhere in the Institute"

"This all hinges on if we can organize an attack in the first place" Shaw piped up, she had been the most against a conflict with the Institute, not because she liked them or anything like that, but because she was the most focused on securing the Commonwealth for the people, and she thought a war with the Institute would get in the way of that. "Do we know whats going in the northern settlements?"

It was Preston's turn to shake his head "No, we haven't heard from them since the attack started"

"Preston, why don't you two" he gestured at Danse "Go and see Lewis, and try to make contact with settlements"

Danse recognized it for what it was, Pershing needed him out of the room, at least for awhile, so he gave a salute, and followed Preston out of the office/room. They took a few steps out of the room, long enough to make sure that the door were shut, when Garvey spoke "Not sure how I feel about the Brotherhood being here"

Danse had known that many within the Minutemen were skeptical of the Brotherhood's methods or even their attempts to stabilize the wasteland. In truth the skepticism from locals was normal, it had been the same in Baltimore, had been the same in the Pitt, and it had been the same here, though the former two had come around to the Brotherhood in time. "The Brotherhood just wants to help stabilize the situation here"

Garvey stopped and looked at him "After what they did to you, how can you just accept the Brotherhood's good intentions?" It was a good question, and it was one that Danse had been mulling over in his head since his exile "The Brotherhood did a lot of good in the Capital Wasteland, ad are continuing to do good work" they stepped out of the inner walls into the bailey, where the morning light had begun to show.

Garvey just shook his head, and continued on to where a very tired man sat. Instead of the usual blue Minutemen fatigues that most minutemen at the Castle wore, this one was wearing a blue overcoat, with a blue shirt underneath it. His hat was tilted to the side as he held a headphone up to one ear while speaking into the microphone occasionally.

Danse and Garvey waited while Jackson Lewis spoke with whoever was on the other line. While waiting, Danse took a quick look around the bailey. Minutemen medics tended to their lesser wounded in front of the newest repaired section of the wall, while their engineers worked on the turret system. Brotherhood Knights and Paladins, along with the scribes either patrolled the walls or were also working on the turret system or helping the wounded.

Lewis finally finished "Alright, Castle out" he leaned back in the old orange office chair and looked up at the two officers with tired and stressed filled eyes. "That was Sanctuary and Starlight, the Institute hit both of them, and it looks like Sunshine has been taken"

"Oh shit" Garvey muttered, he brought a hand and wiped his face "Sunshine has artillery"

"It puts the Institute in the artillery range of most of our settlements in the north" Danse replied as he folded his arms. This changed things, this was something that they wouldn't be able to ignore, they might have to scrap the whole offensive against the Institute.

"Did Sturges mention either of the garrisons?" Garvey asked.

Lewis stared at him a moment and then nodded his head "Yeah" he said with heavy tiredness "He said that Boeker took his regulars south to try to reinforce Starlight"

Preston nodded, and Danse was relieved, of all of the regulars that Danse had met in his travels with Pershing, Will Boeker had seemed like a good soldier. If anyone in the northern settlements could get the situation under control, it was him.

"Try to radio Starlight and see if Boeker every showed up" Danse ordered.

Lewis looked at him, and then looked at Garvey, who nodded his head, before he turned and went back to the radio. Danse had become accustomed to such responses from the Minutemen, many of them still didn't trust him. It was frustrating, he had become used to having his orders carried out, and now he had to get permission to even give a simple order.

Lewis put the headphones and the microphone down and reported "Starlight says they're secure, and that Boeker's launched a counterattack, also some Brotherhood squad helped them".

"Which one?" Danse asked quickly, hoping that it was one of the ones he knew.

"Called themselves Recon Squad Artemis"

So it was Wilks' squad. Bryan Wilks had been mentored into the Brotherhood by the Sentinel,and had become a decent soldier, and had been made Knight Sergeant shortly before they left the Capital Wasteland. Wilks was especially good with working with outsiders.

Preston slapped the radio operator on the back "Thanks for the report" he turned and looked at Danse "Lets head back and give them the news"

They were quiet on the walk back to the General's office. In the time they were gone, Elder Maxson and the General were now standing around desk, a map of inner Boston having been produced. "We'll push from the Airport with Liberty Prime, all the way to CIT" he finger traced the route"

Pershing nodded "Give me a vertibird, and we'll insert here" he pointed at a point along the river just south of Cambridge" he looked up from the table and saw Danse and Garvey. He straightened up and asked "Any update?"

Garvey nodded "Sanctuary and Starlight have been secured" he paused "Sunshine's fallen to the Institute"

Pershing looked down and let out a curse, while Elder Maxson asked "That's one of your settlements with Artillery correct?"

None of the Minutemen answered the Elder, and he looked around impatiently and then his eyes fell on Danse, and the former Paladin felt compelled to answer his former commander "Yes, Sunshine has it's own artillery piece"

Maxson stared, and for a moment Danse thought he was going to loose his temper, but he didn't. Pershing continued to look at the map, and he could tell that the General was trying to figure out what to do, as his eye's darted from one point to another on the map. Preston chose that moment to continue his report "Sergeant Boeker decided he's going to try to retake Sunshine with the forces available to him, and a Brotherhood squad is helping"

Maxson nodded his head "That would be Recon Squad Artemis, they were in the Concord area when the Institute attack the Airport"

"Does Boeker think he can retake Sunshine with what he has?" Pershing asked.

"He wasn't there, it sounded like they were already fighting"

Pershing nodded, something in him seemed to harden, and Danse recognized the look on his face that he had made a decision. "Then we continue on with the current plan, and hope that Boeker can retake Sunshine" he turned towards Maxson "I believe all that remains is for us to prepare our forces and launch the attack"

Maxson nodded, and pulled out a device from his overcoat "This is a pulse beacon, just click on the button and when you move into the backdoor and we'll launch our assault to cover you"

Pershing took it and set it on the desk "Understood, once we make our move, it'll have to be fast" he reiterated.

Piper Wright picked up the pace as she broke through the city Boston and her eyes fell onto the Minutemen's Castle. Smoke pulled to the air form somewhere inside, and smoke pilled out of the automated turrets that line the wall. She shouldn't have been surprised to find Institute synths littering the ground up towards the newly rebuilt walls. She supposed it shouldn't have surprised her that the Institute had been the reason for the artillery bombardment.

She had left the moment she heard the Castle's artillery roar to life. While the sound of artillery had become prevalent in the months since John and Preston had retaken the Castle, never before had she heard the continued, massive bombardment that had overtaken Diamond City. And it had only become worse as she cut through Boston towards the Castle.

The reporter in her told her that she needed to figure out what had happened, and why the Institute had bothered to even attack the Minutemen. But the other part of her, the one that had grown close to John and his traveling companions, had also come to make sure that they were alright. Three vertibirds took off from the otherside of the Castle, and flew towards the Brotherhood's airship to the north.

What was the Brotherhood doing here? Had they seen that the Institute was attacking and came to help, and then another, sicker thought occurred to the reporter, had the Brotherhood shown their true colors and attacked the Minutemen while the Institute was attacking? Based on the rumors she had heard about them, it was an option, one that John had always dismissed out of hand whenever she brought it up.

She quickend her pace as she walked around the Castle, and over the narrow land bridge that separated the Castle from Boston proper. A single Vertibird remained and a Brotherhood pilot sat on the edge of it, waiting for something. The pilot glared at Piper as she walked by.

"Identify yerself!" a Minutemen yelled from the top of the battlements. He pointed a Pipe Rifle in her general direction.

She was relieved to see the Minutemen, but that only added to her questions, the Minutemen must've survived the attack, but then what was the Brotherhood doing here? "I'm Piper -" she was cut off by another Minutemen, this one with a white beard, who had just come up to the side of the Minutemen who had yelled.

"Thats the reporter that's always following the General around, let her through"

She gave the minutemen a wave and went through the now open double doors that marked the main entrance to the Castle. The inside of the walls was something that she had not been prepared for, many minutemen had been laid in the corner near the armory. Minutemen medics, and to her shock, some Brotherhood scribes, moved from body to body, wrapping wounds and helping the wounded. She watched them for a bit, and couldn't remember the last time she had seen such a large degree of suffering. "Were going to cut off the the leg" she heard one of the medics say.

She wondered what the Minutemen were going to do for the soldiers who were losing their livelihoods. She also thought that she could include a section in the next publication of the Publik to include the names of the Minutemen who had given their lives in defending the Castle. She took her notebook and made a quick note of it.

"Piper, what are you doing here?" came the voice of Cait, who appeared at her side. The red haired woman didn't look too great, her left shoulder had been wrapped in bandages, which looked like there was still some bleeding, but otherwise she looked fine, better than the Minutemen who laid on the ground.

"I heard the artillery and had to come and see what was going on" Piper answered.

"Oh, well reporter" she put emphasis on the word "What have you deduced?"

It was always so infuriating to talk with Cait, she constantly had some snide comment to make, or just refused to explain what she meant when she said something "Well, it looks like the Institute attacked, but the Minutemen were able to fight them off"

"Thats about it" she replied "It was a close one, closer than a lot of the fights I've been in, but between John's leadership and the Brotherhood, we came out on top"

"So the Brotherhood helped" she asked, hoping that Cait would clarify the situation with the Brotherhood. Piper couldn't imagine a world where the Brotherhood helped anybody or anything, but maybe their hatred of the Institute had overrode their need to control everything.

"Yeah, I guess, I missed the last part of the battle" she showed Piper her bandaged shoulder "Took a laser to the shoulder, and the General forced me back down to the crypts"

She nodded her head at that. Their conversation fell into silence, and then Cait walked off. Her eyes scanned the bailey, and then fell upon a newly arrived Preston Garvey, his blue uniform burnt in some places, but he looked fine.

She approached him "Preston, is John in his office?"

Instead of answering her question, Preston looked at the reporter with questioning eyes, opened his mouth, yawned and then asked "Piper, when did you get here?"

"I just did" she answered with what she hoped was urgency in her voice.

Garvey just nodded "Go easy on him Piper, we've had a long night"

She left Preston to whatever it was he was doing and marched straight into John's office. John Pershing was leaned back in his chair, a cigar stuck between his index and middle finger, with his eyes closed. He looked stressed and worried, which made sense, but usually he was good about not showing his emotions.

His eyes opened slowly when she entered the office, and then slower still he asked "Piper?" he brought his left hand and wiped his eyes "What are you doing here?"

She was suddenly at a loss for words, which was something that didn't happen often "I heard the artillery" she decided upon.

He leaned forward and put his arms on his desk "So you decided to head towards it?" There was amusement in his eyes as he asked it.

"Well, yeah, I figured there must be a story about what was going on, and there definitely is a story, maybe the biggest since the bombs dropped" she became serious "The Institute attacking the Minutemen, it's not good John"

He shook his head "No, its not, and it's not even localized at the Castle" he took a drag from his cigar "They've attacked the northern settlements, and the Brotherhood at the Airport and Cambridge"

"That explains the Brotherhood soldiers and medics I saw gallivanting outside" she replied. So the Brotherhood was attacked, must have fought them off, saw that the Minutemen were under attack, and decide to help them? What did that gain the Brotherhood?

John looked at her disapprovingly "The Brotherhood came and supported us during the final Institute assault" he took a final drag of his cigar and set it down on the ash tray on his desk "And besides now that we have both been attacked, the Brotherhood is our ally in this fight, and we need all the help we can get"

Piper nearly laughed at him, she had run into Brotherhood soldiers during her time before she and Nat settled in Diamond City, and they always had an underlying motive "And what is Maxson going to want from you for his help?"

Pershing shook his head "Maxson and the Brotherhood hate the Institute as much as the rest of the Commonwealth does" Piper opened her mouth to say that that didn't matter, but he cut her off "Look Piper, the Brotherhood needs us, and we need the Brotherhood, we both took heavy casualties in the offensive, and were still bleeding in the north. The only way were going to win this is by getting into the Institute and destroying it"

Piper was loath to admit it, but his logic was sound "Your just trading one devil for a slightly less evil devil" She believed that with every fiber of her being. The Brotherhood had their own agenda, one that didn't align with the Minutemen or the people of the Commonwealth.

John shook his head "Piper, I need what we just discussed to be private, for military security, please" he ordered in a way that made it seem like she had a choice in the matter. "I'll give you an interview explaining everything after we've won this thing," he added.

Preston and a gas masked minutemen chose that moment to enter the office "General, our forces are ready" the gas masked soldier said, and she realized who it was.

"Thanks Danse, then let's get underway" Pershing turned and looked at Piper "Goodbye Piper, I'll see you after this thing is finished"

A lump formed in her throat and her stomach "Come back, I want that interview" She followed the three out to the vertibird, and watched them climb aboard and it take off. Win or lose, she knew that the Commonwealth would never be the same again.