Note:This is a bit long winded and sorry about this. The dialog is from the game mostly for set up reasons. Before anyone ask me if I hate Marcy in the game. Let's just same this, my husband placed the PC version, I play the console version. As a gift to me he altered his game so I could kill her in the game. Which was very cathartic for me after a long day at work. I am sure everyone has that one annoying character they just want to show aggression towards.
After the success of extracting the survivors from the museum and transporting them to Sanctuary hills. Preston and the others told her where Diamond City was. However, she didn't make trip immediately after words for a lot of reason. After getting her first set of power armor, she had instantly encounter a small army of raiders and a deathclaw. Gracie had felt like swallowing her words about her earlier complaints about the giant bugs and mole rats. She came out with a few more scrapes, bruises and some deathclaw steaks. As she put it if this was the biggest threat for her in nature she is going to get her personal revenge by eating the damn giant lizard.
Meanwhile her armor needed more repairs if she plan to use it again on her trip. Sturges was kind enough to show her how to repair the power armor in return for her help in getting the settlement up and running. Preston had asked her for a few favors in helping with nearby settlements while he was still protecting and helping this one get setup. It seemed a bit strange to her since she was more of an outsider than a resident of this world. Gracie obliged him with a couple of settlements.
A month had flown past her and she didn't really realize it with all the work that had to be done. "I really do owe you for all the help you have done for the Commonwealth and the Minutemen." Preston told her as she sat down one night with the others near in what she call the local eating hall. "You are welcome. Do you think we can get the Minutemen back on their feet again?" Preston torn a piece of meat and chewed on it while nodding vigorously to her question. "With you as our General, I think we can do it." He said wiping his face with the back of his hand.
Gracie was a little apprehensive about the sudden promotion. Why did this guy really think she was deserving of the title? She felt she didn't really do much, but apparently to them she was a saint, a protector and provider. She brushed back her red strands and glanced at him. "Preston, would it be okay if I took some time off and headed out to Diamond city?" she wanted to make sure everyone was okay before she left. It was one of her hang ups to leave anything undone. Even Nate had a small issue with it, even while she was dating him she would run late sometimes because she got caught up in some mini project at home or homework. She didn't know how to really take a break from things. It was also part of her charm as well, when she committed to something she stood by it until it was completed. Most likely why she was able to complete out her degree in law.
Preston titled his head watching her getting lost in her thoughts again. "If you want I can come with you General." Gracie looked at him and thought for a moment and nodded with a smirk. "Alright Garvey, maybe we can pick up some more supplies for the other settlements as well." She offered him a smile and stood up for a moment stretching. "I think I am going to rest for a while before my turn at patrolling. "It's okay, get some sleep tonight, I think Jun wanted to do the patrol tonight anyways." She slumped her shoulders hearing that name and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do you really think that is a good idea?" Preston gave sheepish smile and shrugged. "He needs something, besides Marcy is relentless with her nagging." She nodded knowing that perhaps Jun needed a break from the negative complaints from his wife. The first time she had met Marcy, She had started by be securitizing they were being saved by a vault dweller. Her next complaint was about the settlement not being too bad but still a dump. The final straw for Gracie was when Marcy came up and hissed at her about telling others about the settlement. "SMACK!" Gracie looked at her and quietly and took in a deep breath as Marcy started to raise her voice. "Y. y. You slapped me?!" She held her face shocked and angry. Everyone around grew silent, after she slapped her. No one had faulted her for her action, Gracie shook her head and remember the next thing she had said to Marcy. "If you think your life is worse than anyone else here, then by all means leave and find a better place. However, I am fairly certain all of us have lost something or someone." Marcy avoiding Gracie most of the time. Preston told her that a lot of them felt the same way but also felt sorry for her and Jun for the loss of their son. That was one of the several drawbacks to a post-apocalyptic world, there was not an option to find a therapist. Hell they would make a killing with all the people and traumatized lives.
That night Gracie had pulled out a makeshift tablet with papers she attached together. One then she had sketched out people. First one was Nate and Shaun, since there was not pictures of them she didn't want to forget what they looked like in her memories and it helped eased her anxiety. She secretly would sketch other people too, expect Dogmeat. He was the only one that knew her secret book and what she did in private. She would spend several hours just making sketches. She had someone Preston, Mama Murphy, Jun, Marcy being punched in the face and also her victory over the deathclaw. It was her diary of events and something she kept close to her. Before wanting to be a lawyer she wanted to be an artist, however her father and mother mostly encouraged her to pursue the law route. She was alright this, because on the side she would sketch and paint for the fun of it. Nate would always try to get her to draw silly pictures of him. She smiled slightly looking at the picture of him and Shaun, hopefully she would see Shaun again.
The next day Gracie got up to find Preston had already gotten supplies for the trip and packed up the gear. Somehow she felt Preston was more excited about going to the city than herself. She didn't even know if she would find what she was looking for. However Mama Murphy had told her that was the place to start and that her son was alive. "Well damn Garvey, you really didn't need to do this much." Preston laughed and handed her some scrambled Mirelurk eggs on a chipped plate. "You need to eat up it will be a long track from here." She took them reluctantly, somehow the food here made her cringe still. One of her goals was to possibly procure herbs and spices to help cook better foods. If this was going to be her new home, Gracie refused to settle with subpar tasting foods. After the meal she put a couple of more things in pack and slipped her diary in there as well.
Preston had traded stories and history lessons with her on the Minutemen and the disastrous outcome in Quincey. She told him about life before the war and the concerns that shaped the outcome. It was still raw for her, but she also knew it must have been raw from him as well. They stopped in to a couple settlements to see how they were doing and if they needed anything. One seemed to needed help with raiders, which didn't really take too long and did have some benefits of getting more supplies and weapons. The trip should have taken them a few days, but with the detours to help others became a week and half. Gracie looked down seeing a new radio frequency appearing on her Pip Boy. "Hold up Preston, Let's rest a minute." She adjusted her Pip Boy to see what was going on. She moved her dial and highlighted Military frequency AF95. "Automated message on repeat. This is Scribe Haylen of recon Team Gladius to any Brotherhood personnel. All units have sustained casualties and running low on supplies, requesting support or evacuation at Cambridge police station." Gracie flipped to her map on her Pip Boy. "The Brotherhood?" Preston looked concern, but didn't really say anything else. "We have to go help them." Gracie stated in a matter of fact and started to head towards the direction. "You're the General." Preston stated as he followed behind her. The last sliver of light slipped away from the distant, Gracie cursed under her breath knowing this was most likely an unwise choice to keep going, but she couldn't stop now. No telling how old the message was. Suddenly they both stopped hearing gun fire in the distance. They both looked at each other and nodded as he cranked up his laser musket and Gracie pulled out a refurbished assault rifle. They rushed in as fast as they could. As they approved they could see the station with protective barriers up and lights flickering. There were shadowy figures racing past the lights. Gracie burst forth with rifle started to take aim from a distance. "What the hell are those Preston?!" She fired a few rounds. Preston started to fire as well. "Feral ghouls..." Gracie started to walk in a quick pace firing repeated times. Each one stagger or fell backwards from the shots. As she got into the inner part of the barricades she saw another person fire shots in power armor and two others huddled over to the side. One looked injured the other looked she was helping them. Gracie growled under her breath and started to fire more rounds when her weapon needed to be reloaded. The other person in the power armor yelled out "Eliminate the targets!" Preston was cranking away on his musket. It felt like forever as droves of the nasty things lurched at them. She put her back towards the other person in power armor and kept up the rare. Finally there was silence and no more hordes of disfigured creatures, the smell of laser, gun powered and death loomed in the air around them. She handed her shotgun to Garvey and pulled her helmet off, shaking out her hair that was pressed against his face with sweat. She looked at the others and nodded them as she offered a friendly smile to defuse any thought that they were hostile. "We appreciate the assistance, civilian. But what's your business here?" His voice was rich baritone and Gracie looked at him finally in the eyes and noticed his very stoic expression on a somewhat dingy but handsome face. "Just trying to survive out here…like everyone else." She offered as a reason, when really it was the distress beacon that summoned her and Preston there. The man just raised a thick brow at her and gave a dubious expression. "The way you charged in and engaged those ferals, I find that a bit difficult to believe." Gracie felt herself internally cringe, it was almost the same tone her father used to give her when she was busted for some silly antic. "Are you from local settlement?" He asked as though trying to get more information from her. Preston stood there silent with the exchange out of respect for his new General. "Do all these questions really matter? After all, we helped you fight those ferals." She stated with a calm expression on her face. She didn't want to come off as being rude or evasive. She had little information about them and they had little information about her. "You make a fair point. If I appear suspicious, it's because our mission here has been difficult. Since the moment we arrived in the Commonwealth we've been constantly under fire." He offered to her, Gracie felt empathy for him and his team. After all she was greeted by the most insane creatures ever and then had to become accidental hero to a group of people. She nodded slightly to him understanding, her green hazel eyes soften. "If you want to continue pitching in, we could use an extra fun on our side. "I'll continue to help, but you owe me an explanation first." Preston agree with her and added. "Yes, who are you?" "Very well, I am Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel. Over there is Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys." Gracie nodded to them noting that Rhys looked injured but that Haylen was helping him. She must be a field medic, she thought to herself. "We're on recon duty, but I'm down a man and our supplies are running low. I've been trying to send a distress call to my superiors, but the signals too weak to reach them." Gracie only rose a slender brow at him for a moment. "Sir, if I may?" Haylen stood up and address the Paladin. Danse nodded and turned towards her. "Proceed, Haylen." Preston and Gracie peeked over to the side at Haylen as well listening in as she offered a solution to the situation. "I've modified the radio tower on the roof of the police station, but I'm afraid it just isn't enough. What we need is something that will boost the signal." Huh, guess Haylen is more than a field medic, well this is interested. Dance assessed the information and quickly replied in a very confident tone. "Our target is ArcJet System, and t contains the technology we need… the Deep Range Transmitter. We infiltrate the facility, secure the transmitter and bring it back here." Danse looked directly at Gracie who was taking in all the information carefully. "So, what do you say? You willing to lend the Brotherhood of Steel a hand?" Before she could even open her mouth Preston lend in and whispered in her ear. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Gracie turned slightly to Preston and gave him a concern look. She realized the situation they were in and held up a hand. "Ah, give me a moment here Paladin Danse." Danse nodded "Of course." She walked a little ways and talked to Preston. "Is there something I need to know about them? You seemed to have some knowledge of them." Gracie asked Preston, he licked his lips and looked down for a moment thinking of how to carefully choose his words. It wasn't that he was afraid of what he was going to say but he wanted to fair to the situation as well and to Gracie. "I have heard stories about them. They are strong force and a force to be reckon with." Gracie nodded and smiled at him. "I got this Garvey." She slapped his back and she turned around and walked up to Danse with a charming smile. "So, who are the Brotherhood of Steel exactly?" Preston's jaw dropped slightly and the rest looked a bit confused, a lot of people knew who the Brotherhood of steel were. However the redhead was at a disadvantage and wanted to be honest and direct as possible. Danse didn't seemed too phased by it and almost felt relieved by her honest question. "Our order seeks to understand the nature of technology. It's power. It's meaning to us humans. And we fight to secure that power from those who would abuse it." Gracie picked up a few things that concerned her, humans, abuse of technology and securing it from others. "How did mankind abuse technology?" her litigation skills were showing but only Preston really knew her past and what she was working towards. The Paladin only responded back "Before the Great War, science and technology became more of a burden than a benefit. The atom bomb, bio-engineered plagues and FEV are clear examples of the horror that technological advancement had wrought. We're here to make sure that never happens again." She nodded and restrained herself to not argue the point that there was a lot of great achievements with those advancements, granted the FEV was something she was familiar with. She glanced at Preston and understood his concerns, but also knew with her promise to Garvey to make the Commonwealth a better place she had to help those in the area to best of their ability, perhaps this was more a diplomatic advantage for them later on. "Your cause seems noble." Danse showed a no smile but she could since his emotion of relief. "I'm pleased that you agree. There are very few outside the Brotherhood who appreciate the gravity of the situation we're facing as a species. So, what do you say? Will you help us?" the survivor really wanted to know more about the context of what he meant by humans and species. Maybe she will find out while helping him she nodded and turned to Preston. "No time to waste, let's get moving." Preston slump his shoulders slightly but shook off knowing this was the only real choice for them. "Outstanding." Danse stated as he nodded to them both. "Haylen, take Rhys inside and bind his wounds" He ordered the scribe as he moved up the steps the police station. "Yes, sir." Haylen responded back to commanding officer as she helped Rhys up. "Rhys, once you're on your feet, I want you to make sure the perimeter is secure." Danse stated to the wounded knight. "I'm on it." Rhys grunted out as he started to stand up. "All right, civilian...It's time to prove your worth. Head into the police station and resupply yourself, then let me know when you're ready to begin." the general of the minutemen bristled at being call civilian and proving her worth. She turned to him and gave him a stern look with her eyes that could pierce through your soul. "It's Gracie, if you must call me something please call me Gracie or McLaren." The paladin was taken back but didn't show it completely. He wasn't used to be being address that way or dealing with civilians. He would find out this one was a firecracker of a person. Haylen helped Rhys up only to have an assumed smile on her face for the stranger aiding them. "Alright big. Guy, let's go." Rhys leaned on her and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah…I'm comin"Preston reached out to Gracie and gently tugged on her arm. She looked at him allowing the others to go in the building. "Preston?" She looked at him carefully. "Are you sure about this?" She pressed her lips together and nodded. "If we want a better place for everyone. We need to help out those in need. They need our help, besides this could be an opportunity for us to make allies." Preston nodded at her reasoning and let her go. "Besides what is the worse that could happen?" she grinned at him as she pushed the door open. The minuteman snorted thinking that was cursed phrase for her. Every time she has utter those words, something crazy would happened to them.