I'm going to say this. Fallout 3 and 4 have a lot of problems, but not all of the bad writing is actually Bethesda's fault. Some of it is—fridge kid, I'm looking at you—but the aspect of 3 that gets the most scorn, the main plot? Originally, it was meant to be completely different, but fans demanded Bethesda change it, because the Enclave were originally going to be the protagonists and Fallout fans don't understand the concept of reformists. And Maxson's Brotherhood regressed to being raiders in Power Armor—which is what the BoS was before Elder Lyons, don't @ me—because Fallout fans found it completely absurd that someone might actually want to change the nature of the organization. The biggest problem Fallout has isn't Bethesda, it's the fandom.
Orientation for the Minutemen had been a long affair. They had needed to learn a lot of the history of Remnant, the current struggles the people of Remnant faced, and various topics relevant to the Huntsman profession.
It ended up being rather depressing for Nate to learn that human nature was exactly the same on Remnant as it was on Earth. Slavery had only been abolished fairly recently, and racism was still very common. In response, many of the Faunus, the people who had until recently been slaves, had turned to terrorism.
Nate sympathized with the plight of the Faunus, and some branches of the White Fang did seem to actually be fighting for equality. But the Vale branch had gone bad, having allied with a crime boss to bring down the walls protecting Vale from the monsters, which were apparently known as the Grimm. That wasn't fighting for equality, it was an attempt to kill as many people as possible. Even the Brotherhood wasn't this...indiscriminate.
Nate's best internal comparison to the White Fang had been an early 21st Century communist movement. They had called themselves a civil rights movement, but in truth they had been nothing more than domestic terrorists who had done nothing but riot and murder. Eventually, the American people had grown to utterly despise them, and had demanded the utter eradication of the movement and the communism they had demanded, which had unfortunately led to the government preying on people's hatred of communism to allow themselves to become tyrants, just as they would have had people sided with the movement. Unfortunately, Nate was sure that if at least Adam Taurus's branch of the White Fang wasn't stamped out soon, the governments of Remnant would likely do the same, if they weren't already. Hopefully he would get the chance to put a bullet between Adam's eyes before that happened.
"The local White Fang branch sounds like something I heard about once," MacCready said.
"Elaborate," Danse said.
"When I was a kid, I met this woman who rescued some of my friends from slavers," MacCready said. "The woman, I didn't know her name, but a lot of people called her 'the Lone Wanderer,' told me about some of the things she had seen. He said there was this place called Tenpenny Tower. Some of the residents there hated Ghouls, and wouldn't let this pack of Ghouls in. But the Lone Wanderer convinced the humans to let the Ghouls in. And then she left for a few days, but when she got back, the Ghouls killed all the humans anyway. The ghoul leader, Roy Phillips, admitted he just did it because he wanted to. The Lone Wanderer killed all the Ghouls, naturally. Still, didn't bring anyone back."
"Well, at least we know human nature is no different here than it is back home," Piper said bitterly.
"I'm a bit surprised humanity's first instinct with the Faunus was to make 'em slaves," Cait commented.
"You're surprised humanity decided to hate people who were different from them?" Valentine asked.
"No, I'm surprised that when humanity discovered the Faunus, their first instinct wasn't to fuck 'em. Pre-War Japanese comic book makers certainly seemed to want to," Cait elaborated.
"If we could get back on topic," Ms. Glynda Goodwitch (Nate had needed to make sure that name was real), the teacher in charge of orientation, commented pointedly, "we should cover the Faunus Rights Revolution."
"I am afraid there is no chance you would be able to get bullets for these guns without paying through the nose for custom jobs," the quartermaster said after examining the Minutemen's guns. "These guns aren't compatible with Dust bullets, and nobody makes gunpowder bullets."
"Great. Just my luck. I finally get my hands on a genuine New Canaanite .45 Auto Pistol, and I can't use it now," Valentine complained.
"We'd be glad to provide guns fitted for Dust bullets," the quartermaster offered. "Pistols, SMGs, and rifles aren't in short supply. Most Huntsmen use custom weapons, but if you prefer army weapons, we have plenty."
"Standard Dust bullets, Fire Dust bullets, oh, this is interesting." Hancock picked up a box of bullets. "Gravity Dust bullets. What's special about these?"
"Good choice, Mr. Hancock," the quartermaster said. "Gravity Dust bullets are what you want if you want to put holes in heavy armor. Not to mention that enemies with Aura aren't going to have a pleasant time trying to take them. They aren't guaranteed to pierce Aura, but they certainly feel like they do."
"How much for these and a rifle?" Hancock asked.
"Oh, Headmaster Ozpin asked me to make sure you have access to everything you need," the quartermaster said. "Take all you want."
Nate's eyes widened, and his expression became akin to that of a kid in a toy store who just learned that he won a shopping spree.
Curie's expression grew concerned. "Mon ami, please do not go overboard."
"Overboard? Me?" Nate asked, as he prepared to take everything he could carry.
"There we go. That should do it," Danse said, as he finished adjusting a jury-rigged machine.
"Should I ask?" Professor Peach asked.
"It's a charging station," Danse explained. "If I built it right, it should charge my armor's Fusion Cores and my rifle's Microfusion Cells. I had to make some adjustments for your local power output, but it should do the job."
He flipped a switch, and the power in the entire building went out.
"I'm going to ask the Headmaster not to let you mess with anything electronic," Professor Peach said.
Strong's Super Sledge crushed one of the obsolete Atlesian Knights used in the training yard. "Stupid robot."
"Hmm, these Atlesian Knights are interesting," Codsworth said as he examined one. "I have not seen technology quite like this on Earth, not even from Institute tech, or the Mechanist's laboratory. Even with the primitive AI, these merit study. I would—Strong!"
Strong looked down at the smashed Knight that Codsworth had been studying. "Oh. Did robot want to fight other robot?"
"You are an utter brute!" Codsworth chastised. "You have no appreciation for well-made technology whatsoever!"
"Hey, Strong!" Nate said, as he held out a brand new, custom-built Super Sledge enhanced with Gravity Dust. "I brought you a present!"
Strong took the new hammer. Looking at his old one, he decided it was inferior, and dropped it. He then crushed another Atlesian Knight. "Strong likes it." He looked at Codsworth. "Robot was saying?"
"I give up," Codsworth said, turning and hovering away in disgust.
"Fascinating," Professor Peach said. "And you say these are able to cure drug addiction?"
"Oui," Curie confirmed. "Fixer and Addictol are ze best options for treating chem dependency, but in an emergency, ze compounds for curing addiction can be extracted from Radscorpion eggs."
"And these 'Stimpaks' are nothing short of miraculous!" Professor Peach said.
"Sadly, syringe supplies are running short," Curie said. "Ze active ingredients can be combined as a poultice instead, but are slower-acting in zat form."
"Even so, these medicines could revolutionize medical care on Remnant!" Professor Peach said. "Will you permit me to study them?"
"Of course," Curie said. Looking at Professor Peach's medical texts, she asked, "May I borrow zese? I wish to learn what I can of your medicine."
"By all means, do," Professor Peach agreed.
"Did you get that charger working, Danse?" Preston asked.
"I'm still working on it," Danse said.
"I could have a look at it," Nate offered. "Maybe you just need a pair of fresh eyes."
A short girl ran up to them. "Oh! You're the Minutemen! I saw the news report! Did you really help with the evacuation of Terminus?"
"We got some people out," Nate confirmed.
"And did you really take on a militant hate group?" the girl asked.
Danse cringed. While it was an accurate label for the Brotherhood, he still didn't like thinking of the Brotherhood in those terms.
"We did," Nate nodded. "You wouldn't have heard about it, though."
"That is so cool! Can I get your autographs?" the girl asked.
As they signed her autograph book, the girl introduced herself as Ruby Rose. "Are you going to be teaching at Beacon?"
"Teacher's aides. We will be doing seminars, though," Preston said.
"That's awesome! Can I see your weapons?" Ruby asked.
Nate unslung the 5.56mm rifle from his shoulder. Ruby looked disappointed. "This is just an ordinary military rifle."
"I used to be a soldier," Nate said. "When I got transferred to the Huntsmen, I wanted to stick with the weapons I was familiar with. I hadn't practiced with fancy custom weapons, and I figured I would get myself killed trying to use them. Better to fight with the weapons I know."
"That makes sense," Ruby agreed. "If it works for you, why change it?"
"Danse and Preston have custom weapons, but Danse is having some trouble getting their charger working. Their power source is...a bit unusual, you see," Nate explained.
"Oh! Maybe my friend Weiss can help!" Ruby said. "She knows a lot about that sort of thing."
"That should do the trick," Weiss Schnee said. She was Ruby's partner, but she didn't seem very much like Ruby. She was serious and no-nonsense. "I do have to say, I've never seen armor quite like this. Did you build it yourself?"
"Not exactly," Danse said. "It was manufactured by a group called the Enclave. They're...mostly not around anymore. Good riddance, really. But I salvaged the armor from one of their old airships."
"I've never heard of the Enclave," Weiss commented.
"They operated in...more remote areas," Danse said.
"Never caught national attention anyway," Nate said. "The entire thing was covered up. Made the government look bad."
Weiss nodded, seemingly accepting that answer. "Would this be the same group that used the biological weapons on Mr. Hancock and Mr. Strong that turned them into...whatever they are now?"
"Yes," Nate said. He would have to coordinate the lie with the two of them later that day.
"It looks like my gear is charging," Danse noted. "Thank you, soldier. You saved me a lot of trouble."
"The power conversion was rather unusual," Weiss noted. "I can't say I've seen anything like it before."
"It's a system still in the experimental phase," Nate said.
"I see," Weiss said. "If you have any more problems, consult an actual expert."
Ruby picked up Preston's laser musket. "I've never seen a gun like this before."
"It's a prototype," Preston lied. "One of the first of a line of energy weapons currently in development."
"Energy weapons?" Ruby asked. "That is so cool!"
That night, Weiss refused to go to bed, instead staying busy researching.
What she found was what she suspected she would find. Nathan Howard, Curie Howard, Piper Wright, Nick Valentine, Danse Peterson, Cait Winchester, John Hancock, Preston Garvey, Deacon Forger, Robert MacCready, David Strong, and Codsworth had exemplary service records. All of which had been wholly created within the last two days and made to look like they were always there. The Minutemen's pasts were a complete forgery.
What, exactly, were Ozpin and Ironwood playing at? Who were the Minutemen and why did Ozpin and Ironwood want to make it seem that they had been Huntsmen for years?
Tomorrow was the beginning of the school week. She would inform her team, and together they would confront one of the Minutemen.