As his group looked at the different Vendors, John followed Mayor Jackson into the Mayor's office and stayed standing as Mayor Jackson sat down and Mayor Jackson said, "Would you like to sit down?" and John said, "I'm leaving this armor on and I could break the chair if I sit down, but what's this mission you need my group to do?" Mayor Jackson Sat up straight and said, "We've been having problems with a group of gunners from up north attacking our caravans going to a nearby settlement, they're in desperate need to ammunition, Food, water, medical supplies, and building materials, you and you group get our next caravan to the settlement, you'll be paid 2000 caps." John then said, "My group can take out those gunners based there for 3500 caps." Mayor Jackson then said, "We'll meet halfway. 2750 caps." John placed his hands on the table and said, "You want that caravan to get to the settlement and the next Caravan, and the next, then the price is 3500 caps and we'll take care of the gunners at their home base."
Mayor Jackson thought about it and said, "Do you want it in advance or after the job's done?" John told the Mayor to pay his group in advance and the mayor then said, "Okay, but I want proof you attacked their hideout." John nodded his head and said, "Consider it done." Mayor Jackson then opened a drawer and took out a metal box and opened it to reveal what looked like 4000 caps. Mayor Jackson then said, "My personal Stash, so you know I have the means to pay you and your band of Mercs." John grabbed Mayor Jackson by the shirt, lifted him up and said, "Don't you ever call anyone in my group Mercenaries. For that, I'll lower the price, back to your original offer as an apology for getting angry. We'll still take care of the gunners, but at the original price." Mayor Jackson fixed his suit and said, "Very well, take down the Gunners at Arcadia Lakes." John looked at Mayor Jackson as he took his helmet off and said, "Did you say Arcadia Lakes?" and saw Mayor Jackson nod his head. John then remembered the Log the Raiders at the Motel near Divine had and pulled it out of his bag and saw Arcadia Lakes two times, Noah Peterson, and Virgina Claire. John then put the book away and said, "Thank you Mayor Jackson, my group and I will deal with the gunners." Mayor Jackson nodded his head and watched John as he walked out of his office.
Outside, John called his group over and when they got to him, John said, "Okay, so the Mayor wants us to take down a group of Gunners to allow the caravans that go through here to be safe to get to the next settlement. The gunners are based at... Arcadia Lakes." Stephanie and Frances squeezed the grips on their guns and Stephanie said, "When do we leave?" John put his hand up and said, "First we do reconnaissance, then we come up with a plan, then we will execute that plan and get the job done." Hyra then pulled Stephanie and Frances to the side to calm them down as John said to Claire, Zoe, and Lee, "I'm going to ask Hyra to keep those two here and watch them. Claire, you stay here with Hyra and help her keep an eye on them. Zoe and Lee, you two are going to come with me to do reconnaissance at Arcadia Lakes." Zoe, Lee, and Claire nodded their heads in agreement. John and Claire then walked over to Hyra, Stephanie, and Frances and got their attention. John then said, "Hyra, I'll need you to keep Stephanie and Frances here until Zoe, Lee, and I get done reconnaissance. Claire will stay here to make sure they stay here while we do the Reconnaissance."
Stephanie stood up and said, "How can you not let me and Frances go with you to do recon." and John told her, "Because I'm pretty sure you will begin opening fire at them once you see if your friend's there." Stephanie clenched the grip on her rifle again before she said, "Fine, I'll stay here." Frances reached into her pocket and took out a picture, she then said, "We took this when we found an old camera, had one more thing for a picture in it." John took the picture and saw Frances, Stephanie, and another girl in the picture. Frances then said, "The other girl in the picture is Ginny. If you see her, give her this picture and tell her we're with you." John then said, "Of course, I'll make sure of that personally." John then walked off towards Lee and Zoe, leaving Claire with Hyra, Stephanie, and Frances. John then said to Lee and Zoe, "Let's make our way to Arcadia Lakes." Zoe and Lee nodded their heads and began walking towards Arcadia Lakes.
Along the way, Zoe asked John, "Why leave Claire with Hyra, Stephanie, and Lee?" and John told her, "I promised her that I would get her to New Charleston, the only town not under the control of the Brotherhood of Steel, the local Militia refuses to bow to them and the city defenses are too tough for them to break through. Last time I was in New Charleston, they had repaired pre-war tanks and artillery pieces that still work in strategic locations around the city. Not to mention Anti air guns on towers, also in strategic locations to shoot down the Brotherhood of Steel's Vertibirds." Then Lee said, "So I take it they tried before to take the city?" John nodded his head and said, "We tried attacking it when I was a squire, my vertibird got shot down and we crashed behind enemy lines, I was the only survivor and I slowly made it out of the city and helped wounded members out of the kill zone of the Artillery Pieces and tanks. Elder Torres noted my bravery and promoted me to the rank of knight, shortly after that attack I got promoted to Paladin, received this Power Armor, and you two know the rest of the story." Lee and Zoe nodded their heads in acknowledgement. John then said, "The Brotherhood of Steel wants everything that deals with Technology, and new Chaleston is home to a massive stockpile of technology. It was a target of interest for the years up to me leaving the Brotherhood, I'm pretty sure it's still one." Lee then pulled out his map of the state and said, "According to this map, we should be at Arcadia Lakes in about an hour." John nodded his head and said, "Alright, like I said, Recon Only." Lee and Zoe nodded their heads and continued walking towards Arcadia Lakes.
After an hour of walking, they got in sight of Arcadia Lakes and got to a position to do some recon as Zoe and Lee took out their rifles and John looked through his binoculars to scan the area. Lee then told John, "I see a few gunners at the hotel, a Gunner Commander on a roof, and people in cages with a Gunner Lieutenant guarding them, over by what looks like another Hotel." Then Zoe said, "I see a few more at a makeshift Workbench and a couple of Armor stands." Finally John said, "Well they're all human and…" John was silent for a few moments before he said, "No way." Lee and Zoe were confused by what John was saying until he said, "If you're wondering what I meant, I see a former Brotherhood of Steel Knight dressed as a Gunner Major, coming out of what looks like the city's town hall." Lee looked at John and said, "I take it you know him?" and John responded by saying, "I've heard of him, he betrayed the Brotherhood by giving a group of gunners a free entrance into a Brotherhood of Steel outpost. His face was shown to everyone in the Brotherhood of Steel. We were told that if we ever saw him that we were to kill him on sight." Zoe then asked John what he was going to do and John said, "Well for starters and a finisher, I'm going to blow his brains out."
John then said, "I had friends at that outpost he helped get destroyed, the gunners took no prisoners, everyone was killed in their sleep, I'm going to make that motherfucker pay for causing their deaths. But first I'm going to shoot his legs to keep him from escaping and make him tell me why he did it." John then told Lee and Zoe that they did enough Recon from that side, and it was time to do it from the other side. Back in Shakespearia, Stephanie was getting Impatient as she walked back and forth while Frances, Hyra, and Claire watched her. Claire then said, "Oh for the love of all in this world, will you just sit DOWN!" Stephanie looked at Claire and said, "Do you have a friend who is enslaved at a place that is nearby and you can do something about it but you were told to stay put?!"
Claire then said, "No, but John told us to remain here, and I'm pretty sure that you would go Shooting Crazy if you see your friend in the cages. Besides, John said the same thing when he, Lee, and Zoe left here to do the Recon." Stephanie stood up, looked at Hyra and said, "Listen, Ginny is our friend and I will be damned if she is sold before We free her, I say we head there now." Hyra and Claire forced Stephanie back down and told her to follow John's instructions, but Stephanie said, "To hell with his Orders, I'm going!" She quickly got back up and made a break for it, but Frances heard her and knocked her out with the bunt end of her Rifle and asked the mayor if they could lock her up somewhere where she couldn't get hurt and Mayor Jackson said, "There's a Cell we keep the drunkards in to keep them from causing trouble, follow me and we can put your friend in it." Claire and Frances picked Stephanie up by her arms and carried her to the cell Mayor Jackson was talking about.
Meanwhile, Back with John, Lee, and Zoe, they were on the other side of Arcadia Lakes to do more reconnaissance from behind the town. Zoe looked around and said, "I count two Turrets guarding a backdoor to one of the House and a power Armor stand behind City hall." John looked at the City Hall building and saw a Power Armor stand and a suit of T-45 Power Armor in it. John then said, "Okay, so we need to take those two turrets out and that set of T-45 Power Armor out from this side if we are to ever make an attempt to attack from here. But now that we have a good estimate of how many gunners there are, let's get back to the town and come up with a plan." Zoe and Lee nodded their heads and followed John back towards Shakespearia.
Later, John, Lee, and Zoe returned to Shakespearia and were told by Claire that they had to put Stephanie in a cell to keep her from going crazy and on a killing spree. John looked at Stephanie, who was sitting on the cot. John then said, "We have every location mapped out, every defense. We have the number of gunners. Now we just need a plan to get into the town and make sure the slaves are safe and we kill all gunners." Then Lee said, "I think I have an Idea, but it involves me being in your power Armor John." John was confused until Lee told him the plan.
Back at Arcadia Lakes, the lead Gunner climbed up a guard tower as he saw a man in Power Armor with a Brahmin dragging three women, one being a child. As the gates were opened, the lead Gunner got down and met the man at the entrance and said, "Since when does the Brotherhood of Steel deal with slaves?"and the man in the Power Armor said, "Since I took this Power Armor off the previous Owner's corpse. I have three slaves I would like to sell to you." The Lead Gunner looked at the women and said, "Alright, let's see what you have?" The Lead gunner was then shown all the 'Slaves'. The first was the little girl and the Lead Gunner said, "She seems to be in okay condition, not too skinny and not too fat. She can give the boys her body." Next was a blonde haired woman, the Lead Gunner then said, "Same with this one. Not too Skinny and not too fat. Not wounds I can see, and she has a nice rack on her. I'll make her my personal slave." The last woman had to lean on one leg as she kept herself up. The man in the Power Armor then said, "She injured herself trying to escape me."
The Lead Gunner looked over the woman and said, "Okay, She'll make food, how much for all three?" and the man in the Power Armor said, "How many Caps do you have?" and the Lead Gunner said, "About 2200." That made the man in the Power Armor say, "Okay, I'll sell all three of them for 1800 caps." The Lead gunner then said, "One's injured, 1500 Caps." but the man in the Power Armor said, "Her leg is just sprained, it can be treated, 1750." but the lead Gunner said, "Not, 1500 caps, my final offer. Or maybe I can just…" but he didn't finish as three explosions from the other side of the town. Soon the Lead Gunner got shot through the head by John using the Sniper Rifle that he got from Calhoun Falls. That was the signal to the four, Lee in the Power armor, Claire, Zoe, and Hyra, to arm up and fire. John had Frances, Stephanie, and a few of the Town Folks of Shakespearia attack the rear, out of the sight of the Prisoners, while destroying the Turrets and Power armor. John then saw the Ex-Brotherhood of Steel member come back out and before he could even speak, John put a round right between his eyes, and said, "That's for the boys at Outpost 3-Foxtrot."
Soon after that, the rest of the gunners were dealt with as they were squished from both sides and the remaining ones surrendered. John joined everyone in the town as Stephanie was the first to the cages and the first cage she opened was Virginia Claire's cage. After opening the cage Virginia was in, Stephanie pulled Virginia out and said, "It's okay honey, I'm here." Soon Virginia and Stephanie began to cry as they kissed each other occasionally. I looked at Hyra and said, "So they're a couple?" and Hyra nodded her head and said, "Ever since I was in Divine. When I met them, they were a couple." John nodded his head, walked over to Virginia and Stephanie and said, "I'm glad to see that your friend is safe." Stephanie nodded her head and said, "Yes, thank you."
After getting all the former slaves back to Shakespearia, the Mayor was about to give John the caps, but he said, "With the Gunner at Arcadia Lakes dealt with, my group has more than enough supplies to get to the next town." Mayor Jackson nodded his head and said, "If you ever need to stop somewhere, Shakespearia welcomes you and your group." John nodded his head and the two shook hands and John walked out of the Office. Outside, John saw the former Slaves getting the Combat Armor on and loaded the weapons they got from the dead bodies as one man walked in the T-45 Power Armor that somehow survived the battle and a woman in the other set of T-45 Power Armor taken from the Gunner Commander. John got into his X-01 Power Armor, walked over to his group and said, "Everyone ready?" and all but Stephanie nodded their heads.
"What's wrong Stephanie?" John asked her, and she told him, "I'm taking Ginny back to Divine, I only came along to find my love. Now that I found her, I'm never letting her out of my sights again." John nodded his head and said, "I understand, good luck on the way back." Stephanie nodded her head and said goodbye to Frances, Hyra, Claire, Lee, and Zoe. Taking one of Ginny's arms over her shoulder, Stephanie and Ginny began the journey back to Divine. John and his group were then approached by the man in the T-45 Power Armor and he said, "Mind if I join you?" and John asked the man, "Mind if I ask you why you're asking?"
"Because there's a route that the Brotherhood of Steel Patrols a few miles from here. With me there, you won't lose any people." said the man in the Power Armor. John then asked what his name was and the man said, "Harold Moore." John was speechless, he then said, "Harold Moore, as in the Sentinel Harold Mooore, the Sentinel that stood up to Elder Torres and left the Brotherhood life behind?" Harold nodded his head and said, "The Gunners took me by surprise and stole my Power Armor. But thanks to your attack, I was able to get it back. So I asked, "Mind if I join your group?" and John said, "I don't mind at all, since I had to leave the Brotherhood life behind as well, just under different circumstances." Harold smield and the two shook hands and Harold led the group out of Shakespearia.
After a while of walking, John asked Harold, "Is it true that you took on a Behemoth by yourself with nothing more than a Combat knife and a Hand Grenade all while having a dislocated Arm?" Harold smiled under his helmet and said, "That was a long time ago, but it's true." John looked like a kid meeting his favorite Superhero. John then asked, "Is it also true that you took on a nest of Deathclaws by yourself with nothing but an Assault rifle, a few grenades, and a broken hammer?" and Harold nodded his head again. John then said, "When I was a squire I was told all the stories about you, from when you reached Sentinel status up to when you defended Civilians from a firing squad."
"Those were good times for me. But after I left life in the Brotherhood behind, I was lost. Didn't know what to do until those Raiders attacked me, knocked me out, and stole my Power Armor. I was hanging around Shakespearia when I saw you and your group show up. But I have to know, where did you get the Power Armor?" and John said, "I'll tell you the story after dinner, it's almost that time anyway." Harold nodded his head and they found an old Red Rocket Gas Station to set up for the night. After hunting a few Radstags, John made dinner, Hyra and Claire talked, Zoe packed up the Hides from the Radstags as Frances, Harold, and Lee All patrolled the Perimeter when they heard a noise and Harold said, "Identify yourself."
"Hey, will you relax, I'm a reporter." said the voice of a woman. When she came into the light, she wore a red Jacket, a pre-war newsies hat, and a yellow and green striped scarf. John walked out of the gas station and asked the woman, "Who are you?" and she said, "Piper, Piper Wright-kingston. Wife to Nate Kingston, President of the Commonwealth Republic." (A.N.: I always thought that Piper and the male Sole survivor would be a great couple) John looked at Harold, Frances, and Lee and told them, "Stand down guys." which they did.
John then looked at Piper and said, "My apologies, First Lady Kingston, we;re all a little Jumpy after the past few days, I'm John Bertrand." John and Piper shook hands and Piper said, "Understandable, you all with the brotherhood of this area?" but John shook his head and said, "No madam we are not. Harold and I left the brotherhood. Hyra and Frances are from a town called Divine, Lee was once a raider, Zoe's from a vault and we're all trying to get Claire to New Charleston." Then Piper said, "Ironic, I was heading to New Charleston anyway to talk to the city's leader to discuss setting up a base in the city." John then said, "Well, why don't you join us, New Charleston is still a few days walk from here. I'm sure the president would be more relaxed if his wife was traveling in a larger group." Piper chuckled and said, "I'm actually not alone."
Everyone then heard a robotic voice said, "Madam Kingston, must you always run ahead of us? Dogmeat might be able to catch up to you, but I have some trouble keeping up." Soon, a German shepherd appeared along with a Mister Handy. Piper then said, "Sorry Codsworth, I told you I heard some footsteps, turns out I was right." Piper then said, "Everyone, this is Dogmeat and Codsworth, my husband's first few Companions after he emerged from Vault 111. Codsworth, this is John Bertrand, Harold, Lee, Claire, Zoe, Hyra, Frances from the local area."
"A pleasure to meet you all, are you in the midst of eating dinner?" said Codsworth. John nodded his head and said, "Yes, we were just about to sit down for Radstag Stew, would you like some of it?" and Piper said, "I always did like Radstag Stew, Sure." Soon Piper sat down as John poured her some Radstag Stew into a can and handed her it with a spoon. He also handed some stew to Claire, Hyra, and Zoe while he, Lee, Dogmeat, and Harold ate grilled Radstag. Piper looked at John and said, "This is amazing John. You are an amazing cook." THen Hyra said, "Yeah, he was our town's local cook before the Raiders attacked it." Then Lee said, "Which wouldn't have happened if I won the match against their new Leader." Then John said, "So I guess, you losing that match was good in a way. I would never have gotten my X-01 Power Armor, none of us would have met Claire. Divine would still be ruled by Racheal Dean, who is dead by the way." Piper chuckled before she said, "I have to agree with John on that. One bad event caused a lot of good ones."
Everyone agreed with the two and after Dinner, Claire played with dogmeat a little bit before the girls went to bed as John, Lee, Harold, Codsworth, and Dogmeat took turns patrolling the perimeter of the gas Station. John looked at Codsworth and asked him, "So how did the President wire you to serve him?" but Codsworth said, "Actually, he purchased me in 2077." John and Harold looked at Codsworth and John asked, "2077? Are you saying that he's a ghoul?" but Codsworth said, "Oh heavens no. Back when the bombs fell, the master along with his first wife Nora and their son Shawn were put into a cryogenic stasis pod, but the members of Vault-tec told them they were "decontamination" tubes. From what I gathered, 60 years ago, this man named Kellogg opened the cryogenic Pod the Master's first wife and son were in and as another person tried to take Shawn, Kellogg murdered her. The day when the Master emerged from the cryogenic Pod and Vault was the day he set out to find his son and Reunited the New England Commonwealth into the Commonwealth Republic."
"Wow, a man who is over 200 years old, and not even the slightest showing of Ghoulification?" said John. Codsworth nodded it's one eye and said, "Indeed, but look at where the Commonwealth is now, unified and moving out to continue uniting the Country back to before the great war." Then Harold said, "low on resources?" but Codsworth said, "Heavens no, a symbol of freedom and Democracy." John looked at Harold before looking at Codsworth and he said, "Yeah, Pre-war America doesn't sound all like that to me. I've read several files."
"Oh those files are a huge exaggeration. I assure you that America before the Great war was booming with freedom and democracy." said Codsworth. John and Harold looked at each other before John asked Codsworth, "But why is the wife of the President of the most famous Post-war government here by herself with her husband's robotic butler and dog?" and that's when they heard Piper's voice behind them and she said, "Like I said, Nate asked me to talk to the person in charge of New Charleston to see if he would allow us to set up a forward base here to eventually bring all of the former Southeast Commonwealth into the Republic. He would have come himself, but there have been problems with Super mutants near a settlement, so he asked me to go in his stead. We had a vertibird, but that ran out of fuel. Without the Prydwen, we weren't going far." Piper then joined them at their sitting area.
"Yeah, best to go in on foot anyway." John told Piper, he then asked her, "but what are you still doing up First lady Kingston, I thought you were asleep." Piper told her listeners that she couldn't sleep so she got up to talk a little bit. Harold then looked at John and said, "You never did tell me where you got that X-01 Power Armor." John chuckled and said, "That's right I didn't Let me tell you all the story." John then went on to tell Harold, Lee, Dogmeat, Codsworth, and Piper the story of his X-01 Power Armor and his time in the Brotherhood of Steel. All the while, Hyra, Zoe, Frances, and Claire were in the gas station when Claire heard a noise. Back with Dogmeat, he began to growl as he looked at the gas station, alerting everyone that was near him. Dogmeat then charged into the Gas Station as they heard Claire Scream. John, Harold, Piper, and Lee grabbed their weapons and ran in to figure out what was wrong.
In the Gas Station, Zoe was fighting off a creature as Claire hid behind Frances and Hyra since they were all wide awake and Dogmeat ran into the creature and tackled it to the ground. John was the first to ask and he asked, "What happened?" and Claire said, "That thing attacked me." John looked and said, "Get Dogmeat away from it." Piper called Dogmeat away. He backed off, but not before getting bit in the leg by the creature. John then took the Gauss rifle, aimed for the Creature's head and blew it to bits. Dogmeat limped over to Piper so she could look over the bite mark.
"You did good Dogmeat." Piper told Dogmeat Dogmeat barked as Piper and John looked over it and JOhn saw green ooze coming from one of the puncture marks and did a scan with his X-01 helmet. John then pulled Piper aside, along with Harold, Lee, Hyra, and Zoe and told them, "Dogmeat's been infected with a Neurotoxin that's acting fast. According to my helmet, we have less than 10 minutes to find an Antidote for him, or else his insides are going to turn to liquid." Harold then said, "I know that creature, from what I read, to deal with that creature's venom, we need a pink and yellow petaled Flower, the Pollen from the flower cancels out the nerve Toxin." John then said, "Spread out, find those flowers." They nodded their heads and hurried to find the flower. Luckily, Piper found the flower in abundance over a nearby hill.
Piper then called everyone over to her and when they got to her, Harold said, "Good, just like the ones I saw the old Woman use, we need to gather the Pollen, mix it with water and apply it to the bite mark on Dogmeat's leg." As time was running out, the adults were gathering as much Pollen as they could and converted it into a paste that Harold applied to Dogmeat's leg wound. After which, John placed his helmet over his head and scanned Dogmeat before saying, "Luckily, the Neurotoxin was only in his back legs, but it looks like the Pollen is working." Piper and Claire breathed a sigh of relief and Piper said, "Thank you all for saving Dogmeat." John nodded his head and said, "Don't mention it Madam Kingston. But let's get some rest, New Charleston is like I said, a few days away from here." Everyone agreed and went back to sleep as John, Harold,and Lee kept watch and Dogmeat got into Claire's arms and that helped her fall back asleep.
The next day, John and Harold were leading the growing group down the road with Dogmeat being carried by Lee as Claire talked to him. John occasionally looked back and said, "Watch where you step Claire, don't want you to get…" but his warning was a little late as Claire tripped on a tree root, making everyone stop. John got out of his Power Armor and walked over to treat Claire. Her leg had a minor scrape on it and as John bandaged it, he said, "I told you to watch where you were going, you're lucky that it was only a scrape." Claire, who began to cry, nodded her head in acknowledgement. John then lifted her chin to look into her eyes and said, "Hey now, don't cry. Look, I may say things that sound like mean, but they're only there to help you stay safe."
"I know…" said Claire after a sniffle. John then said, "Tell you what, you can ride on my shoulders after I get back in the Power Armor, what do you say?" Claire's eyes widened as she nodded her head. After John got back in his Power Armor, he lifted Claire onto his shoulders and she gripped his helmet and they continued walking. Zoe then said to Hyra, "He's acting like he's her dad." Hyra chuckled and said, "So I'm not the only one who noticed that, I think it's cute." Zoe nodded her head and Hyra caught up to John and said, "So fearless leader, what's next on our journey?" and John told her, "According to Lee's map, a small settlement is a few miles ahead, We'll stop there and resupply, after that, New Charleston is the next town." Then Harold said, "With a group this big, we can carry all the supplies we need to make the trip to New Chaleston." Everyone agreed and were mostly quiet as they continued walking.
After walking a little longer, they reached an old Military Outpost where five people held their guns at the group and one man, who had an eyepatch over his left eye and his left arm missing, said, "Who are you?" and John said, "Relax, we're just a group of wastelanders escorting the wife of the President of The Commonwealth republic to New Charleston." and the lead person said, "Oh, well, we were sent out by Mayor Brown to secure more land and we were to let him know when we encountered her." John looked at the man and said, "Mayor Brown, as in Mayor MASON Brown?" After the man nodded his head, Claire said, "That's my uncle!" and the man said, "Really, would you like for us to contact him?" and Piper said, "Yes, please contact him." the man nodded his head and ordered one man, "Get word to Mayor Brown that the first lady is here along with his niece." the man nodded his head and sent the Radio message. John placed Claire on the ground and said, "Well Claire, looks like we might be parting ways soon."
"I know, it was fun hanging with you John. Thank you for teaching me things that I never thought I would learn." John smiled under his helmet and patted Claire on her head as the man he was talking to said, "Mayor Brown is sending Vertibirds for your group." John gulped as he said, "I see." The man then said, "Yeah, we captured them after the Brotherhood of Steel tried to attack us to get the Technology in the city. But you know that, don't you Squire Bertrand." John was speechless, the man knew him. John then got out of the Power Armor, looked at the man carefully and said, "It's you." John then thought back to when he partook in the failed attack on New Charleston.
_X_ Years Ago _X_
After his Vertibird went down, John stumbled out and ran down a Alleyway to avoid getting captured. John then heard on his radio, "To all those members in the city, Command has ordered us to pull back, if you can get out, get out and avoid the spotlights. Good luck my comrades, we'll see you when you get out." John knew that he had to get out. He stayed out of sight of the Patrols and managed to link back up with a few knights, all were hurt in a way. As John patched them up, a New Charleston Patrol found them and opened fire on them. The lead Knight got hit in the head and was killed. John had to act quickly so he took the body out of the Power Armor and got in it to combat the patrol. John spotted an Explosives barrel near one of them and Fired his Laser pistol at it and blew it up. John then looked at the wounded Knights and said, "Let's go!" As they began running, John saw a member of the Patrol, heavily wounded and bleeding placed the Laser Pistol he had down and patched up the man's eye and made a tourniquet on his arm as a knight came back and said, "What are you doing Squire Bertrand, he's the enemy."
"He's also wounded. I was taught no matter if wounded are enemy soldiers, they were to be treated until they get better treatment." John told the knight. The Knight then said, "Ugh, fine, but I'm going to report this." John told the knight, "Go right ahead George, I stand by what I was taught." George and John then ran to catch up to the other knights to escape the city. But the man John applied FIrst Aid too got him to stop so he could ask him, "Why?" and John told him, "It was the right thing to do. I don't care if you were trying to kill me, you were in need of medical Assistance and I applied it to save your life. Nothing more, and nothing less." John then ran off to catch up to the Brotherhood of Steel Knights.
_X_ Present _X_
"You were the member of that Patrol I administered First Aid to." John said to the man, who nodded his head and said, "That's right, back then I was Private Connor Smith, now it's Sergeant Connor Smith of the New Charleston Armed forces." John walked up to Sergeant Smith and extended his right hand and said, "Good to see that the First Aid I applied managed to keep you alive until you got treated." Sergeant Smith took John's hand and shook it too and he said, "Yeah, especially since you were the one who caused it after shooting that Explosives Barrel. Did you administer the First Aid out of pity, or regret?" John told Sergeant Smith that he was taught to treat all battlefield casualties injuries, no matter who they fought for. Sergeant Smith then said, "I see, so there are some good people in the Brotherhood of Steel after all."
John then told Sergeant Smith that he wasn't in the Brotherhood anymore. Sergeant Smith then said, "Oh, well, I'm just glad I have the chance to meet you again, and thank you for saving my life." John smiled and said, "Don't mention it. Like I said back then and just now, I was taught to treat all battlefield casualties injuries, no matter who they fought for." Sergeant Smith nodded his head and soon, they all heard the sounds of Vertibirds approaching. When they looked, they saw three Vertibirds approaching with the Brotherhood of Steel Logo painted over with the flag of New Charleston. When the Vertibird landed, a man with Brown hair, wearing a Pre-war Suit, got off with two people in T-45 Power Armor. Claire then ran up to the man and said, "UNCLE MASON!" Mason saw Claire and picked her up as he said, "Claire bear, what are you doing here, where are your parents?"
"Dead, raiders killed them." Claire told Mason. Mason held Claire close as he said, "Oh kid, I'm so sorry." Mason then saw John standing there watching them. After placing Claire on the ground, Mason walked over to John and said, "John…" and John replied, "Mason…" Then Mason said, "This your group?" and John said, "A few members are a part of my group, we were just escorting First lady Kingston to New Charleston and a promise that I made to Claire that I would get her here safely to you, no charge at all." Mason smiled and thanked John and invited him and his group into New Charleston. John accepted and after getting everyone on the Vertibirds, they took off to New Charleston with Claire on Mason's lap. John looked at Mason and said, "Never knew you had a brother, let alone a niece."
"My brother told me to keep him and his family out of my affairs, guess I should have convinced him to move into the city after I became Mayor." said Mason. John then said, "I still can't believe that you're mayor of the city." Mason smiled and said, "That's not all." John gave Mason a confused looked until he said, "We also managed to get 4 Pre-war Cruisers back up and running.