I do not own Fallout at all. As for the characters, they can die at any moment in this story. So don't be mad if a character you love dies. I recommend you read Fallout: South Carolina and Fallout: The Carolina Republic. This story is the Prequel story to them. This is how the Commonwealth Republic began. This is Nate's Story.
War. War never changes. In the year 1945, my great-great grandfather, serving in the army, wondered when he'd get to go home to his wife and the son he'd never seen. He got his wish when the US ended World War II by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The World awaited Armageddon; instead, something miraculous happened. We began to use atomic energy not as a weapon, but as a nearly limitless source of power. People enjoyed luxuries once thought the realm of science fiction. Domestic robots, fusion-powered cars, portable computers. But then, in the 21st century, people awoke from the American dream. Years of consumption lead to shortages of every major resource. The entire world unraveled. Peace became a distant memory. On the morning of October 23, 2077, nuclear war had swept over the earth, forcing my family and myself to enter Vault 111. We were put into pods and put into Cryogenic Sleep when we were told it was for decontamination prior to entering the vault. 150 years later, my infant son Shaun was taken from my wife Nora by an organization I didn't know at the time and a hired gun named Kellogg, who shot my wife after she refused to give up my son. I watched it all.
60 years later there was a malfunction in my pod and I woke up. After getting a weapon and a pipboy from bodies of the dead in the vault, I walked out of Vault 111 on October 23rd, 2287 to begin the mission of finding my son. I've met many people along the way, people who I call friends, companions, people I trust. I soon found Kellogg and that was when I was told the name of who took my son, the Institute. I heard about them before from one of my companions named Preston Garvey, of the Commonwealth minutemen, Settlers, a group calling themselves the Railroad to help synths escape the Institute, traders, and even from members of a military like organization called the Brotherhood of Steel. I've done missions for both groups until I got into the Institute and found out that my son had aged 60 years and not 6 as I thought after seeing Kellogg's memories. I did missions for the Institute as well and now I'm at a crossroads as I'm forced to make a choice. Should I side with my son and continue working with the Institute, should I leave and destroy the Institute, side with the Brotherhood, side with the Minutemen, side with the Railroad. I've seen things here and knew that continued bloodshed was not a choice.
"General?" Preston said as he approached me. I looked at him as I sat in my old home in Sanctuary Hills. I cleared my throat and said, "Yes Preston what is it?" Preston asked me if I had decided on a choice involving the Institute. I leaned in the old chair as I said, "No, not really Preston, I have not."
That was when Preston said, "General, the Institute has been a threat since the Massacre of the CPG, they have to be..." but I stopped him as he just gave me an idea. I stand up and say, "Preston that's it! You just gave me my idea." Preston smiled but was also confused at what he gave me. I told him to have Elder Maxson, Paladin Danse, Desdemona meet me at the entrance to Vault 111. Preston nodded his head as he knew that when I mentioned Vault 111 I was serious.
Inside the Institute, I found my son and asked him to come with me. He was confused and asked me why. I told him that I would tell him when we got to where I was taking him, to where my journey in this world started. Walking with my son out of the old CTI Building, through Commonwealth Minutemen. They saluted me as I walked by. I then looked up and saw a Brotherhood of Steel Vertibird and knew Maxson was there. Crossing the small stream behind Sanctuary, I lead my son up the hill and through the old gate that stopped most of Sanctuary Hills's population back in 2077 and that was when I saw them, Preston with Arthur Maxson, leader of the Brotherhood of Steel here in the commonwealth, Danse in his T-60 Power Armor that I gave him, former Paladin of the Brotherhood but left after he found out he was a Synth. Desdemona, leader of the Railroad, they were all waiting for us.
The first to see me was Preston and he saluted me before he said, "General." That made everyone look at me and Shaun. Arthur pulled his Laser Rifle out and aimed it at Shaun, but I got in the way. Arthur was shocked and he said, "Paladin Nate Kingston, what is the meaning of this? You know who he works for don't you." I nodded my head and said, "I do, but he's also my son."
Preston held his Laser Musket as he said, "I assume, General, that you brought us together to tell us which Idea you plan to go with." The first to speak was Arthur as he kept his rifle aimed at me, he said, "Clearly he's gathered us here to tell you fools that the Brotherhood is the best group to take out the Institute." I was about to speak when Desdemona said, "As if you just want to slaughter them all, Synths included."
"Synths are Robots! Abominations!" Arthur shouted. I tried to speak again, but Preston said, "Better to let the minutemen handle the Institute, we might not like Synths, but at least we could evacuate any non-hostiles. No offense Danse." Danse nodded his head and said, "It's alright Preston, I get it." That was when Shaun stepped out and said, "You are all fools to think that my father would agree to that. The only clear reason is this, that he has gathered you all here to tell you…"
"THAT I'M NOT DOING ANY OF YOUR PLANS!" I shouted, finally able to speak. Desdemona, Preston, Arthur, Danse, and Shaun all looked at me with confusion before I told Preston to protect Shaun while I went to start the lift. Arthur kept his Laser Rifle aimed at Shaun as he walked to Preston while I walked into the nearby control station and pressed the red button. Then getting onto the lift, I stood near Shaun and Preston as it lowered us all underground. When the lift stopped, I led the group into Vault 111. The vault door slid backwards and rolled to the side. Walking through I told them to watch their steps. Preston and Danse did as they had been to the Vault before. After meeting Preston I took him here to show him Nora… my dead wife. Then after Meeting Danse I did the same thing. Leading them to the Cryo Pods, I opened Nora's pod.
Shaun saw his mother's body and slowly walked to it as Desdemona was speechless and looked to the ground. Arthur looked at Danse and said, "Synth, is that…" Danse looked at his former leader and nodded, Danse had told Arthur about my wife and I had mentioned it too. Shaun kissed his mother's hand before I spoke. I said to the gathered, "For too long the Commonwealth, let alone the Wasteland, has been divided. As the general of the Minutemen, Director of the Institute, and Paladin for the Brotherhood, and Agent of the Railroad..." I saw Shaun look at me with shock, and I said, "Yes Shaun, I'm a Railroad Agent. I'm sick and tired of all this fighting. We are going to work together for this Commonwealth starting now." Arthur walked forward and Demanded to know what gave me the authority to make such a claim.
I looked at him and told him, "I got over five mortars all aimed at the Boston Airport, I could take the Prydwen in a single command. I have worked hard for the Brotherhood, getting your missions done. Preston I've helped many Settlements. Desdemona, I helped the Railroad provide Synths freedom, Shaun I helped you get certain Synths back. I have put in all that work for your groups and have I asked for anything in return? NO! I have asked for nothing! This Commonwealth can be made a healthy and thriving place, but we have to work for it to make it so."
"What are you proposing father?" Shaun asked me. I smiled and said, "A Republic, like the old one but for this new world." Preston pointed out that they tried that already, so I said, "True, and back then people were all wanting a leadership position. Thanks to the Institute, that plan never happened. But now we have a chance to try again, the Minutemen represent many settlements, the Brotherhood has its own representation, and the Institute has the science to help us. But what we need is a leader all factions trust." Danse realized what my plan was and he said, "With you being that leader, you've worked with all of us and we have shown great respect for you." I nodded my head and said, "Exactly. We can get other leaders from settlements but I asked for you all cause you all are leaders in your factions. Preston, Maxson, son, Desdemona, you all have respect for me right?"
"I certainly do General, I can talk to the other soldiers in the Minutemen, no one would go against you sir." Preston said as he put his laser Musket away. Desdemona crossed her arms and said, "Seeing as how you helped free synths even though your son was leader of the Institute, you took a lot of risks doing so… there will be some of my people who leave if the Institute is part of this, but I know most will stay, so I'm in as well." Danse asked why he was asked to be a part of the meeting and I told him, "Cause I want you to be part of this republic, part of the Minutemen, if Preston will agree." Preston told me that since he and Danse fought side by side before, he was ok with Danse. Arthur looked at me and said, "You have guts Paladin Kingston. But why should we work alongside potential abominations of Nature?"
"Cause I'm asking you to put your faith in me. If you feel that I haven't done your group right they can leave at any time, same for the rest of you. I'm not going to force you all to stay once you join." I tell them. Maxson crossed his arms and said, "I see, we will try it for a while, but the first sign I feel you are not living up to your promise, the brotherhood will no longer be a part of your republic." I nod my head at him before looking at the last leader to make a choice, Shaun. I ask Shaun, "What would your mother say if she was in your shoes son?" Shaun looked at my wife before he said, "If she was put in my shoes about this choice… she would agree to it." I smiled, everyone agreed to my plan. I then said, "From this moment on, we are no longer fighting factions, we are one united Commonwealth Republic. The main enemies now are the Gunners, Raiders, Feral Ghouls, the Monsters of the Wasteland, and Super Mutants. However if Super Mutants wish for peace then we are NOT to kill them, Maxson, Shaun."
"Why did you name us specifically?" Shaun asked me. Danse answered that by saying, "There's a Super Mutant that has worked alongside your father from time to time, calls himself Strong." Then Shaun said, "Oh Sounds like Subject SM-1842." Maxson looked at Shaun and said, "You made Super Mutants? Paladin Kingston, is it wise to let the Institute stay around after hearing that?" I told Maxson that The Institute was no longer going to be doing that before looking at Shaun and said, "Right son?"
Shaun nodded his head and said, "Yes, we're no longer doing that." I then told them their roles; the Institute would act as the R&D branch of the Republic, Minutemen would be the light infantry of the army while the Brotherhood would be the heavy units. The Railroad will be formed into the Republic intelligence gathering branch while being Police units. The leaders all agreed before I told them to go to their groups.
The next day I was told that many men in all the factions were shocked about the unifications, few left the groups, but the majority stayed to see how this would work out. I was happy that they wanted to stay. That was when I had Preston tell the minutemen to spread the word that I would be holding a meeting of every friendly settlement in Sanctuary Hills. I sat waiting for the leaders of the Friendly settlements to arrive. That was when Codsworth, my trusted Mr. Handy bot, floated over to me. He asked me, "Is everything alright sir?" I smiled and said to my trusty Mr. Handy bot, "Everything's fine Codsworth, I'm just trying a new perspective on things." Codsworth told me that my wife would be proud of me. I nodded my head as Piper Wright; the owner, publisher, and sole journalist of the Publick Occurrences, a Post-war newspaper, walked up to me and said to me, "I just heard the strangest thing from Preston, that you managed to get the Brotherhood, Minutemen, Institute, and Railroad to work under one person, that person being you."
I nodded my head to her, I told her that what she heard was correct. She reminded me that the Institute was a "boogeyman" in the wasteland and said people were scared of the Institute. I nodded my head and told her, "Which is why the Institute will mostly be the Research and Development. We need to show that the Institute will be helping the Commonwealth from now on." Piper nodded her head, sighed and told me, "Just watch your back, Blue. the Director may be your son, but he was also in the institute's care for 54 years." Soon Piper, Codsworth, and I were joined by Paladin Danse who told me, "Sir, we're starting to get the representatives from the nearby settlements."
"Good Danse, have the Minutemen and brotherhood knights direct them to the meeting area." I tell him as I lead Piper and Codsworth to the temporary gathering spot. After a while, Representatives from all the Settlements ranged from as far north as Coastal cottage to as far south as the Murkwater construction site. I looked around and said to them, "I thank you all for coming. I asked you all here to propose a second Attempt at a post war government." I was immediately met with criticism as one person stood up and asked me, "What about the Institute? They wiped out the previous one." I looked at the man from Tenpines Bluff and said, "I understand the concern, they have agreed to be a part of this government. I was able to convince the leader of the Institute to work alongside us and no longer take settlers. I assure you all that they will follow the new government."
"And what of the Brotherhood?" Asked a woman from Warwick homestead. I told her that the brotherhood also agreed to join and follow the rules of the New Government as well. One person asked about the Super Mutants, and I told the gathered, "If you all agree to this, I assure that the Super Mutants will all be dealt with. Either peacefully or by force, same with the Gunners and Raiders. The Minutemen and Brotherhood would be the main army and Airforce. I know the fear of the institute and what they did in the last attempt of the post war Government. This time the Institute and the Brotherhood have thrown their support behind it… but under my control. Which is why if we all agree, I would be running for president." the representatives looked around before one of them, my ghoul companion John Hancock stood up and said, "I've seen this man work personally. He's a no nonsense man who helped settlements out. Even if not all of us gathered here agree, Goodneighbor will support this."
I smiled at Hancock as a representative from Abernathy farm stood up and said, "The man who would be running helped my settlement fight off Raiders. He says that the brotherhood and Institute are behind him and I believe him. The people in my settlement told me that they would agree with what I say… and I say that we will join too." Soon the other representatives agreed and I smiled. I knew I was liked and respected, but I didn't realize how much my actions have affected people. We soon began the process that the continental congress did back when forming the United States. After Days of deliberation, the Commonwealth republic's Constitution was signed. As word spread about the constitution, I kept my word and ran. I chose Hancock to be my running partner and with no one else running, we won in a landslide.
The next day, I created several new Departments, the Department of Reconstruction so we can get the ruins fixed, roads fixed up, power out to the settlements and new homes built for new settlements. The Department of the treasury so we can keep track of how much money we have wisely and collect taxes, as much as it pains me to do it, it has to be done. The Department of Agriculture so we are able to make sure our republic has enough food for everyone by planting more crops in fertile soil. The Department of Defense so we can coordinate our new Military forces and divide them into different branches, which are right now just the Army and Air Force. The Department of Education so as to make sure that the children who come after us don't make the mistakes we did in 2077. Then we created a Congress and a Supreme court so as to not give me all the power. From there we decided that the first thing we were going to deal with was the Raiders.
"There are many groups of Raiders all over the commonwealth Mr. President, what do you have planned to do?" Preston asked me. I told him that the army will be tasked with taking them out swiftly, meaning that they would have to do training exercises with each other. We need to find out how the Raiders Patrol areas. We know several Key Locations like D.B. Technical High School for Bosco and Saugus Ironworks for the Forged and the Libertalia Raiders led by James Wire. But I have a plan. We take out the smaller groups first then we take out the bigger ones." Preston nodded his head and said, "Makes sense, but there are also the Gunners. They could be paid by the Raiders to join in their defense." I didn't think of that and pondered on what to do.
"General, wouldn't it be wise to target the Gunners first. Especially for what they did to the minutemen at Quincy." Preston added on. I knew his personal feelings about the Gunners. Ever since I first met him with Jun Long, Marcy Long, Mama Murphy, and Sturges he's rarely talked about Quincy and the Massacre of the Minutemen there. I looked at him and said, "You want payback for the Quincy Massacre." Preston clenched his fist and said, "I do. I very much do want payback." I sighed before calling the congress together and told them the change of targets. When I was asked who the new targets were, I said, "The Gunners." Congress got on board with that as the Gunners were just as bad as Raiders. I smiled and told them, "The Army and Airforce will handle the Gunners, after that we'll take on the Raiders and other threats here in the commonwealth." Congress all agreed and soon the army began planning the first war against the Gunners that would come to be called The Gunner-Commonwealth War.
The first step was to have Commonwealth Republic scouts follow Gunner Patrols while also scouting out the Main bases of the Gunners. I knew that Gunners Plaza, Vault 95, Vault 75, Quincy, and Mass Bay Medical Center would be the most problematic ones as they would require room to room, or house to house combat. As we got plans down, another companion of mine, MacCready who himself was a former Gunner, approached me. When I asked him what he wanted, MacCready told me, "If it's alright with you sir… allow me to lead the forces that will attack the Mass Pike Interchange." When I asked him why, MacCready told me that Barnes and Winlock would be there.
I know their history so I told him that he could lead the men there. He saluted me as Danse walked in wearing a Commonwealth Republic uniform, which looked like a minutemen uniform. I asked Danse how it fit and he told me, "It's a little rough compared to the Power Armor I'm used to wearing, but I can work with this." I nodded my head before telling Danse that he was to lead a squad of Commonwealth Republic soldiers armed with Stealthboys and rocket Launchers that were modified to have quad barrels, Targeting computers, and Stabilizers. Your target… Gunner Plaza's Comms tower." I showed him where he would be leading the men as I went on, "take that out and the Gunners will not be able to communicate effectively. Once that's done, move away and fire a green flare, that will signal to us that the antenna has been taken out and we can move on to phase two." I handed him the flare gun and he put it in his holster. He then nodded his head to me and said, "It'll be done sir." I smiled and patted his arm before telling him, "You may be a synth danse, but you're a hell of a fine soldier."
"I… Thank you sir." Danse said to me. I smiled and patted his arm again. But then Maxson stood up and spoke. He said, "That reminds me Mr. President, what about the Synths the Institute has, surely if your son is behind you on this then why not add their numbers to our forces." I told Maxson that getting the Synths to be trusted by the commonwealth was going to be a long time goal that we needed to work on, stating that before I came out of Vault 111, synths and the institute were the most hated boogeyman. I then said, "For now we have synths working in the Department of Reconstruction. That's the best place for them right now." Maxson nodded his head while holding in doubt. I then went on to say that snipers from the Army move close to the Observation posts and snipe any Gunner before alarms could be raised. Preston looked at me and asked, "Can I lead the attack on Quincy, General?"
"You can Preston, I know you have personal history there. But don't let your feelings get in the way, got it?" I said to him. Preston nodded his head and clutched his Laser Musket. I made sure he knew that I wanted the leaders there alive but if they had to be put down then that was that. Preston nodded his head and walked out. I sighed as we continued preparations to take on the Gunners. Months have gone by, the soldiers of the Minutemen and Brotherhood knights were now getting along with each other and soon we were ready to attack the Gunners. I had sent messages to all the Gunner leaders to leave the Commonwealth or else, and got no response, this sealed their fate.
I looked at Danse and told him, "Move out Danse. Operation: blazing glory will begin on your go." Danse nodded his head and said, "I won't let you down Mr. President." He then walked out as Piper approached me and said, "Gotta say Blue, you have a kind heart." I smiled at her and said, "Danse and I fought alongside each other in many skirmishes and battles against the Institute, I trust him." Piper smiled and put a hand on my shoulder and said that I had a good heart, and I smiled. Soon night fell and Danse moved his squad of five soldiers, himself included, moved stealthily past Gunner patrols and got closer and closer to Gunner Plaza.
THIRD PERSON P.O.V.
As Danse led his squad to Gunners Plaza, many Commonwealth Republic snipers and scouts got close to the early warning stations while the heavy units prepared to strike Gunner Fire bases as Vertibird got fueled up and the miniguns topped off with Ammunition. Preston sat in one of the Vertibirds that was going to be used to ferry Commonwealth Republic soldiers to Quincy. Following the Railroad tracks to Gunner Plaza, Danse looked at his watch and told the squad there, "Ready your Rocket Launchers. Your target, the Antenna on top of the Building." The Soldiers nodded their heads and aimed at the Antenna on top of Gunner Plaza, ready to strike and await the order. Danse put his hand up and as soon as his watch read the time being 3 AM, he swung it down, marking the beginning of the Gunner-Commonwealth War.