POV Rio
The trip to the Warwick Homestead was fairly quick. To avoid issues, we flew at extreme altitudes. This made the trip only take about an hour and a half. It would have taken less time, but I was still getting used to piloting the AHO, and I wanted to use this chance to observe some things from the air.
Boston did not look very good. From a distance, I was still able to see decently clearly with the added observation equipment on the AHO. And the city looked like a war zone. It wasn't unlivable, but there was fighting all over the city, with only a few locations somewhat peaceful. Those locations seemed to be Diamond City, Goodneighbor, and Bunker Hill. I was quite glad we didn't try to travel through the city on foot.
'It would be a sensory overload if I tried to guide us through the city, and we would have to be constantly on alert.'
Since we were flying so high, only Preston and I saw the city. The doors were closed for faster travel and because it can get quite cold at higher altitudes, not to mention the lower oxygen content. Once we arrived at the Warwick Homestead, they were shocked at first, but then they calmed down when we explained we were with the Minutemen. The request was much different than expected.
On the surface, it was to clear out a nearby group of Super Mutants, but when we went to leave, I was stopped and told the real request.
"I'm sorry that I lied to you, but I needed help from anyone. And the only way I could convince. I and a few others here suspect that Roger is a Synth, but we were scared to confront him," said Cedric Hopton.
"Wait, so are there any Super Mutants you need us to deal with?" Preston asks.
"Technically, no, the nearest Super Mutant group is pretty far south of here. And if they did want to come here, they would have to pass through the Gunners in Quincy, which wouldn't end well for them. The closest thing we have to trouble nearby is from the Raiders in the old Posiden Energy plant, but they don't venture out often due to the ghouls in the old shipwreck or the Gunners in Quincy," said Cedric.
"Okay, I can understand wanting help with this, but I have to ask why the Minutemen? Surely you know about the Quincy Massacre. And even further, the Minutemen aren't exactly known for being able to tell if someone is a Synth. In fact, I don't think anyone knows how," I ask.
"We're desperate. If no one came to help, then I would make the trip to Goodneighbor to hire a mercenary to help. Almost everyone agrees that Roger is acting weird and out of character. We have tested him occasionally, but the real kicker was when we discovered him talking with an unknown man in one of the unused pump houses. We're scared. We don't really know what to do. None of us is willing to agree to attack Roger, as there is a chance we are wrong, and even if we are right, then the Institute might retaliate. So can you help us?" Cedric says with a desperate look on his face.
"I can help. And I can tell you right now that Roger is indeed a Synth and is working for the Institute. How I know, I can't disclose, but I can deal with him for you. I will make it look like it was the Gunners doing. Will that do?" I ask Cedric.
"Sigh. Thank you. And I can't say I am too surprised that Roger was replaced. It's sad that he was. He was not the greatest man. Drank a little too much and could get really mean when drunk, but he was still a friend. If you do this for us, then we will join the Minutemen, and you will have access to our Workshop. And I will pay you what I would have paid the Mercenary," Cedric says with a sad look upon his face.
We agree, and when we get far enough away, my Preston asks how I know Roger is a Synth.
"You know how I can detect a person's mana levels?" I ask
"Yeah?" Preston asks.
"Well, Synths and robots have no mana. In fact, Sturges is a Synth as well. But I think he isn't a spy. I have observed him well, and I doubt he is a spy. Roger, on the other hand, shows all the signs that he is a spy. Strange late-night meetings, he stopped drinking, his personality has shifted, and his reaction to us was off. When he saw me, he didn't have the usual reaction of slight waryness and fear. Instead, he looked at me like he was cataloging everything about me. And let's just say I have another source of info that confirms my theory," I reply.
"Okay, let's assume he is an Institute spy. What are we going to do?" Preston asks.
"Well, for that, we will need to take a slight trip across the water to the Atom Cats. You guys can stay here. I will just quickly swim across," I say.
I do as I say and take a quick trip across the water to the Atom Cats garage. They were surprisingly welcoming. It seemed like they had no prejudice against me, and other than yanking my chain a little bit, they had no issues with me. When I asked if they would be willing to help the Minutemen, they said that they could consider it if I could do some tasks for them. Basically, they wanted me to join the Atom Cats first before they decided to ally with the Minutemen. In their view, if I could earn their respect enough to join, then I was cool in their books.
The task was one I expected. They wanted me to head to the Warwick Homestead and install a pump part that should help fix the water pressure problem they had been dealing with. It was a very easy and quick fix. I even went beyond the needed task and did some work to improve the pump's efficiency. I would do more work once the Settlement joined the Minutemen. Once I came back, I made sure to activate the AHO to get ready to support the Atom Cats.
You may wonder why. It was because I saw a group of over 30 Gunners heading towards the Atom Cats garage from Quincy. They were still a decent distance by the time I got back and reported my success. I also let them know that a Gunner attack was incoming. At first, they were a bit skeptical, but they decided to take my word for it. And it was good they did as it meant the Atom Cats were in position and ready for the Gunners when they got near.
I helped by going to a nearby military barge and using my Science skill to reprogram the 3 Mister Gutsys, 2 Assultrons, and 1 Sentry Bot to attack the Gunners. The Gunners were caught completely by surprise. They had to fight through the robots before even getting near the garage, and then they had to deal with a Vertibird coming out of nowhere and hitting them with high-powered plasma fire that melted right through most of their armor. I only had the AHO do a couple of strafs before backing off due to heavy return fire.
By the time the Gunners had arrived, they had only 9 members left. And needless to say, they didn't last long against Power Armor using Atom Cats and me sniping from a distance. Once the battle was over, I started to loot all the bodies left behind. There was a lot of Combat Armor, various weapons and their ammo, and plenty of robot parts. I also discreetly take a few corpses that took bullet wounds and not laser damage. Then I returned to the garage.
"You, Jack, you slayed out there. If it wasn't for your warning, we might have lost some Cats today," Zeke, the leader of the Atom Cats, shouts.
"I was glad to help," I reply calmly.
"Well, I say you are righteous, outta sight, and with it. And an official member of the Atom Cats. If you even need something from us, we've got your back. And as for that Alliance, you don't have to worry. The Atom Cats will gladly join the Minutemen and support you guys. If you ever have some Power Armor that needs work, then send them our way," Zeke says with a wide smile.
"Thank you, and let us work towards a cooler Commonwealth," I say with a smile.
"Hah, now you're talking like a cool cat. Now, finally, the Holy Grail for anyone who knows what's cool in the Commonwealth, your very own Atom Cats jacket. Wear it well, Jack," Zeke says while handing me an Atom Cats Jacket.
I take it and store it in my Inventory. Next, I head back to the Warwick Homestead to deal with Roger. To deal with Roger, it would be easy enough. I would lure him outside the homestead by asking Cedric to ask him to go meet with a trader. Then, while he was outside, he would be attacked by Gunners and perish in an old building near Quincy. But he wouldn't go down without a fight. He would take out several Gunners. My Sneak Skill actually helped a lot with this. With it, I could make sure Roger was killed using laser weapons and make it appear that he struggled. As for the Gunners, they would have several bullet holes, and thanks to my inventory freezing time for objects inside the time of death for all of them would be very close to each other. The last step was using the Disguise Self spell to leave the abandoned building looking like an injured Gunner.
I did this because I knew some Watchers were already flying towards this area. I made sure the Watchers saw me enter Quincy. Once I was certain they didn't follow, I stopped pretending to be injured and snuck out of Quincy without alerting the Gunners. I knew that the Institute would investigate what happened, but this loss would also make them reconsider using the Warwick Homestead. The fact was that the area was not very safe. And spending resources to create new crops in such a dangerous area made little sense if they could lose everything due to a raider attack. Combine it with the Warwick Homestead joining the Minutemen, and you get a location that is not ideal for research and experiments.
I didn't return to the Warwick Homestead right away. Instead, I met up with the rest of the Party at a rendezvous point. We couldn't come back to the Warwick Homestead right away, so we waited a day before returning and saying we completed the task. We got our reward, and instead of sticking around, we left and went to meet up with the Minutemen who were waiting for us at the Castle.