POV Rio
The trip to the Castle was very quick. Once we arrived, we met with the Minutemen, and I told them to stay in the old diner and fire at any Mirelurks that rushed out. The reasoning was simple. We had a Vertibird with powerful weapons and great armor. We should use it. So I had the AI fly the Veritbird while I ran into the Castle and caused a ruckus. Preston and a Minuteman named Charles would take the two gunner positions on either side of the Vertibird. The main guns would be saved for when the Mirelurk Queen showed up. In which case, Preston would take the Co-Pilot seat and use the main guns.
As for why I was causing a ruckus. Well, it was because Codsworth had just left the Party. It wasn't for bad reasons. It was because he wanted to explore the Commonwealth while still being a companion. He wanted to do so because he wanted to search for clues to Shaun's whereabouts. I didn't refuse as I knew this was important to him. Apparently, this was all that was needed to boost Codsworth to Idolized status and for me to get his max affinity perk. The perk was called Robot Sympathy. It had the following effects.
Robot Sympathy
Thanks to your relationship with Codsworth, you take 10% less Damage from robot energy weapons, and 50% less from Assaltron laser beams.
It was an okay perk, but the real benefit of letting Codsworth go explore was that he could transmit anything he hears or learns via a modification I added to him that allows him to transmit the info to a terminal in Sanctuary. And since he was still technically in my party, he couldn't be destroyed or killed. But back to the Castle.
I was running all over the Castle, waking up the Mirelurks and causing several of the eggs to hatch. Once I was certain I had gotten the attention of all the Mirelurks in the Castle, I would shoot a flare into the air, indicating the AHO could start its attack. I had at least 20 adult Mirelurks and maybe 80 or more hatchlings following me. I won't deny it was fairly scary having a cast of Mirelurks following me, but they were too slow to catch me. In fact, I told them so.
"You're too slow~"
Now, mocking them seemed to enrage them further, which was likely not a good idea. But when you have the chance to imitate a blue hedgehog, you take it. I was also occasionally taking a shot or two to keep their attention. But all that changed when the AHO arrived and started blasting. The Mirelurks took a while to figure out what was happening as their shells interfered with their ability to look up. And they were just in general, not designed to deal with the high ground. You could say it was over once we had the high ground.
I led the Mirelurks on a chase right into some mines I had placed earlier. This also led them into the firing line of the Minutemen. All the dying and screaming Mirelurks seemed to have woken up the queen.
GGGGRAAARRRR
I sent a command for the AHO to back off, and we started to wipe out the remaining Mirelurks. Then I led everyone into the Castle proper, as the Mirelurk Queen couldn't destroy the walls of the Castle as easily as the walls of the dilapidated diner. My call was the right one as mere moments later, the Mirelurk Queen crushed the Diner and spat acid all over the area. It then started to follow us, which was a mistake as it had to walk through the remaining mines to get to us. The queen's carapace was very tough, but the kinetic force of several mines still managed to break several of its legs. Not enough to cripple it, but enough to slow it down.
That was where I came in. I had saved a MIRV Fatman for this exact case. With it being so slow, I could fly up and launch the MIRV right at it. The blinding light lasted for a few seconds, but when it faded, the Mirelurk Queen was dead. Most of its limbs had been vaporized or blown off, and its carapace was melted in several spots. It fell over, and then I approached once the experience was given. I started looting all the Mirelurks for their meat. I got a lot of meat from all the dead crabs. Every one of the hatchlings gave at least one piece of meat and possibly two if I was lucky. When I got the chance, I could sell it all, or I could store it at the Castle for food supplies.
The Minutemen started to search the Castle, and the AHO landed in the courtyard. Everyone left the AHO, and then I started the long process of fixing up the Castle and getting it clean. The repairs were a bit costly, but thankfully, the Castle basement held plenty of concrete that could be used. The end result was that the outer walls were completely repaired. It added much more space to work with and further the Castle, due to it being a settlement, was basically indestructible. Radio Freedom was back online again, allowing the Minutemen to broadcast across the Commonwealth and also receive transmissions from those in need. That second feature was thanks to my upgrades I made to the main radio tower. I also did some changes that allowed the radio to reach even beyond the Commonwealth if needed.
I was going to get the Artillery online, but I couldn't unless I put more points into the Cracking skill. While I was considering that we were attacked. But it wasn't from anyone I expected. It was the Enclave. It was incredibly baffling to me why they would try to attack the Castle with only a single squad of troops led by a Power Armor-clad leader. But it was all explained when I read the orders on them.
Apparently, my choice to make them a permanent enemy made it so I was the top person on their hit list. Beyond that, though, they also wanted to capture my Vertibird, and they had been keeping an eye on Fort Independence (the Castle) for a while now. When they saw that we had reclaimed it and had very few people present in the Castle, they thought it was the best chance for them to capture the Castle for themselves and make it a new base. Needless to say, they failed, and further, they never would have succeeded as any settlers under my command were unkillable under most circumstances. But all of this did convince me to put points into maxing out the Cracking skill.
As I was doing work on the Castle, Preston approached me wanting to talk.
"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" I reply calmly.
"I've been thinking back lately on how things were when we first met. It was the lowest point of my life. I watched all my closest friends die. Everything I believed in was a lie. I failed everyone that ever relied on me. I'd led them to Concord, and we had no hope of getting out alive. The thing is... That was okay with me. I was ready to die. It was what I felt I deserved. It was what I wanted," Preston said with a long sigh.
"I hope you don't feel that way anymore. And if you do, I will always be there to support you. You can count on me, I promise," I reply with no hesitation.
"No, not anymore. And I appreciate your willingness to support me. Which is what I wanted to talk about. My point in all this is that, well... You saved my life. And not just by saving us from those raiders in Concord. I mean that, you... made me want to live again. I know that sounds a little sappy, but it's true," Preston says and then takes a deep breath.
"If we hadn't met or if you killed those raiders and then just taken off... I don't know if I'd still be around. I think I would have found some way to... You know... end it. Maybe not by shooting myself in the head or anything, but by just not caring about staying alive. So I wanted to let you know that. Your friendship has kept me going and given me a new reason to live. Thank you, really, thank you," Preston says with some tears in his eyes.
"Thank you for sticking with me. And I'm glad you decided to stick around. The world needs more people like you. If you weren't around anymore, the Minutemen likely would have died with you," I say while hugging him.
"Thanks, Rio. Which leads me to the next thing I wanted to talk about. I have been watching the Minutemen fall apart for years. But you have built it back into a real force for good again. We still have a ways to go, but I think we have a real chance to make a difference. Which is why I want to stay here in the Castle. I want to help the new Minutemen rebuild and recruit more people. And as long as I am here, the Castle won't fall. You have my word," Preston says with confidence.
"Well, what a coincidence. I was going to talk to you about that. I am more than happy to have you in charge of the Castle. In fact, I want to promote you to Lieutenant General. You will be second in command of the Mintutemen. And before you try and refuse, think about it. I have absolute trust in you, and as it stands, you are the most experienced Minuteman in the entire Minutemen. Not to mention, I know you won't fall to corruption or laziness. But most importantly, you're loyal. Not just to me but to the cause as well. The fact is that there must be someone to run things while I am not around, and instead of some stranger, I would much prefer it to be you," I say while staring him in the eyes.
"I-I don't know what to say, General," Preston says.
"How about yes?" I offer.
"Sigh. Very well. Yes, General, I will take up this position. I won't let you down. You have my word," Preston says while saluting.
"Good, now to start off, I will tell you a new ability I unlocked. Once we captured the Castle, I unlocked the ability to improve everyone loyal to me and the Mintuemen. It makes them have similar abilities to Settlers in my settlements. Which means unlimited ammo, grenades, armor condition, and lower food and water usage. They can still die, but they will be far better than the average wastelander," I say with a smile.
"That means we can do training with no fear of supply usage. It would make patrols far easier. Not to mention that statement of loyalty. Can I assume that means that we can easily tell who is loyal and not loyal?" Preston asks.
"Yes, it should be easy to tell. Those who are loyal to the Minutemen or me will be pretty easy to distinguish from others. That being said, I don't think we should dismiss anyone who isn't loyal right away, but I do think we can look further into them to see why they aren't. From what I can tell, those who become loyal will generally stay loyal unless I do something terrible or if they become disillusioned with the Minutemen. But we should still pay attention to them as they can be loyal but not good people," I warn.
"Of course. But this will make us able to push back the Raiders, Super Mutants, and Gunners. We have a high chance of bringing stability to the Commonwealth," Preston says with excitement.
"Indeed, which is also why I intend on changing the Minutemen. Not by much, but there is a massive issue with how it is structured. It's reactionary. Not very proactive. The Minutemen respond to crises instead of trying to prevent them. Lastly, they don't try to govern. While that could be fine but really we need to try and build something instead of just trying to defend everyone. The only way for society to stop regressing is to have structure, civilization, and order. The Mintuemen have done many great things. From what I know, the Commonwealth is far better off than most of the rest of the world. Few places have as many peaceful settlements and such robust trade networks. So I intend on changing the Minutemen into a military to protect the people, but also the guardians of a new government that can help rebuild society. Are you with me?" I ask.
"Of course, Rio. I agree with what you are saying. It's time for the Minutemen to try and build something better. I never wanted to rebuild the Minutemen exactly as it was before, as that would just lead to the same result. I know we need to change. And I am willing to give your idea a chance," Preston says with confidence.
"Glad to have you on board," I respond.
We discuss many more things late into the night about all sorts of things that need change and improvements.
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Authors Note:
So the Castle is retaken. I always thought the faction choices in Fallout 4 were not the greatest. All of them had one issue or another. The BOS is xenophobic and acts like raiders more often than not. (Stealing food from farms and the like) The Railroad would never govern anything and would likely disband after the Institute was destroyed. The Institute was just plain evil and never used its technology for anything that actually helped the world. And the Minutemen were too reactionary, always waiting for trouble to come and fix it, not to mention they are a militia, not a governing body. Now, as for why I decided to have Codsworth and Preston leave the party. I think Codsworth would be less likely to stick around someone who wasn't Nate or Nora. And he has a clear goal to find Shaun. Rio is somewhat heading towards that goal, but he isn't solely focused on that. Codsworth trusts Rio, and through their journey, he can see that Rio is a good person, but he still feels like he would have to search on his own. Preston was fairly well explained, but I always imagined that Rio would put Preston as the second in command, and he would run things while Rio was out on his adventures. The world they are in isn't a game, so Rio can't just leave and expect things to be fine while he is gone. Someone has to watch over things and lead the Minutemen in his absence. Lastly, the upgrade is called the faction menu. It basically gives all the members of the Minutemen the perks of being a settler as long as they are loyal. So spies and bad actors can't get very far in the Minutemen and can be found quickly. Until next time, Ciao.