Hiding In The Green: A Fallout 4 Story

The Prydwen Goeth Before A Fall

The hike back to General Atomics Galleria was uneventful, due in no small part to the fact that he and Raina had killed off or scared away anything dangerous when they were there a few days ago. Even Danse seemed in a good mood, thanks to making contact with Command the night before, and he bounded along in his power armor like he was walking on the moon.

One thing about the morning stuck out for Nick Valentine, however, and that was the green. Here and there along the way, there were patches of green, places where some Minuteman or settler had tossed one of Raina's seed and earth filled eggs. There was something about looking at the color green, at least when it was a living, natural green, that made you feel more alive yourself. Even if you were differently alive, like he was.

After all the trouble last time, the second visit to the Galleria was nothing if not anticlimactic. Danse simply walked into the compound, went in the central control offices, and barked "Stand down, soldier!" the moment the Mr. Gutsy started questioning him. He then ran the 'Grand Reopening' protocols, and the programming of every robot on the premises reverted to the backup files. The real surprise came after that, when he and Raina began assessing how much repair work each would need. Danse helped. He found the room where the spares were kept, so they didn't have to cannibalize the broken Mr. Handys. He helped with the spot-welding, applied rust remover and wiped it off afterward, attached new arms and even threw together a few mods to enhance their carrying capacities.

What was more, he was even nice about it. "I always had a knack for this sort of work," he brushed off thanks and praise, "and you needed very little assistance compared to the help you gave me at ArcJet."

Nick smiled as he went back to programming in a few other changes to the bots' protocol-code copied from the programming of the robots at Greygarden, so they would be able to function independently as the supervisors there did. So Danse can actually be a decent guy, when he feels like it. Plus, nobody can say he isn't willing to work.

Neither the detective nor the agroecologist had any inkling why the Paladin was so happy. Not yet, anyway. But they found out soon enough.

In the galleria's cafe, Raina was shoveling sand over the gas puddles on the floor, while King was drowsing in the sun outside. Nick was soldering a loose connection in Bean's torch arm when he saw King suddenly go on alert. Nick's hearing was within the normal human range, but more acute than most people's and so a moment later he heard what the dog did, a chuffing hum, one which built slowly into the throb of motors.

Raina looked up from her work. "Hah. Score one for the woman who always carries a shovel with her-could I have moved all this sand without it? Not nearly as easily. What's that noise?"

"I dunno," Nick replied, finishing the connection and going over to the door.

At that moment, Danse appeared from a building down the block and waved to get their attention. "You're about to witness something well worth seeing," he called happily, and pointed to the sky, where a dark shape was getting more and more distinct. It was too regular and symmetrical to be a storm cloud. It grew and grew as it came, the sound increasing as well, until it filled the sky with both its bulk and volume.

"That's the Prydwen," the Paladin explained with pride, "Isn't she magnificent?"

A man's voice suddenly blared from the armored zeppelin. "People Of The Commonwealth, Do Not Interfere! Our Intentions Are Peaceful! We Are The Brotherhood Of Steel!"

Nick and Raina looked at each other. Her face was a perfect picture of dismay, and his must have been much the same. They looked back up at the sky. Smaller aircraft could now be seen around the behemoth, like a school of pilot fish surrounding a huge, metallic shark.