Ad Victoriam ~ Elder Maxson x reader - Part 3

3 - Castle

Uri could not be prouder of her crowning jewel of the new Minutemen; the Castle. What had become the shell of a mirelurk nest is now a bustling hub under Minutemen control. Preston had only heard the tales from the soldiers he grew up around; that they once held a Castle from which they protected the Commonwealth virtually unchallenged. Garvey hoped that they could reclaim their headquarters someday. His opportunity to try rolled around in the weeks following Uri's trip to the Institute.

That is one of the reasons Arthur lost his patience with her, yesterday, and Uri understands why. Grief-stricken and incredibly restless, she had dared to approach Preston about the Castle. He felt it was the perfect time to try and reclaim it, and so a group of thirty soldiers marched on down. Uri ignored Cade's orders. She was yet to be deemed fit for duty, but she couldn't sit still. She justified the move by telling herself it was for the Minutemen - not the Brotherhood.

But then the mirelurk queen showed up. A great, ghastly beast like something out of a pre-war fantasy novel. Until then, Uri had never seen anything like it... Hell, it was bigger than two deathclaws combined! When she noticed that it spewed acid she knew she had fucked up. They lost half their team and, after seeing the chaos from his command deck, Arthur dispatched a vertibird to help the Minutemen succeed. No one else died after that, but the queen's acid did break the vertibird beyond repair. It was then that Uri was ordered to stay aboard the Prydwen; she would only be issues the right to leave when she was cleared for active duty.

She had hated the decision but, in hindsight, she is glad they did it. The weeks following her meeting with Shaun were dark; full of horrible trains of thought that have her wondering whether she would still be alive if not for the Brotherhood. Whilst Uri was stuck on board, Preston got busy. She has not yet visited the Castle since retaking it, but they have set up a comms link with the militia now that their radios are officially up-and-running.

"And now, with thanks to one of our growing recon teams, I'll play ya a nice bit of Christmas music. This is Radio Freedom! Stay tuned for any Minutemen news throughout the Commonwealth."

Snowflakes drift down from the thick, grey-white clouds blanketing the skies of Boston's wasteland. It's not the first snow of the season, but it definitely looks to be the most troublesome. Uri wonders idly how it will impact progress on Prime. It's not like they can tuck him away inside; he's downright huge. It's when she starts to imagine initiates being ordered to knit him a huge scarf that she snorts. Distracting Arthur from his thoughts.

"What's so funny?" He murmurs. Danse tilts his head towards them in interest, but Uri shakes her head.

"Just thinking. How're you feeling, anyway? About doing this?"

"You are the one handing their title away. You tell me."

"Honestly? It's a relief. I was never that great a General to begin with, so it's no biggie. Preston is the Commonwealth's darling, and he's loyal enough to me that our working relationship will continue well into the future. You're welcome."

"Whatever would I do without you?" he muses, grinning wider when she swats his arm.

The courtyard is too small for landings, so they've set up a makeshift drop-off zone on the road to the castle's west. Uri shuts off her radio as the pilot begins to dock. Thank God that, today, it's not Krellic. She hates taking trips with Arthur when Krellic's flying. He shoots her knowing looks the whole time, and she's snapped at him more than once to keep his eyes on the sky.

"Greetings, Colonel!" Arthur booms, bringing Uri back to the present. Preston is waiting for them, and he looks rather nervous if Uri does say so herself. He's wearing his usual duster, though he's got Uri's too-big General's coat in his arms.