[color=ed1c24][b]Indianoplis- End of the Siege[/b][/color]

“Legion invicta! Legio invicta! Legio invicta!”

Flush with victory, the Legion troops shouted their triumphant battle cries throughout the city as they slaughtered the surviving members of the Cult. The Siege of Indianapolis was over, and despite the Cult’s brutal tactics, the combined Legion and Brotherhood army had overwhelmed them. With the Brotherhood now scouring the infested sewers with their deadly spider-like robots, and the Legion mopping up the survivors above ground, victory was all but assured. The Cult had played their last trump card. They had no further resistance to offer. 

Legate Aurelius rode with his surviving Praetorians towards where Vulpes had felled the Cult’s foul leader. Examining the aftermath, The Legate knew the fight had been a vicious one. A full half of the Praetorians that had rode with Vulpes had fallen, and Vulpes himself had barely escaped with his life. Despite this however, the finest of the Sons of Mars had given a fine accounting of themselves. They’d been outnumbered and surrounded, yet they’d still defeated the Warleader’s men: killing them and even the Warleader himself. Such a sacrifice would be seen as worthy in Mar’s eyes, and their deeds would be known to all under the Legate’s command. Such loyalty and dedication to duty unto death deserved the highest respect, and was to be emulated by every true legionnaire of Caesar.

Vulpes managed a respectful yet pained salute as Aurelius approached, he was clearly exhausted, and his wounds needed tending.

“Send for the Priestesses,” Aurlieus commanded, “Have them see to Vulpes first.”

“The Warleader,” Vulpes said weakly, yet still resonating with his usual stern demeanor, “Where is he?”

One of the Praetorians approached where the body of the wretched Warleader was last seen, and he turned back to the Legate,

“He is gone…..Glory to Caesar! Shall we look for this devil's corpse?"

Aurelius snarled with indignation. Was there no end to these Cultist’s vile tricks?

“Serjanus!” He shouted. A stern looking Decanus approached the Legate’s horse with a firm salute. 

“Take your contubernium and hunt for the wretch. He can’t have gone far.”

“Take him alive if you can.” Vupes added, “He may have valuable information for us ...and I wish to see to his ‘interrogation’ myself.” 


The Legate nodded in agreement to Vulpes’ request and motioned to the Decanus to dismiss. 

Sernajus saluted once more and signalled for his men to follow him. Seven recruit legionaries including a Vexillarius and two Legion mongrels took off in pursuit with their Decanus at the lead, plunging into the burned ruins of the City after the Warleader. 

“Finish securing the city. Sweep the ruins clean,” Aurelius ordered, addressing his Centurions, “Take any food or supplies of use. We give the men two days to rest and gather their strength...and then we march.”

[color=00aeef][b]
Diamond City - The Commonwealth[/b][/color]

The denizens of Diamond City huddled by the grandstand in fear. Their worst nightmare had come to fruition. The Institute had come. No longer was the boogeyman skulking in the shadows, hiding just outside the periphery of their vision: elusive and unknowable. Here and now their creations stood amongst them, an army of killer Synths. Surely this was their final move, Diamond City had fallen without a fight and now they were at the mercy of the ones they’d feared the most these long years. What horror now awaited them?

And yet thus far the Synths had done little other than firmly ordering the citizens out of their homes and to the grandstand. They’d displayed no signs of violence, and even when several brave Diamond City youths had dared to try and start a fight with one of the metallic skeletons, the Synths had not reacted. Even stranger still, Synths moved amongst the crowd with large white crates, offering purified water to them. If they intended to kill them, why bother with such theatrics? Unless they wished to lull them into complacency. Confusion was as rampant as fear now, and everyone waited with bated breath to see what might happen next. 

Major McDonough took the stage. His arrival met with hisses and subdued boos from the crowd. Their coward of a Major had given up the city without so much as firing a shot. Diamond Cities’ finest had been forced to lay down their arms and The Wall had been breached under his leadership. It was a disgrace. There were a few in their number, of course, who thought that perhaps the Mayor had been wise in his decision to surrender. That, perhaps, fighting an enemy they could not hope to beat would not have been wise. But those individuals kept their silence, lest they be accused by their peers as being Institute spies. 

The Mayor cleared his throat and raised his hands, doing his best to keep a cheerful and calm tone,

“People of Diamond City….I know you are afraid. I know that right now, what you perceive as your greatest enemy is here among you. However, I know for a fact that we are all safe. That no harm is going to come to you. This I swear to you all,” the Mayor made a point of holding his hand over his heart at this last sentence. The crowd was not buying his act however. 

“TRAITOR!” Someone yelled out. 

The Mayor didn’t react however, and continue his speech without missing a beat,

“The Institute is not here to harm us. They’re here to help us. And I’d like you all…”

“COWARD!” Another yelled out. 

“MCDONOUGH YOU SLIMEBALL!” Someone screamed. 

The crowd became more and more agitated yelling further obscenities at the Mayor and screaming for his head. He tried to continue speaking, but it was clear he was becoming downed out. 

“People please keep calm! Please settle dow…”

Someone threw a rock at him, nearly striking his head. 

“Now there’s no need for that!”

Suddenly there was a loud booming crack as if lightning had struck the ground nearby, and a great flash of blue light lit up the area around them. Where once only the Mayor had been standing, suddenly a group now stood. A man clad in a white lab coat and wearing glasses stood along with a red-haired woman covered head to toe in armor and wielding a rather impressive looking rifle. Beside them both stood a Courser dressed head to toe in a black armored coat and wearing a pair of dark patrol shades, his hands clasped behind him and eyeing the crowd discerningly. 

The people of Diamond City fell silent. Far back behind the gathered throng, a woman in a tattered longcoat and newsboy cap leaned up against the walls of one of the metal shacks. She swirled a flask in her hand and took a long draft of it. 

“Well well ...if it isn’t Blue...finally showed” She mumbled under her breath, “Always need to make an entrance…..”

Thomas strode forward on the stage and looked to the crowd he paused only for a few moments before speaking. Enough time for those in the crowd to recollate where they’d seen him before. 

“Many of you may recognize me,” He began, “Perhaps you remember a strange Vault Dweller arriving in your city...searching desperately for his lost son. Perhaps you even remember how he left with Diamond Cities own Nick Valentine to find the ones responsible for his kidnapping.”

Murmurs emanated from the crowd. Most did recognize him, even without the blue suit: it wasn’t terribly difficult. The pencil-pushing fish out of water look was hard to forget and a Vault dweller was a rare sight indeed. 

“Less of you, however, know the truth of what happened after that. The truth is, I did find my son. I found him in the place thought impossible to reach. The place some thought didn’t even exist: The Institute. I found him...and I lost him once again. The Institute however, did not kill my son. They did not torture or torment him. They raised him. Allowed him to achieve a life that would have been impossible to have in the wasteland...and...eventually….he even became their leader. ”

Silence fell over the crowd, an apprehension stirred among the people present. 

“And so here I am. Ready to continue my son’s work. Ready to lead The Institute and The People of The Commonwealth into a new understanding of each other. Ready to show the world what The Institute has achieved, and what it can do for humanity. I understand of course that your distrust of us runs deep, and that the previous leaders of The Institute have done little to alleviate those fears. And so I’ll begin by giving you a peace offering. We’ll start with something every right-minded person craves. Justice.”

At this final world, flashes of light filled the stage in front of Thomas, and a number of individuals, their hands cuffed in front of them and their mouths covered by a metallic brace, now stood before them. Many of them were instantly recognizable to those in the crowd, they some of the most infamous gang leaders and raider cutthroats were before them. Slag of The Forged, Jared of the Lexington gang, Judge Zeller, members of the Rust Devils and even The Gunners, and finally….Mags and William Black of the Nuka World raiders. Both Mags and William were wide-eyed, desperately looking to Thomas for explanation and repieve...hadn’t they had a deal? 

“These...cowards. Killed and slaughtered without consequence...without justice. The Commonwealth will soon be scoured of them and their ilk. X6-88...if you please.”

Coldly and without a word, X6-88 moved down the line, firing his energy pistol point blank at each of the captives. The crowd stirred, some began cheering, others stood silent and watched in grim satisfaction. Nearly all of them had lost family members, friends, and neighbors to these monsters. And even if those that had actually done the deed were not amongst those to die ...the result was no less cathartic. 

When X6-88 finally game to Mags and William, the pair looked to Thomas one last time with pleading eyes, before looking to one another. Mags looked in horror as her brother expired before her in a violent flash of blue energy. Then the Courser moved to her….and she closed her eyes. 

Thomas strode forward once again as Mag’s body crumbled to the ground. Flashes of light blue removed the mess of the corpses: vanishing them all in an instant,

“The Commonwealth will no longer be plagued by raiders and armed thugs. One by one, they’re being driven away, scoured from their hideouts like rats. However, there is another threat….one far more vicious and bloodthirsty that stalks the wasteland. The brutes called ‘Super-mutants’ are a loathsome species. Unable to see reason, and destroying what remains of the old world in a tide of brutish bloodlust and ravenous hunger. I pledged to you here, and now, The Institute will remove them. Forever.”

“We will rebuild Boston!” Thomas continued, the excitement and enthusiasm in his voice building, “Rebuild it not as a city of the past, but of the future. I’ve seen that it can be done, that the wasteland can be changed. I’ve been there...out west where civilization is slowly returning to the world in a way I thought impossible. I will do better. WE will do better. The Commonwealth will become a beacon for the nations of the wasteland look upon with awe and envy. The heights of human accomplishment will be displayed here for all. And, in time, we will rebuild the world in the same way. And you will all be a part of that. Part of that new world.” 

“I understand your resentment, your fear, and your doubts about everything I have said now. I only ask that you give me time. Time to show you what we can do. You need do nothing but have faith. If not faith in The Institute, then faith in me.”

The crowd stirred, unsure of what to think of this rapid turn of events. They’d known Thomas...known his deeds. Was this really the same man who’d come to them only a few years before? Could he be trusted? No-one trusted The Institute itself...but Thomas...perhaps they could trust him. Hadn’t Nick Valentine trusted him? Hadn’t Piper? He’d been a victim of The Institute’s kidnappings himself. He’d even lost his son...and yet here he was promising them a new life and even a new world. Could they dare to hope that he was telling the truth?

Someone in the crowd made their mind up for them: they began clapping. Slowly at first, but then more and more joined in. Despite their reservations and perhaps even better judgement….they were latching on to something they hadn’t felt they’d had in awhile. The hope of something better than this. 

Cait, who’d watched the proceedings in silence, grinned with satisfaction,

“Eating out of the palm of yer hands.” She muttered. She hadn’t realized Thomas was such an orator. He’d been a Professor before the war, she knew this, so perhaps it only made sense. Yet even so he’d convinced the population of Diamond City, a city that had feared and hated The Institute in equal measure...to applaud him. Of course having a plant or two in the audience to give them that little extra push hadn’t hurt either….

Thomas stared out across the crowd as the applause continued. In the back he saw Piper, and across the expanse of the great green jewel...their eyes met. Piper shook her head, downed the last drop from her flask and tossed it to the ground, walking back to the city. Thomas watched her turn a corner and disappear and then his gaze once more returned to the crowd, and then to X6-88. He gave the Courser a nod and then...in a flash of blue. Disappeared.