POV Rio
It didn't take long for the people of Diamond City to decide on what to do with the traitors. Execution. Nobody raised objections to that, as it was blatantly clear that they tried to enslave the town with the help of Raiders. Hancock was given the privilege of killing the synth Mayor. Deacon was slightly unhappy about the execution, but understood that it needed to be done. He was more upset about what this might set as a precedent when it comes to Synths. I assured him that it wouldn't be the case.
The execution was done within 2 days of them being caught. But the real issue came afterwards. Everyone was not sure what to do. A new mayor needed to be elected, but McDonough left several issues that had to be fixed. Nobody was too eager to take up that role. Normally, this wouldn't be my problem, but the people of Diamond City insisted I take part in the discussions. The discussions lasted for several hours, and basically no one could agree on anything. Cait, Hancock, and Deacon stuck around for the first, but then they quickly got even more bored than I and abandoned me. At least Dogmeat was loyal.
POV Hancock
I left the Power Armor at Piper's house as soon as I could.
"Glad we're out of there," I said.
"Yeah, no kiddin'," said Cait.
"Well, you guys can go do stuff. I gotta contact my friends," said Deacon before leaving.
I look at Cait.
"Bar?" I ask.
"Yeah," Cait responds.
We head to the bar and order some drinks. When they arrive, the owner asks us if we are interested in a job.
"Poor Travis... He means well, but he does not have the confidence he needs for that job. Or anything else, really. And so he is always awkward. He does not believe in himself, you see? He expects he will fail at everything, and so he does," Yefim says.
"We can see about helping him out," I comment.
"Exactly! This is what I am telling Yefim. Go on, spoilsport. Go back to working. We will figure out how to help Travis. Come, you. Meet me in back room. We discuss plan," Vadim says.
We follow Vadim to the backroom while Yefim takes over the bar.
"Okay, let us get down to brass tacks. I am glad you are willing to help, unlike my deadbeat brother! Travis is good guy. He deserves better life. I have... contacts. People I can count on. Real tough looking, but they will take dive for money. They confront Travis here at Dugout. You step in and give him push he needs to stand up to them. Then you and Travis take them down, nothing gets too rough, and Travis has something he can feel good about. Simple, right?" Vadim says with a smile.
"A bar brawl, now you're speaking my language," I say with a smile.
"Ha, I knew I could count on you! I have everything ready by 6 o'clock. Travis should be here by then. You show up, and it will go well. Promise. But remember, no killing! It's bad for business," Vadim says.
"Got it, so come back in a couple of hours," I comment.
"No, you can stay, drink all you like. Just be ready by 6," Vadim says.
"Fine, let's get this done," I say.
A Few Hours Later...
We watch as Travis struggles to deal with the thugs Vadim hired.
"L... Look, I don't want any trouble," Travis said with a nervous stutter.
"Aww, what's wrong? Not so tough once you're not on the air?" said Bull.
"Haha, yeah!" said the other thug.
We walk up and support Travis. It takes a little smooth talking by Cait, but we get him to stand up for himself. This wasn't my usual style, but I saw that Travis just needed a little support to toughen up.
"O.... Okay. That's... Well, that's enough," Travis said, still clearly nervous.
"I'm sorry, you say somethin'?" said Bull.
"I said... I said that's enough! Leave me alone!" Travis said with some fire.
"That's it, Travis!" I said backing him up.
"Haha, look at you... Lemme think about it for a second... Nah, I don't think so," said Bull.
"I... I mean it! Leave me alone!" Travis said with more confidence.
"Sounds like you were thinkin' about saying 'Or else.' Were ya, Travis? Were you gonna say 'or else?' I'm wonderin' what comes after that. What're you gonna do, little man?" Bull said with a mocking tone.
Even I was getting offended, even if they were acting.
"I'll... I'll beat you up!" Travis says with some confidence.
"Big mistake, Travis. I'm gonna destroy you and your friend here. And then I will have my way with the chick," said Bull.
I didn't even get time to respond before Cait attacked him.
"Huh? I forget that Cait used to be a Combat Zone fighter," I say aloud.
The bar brawl starts, and it gets slightly out of hand as more and more people join. Someone takes a bar stool and breaks it over Cait's head. But she wasn't even phased and just turned around. The guy looked absolutely terrified, and his legs were shaking. I was dealing with the other thug Vadim hired.
"Come on, you saggy ballsack!" yelled Gouger, the other thug.
"When I'm done with you, you'll look like a ballsack, wait, that came out wrong," I reply.
Gouger responded by punching me in the face. I dodged and responded with a right hook. While I was fighting Gouger, I saw Bull get back up after being destroyed by Cait, and Travis was now fighting him. And the kid was doing pretty good. My opponent was not that hard to deal with. He was clearly not that well-trained. And I was drunk. As I was pummeling his face, a gunshot went off.
"ALL RIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH! NO FIGHTING HERE!" yelled Yefim.
The fact that the quiet and non-violent brother was looking so mad made everyone stop and start cleaning up. Even I dropped Gouger and started straightening up the mess. Of course, Gouger smacked the ground, and his face was bruised and bloody, but that wasn't my problem. Once everyone stopped fighting, Cait dragged Bull and Gouger to the door and tossed them out.
"This is bullshit, man! This is not what I signed up for! I'm gonna be back... this ain't over, you hear me! What a f*ckin' joke. I'll be back for what's owed. You can count on that," Bull complained.
Bull grabbed Gouger, and they walked away.
"Woah... I... I can't believe it. We did it!" Travis says.
"So, how was your first fist fight? Have fun?" Cait said with a massive grin.
She was happy, but I had a sore jaw from a punch I got and needed a drink.
"I don't know... I mean, wow. Just... wow. I never thought I could do... well, anything like that! That was crazy! Wow. Hey, listen. I, uhh... Thanks. That was, well, it was really something. I think maybe I should go lie down now," Travis says, and I can see some bruises starting to show.
Travis leaves, and we head back to the bar, but I try to ignore the dirty look Yefim was giving us for causing a ruckus. At least Cait seemed happy with herself.
"Heh, that was awesome," Cait comments.
"I think that went well... Ready for next part of fool-proof plan?" Vadim asks.
"Sure, what's next?" I ask.
"Good attitude! Is nice and easy. You have seen Scarlett, yes? She has worked here for some time. Now, I am just simple bartender, but I see things. I see how Travis looks at her. And I see that sometimes she looks at him. If someone who was not her employer suggests that she go spend time with Travis, it might do him some good," Vadim suggests.
"And you think that this will work? Travis isn't all that smooth," I comment.
"So little faith! It will work, trust me. Just do whatever it takes to get her to agree to see Travis, and this is all worth it," Vadim suggests.
"Sigh. This isn't really where I fit best," I comment.
"Don't worry, I got this. I can make her give that shrimp a chance," Cait says.
Cait leaves to go find Scarlett now that she is on a break. I sit at the bar and drink some decent whiskey. It doesn't take long for Cait to come back and say that everything went perfectly. When I asked how she did it, she told me it was a talk between women. It was about this time that Rio arrived and gave us an unimpressed look.
"Really, I leave you guys alone for a few hours and you start a bar brawl?" Rio says with a raised eyebrow.
"Cough. Well, at least we won?" I say.
"Sigh. You know what? Whatever, Vadim, get me some water, please," Rio says with an exhausted tone.
"That bad?" I ask.
"Yeah, the upper stands are too stubborn and detached. They don't want anyone in power who would endanger their privileges. Everyone else doesn't want them in power, which has led to a deadlock. It also doesn't help that in order to get the mayor's seat, they need a majority. But it's currently split 3 ways. Upper Stands controls 34% of the votes. The Neutrality faction has 27% of the votes, and lastly, the fielders have 39%. They are also quite split on whether they will join the Minutemen. Upper Stands and most merchants are opposed. They are even willing to work together to get a mayor that would follow their lead if it came down to it. They account for 47% of the Votes if they teamed up," Rio says with an exhausted tone.
"That's rough, buddy," is my response.
"And even worse is that I don't want to be in these negotiations. I made it abundantly clear that the Minutemen had no need or desire to have Diamond City join. But when I asked if that meant I could sit out the discussions, they insisted I stay. I am being used as a political tool. Or a threat. Either way, I hate politics," Rio says.
"Heh, you and me both," I reply.
We spend a bit longer at the bar, but we notice something odd. Vadim was missing. It didn't take long to figure out that he had been kidnapped. How that happened when the city was supposed to still be under heightened guard was a mystery to me. Either way, we geared up and went out to save Vadim, but before we left, Travis stopped us and told us where they took him and that he was coming with. I was hesitant to bring him with. He was too green with guns and killing, and it wasn't something everyone needed to do. But Rio convinced me, so Travis was coming with.
"What about the discussions?" Cait asks.
"Shhhhhhhhh! Don't speak of such evil. Piper can handle it. Now let's go before she notices and comes to thank us," Rio says while rushing us out the the city gate.
POV Rio
The trip to Beantown Brewery is safe and danger-free. I only saw 8 Raiders in the entire bottling plant. It would be easy. The only caveat was that they had a hostage. But that shouldn't be a problem. I would just have to get Vadim out before everyone else started their attack. My route of infiltration was the windows, far out of reach of the Raiders.
Then I slipped into the office where they were keeping Vadim. He was roughed up a bit, but nothing serious. The boss was near him, cleaning his gun. I snuck up behind him and undid Vadim's restraints, then I slit the throat of Tower Tom. From there, I grabbed Vadim in my telekinesis and flew out the window. Then I joined everyone in the assault. The Raiders were in chaos with their leader dead, and we cleaned them out quickly.
Once that was done, Vadim thanked us and left with Travis. Travis gave us a unique weapon in thanks for letting him come along. It was a 10mm that did Cryo Damage on top of the normal damage. It was called Stone Cold Fox. It was pretty good, and I thanked him. We looted the place for anything of value, which wasn't much, just Picket Fences Issue #1, The House of Tomorrow... Today! It unlocked white picket fences. Nothing special. Now, instead of going back to Diamond City, we skipped that and headed straight for the Castle.
'I am sure Piper will understand.'
POV Piper
"I'm going to kill him! Oh~ I am going to kill him good!" I said tight smile and a calm voice.
Nat shivered in the corner and kept playing with her toys. Hoping Rio didn't suffer too badly from Piper.
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Author's Note:
Viva Revolution! Or at least you would think, but no, they are too busy dealing with a barely functioning democracy. The game never goes into detail about who is considered a voter in Diamond City. But I doubt it's only landowners. There just isn't enough land, and that would make the upper stands people way too powerful. But I know they wouldn't give everyone who steps through the door the right to vote. So I imagine that it requires someone living in Diamond City for a specified time. Being a landowner or serving in the Diamond City guard would shorten this time period, but I think this gives a nice middle ground. Also RIP Rio. Until next time, Ciao.