FALLOUT: INCURSION
"...You may rest easy. Know that the future is in safe hands, that mankind will thrive under our guidance."
"If only we'd understood what Bunker Hill meant for the Commonwealth...
It wasn't that we didn't know - it's that we didn't want to believe it. I dunno... the Institute, the damned boogeymen of the Commonwealth, attacking those Railroad boys to get their synths back, and then the Brotherhood swooped in... it was a fuckin' bloodbath. I mean, that type of thing happens all the time here, but, we couldn't see how really important the Bunker Hill Incident really was. I remember the "Man out of Time", some guy from before the War - Ben Avery or something - changed the whole damn Commonwealth, and it started at Bunker Hill.
They call him the Director.
Shortly after the Bunker Hill Incident went down, everyone was still trying to figure out what the hell happened. Everyone's blood was everywhere, and everyone was the culprit. I guess everyone was numb by that point, and nobody batted an eye when Avery - the Director - and his synths marched again. It was a quiet death, the Railroad's. Unsuspecting - like killing a baby while it sleeps. A small army of the Institute synths, led by the Director, proceeded to activate the wholesome slaughter of the Railroad at their headquarters, up in the Old North Church. Nobody knew for a couple of days - I guess it took that long for someone to show up at the HQ and see all their buddies butchered, but the news hit hard. Everyone was scared, I guess - I get it.
The Railroad was... gone, for the most part, and most people tried to just accept that. There was, at least in Diamond City, an uneasy veil that covered the whole damn place. Who was next? Was it us? What was the Institute planning? Most of us figured it was only a matter of time before ol' Maxson and his Knights and Paladins started slugging it out with Avery's Institute, and we were right. At least, that there would be fighting, but by no means was there a war.
With one quick swipe, the Institute obliterated the Brotherhood of Steel. Sending everything they had, the Institute launched a preemtive strike on the Brotherhood's base at the Boston Airport - seizing control of their prized, shiny gadget, 'Liberty Prime'. Turned Maxson's own guns against him - used Prime to down the Brotherhood's airship, the Prydwyn. Even today, it's husk is docked at the Boston Airport - an uneasy reminder of the Brotherhood's fate.
And just like that, there was nobody to stop the Institute. Only days after the Brotherhood bit the dust, Synths from the Institute marched right into Diamond City like they owned the place - s'pose they did, actually. A lot of eyes turned to the Minutemen to stop the Institute, but instead, the two groups worked together. Apparently Preston Garvey and Ben Avery were friends, and neither one wanted any more fighting in the Commonwealth. They began to cooperate, and together, the Minutemen and the Institute set to work.
I'd be lying if I said was wasn't wrong about the Institute - they certainly didn't act the way we expected them to. They helped us, mostly - hell, they did a better job than the Minutemen at times. Their technology improved the lives of people all across the Commonwealth, and their Synth troops were both quick and efficient. Settlements that came under attack rarely had to wait for the Minutemen to show up, because the Institute could deploy troops in just minutes. The Minutemen held out strong, and continued on with their goals of uniting the Commonwealth - separate from the leadership and authority of the Institute.
Overall, as time went on, public opinion of the Institute drastically improved. They were still a major unknown - still nobody knew where they were, or exactly who they were, but they had made it clear that they were there to help. The Institute never directly interfered with the authority of others - never did they implement laws in Diamond City or drastically change people's way of life. For many, they were silent protectors. For others, their hearts were still filled with contempt, understandably. The Institute had still done terrible things in the past, and undoubtedly, still were.
However, most were fine with letting the Institute's secrecy illude them, and would have rather taken their help than question their leadership. In a place like the Commonwealth - place that relishes in chaos and endless violence - any attempt to bring civilization to the wasteland was welcomed, and people rarely questioned what hand was feeding it.
Though now, all that seems like ancient history. It's been around four years since the Institute took charge, and while many things have improved, their fragile peace with the Minutemen is beginning to wane. Public opinion seems divided, and good ol' Director Avery and Preston Garvey don't see eye to eye so much anymore. The turmoil - the threat of conflict - seems to weigh on everyone's shoulders. War is something that most people are numb to in the Commonwealth, but even so, it isn't something most people are out looking for.
As fate would have it, however, conflict between the Minutemen and the Institute isn't the only thing threatening to tear the Commonwealth apart. There are a lot of reports of a group calling themselves "the Enclave" making moves in the area, along with remnants of the Brotherhood of Steel and Railroad. There are also whispers of some Raider army coming up from the south - "the Hoard", or something like that. Rumor has it that these guys tore through the Capital Wasteland a few years back, basically wiping out the shattered factions of the Brotherhood and overall, causing a shitstorm down there.
So, in short, we've got our hands full. Let's just hope that years of progress don't get flushed down the drain."
- Nick Valentine