FLASHBACK: Pre-War Relay Bunker ZB-12 – Six Months Ago, Northern Frontier
Snow crunched underfoot as wind howled across the abandoned treeline. The Division's northern patrols had been pushing deeper beyond the edge of old Route 101, carving out supply lines to connect scattered outposts.
Commander Sierra stood before a rusted blast door embedded in a hillside—half-buried, unmarked. Only ISAC's subfrequency scan had found it, pulsing faint data trails no one else would've noticed.
ISAC: "U.S. Military Emergency Relay Node ZB-12. Status: offline since October 2077. Vault-grade shielding. Signature match: Sangvis Ferri prototype facility."
Sarah: "Not a Vault. Not on any map. Open it."
With the help of a jury-rigged RobCo bypass module, the door groaned open, revealing a stairwell choked in frost and old wiring.
Inside: a time capsule. Cryo units lined the far walls of a sealed server chamber, marked not with Vault-Tec logos—but with something far older. IOP Military R&D, and below it, scratched in with a knife: Project Rainmaker.
UMP45 whistled, stepping past Sarah. "Didn't know ghosts could freeze themselves."
HK416 scanned a control panel, brushing away frost. "These aren't just ghosts. Neural imprint storage active. Deterioration minimal. This is legacy tech… pre-Ragnarök War."
Sarah moved between four cryo pods, names flickering dimly on the brassplates:
M4A1
SOPMOD II
ST AR-15
M16A1
Each linked to a massive server rig, their neural maps pulsing faint but intact.
ISAC: "Imprint recovery possible. Combat chassis required for deployment."
Sarah's breath misted in the cold.
Sarah: "We bring them home. These four were black-budget warfighters before the Collapse. If their data's still clean—we rebuild Anti-Rain."
UMP9 (over radio): "Boss, that's a lot of resources. Sure they're worth it?"
Sarah: "For what's coming? I'll take every edge I can get."
As the neural cores were extracted and sealed in cryo-carriers, Sarah looked up at the bunker ceiling—cracked, ancient, and buried for two centuries.
She whispered to herself:
Sarah: "You were built to survive the end of the world. I'm sorry to wake up to the one that came after."
PRESENT DAY – STARLIGHT DRIVE-IN
The skies above the Commonwealth were quiet for once.
Starlight Drive-In—once a crumbling husk of pre-war Americana—now thrummed with new life. Floodlights hummed atop barricades, Minutemen patrols moved between sandbagged positions, and Sierra's Tactical Dolls maintained sentry duty across the perimeter. Makeshift solar rigs buzzed along the rooftops, powering terminals and a signal array stitched together with Institute scrap and old RobCo parts.
The war for the Commonwealth hadn't ended—but here, at least, it had shifted to something resembling order.
A low whine broke across the morning fog. A Division-modified Vertibird cut through the clouds and descended in a controlled spiral above the cracked lot. Minutemen waved landing signals while T-Doll observers scanned the sky with auto-linked targeting optics.
The Vertibird touched down beside the projector tower with a hiss.
The side ramp opened—and four shadows emerged.
Anti-Rain Team.
M4A1 stepped out first, eyes sharp, immediately scanning the fortified perimeter with a soldier's instinct.
SOPMOD II followed close, looking at the refurbished field defenses with a grin.
"Either we time-traveled into a robot LARP convention, or someone's been busy."
ST AR-15 moved with methodical precision, noting watch positions and fallback lanes.
"Tactical Dolls. UMP-series, RO-class. Some ARS variants… This isn't a scrappy militia anymore."
Last to exit, M16A1 lingered on the ramp before stepping into the sunlight. Her gaze swept across the site.
"And we weren't the first ones revived."
Waiting near the command post was Mayling, wrapped in her signature cloak, datapad in hand, headset buzzing with radio chatter.
"Anti-Rain. Welcome back to active duty."
M4A1 approached.
"This base is fully operational."
Mayling nodded.
"Liberated and stabilized two days after Hangman's fall. Minutemen and SHD assets are holding this corridor. Sierra's Tactical Dolls rotated in last night to reinforce the perimeter. You're here to expand our ops radius."
SOPMOD tilted her head.
"Where's Commander Sierra?"
Mayling replied without missing a beat.
"She's negotiating trade and supply routes with Diamond City officials—finalizing reconnection protocols and power-line barter agreements. She'll brief you when she returns."
ISAC activated in the background, overlaying field data on their HUDs.
ISAC: "Neural sync complete. Local command relay integrated. Anti-Rain assigned to Starlight Forward Command, Zone Blue."
ST AR-15 glanced toward the eastern ridge.
"We'll need to survey the underground structure beneath the drive-in. Intel says pre-war vault access or maintenance tunnels may exist."
Mayling:
"Confirmed. But Sierra's ordered all underground operations delayed until Concord fully stabilizes. You're here to hold the line, expand recon, and support Minutemen movements north of Lexington."
M4A1 nodded.
"Understood. We'll begin loadout inspections and perimeter rotations."
M16A1 paused, watching the Minutemen drill formations with Sierra's Dolls.
"This world's broken… but it hasn't quit yet."
SOPMOD smirked.
"Neither did we."
The Vertibird lifted off behind them as Anti-Rain walked into the center of the new base—past the solar arrays, makeshift armory, and an old red vending machine humming with jury-rigged coolant cells.