Piper could barely believe that little more than a year has passed since she met Sev. Looking back, it felt like another lifetime where she and Nat were ignorant of the luxuries they now took for granted in Caladan and the Nexus. Where once they were common wastelanders just doing their best to peacefully get by, now she was the confidant and sheathe to undisputedly the most powerful man in the Commonwealth enjoying a life beyond decadence compared to the outside world.
A few more years, and she’d get Nat to join in. Cait and Curie were fine with it, the slot had already been booked.
Sev had readily accepted when Piper, in a bout of reminiscing, had asked to go visit her parents’ graves. Together with Nat, the three of them flew back, and she felt waves of nostalgia as she sighted the landmarks from before. Who’d expect that being saved by a stranger would lead to crazy adventures through the wasteland and even space, and a life in paradise?
Their old home was still there, diminished and visibly more rundown than before. They barely recognized the sisters, but the sight of Sev scared them to polite obedience. Even out here in Senboroughs, the exploits of the Nexus’ ruler was well known it seemed. They no longer looked at Piper or Nat with pity now, they didn’t even dare meet their gazes.
Piper ignored them, not bothering to be petty. She didn’t care about her old house either. Instead, she and her sister simply got to the cemetery and paid their respects while Sev kept at a respectful distance with a couple of Sentinel bots.
“Mom, pops…hope you’re doing fine.”.Piper smiled softly as she thought back to simpler, happier times with her parents. Fuck, she was going to cry, wasn’t she?
Nat chipped in as well with the same thoughtful softness. ”We missed you.” The younger Wright sniffed, but still kept a bright smile. “We’re doing ok. Piper’s been looking after me… well, it’s mostly Sev, but Piper’s still being a big sis.”
Piper almost snorted at the comment. “Yeah, Sev’s been taking care of us… Wish you could see what we’ve seen…”
They spoke of their exploits in the past year, and the people they met, and the wonders they’ve seen…though Piper obviously left out her intimate bits with Sev. At the end of it all, both girls had wet cheeks but were still wearing smiles. And then Piper decided to break the big surprise.
“... So anyway, I hope you both don’t mind, but we found a new space for you. It’s a nice spot in the Nexus, you’ll like it.”
The cemetery some ways behind Station 81 was only recently opened, initially to accommodate the peaceful passing of one of the senior former vaulters. Sev being Sev, the land allocated for the burial grounds was far larger than most people thought necessary, but in the end everyone appreciated the gesture and understood it as another show of the Nexus’ power.
When the girls were done, they shared a hug between themselves before Piper gave Sev a single nod. He remained where he stood, but the two Sentinels hovered up to the graves and began exhuming the bodies.
The robots were quick and somehow respectful in their work. Piper didn’t see much other than dirt, but soon each Sentinel were carrying a bundle of cloth like they were the most fragile thing in the world.
Once they got back to the Nexus’ borders, a priest from Diamond City went through the rites for the reburial, and Piper found the ceremony this time to be far more comforting with friends and Sev gathered.
With that indulgence done, Piper went back to work as Sev’s assistant. She had resolved herself to be more useful to Sev beyond just being a cum dump. While her schooling wasn’t as complete as other kids her age, Piper did have enough down-to-earth insights to offer that had helped shape Sev and his admin team’s plans and policies.
Together with Cait and Curie, she also helped provide the final authority to settle various issues, particularly regarding the more…deluded migrants in probation.
A few of those undergoing probation had the delusion that Sev’s generosity was infinite and wanted to hoard and smuggle the goods offered to them.
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Another fucking piece of trash had refused her room when she found out her neighbour in was a former sex slave.
And then a bunch of idiots offered Rylee a literal sackload of caps in exchange for getting their hands on a white laser rifle under the counter.
Piper took great satisfaction in dealing with such cases personally together with Cait and Curie, and every now and then Nat would also tag along when she had the time. The four of them agreed that it was far more fun teaching these troublemakers a lesson and humiliating them first, before threatening them with a trip to Blacksite Tleilax.
Using Blacksite Tleilax was cheating in Piper’s eyes. The reputation of the place had become such that according to the traders, Diamond City was getting an influx of surrendering raiders, gladly offering up their loot and slaves to buy themselves a place in the austere cells of Diamond City compared to the possibility of getting captured by the Nexus and sent to Tleilax.
It was believable to Piper, especially since Sev had started sending out the Eversors and Centurions out into the Commonwealth to do just that. Using cross-referenced rumors and the ever vigilant eyebots high in the sky, the bots on the ground would investigate locations of interest. Regardless of whether there was a haul of raiders or not, the location would be updated in the Nexus’ database, building a more accurate map of the Commonwealth.
Sev didn’t really care for most of the buildings, but he’d like to make sure of the dangers they might contain before razing them to the ground once he eventually expanded the Nexus’ borders. Already, a lot of the ruined areas within the Nexus were being cleared up by swarms of Sentinels. The only thing that stopped Sev from starting any construction was his worry about the radstorms, especially the sudden huge ones that rolled in from the Glowing Sea in the west.
No surprise that Sev was focusing on that issue and disappearing into Tleilax and Ix for research and testing.
Sending out the robots also meant that the Nexus saw a depressing stream of freed slaves. Station 81 had been expanded to include several more floors to take in the sudden spike of these unfortunate souls. Like the first members of Sev’s realm, the rescued adults and children were far more appreciative of the Nexus’ offerings and were quick to devote their loyalties to Sev.
It was good that some of the newcomers knew who they owed their comfortable lives to.
Piper also joined the platoons on their occasional excursions. Those outings were often to help take down strongpoints or clear dangerous zones that the Minutemen couldn’t effectively handle without losing too many men. Once, the platoons were sent out to intercept a roving band of super mutants before they could be too much of a nuisance.
It was fun being part of the military missions. Edward had grown into his role as platoon leader, confidently leading the boys and girls into super mutant bases or clearing out vermin-infested buildings. 2nd platoon’s leader, a former Vault 81 security guard named Anton, was competent too, though he didn’t give the rousing speeches that Edward was becoming well known for.
With her job as a troubleshooter and the military excursions, Piper felt rather satisfied with her more active roles. The only downside was less free time with Sev, but they always made up for it at night. Sharing him with Cait and Curie proved to be a better deal than she thought, since it gave that much more time for each of the girls to recover while Sev was busy pounding away at someone else.
Things were going well so far, and Piper would’ve enjoyed it for a bit longer if not for a bunch of fucking idiots suddenly showing up from the west and throwing themselves futilely against the patrols.
It was laughable, until Sev asked for more details about the incident and the threat was made clear.
Fucking rad worshippers.