Fallout: Wild Horses (Started, Open)

[TheDoctor455]

Somewhere in Wyoming. Error. Navigation system failure, attempting diagnostic and auto-repair. Processing... nearby settlement detected. Auto-repair failed. Seek out repairs at nearby settlement.

Vera let out an exasperated series of beeps before starting to head for the nearest settlement, which as far as her visual sensors could determine... was at least ten miles away. She didn't pick up any threats within combat range, so Vera decided to play some music. She started cycling through tracks in her memory banks.

"Yipee-AAAYYY! There'll be no wedding bells for todaaayy!"
Vera cut that one off immediately. No sense tempting history.

"Lemon tree...very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet..."
Vera shut that one off as well. Didn't quite fit her mood.

"And believe me I am still alive!"
Vera listened to that one for a few seconds before turning it off, she had no idea where she had heard that one before.

"Now I only want you gone..."
Odd. Two with the same singer? Oh well, moving on.

"Drove my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry..."
Vera decided to keep her audio playback on that one for a while. She had no idea what it meant (and neither had anyone she'd met up to this point), but it sounded good, so she kept it going as she headed in the unidentified settlement's direction.

After going for about five miles, she came upon a stranger.

Spoiler: OOC

Anyone who wants to be the stranger Vera comes across is welcome to do so.

 

[Souplex]

A bar in Dry Springs
"Unless you're hiring, no."
"If you have an up to date map of Wyoming with the locations of current settlements, I'll gladly give you 50 caps for it. Otherwise, I can't really pay you for any major jobs; unless of course you're willing to work for pay that will come much later, won't come from me, and may not come at all if my bosses don't feel like it. It's generally not good to work on half-promises."
[Flashback]Surly Gecko (Joe) and the other youth of the Cajones tribe had made it into Nevada on their trip west. They were tired, short on supplies and vulnerable. They came to a settlement called "Nipton." The people there were cruel, and could tell that they were desperate. The children were able to communicate well enough despite the language barrier (Most southwestern tribal dialects are a corruption of Spanglish, so English is moderately understandable if you're reasonably intelligent.) The gouged them, charging obscene amounts for supplies, and before they left, they took Gentle Mantis (One of the older girls) at gunpoint to work in the brothel. The children were helpless, and simply continued to flee west. Surly Gecko hoped somebody would burn Nipton to the ground someday.[/Flashback]

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Day 1: Twilight, Great Khan Camp, 50 miles north of Fort Laramie

Ollie fixed Allegre's tether to the log alongside the rest of the Nightmares. The Khans had set up a large bonfire in the center of the camp, while the sentries had set up a torch ring along the riverbank to scare off any diamondbacks that might sneak up on them. Anna and Harland had set up the cooking spit, slowly turning over the fresh molerat they had snagged on the way back. Only three of the Rattlers were still with them. One had managed to stab himself with a venom tipped dart, dying rather than being interrogated. As they Khans had worked to secure the others so they wouldn't do the same, the second Rattler had made a run for it, until Ollie's axe hit him in the back. He'd made a good bait for the molerat however.

Harland cut a chunk of the rodent off and handed it to Ollie. He savored the spicy taste as he chewed. Whatever Harland put in his trail sauce, Ollie didn't want to know, but hot damn was it delicious.

"Hey, Anna, that pip boy of yours still working?" asked Harland. Anna had scored a nice Pipboy 2500 off a Niner a few weeks ago. The damn thing kept cutting in and out, but it was nice to have some tunes while they were riding. Anna pulled the handheld device out of her saddle bag and turned it on.

"What did you want to listen to?" she said, fiddling with the dials. "We've got Cheyton Classic Rock, or the Wyoming Report."

"Put it to the news first," suggested Ollie. They hadn't been back to Laramie for nearly three weeks. The continued bandit hunts had kept the group busy, and Oliver wanted to know what had happened while they were gone. Anna agreed, switching to the Wyoming Report.

"Welcome back, Wyoming, this is Flint Darrel with the Wyoming Report, your go to news station for the Wasteland. Our top story today: Cheyton's own Red Eyed Reaper, Vincent Hastings, brought in the bounty today for Great Khan malcontent, John Ackerman. This marks the third Great Khan this year that Vincent has brought down. While Cheyton locals are relieved to see wasteland Justice being rendered, members of the Local Federation are concerned that the continued actions against the Khans could result in strained relationships with the Empire."

"Damn fucking straight they'll be strained," spat Harland. "What the fuck was John thinking in the first place? Regis told him not to go near Cheyton after the last time. And now the dummy's dead. Fuckin' Hastings is gonna pay if he keeps this shit up."

"In other news, the Teton Bighorner pelt trade has slowed in recent days. Caravans heading into the mountains have claimed poor weather is to blame for the delay. That's all for now folks, this has been Flint Darrel with the Wyoming Report.

"Fucking figures, doesn't it?" said Ollie. We keep the bandits and the thugs out of their towns, and then we're the bad guys any time one of us gets a little too rowdy. If they can't take a little fight, they shouldn't have picked one in the first place. Fucking Hastings."

Harland grunted in agreement, along with several of the others. It was one thing to put a bounty out on known criminals, but another thing entirely to put one out on a Khan. Like Darrel said, it could upset the relationship between them and the Locals. But people like Vincent Hastings didn't give a shit about the trouble they caused. They were in it for the caps and nothing else. If anything, there should have been a bounty out on him.

Anna wasn't as easily convinced. "Ignore the idiot for now, guys. We've got bigger things to worry about than scumbag mercs shooting drunks, even if it was John who bought it. It won't matter what happens with the towns and us if more of these bastards," Anna pointed to the Rattler prisoners, "keep showing up. It's all about stopping the problems at the source. We get these guys back to Regis, and we're a step closer to finding a way to keep them out."

"Find," said Ollie. "But we'll have to do something for John soon. He might have been a drunk asshole, but he was a Khan."

"We can do that later," said Anna forcefully. "It's getting late, and you'll need some shuteye before your sentry shift starts. Grab a few hours while you can. I'll leave the tunes on." She flicked the Pipboy over to Cheyton Classic Rock, letting the music carry on through the night.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Tessa and Mercy's Home...Cheyton...Duh!

Tessa couldn't hide the joy she felt, Mercy's open display of excitement was infectious and more than pleasant. She couldn't help but think back to the contrast of Freeside, how dismissive or downright aggressive the people who had sought her requisition services could be.

She would be lucky if she had gotten off without being threatened at gunpoint at the end of a job. Was there no such thing as honour amongst thieves anymore? Well things had changed drastically when she went solo...

She did note Mercy's dirty hands, so she commented in a teasing tone. "You do know that the shower is working right? We don't have to worry about rent for...well, let's just say awhile."

Removing her riding hood, she folded it neatly and ironically tossed it on the couch. She started to get dinner ready and empty some of the contents of her bag. All the while trying to follow what Mercy was saying. She was lost at the "expended plasma" part.

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

She smiled awkwardly, feeling more than a little stupid that she had such a large amount of gaps in her knowledge. "A little bit, but that doesn't mean I don't want to learn!"

"I'm sorry sis, I just miss them."

Her family? Partly their family, technically. This girl's emotional wounds were raw, deep and they were going to scar to badly. As for Tessa? Was she a terrible person for not feeling alone in the world, even if it had to be born out of someone else's loss? She didn't have any connection to her father, she even resented the man for not coming back for her if her whereabouts were known. There was an immediate situation to pay attention to, she could wait...

Tessa recognized the sadness and burden she carried, it resonated with events she would rather not speak about. Losing her first friend, watching chems ruin and destroy the lives of her childhood group, first girlfriend, even her first molerat (Shut up, they were adorable), the accidental kill...

She had placed her day's spoils on the table, took her sisters hand, lead her to the couch and draped an arm around her tightly. Softly, she whispered to her tearful sister, "You're entitled to miss them and you never have to apologise to me...I-I kinda know what all that is like."

She wasn't looking at her sister, instead she was focused on the caravan lunch and snack cake sitting on her lap. It was Mercy's, "Eat something, I can practically hear your stomach packing up and getting ready to protest louder out on the street."

Tessa wondered if she had done the right thing by getting her the present today, she didn't anticipate this reaction and while she was trying her best in the only way she knew how, she was walking on deathclaw eggshells at the same time. That gave her an idea as she added up the caps on the table.

Tessa had a habit of securing certain numbers of caps with elastic bands, in order to prevent them from making noise and for the sake of convenience. With the extra caps she had brought home today, she had a total of 750 caps. She looked down at Mercy's leather-armor, mirroring her own.

On the streets, you either wore some kind of protection or you painted a bullseye on your back, but in this case, "Let's go shopping tomorrow! I still barely know this place. Something fancy for the two of us, I'm thinking two fancy shmanshy dresses for the Rabbit Sisters...and two thigh holsters to boot." she completed that sentiment with a full smile, hoping Mercy would like that plan. Retail therapy always worked wonders for Tessa...especially since she didn't have to strictly pay for the merchandise.

After awhile, she pulled her switchblade out of her boot and embedded it against the door across the room in one swift motion. Yeah, she still had it. After removing her gear, she pulled a thick blanket over them and curled up with her sister.

Many may think that Mercy wasn't the one that wanted to be left alone tonight, but it was actually Tessa that couldn't bear the thought of sleeping alone tonight. "Thank you..." she murmured sleepily.

 

[EmperorZuma]

Outskirts of Cheyton

Jacob took a lot more time than he thought he needed in the Cheyton markets getting some last-minutes supplies. As he expected after wasting so much time, the Free Runner Caravan had already left their usual meeting place. Luckily, Jacob knew what route the Caravan took out of town, without fail.

Sure enough, with a few lucky breaks through the Cheyton crowds, Jacob saw the group on the ruins of I-25, heading north. With a few good shouts, Jacob was able to get them to stall long enough for him to catch up. "I'm really touched you cared enough to wait for me, Jose." Jacob joked to the group as he hitched his stuff to one of the Brahmin.

"You know when we leave, Jack, if you're late, it's on you." A man at the head of the pack spoke up, the other members of the caravan parting so that Jacob and their leader, Jose, could see each other. Jose was a weathered man, ragged, tan skin that covered his face was only covered by his grey beard. He wore a painted-over combat armor, it's color being black with teal edges instead of the standard green. A magnum pistol was at his side, and a shotgun at his back. Though, regardless of his age, Jose's green eyes were still as piercing as they were when Jacob first met him.

"Oh yeah? I like to see how you would treat the oh-so-many injuries you guys seem to get on these excursions." Jacob gave a slight smile and a wink at Jose, who rolled his eyes in response. "Well, since I missed the briefing, might I ask where we're going?"

Jose spat at the ground before turning around to start leading the caravan once more. "New Wheatland first, after that, depends on how things are looking in the Wasteland."

"New Wheatland, eh? Been meaning to keep in contact with Old Issac..." Jacob trailed off as he started to feel a whisp of nostalgia. New Wheatland was a pet project of a fellow Follower of the Apocalypse that Jacob met as the man was passing through Cheyton. He was older than most, but had a dazzling intellect, being unmatched in the field of biology. From what Jacob had heard from the grapevine, the denizens of New Wheatland had somehow came across the means of breathing life into the land around their small town. Issac heard about it and risked a hard journey north to see if he could help. He wielded his knowledge to great effect, and what was rumored to be a few patches of viable farmland became a venerable oasis in the Wasteland. Now and days, Old Issac works in his lab on ways to increase and spread the growth of the life in New Wheatland, which was now protected by the Greenfield Mercenary Company, founded for the express purpose of keeping the fragile ecosystem safe from those who would exploit it.

Jose coughed a bit and brought Jacob back to the here-and-now, spitting out another bit of black liquid, much to Jacob's disapproval. "Yeah, the Issac fellow is growing something I'm pretty sure you want to see for yourself."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you leave without me, if you knew I would be interested?"

Jose shrugged, a cloud of dust falling off his shoulders. "Whether or not you came, I still could have bought and sold the stuff for a good price."

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

Dry Springs

"If you have an up to date map of Wyoming with the locations of current settlements, I'll gladly give you 50 caps for it. Otherwise, I can't really pay you for any major jobs; unless of course you're willing to work for pay that will come much later, won't come from me, and may not come at all if my bosses don't feel like it. It's generally not good to work on half-promises."

Is he offering me a job?

"I don't have a map but I can update most of yours. I'm assuming this would be guide work. I've worked with less assurances on payment" unfortunately not a lie "my only condition in that regard is that we split what we find."

I could watch him like this, stop him if he tries to cross the line.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Spoiler: OOC

Realized no one's really in a position to come meet Vera... wherever she is... so...

Vera hummed, whirred, and beeped to the tune of the music she was listening to as she made her way to... whatever the hell settlement this was. As she drew closer to the largish town, Vera almost crashed into a sign reading: CHE-TO-N.

Vera paused at the sign and tried to make sense of it. After a few moments, the only thing her records would come up with was a place called 'Chevy Town'... or at least a colloquial name for an Old World city. This revelation shocked Vera, as it meant she had gotten farther from the Mojave than she had thought on her little sojourn through the wastes.

Undeterred, Vera soared above the sign, and then set down to a low hover, just a foot off the ground as she made her way into the city (?) of 'Chevy'. She quietly hovered through the streets, looking for a trustworthy-looking repair shop for her to get her navigational systems fixed... or a Followers Camp if possible. Several minutes later... yielded no positive results.

Eventually though, Vera's... mind, wandered, and she wound up flying straight into the closed front door of a small home, knocking the door down. Vera flew up in a panic, stopping her music track instantly, and replacing it with a recording of a 5 year old girl's voice saying one word, 'sorry', in a tone that made you think of puppy-dog eyes, dragging feet around, and nervously twirling small tufts of hair. When no one came out, Vera went in, playing the same vocal recording over and over again, increasing the tempo and frequency as she looked for the inhabitants.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Flashback, Lucky 38 casino

"Why did you choose Ceryni to deal with the safe, he's a rookie!" Tessa muttered harshly towards her friends, "Another thing, these outfits will only get us so far. Oh and another thing, Dannyl can't even get her damn story straight when we rehearsed this!"

"Tessa..." she felt a familiar hand being laid on her shoulder.

"And what the hell are you doing, Rothen!?"

"Tessa!" Sonea's grip tightened as her soft whisper implied caution over aggression, "Just let him be, he took us in-"

"I'll be securing the exit now. Remember, Tessa, you are not the leader here. So, Sonea is now on guard duty, kill anyone that gets too close-"

"You are not putting her in danger dammit! And you put yourself on coward's duty? Your plan is full of holes and you damn well know I could have pulled up something together if you had given me more time!"

"You have your orders, you're on distraction duty, out of harms way. Give your girlfriend a little faith."

"Screw you, Rothen. She was meant to be on distraction dut-!"

------------

Tessa and Mercy's Home

Her eyes darted open, she was breathing raggedly and she could feel something on her face. Bringing up a hand to her cheek, it was clear that she had been crying. "Not this again." she muttered sadly.

Slipping out from under her sister without disturbing her, she planted a kiss on her forehead, "That will never happen to you." she muttered ever-so-softly. She intended walk to the bathroom sink, but that's when she heard the music.

Music? Cautiously, she grabbed one of her blades as the music grew louder. She tiptoed to the side of the doorframe and crouched as she readied her blade in a reverse-grip strike. Very few people expected an attack from below and on the streets, you don't wait politely unless you're expecting company.

There was a thud on the door and what sounded like a little girl apologising on the other end. Cute Breaching?!

Cute Breaching was a colloquial term used by gangs to refer to the technique of forcing a young girl or boy to start crying or knocking at the residence they intended to rob. If successful, the child served as a decoy to draw open the door of the residence and then the gang would rush in to rob the place and kill the owners. It was a technique denoted to thugs and less sophisticated gangs. Tessa would know, she was the unwillingly "cute" part of a particular violent breaching when she was 9.

The door was smashed down and Tessa barely managed to stifle a gasp of surprise. The girl outside was still apologizing. A disgusting tactic, in her book. Well nobody is taking Mercy from her!

A large bulbous head had poked it's way into the doorframe at a lower height than she expected. Expertly twirling her blade upwards, she thrusted the blade upwards deeply into the attacker's chin.

Except there was no chin, nor was it a head. It was a machine of some sort, whizzing about, spluttering and showering sparks at the entry point of her embedded blade. Eventually it dropped to the floor and started to play disjointed sounds at increasing volume.

Kicking it across the room, she stubbed her toe greatly, swore profusely and yelled at Mercy. "Sis, what the hell is that thing!? Make it shut up!"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Mercy's House. Apparently. Auto-Repair Bypass systems activated.Processing...

After a few moments of a confused series of images, sparks, and oddly, the sound of eggs scrambling... Vera whirred back to life and raised herself as high as her now recently damaged optics indicated was safe... which was just above the small (?) girl's reach. Vera played the record of the small girl screaming 'sorry' a few more times before she played back the automated message that had been playing in her databanks for a while now: "Navigation and Mapping systems damaged. Report to the nearest Robco Certified Mechanic as soon as possible.

Then Vera played back the 'sorry' record one more time, slowing it down this time, and turning her 'faceplate' down slightly to indicate regret. After a moment of thought, Vera lowered herself towards the door, and pushed her multitool arm at it, and pointed to the fallen door then to the frame it had been in a few moments ago. Then Vera let a few sparks fly from the multitool's welder (away from the girl, obviously).

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Tessa's house predominantly...and Mercy's

The talking sphere whizzed back to life and rose well above Tessa's height, taking her embedded combat knife with it.

"Hey! I called dibs like two months ago, give it back!" Tessa backpedalled to the table and grabbed her bowie knife, preparing to throw the blade if need be. She hated throwing her knives since it always meant losing a weapon in worst-case scenarios.

Then it started screaming at her, "Shut up! Can it! Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A!" she knew she was desperate when she resorting to using cheat codes on ancient holo-games.

"Navigation and Mapping systems damaged. Report to the nearest Robco Certified Mechanic as soon as possible."

"Oh...well why didn't you say so in the first place!?" she was annoyed at the ruined door.

Then it apologised and actually managed to look remorseful, "...Fine! Just let me... grah!" that was the sound of Tessa approaching the spherical hover-bot and subsequently reclaiming her knife, with some effort mind you, she was surprised her attacks had such force.

"Now I don't have any Robco Certified Mechanics laying around, but I do have a mechanic of sorts that can take a look at your repairs, okay?" She was talking to a robot, not knowing if it could comprehend what she was saying in the first place, yep she was going insane. "Do you understand me? We're not going to hurt you, you just surprised us."

 

[TheDoctor455]

Mainly Tessa's house.

Vera shook her body back and forth vertically for a moment to indicate that yes, she understood the strange little girl that was mad at her for... some reason. Then Vera turned her attention back to the door, and tried to get some leverage to lift it up herself, but she couldn't find a spot to nudge it up from. To an outside observer, this looked like the eyebot was circling around the door like a helpful vulture. Vera stopped after a moment, and then gently poked the girl with her multitool (enough to get her attention, but not enough to hurt in the slightest), then she nudged the fallen door with it, then the door's frame, then pointed the multitool back at the girl, and finally, Vera sparked her welder to life for a second on the door's frame. She searched her tiny datastorage set for any relevant sound files to help Vera communicate her desire to help fix the door. Vera eventually settled on part of a conversation she'd overheard while she was with the Van Graffs:

"pfzztfutk... Can you piece this together?" Then Vera beeped nervously, worried that she may have just challenged the girl's intelligence without meaning to.

Why didn't dad give me a voice of my own? She thought. Then Vera clicked her surprise: she'd just had a thought process run at a higher level than practical needs or... reactionary subroutines. Now she was thinking about the thought she'd just had. And... now she was thinking about how she could be thinking about the thought she'd just had.

Vera froze for several moments, trying to process the implications of this. She had been so wrapped up in a complicated string of thought processes that she forgot to keep her hover engines running. They shut off, and Vera fell to the ground. Then she started rolling on the floor for a bit until she hit the table. That snapped her out of it. Vera carefully fired her hover engines off in a burst to gently push herself out from under the table, and then started hovering normally again. Then she saw the girl staring at her, Vera turned her faceplate away from the girl in embarrassment.

 

[Souplex]

Dry Springs bar

"I don't have a map but I can update most of yours. I'm assuming this would be guide work. I've worked with less assurances on payment" unfortunately not a lie "my only condition in that regard is that we split what we find."
"Those terms seem fair to me."
Joe put out his hand for a handshake.
"Nice to meet you. Name's Ranger Joseph Medina."
[Flashback]Things were not looking good for the children of the Cajones tribe.
Not only were they tired, hungry, and short on supplies, but they had lost one of their own at gunpoint.
The had decided there was nothing they could do in their current situation to help get Gentle Mantis back, so the simply continued marching west.
Eventually the children arrived at Mojave outpost.
They tried to ask for help, but most of the soldiers couldn't understand them through the crying, nervous stammering and tribal dialect.
Then a man in odd looking armor walked up to them.
(Translated from southwestern tribal dialect)
Something about the man seemed to put Surly Gecko at ease.


Surly Gecko wiped the tears from his eyes.

[/Flashback]

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Damn right

Machines, especially robots of the autonomous variety was not commonplace in the slums. Anything remotely technical brought in was either scrapped by those who didn't understand the technology, bartered if it was out of their use or abused if the technology suited their needs. Tessa fell within the barter and sabotage fields, respectively. Kinda why she kicked it old-school with her blades she supposed, plus there was always insult-to-injury and high-risk high-reward values in fights.

However, she'd be damned if she didn't find find this noisy ball to be adorable, "You know, for something that just broke my door, you can be quite adorable." she commented while the loud sphere practically mimed its desire to do door maintenance. Well, unlike the NCR, this one at least offers to fix your door after busting it down.

... Can you piece this together?"

"Don't mind me, I just wanted to see you go through the whole miming performance...Yeah, I can help you out." Tessa couldn't help but smile teasingly, imagining the robot's frustrated little thought process as she tried to put on her best best clueless expression.

She walked over and tried to lift the door up, making minimal progress at first. She persisted, squeezed under it and used herself as a support to heave it up against the wall, sliding it back in place and stepping back. The door stood still, she reckoned it was secure, unless a strong gust of wind, another robot or some badass girl wielding a Gauss Rifle burst into the room.

She turned around just in time to pocket her now broken switchblade that was previously embedded into the door, to see the floaty ball fall to the ground. Did she kill it? But...she needed her door fixed! But...it was cute!...Conflicting emotions!

Tessa rushed over to hug the rounded door-killer, but it started floating again, seemingly back-to-normal. It seemed, shy? Whoever built this thing had crazy skills. Mercy would probably have some insight about it, but it seems that unlike her, she was a very heavy sleeper.

She walked over and hugged the circular rectangle-murderer, carrying it over to the door. "If you can reinforce this door, yet somehow make it functional for...well, all of us. Then I would greatly appreciate that. My sister sleeping over there will get you fixed up, she's a genius with tech!" she said with a smile, "I reckon your voice is screwed up, but is there anything I can call you? Oh, and after we're done, I'll put a cushion on the table for you to sleep or sit on."

She couldn't believe she felt bad in the first place, it was a machine for Blamco-sake! "I'm sorry about stabbing, it's an automatic reaction to anything that breaks into my house. Old habits die hard."

Tessa couldn't put her finger on it, but the floating ball was too human to be treated with disregard.

Thinking of her sister and the absence of her family, maybe this is Tessa's way in which she could give her another one. She liked that thought.

 

[FalloutJack]

Spoiler: OOC

And now, for a bit of fun...

CRUNCH...Munch-Munch-Munch...

"Hmmm?"

He had taken dinner out with him to explore around, to see if he could find more of those curious humans to examine. His readings revealed alot about these things, and he wanted to know more and more... Of course, he knew that humans and Deathclaws would NEVER quite fit together. Something about the teeth, the claws, the howl, and so on... But then, they had the strange tubes with the shot pellets. Ah, what was it called? Guns 'N Bullets, yeah! He read that in a magazine somewhere. Didn't help him much, but it allowed him to understand a bit. Right now, though, the thought going through the gray-claw's head was...

What's that human doing?

To explain: Malkos had never heard music before. He was born in a cave and raised on books and hunting and such. He can read, and he's read a bunch of things. But music? Never heard of it. So, he wondered if this was some sort of human mating call. He listened for a bit, lowering the big leg of Tauros from his mouth. The sound didn't appear to be moving, so some human - or rather, the radio station - was just standing there and shouting in this manner. But what did it mean? To whom was the speaker claiming to never be a beast of burden? And why? Wait... Putting you out of misery? Aha!

"Perhaps it's wounded..."

Deathclaw instincts came into play now. The call was a distress bark of the humans, like a wounded animal calling to its own kind for help. It was trying to get help before a predator took it down, but in this case...the predator was the one that heard. Perhaps it would have more things read as well as meat on its body too... Leg still in hand, the Deathclaw stalked low to the ground. And what he soon found was...fire. Yes, fire scares off some animals, though it attracts others. There's never been a Deathclaw afraid of it. This was something he'd read about in an old book, a campsite. Very interesting... Malkos saw and smelled the Nightmares, as well as the cooked food. Had he not recently eaten, these would be tempting for him to eat alone. However, this was for the Clan. Now, where was the wounded one...?

The Great Khans would have a visitor watching while obscured somewhat by tall grass. Their first real sign that something was wrong would be the disturbed Nightmares, because everything feared the Deathclaws...if it had any sense at all.

 

[Athol]

Cheyton

Samuel sighed, and flicked a second cigarette butt of the balcony. He never used to be a smoker, or a drinker, or a lot of other things, but after his changes and getting abandoned by the Legion he came to realize that it didn't really matter...none of it did. Just live your life, what else can you do? He thought to himself.

Finally getting up, he went back to the gear he'd dumped on his bed and rummaged through the duffle bag, removing a bunch of stuff he wanted to keep. The bag, now containing only stuff he wanted to barter, was slung on his back as he left the room. Samuel paused briefly at the door and considered grabbing his rifle, but since he wasn't going outside the town, he left it. Locking up behind him he stepped out of the Fallen Angel, and headed for the general store.

 

[ImSkeletor]

Robobrains are rather mysterious creatures to the average person of the wasteland. Few know where the brains came from, how these robots are still running, or why they behave as they do. The average person of the wasteland has little understanding for the advanced programing that went into these creatures. Adding programs to the mind while retaining the intelligence was something scientists struggled with for years and even the final models have been known to go a bit haywire every now and again. But, in the end the experiment was worth it. Machines that would obey what they were told to do, but could also make split second decisions in combat that no other machine has the capabilities to make.

One of these technological marvels made its way through the desert with no idea of what it was doing or where it was going. It was painted red, white, and blue but these colors had faded a bit over time. A steel powdered wig stretched across the creature's brain case. A flame thrower tank was strapped to it's back with the nozzle laying just under what could be called the robot's "wrist". It shook wildly as it traveled across the ground. It sang The Star-Spangled banner as it trekked. He came to a sign that said "Dry Springs" and continued inside until he stumbled upon a bar. It slammed its body into the door until it opened. It entered and rolled to the counter and said to the bartender, "I'll have some of your finest wine." The bartender chuckled and placed an shot glass filled with water on the table. The robot reached up and attempted to pick it up, crushing it in the process. "Thank you" it said now splattered in fluid. It turned to Ranger Joe and Martin. "Greetings ladies, gentlemen, and/or children. My name is Dave. I will be your guide on this tour through "Kenny Vanson's Rushmore Gift Shop and Educational center. Where History is the Greatest Adventure of all!"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Mostly in Tessa's house.
Vera kept her hover engines going just enough to make sure the small girl wasn't carrying the brunt of the eyebot's weight. Seeing that the door was back in its frame, Vera set to work, welding the hinges back together. Once that was done, the little white-and-red striped eyebot backed away from the door and nodded at the girl so she could test it out.

"I reckon your voice is screwed up, but is there anything I can call you? Oh, and after we're done, I'll put a cushion on the table for you to sleep or sit on."

Vera played back a record, this time an old man's voice, speaking as if calling out to someone very dear to him, "Vera, it's okay. Come to daddy, Vera. Come on, come to daddy, Vera. There's my girl. There's my Vera!" One could just about see the beam of pride in the old man's eyes as whoever he was addressing came to him.

To answer the other question... Vera picked a spot on the ground that looked out of the way, and utterly unimportant, and blasted the letters 'N' and 'V', far enough apart from each other to make it clear they were not supposed to be part of the same word, nor were they initials for one of the last great cities in the American Wasteland.

"I'm sorry about stabbing, it's an automatic reaction to anything that breaks into my house. Old habits die hard."

Vera nudged her body in a way that gave one the feeling that she would be scratching her one of her shoulders if she'd had any. Then she played back a record, this time of a nine year old boy saying... a bit too nonchalantly (as if trying to impress someone with his very bad impersonation of The King), "Don't worry about it."

 

[Generic NPC 22]

Cheyton: Predominantly Tessa's House

Spoiler: I see what you did there :D

...some badass girl wielding a Gauss Rifle burst into the room.

The last thing that younger Rabbit remembered was being held tightly, a feeling that was rather comforting and conveyed that no matter what, Mercy was safe from the dangers of the world. It was:

[HEADING=2]Wonderful![/HEADING]​

The next thing she remembered was the door being battered down, or rather the next thing she remembered was Tessa and her receiving an unexpected guest.

It wasn't that Mercy was a heavy sleeper, nor was it the fact that the girl had a been silently triggered to kill, nor was it the fact that Mercy had just gone mute due to some as of yet unknown emotional or mental trauma. Mercy had spent the entire period of time that Tessa and the Hoverbot had spent interacting staring at Vera and her spherical hovering body, her mind going through everything that she knew about the Eyebots.

Eyebot: n. 1) A Spherical autonomous system created by RobCo used primarily as a mobile transmission system.
armarmaent: 1) Electrical discharge arm
propulsion: small frame class hover engine

Pushing her glasses up with an index finger to get a better look at the Eyebot that had just battered the door down, she noted that this was non-traditional, that wasn't to say that she had never seen this upgraded variant of the MK I RobCo Eyebot, it was a rarity. It was such a rarity that Mercy could only stare reverently at the metal sphere that had just battered its way into Tessa's and Mercy's lives.

"Navigation and Mapping systems damaged. Report to the nearest Robco Certified Mechanic as soon as possible." The Eyebot called Vera had mentioned.

"Now I don't have any Robco Certified Mechanics laying around, but I do have a mechanic of sorts that can take a look at your repairs, okay?"

:O

Was Tessa talking about her little sister? Most likely. Was this an a lot of pressure to place on a girl that had just lost her family? Maybe. Was this a good way of getting Mercy's mind off her recent loss? YES!

"I.I.I. I could try to make some repairs but I can't guarantee anything since you don't seem to be a standard Eyebot Variant." The younger sister muttered, looking at her older sister for a bit of of a pick-me-up smile. Actually the fact that Tessa, who had only known Mercy for a couple days maximum, had spoken of Mercy's skills in repairs with such confidence that brought the smallest of smiles to the smaller of the Rabbit sisters.

Walking over to the table that would be a makeshift workbench, the inventor Rabbit opened up her tool kit and pulled out a set of tools and a magnifying glass on an armature.

"Vera, could you please land on this table? I'd like to take a look at your parts without the possibility of your engines malfunctioning again." Mercy said.

"Also. Diagnostics check. Please list your Navigation System's reading on your current location."

 

[RobDaBank]

Cheyton Streets

Kaiden exited the mayor's office and found himself back on the streets with the bustling crowds of people. He glanced around to make sure nobody was following him and set off towards the city limits. It would have been easy for it all to fall apart right now, and nobody was going to believe he was just an innocent trader until the mayor got word around.

He made his way to an abandoned building, the one he used to enter to avoid the guards checkpoints.

Finally free he checked around again to make sure nobody had seen him, he could feel paranoia tugging at his nerves by now and forced himself to push forward, up north to begin with, choosing to take the I-25, or at least run parralel with it. 

It had taken some time to get clear of the city when he came across a travelling caravan, made up of a large number of people. Of course he didn't want to attract their attention, but he didn't want to wait until it was clear either, Kaidens people would begin to fear the worst if he was too late and perhaps even relocate for fear of repercussions which would leave him all alone. Instead Kaiden opted to follow the group from a distance, allowing them to draw the attention of any threats along the way so Kaiden could remain unharmed and undetected.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Mostly Tessa's House... but sort of Mercy's as well.

Vera whirred and beeped cheerfully as she gently put herself to rest on the table. Readout. Hmm...

Surviving Navigational Databanks indicate that this is the town colloquially referred to as 'Chevy Town.' Eastern Sea Board.

Still trying to make up for accidentally breaking down the door, Vera decided to play some cheerful country music.

Spoiler: This music

Vera chimed, whirred, and beeped in time with the music.